Some Important Viewpoints from Sterling:
Instrumental view of education and sustainability: What Education is for (the outcome)
From this reading, I have been exposed to different philosophies regarding sustainability and the importance of resiliency in youth. As seen above, different philosophies may sound similar and have similar goals, but the focus, process and reason for achieving those goals vary greatly. As for where I stand, I find that sustainability can only be achieved if we are able to educate the future generations so they are able to think critically and feel passionate about current issues, and issues we have yet to face. On issues such as sustainability, we must be able to think of solutions that have not been thought of, and come to conclusions that have yet to be suggested. The only way we are able to do this is not by teaching students what to think, but rather, using what is known as a platform for teaching them students how to think. Students will need to develop these skills individually, using teachers as a guide. One important thing I’ve learned is that teachers do not have all the answers; we are learning right along with students. It is our job, however, to create an environment that allows students to reach their full potential so they are able to think in a productive way about important issues and solutions in the future. Although our main job is to create an environment that supports student learning and success, I also believe resiliency is an important component of any person fighting for something they believe in. As growing individuals, students must also be given the opportunity to learn what it means to be resilient. Students should use what they know, and what they continue to learn, to continue to succeed in their own lives, whether that be in their careers, their personal lives, or in their contributions to a larger issue (like sustainability). As teachers, we have to allow our students to make mistakes, and students have to learn, with the support of their teachers, how to cope with mistakes when they are made. Regardless of the path a student takes, they will be faced with failure and resistance. Students must learn to be flexible in their thinking, and use how they learn to re-think their own ideas alongside the ideas of others. If we are able to teach individuals how to turn this resistance into debate, failure into a lesson and inaction into action, they can then properly and importantly contribute to the greater picture. The article this week by Gruenewald entitled The Best of Both Worlds: A Critical Pedagogy of Place was hard to get through. I think this is mostly due to the culmination of fatigue and stress on my end; nonetheless, this was not a light read. I have decided to make this virtual blog a space where I can lay out all the major ideas from the reading to help myself better understand the themes, rather than necessarily critically examining the author’s viewpoints.
Firstly, the author begins by delving into the meanings of critical pedagogy and place-based education which allows for converging links to be made between these two ways of thinking. The main goal for the author in this text is to demonstrate that these pedagogies are not mutually exclusive; rather, that they can work together to form place-based pedagogy so that “the education of citizens might have some direct bearing on the wellbeing of the social and ecological places people actually inhabit”. The author demonstrates that critical pedagogy evolved from well-established discourses, while place-based education is not as clearly defined and is connected to an array of practices within education. Also, place-based education is usually associated with rural contexts, while critical pedagogy is focused on in more multicultural or urban settings. The author explains that place-based education can and should be focused on in an urban setting in the context of critical pedagogy. As an urban Ed teacher candidate, I think it is important to re-think about how spaces are shaped by education, and how spaces in an urban setting also shape a person’s educational experience. Furthermore, I think focusing of student involvement in their surrounding communities, regardless of physical location, can be an important way to promote student engagement, while teaching students in ways that are applicable to their own lives in and outside the classroom. To be honest, while reading this article it took me a bit of research before I was able to clearly define critical pedagogy and place-based education for myself. According to the Promise of Place, place-based education “immerses students in local heritage, cultures, landscapes, opportunities and experiences, using these as a foundation for the study of language arts, mathematics, social studies, science and other subjects across the curriculum. PBE emphasizes learning through participation in service projects for the local school and/or community”. Critical pedagogy, on the other hand, I was more familiar with. In this philosophy, education goes beyond the surface of memorization and repetition. This philosophy makes connections between what is being taught and how it is being learned, where learning is a process that never ends. Indeed, as Ira Shor defines, critical pedagogy focuses on the “habits of thought, reading, writing, and speaking which go beneath surface meaning, first impressions, dominant myths, official pronouncements, traditional clichés, received wisdom, and mere opinions, to understand the deep meaning, root causes, social context, ideology, and personal consequences of any action, event, object, process, organization, experience, text, subject matter, policy, mass media, or discourse." (Empowering Education, 129). In seeing these two terms more clearly defined, I feel I am able to have a clearer understanding of how these pedagogies can work in unison in an urban context. By combining the ideas of place-based education and critical pedagogies, students can become more immersed into their communities and better relate their schooling to their lives; furthermore, the students can then make important connections between their physical space and the process of their learning experience. By connecting these pedagogies, we are better able to see how all things related to the process and underlying factors affecting what and how we teacher and learn affected by and relate to the environments in which teaching and learning take place. By reflecting upon and individual’s experience, we must consider their social situation, their personal history, and the spaces that they inhabit. Place, therefore, is an important factor in the human experience and should consequently be considered regardless of the places that are in question. In considering place when looking at critical pedagogy, we are better able to understand the ecological system in which human cultures, and human education, are nested. References Shor, I. (1992). Empowering education: Critical teaching for social change. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. What is Place-Based Education? Promise of Place. Retrieved from: http://www.promiseofplace.org/what_is_pbe The reading from this week, by Kennelly and Youniss, discuss in detail the importance and ability for students to participate, engage in their community and stand up for their individual beliefs and for what is right. Throughout the term, we have come to learn of the importance of youth engagement and civic activism so learning how we as teachers can help foster students to speak up and become involved has become more and more important in my eyes.
