The Dreamkeepers

The Dreamkeepers by Ladson-Billings is a beautifully written book.   I felt quite touched by some of the things she writes about African American children.  I can also relate to some of the things she writes in her book since I am a minority myself.  I came to the United States as a graduate student.  I worked as a research assistant doing Molecular Biology research experiments, after finishing my MS.  I stayed at home for several years raising my family.  Never did I feel a sense of discrimination against me until now.  Now is when I am trying to get my foot in the door.  I am trying frantically to find a job in the school system in any capacity.  I wanted to see if I can be a teaching assistant and get some experience.  I thought while I get my formal training in education, I can work so that my tuition gets paid.  But all my attempts are of no avail.  I see a closed door, tightly shut in front of me.  I can say that I was very fortunate to find a long term substitute position in one of the upper middle class school districts.  But would this mean that I will find a long term position in this school district?  I sometimes doubt it.  But in any case, this blog post is not about me.  It is about the great teacher that Ladson-Billing is.  I can see how she has incorporated the social and emotional aspects of teaching in her book.   I particularly liked the comparison chart, Table 5.1 Conception of Knowledge, on page 81.  When I read it I almost felt that I am not ready to become a teacher.  I realize how I felt about knowledge as being “assimilationist” all the while until now.  It was like an eye opener.  It tells me that I need to change my own attitude towards teaching.  I need to learn to incorporate “Culturally Relevant” teaching when I become a teacher. 

Week 10: SPED

Eliminating Ableism in Education by Thomas Hehir was a very informative article covering three different disabilities.  I am familiar with the dual sensory impairment (Hearing impairment and Visual impairment) issues.  However, I haven’t come across people with Dyslexia. 

Massachusetts is one of the most progressive states in the nation when it comes to special education.  Personally, I was involved with deaf blind educator’s community for sometime.  I was extremely touched by the amount of effort these teachers put in their students.  I took American Sign Language (ASL) classes, level 1 and level 2.  I couldn’t complete level 3 which ultimately leads to becoming sign language interpreter.  My teacher was Mr. Keohane who is an excellent teacher of ASL and he has been involved with SPED for several years.  I took these courses at Perkin’s School for the Blind, located in Watertown, MA.   Perkins School of Blind has a history of 183 years.  It started out as a home setting in the year 1829 and went on to become a formal school in the year 1832.  Check this out:  http://www.perkins.org/   Helen Keller was one of the famous students who studied at Perkins along with Laura Bridgeman.

I agree with some of the things Hehir has mentioned in his article.  As an ASL student at Perkins, I got to understand how important it is for deaf or hearing impaired people to use signs.  Since hearing impaired (HI) people have one of their senses compromised they rely a lot on their vision.  They learn sign language immediately and use it efficiently.  Some of the deaf people are very proud of their signing skills and their overall ability to live in a hearing world that they refuse to wear hearing aids.  It is disheartening to see that ASL is not being used and the entire communication is becoming oral.  The HI students in school are forced to lip read and some of them also get cochlear implants.  Cochlear implants (CI) are sophisticated hearing aids where the CIs are implanted surgically inside a person’s inner ear (Cochlea).  While the new technology has its benefit the older deaf population continues to enjoy their communication through ASL within their community.

I also wanted to share this story I heard on NPR about Dyslexia and recent research on it.  Dyslexia is a learning disability, but new research suggests there might also be benefits

http://thedianerehmshow.org/audio-player?nid=15616

Week 9 Section D

The article Lesbian and Gay Adolescents:  Social and Developmental Considerations by Dennis A. Anderson was a complete eye opener to me.  I had never thought about the emotional aspects and the severity of it in homosexual population.  It was disheartening to know that teachers themselves tend to hide their identities since they don’t want to be discriminated against by other teachers or staff.  Gay/Lesbian students are too scared to make friends that are like them or go up to a teacher who is like them.  Gay/Lesbian students also can’t openly associate with other gay/lesbian friends.  I tried to put myself in their shoes and tried to empathize with them.  I also tried to imagine myself in middle school and realized how difficult it would have been if I had a different orientation.  I also want to point out that even in this day and age there are societies that are in complete denial of this issue.  I grew up in India and I don’t think anyone even talked about being gay.  I am certain gay and lesbian adolescents/adults existed then but no one identified them.  They would have lived a life of complete isolation or would have forced a different identity upon themselves.  I also did some research and found out that the homosexual teens commit suicide as a last resort.  In a country where doctors go to great lengths to save lives, in a country where we celebrate lives of disabled children and in a country where we accommodate special needs children in main stream classroom, reading about increase suicide rates among the homosexual population was very disheartening.  I want to share this video with you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdkNn3Ei-Lg

I was curious about the history, origin and other opinions so I searched on Wikipedia.  As a scientist I wanted know if there was any biological basis behind homosexual behavior. The following excerpts are from Wikipedia.

The American Academy of Pediatrics stated in Pediatrics   in 2004:
Sexual orientation probably is not determined by any one factor but by a combination of genetic, hormonal, and environmental influences. In recent decades, experts have favored biologically based theories. Although there continues to be controversy and uncertainty as to the genesis of the variety of human sexual orientations, there is no scientific evidence that abnormal parenting, sexual abuse, or other adverse life events influence sexual orientation. Current knowledge suggests that sexual orientation is usually established during early childhood.
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has stated "some people believe that sexual orientation is innate and fixed; however, sexual orientation develops across a person's lifetime". In a joint statement with other major American medical organizations, the APA says that "different people realize at different points in their lives that they are heterosexual, gay, lesbian, or bisexual". A report from the Center for Addiction and Mental Health states: "For some people, sexual orientation is continuous and fixed throughout their lives. For others, sexual orientation may be fluid and change over time". One study has suggested "considerable fluidity in bisexual, unlabeled, and lesbian women's attractions, behaviors, and identities".

Week 9 Section C

The article Sexuality Education and Desire: Still missing after All These Years, by Michelle Fine and Sara I. McClelland evoked mixed emotions in me.  There were statements and viewpoints and I strongly agreed upon and there were opinions that I totally disagreed.  As usual, I couldn't have a strong conclusive opinion at the end.  Simply put that I agree with AOUM (abstinence only until marriage) and disagree with its eight tenets (A through H).  It is worth noting here that the United States consists of people with different religious beliefs and cultural backgrounds.  We (The term we here refers to people in charge of policy making, politicians and teachers and all the people that can make a difference) can not decide on one policy and enforce it on everyone across the board.  But yes, as policymakers we can make attempts at educating teenagers.

The feelings of sexuality originate from a mixture of things as cites in the article.  It arises from living room, TV, internet, movies etc.  There are parents that try to pick appropriate movies for their children.  There are cultures where parents don't overtly indulge in PDA.  There are cultures where talking about sex is a taboo in this day and age.  Even I am not comfortable talking about sex to my daughter but I have a few more years to go since she is not ready to talk about it yet.  So the point I am making is that we need to look at the big picture and come up with a plan that works, a plan that addresses safety and a plan that is not imposing.

Having said that I do have some opinions on different aspects of the article:

• It was a sad finding that there is a direct correlation between women with mental retardation and pregnancy.  One would think that special needs children are protected and taken care of and they don't fall prey to the lust of predators.
• Also there is a direct correlation between high school drop out rates and teen pregnancy.  This points out to the fact that we need to better educate our women, empower them as well as spend money on them.  If government spent more on their health, education and empowerment than perhaps the unintended pregnancy rates can be brought down.
• It was shocking to find out that teen women were involved in crime more than teen men (Fine and McClelland, Page 303)
• I also wanted to point out that I don’t see abortion as a bad thing.  I will not share my personal thoughts but I come from a country where population is high (approximately 1.03 billion) I have heard of a few abortions in my extended family.  It is common and there is no controversy about it.  One thing that is disturbing is female infanticide and selective abortions of female fetuses in India.  There is a ban on ultrasound in major cities in order to prevent this type of genocide. 
• I wanted to share the policy of Republic of China where the government gives incentives for smaller families.  I am supportive of the Marriage Legislation and Promotion policy as described in the article Sexuality Education and Desire page 307.

http://www.unescap.org/esid/psis/population/database/poplaws/law_china/ch_record052.htm   

• I also didn’t feel very sympathetic towards the women that got pregnant.  I can understand if they were raped or were forced into sex.  But it is a common knowledge that you don’t get pregnant if you don’t intend to.  There are several ways you can prevent the pregnancy. In other words if one desires to prevent pregnancy right after intercourse one CAN.  Pregnancy is generally not by accident if you made conscious efforts to avoid pregnancy.  I feel it is irresponsible to treat sex as a recreation and then not clean up after that.  (I sincerely apologize if this caused any pain or hurt to anyone reading this) So this brings me back to education, if we talked openly about safe sex, we wouldn’t have as many cases of unintended pregnancy or abortions.
• I was disappointed by some of the ridiculous remarks in the article regarding AOUM content on page 309 under the section A Closer Look at the AOUM Content.  It is not fair to link nonmarital sex with disease and possible death.  It is terrifying, especially for teens to imagine death as a consequence of premarital sex.  It is also false to propagate the idea that sexual activity is dangerous to health. 

Week 9

Section A:  The article by Mandy Savitz-Romer & Suzanne M. Bouffard was a very crisp and clear article for college readiness.  It summarizes what exactly students would need prior to applying to college.  It is sad that students of color will perhaps not be rushing to their mail boxes as compared to the white students.  It would be ideal if each school system came up with a comprehensive plan ahead of time.  It would also be desirable to have these plans implemented as early as seventh or eighth grade as this would give the students an opportunity to start thinking and preparing ahead of time for their future education.  This would also give them an opportunity to set goals for the future.

I used to be amused when my daughter used to tell me in her Kindergarten year that she wanted to become a scientist.  Then one day she told me she wanted to become a chemist and one day she told me she wanted to become a dentist.  I wonder what happens to those teachers that instill these thoughts so early in these tender minds. Do they disappear?  No.  These teachers exist but their goals change.  They are now focused on getting their jobs done.  They don’t have so much time to show the caring behavior that we have been learning about in this course.  The room for creative thinking loses ground and perhaps everyone seems so engrossed in standardized test prep come High School years.  Can we slow down a little?  Can we re-think our policies and start over?  As we spend so much time in educating our “smart” students and preparing them for college we are perhaps forgetting about our “non-white” students.  We just need to equip them with the tools to reach their cherished dreams.

I found this really interesting article in the Atlantic magazine that I’d like to share here.  It is not directly pertinent to college preparedness but it talks about an education system in a country where educational standards are the same for each and every student which I thought would be relevant to our course.

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/12/what-americans-keep-ignoring-about-finlands-school-success/250564/

Section B:  Noah Rubin’s talk:  I thought it was really nice to have listened to Mr. Rubin talk to us.  He brought in a wealth of information and I wished I chatted with him after class.  One of the points that struck me the most was his caring attitude towards his students in his inner city school in New York.  I was touched by his gesture to buy fruits for them since he knew they were hungry and they couldn’t afford the food.  His gesture reminded me of the teacher Mr. Sosa in the article Teacher-Student Relations and the Politics of Caring by Valenzuela, A., pg. 111.  In this article, Mr. Sosa the band teacher cared for his students.  He realized they were poor and hungry.  The young kids needed food for their sustenance.  So Mr. Sosa put in his time, money, and energy and above all love and made taquitos for his students.  He won them over with his caring attitude.  And he served them taquitos without any expectations.  He showed the wonderful gesture out of love and concern for them. 

