Teresa’s Ruby Two-Shoes
Comments on the Practice of Critical Pedagogy
The students I encounter everyday are my inspiration. I am privileged to see their bright faces at the beginning of every morning as I perform my ‘breakfast duty.’ If you recall, I told you at our last meeting at Barbara’s home that I see myself as a nurturer. I believe that is my calling in life. There are so many children who don’t have anyone who truly listens to them. So, I try to provide that little bit of care in that brief time I see them each morning. They need a hug, a smile, an ear to hear their concerns or celebrations. They need to be validated, to know that they are important, and matter in the world.
I will give you an example. Not too long ago, one of my second graders whom I work with in math class every day came by my duty station one morning. She related personal facts about a dad who was taken to jail because he was throwing things in her home. Apparently there had been a domestic situation in her home the night before. She matter of factly talked about how she took care of her infant sister while all of this was going on.
She just needed someone to listen. The responsibility she had on her shoulders was way too much for a little girl to have to deal with.
She is sometimes difficult to work with in class - not listening, off-task, with behavior issues. I gained insight into why she might not think school is so important. I gained a respect for her that I didn’t have before.
She carries a heavy burden for a young child. This transaction took only a few minutes, but we were both better off because of it. Her day had started on a positive note because she knew somebody, who didn’t have to, cared about her as a person.
I am equally privileged to have had people in my life who inspired me and helped me to believe in myself. Among them are my Starbucks crew, Charlotte, Corey, and Molly, who have become wonderful friends, and who lift my spirits each week, as well as, Jen and Brandi who keep the humor flowing so that the stress is not overwhelming. Our GSU cohort, and the fantastic professors who have made this year an exciting learning experience, will forever be cherished as well.
My favorite quote from this chapter (p.470) is that of Eleanor Roosevelt, “You must do the thing you think you can not do.”
After reading and reflecting upon Chapter 12, I know that this is what I have done all my life. Many of the stories in our book brought memories, sometimes painful, of the struggle that I have made to become the person I am today. In spite of setbacks and self-doubt, I have met the challenges along my life’s path. There have been many people who made that journey a little easier, most of whom were compassionate, loving, and talented teachers. They were teachers who helped me understand that I was capable. They were teachers who saw and helped me develop the possibilities that were locked inside my little girl’s brain. They were teachers who gave me hope that I could change my world.
As I read the comments of the teachers featured in our text, I realized that hope was the primary element that drove each of them. The love and respect that they expressed for the students in their classes reflected that hope. They carried that hope into action and fought for social justice, not only for the students but for themselves as well. They fought to change the world.
I became a teacher because I wanted to give back some of what had been given to me. This is what keeps me in the profession. In my own small way, I will continue to change the world, one student at a time.
Oh, My! The more we change, the more we stay the same.
The more I read about assessments, measures of intelligence, and every other kind of test, the more I realized that we (the teaching profession) are caught up in a viscious cycle. If your school is like mine, you spend your life testing. We begin with a screening of students when they first enter our school at Kindergarten. We administer the GKAP-R, the Basic Literacy Test, MAPS, STAR Rdg., STAR Math, CRCT, DIBELS, Weekly assessments in spelling, math, science, etc. There’s hardly a minute left to truly teach. We’re so concerned with making the numbers add up that I truly believe that we lose sight of who our students are.
When do we ever really teach authentically? It seems that everything we do in education is driven by ‘the Test.’ If we don’t make adequate progress our institutions, our students, and even our very jobs are threatened.
I could have sworn that the author was writing about schools today when, on page 215, she wrote “teachers were less likely to know their students well, and increasing numbers of parents didn’t speak English.” She could have been talking about our local school systems, but no, the date was 1890. I must say, it was interesting to read about the history of assessment. I’m sure that somewhere in the depths of my studies, probably way back in Ed. Psych., I’ve seen this before. I just never thought about it much. I’m too busy trying to get my students ready for the next battery of tests.
Yes, we need to know what our students have accomplished, but it seems that we are still mired in the early twentieth century model. It is easy to use test scores to justify casting students into different tracks. This can then become a caste-like system where students never have the opportunity to move out. They then have lived up to their potential. We have to be careful as teachers to be advocates for our students so that this doesn’t happen.
I have, so far, dwelt upon the negative. But I am encouraged when I read about the advancing of alternative methods of assessment such as projects and portfolios. I think this may allow us to once again genuinely know the students we teach.
Chapter ten challenges us to create a community within and without schools to promote positive relations with parents and students. I was intrigued with what I read and decided to look beyond the information presented in the book. I found it interesting to see that parent involvement is a huge piece of NCLB. Joyce Epstein was referenced in our chapter and is a primary contributor of strategies and information to NCLB for promoting parent involvement. There is so much more depth to her contribution than the six steps listed in CONCEPT TABLE 10.1 on p. 391. She is very knowledgeable about this subject. She is not only a graduate of Harvard and Johns Hopkins University, but she is a sociologist and the head of the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships, Johns Hopkins University.