In the paper by Youniss, we see that education does play a vital role in youth’s likelihood to become civically involved. This is seen at the secondary level, but even more so at the University and college level, as these institutions are often at the centre of political debates and encourage political discussion. Even at the elementary and high school level, when students are given the opportunity to participate politically in their community (whether that be through civics class, debates with their colleagues, forming class governments and committees, etc.) they are more likely to see the importance in democratic politics and how their personal views can make an impact. In Learning to Protest, Kennelly is able to delve deeper into how Canadian youth personal identities can shape the way youth are able to visualize themselves participating in political issues. In a sense, the political atmosphere has become sub-cultured, making it so certain people may feel less inclined to participate, or that their voices are not as important. Past histories and current situations all play into a youth’s experience and their ability or likelihood to contribute to their community in a political way. Not only does a person’s experience shape whether or not they feel they can participate in their community, but it also reflects what individuals find important to their own experience. For example, students may feel that racism is not an issue because they have not experienced it or been exposed to it in their own experience. In order to understand the significance of race in another’s experience, that student would then need to have an avenue where they are able to not only speak for what they know, but are also able to critically examine situations outside of their own. In the classroom, it is the teacher’s job to provide an atmosphere that allows students to feel comfortable expressing their opinions and talking about their own personal experiences and beliefs to allow the students to act on what they believe in, but also to learn about the democratic process. Even more importantly, teachers must remain unbiased in their treatment of students, and must be open to hearing what everyone in the classroom wishes to say. If a classroom is respectful of everyone’s voice, students can learn how to share their opinions in a way that allows issues to be resolved and for the community to move toward positive change. These skills will be able to move with students throughout their educational journey, and will provide students the experience and opportunity to participate more attentively with their communities in the future. From these reading, I have come to realize that focusing on civic engagement can benefit all students, regardless of the path they take. Classroom discussion, school governments, debates and other forms of civics in a school help students develop essential skills such as how to properly and respectfully debate or argue, turn-taking, rebutting, revising, persuading, collaborating and compromising and respect. All of these essential skills are critical in politics, but they are also applicable in many other subjects such as science, philosophy, religion and more. By giving students the opportunity to build these skills in an organized and inclusive class, students will be able to more easily and better apply these skills in other components of their life. On top of learning skills, civic engagement in the classroom will also allow students the opportunity to better understand what causes are important to them and to fight for these causes in a meaningful way. By working in a school setting where democratic practices and systems are in place, students are able to work toward sustaining the system for themselves and for others, thereby obtaining a better understanding of how politics, community evolvement and activism work outside the classroom. As educators, it is our job to not only foster the academic success for students, but also to foster student well-being, allowing students to develop into free-thinking, active, passionate citizens. Who students become is as important, if not more important, then what they learn. Both what we teach students day to day, and how we interact with and build relationships with students will contribute to what they are able to get out of their educational experience. Throughout elementary and secondary school, teachers also play a role in developing student’s sense of citizenship, and their willingness and methodology of engaging in their community. The amount and type of student engagement is seen to be shaped by changing factors in school and society, including that of digital literacy. In the reading by Bennett, the issues around changing levels and types of youth engagement are discussed in detail, and are seen to be shifting cross-nationally and generationally.
