Blog 11: Reflection

 1. Precious Knowledge: 

- Working with this documentary was quite interesting for me. I had never explored those ideas until that point, so it was cool to see what a high school could look like given the resources to explore ideas and history that isn't mainstream curriculum.

2. Asperger's Syndrome: 

- Towards the beginning of the semester, we explored topics surrounding oppression and mental disability. In one of the readings, I found out that Asperger's Syndrome has not been recognized as a mental illness since 2013. This is ridiculous to me, because now it has been conjoined with the rest of the Autism Spectrum Disorders. I have a close friend who has Asperger's, but now he can't get any help if needed because it's not longer recognized. 

3. Education Paradigms and The System Wasn't Designed this Way:

- These topics were especially important considering the decrease in quality in the current education system. The decrease is not subjective either, it's from kindergarten up to college from what I've seen and experienced. The modern education system is creating drones, not creative, interesting people who can go into the world and bring their skills to the table. Our standards are falling, to include math, literacy, and science rates being some of the worst in the world. For reference, we are ranked 31 out of 203 soverign states for our education rates. That sounds good upfront, but when the USA is a global superpower, we SHOULD be in the top 5, though we're not. It comes down to what we're willing to do, and right now, the USA is in a really bad place, and it's going to be up to us to fix it. 

Link to education statistics: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/education-rankings-by-country

In Class Reflection 4/16

While I don't necessarily agree with transgender ideology, I can say that some individuals do need support to grow into the best person that they can be. After watching the video, I see that the speaker, whose name is Reed, has fully transitioned and is seemingly much happier for it. She was confident in her history, and wanted to tell her story to those around her to spread awareness of the encompassing issue. The other speaker, who is a mother of two boys, had dealt with the other side of transgender ideology with one of her sons. Her oldest had always been infatuated with more feminine things, such as clothes and American Girl Dolls. With this, she had to navigate the potentially difficult path of her son's journey. Her son grew up as a gay male, but that shows the hardship of this territory. 

Blog Post #10: Woke Read Aloud and RI Schools Trangenderism Guidance.

I’ve been hearing a lot about kids' books that focus on feelings, identity, and being yourself. In the woke read aloud, the book "It feels Good to Be Me" is read and discussed in detail. It’s meant to help kids feel good about who they are, no matter what they look like or how they feel inside. Some people call these kinds of books “woke,” because they talk about topics like gender, race, and acceptance.

"It Feels Good to Be Me" is about kids being proud of themselves. It says it’s okay to be different and that everyone should feel happy being who they are. Teachers sometimes read books like this out loud to help kids understand each other better.

Rhode Island schools have rules to protect transgender and gender non-conforming students. The state says schools have to:

• Call students by the name and pronouns they choose

• Let students use the bathroom and locker room that match their gender

• Keep a student’s gender identity private if the student wants that

• Let students dress how they feel comfortable

• Allow students to join sports and activities as the gender they identify with

These rules are meant to make sure every student feels safe and respected at school. Some schools, like in Westerly, didn’t follow all the state’s guidelines. They thought some of the rules went too far, especially when it comes to bathrooms or what parents should be told. So, not every district in RI is doing the same thing.

Books like It Feels Good to Be Me and these school rules are about making kids feel accepted. The goal is to help students feel good about themselves and treat others with respect. Some people support it, others have concerns—but the conversation is happening in more schools now.

Blog #9: Hehir and Butler

This week's video/article talked about ableism in education and the world. 

The video showed two women, one in a wheel chair, and the other walking beside her. Their discussion centered around the idea that just because someone is disabled, does not necessarily mean that they are incapable of doing regular things in their day to day lives. For instance, the woman in the wheel chair says that she can get coffee on her own by using her mouth to pick it up. However, she then stated that society has deemed this "irregular", which granted it is, and so she isn't able to do that. 

