LEARNERS, COMMUNITY, AND CULTURAL NORMS
Students will demonstrate an understanding of the ways learners’ personal, family, and community assets and cultural norms can be accessed and should be used to foster educational equity.
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Most K-12 classrooms highlight very white washed and Eurocentric narratives, especially in English and History curriculum. One of the biggest takeaways from my Education coursework is the importance of culturally responsive teaching. This includes sharing a wide range of racial, ethnic, sexual and gender identities in classroom resources and activities, and inviting students to share their own cultural stories and experiences. By learning about cultures different from their own, students build empathy and a deeper understanding of the world around them - not just the narrow scope of the communities they grow up in. This is also so important because it normalizes talking about race and culture with young students. Students are very aware of different races and identities within their communities and in the media they consume, and schools cannot pretend that they don't. By celebrating all identities it builds confidence and enthusiasm in marginalized students. While this cannot entirely close the achievement gap, it can make students of all races and identities feel included in the classroom.
GENDER & SEXUALITY IN SCHOOLS REFLECTION
In this reflection I synthesized texts about expressions of gender, sexuality and culture in schools. This included the documentary, Precious Knowledge. The film centers around a high school in Arizona with a large population of Hispanic students. Within the school there is a elective curriculum called Ethnic Studies which provides a wide range of topics including race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality. The classes teach students to question authority and be skeptical about systems that are in place in addition to embracing their culture rather than allowing it to hold them back in life. The students find comfort and acceptance within these classes, as theorist Geneva Gay suggests, it emancipates them from prior thoughts of disdain toward school and encourages them to grow and try their best.
By allowing students to see themselves in their teachers and curriculum it allows them to better embrace themselves, their peers and their experiences at school. This helps students reach higher rates of success, confidence and enthusiasm in learning.
STORIES OF GIRLHOOD THROUGH HISTORY
This essay explores how girlhoods are expressed in literature between the late 1800s and 1900s Developments in attitudes toward children and girls in general though this 100 year time span greatly impacts how the characters are written to experience growing up and how we evaluate them in the present day. Not only has this impacted how we read these books from a lens of reflection, it also allowed girls at the time to better understand themselves and the changes and feelings they were going through. The more relatable culture and media there is for young girls to consume the more confident they can be in themselves and their experiences growing up.
This essay gives a small glimpse of the texts that were read in this course. The children's and YA books we read incorporated a wide range of racial and cultural identity. After reading each book I thought about how great it would have been if this diversity was mirrored in my own K-12 reading requirements. It is important that reading materials in classes show a wide range of identities that allow students to see themselves in the characters, learn about their own culture and those of their peers. This develops empathy and a wider understanding of the diverse world around them.