In the reading, two paradigms – youth engagement and youth disengagement - are compared in terms of the changing roles youth play in democratic citizenship. From these differing perspectives, I have come to ask the question; has the digital world made youth more engaged on different platforms, or more individualistic and less civically engaged all together? In the youth disengagement argument, I found Bennett made an interesting point by making the distinction between social engagement and democratic engagement. Just because youth are receiving more information, we cannot necessarily say that they are becoming more genuinely interesting in making positive changes in their communities. Nonetheless, I feel that increased digital citizenship can make a large and positive impact in the evolvement of youth in democratic issues. I think both theories of youth engagement and disengagement are valid in their own right and can be applied to different people or at different times. Regardless of which theory is being used as the lens at which we examine the issue around student engagement, there are noticeable declines or a lack of participation from youth in a formal political context. Youth have always been one of the least active groups in politics, and this has remained true even through the development of digital media. Therefore, as educators, I think it is crucial for us to ask ourselves how we can work with students to encourage the use of formal politics as a way to make social change. Another component mentioned in the article that is important to this point is the distinction between dutiful citizens and actualizing citizens. These differ models indicate that a lack in formal political participation does not necessarily indicate a lack of interest or engagement. Rather, youth may simply feel their actions are more meaningful in a more personal form. As with the paradigms of youth engagement, I don’t think these types of citizenship are necessarily opposing or that one type is more correct than the other. If youth feel they are making a difference through actualized citizenship, I don’t think it is right to devalue their efforts. Nonetheless, I also feel that education can be used as a platform to promote different forms of expressing citizenship for youth. Youth should become aware of the importance of activism in a formal political perspective and should be presented ways to make change in both individual to private and public or governmental platforms. It is evident that the education system plays a major role in shaping the ways in which students are able to view youth engagement. I find the biggest message I was able to take away from reading about this topic was the importance of developing a classroom atmosphere that gets kids excited about getting involved in their community. Whether this involvement is formal or informal, youth are able to make the biggest difference when they genuinely care about the issues that face them, their communities and the world. So, one of the best ways we can make positive change toward promoting youth engagement would be to make civics a main priority in our schools. As with many of the stories I have heard in readings and in discussion with my peers, civics classes are often last priority in schools. Teachers are placed in these classrooms because they were given the short end of the stick, not because they want to be there. Activism is seen as something you read about in a textbook, not something that people actually participated in. My civics class focused solely on the structure of the government, with no indication of how that would apply to my life at all. I left the class even less interested in politics than when I began. Quite honestly, it was only after I was able to experience university classes that I formed strong opinions about controversial topics, that I became more aware of the realities in my community and that I realized that I was a part of something bigger than myself. When I was exposed to different issues, I was able to find passion. Through passion, I have found myself engaging both formally and informally. I have experienced firsthand how education can contribute to the development of civic engagement in youth. I hope that one day, as a teacher, I am able to contribute to students finding this sense of civic engagement in elementary and secondary school, so they feel not just obligated to get involved, but feel passion toward interacting more deeply with their communities. In reading Head Strong and flipping through the Ontario Ministry document Supporting Minds it became clear to me that Ontario has made mental health a priority in education, working toward awareness and acceptance while moving away from negative stigma. I think that initiatives like these are extremely important because, as educators, it is our role to help support the full development of our students, not just their academic abilities. Although I think that it is wonderful to see such a push toward including student health and well-being in the main goals of education, I begin to wonder what school must have been like for students in the past who were not able to receive the support they required. With more awareness, comes a better ability to understand and support student mental health. So, how must it have been to not have this aware and these support systems in place? This also leads me to question my ability to thoroughly support those with mental health issues. Through reading these documents, the support that is available to youth seems helpful; nonetheless, I wonder if my support with little formal training in mental health will be sufficient to provide the care some students will need. Of course, there are programs