Three Article Selection
Peanut
includes: Standard Gaps: Unintended Consequences of Local Standard-
Based Reform, Letting in the Sun: Native Youth Transform their School
with Murals, and the Hidden and Null Curriculum: An Experiment in
Collective Educational Biography. I would like to explore various
techniques used at the Twin Lakes Elementary school. The program’s
artist collaboration with classroom teacher and the teacher of Dine
language and culture all worked together on the moralization project
on behalf of the children of the school. These youths learned to
entertain a dream, carefully cultivated it and turn it inti a reality
through focused research of animal and plant habitats in the library
and through the execution of a series of preliminary drawings drawn to
scale. They also learned a great deal about their environment’s
landscape and the various ecosystems. One of my goal for my student is
for them to be able to construct representations of themselves and
others, and our physical and social environment. I would like to build
on this mural and moralization project by having students actually
create a student cultural organization which will operate
afterschool. This is where students will be able to broadcast
artifacts from various cultures such as food items, clothing, and
recreative activities.
I enjoy reading Standard Gaps: Unintended Consequences of Local
Standard-Based Reform by Sandholtz, Ogawa, and Scribner. This article
is special because for once the local district considered the needs of
their population and differentiated the standards to meet those
needs. The article even mentioned teachers’ disappointment when the
district decided to compromise and adopt state standards. It is not
often that educational leaders stand up for what they believe in
without suffering dire consequences. In this case the so call gap in
student performance and assessment were only in context to the state
standards which were very puzzling. I don’t blame the district for
modifying the state standard seeing that they were created by
professional organization such as the National Council of Teachers of
… whatever subject. These professional organizations rarely come in
contact with the populace they are creating the standards for. In
addition, they receive no oversight or evaluation from the federal
government. I definitely like this pragmatic approach by the
superintendent and the assistant superintendent in modifying the
standards and would like to know what else about the system we can
modify.
The first article on the Hidden and Null Curriculum was of particular
interest to me because they addressed many of the underlying cultures
and subcultures that exist within every school. In addition the
discussed the issue of power as displayed in and out of the classroom.
I can understand why there is Null curriculum. If the world’s
superpower glorifies the uprising of oppression against itself then it
would no longer remain in power. This country and many other countries
are governed mainly by white male. This fact holds true in spite of
the first black president currently holding office. Thus, my opinion
is that women, minority groups, and people who are of nontraditional
sexual preference and orientation would not be considered as
significant. Even higher educational institution fails to practice
what they preach. They themselves are constraint by their board which
is predominantly white males. For example unless you go to Howard,
Hampton university and study black race theory you would not be
introduced to the many contributions blacks have made to the building
of this country.
suzette cross
Garry,
Your response in relation to your creating a student cultural orgaination as an Afterschool program supports a discussion Erica and I had with regards to whether or not it is teachers' responsibility to teach students about their culture. Erica posed the question and my response was - absolutely Yes!
Personally, I believe that as teachers we are faced with so many teachable moments where the curriculum does not address and in all fairness, would be impossible to address, everything. Afterall, there are only so many hours in one day, and only so much we can cram in. In any case, because of the plethora of hidden curriculums within the curriculum, as teachers it is our responsibility to bring to light and life these things, in as far much as we can fairly explore them. Teaching is not only about following curriculums and rules, but also involves creating an awareness of self, aligning to one's historical background, current situation, and using all three to forge out a viable future. On top of that we have so many different types of parentage permeating our society that much is left up to teachers to fill in the gaps. I reminded Erica that we do so much as teachers in our classroom, and we do it so
automatically, that we may not be mindful of all the varying areas outside of the actual curriculum that we are covering.
We all know that every child enter our classroom with their own funds of knowledge. So, what we do with this prior knowledge is what really count. I love literacy and that's why I chose to teach it. However, as teachers we can do nothing but agree that at times, and quite frequently too, we find ourselves teaching outside of our content area. Elementary and Special Education teachers cover all subject areas as part of their duties. But single content area teachers also have to incorporate other content areas in their teaching in order for students to make a connection, expand on their existing knowledge, and get a bigger picture in as concrete a form as possible. As teachers we do this everyday, but, as stated above, it is so ingrained in us, so much part of us, that it remains mostly in the subconscious.
