BlogPost Power & Control in American Education
Weighing out the pros and cons, do you think No Child Left Behind is a good or bad thing? Talk about an experience where testing has determined if you pass a class, was for college credits, could prevent you from graduation, etc that would be different had this act not been put in place. (ap tests, ogt tests, etc for ex).
Use the attached video link and Sawyer Chapters 8 and 9 for guidance.
(~250 words) Assignment Due in class Tuesday 20 November (LCs I, II, III, IV)
BlogPost Queer Theory
Please consider this quote: “By continuing to live within prescribed linguistic and behavioral matrices, the hierarchical binaries of male-female and gay-straight remain unchallenged. This work of dismantling socially invented categories is necessary to create educational spaces that liberate and create opportunities as opposed to limit and closing down the diversity of the human experience” (24).
How can we, as educators, work to “dismantle these socially invented categories?” In other words, how can educators create a classroom that is inclusive for all, regarding gender and sexual identity? How can we combat the prevailing heteronormative standards in the education system? Please provide examples based on your own experience.
(~250 words) Assignment Due in class Tuesday 13 November (LCs I, II, IV)
BlogPost Multicultural and Multilingual Education
How are the experiences of African American students different from the experiences of Irish American students? How are they similar? How can we take steps to eliminate prejudice against all groups of students in the American education system?
(~250 words) Assignment Due in class Tuesday 6 November (LCs I, II, III)
BlogPost Service Learning
Real world experience for students through service to the community is important for many reasons including the need to bring important social services to the community especially where there are recognized gaps in underfunded government programs.
Another reason for service experiences is to enhance the learning, understanding and empathy of students engaging in service. It is assumed by many that through service, students often expand their critical awareness of societal inequalities and further their commitments to taking action in the world to effect real change.
At the same time, scholarship in the area of service learning has demonstrated that these experiences can actually advance the cultural biases of students participating in service.
1. Please describe the several examples of cultural bias described by Dunn-Kenney (2010), one of the two readings assigned for this week.
2. Next, recount your own service experiences associated with ED253, including descriptions of the what, where, when, how, and why.
3. Consciousness raising occurs through serious self-reflection. This is not always a straightforward and comfortable process. After taking the time to reflect on and recount your experiences in service, discuss instances where you have witnessed and/or experienced “aha” moments of consciousness raising (your own and/or your peers in service).
4. As you are becoming more awake to the world through self-reflection, what are you learning about your service, what are you learning about yourself?
(~500 words) Assignment Due in class Tuesday 30 October (LCs I, II, III, IV)
BlogPost Critical Pedagogy & Paulo Freire (LCII)
As a teacher, how could you effectively use both the banking concept and problem posing method in your classroom? Provide examples of previous teachers you had and how they demonstrated these methods.
(~250 words) Assignment Due in class Tuesday 30 October (LCs II, III, IV)
BlogPost Equality of Educational Opportunity II
(LCIV)
Have you ever felt like an outsider in the classroom due to your race, culture, religion, gender, sexuality, viewpoint, etc.? If you have never felt this way, have you seen a similar situation of discrimination play out in your service site or elsewhere? Please describe this experience.
How did this experience of feeling like an outsider interfere with your own educational experience? Did you feel like you were at any sort of disadvantage? How do these experiences relate to the discussion about equal educational opportunity and student diversity?
(~250 words) Assignment Due in class Tuesday 16 October (LCs I, III, IV)
BlogPost Wide Awake — LCIII
In Support of the Teacher Strikes
“The key question for teachers everywhere is whether they are organized enough to channel the energy sparked by West Virginia into fighting for greatly expanded support for public education and a broader political turn away from austerity and privatization.”
“The state already is boosting teacher pay, even as some teachers earn more than the average working family income in their area.”
Would Maxine Greene say that teachers today are organized enough to be able to speak out for their beliefs or do they feel too dominated to follow West Virginia’s lead? Are the teachers being “wide awake” by going on strike, or are they just doing whatever the union tells them to? Relate Greenes’ definition and opinions on wide awakeness with these two articles to come up with a blog post that answers the proposed questions.
(~250 words) Assignment Due in class Tuesday 9 October (LCs I, II, III)
Resource: link to LCIII LX notes
BlogPost Equality of Educational Opportunity 1 (LCII)
Having gone through the lessons today, incorporating the knowledge of chapters three and four, how does the Sesame Street video appear to you? Is there anything that you notice now that perhaps you did not prior? Please elaborate upon the three models within your answer.
(~250 words) Assignment Due in class Tuesday 2 October (LCs I, II, IV)
BlogPost John Dewey (LCI)
“I believe that this educational process has two sides – one psychological and one sociological; and that neither can be subordinated to the other or neglected without evil results following” (Dewey 215).
Provide an example of a teacher who relied on psychological factors rather than sociological factors or vice versa. How would Dewey respond to this teacher? How could the teacher improve?
(~250 words) Assignment Due in class Tuesday 25 September. (LCs I, III, IV)
BlogPost Neoliberalism
Writing in paragraph form, transform your document analysis of How School Choice Turns Education into a Commodity. The Atlantic. 17 April 2017 into a post for your WebLog. (~250 words) Assignment Due in class 13 September. (LCs II, III, IV)
Resources:
- Spring (2018, p. 7-10) Secretary of Education, Betsy Devos
- What is School Choice? | The Heritage Foundation
- How School Choice Turns Education Into a Commodity — The Atlantic | Jason Blakely, 17 April 2017 –> this is the Google Doc
- Blakely, J. How School Choice Turns Education into a Commodity. The Atlantic. 17 April 2017. –> As the article appears online at the Atlantic.
- –> Facing History Document Analysis PDF (This is a pdf version guaranteed to open)!
- Document Analysis | Facing History
- George Monbiot, Neoliberalism – the ideology at the root of all our problems. The Guardian, 15 April 2016
WebPost1: CLASS SURVEY
Personal information
- What name do you prefer to be called? Do you have preferred pronouns?
- Hometown and photograph of you (inserted in your blog so we can connect you with your name).
- Grade level and subject(s) that you want to teach.
- What are you into; what makes you special? Share a few “unique” aspects about yourself that would help our classroom community get to know you a bit more. Are you on an athletic team? Sing in the choir? Are you trying out for a play? Painting? What are you planning on doing this semester in your life that is noteworthy?
- I want to know what matters most to you. To this end, please share with the class an essay that is essential to your interests. (Include the reference/link to the essay [chapter, article, website] and a few sentences about its significance to you).
- Which course-approved service activity did you enroll in through CSSA’s registration website? To enroll follow these links:
Learning Style and more:
7. Being as specific as you can, what must be in place for you to feel comfortable taking intellectual and creative risks in a college classroom?
Education Past and Present
8. Please discuss what are, for you, some significant issues or concerns facing the field of education right now.
About Dr. Shutkin:
9. Write down a question or two that you would like to ask me about myself or the class.
Now that you have completed your first blog post, please publish it to the Internet and send the address to me in an email message. Use the email address you would like me to use to communicate with you this semester.
Thank you and all good things,
Dr. Shutkin
Welcome to ED253 School & Society -- Dr. David Shutkin 