I hope you will take a look at the web sites that I have listed below. They are all very interesting. I especially liked and recommend the last website listed. It is a lengthy URL but it leads to excerpts from a book titled, What African American Parents Want Educators to Know by Gail L. Thompson. Much of what we read in Chapter 10 was reiterated in this book. It is easy reading and well worth the time to explore.
http://www.nmsa.org/portals/0/pdf/publications/On_Target/family_involvement/family_9.pdfhttp://www.state.nj.us/education/title1/tech/module4/measurepartner.pdf Test for your own school to see if you have created a good community.
http://www.csos.jhu.edu/p2000/tips/index.htm TIPS FOR PARENTS Super sight for teachers to promote the bridge from school to home.
http://www.csos.jhu.edu/p2000/tips/tips_download_pdf/TOPS_TIPS/TIPS%20activities%20for%20web.pdf http://www.csos.jhu.edu/p2000/tips/tips_download_pdf/Blank/TIPStemplate%20elementary%20math.pdfA template to use for making your own home/school connection work.
http://www.csos.jhu.edu/p2000/tips/tips_download_pdf/helping%20hand.pdf
A sample of a language arts home/school connection - narrative writing
http://www.csos.jhu.edu/p2000/publications/family-reading-night.htmA great site for all kinds of help for teachers to promote community.
http://whttp://www.talesfromateachersheart.com/index.aspww.eyeoneducation.com/prodinfo.asp?number=7063-1 Short video about the relationship of a veteran and a first year teacher.
http://www.utpa.edu/orgs/mecha/nat.htmlMEChA referenced in FOCAL POINT 10.0 on pa. 406
http://www.mayorno.com/WhoIsMecha.html a little disturbing to read.
The emphasis of Chapter9 is school culture. As I read the chapter, I began to compare my own school to the attributes that were emphasized as creating the most positive school cultures. We have experienced many changes within the last few years. We’ve had three principals within the last three years. On top of that, the faculty has experienced a great deal of turnover as well. Needless to say our ‘culture’ is in question. It has been difficult at times to adjust to the changes each administrator has made, difficult to adjust to different personalities, difficult to adjust to different expectations. But perhaps, we are not in as much turmoil as is sometimes perceived.
By happenstance, a colleague and I had a discussion about this very subject. She attends another university and is also working towards her Ed.S. She reported that the research she had read indicated that a culture takes time to change. At a minimum it takes three years to influence a direction. A new administrator should observe carefully, introduce changes a few at a time, and support the staff while those changes take place. Otherwise, change is met with resentment and resistance. Unfortunately, we have experienced a new paradigm in an overwhelmingly short expanse of time.
There are many proposals for the coming school year that were identified in Chapter 9 as being important to a positive school culture. They include block scheduling, a bully prevention program, a security program that focuses on watchfulness and prevention, a plan for fewer interruptions, and a school council that strives to give voice to both students and parents.
Beyond these, we as teachers have to keep in mind the kind of effort that is required of students to be successful. We have to have high expectations. We have to value what students bring to school, in other words, value who they are and the unlimited possibilities they possess. We have to work towards having a caring school culture that will let every student know that we won’t let them fall behind. And, we must strive to have a rich curriculum that will challenge each student to excel.
It would be ideal if we could teach classes of fifteen students or less as suggested in Chapter Nine. Unfortunately, the state has already set the standard at 18 – 22. I also wonder if adopting the middle school model of school teams would make a difference. Regardless, I think that we may just be on our way to creating a positive school culture after all.
One of the purposes of this Ed. S. program, as I understand, is to develop our ‘voice’. Therefore, I am using that ‘voice’ to express a concern I felt with Paul Gorski at the recent conference at the Crimm Center.
I expected to learn a great deal from this very learned man. I expected to come away with strategies that would help me become a ‘culture warrior,’ and ideas to help me on my journey to changing my perspective on race and class. I envisioned a new me filled with excitement and energy to make a positive contribution to my profession and those I work with. Instead, I heard only these words, “I do this to piss-off my very conservative father.” My mind went crazy with questions. What does he mean? What argument does he have with his father? What kind of animosity do they share that would cause Mr. Gorski to make such a statement? What does this sentiment have to do with his visit to us tonight? Does the relationship with his father have anything to do with what he does as a profession? Why does he make the word conservative sound so reviled? Since his statement was made at the beginning of his presentation, every statement he made from that point on was colored with my curiosity. I had a hard time paying attention to his perspective as a result.