You want to explore culture with your kids in your school. That is great. I am quite sure you saw a need for it and decided to sacrifice even more of your time to oversee such a project. We know first hand that not enough attention, as you pointed out about tertiary educational institutions and the study of Black success, is not visible or spoken of sufficiently to youths of color, that they have something tangible by which to be proud of and aspire towards. Our text books sure leave these vital information out, and its not something students are privy to in their day-to-day operations.
Again I say, we have much "extras" to do as teachers. Thus, the hidden and sadly, null curriculum!!! --- On Tue, 3/9/10, Peanut <gco...@gmail.com> wrote: |
jasmijn quon
I think you make some valuable points and reminders about how the hidden curriculum aspects that we want to teach in regards to the child's development and the gaps in our curriculum and society is in our subconscious.
I believe that we all have the best intention for our students, so some of the positive hidden curriculum that we want to expose our students to must come through the teachable moments, as you/Suzzette addresses, as well as throughour actions and speech; children pick up on what we pay attention to, what we address, and what we say (we all know that!), especially whenit is not in the "formal" curriculum. My students seem get my intended and inferred lessons much faster than the formal ones! However, I think that in life, there is a lot of hidden curriculum lessons to learn, both positive and negative, and it relates to reading the world (Frerie!). We will always need this skill of seeing the underlying lessons for work, politics, etc. These are actually somewhat similar to learning experiences, and to me, seem to be the sort of lessons we might learn in life.
I do know that within the texts we have read, the hidden curriculum refers to the fact that the school institutions provide more than convey formal content knowledge, for the social norms and values and beliefs are transmitted within social interactions within schools. In thinking about this, this also makes me wonder how children might also set these up in their social worlds, which they must gain from their world learning experiences and social behaviors outside of school. I think that children send strong hidden curriculum messages about social acceptance and social inequality, which could be possibly reinforced by us teachers and staff at school. I think these messages could range from grades and differentiated groups to who is popular and within social circles or the teacher's helper, etc. Maybe I have the wrong idea about the hidden curriculum, but it seems to me that these ideas could very well be part of this phenomena, for the hidden curriculum is about knowledge gained via school within an air of negativity regarding injustice and inequalities (Ahwee et. al). What I mean is that these practices could be reinforcing the social inequalities through how we group and what we compliment or praise in class, and thus reinforce the class and social status of students (class could mean social or it could be widened to mean level of students, maybe?) (Ahwee et. al).
I am just thinking and trying to figure these concepts out. What do you all think? Also, is my thinking on the right track with this concept?
-Jasmijn
From: suzette cross <suzy...@yahoo.com>
To: 1301-negotiat...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Wed, March 10, 2010 1:14:39 PM
Subject: Re: Three Article Selection
Nicole Salvitti
After reading your discussion of the ideas presented in many of the articles about the Hidden Curriculum, what stands out to me is Garry's discussion of the article, Standard Gaps: Unintended Consequences of Local Standard-Based Reform by Sandholtz, Ogawa, and Scribner. I feel that, like Jasmijn, I had a completely different take on the fact that the district actually created standards that were less demanding than the state standards so that their students could meet them. I feel so often that the educational system is built on the shaky idea that only "certain" students can meet a high level of academic success. In lowering the standards for students, mainly those of a lower socio-economic sector, aren't we then making the statement that we don't believe they can accomplish a high level of understanding? Therefore, by lowering our standards, I believe that our methods of teaching will not be at the highest level for the students. For example, as a special education teacher, in my undergraduate studies, as well as my work in the school, I am often told to lower the standards for my students, I am told that "they can't do it anyway, so why try?". However, I have found that the more I expose my students to a high quality curriculum that expects a lot from them, the more they are able to stand up and meet those standards.