designed specifically for those who need the most help, but mental health and mental illness is a spectrum; meaning, students can face problems that are important to address but are not serious enough to be specifically designated as an “illness” that leads to specialized help. I think that as a teacher my main role will be to create a positive learning environment and supports community building, understanding and respect. By having an open atmosphere, students can learn not only how to face their issues, but also to feel more comfortable with themselves and with others, possibly helping them become more mentally healthy. In all, mental health is a component of a person’s life that must be talked about, understood and remain a focus in the education system. A student’s time at school goes well beyond learning their ABCs and mathematical algorithms. School is a place where student learning is fostered in all aspects. Students learn what they are passionate about, how to be strong and healthy individuals, and develop into the adults they will one day become. As a main force leading the students in their journey, teachers must be aware and sensitive to mental health while fighting against harmful stigma in order to ensure students are able to get the most out of their learning experience. The Westheimer reading from this week focused on identifying 7 myths that often occur in the world of education. Many of these myths focused on major themes found throughout the novel. One theme I found to be particularly important was the issue of standardization of teaching. As seen time and time again in readings and in my own experiences, the root of education lies within the ability for people to build relationships and be exposed to different viewpoints and reasoning. Relationships cannot be standardized; regulated classes can lead to a lack of quality interactions. I find the role of individual expression and teaching styles to be of importance in all aspects of teaching, but particularly when discussing democratic citizenship. For example, Westheimer points out how different methods of teaching democratic thinking, including that of direct instruction and student exploration, can work with varying efficiency in different classrooms, atmospheres or personal experiences.
It is critical that teachers contribute to a classroom organization that provides students with differentiated learning experiences, discussion, self-driven thinking with balanced directed experiences that provide students with an opportunity to think for themselves. As stated in another myth, Westheimer points out that self-regulated thinking in students is often vilified, suggesting that teachers do not care if students are able to grasp a basic understanding of the course material. I agree that allowing students to think for they do not limit their acquisition of knowledge, but rather enhances their overall learning experience. Student thought is an extension of a basic understanding, not a replacement. I think treating school as a platform for open student discussion while providing direct teachings on the basics is necessary for students to develop their own personal and academic voices. In terms of democratic citizenship specifically, I think student thinking becomes even more important. By teaching students that participation in their own knowledge is powerful and necessary, they are able to further question and explore norms already in place. This, in turn, can lead to more passionate and respectful discussions, including that of political nature where skills such as communication, listening and negotiation are essential. I would also like to comment on the myths surrounding medicating dissent. In the past while, there has been a major focus on “At Risk” youth. Every day, students are being assessed, diagnosed and medicated for behaviour-related issues. Of course, many of these issues are only starting to be diagnosed as they were unknown in the past. There are always situations where students require certain medical attention in order to overcome personal obstacles of be successful in their lives. Nonetheless, as Westheimer mentions, the relationships between changing educational systems and diagnoses is detected. When students become a part of an ever-more standardized and regulated institution, where they are expected to behave and be successful at a very small range of criteria, is to fair to expect students who do not fit in this small box of “success” to be successful? Also, does classroom management always correlate to increased learning? I strongly believe it doesn’t. The quietness of a classroom does not mean students are learning. In my experience, the most successful classrooms are those where teachers allow the students to express themselves, and where a mutual relationship is built between all members of the classroom. Respect and understanding of personal experiences is essential for both classroom management and student success. I found I had difficulties with the readings this week. I’m not sure of the root cause; maybe my fatigue has limited my ability to concentrate. Theorizing Young Lives brought up some important points; however, the language used to present the theories and the lack of examples or practical application prevented me from connecting deeply with the underlying messages. I can say the author managed to describe the complicatedness, non-linearity of youth development. She introduced new terms, such as the concentric systems, that allowed for a better understanding of the different complex levels that make up youth experience. The authors main focus, however, was to outline the importance and interconnectedness of biographies, society and time in young lives.
