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What is difficult about Chicago's (or any city's) segregated schools is that you cannot educate these students in academics if you don't take care of their physical and social needs.
Long term, we need to expand access to quality preschool programs *and* follow kids with additional help in elementary school. We need to make sure that the stereotypes are not self-fulfilling prophecies.
Adapted from the National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems
1. Validate students’ cultural identity in classroom practices and instructional materials by using textbooks, designing bulletin boards, and implementing classroom activities that are culturally supportive. This may mean using supplementary resources that don’t perpetuate
stereotypes or inadequately represent certain groups.
2. acknowledge students’ differences as well as their commonalities and respond to their individual strengths and weaknesses.
3. educate students about the diversity of the world around them so all students learn to relate positively to each other regardless of cultural and linguistic differences.
4. Promote equity and mutual respect among students in ways that a) ensure fair treatment across all groups and b) carefully monitor behaviors that are traditionally rewarded to ensure they’re not culture bound.
5. access students’ ability and achievement validly using appropriate and varied instruments and procedures that accurately reflect what students do know (not just what they don’t know, e.g., mainstream language and culture).
6. Foster a positive interrelationship among students, their families, the community and school
based on respect for the knowledge students bring with them to school. Tapping into community resources, participating in community events, and valuing the contributions of
families and community strengthen this bond.
7. motivate students to become active participants in their learning through reflection, goal-setting, self-evaluation, questioning, using feedback, and tailoring their learning strategies.
8. encourage students to think critically by teaching them strategies for analyzing and synthesizing information and for viewing situations from multiple perspectives.
9. challenge students to strive for excellence as defined by their potential to learn,
regardless of their past history of failure.
10. assist students in becoming socially and politically conscious so they can be contributing, responsible participants in school and society.
...if not utter failure then at least continued dependency. There are now enough folks from what would be acknowledged as minority experience that have become successful in business / politics / literature and other fields that one quite easy look at their background and ask "did they benefit from 'cultural identity validation / reflection / feel good" things are did they succeed by going to demanding schools that have high standards, ecpect performance from all students and do not make excpetions that allow kids to slide by?
On the list above that sort thing is kind of mentioned way down the list at #9 but in my experience if that is nout TOP OF LIST nothing else really matters...
If you are unaware of what "appropriate behavior" is or how to assess "mastery of material" you have no business being anywhere near any kind of learners!
Many teachers and admin disagree on the specifics, actually. That's why classrooms and assessments are so different across the board. That's why classroom environments are very different from one another depending on the teacher and school.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett
Schools are not the appropriate place to "fix the larger society" unless your society is some totalitarian statist nightmare.
Wrong. What people learn and do in school will later define how our society operates. Students' attitudes towards life, learning, and social matters are formed in the schools. People are a direct result of their education.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett
I assure you that if were to ask juveniles in even the BEST schools the vast majority of them would say it is not as enjoyable as "minecraft" or some other game. Only a FOOL would believe that the goal of school should be to be make students enjoy it. To be sure lessons that are engaging to students are preferable to those that are alienating or boring but even in the most perfect setting it is impossible to have students do anything other than exhibit BEHAVIORS that may be mere 'compliance' or may be a true "love of learning" and there is nothing any person can do to really separate one from the other. Anyone so foolishly doctrinaire to be believe that doing other than holding students accountable for learning will never be able to help students learn.
First of all, why are you mentioning "juveniles?" I'm talking about the majority of students. There are actually educators who believe that school should be enjoyable, and that learning is a natural and enjoyable process until we change that for the students. THE goal is not to produce an enjoyable education, but it surely should be A goal. Many educators, backed by research in the field of educational psychology, believe that enjoyment of school would mean MORE learning and BETTER learning. I have seen it in my own practice. When kids (or anyone really) like doing something, they want to do it, and do a better job. It is FOOLISH to work against that. Students who are engaged and ask questions and seek things out themselves (these behaviors, but ultimately the attitude, can be observed) WANT to learn, which is different than students who do things because you told them to. You don't need to hold a student "accountable" when they want to learn. Why not work on their attitudes toward learning (one way is to make it an enjoyable experience) instead of simply seeking compliance and regurgitation? If students don't enjoy school, or worse, they are in misery -- THEY ARE NOT GOING TO LEARN MUCH! They are also going to forget most of what they "learned."
Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett
Absolving students of the responsibility for their own actions will do nothing but make the likelihood of the student's personal success more remote and further contribute to worse outcomes.
I want to know what responsibility I am absolving from the students by having compassion, making learning actually enjoyable, giving them a voice and caring about their opinion and situation?
Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett
It is not "compassionate" to allow students to flounder in ignorance and behave in ways that will only perpetuate living apart from success.
You're right, it's not compassionate to "allow students to flounder in ignorance and behave in ways that will only perpetuate living apart from success." I said nothing of the sort. It is compassionate to talk to students about their attitudes and their actions, and try to work with them, rather than against them.
What is difficult about Chicago's (or any city's) segregated schools is that you cannot educate these students in academics if you don't take care of their physical and social needs.
Very true. This is just common sense, or it should be. Who is going to care about academics when they are struggling to survive and find purpose? Anyone who thinks these things don't matter, has never been there or seen it themselves.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nana053
Long term, we need to expand access to quality preschool programs *and* follow kids with additional help in elementary school. We need to make sure that the stereotypes are not self-fulfilling prophecies.
Adapted from the National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems
1. Validate students’ cultural identity in classroom practices and instructional materials by using textbooks, designing bulletin boards, and implementing classroom activities that are culturally supportive. This may mean using supplementary resources that don’t perpetuate
stereotypes or inadequately represent certain groups.
2. acknowledge students’ differences as well as their commonalities and respond to their individual strengths and weaknesses.
3. educate students about the diversity of the world around them so all students learn to relate positively to each other regardless of cultural and linguistic differences.
4. Promote equity and mutual respect among students in ways that a) ensure fair treatment across all groups and b) carefully monitor behaviors that are traditionally rewarded to ensure they’re not culture bound.
5. access students’ ability and achievement validly using appropriate and varied instruments and procedures that accurately reflect what students do know (not just what they don’t know, e.g., mainstream language and culture).
6. Foster a positive interrelationship among students, their families, the community and school
based on respect for the knowledge students bring with them to school. Tapping into community resources, participating in community events, and valuing the contributions of
families and community strengthen this bond.
7. motivate students to become active participants in their learning through reflection, goal-setting, self-evaluation, questioning, using feedback, and tailoring their learning strategies.
8. encourage students to think critically by teaching them strategies for analyzing and synthesizing information and for viewing situations from multiple perspectives.
9. challenge students to strive for excellence as defined by their potential to learn,
regardless of their past history of failure.
10. assist students in becoming socially and politically conscious so they can be contributing, responsible participants in school and society.
So, we should treat kids as developing humans instead of robots.
These are some good ideas, and if our schools were good, they would be commonplace.
If we did these things instead of prep for tests and take away recess/art/gym/free time/anything enjoyable and healthy, students would be more "educated" and our schools (and everything else) would be a better place.
People are more impacted by their home life than the schools. Basic math, where does a kid spend more time...
Schools are not and never will be (or can be) a social safety net. The Bill of Rights and Constitution are pretty amazing, but we're really jumping the shark on what liberty actually means. It does not mean freedom from consequences for our bad choices. And it is sad and it is unfair to those kids, but their parents are ultimately responsible for them.
If I, the taxpayer am now responsible, then I want authority to determine how these kids are raised from their diet to what they do after school and on the weekends... and we all know that ain't happening. Come talk to me when these kids will do 3 hours of homework a night. Then you'll see progress.
Very true. This is just common sense, or it should be. Who is going to care about academics when they are struggling to survive and find purpose? Anyone who thinks these things don't matter, has never been there or seen it themselves.
So, we should treat kids as developing humans instead of robots.
These are some good ideas, and if our schools were good, they would be commonplace.
If we did these things instead of prep for tests and take away recess/art/gym/free time/anything enjoyable and healthy, students would be more "educated" and our schools (and everything else) would be a better place.