I can see how people would find that action to be weird or even make some people uncomfortable. That said, it doesn't make sense to not allow something to due societal standards. There are no rules in place for that specific instance, just the comfortability of the other people around her. She had to bend to their comfort in order to complete her task, even though she could have done it on her own.

In the reading, the idea of the video is explored in greater detail. 

Towards the middle in "The Education of the Deaf", Butler points out that while there has been education for the deaf for the last 150 years, it took a great hit in the 1880s which set it back quite a bit. Ironically enough, the man that our building is named after, Horace Mann, was a large proponent in this set back. He was an advocate of oral teachings and methodology, as well as lip reading and speaking. He believed that sign language was a hinderance and took too much time. 

True as that may be, we have come to learn that it is the best and most accurate way for the deaf to communicate with us. Additionally, Alexander Graham Bell was a huge supporter of oral teachings. He even went as far as saying that sign language education should be banned from being taught to the deaf. He also was a advocate of "the enactment of qugenics laws to forbid the intermarriage of deaf mutes", an ideaology that would have stopped those from marrying who they wanted based soley on a disability. 

I do believe that we should work more to better accomodate those with disabilities. They didn't ask to be born that way, and it should be our duty to help those less fortunate than us when they ask for it. 

Blog #8: Rodriguez and Clinical Observation

Richard Rodrigeuz speaks on a central point in his texts. He describes becoming billingual as almost a bad thing. His whole point is that there are two, or maybe more than that, ways of teaching students in schools when it comes to language barriers. I think that students learning a second language is absolutely crucial to their development, and it should be mandated in schools. However, his take on the matter seems a bit extreme. 

To claim that his family was torn apart (to some degree) by having to learn a second language is a bit dramatic. What did he expect to happen when he came to America? That would be like me going to Italy and expect their school systems to start teaching in English because it would have made me feel, "...less afraid. I would have trusted them and responded with ease". He makes it sound like it's a bad thing. 

While I agree there is a time and a place to speak one's native language in school, I think that it's more important to learn the language of the country that you are presently in. For instance, I'm currently studying French because it's a dominant part of my heritage, and because I would like to visit French speaking countries in the future. So, I haven't gone to any of those countries yet because I cannot speak their language yet. To me, it's disrespectful to go into someone else's home and expect them to bend to your will. 

I'm not saying that he believes that, but to me that is the message that was conveyed. He did, however, bring up a very good point in the beginning of the reading. He states that his classmates in first grade could have become billingual easier than him. I can't speak to whether or not they would have had it easier, but I can say that children are much more susceptible to learning a language when they're young. This is because the brain is still heavily developing, so it is open to more things. The older you get, the less open you brain becomes. This is why it is so difficult to learn a language as an adult. 

I don't believe that he wrote those texts with malintent behind them. To me though, it just seems a bit dramatic for the scenario that he is describing. 

School Observation:

I have been working with a second grade class at Frank D. Spaziano Elementary school. For the most part it has been quite educational for me. There are a couple stragglers in each class, but out of roughly 45 or so students, that's not too bad. I help with two classes technically. Since the school I'm at is ESL, my class gets switched between English and Spanish throughout the day.

The hardest part is helping the kids that speak little to know English. I try to use my phone to help translate, but some of these kids are totally lost, which isn't their fault. Most of the kids can speak good English, which helps me tremendously. 

There isn't a whole lot more to say. Working with elementary school students wasn't my first choice, but I have definitely learned a lot these past several weeks doing it. These kids are completely innocent for the most part, so I've learned how susceptible they are to any mannerisms that we may give off. I also know now how hard it really is teaching elementary school, so I have a newfound appreciate for elementary school teachers. 

Blog #7: Video, Oakes, and Finn

Between the video and the two readings there is one central idea: grouping students by their "ability" can be detrimental to their future instead of beneficial. 

In the video many students are interviewed and questioned about the idea of advanced placement, honors, and regular classes in their school. The school had tried a new system in which the students were allowed to go against the better wishes of their teachers' recommendations as to what class they should be placed into. 