Biography is described as the being. This is a composition of everyday interactions and experiences that make a person who they are. Time, then is seen as a becoming; a movement into the future and changing of space that a person goes through in their lives. Finally, society – society is seen as, in this context, the overwhelming sense of belonging people strives for (particularly in youth interactions). The author explains that our biographies, our present, can interact in complex and sometimes difficult ways with who we want to be and where we want to belong. The author also mentions how the complexities associated with youth identity are often overlooked and standardized in the education system. It is also important to consider how the fast and ever-expanding globalization of youth experience and technology play a role in these three major aspects of youth identity, aspiration and social practices. I remained somewhat confused as to how understanding these three aspects that define youth experience will be applied practically in a classroom. We have completed many discussions on youth identity, personal identity and understanding the complexities of youth experience, so my questions from this reading will relate to the same topic. How do I, as a teacher, foster youth development and encourage community engagement, while considering the complexity of youth individuality in an environment often guided by standardization? It seems that this paper can be used as a mediator between the differing roles of teachers presented in the other two texts we read this week. Theorizing Young Lives seems to portray a message that teachers should work alongside students, while being cautious to not fall into the trap of the continuously regulating ways of shaping youth identities. The video Why High Schoolers Should Be In Charge instead focuses directly on student run programs and responsibility in order to provide youth a sense of stewardship. The presenter in this Ted Talk gave two examples of how he was able to show a sense of agency and responsibility of his own education as a high school student. In these examples, he said that through students creating their own programs and sources of education, they were able to build a sense of self-agency, passion and responsibility that they had not been able to form before. By showing kids they can do something, they would then feel a deep obligation to do something. He continued to say that “high schoolers should be in charge because one day they will be”. Personal responsibility should be learnt at a young age so, one day, young people can be prepared to be responsible for things they are required to be responsible for. While watching this video, I had an overwhelming sense of happiness. I felt so inspired by the work this young person was able to accomplish, and felt everything that came out of his mouth was absolute truth. However, when given a moment to think about what he was saying, particularly in comparison to other ideas presented in the readings, I found myself re-questioning the effectiveness of this approach. I agree that students should be responsible for their learning. I think that students can only truly learn if they are passionate about what they are learning in some way. If they feel responsible for their own education, they are going to get more out of their learning experience. I also think this philosophy can apply to community-based and implicit learning, as well as curriculum-based and explicit learning in a classroom. Nonetheless, I found the video to very much undermine the role of teachers in this process of learning. The way the presenter was speaking was as if the only roles of teachers were to get allow students to use land for gardening or provide a room where students can work. The role of a teacher, conversely, goes much beyond that. I know that my own ability to grow, learn, and feel responsibility for my own education and community came from the support and skill of many caring teachers. I also agree that standardized teaching methods can be, in certain situations, a detriment to a student’s achievement of success. But, teachers can also be an amazing partner in student learning, working with them to reach their full potential, teaching them in ways that they could not have experienced outside of the important teacher-student relationship. Teachers do not just hinder student responsibility; they can indeed foster and support the development of self-agency in students. I think it is critical to examine the impact of teacher’s influence on their student, but we must also work toward making this impact positive and supportive of student stewardship. This relates back to the final paper read this week, chapters 5-8 of Westheimer’s What Kind of Citizen. In these chapters, the author talks specifically about student involvement and how different teacher styles and focuses affect the way students interact as global and community citizens. I found the distinction between participatory citizens and justice-oriented citizens to be quite insightful. In comparing two different schools activism projects with different emphases, it is clear that the type of community engagement can really affect the skills youth are able to receive as developing members of their community. It is also clear that teachers involved in these programs are a major influence on student achievement, involvement and their ability to understand social issues. From this reading, it is clear that the author finds the role of teachers to be extremely important in the development of youth identities and character; however, on the other end of the spectrum of the Ted Talk, there was little talk about the complexities of students as individuals and how their personal experiences, along with complex social pressures and changes, play into how they act as citizens. It seemed that the author was able to categorize students based on their community project experiences and classroom learning without fully considering the individual. My concern is that viewing action as either only participatory or only justice-oriented can be detrimental. Of course, differences between students can, in some ways, be attributed to how they are taught about social activism, and this categorization of student activity is a product of standardized ideologies of civic engagement. Nonetheless, we must work toward understanding the complexities of student identity and position in society and how this plays a role in their experience as learnings. We must also be aware that when working with students to develop their own sense of citizenship, they must feel responsible for the change their society needs. Students must be able to learn from their teachers, but also must be taught in a way that allows them to develop their own passions so they are able to express personal achievement and agency. We must consider learning strategies that allows children to feel a responsibility to participate in helping in their communities, while working toward understanding why social inequality exists and how we can work toward ending these issues. In the teaching profession, understanding the transitions students undergo during their time at school and being able to help them develop into well-rounded adults is an extremely important and sometimes an overlooked aspect of the job. When I say this is overlooked, this is not (usually) in reference to the teachers themselves; rather, I find the general public infrequently thinks of the critical role teachers play in student development, outside of what is in the subject-based curriculum. Whenever I am asked about teaching, I get questions like “What subject are you teaching?” Rarely do I get questions like “How are you going to teach kids in a way that foster healthy development?” Yet, skills such as critical thinking, creativity and reasoning are critical for youth to learn, progress and become active members of society. The readings this week focus directly on youth development, discussing what changes youth are expected to undergo, how teachers can work toward positive youth development, and how the curriculum can work to assist with or impede the development of different skills in youth.