What do you guys think? Maybe I'm reading it all wrong, which is why I guess this article is one that I should explore further, it would be interesting to me to see how other teachers view this idea of standards and their importance.
Garry, you also bring up another interesting article, Letting in the Sun: Native Youth Transform their School with Murals. I feel this is an idea that I would like to look into more, how much does the context affect the ability for individuals to feel connected to a space and how much does a space affect an individual's identity? Can a mural really allow for students and their families feel more a part of a place?
In regards to identity, I would also like to further explore the Blackburn article on queer youth. I find that article so intriguing because there has recently been a club at my school called the GSA (Gay Straight Alliance) that is supposed to create a "safe space" for the queer youth within he walls of the school. What is so interesting, however is just as Blackburn explains that the youth at the center do not allow for their true identities to come forth within the traditional school setting, in my school none of the students in the GSA identify as gay. So what is the answer? How do we open up our schools to include the multiple identities of our students if not in this way? Does the anti-gay (as well as the anti- multiple identities) ideals of traditional schools permeate through these clubs, regardless of the good intentions?
Peanut
I see your point regarding the lowering of standards in order for
students to meet them. This may be one of the hidden curriculum idea
in this second article. I agree that our expectation for our students
does affect their performance at times. The way you and Jasmin(e)
interpreted this article seems to be correct. I agree with your idea
that a high quality curriculum initiates success in most students. I
was more intrigue by the superintendent's reasoning that one size
doesn’t fit all. Kids vary significantly. To have one size fits all
world class standards would do a disservice to many children. Whether
he was sincere or not, I don’t know. The assistant superintendent went
on to say that the district's differentiated standards should result
in curriculum and instruction that accommodates the varying needs of
students, including both high and low achievers. Nonetheless, the
results of the research did show that like tracking, there were gaps
embedded in the district's standards that compromised the expressed
purpose of improving academic performance and equalizing educational
opportunity. However, when I look at the main premise that the article
started with I realize that there was a mistake in thinking that
creating state level standards would necessary raise academic
achievement. Moreover, these standards were poorly regulated by the
institution that decided we needed to nationalize the standards. I
think the district stance was noble in that they challenge the
hierarchy of power and I am always thrilled by that in spite of their
compromise in the end to adapt the state standards. Hope I didn’t
confuse you all.
> > ------------------------------
> > *From:* suzette cross <suzycr...@yahoo.com>
> > *To:* 1301-negotiat...@googlegroups.com
> > *Sent:* Wed, March 10, 2010 1:14:39 PM
> > *Subject:* Re: Three Article Selection
> > --- On *Tue, 3/9/10, Peanut <gcov...@gmail.com>* wrote:
>
> > From: Peanut <gcov...@gmail.com>
> > Subject: Three Article Selection
> > To: "1301: Negotiating Curriculum" <
> > 1301-negotiat...@googlegroups.com>
> > Date: Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 3:04 PM
>
> > The three articles that I would like to explore further
> > includes: Standard Gaps: Unintended Consequences of Local Standard-
> > Based Reform, Letting in the Sun: Native Youth Transform their School
> > with Murals, and the Hidden and Null Curriculum: An Experiment in
> > Collective Educational Biography. I would like to explore various
> > techniques used at the Twin Lakes Elementary school. The program’s
> > artist collaboration with classroom teacher and the teacher of Dine
> > language and culture all worked together on the moralization project
> > on behalf of the children of the school. These youths learned to
> > entertain a dream, carefully cultivated it and turn it inti a reality
> > through focused research of animal and plant habitats in the library
> > and through the execution of a series of preliminary drawings drawn to
> > scale. They
>
> ...