To be perfectly honest, he came across as a privileged, spoiled young man at that point. Was he engaging in his profession simply to ‘get back at’ his father for some grievance unknown to his audience? Was he truly sincere in his pursuit of social justice, or was his condemnation of Ruby Payne a way to make a name for himself in larger circles? I couldn’t help but think of the book that I had read for our book reports, RESPECT, by Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot. His comment seemed such a disrespectful denouncement of his father. Why would he bring his father into what he was saying to us? Why would he speak of him so disrespectfully? Isn’t there such a thing as family loyalty? Why would he air his family’s dirty laundry to us, a group of total strangers?
I found some of my answers in his dissertation, Racial and Gender Identity Development in White Male Multicultural Educators and Facilitators:
Toward Individual Processes of Self-development, found on his website, http://home.earthlink.net/~gorski/dissertation/discussion.html
Mr. Gorski writes, “My recognition of white privilege and power coincided with my determination to develop an introspective process for understanding and developing my white identity. With a recognition of white privilege, I set forth to explore its manifestation in my experience both culturally and historically. To this end, I have begun to reexamine cultural and historical aspects of my family, including the racial prejudice passed down from my grandparents to my father and the relocation tendencies of my parents in a quest to understand my whiteness within cultural and historical contexts.” I understood a little more about him from this and other statements in his dissertation. I also explored his picture gallery and understood even more. His only pictures of his father are found in the section titled, gorski-a-go-go. I was completely surprised at what I saw. He seemed to be such a ‘hip’ fellow, that is for the decade of the 70’s, certainly not what I expected to see as a prejudiced person. I guess my bias is showing through, now. I expected to see an old, fat, beer-gutted, tee-shirt wearing, white guy with a disgruntled look on his face, the exact image I had in my mind when I heard his words at the conference.
Gorski further states, “To be an effective educator and facilitator, I must constantly model a process of introspection and self-examination. It is no longer sufficient for me to ask others to invest themselves in self-reflective activities about what it means to be female, African American, Jewish or poor without simultaneously investing myself in such a process. As part of this process, I must recognize and openly take responsibility for the privilege (McIntosh, 1988), assumptions, prejudices and biases I carry into classrooms and workshops, and how these might affect my interactions with those I work with (Hidalgo, 1993). Likewise, I must examine my language and how it contributes to, or detracts from, my attempts to model an introspective process. Questions I need to consider include: 1) Am I speaking from my own experience instead of through generalizations?; 2) Am I taking responsibility for my perspective as opposed to projecting that responsibility on others?; and 3) Am I inviting discourse through my language or dominating discussions and alienating participants who do not identify with my experience?” These are certainly words we each have to consider on our way to changing our thoughts and actions towards becoming social justice advocates. But, perhaps, question number three must be in the forefront not only of our, but also Mr. Gorski’s , thoughts as we engage in culture and class discussions.
I thought it most interesting to hear Rhina describe Ruby Payne’s information base, that of her husband’s experiences voiced to her about his growing up. It seems that Payne should have written a biography of her husband instead of putting herself out to the public as an ‘expert’ on poverty. The article describes her as a middle class woman who did not have any of these experiences on a personal basis. I think perhaps she saw a good thing and took advantage of it.
A year or so ago, we had a staff development day where we participated in an exercise that had been developed by Ruby Payne. The presenters were from the county office, one black lady and one white lady. Both of them were very animated about the information they had read and received from a conference that they had attended. Both related personal experiences that they had in their lives. The exercise was uncomfortable to everyone because we were forced out of our comfort zones. Most participants went away feeling very confused and asking ‘what did we just learn here?’ I think in the zeal to address the needs of our community these ladies latched onto a well-known source, took the information as gospel, and failed to do thorough research.
After reading Gorski, I found the ideas for promoting a more equitable approach to poverty and class issues to be presented in his “tenets of an authentic framework.” The four principles include 1. acknowledgement of social issues, class,race,disability,gender, etc. 2. elimination of structural inequities 3. examination of policies such as high-stakes testing, tracking & disparity for bilingual education, and 4. strategies to eliminate classism within schools including student/parent involvement. This reminded me of the discussion in Diane’s class about the trend study, Racial and Ethnic Achievement Gap Trends: Reversing the Progress Toward Equity?, of Jaekyung Lee. I found one particular quote to be most appropriate, “This achievement gap in schools is often argued to have lifetime consequences, limiting opportunities for minority students in higher education, employment and earnings.” (p.2) It is most important, with regard to this assertion, that we pay attention to Gorski. The future of our student population is too important to be ignored.