The first two pieces of work, including Stepping Stones and a video titled Insight into the Teenage Brain (Insight), discuss physical and emotional changes youth undergo during adolescence. The video focuses on specific changes the adolescent brain undergoes during development. Through MRI testing, there is evidence that the brain reacts more strongly to reward than adults or younger children. The presenter in the video indicates that during adolescence, the brain is at a stage that causes youth to seek risky experiences, without thoroughly thinking through the consequences of their actions. Teens also tend to have a harder time controlling their emotions. The findings of the study discussed are also supported in the reading Stepping Stones. In the chapter dealing with adolescent development, it indicates that the brain is developing in a way that allows for more complex, abstract and logical thought; however, the ability to control emotions and assess risk are still lowered in comparison to a fully developed person. It is much easier now to understand why I felt and did certain things throughout my time of transition as an adolescent. During high school, I was much more emotional than I am now, and I did certain things that I wouldn’t think to do now. Overall, I was a good kid, but when I think about the time I decided to pierce my own ear, all I can think is “that was stupid”. But, as was described in the texts, I didn’t evaluate risk the same way I do now. As a teacher, Stepping Stones is a great tool to understand not only how people change, but why they change and what we can do to ease their process. Also, as was mentioned in Insight, by being able to understand how students think (and why they think that way), much good can come out of these youth. Although teens are often associated with taking negative risks, risk-taking can also be a great characteristic to have. Furthermore, students during adolescent development generate amazing new ideas and promote creativity through innovative thinking. Therefore, the way teens tend to function can actually be a great thing, and importantly contribute to their development as active and good citizens. The importance of understanding and supporting the development of young people is further highlighted in the next reading, What is Positive Youth Development?(PYD) by William Damon. Here, Damon presents the PYD approach, which focuses on using young people as an invaluable resource in society instead of regarding them as a problem (which is often what occurs both in and outside the classroom). Damon begins by discussing the debate of whether children are naturally delicate or resilient. Here, it is explained that resiliency is a natural part of being adolescent. Resiliency is linked to vast potential which must be maximized in order to ensure that not only problems are prevented, but also so youth can positively contribute to their communities. The author also describes how empathy is a natural component of human emotion which can be changed only by external belief systems. I would agree that potential requires resiliency. If not, all potential would be lost if there was one hiccup down the long road of development. Also, empathy is required in order for people to make whole, complete and just decisions in a community; therefore, supporting and maintaining natural empathy should be a main concern when working with youth. Although, I think limiting the nature of a child to these characteristics is not accurate. Of course resiliency and empathy are required and should be maintained; nonetheless, so many other natural characteristics of adolescence, such as creativity or risk-taking, as mentioned in the other texts, also contribute to the nature of a child and should be considered during positive youth development. When discussing how children interact with their communities, these key characteristics of children help define this interaction. I also very much agree that a more holistic relationship between adolescents and their communities should be taken into account. I find that, most often, the abilities of a child (whether they be good or bad) are the main focus. The capabilities of a young person are often measured in terms of what they will one day be able to achieve for themselves. For example, when I was in school, there was a repetitive narrative of “do well and go to university”; however, we were not encouraged to be smart and go to university because that would benefit the community. Instead, we were told to be smart and go to university because it would get us a good paying job. Not only is this approach focused simply on academic achievement (without any focus on the many other skills that are required for positive youth development), but it also is a selfish view of why and how people learn the way they do. By encouraging interaction between students and the community, the students can then be seen as an active member in that community. Then, students would not be acting simply out of selfish wants, but rather considering what they would be able to achieve as a good public citizen. When children are given rights and