1. Teacher voice/empowerment/activism
2. Student experiences, particularly students from marginalized groups
3. School-to-prison pipeline
4. Ed Technology
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
September 26 (please try to post by Friday morning, the 23nd)...Finalizing our Problems/Areas of Interest
Thanks for working hard to forge a meaningful class experience. I really liked what I heard in your small group discussions. I think that the easiest way to think about what we will do moving forward is, once we have settle everyone into a group based on what kind of educational/social problem is of interest, we will put some time in examining each problem from a philosophical perspective. The four groups that convened yesterday were:
In this blog post, please continue the discussions from yesterday being sure to weigh in about any thoughts on how to fine tune the problem/topic. As I said last night, my idea is that we can read some common philosophy/theory as a class in the hopes that it'll help everyone in their work with their particular problem. I will schedule some whole class and group meeting time so that we have some continuity/cohesiveness as a class, all get access to some important philosophy given our commitments to social change (e.g., Dewey and Freire), but still get the time and space to explore an area of interest. What I need to know here, in addition to your ideas about the problems/topics is any ideas you have about this plan in general and also whether we want to try anything more ambitious regarding social action as part of this class. Please keep in ind that I want to have things set by next class, so this is the time to get your ideas out there. Also, feel free to get in touch if you ant to talk through any of this...
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amelia@mail.postmanllc.net
ReplyDeleteAs our group discussed Ed Tech, we honed in on the basic problem that school systems really don't know what to do with technology. Given that the availability of public web browsers only began in 1994, it probably isn't that surprising. Additionally, unlike many other phenomenon, technology can change drastically in a matter of months, leaving schools unable to keep up financially or even pedagogically. I'd like to note we had a super cool chart that narrowed the main problem to six sub-problems (so far): 1) Lack of proper training in technology tools for teachers/administrators and IT 2) 21st Century Learning and how this is not implemented correctly, 3) A misunderstanding of the abilities of "Digital Natives," 4) Use of technology for the sake of using technology, 5) The preoccupation of what technology can "replace" to save money/time/etc. (without #1 or thinking through the implementation) and 6) The costs associated with technology enhanced education (creates greater gap between affluent and less-affluent schools, technology is not properly updated once adopted as funding is cut, etc.)
ReplyDeleteSome other talking points we are considering (and they may and do overlap with the above):
- Lack of teacher interest in using technology (again, various reasons)
- Need to equip students with the skills necessary to function in modern, technological world
- Role of Vocational Technology (goes back to WHO is getting ed tech training and WHO is not...)
- Technology as a social justice issue
And for me, it all comes down to this: Technology is a TOOL. Tools are meant to assist humans and have a proper use. We don't use a screwdriver to hammer in nails anymore than we should use an iPad for every task a child does in a classroom. I can expand on this more when I get back, but teaching online I hear some very crazy and uninformed ideas regarding technology from schools, ideas that are misconceptions, easily clarified if someone would just take the time to do so.
Michael Here:
ReplyDeleteI would also throw in maybe looking into computational thinking. Even if schools don’t have money for computers, or the latest technology, they can still teach computational thinking and thought processes, which quite honestly might help them more in an ever changing tech world.
I think what worries me more is the aversion schools have towards technology, as if it is a huge burden. Technology in the classroom shouldn’t be burden; it should be a tool, as Brianne said, that is used appropriately. I mean, in Biology class they use microscopes, which is technology and it changed the way Biology is constructed. Why cannot schools integrate technology into the classroom in some way? What if in English class you read wiring diagrams? Would that be so crazy? I think it frustrates me because it seems as if education has become so locked down about what should and shouldn’t be in a classroom. And when it comes to education many people think it should purely theoretical, and a lot of tech isn’t. Technology is hands on, and can get dirty and be difficult and hard to quantify. I digress…
Kim here:
ReplyDeleteMy group (1a) discussed the idea of top-down power structures in education. We mentioned how standardized education can be very limiting on teacher autonomy in the classroom and subsequently affect student autonomy as well. There is often little support for teachers trying to build in culturally-relevant or democratic curriculum or authentic assessment opportunities in their classroom. Furthermore, even though teachers are the one’s implementing curriculum on the day-to-day basis, the power structures in place do not solicit teacher feedback that is taken seriously when implementing revisions. My group can add to this, but I think our problem might be stated as: What effect does a lack of teacher autonomy and voice have on a school community? There is an opportunity here to discuss teacher burn-out rates and the effect of top-down standardized curriculum on democratic, culturally-relevant teaching efforts as well as teacher attempts at authentic assessment.