>
> read more »- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
Nicole Salvitti
Reyna
I find your discussion of the article Standard Gaps: Unintended
Consequences of Local Standard-Based Reform by Sandholtz, Ogawa, and
Scribner very interesting. I agree with Nicole and Jasmine when they
argue that standards should not be dumb-down because we feel that our
students cannot meet a high level of academic success and I agree with
Gary and the thrill that exist when the hierarchy of power is
challenge. While reading the article I also found it powerful that
the district felt the need to negotiate the state standards to
accommodate their students. As a teacher on my fourth year of
teaching I find it fulfilling when I make decisions in my classroom
that sometimes go against what I am told by my literacy coach and the
administration. What makes it fulfilling for me is that I am not
changing things just to be stubborn but that I have a solid rationale
with evidence to support my decisions. Therefore I feel that as
educators, we should be open and prepare to challenge the mandates
that are thrown upon us.
At the same time however, I recognize that I may have bias that could
limit my students. Nicole’s statement that she has “found that the
more I expose my students to a high quality curriculum that expects a
lot from them, the more they are able to stand up and meet those
standards” made me reflect on my teaching - specifically this year.
It made me ask myself - how many times have I challenged authority
thinking that my rationale was correct when in reality I may have
limit my students? When comparing two of my Social Studies classes I
feel that while I am using the state standards to push and expose them
to “high quality curriculum” (to quote Nicole), I am not doing the
same with my other class because at times I feel that they will not be
able to handle it. This is noted in the way I conduct the classes and
the assignments that I give them even though they are both learning
the same content. I confess that all of this recently became clear to
me when I began to question why I enjoyed teaching and planning for
one class but not the other. Even though I feel that the two classes
started at the same level, one class is being challenge to an extend
that I feel pushed and challenge as an educator while with the other I
feel stuck and as if we are just going through the motions until the
year ends.
Therefore, this is definitely an article that I want to explore
further. I specifically want to know: how can educators make the
right decisions for their students? What makes those decisions
correct? What can educators do to ensure that they are challenging all
of their students?
Thank you so much for extending my thinking - I think being part of a
master program like ours and discussion like this begins to answer my
first question(how can educators make the right decisions for their
students?). The authors of Standard Gaps will find this opportunity
to discuss and reflect on our own teaching very valuable. They will
agree with the high level of expectation that is aimed at with these
online discussions - reading/reacting to what is read/ reflecting and
discussing it with others.
suzette cross
Reyna,
Your concern about the differences in methodology with your classes is, I believe, a concern we all have from time to time with our own classes. You definitely care about your students and teaching is not just a job for us at all. We care! With that said, please believe me when I say, that you are doing the best you can given the situations.
Let me expound on that. For this school year, I am teaching two classes - the first ever, as previous years I've taught three. One class is obviously at a higher ability level than the other. As such, I get to cover more grounds with them as well as teach them in a "different" way. Meanwhile, the other class has major behavioral problems and the same lessons go a lot slower, less ground is covered, and I have to heavily scaffold for them to more from one idea to the next. It is completely exhausting.
Is this how you are feeling? And aren't you also feeling like you're cheating the "slower" class? But guess what, you are not. You are doing the best you can with what you have. Within that more challenging class, are a few students who are fast pace learners and who inadvertently get dragged behind with the class at times. I feel for them. It is a challenge to differentiate at times because the class has so many issues which reflect on me as well.
But one thing I have learned along the way when my cohorts and I get together is that the same group of students who are struggling in my class, are doing way better in other content areas. Why? Well Moje speaks about it in FORUM when she spoke of identities. She said that students, "...use their identities to mediate meaning making opportunites in classrooms." What I interpreted from this is for example, if a student does not feel they are a strong ELA student, they may not invest much effort and/or time in doing well. They may just do enough to get by and "past" the class. Meanwhile, they may love math, see themselves doing mathematical things in the future, or just are stronger in math, and so who they are in an ELA class, maybe totally different from who they are in math.
Moje ask us as educators to also look at how we ourselves identify students in the varying content areas as opposed to how students identify themselves. My interpretation of this is that what we see potentially (or lack) in our students, it how far we may push them. Therefore, we are just as responsible for their feelings about their potential in that content area. We know all too well that when we push and encourage a child, we may see marvelous work because as we do these things, in essence, what we are doing is making this child see something in themselves they may never have seen or was ever told before.