As a direct result, these students chose where they wanted to be, and in turn had their own successes and failures. For the most part, the students did very well. Towards the end of the video, one of the teachers mentioned the fact that a parent had complimented a student by saying that they were very bright. Little did this parent know that that student had previously been labeled as special needs. The video is a great representation of the idea that there is more than what meets the eye.

The two articles supported the same theme. While I do agree that "tracking" or grouped placements for students can often be biased, I will add my personal account on the matter. 

When I was in high school, I struggled in 9th grade English. I opted to take an honors English the following year, and I did well. This was partly due to the teacher, as she was known to be a little less harsh than others. However, after that year (10th grade English), my teacher did not recommend that I take another honors class. 

When I got into my 11th grade college prep English, which was the standard class, not honors, I was immediately bombarded with work. To this day it was the hardest English/literature class that I have ever taken. My point behind this is that that class was a CP class that my former teacher had recommend I take. So while sometimes it may be good for students to branch out and challenge themselves, other times it's a good idea to take into account what the teacher has recorded for notes on that student and go from there. 

Here is an article that I found supporting the claim of the video and the two articles: 

https://rethinkingschools.org/articles/getting-children-off-the-track/ 

Blog #6: Kohn and Culturally Relevant Pedagogy

Our classrooms are a respresentation of us: what we like, how we think, or even how we function outside of our classroom. 

The guidelines that Kohn gives in his document are just that; guidelines. Though most of them are good, some are subjective. For instance, one of his guidelines states that "Textbooks, worksheets, and other packaged instructional materials predominate; sense of enforced orederliness" is a red flag for classrooms. He also states "Room overflowing with good books, art supplies, animals and plants, science apparatus; sense of purposeful clutter" is a good thing to see in a classroom. While too much of both can be seen as a bad thing, I believe that it is a subjective matter. You wouldn't expect to see art supplies or animals and plants in a high school classroom. Alternatively, you wouldn't expect to see a bunch of textbooks, worksheets, or heavy educational material in an American elementary school classroom. This is why I believe the guidelines, while made with good intention, are subjective to the environment that they are placed in.

The video on culturally relevant pedagogy approaches the matter from the elementary level. A nice quote that I liked was, "sutdents approach learning not as cultural blank slates". The narrator then explains that sutdents already have their own background to build off of. Most schools use the "one size fits all" method as the narrator explained. This could be detrimental to students because not every student will learn the same way. Looking back to "Precious Knowledge", those students were given a Chicano studies class. Before the class, the drop out rate was over 50%, and the graduation rate was terrible. The students felt like they didn't belong, and that the school didn't care for them. After the class, however, those rates started to change. Less students were dropping out, and in turn more were graduating. This shows a direct correlation with students who learn with the influence from their cultures did better than those without. 

Troublemakers in the Classroom: School Observation

Prompt: Describe one child in your school placement who might be one of the troublemakers described by Shalaby. Be as descriptive as you can be. Describe the child. Describe interactions that have occurred in the classrom and with the teacher and others in the school.

 

As I've observed and interacted with more students in my classroom over the past several weeks, it has been hard to notice any true "troublemakers". Most of the students in both classes (they since from Spanish into English so there are two classes) cooperate and are willing to learn. There are a couple that tend to stick out more than the others, but to pick one student out from the rest is difficult. 

In my observation this past week, I worked with two students who couldn't speak any English. I tried my best to communicate with them and do the basic reading and speaking comprehension, but I wasn't getting through to them. Eventually I had to ask for one of the other students to come in and help me with translating. However, even when that student came in to help, the students I was working with just wouldn't listen. 

