When exploring the question of how youth identities and literacies challenge normative beliefs about what it means to belong in a classroom, each of the papers describe similar ideas from different angles. The first paper, Caught in a Transnational Nexus: Teacher Practices and Experiences in a Context of Divergent Ties to the Homeland by Naomi Lightman, the effects of transnationalism in Canadian education are studied with focus on secondary schools of the GTA. Although it was hard to make strong conclusions from this paper due to the minimal number of sampled individuals, there were some very interesting observations made regarding the effects of transnationalism on student identity. I found it interesting how the author was able to clearly indicate that immigration to Canada is often looked at in two separate ways; first, as an economic opportunity for wealthy immigrants to gain a good education in plans to, one day, leave Canada, which is the most common perception of Canadian immigrants; and second, as an opportunity at a ‘better life’ than one could find in their home country, which is not as often associated with secondary level education, but rather directly with the work force. From my experience, I have always been aware of these stereotypical groupings, but I have become curious how these students – both immigrants, but of different circumstance – would experience schooling in Canada. Socioeconomic class plays a major role in how transnationalism is perceived in schools and how people will experience their education in Canada. In some ways, all people who have immigrated to Canada undergo similar experiences; nonetheless, individual circumstance still would play a major role in the way students adapt to school (and life) in Canada.
The experiences students have undergone directly affect their self-identity and therefore affect the ability for these individuals to identify as Canadians in their own right. In this research, Lightman has found that many students often identify more closely with their homeland than with Canada. That is, by identifying so closely with their place of origin, students will in turn identify less with Canadian culture and people. Although diversity can be a strong asset in classrooms, one may also say that through strong and somewhat isolated nationalism, acceptance of others could be lost, and boundaries could be built. A lack of connectedness to Canada could, in turn, lead to a lack of connectedness in the classroom. But, in another sense, people may find the classroom is the only place they are able to find and connect to other people in and outside their cultural groups. When entering a country with different cultures, languages and people, having a stable group of like-minded individuals, which could be found in some schools, could help with adapting to a new life. This leads to another observation that was made in this research paper. There was differing opinions on the importance of multicultural frameworks in schools within the GTA. One argument is that people’s individual cultures should be less focused on, which in turn would allow for “negative ethnic and racial stereotypes held by the students” to be tackled in a positive way. Although I understand the logic behind this argument, I must say I disagree that ignoring culture will help limit harm. This reminds me of the “colour blind” argument often used when discussing racial inequality. No problems of inequalities nor stereotypes will be solved by ignoring the issues. Furthermore, race and culture should be celebrated in the classroom. Although we should work toward creating an environment where students are more comfortable expressing the portion of their Canadian identity, their histories and homeland identities should not be forgotten. The second argument, which better aligns with my views, is that transnationalism should be incorporated into the classroom, making the discussion more relatable and helpful for students. By doing this, children could become more comfortable in expressing themselves, thereby allowing them to rethink who they are and how their experience plays into their identity. By creating an inclusive classroom that celebrates diversity, students can learn to be accepting of one another, crossing the boarders of race and becoming a new community. This process, however, should not be simplified. Many factors, including Canadian and International perceptions of transnational experiences, dictate how individuals are perceived and treated. Teachers should understand that they are not trained to save every student who has faced issues in their life. Also, the Canadian identity students often struggle to find should not be forgotten. Teacher’s face a constant balancing act between inclusiveness, awareness, student development and appropriateness that requires them to be aware of individual circumstance and social expectations. Student Identity and it’s relation to social inequality is further examined in the paper Toward a Critical Pedagogy of Engagement for Alienated Youth: Insight from Freire and School-based Research by Peter McInerney. More specifically, McInerney discusses the presence and causes of student alienation in schooling. Many of the arguments for the causes of alienation of all students can be applied directly as possible causes of identity disconnection for immigrant students (as seen in the first paper). Alienation occurs for students who are disconnected from their studies, feeling that the content has no relevance or importance to them in their own life. Causes of alienation are found in deeper social issues, often relating to power inequalities in the schooling system. Social and economic conditions trickle down to the level of student-teacher interaction and power differentiation is often used as a tool in classrooms. This creates an environment that could lead to further student alienation. Policies are still implemented in schooling systems that support ideas that students are trouble makers that must be controlled by their teachers. When student’s behaviour is constantly seen as a problem that needs to be fixed, and their thoughts are never considered or incorporated into curriculum or classroom activities, individuals are then unable to see value in their own thoughts or actions, leading to internalized loss of self-worth, self-identity and human agency. As is also seen in Sit Still and Face Foreward, teachers are often only seen as effective when they have a mastered “classroom management”. In these cases, teachers feel like failures if they are unable to ‘control’ their classes and individuality of students is not considered, thereby ignoring human agency. Yet, the ‘uncontrollable’ students are often those who have no interest in being at school due to the social alienation they have experienced. As one can see, alienation is a circle that continuously spins, powered by stereotypes and labels given to the ‘unruly’ youth. This de-humanizing powerlessness that can be experienced by youth in traditional classrooms is even further engrained in hierarchical boundaries of race, class and gender. Teachers should be leaders of a classroom, not controllers. The voices of the students should not be hushed, but rather encouraged. When students contribute to what is being taught, they are able to realize their self-importance. Also, everyone, including teachers, can then learn more – learn from different people with different levels and types of experience. In a sense, I think inclusion and expression is a form of class management; however, unlike traditional practices, the students are not behaving because they need to, they are behaving because they want to. They are less focused on attempting to get out of doing work (cause by the alienation they feel in the classroom), and more focused on wanting to academically and socially contribute because their voice, maybe for the first time, actually counts. In urban schooling, where, most often, almost all students are minorities in some form of the word, I can only imagine the importance of creating a classroom setting that provides a platform for students to create their own ideas and voice their own opinions. In a society where students already feel alienated, internalized feelings of hopelessness and self-oppression already exist. The classroom is not an equal playing field for students. Some know they belong there; others only go because they’re required to (if they go at all). This is not because they are “troubled kids”, “at risk youth” or any other label. Most often, this is due to a society that continuously reminds them that they are not good enough. How, then, do we as teachers help students understand that they are able and deserving to achieve greatness? Students must be given a platform to express themselves – they must feel like they are contributing to their own knowledge rather than “being passive recipients of some externally imposed curriculum”. Only when students feel like they belong and contribute to a classroom will social alienation be able to be minimized. I hope that when I am faced with students who have experienced alienation for themselves, I am able to understand how their personal experiences have contributed to their perception of school. I know that patience, empathy and respect will be critical in order to build a relationship and gain trust from the students I will work with. By showing students that their voices, opinions and ideas matter, they will then be able to create an environment of comfort that promotes an acquisition of knowledge. References Graham, E. (2015, August 14). "Sit still and face forward": How the myth of teacher control undermines classroom management. Retrieved August 31, 2015, from Living in Dialogue: http://www.livingindialogue.com/sit-still-and-face-forward-how-the-myth-of-teacher-control-undermines-classroom-management/ Lightman, N. (2014). Caught in a transnational nexus: Teacher practices and experiences in a context of divergent ties to the homeland. Citizenship and Education Research Journal, 4(1), 29-40. McInerney, P. (2009) Toward a critical pedagogy of engagement for alienated youth: insights from Freire and school-based research. Critical Studies in Education, 50(1), 23-35. (also for 3150)
1 Comment
linda radford
10/17/2015 09:12:28 pm
Thank you for this thorough response to all of the readings. Like you, I agree that transnationalism needs to be incorporated into the classroom. Your final point of how classroom environment makes a difference in student engagement and achievement is also key!
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