responsibility as a member of society, they then can truly advance their academics along with their character. The final reading for this week was the first portion of the book What Kind of Citizen by Joel Westeimer. The first few chapters focused on the importance of character growth as seen in PYD, with more focus on the role of curriculum and education specifically. The main message, which I found was overly repeated in chapters 2-5, was that the shift in public education toward a narrow, math and literacy-based curriculum is restricting the character and emotional development of young people as whole contributors of society. Westheimer finds that the stricter guide lines of curriculum in the US and Canada limits both teachers’ abilities to teach students to critical think and students from becoming critical thinkers. Much of these limits are strung from the ever-growing trend of standardized testing. I agree that standardized tests are a limiting way to assess knowledge and capabilities of students in adolescence. These tests tend to focus on a very small range of the curriculum; furthermore, they completely disregard many other forms of thinking that are critical for students to use. Even so, unlike Westheimer suggested, I do understand how standardization of knowledge has been established over time. There are many factors that put pressure on members of the education system to ensure that all students are treated fairly and, sometimes, this is not the case. So, standardization has been put in place to ensure all students are tested in the same way and are therefore judged justly. This seems like a reasonable argument, until it is considered that not all students learn the same. If we all were able to perform the most efficiently in one form of assessment, it makes sense that one form of assessment would be used to see if students understood the concept; however, we don’t all perform the best in a certain form of assessment. Furthermore, not all teachers (I would argue most teachers) are unable to instill appropriate implicit and explicit teaching in a standardized, notes-to-test format. By making all teachers teach all subjects the same, while blatantly making certain subjects appear more important than others, teachers are seen as undervalued and replaceable, while certain types of thinking and learning styles are placed above others. This means that those who think in a different way are automatically seen as wrong or stupid. In addition, the skill one can gain from different styles and subjects is diminished. In the last chapter, Westheimer categorically reflects upon three types of citizens: the personally responsible citizen, the participatory citizen and the social Justice-Oriented citizen. All of these citizens are considered good in some form of the word; however, the focus of their citizenship is different. By examining the three types, I would say that citizenship is not mutually exclusive. Rather, I would argue that each degree of citizenship is built upon the foundation of the former. In order to prepare and support our students as active good citizens, we must first be able to distinguish and explain the duties of a good citizen. Likewise, we must recognize that good citizenship is sprung from more than math and literacy. Of course, these aspects are important; however, we must foster an environment that allows students to think critically and be responsible, innovative, and socially aware. Students require more than the standardized ways of learning that have recently out in place. The education system must begin to move toward a curriculum that promotes adolescent self-expression and human agency. Once teens realize their thoughts matter, they are able to contribute to society in a meaningful way, and they are able to gain skills and learning styles beyond what is being assessed on a standardized test, they can then develop a sense of identity and moral compass that will allow them to reach higher levels of active citizenship. References This week, we focused on two texts that introduced ideas surrounding transition in youth. The first piece I will discuss is called Stepping stones: A resource on youth development. This is a document provided by the government of Ontario that gives critical information regarding different changes and life stages one can expect young individuals to go through during adolescence. While reading the first section of this text, I became more aware of the specific types of changes a person goes through during their time at school. The domains of youth development are categorized as cognitive, emotional, social and physical. This literary piece provides amazing information on the actual scientifically described physical and emotional causations for change, but also provides an interesting understanding of how context and individuality affects one’s development. I found it very helpful that the authors made clear to the reader how changes each person goes through is dependent on personal experiences and is not the same for everyone (even though there are some changes that can be expected in the majority of students at different ages).