Therefore, I challenge you to look at each of your class and ask yourself if your methodology for the class you feel you are underserving is valid or not? Are you really doing all you can for them, or, are you perpetuating the identities they have formed for themselves with the content(s) you teach?
|
|
Erica Tymeck
Nicole Salvitti
I love the discussion we're having regarding the differentiation in terms of the level of curriculum used in different classes. I am currently (and have been for five years now) a CTT teacher. In the past two years I have begun to realize what many f you are alluding to: most of my students truly BELIEVE they are terrible at either math, ELA or both. For many of them school has not been a successful place; I am told heart-wrenching stories about teachers who tell them they read "like a third grader", or are ONLY at a second grade level, even when they were in fifth grade. In math, I often have students who shake when they are asked questions, avoid eye contact for an entire hour and fifteen minutes, or act out whenever they do not believe they can do something in the class.
For these reasons, I spend nearly the first half of the year simply helping those students to see that they are in fact "good at ELA", building up confidence has been my ultimate goal for the past two years. What I have found is that students who had normally avoided assignments and hid from any in-class work approach it much differently, knowing that their abilities will be valued in some way (even if their strengths do not lie within the realm of print text and multiple choice questions).
I love how this fits with what Suzette and Erica bring up in regards to Moje's work surrounding identity. I believe that the school context can often shut children down, and in many ways I feel it is our job to create an inclusive environment that allows our students to feel more comfortable exploring more difficult content.
What do you think? How important do you believe confidence is in regards to a child's ability to learn "high level" material?
Reyna
Thank you for continuing to push my thinking further. I also really
liked Suzette’s question (Are you really doing all you can for them,
or, are you perpetuating the identities they have formed for
themselves with the content(s) you teach?) because I never even
thought about it. I am probably perpetuating the identities they have
formed for themselves as students. I don’t say content because I have
had conversations with their other teacher and all of them have the
same thing to say about this class. Therefore I have come to the
conclusion that this class have identified themselves as “passive”
learners. Reflecting on my methodology I am perpetuating that
identity. I admit that I have tried giving them different types of
assignments but then give up and go back to the “passive” teaching
method.
This discussion leads me to Moje’s discussion of identities. I
particularly liked when she stated that “people are positioned in
particular ways and take up those subject positions in particular way,
but [she] would add that as they do so, they enact identities that get
recognized(and subsequently, valued, devalued, or ignored)”. This
makes me think of my students prior experience with school and their
education. Being part of a school that follows tracking, these
students have been positioned in a low tracked class and
teachers(including me) have identified them as low level passive
learners (this is validated in the conversations I have had with their
other teachers). I admit that I also felt in this trap and perhaps
what made it easy for to fall was that this is my first year teaching
two classes from two different sides of the tracking spectrum - 804
and 808. (I usually teach classes that are fairly similar) Even
though at the beginning of the year I considered my two classes to be
at the same level, the reality is that I described one as lazy and the
other as a bit slow. Thus throughout the year I took no excuses from
my ‘lazy’ class and pushed them while I allowed for more leeway from
the ‘slow’ class. Nicole’s question at the end (How important do you
believe confidence is in regards to a child's ability to learn "high
level" material? ) put everything into perspective - in particular my
role in helping students gain that confidence. Students come with
their own funds of knowledge and that includes how they have
identified themselves. This identity which in a way is shaped by the
experiences and activities that teachers provide for them. I like
Nicole’s idea of helping students gain more confidence in who they are
as students from the beginning of the year regardless of the class I
have. Perhaps having that as part of my pedagogy will ensure that all
of my students are eventually pushed to their highest potential.
Therefore Moje’s article is another article that I want to explore
further, the whole of idea of taking on an identity “as one engages in
practices” would clarify for me how I can help my students gain
confidence and take up an active learner identity.
> >> --- On *Sun, 3/14/10, Reyna <Ms.reid...@yahoo.com>* wrote: