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.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
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
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