Choosing one of those two students, I will go with the student named Bella. From my first day there my teacher had warned me that she was very unfocused, easily distracted, and was difficult to keep on task. After working with her first hand, I unfortunately have to agree with that statement. I know that it's easy to put the ADHD label on students, but with her I genuinely think she has a type of attention deficit disorder. She wouldn't stop laughing, even when no one was saying anything. When I had the other student in there to help me translate, he had difficulty because she just kept saying things that either didn't translate well or just didn't make sense to him.

No matter what I did, I couldn't keep her attention for more than a couple of seconds. I understand that this is a second grade classroom. However, just that morning I worked with a different non-English speaker and he did fantastic. He was focused, stayed on task, and seemed like he really wanted to be there and learn. 

With this, it was incredibly difficult to keep the other student that I was helping (not the translator) on task. This is due in part to the fact that he never had any formal schooling from where he came from, so to this day he had only had a couple of months of formal education. That made it difficult enough, but with the added distraction of this other student, I found myself feeling frustrated and dismayed. I had never felt that way up to that point, so leaving school that day I was a little disappointed. 

That being said, I know that I tried my hardest to work with these students, and I will continue to do so because it is my duty as a future educator to provide these students with the best education that I can, regardless of their previous educational backgrounds. 

Blog Post #5: Troublemakers and Changing Educational Paradigms

After watching the video and reading the texts, one thing is abundantly clear to me: there must be a shift in the educational standards in the pursuit of the best education for our students. Within the first 60 seconds of the video, for instance, the narrator states that years ago a college degree was generally the best course of action for students as it was most likely to lead to employment. Now, a college degree, while still not a bad thing, is incredibly subjective, and much less sought after. 

Throughout the rest of the video, the narrator covers topics like education being a money game, schools being organized like "factory lines", and even drugging our children through their educational experience. 

Personally, I'm inclinded to agree with all of these claim. ADHD is skyrocketing at an alarming rate in schools K-12. According to studies conducted through the NIH, ADHD rates have risen from 6.1% to 10.2% from 1996 to 2016, just 20 years. There is speculation about why this is happening, but that's not the purpose of this post. With these numbers, more and more children are being prescribed medications such as adderall to "stop" their attention deficiencies. For some children this medication could be good for them, while for others it can be detrimental. The struggle that we're in is finding a proper way to teach kids who struggle with attention disorders WITHOUT having to medicate them. 

In addition to this, schools are very much organized like factories. We have bells to signal when lunch is or when school is over, some schools have uniform requirements, and as a whole, school is taking away the imagination from our students. 

There's a fine line between self expression and being inappropriate, and I think that's where a lot of schools today get messed up, because they can't see the difference. I've seen this first hand at my own schools growing up, kids not being allowed to wear certain things or act a certain way because it doesn't fit the narrative. I'm not talking about dressing inappropriately or cussing, I'm talking about, perhaps, cultural affects or trying to make light of certain lectures and teachings during class. Teachers often times, and those above them, will try to silence students who don't match the "norm", which could harm kids because now they have it in their heads that what they did was "wrong" even though it probably wasn't 

At the end of the day, it's our job to look after our students and make sure that they're getting the best education possible while ALSO keeping their imaginations alive and well so that they can use them in the future to help them better succeed. It's not our job to make robots, it's our job to make success stories. 

Here's a link to an article I found supporting the ADHD statistics previously mentioned:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9616454/#:~:text=The%20past%20couple%20of%20decades,the%20causes%20for%20this%20trend.

Blog Post #4: Sleeter and Video Excerpt

 Video: 

Although short, the video brought up one great point: schools are, and generally always have been, a factory. 

    "The whole point of it is to create a docile, factory, military workforce"

That quote came from one of the speakers in the video, and while I think "military workforce" is a bit of an exaggeration, I do agree with the idea that schools remove all creativity from children and turn them into robots. There may be knowledge being "taught", but most students aren't very receptive to that, and those that are just go onto college to continue the cycle. 