Kim did a great job of summarizing our chat in group 1A concerning teacher empowerment. We discussed the impact on students when teachers' voices are not heard in schools. Along with the problem Kim stated, I would add another related issue around the concerns about teachers experiencing frustration and burn out due to the pressures of standardized evaluations (of both teachers and students): How can teachers be empowered to find and use their voice to work within the system to honor their personal philosophy of education and teach democratically in spite of the structures in place that don't promote that? I see a lot of connections to Dewey and Friere's frameworks. Some of what I've been reading in Schon's "Educating the Reflective Practioner" also speaks to how we teach teachers to teach.
DeleteThank you Kim and Donia, for recapping the discussion in group 1A so well. Where I teach, there have been some teacher action research projects that have started to scratch the surface of reclaiming teacher agency, and a PLC may be about to form that has the potential to rethink curriculum that could be more relevant for students and teachers. I am excited about the possibility of group 1A's project to have an impact on this work, and look forward to further discussion. ~ Carolyn
DeleteI am also excited to be in this group, coming from a different perspective of teaching future educators how to have a voice. Even in the 5 years I have been out of K-12 public education things have taken a big turn toward what Donia described as standardized evaluations. My past colleagues seem to have to prove that they are doing their job through binders of evidence. If they had a voice and were seen as professionals the culture of the school would be better. Heather
DeleteI would add that I have noticed that although teachers recognize that their voices are quieted, and their input is not valued, they feel helpless. I have been attending school board meetings and have met with RPS administration, but when I ask colleagues to voice their concerns at such meetings, they either pass because they say it won't make a difference, or (even more troubling) they fear for their jobs. Teachers are beginning to establish themselves as chase agents in RPS, but this idea that structures are in place to limit teacher input is so disturbing to me.
DeleteVirginia here:
ReplyDeleteI was in group 1b for the discussion on Monday. Even though we all had different marginalized groups we are interested in, I think overall we agreed that culturally and linguistically diverse students are often underrepresented, misdiagnosed, have fewer resources/support, and have a hard time being successful in schools. Equity came up quite a bit in our conversation too.
What if we looked at democratic education from an immigrant student's standpoint. We could pick a certain age of students, like high school students in this case, and look at how that population is performing. Our question could be: What supports do immigrant students have in school to help them achieve and go into the workforce or college and/or what supports do these students need in order to graduate? We could also see how equity plays a role in this? 1b group - feel free to add your input!
Anna here:
DeleteHere is what I remembered about our convo: My group (Susan, Melissa, Virginia and I) discussed the challenges within the educational system that students (both children and adults) face when immigrating to or seeking asylum in the US, with a special focus on experiences of English language learners.
Some themes that came up in our discussion were:
*Impacts of disparity, inequity, inequality and discrimination on students who are English language learners
(There was some debate regarding the terms that we might want to use to describe this phenomenon, i.e. what are the differences in meaning/underlying assumptions of the term “inequity” compared with “inequality”)
*Incorporating discussions about adult education as well as children’s education
*Exploring how immigrant and refugee students experience second language learning and integration in other countries school systems
Personally, I am interested in exploring student experiences broadly with a focus on comparing US and other countries in terms of student participation and human rights education. However, I think it will be interesting to focus in on experiences of ESL, immigrant, or refugee students. I think it might be neat if we could explore how a democratic educational philosophy (or approach) may offer insight into problems faced within the educational systems by students who are english language learners, as well as exploring potential ways of working toward solutions (within and outside of the current educational systems). I would personally like to explore this issue through a human rights (children’s rights), participatory, and democratic framework. I like Virginia's idea of exploring democratic education through a kind of case study approach, focused on immigrant students.
In general, I think the plan to study common philosophy/theory and apply to each group’s problem will work well.
