“It is obvious that when we talk about race in the U.S it has nothing to do with the biology of skin pigment, but it has everything to do with how we see and act in the world based on the historical construction and social implications of that it means to be associated with a certain color.” This quote comes from Pepi Leistyna in the article “Racenicity.” I like this because it doesn’t actually matter if someone is Hispanic, white, African America, or Indian as a color. It’s how they act and were represented in history, if history were mixed up and different races were involved in totally different things our prejudices would be different. I think that in the long run racism is still in the world today, but I feel it is because people are living in the past; “reflecting history.” I hope in my classroom I can see everyone for who they are rather than what they look like or what background they come from. And I mostly hope that my students will have this same sort of attitude on other people as well.
I liked the article on “beware the standards” by alfie kohn. Specifically the section titled how quantifiable. He states that people are so caught up in standardized testing and easily measurable testing that teachers loose their ambition to teach. They are veering away form thoughts and ideas and focusing on grammar. “Measurable outcomes may be the least significant result of learning” Kohn mentions that this quote by Linda McNeil should be in 36 bold font on all the walls. I like this quote because its true. Out in the real world most employees are not looked down upon because they don’t use a comma correctly but how they accomplish the task at hand. Although I do think things like this can be measured. Although it has much more potential for bias physical efforts, thoughts and ideas can be measured and graded. Yet the outcome of grade may be different for each person that grades it, it indeed can be measured. And I enjoy this type of teaching and learning, the kinds of ideas rather than facts. This is how communities grow and learn new things, through new ideas!
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4 comments:
I definitely agree with your points regarding grading. I am a strong believer that teachers who teach to the test are not doing their students any favor. The students that receive an education that is relative to their world are the ones that will be able to use what they learn. I also believe that if teachers do this, the students will be prepared for the tests.
I also really liked the quote you used. That quote stood out to me too.
You have a nice way of speaking with all good points. I think the problem of racism in today's society is summed up by that first quote. It's neat that you pose the possibility of America's races being in different viewpoints; it opens peoples' eyes and poses the question: am I in this position because I am better than others, or because history simply happened a certain way?
So, the challenge facing us as teachers then, is to negotiate what "seeing" truly is about. I think that it is the topic that next week's reading really gets at, so I look forward to learning about your reaction to it. I'm specifically talking about Paley's "White Teacher."
Like many other teachers and future teachers, I agree that standardized testing has taken creativity out of the classroom. Too many teachers and administrators are too caught up in getting the grade that they lose sight of what can be learned from other areas. A good example of this is in my practicum. We have been their six times and I have still not seen them learn anything in science, social studies, etc. I know that they do learn these subjects, but I have not witnessed a lesson yet that does not focus on reading, math, or writing. If we could get away from teaching strictly what is on the test, we could teach so much more that would be just as beneficial if not more.
*Not exactly on topic, but a point that was well stated.
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