It would be difficult to put a number on it, but I believe that those (students) who get away from the educational system after highschool (going into a trade force, joining the military, or becoming a first responder to name some examples) will end up being much more well rounded then those that just go to college straight out of school. This isn't to say that that is the case for all students, because it's not. However, particularly in highschool, students get their imaginations ripped away from them in the pursuit of "knowledge". 

Reading:

Sleeter's reading ties directly into the video analysis for "Precious Knowledge". Ethnic or "Chicano" studies classes are crucial for those communities that actually need them. Traditionally, history studies in schools is focused on Euro-American history, rather than an expanse of the other historical studies out there. I can say first hand that my schools never offered any courses like an Ethnic Studies course, but I can see how it would have been beneficial to those in my school who match that topic. 

That being said, schools removing those courses or just plain not having them will end up being detrimental to the communities that do need them. In this scenario, the Chicano community suffers because of our lack of understanding or just a lack of care for those that don't match our specific historical rhetoric. 

Below is a link that pertains to a recent loss of Chicano records from the LA wildfires. Give it a look:

https://www.latimes.com/delos/story/2025-01-31/gomez-quinones-records

Blog Post #3: The Four I's of Oppression

There are four pillars to Oppression, often known as the "fours i's". They are:

Idealogical

Institutional 

Interpersonal 

Internalized

1. Ideological Oppression: The Foundation of Beliefs and Attitudes

At the core of any oppressive system is an ideology—a set of ideas that justify and normalize inequality. Ideological oppression is the belief system that upholds social hierarchies based on race, gender, class, sexuality, or other characteristics. These beliefs are often deeply ingrained in the cultural fabric and may seem like "common sense" or "natural" to many people.

For example, historically, ideologies that promote racial superiority or gender roles have justified systemic discrimination. These ideas are perpetuated through media, education, religion, and popular culture, shaping how we view and treat others.

2. Institutional Oppression: Systems that Enforce Inequality

While ideological oppression lays the groundwork, institutional oppression is where the real power lies. This dimension refers to the ways in which oppression is embedded in societal structures and institutions, such as education, healthcare, the criminal justice system, and the workplace. These systems are designed to maintain the status quo by limiting opportunities for marginalized groups.

Institutional oppression is less about individual intent and more about the policies and practices that perpetuate unequal access to resources and opportunities. For instance, laws that disproportionately incarcerate Black men, the gender wage gap, or the lack of access to quality education in poor neighborhoods are all examples of institutional oppression.

3. Interpersonal Oppression: The Everyday Encounters

Interpersonal oppression, occurs in our day-to-day interactions with others. This form of oppression is seen in the microaggressions, biases, and prejudices that individuals express consciously or unconsciously in their behavior toward others. Whether through subtle comments, stereotypes, or outright discriminatory actions, interpersonal oppression harms individuals on a personal level.

This form of oppression can be found in conversations, workplace dynamics, school environments, and even within families and friendships. It’s often tied to the "isms": racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, etc. When these attitudes are displayed, they not only hurt those targeted but also reinforce broader systems of oppression by normalizing discriminatory behavior.

4. Internalized Oppression

This occurs when individuals from marginalized groups begin to believe the negative stereotypes or discriminatory ideas about themselves. Over time, these beliefs can shape their self-worth, aspirations, and worldview, leading them to accept or even perpetuate their own marginalization.

Internalized oppression is often a direct result of the first three I's, as individuals internalize the messages they receive from ideological, institutional, and interpersonal sources. It’s a harmful process that can deeply affect one’s mental health and sense of identity.

So how do we work to fight these pillars? Understanding the Four I's of oppression is the first step in dismantling these systems of inequality. In order to fulfill this task, we must come together as a society and check one another when we get out of line. It's our job to make everyone feel comfortable and accepted in our society, not the opposite. 

