Public schooling needs a Revolution

From Bad Boys: Public Schools in the Making of Black Male Masculinity

Sometimes I really hate going into work because of the jail-like feeling I get when I walk in there. No windows, security guards everywhere, metal detectors, surveillance cameras at every corner and authority figures demeaning students every chance they get. I’m not even a teacher yet and I’m so sick of this system that Ferguson describes. It’s not individual; it’s institutional oppression that allows for all these school laws to be maintained. Like Freire stated, “it is men themselves who are filed away through the lack of creativity, transformation, and knowledge in this (at best) misguided system.” (p. 312) How can we expect men and women to develop if no one from the top is there to challenge this flawed system. Radical schooling doesn’t work with all its rules that seek only to maintain the dominant group’s view in society. There is this constant struggle for power in schools amongst teachers, parents, and administrators. Why does this have to be so? I see constant power trips by administrators who seek to control their immediate surroundings, including the students and teachers; so that they can run the school the way they see will provide a better learning environment. “Conformity to rules is treated by school adults as the essential condition for any classroom learning to take place. Furthermore, rules bear the weight of moral authority.” So, students should assimilate into the dominate culture, even though their culture, language, SES, and history is completely distinct from this dominant white culture that they should follow. I know that it’s important to have structure in a classroom and rules laid out so that student understand what it takes to make the most productive learning environment but there is something wrong when teachers label students as “good,” “bad,” or “troubled” and treat them accordingly to these labels, which are bases on whether or not they follow the rules. This leads me to ask: how can teachers be more objective towards their students? Is this even possible? We can at least try.
I really like that Ferguson documents what is going on in the classroom in regards to management. It makes me check in my own words and actions because I want to make sure that I don’t single any kid out or that I don’t demean them in any way, even the most slightly. How can teachers be more understanding of these “cultural modes of expression?” Students are fully aware of our intentions and know when they are being disrespected no matter what tone or type of language we use. What can we do to minimize our own personal feelings that could get in the way of how we treat students?
I think MPS needs to be dissolved and revitalized...the system is so flawed it is doing more harm than good to the development of students of color. Instead of instilling a positive self-identity, it perpetuates this savage cycle of oppression and poverty.

Racial Identity Formation

Racial Identity Formation and Transformation
Ward
I enjoyed reading this article but I want to know about identity formation of girls of color who are in inner-city high schools since that is the population I will be teaching. I wonder if African American women in these settings still see themselves as a member of a devalued group as the girls in this study felt. Generally do they have a positive sense of self? I think its important to prepare these young men and women of the inner-city in dealing with demographics that are unlike their own. This means they have to have a strong self-identity so that they don’t lose who they are wherever they go. I understand that people change and transform over time with different experiences but it’s important for a woman of color to understand that they will be dealing in settings that are highly competitive. The reason I say this is because I went through the same thing in high school and I didn’t have a support group of teachers or friends who could provide the necessary skills and resources for me to cope with these issues. Also, I don’t think I had a clear grasp on who I was myself and therefore I began to question who I was and measured myself according to the white standard.
I felt that I could relate to the experiences these girls went through but my high school context was different. Although I went to a diverse high school I was constantly dealing with trying to stay true to myself and my culture all the while being successful in school and sometimes being looked at as “white washed.” It was hard trying to fit into both domains especially when I as involved in DECA, an association of marketing students, and was a State Officer. The position put me in a role where I had to travel all over Wisconsin and facilitate workshops and get to know other marketing students. It was tough because I dealt with groups of people whom I wasn’t familiar with, especially because I lived in the inner-city all my life and I wanted to fit into both worlds. I had to learn the hard way and I hope that when I become a teacher I can instill a global perspective on my students so that they know how they can contribute to their own community and how they fit into society. I'm not exactly sure how that will look like or how I can implement something into my curriculum

Emergent Middle School

From the Emergent Middle School
William M Alexander

At first this article started off a little dry and a bit outdated but as I got through the article I realized he was making a lot of valid points that still play out in our educational system today. Alexander was calling for a reform in the transitional period for youth who are “standing at the threshold of puberty.” (160) He advocates that middle school should serve students between childhood and adolescence which is what an emergent middle school will provide. Specifically it is a “school planned for a range of older children, preadolescents, and early adolescents that builds upon the elementary school program for earlier children and in turn is built upon by the high school’s program for adolescence.” (160) Isn’t this what the middle school of today is? It sounds good on paper but what we have now I don’t think reflects Alexander’s basic ideas. I also think his aims were too vague but I did like the point he made about personal development and appropriate attention to the development of values. (161) Since this is a critical time for youth I think its important that they start looking into themselves to see where they fit into society. I think it’s also important for teachers to start looking a middle school not as some short transition period but fully dedicate themselves to them. I just think, for myself, that I cannot teach middle school because it’s not an environment that I can easily handle but that’s only because I’m not educated on matters of puberty and what they really have to go through. Yeah I’ve been through this myself but don’t feel like I am equipped for dealing with it now partially because I’m afraid and also because I hated that environment myself and don’t really want to deal with that again. I should seriously start looking into why I feel this way instead of giving middle schoolers the shaft.
My favorite point in this article was the tremendous lag between research results and teacher implementation of these recommendations. Alexander states that “there is a twenty-five year lag between what is available of valid scientific knowledge and its functional application in the educative process.” (162) Why does this have to be true? Why are we still facing transforming the middle school and we can’t decide what works best. Well not one thing can work for all but there is plenty of emerging research about the transition between childhood and adolescence and what needs to be implemented isn’t something complicated; its just some individualized attention to the needs of the student, especially with issues of puberty and self-identity.