While reading, I found myself re-thinking the experiences I had gone through as a teenager, and how I often feel I am still in a moment of transition myself. Looking back at 14 year old me, I tend to find myself apologizing to my parents – I was extremely emotional and often did not know how to express myself in a positive way, making life at home a bit tense to say the least. It’s somewhat relieving to know that my experience was common, and that I wasn’t a freak for having an array of troubles during my transitions as a teenager. I also see myself now, as a 22 year old, reflected in a lot of the transitional expectations for youth. The transition from a degree in biology to education has definitely been rewarding and challenging. I spent the last four years learning so much, but the way I learned varies greatly from how I am expected to learn in this program. For example, I think I have done more reading in the past week than I did for my entire science degree. There is little self-reflection in biology, so having to really question myself, who I think I am and what I expect from myself has definitely been interesting and challenging. Also, the social aspect of this program has taken a bit of getting used to. I have had the same best friends since grade 9, and did not participate as much as I would have liked to during my undergrad. Not only talking to new people, but being able to make a personal friendship-based connection has, quite honestly, frightened me a bit. I almost feel more confident trying to bond with students than with my peers. I just hope that over the next few months I am able to break out of my shell and hopefully exit out of my transition stage as a more well-rounded and approachable individual. This text has not only allowed for self-reflection of my transitions, but it also made me question how I will approach my students when they are having difficulties in transitioning through youth (much as I did). I hope I will be seen as an understanding ally, but I still wonder about situations that will occur where I will not know how to respond or help. I want to be approachable, but what if I don’t know how to handle questions or difficult situations my students are experiencing? Also, I wonder how my students will vary from the cookie-cutter developmental maps presented in the paper, especially being in an urban school setting where life experiences of some students may be particularly impacting or hard to deal with. Will I be ready when the transitions do not perfectly align with what is expected? These questions lead me to discuss the next piece we examined this week, a video titled The Before Project by Terrence Brown. In this video, a small group of 11 year olds were asked a series of questions that allowed them to reflect on their lives, many of which were related to the developmental events presented in Stepping Stones. An array of the questions asked were related to what it’s like to be an 11 year old, personal experiences and different types of relationships. First and foremost, I found watching this video so intriguing because I personally have no recollection of what I thought about the world when I was 11 years old. I loved that the creators of the video made the voice of these young people a priority. Often, the voices of youth (especially pre-teens) are hushed – there is an overwhelming social idea that if you’re young, you don’t know about the world. Well, within the first minute of this video, I could tell that was not the case. It was amazing to me how much these kids knew. They weren’t just concerned with the facts like knowing their ABCs or how to multiply; they were forming opinions and feelings regarding serious world issues and were reflecting upon themselves, their beliefs and their place in the world with incredible insight. A lot of the things that stuck out to me relate to the different domains of youth development presented in Stepping Stones in one way or another. Many of the questions were reflective of changes that could be occurring for these kids at this point in their lives. For example, questions around relationships (whether they be romantic, familial or friendship-based) were asked and discussed. Through the children’s responses, we get a better understanding of the life stage each individual finds themselves in. Also, one can see that relationships, and how the kids experience them, change as they transition from child to teen. I could also see how emotions are altered as individuals reach a certain point in their lives. One thing I noticed in particular was how each child reacted when being asked questions around the topics of bullying or fitting in. It seems that all the students, regardless if they were perceived as “popular”, are concerned about not fitting in or being picked on. It just goes to show how fragile youth can be during stages of transition and how issues surrounding self-esteem and peer relations are critical to address in any classroom or community setting. Issues of inclusiveness affect all individuals and should be priority in a classroom regardless of the subject being taught. Moreover, I noticed a strong interconnectedness between different developmental domains. Certain responses in the video helped me realize that the changes individuals go through in one aspect of their life are always somehow connected to other changes in that person’s life. One example that stuck was when a very funny 11 year old boy was talking about how girls have become obsessed with guys being able to grow mustaches. In this situation, it can be clearly seen how the physical changes of an individual can be linked to relationships or social changes. I found the video also demonstrated how the self/spirit and the environment really play into the lives of individuals. All of the kids seemed very similar in some ways, but were all also very individual. Each was at a different stage of emotional, social and physical development, and each had different ideas to share. This is due, at least in part, to the difference in their spirits and their environments. References Brown, T. (2014). The Before Project. [Documentary short]. Retrieve from http://terrance-brown-hl8j.squarespace.com Government of Ontario, Youth Development Committee. Stepping Stones: A Resource on Youth Development |
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March 2017
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