Blog Post #2: The Culture of Power

The readings and videos for this week focused on the inequalities within the current educational system. Dr. Delpit starts her lecture by recounting events that had partaken during that year and the years passed. About 5 minutes into the lecture, she mentions a couple of things that we as educators should do for our students: 

- We need to build relationships/create a sense of belonging

- Identify and appreciate children's brilliance and their special gifts, and help them realize and develop their own brilliance and gifts

- We need to connect content to who they are and what they care about

Personally, I believe that those first two points are good ones to follow. Establishing a good relationship with our students is something that we must work to achieve. In regard to the third point, I think that it's a much more difficult one to achieve. I believe that we need to teach our students the best material in the most effective manner possible. I don't know if connect all of our lessons to our students would help with that, but I can't say for sure. 

Dr. Delpit also mentioned something about black individuals being less likely to receive a callback for job interviews/offers. This has some serious truth behind it. I actually remember seeing an article a couple of years ago (see below) of a black individual who conducted a private study for personal purposes. He applied to jobs with a stereotypical black name, and did the same with a white name. If you read the article, he provides all the statistics as to how many callbacks he got for each. The basic breakdown was that he received many more calls using the white name than when he used the black name. 

There is something to be said about this. How can someone, be that a private company or other organization, dismiss someone without even speaking with them? It's certainly a question that I'd ask to all of you to think about going forward. 

Here's the previously mentioned article: 

https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/10/us/dwight-jackson-employment-discrimination-lawsuit-reaj/index.html#:~:text=Dwight%20Jackson%20filed%20the%20lawsuit,Elliott%20Larsen%20Civil%20Rights%20Act.%E2%80%9D

Reading Response 1: SCWAAMP, Power, Privilege, and, Difference

To begin this post, I'd like to point out that SCWAAMP ties directly into the readings and video lecture topics. Standing for: Straightness, Christianity, Whiteness, American-ness, Able-bodiedness, Maleness, and Property Ownership, the acronym can help lead into the readings by establishing talking points that are frequently discussed by Johnson throughout his lecture. 

In both the readings and the lecture. Dr. Johnson points out that the ideas of racism, classism, sexism, etc., aren't something that we should place blame on. Pointing the finger is what takes us as individuals off the hook. For example, he talks about white privilege in his lecture, and how if one person does something bad related to that idea, it makes it easy for all of us "non-biased, good white people" to say that it's not our fault. 

Within the first three paragraphs of his writing he states, "All of us are part of the problem. There is no way to avoid that as long as we live in the world. But we could also make ourselves part of the solution if only we knew how" (Johnson vii). There is some profound logic to this, and it can even go as far as entertaining the philosophical concepts known as deep and shallow ecology. Deep ecology focuses on the bigger picture, rather than just what is happening in one's own bubble. Shallow ecology focuses on the opposite. You can think of these in simple terms: deep meaning eco-centric or Earth centered, and shallow being anthropocentric or human centered.

With this knowledge, it is now easy to explore the bigger issues as hand, some being those previously mentioned, but there are also others that fall into the picture; global pollution, poaching, and overpopulation can be seen as some of the bigger problems.

Staying on topic, this isn't to say that being straight, white, male, having property, etc., is a bad thing, because it's not. What is important is knowing your limits and when to take a step back to observe your surroundings. If something seems bad to you, then there is a good chance that the feeling is mutual for those around you. It's our job as individuals, and as future educators, to be able to find the line that separates us (humans) and help each other cross over it. 

The above mentioned helps me to say this: we need to do better. Not one race or class of person, but everyone. We are all to blame for the shortcomings of our society, albiet some more than others certainly, but as a whole, we are all in charge of fixing the mess that we have created. 

 

Introductory Post

Hello! My name is Matthew Ricard. I'm 23 years old, and I'm currently attending RIC for my bacherlor's degree in music education. In my free time, I practice my instrument, go to the gym, and I rock climb. When I'm not occupied with my private studies, I work at my local firestation as a volunteer firefighter, although I plan on going full time in conjuction with my musical career when I have the time to do so. I look forward to working with you all over the next few months.