I see myself as doing something like this for my students.  I totally mean it.  I want to share one more incident that happened this weekend. This is about a student I had when I did long term substitute teaching at a high school.  As part of my conversation with the students I had found out that the student’s parents owned a Thai restaurant.  I had told the student that I like Thai food and I’d like to visit his parents’ restaurant some day.  He was very delighted and he thanked me for even thinking about it.  So one day I did actually visit his parents’ restaurant.  I was expecting him to be there since he had mentioned that he worked there on weekends.  However, on the day I visited he wasn’t there.  However I introduced myself to his mother.  She was very thankful that I visited with my family.  We had delicious Thai food for dinner that evening.  I could tell from my research and reading that this family value education.  For many of the immigrant families schooling is nearly the only ticket for a better tomorrow (see Carola Suárez-Orozco and Marcelo M. Suárez-Orozco, Children of Immigration, pg. 124).  They respect the teacher and they are happy to see the teacher.  They are hard working and their goal is to do well in this country.  At the end of the dinner the mother offered us complimentary Thai tea which I didn’t really want to have.  But at the same time, I am familiar with Eastern culture so I didn’t mean to hurt her feelings.  It is common in Eastern culture to be very hospitable to their guests and in this situation the guest was the teacher whom we respect.

Week 8, 3/20/12

Week 8, 3/20/12

This week’s reading was very interesting and elaborate.  I found both the articles useful.  When I read such articles, I feel I am on a road to some social reform and I wish I had the ability to bring one in.  The article by Valenzuela, A. brought about some very nice points that I had never thought of.  The students, parents and outsiders really view school as one unit.  But I felt after reading the article that the teacher’s blame the guidance counselor for inefficiecy and the guidance counselor feel that they don’t have enough support or resources.  What we need to understand here is that we need to take responsibility, we need to take initiatives.  By the term “we” I mean teachers, administrators and the staff in general.  If one doesn’t start one shall never gets done.  I felt a feeling of complacency in the overall attitude of the so called advocates of students.  It is imperative that the teachers make the student feel cared for and loved at school.  Teachers’ attitude to make the students feel bad about them can severely jeopardize their self esteem.  Students are not encouraged to ask questions and this makes them feel that they are stupid as per one of the students in that article.  One of the things that struck me was that the teacher blatantly expressed that she was not a social worker.  The teachers have to keep in mind all the time that it is because of students that they get paid.  The teachers’ job exists because of students.  A school won’t exist without them.  I have seen as part of my school years that some teachers are quite old and incapable of doing their jobs.  I feel bad about their physical conditions but they need to retire and enjoy their years after being in the teaching field for several years.  Instead they stretch out till they are quite incapable of working and the authorities will continue with the same teachers for several years.  I observe that here in the US too that some teachers are not able to function at their optimal but they continue to be there, they continue to dominate and they have a major say in who gets hired as a future principal.  It is clearly stated in the article that how the administrators are dependent on their subordinates and their willingness to cooperate. I felt sad to read that parents, PTA members and community advocates’ appeals are routinely dismissed. 

The article also touches upon dress code and ethnic differences amongst student population.  It was interesting to learn the term 1.5 generation.  This group includes students that immigrated to US very young but were not necessarily born in the US, so instead of second generation this group is called “1.5 generation” youth.  Whether the youth is second generation or first generation they tend to get so influenced by the American way of life that sometimes they tend to forget their origin, they forget all the hard work and sacrifices their ethnic parents have put in.  I enjoyed reading the different case studies.

The article by Dance, L. J. was an eye opener.  We all judge people by the way they dress up and of course their demeanor.  In teaching industry demeanor means a lot.  Teachers get hired based on how they appear and how they behave.  Truly speaking middle class Americans including my family lead a vey sheltered life.  We don’t walk the streets of inner city Boston especially after dark.  We are protective of our children and perhaps will never let them go to “dangerous neighborhoods” at night.  This may not be true for everyone but  I grew up in a protective family that cared for my well being.  So it's totally beyond my realm of things to imagine dealing with gangsters, teaching them let alone living around them.  If I were to live and fend myself on a day to day basis will I dress like one?  Will I prove that I am one of them?  Will I prove that I can kill someone if I have to, to survive the streets?  It is so difficult to answer these questions.  It is even more difficult for adolescents to make a decision for themselves.  Their brain is not completely developed, they lack good leadership and they don’t have role models.  This is not a generalization but it seems true for the cases presented in Dance’s article.  It was interesting to know the difference between “Hardcore”, “Hardcore Wannabe” and “Hardcore Enough”.  The youth under study don’t have a direction or goal.  The crime they commit are unintentional or accidental.  They perhaps don’t even have a good understanding of the consequences.  I’d like to share this article/story that I heard on National Public Radio this morning.