I'll add to what Virginia and Anna said about studying marginalized ESL student experiences in a system that is based on meritocracy and utilitarianism. I'd also like to explore how this philosophy of education may be experienced by students who come from a different education system and way of learning. I really like the idea of a case study approach. Maybe our problem is how the U.S. philosophy of education is tested or revealed to be inadequate when serving groups of students who do not conform to the idealized standard around which it was designed.
DeleteI agree, the case study approach sounds like a good idea. I also see the question of how the predominate philosophies of education in the U.S. do not equitably serve culturally and linguistically diverse students? What should we be emphasizing to address these disparities and deficiencies in our system to bridge this gap?
DeleteThe School-to-Prison Pipeline Group (Jodi, Jorli, Kiara, and Laurie) has progressed this far in our thinking:
ReplyDeleteWe were thinking about addressing the problem – er … I mean opportunity – of finding ways for teachers to clog the school-to-prison pipeline and we’re looking at a couple of possible ways to approach it.
• an affective component, in which we look at counseling/training teachers to work with children affected by trauma (e.g., parental incarceration, poverty … well, y’all can insert your own sad list here, I don’t need to depress anyone) – (Come to think of it, we could pull some of Carolyn’s yoga/mindfulness into this.)
• a preventive component, in which we look at school-wide (e.g., zero tolerance) and classroom (e.g., behaviorist versus constructivist strategies) on the assumption that busy, motivated kids get into less trouble than those who are disengaged
• the school-to-prison pipeline is often a gendered conversation. Girls are often left out of the conversation...a conversation they should very well be part of. Kiara ran across an article in The Atlantic featuring Monique Morris (author of Pushout). It spells out the main points of her book (which I'm going to try to finish up soon) and (for me at least) calls for a push (see what I did there?) to consider black girls, particularly black girls in this conversation of criminalization/ prison pipeline. She also talks about the importance of narrative in this issue. Maybe we should consider narrative as well in the perspectives?
We talked about a couple of theories:
• critical and critical race theory
• feminist theory
• social reproduction theory/the Nolan section of the Anyon book for 703
• poststructuralism/Foucault’s Discipline and Punish
• conceptual ecology (“an individual’s interrelated set of organizing concepts, beliefs, and epistemological commitments”) from the article Laurie just pulled for another class
We talked about some books to read:
• Pushout
• Savage Inequalities
• Anyon
What if the end result of the project was a research proposal to submit to IRB? We could probably cobble together enough qualitative interviewing/document analysis/whatnot to publish something or start our dissertations or get a co-curricular or something.
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ReplyDeleteHello!
ReplyDeleteI am with the ed technology group. Here are some highlights that I gathered from our group discussion:
*Views of technology as a money saving measure
*Issues with implementation of technology in schools:
**lack of faculty/administration training/knowledge
**lack of faculty/administration engagement ("buy in")
*The perceived need (by school stakeholders) for schools to remain technologically relevant in the 21st Centery
*Student needs
** Maintaining a current working knowledge of 21st Century technological advances
** Equipping students with the critical skills to interpret the amount of, often unvetted, information provided through technology
*The role "vocational" education in technology
*Technology as a social justice issue.
**In what way does technology empower and
**in what way does technology dis-empower marginalized/oppressed communities
I will also try to post a conceptual map that Brianne crafted
When I think about the current relationship we have with technology in society, I feel a growing concern regarding how best to equip students with the critical skills to effectively engage in the influx of information that they are receiving through electronic media. What additional education is required to facilitate a healthy engagement with technology. Like Brianne, I see technology as a tool for education. When used wisely, it can provide access to an unlimited amount of information, from places that are infinitesimally small to those that are infinitely great, and it has the capabilities to reach people that would otherwise be marginalized from educational study. However, I wonder what limits are being set between using technology as a tool for teaching and it being the teacher itself. Furthermore, simply because technology CAN replace the need to learn certain skills, does that mean that it SHOULD.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHello!
ReplyDeleteHere are a few links from Brianne regarding technology and education.
The first is a conceptual map and the second is a link to an article on teaching the "iGeneration"
https://www.dropbox.com/s/28xkiltwami4yhg/EdTech.Conceptual%20Map.png?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/h2bjhzroa0wvtk4/2013_Philip.Garcia.pdf?dl=0