What a load of baloney. I have seen it. Kids are not in school 8 hours a day "struggling to survive," and it is not society's responsibility to provide a deeper spiritual purpose for them.
That is not to say that art, recess, music, etc aren't just as important to a healthy kid. But you're fooling yourself if you think kids in CPS are dropping out and unable to read because they are being tested to death. The testing overkill is in response - a misguided one to be sure - to decades and decades of failure.
If I, the taxpayer am now responsible, then I want authority to determine how these kids are raised from their diet to what they do after school and on the weekends... and we all know that ain't happening.
That's not how it works, for several reasons. Paying taxes to fund education doesn't mean that you suddenly get to make all of everyone's decisions. Paying taxes allows you to be a part of society and enjoy all its benefits. We have people with special qualifications in specialized fields who are supposed to be trained and dedicated to their specific issues. Teachers and educational researchers are better equipped to make decisions about what happens at school than anyone else.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chi-town Native
Come talk to me when these kids will do 3 hours of homework a night. Then you'll see progress.
That's far from what kids need or what will actually help them succeed in any way.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chi-town Native
What a load of baloney. I have seen it. Kids are not in school 8 hours a day "struggling to survive," and it is not society's responsibility to provide a deeper spiritual purpose for them.
First of all, yes, there are many students who struggle with basic needs. It exists, I have seen it and so have many others. There are also many students struggling with psychological issues, which are just as real and important (and hindering) as physical issues. The psychological issues are more commonplace in wealthier areas, with the physical issues in poorer areas.
"Purpose of education" is an ideology. There is no absolute truth of society's "responsibility," there are only more informed and humane perspectives. I happen to believe (as do many other educators) that the purpose of school should be to create better people as a whole. If "society" doesn't believe it's important to nurture students as whole humans, then "society" will continue to have the problems it currently does. Plain and simple.
That's not how it works, for several reasons. Paying taxes to fund education doesn't mean that you suddenly get to make all of everyone's decisions. Paying taxes allows you to be a part of society and enjoy all its benefits. We have people with special qualifications in specialized fields who are supposed to be trained and dedicated to their specific issues. Teachers and educational researchers are better equipped to make decisions about what happens at school than anyone else.
That's far from what kids need or what will actually help them succeed in any way.
First of all, yes, there are many students who struggle with basic needs. It exists, I have seen it and so have many others. There are also many students struggling with psychological issues, which are just as real and important (and hindering) as physical issues. The psychological issues are more commonplace in wealthier areas, with the physical issues in poorer areas.
"Purpose of education" is an ideology. There is no absolute truth of society's "responsibility," there are only more informed and humane perspectives. I happen to believe (as do many other educators) that the purpose of school should be to create better people as a whole. If "society" doesn't believe it's important to nurture students as whole humans, then "society" will continue to have the problems it currently does. Plain and simple.
Nothing you are saying seems to reflect an understanding that you want people to support education with more of their income. If you don't think that doesn't involve an expectation about how those dollars will be spent, you are very sorely mistaken.
I don't disagree with your ultimate objective, but you are too immersed in your profession to understand how this debate looks to those outside of it. I have a kid in CPS and I don't agree with you - how do you think people who don't send their kids to public school or even have kids at all feel? There is an absolute truth to our society's responsibility and it is called the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. And be grateful we have them.
I understand it's not a simple problem, it's not black and white, there is no simple solution. I realize money is real, and taxpayers and parents should (and do) have a right to share their opinions, and have expectations.
I can only give my opinion based on what I have seen as effective in my own research and experiences in the field (which, although isn't a huge amount, is still more than most peoples'). I can also see that our current system is not working very well and far too dominated by political and economic considerations rather than educational ones. I also trust (and can make sense of) the research of the many educational psychologists, historians, and theorists who have said that our schools will not improve until we change our attitudes about education and students in general.
I believe in the Constitution and Bill of Rights, these things were created by some great men. I will say that I do not see enough "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" in our schools. I also do not see a lot of democracy.
Can I ask you, from what I've said thus far, which things you specifically disagree with?
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