http://www.npr.org/2012/03/20/148538071/do-juvenile-killers-deserve-life-behind-bars

I think a lot of crime and bad behavior can be prevented.  Clearly the hard students lack caring environment.  They haven’t been exposed to unconditional love.  If they are treated with care they can change their behavior.  Sadly the cost is very high.  It may cost many innocent lives before the Hard adolescent is able to understand and change his/her behavior.  It becomes a teachers responsibility to share love and compassion with these students.  These students truly need value education besides the curriculum oriented education in classroom.  The students can learn in this value education that we are all humans in different colors.  We have different opinions and we can resolve our conflicts in a peaceful way.  We need to respect one another regardless of our differences.

At the end I’d like to share this quote from the church group that my family is part of.  This summarizes how we should view each other.  I have no intentions of imposing my view or religious belief nor am I trying to advertise as I share this.

There is only one religion, the religion of Love.

There is only one caste, the caste of humanity.

There is only one language, the language of the Heart.

There is only one God, and He is omnipresent.

Week 7

The study conducted by Rolόn-Dow is an extensive and comprehensive study of the Puerto Rican population, their historical account and their social status.  However, the research study done with specific age group girls was rather limited in my opinion.  It was not a survey that you’d expect when conducting a study of this nature.  However, the study has a personal touch to it in the sense that the quality of the study was ranked high compared to the quantity in my opinion. 

The research study clearly indicates that the Latino/a population grew from 1 in every 20 individuals in the year 1970 to 1 in every 12 individuals in the year 1990 and it will increase to a projected 1 of every 5 in 2050 as per the research paper.  This growing number tells us that we may not be well equipped to teach these immigrant children or children of Immigration.  As the research study points out our school system seems to care for these children but do our teachers truly care for these students?  There were some contradicting view points among the teachers when interviewed separately.  Teachers are not quite aware of the culture Latino/Latina children come from.  It is easy for teachers to say “multi cultural” instead of “Ethnically Diverse”.   My personal recent experience in a school setting was a proof of ignorance the teachers can have.  In a freshman honors class, I went as an observer.  There were 12 students out of 18 that were non-white.  They were Indian, African American or Asian.  Now based on my newly acquired knowledge and my curiosity I wanted to know where these children’s families originated from.  The teacher had absolutely no clue.  In fact, I had to say that one particular student looks like she is of Indian descent (I recognize my race easily) and she agreed.  So obviously the teacher was just doing her job: Teaching.  It didn’t matter to her where these students’ family originally comes from.  Obviously the students were second generation Asian, African or Indian since they didn’t have any accent and they were not ELLs but part of an honors class.  But I wondered if this was not an honors class and if the students were mainly Latino/Latina, would she have put in the effort to know their country of origin.  Would she have tried to incorporate multicultural curriculum or would she have done culturally relevant teaching? This teacher is truly an aesthetic teacher.  The teachers in Rolόn-Dow’s study are all experienced teachers; three teachers that have 5 years of teaching experience and the rest with at least 10 years of teaching experience. 

I was also intrigued by the differentiation between aesthetic caring and authentic caring.  Aesthetic caring focuses on attention to things and ideas concerning the technical aspects of teaching and learning such as standardized curricula, goals, and teaching strategies. Individuals who care aesthetically are committed to the school-sanctioned practices and behaviors believed to lead to educational achievement as per the findings in the article.  So I learnt that aesthetic care is necessary but what is desired is more authentic care for the students.  I can see how this can be true especially when the students are young and of tender age, elementary and early middle school years.  I do feel at a higher level like High School senior year it may be worthwhile to focus on the aesthetic care than the authentic care.  Having said that, I do feel that some level of authentic care is necessary from every teacher.  Personally if I were to become a teacher I would be more of an authentic teacher than an aesthetic teacher.