The words used to describe culturally responsive teaching (CRT) are both exciting and hopeful. Words such as legitimacy of cultural heritage, builds bridges, socio-cultural realities, praise for one’s own and others’ cultural heritages, jumped off the page. As teachers, we are encouraged to teach the ‘whole’ child. CRT is what I believe to be the most valid and honest means for addressing the needs of every child. Through CRT we liberate each child to explore who they are and the culture from which they came. We endorse their efforts to develop the skills and talents that they possess in order to help them reach their future potential as educated human beings. I love the quote, “it approaches individual growth as an active, cooperative, and social process, because the self and society create each other…” I believe that each of us thrives in a safe and nurturing environment, a place where we can just be ourselves. CRT provides that sense of family, that sense of belonging, where we don’t have to explain ourselves or justify our existence. We all are free to develop into our ‘best selves.’ One of the teachers described in our readings was Raphael Diaz, a fourth-grade teacher at Alfred Lima, Sr., Elementary School in Providence, RI. He is described as having built a community within his classroom where all students receive support and encouragement. He sets the bar for students to reach high expectations, but in return they understand that it is their duty and responsibility to help each other achieve their maximum potential. He is an exemplary teacher to whom we can all look for a CRT mentor.
Critical Pedagogy is the “theory of education that calls for classrooms to be democratic and socially just communities.”(p. 273) I was thinking about this statement in regard to the stance we have taken at my school concerning bullying. We are now implementing the Olweus Bullying Prevention program that strives to prevent what I call injustice in how some students (and teachers) treat each other. We are trying to encourage positive interactions, as well as, to recognize those students who make the effort to promote peaceful resolutions to difficult situations. Paulo Friere describes critical pedogogues as those who “involve students in a constant dialogue that allows students to examine their experiences and act to improve the conditions of their lives - in school and out.”(p274) The Olweus program does just this. Daily class meetings provide time and a venue in which students can discuss issues that are important to them. They are empowered and respected. Others at my school say that the TRIBES program is similar and possibly a forerunner of Olweus. Both programs lead to positive classroom management and behavior.
Character Education was a program that was promoted several years ago. We had a thick notebook of daily lessons. There were tales of model citizens who were important in our history. Sometime later, we then spent lots of money with an outside company to try and tailor a positive behavior program that rewards students with CUBS slips. We have rules for every aspect of student school life. Some of them include RECESS, LUNCH, SOAPY(rules for the bathroom) and many others. When students earn a CUBS slip they are entitled to enter a drawing at the end of each week. If their name is drawn they get a prize. At the time, I thought that each of these programs was a move in the right direction. After reading this chapter, I’m inclined to think of these programs as coercion as described in the factory model of education. Students work for the reward but never internalize why they need to create structure and meaningful ways to behave and work with each other.
I still think there is merit in any program that strives to promote positive relations among students. But I will admit that I am so-o-o-o glad that the Lee Canter check-mark behavior program is gone! It was a terrible program and very humiliating to students. Everyone knew who the ‘bad’ kids were when their names were posted in the chalkboard and it was a pain in the p’tutty to keep up with for the teachers.
The ten steps that “Shor says encourage caring, democratic classrooms and represent power in action”(p.280-283) are worthy of every teacher’s investigation. I think it is so important to give students a voice in building a positive environment in which to learn and build social networks.
After reading Ken Goodman’s article, Pedagogy of the Absurd, I can never view the programs and traditional textbooks without thinking that we do a grave disservice to our students.
Reference is made in this chapter to the teacher shortage in the US. Each year in our district we have to commit to a contract earlier and earlier. Job fairs are held earlier and earlier as well. The teacher shortage has had a significant impact upon how our classes are conducted and what materials are chosen to provide the knowledge base from which we teach. I spoke of why I thought my own school chose to purchase a ’scripted’ program in my response to Goodman and on p. 133 of TtCtW, low and behold, the same view is asserted, “many decision makers see scripted approaches to reading as “damage control” in classrooms where teachers know little or nothing about teaching reading. It’s not surprising, then, that many urban school districts have adopted these materials.” I also believe it is because those same local school government heirarchies know very little about what is really being taught and what are really good programs to implement. On a higher plane, government interference with good teaching comes about when legislative bodies whose members have to answer to their constituents back home about what they are doing with their tax dollars, and how they are going to make schooling better for future generations, seek to justify their positions. Everybody has been to school and what worked for them should be ‘good enough’ for those coming behind regardless of whether it is sound or not.
I have hope when I see that authentic reading and writing may well be promoted through Readers and Writers workshops and teaching social justice through math and science. These steps take into account what students bring with them and help them to use what is in their repertoire. Programs like these help teachers to provide literature and take advantage of experiences from different backgrounds and cultures. They respect where each student’s knowledge base is from and allows them to build bridges from subject to subject and to their own lives.
I have one grave concern as I read this chapter, however. If you notice, almost everyone of the teacher examples are first year teachers. Why are veteran teachers not quoted or highlighted. Do Oakes and Lipton not think that older/veteran teachers are capable of being included? As we are learning in Diane’s class, does this make for valid conclusions from their resesarch?
