What is worth learning?
this suffering is the kind that “we have been least willing or able to acknowledge or give
voice to
Every level of education has been affected by the presence of racial trauma.
“deliberate manipulation of academic programming” which “compromises the intellectual or psychological well-being of learners.”
Intentionality is not a prerequisite for harmful teaching.
when curriculum based on good intentions becomes education with a damaging impact.
emotional destruction legitimized as teaching
it is necessary to help prepare teachers to critically examine what curriculum violence looks like within their discipline
We must want to do the right thing by our students
include elements of self-reflection and interrogation
As teachers, we’re often given outlines of the information that needs to be covered throughout the school year. However, these outlines are extremely broad and usually not very helpful. From the outside looking in, teaching probably looks extremely easy. We show up in the morning, print some papers, tell our students the information that we were given, maybe play a game or too, give them homework, and then send them home. If teaching was exactly like this, then yes it would be easy. But teaching is so much more than that. Yes, we’re given a rough outline of information, but we have to organize it into a specific way that our kids will understand. And sometimes we aren’t given the information but rather just a broad idea of what we could teach them. this leaves for a lot of room to mess up. Of course, teachers are human, we’re allowed to mess up, but our mistakes have a very big impact. One seemingly small mistake could change one or more of our student’s lives for a long time. Especially elementary teachers are teaching our kids the basis information that they will need for the rest of their lives in order to learn more complex and intense information later on. When we are deciding what is worth teaching our kids, there are a lot of things to consider. We need to choose information that will benefit all of our students, not just some. Choosing the right information to teach our students is a completely selfless act and should have all the focus on the good of our students. I believe that this is the most important aspect of teaching, and I am so glad that this course has introduced me and given me the tools to better myself in my future classroom in this area.
Hey Hannah! Great work on your blog and blackout poem. I truly enjoyed reading both while getting to see your creativity and thoughts. I believe your statement about teaching looking easy is true but as I am sure we are all finding out or already knew that although it makes look easy looks can be deceiving. Teachers are put under so much stress trying to make sure that get all the material taught, TEKS checked off, and that everyone is going to pass their STAAR test. Also when having 20-plus students and having to accommodate to each of them can be a handful of stress in itself. Of course, there are many other struggles but I believe those can be at the top. Therefore, when choosing what is worth teaching there are many factors that come into it that non-educators do not understand and of course, it’s about what will help the students succeed the best.
ReplyDeleteHi Maddy! I completely agree! Teaching is so complex in so many ways that you don't understand until you are in the position yourself. I wish teachers got more recognition for all of the hard work that goes into shaping the next generation. Thank you for commenting on my blog!
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