Friday, January 30, 2009
Anti-Oppressive Eduation
Kumashiro's article gives some very interesting insights into preventing and abolishing oppressive eduation. Personally, I think that it is very hard to eliminate the "other". People tend to organize themselves based on traits that they share in common, so for many people there will always be the "other". Knowing that, I still think it is important that teachers eliminate this oppressiveness as much as possible in the classroom. One step is educating teachers on how to eliminate oppressiveness in the classroom. This requires the school districts taking responsibility. I do not think it is possible to eliminate oppressiveness with the cooperation of one teacher. Like Kumnshiro points out in his article, it needs to be something that changed on a bigger level in society not just a small classroom. I do think that any teacher can make a difference by recognizing this problem and trying to make improvements in her classroom but once the students leave the classroom they will be faced with the same oppressiveness in other classes if those teachers are not working towards eliminating it. This article has made me realize the most that even without knowing it, you could be oppressie to a student's education. Educating teachers and making them more aware of the issue is important in starting to eliminae this problem.
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ReplyDeleteLindsay, I agree with your comments in this blog whole heartedly. The issue in our educational system today is that past prejudice and injustice have a profound impact on how students, the poor in particular receive education based upon their race. Our country was founded upon principles of freedom and proclaims itself to be a melting pot of culture, however that is not the general practice for many as discrimination based upon color and creed still find a way to be expressed. As future educators it is our responsibility to work to changed these harsh realities, however the problem is where can we start as we will be just a small entity to promote greater change. A profound shift in our countries ideology of education needs to take place so that all children will be granted an equal opportunity to educational opportunities no matter their financial status, but the changes can begin to take place within the classrooms in which we teach, and accordingly it is imperative that we do all we can as educators to do so.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you! Teachers definitely need to take a look at their teaching and the way that they act towards ALL their students (whether they feel like they need to review what they have been doing or not!). In another class I am taking we are talking about something that you touched on in terms of eliminating the "Other" being part of a bigger picture and that you have to look at the bigger picture to do it. In my other class we have said that in order to fully understand your own race, you need to learn and understand another race. THis goes right along with some of the points that I think you made in how it really is more important than just acting the same towards everyone, a real profound shift needs to take place.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of what you said Lindsay. It is one thing to eliminate hostility in individual classrooms but sometimes spaces like the lunch room, playground and even hallways are the worst. The entire school should focus on making everyone feel safe in an environment conducive to learning.
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