Promt 6 JOHN DEWEY

In a classroom, I think, that the best thing a teacher can do is communicate to his or her students. I believe this not only because I believe it demonstrates sensitivity and responsiveness to sociocultural and linguistic differences but also I believe that teachers learn just ask much from their students as you teach them.

In my classroom at FNED Elementary school I do not see my teaching communicating much with the students. When I arrive at the class the students are just getting back from lunch and recess so, I will admit, the students are acting a little crazy, but the teachers angers towards the children seems to be a little much. She does not seem patient with the students, she yells a lot. When students try to talk to her you can tell that she is not really listening and most of the time she won’t answer, she’ll tell the student to go sit down, or her answer will be short and heartless. The students are very afraid of the teacher and this is relevant in class. Some students have even told me that they avoid using the bathroom during school because they fear asking the teacher to go because she will yell. This makes me feel bad for the students because she shows no interest in listening or talking to them. Since she does this, it makes it clear that she does not demonstrate sensitivity and responsiveness to sociocultural and linguistic difference.

I try to do things different while I tutor the students that I work with. As we go through the work I tell stories that relate to what we are doing and they tell me stories too. I see that while my group and I work in a separate class room that they are happier. I have had one child tell me that she loves working with me because I make learning fun because I allow the students to tell stories. I feel the same way about working with the students because they tell me things about their lives that actually teach me also. What they do at home is different than things that I do in my home. Both the students and I love working together because we show sensitivity and responsiveness to our differences, and we learn from them.

Even though the students I work with are only second graders they can tell when the teacher is not communicating with them, not showing them any sensitivity, or responsiveness. Dewey argues “For the most part, save incidentally, we have hitherto been concerned with education as it may exist in any social group. We have no to make explicit the differences in the spirit, material, and method of education as it operates in different types of community life”. This is basically the opposite of what my second grade teacher is doing. She is not acknowledging the sociocultual or linguistic differences or her students. It seems to be that she has developed a sense of colorblindness. She does not demonstrate any sense of sensitivity to her students and the students realize this. Dewey speaks a lot about society. In my diverse classroom the students, as well as the teach come from a number of societies. Dewey argues that even though there are a number of difference societies, education levels the playing field. I think my teacher needs to take this into consideration! I know I will in my future as a teacher!!

Prompt 5 LISA DELPIT

Like I have said before my classroom is very diverse. It is clear that the students come from a variety of different backgrounds. I image that if I were the teacher in this classroom I would face many challenges when collaborating with the students as well as their families.

While collaborating with the parents of my students I would think I would face challenges because I would not know them as well as I would know their children. From what my teacher has told me I understand that my students and their families have a wide variety of differences. I think that while I collaborate with the parents problems will come up because I am not familiar with their life experiences or their past. It is clear that in my classroom the families come from a number of societies. Some of the families are poor, some are wealthy, and some are middle class. I would assume that I would face challenges because of this because in order to understand a society you need to learn about it and be told about it.

In order to address these challenges I would go out of my way to understand the students and their families. I would spend time with the parents and I would listen to the stories that they tell. I feel like this is the most important because in order to collaborate with someone you need to understand where they are coming from. In some classrooms teachers have a day that is completely devoted to the student and their culture. If I were the teacher in my classroom I would have a day like this. I would have a day where the students and their parents could come in and talk about their culture and their society. On days like this the student and the parents could bring in things like artifacts or foods to help show important things. I believe that days like this are very important especially in a younger classroom because from a young age the students are being taught about other cultures and societies, and it also gives the teacher a chance to be familiar with the parents. In another classroom I worked in every Friday and parent of a student would come in and read to the students or teach a lesson plan. I would like to do this too in my classroom because it gives the parents and the teacher a chance to collaborate more often, which is always good!

Lisa Delpit argues “the culture of power” She then proposes the five aspects of power. 1. Issues of power are enacted in classrooms. 2. There are codes or rules for participating in power, that is, there is a “culture of power”. 3. The rules of the culture of power are a reflection of the rules of the culture of those who have power. 4. If you are not already a participant in the culture of power, being told explicitly the rules of that culture make acquiring power easier. 5. Those with power are frequently least aware of or least willing to acknowledge its existence. Those with less power are often most aware of its existence.

This would connect to my collaboration with the parents in my classroom because we would come from different cultures. Rule 4 would be very important to me as a teacher. Delpit points out that members of any culture transmit information implicitly to co-members. However, when implicit codes are attempted across cultures, communication frequently breaks down. As a teacher dealing with parents from all different cultures I would need to make sure that the communication does NOT break down. I will do this by learning about the cultures and like Delpit says “being told explicitly the rules of that culture”. This connects to what I want to do with a multi-cultural day or having parents always be in and out of the classroom working one on one with me and the students.