Literacy with an attitude

 

The author Patrick Finn argues in "Literacy with an Attitude" that the quality of education is distinctly different across different social and economic classes. 

Reading this piece, it opened my eyes to even more ways that showcase the correlation between income and educational access. I work in a predominantly working class school like the one in this chapter. I can see connections from the text to the students and the learning environment in school. Being a nurse, I am not in the class room and cannot attest to the curriculum and standards being held, but from what I do hear from students is that they feel like they are not learning things, they are just being taught how to do something, which aligns with the results from Anyon's study. 

I grew up in a middle class neighborhood. Working in the school that I do, I see so many differences from the education I received. There was structure and rules and rewards for succeeding. They pushed us to do more and be good. Coming into this new district, it seems as though they don't expect much from these kids so they don't require much. It works for some students, but it undermines their abilities and doesn't encourage them to strive for bigger goals. 

It is shocking that this book was published in the 90's and the study that is mentioned was from years before that. The differences in education between the classes, still parallel to this day. The same principles and teaching structures for the 4 different classes are still in effect and clearly not going away any time soon. We are still teaching less to working class children under the assumption and bias that the "don't care enough to try." 

In the city of Providence, you are not allowed to give students an F or fail them. In high school, teachers are able to give students, that would be considered failing, an incomplete. This gives them the opportunity to make it up, usually with an online course, in the future. In some cases, students are passed along to the next year without the previous year. It helps to decrease the drop out rate of students but it sets some kids up for failure in the end. 

Sex, Gender and Equality in schools

 After completing this weeks assignment, I concluded that all three of the authors/speakers arguments are that gender identity/expression is becoming more prevalent in society and that needs to be reflected in schools as well. 

Olive Earley starts off "Queering Our Schools" by citing the hate crime that occurred in California in 2013. People tend to lash out against things they don't understand and this incident highlights the hate that can occur when people have no education regarding the LGBTQ+ community. The article presents an argument as to why we should have LGBTQ+ incorporated into cirriculum to broaden the minds and understanding of kids to help create an understanding and accepting community in the future. This also provides some comfort for students that come from LGBTQ+ households, that they have some representation in schools. 

I watched the video of the person reading "They, She, He: easy as ABC ". This truly proved the point that Professor Bogad made in class about reading children's books to adults can be so beneficial. When I watched this, I immediately wanted to buy this book to keep in my office. The idea of breaking it down into simple terms works for both young kids and adults. It is cultivating a society that is accepting of all walks of life, starting from such a young age.

Seeing the laws and policies that are in place in Rhode Island shows that states are moving forward in attempting to diversify the school system. This provides legal documentation that the state of Rhode Island is implementing gender-affirming care in schools and allows students to be true to who they are. 

 Teach Out Proposal

The biggest thing that has stuck with me throughout this course has been the S.C.W.A.A.M.P model. It's intended use it to model the things that are perceived to be valued in our society. I want to teach this to others in a way that showcases differences between others who do not fit into these categories. I want to make a children's book with a S.C.W.A.A.M.P monster. I want to show how kids are scared of the S.C.W.A.A.M.P monster when they don't feel that they fit in to these categories. I want to then be able to show the children that the adults can also be scared of the S.C.W.A.A.M.P monster. In the end, the kids and the adults use their differences to show the S.C.W.A.A.M.P monster how much stronger they are together, differences and all to "defeat" the monster. I want to highlight that the parts of us that are different and don't fit into the "social norms" and "perceived values" are what make us all unique and amazing in our own ways. I also want to add in parts of Alan Johnson's privilege, power, and difference here and incorporate the idea of speaking the words that make us uncomfortable or talking about topics that are difficult to talk about.