Thinking and Teaching With Purpose

Having only worked in one school, I have had the fortune of avoiding the stereotypical “teacher’s lounge” in that my colleagues are incredibly respectful of one another. Most of us believe in each other and trust that we are doing everything that is best for the kids. We’re more likely to sing someone’s praises than badmouth them. We have a strong mentor program that helps new teachers forge connections with veterans, and those connections last long after the program ends. I truly believe that everyone I work with would lend a helping hand if I needed it, and I’d be happy to do the same for them. That’s not to say that I haven’t been witness to a different kind of teacher’s lounge than what Powell mentions in her article. Lunchtime has become a cycle of venting about students, lack of support from parents and administration, and just general frustrations. At times I have found myself participating in the therapeutic voicing of opinion about this initiative or that, or bemoaning ...

In “What ‘Counts’ as Educational Policy? Notes toward a New Paradigm”, Jean Anyon explores solutions to the policy practices that consistently undermine the educational achievement of low-income students. In her research, she specifically looks at how federal and local policies related to housing, transportation, and wages directly impact students’ abilities to perform in school. Her work suggests that in order to close the achievement gap, we need “strategies to support economic opportunity and development for urban residents” (66), which will in turn improve schools. To begin, Anyon discusses several policies that have been implemented in order to improve education in cities. One such policy funded vocational programs in industrialized areas , which has exacerbated the hidden curriculum of social classes that Anyon has written about in previous articles. Later policies attempted to supplement materials and increase access to resources, while also improving equity in disadvantag...

Who controls American education? This is an important question posed by Joel Spring, author of the book American Education. In Chapter 8, “Local Control, Choice, Charter Schools, and Homeschooling”, Spring examines the variety of ways that people attempt to control the education of our youth. School choice is a major topic of conversation, particularly since the implementation of Common Core Standards. Proponents of school choice argue that, based on free-market economics, when parents have a choice of schools, the schools will need to improve in order to be more competitive. “Many supporters of religious schooling and free-market advocates support the public-private model of choice” (225). This is shown in the increase of private religious schools over the past hundred and fifty years. The public-private model proves popular due to government support to those who choose religious institutions. The following video illustrates some of the differences between public and privat...

When was the last time you did community service? Talked to a neighbor? Attended local events? Too often, people are wrapped up in their own lives and are disengaged from the communities they live in. For many students, school is separate from the other activities they participate in, a place they disconnect from once the final bell rings. Our articles this week described the many ways that educators and families can support youth to make them see the importance of community involvement. Ana Maria Villegas and Tamara Lucas wrote “Preparing Culturally Responsive Teachers: Rethinking the Curriculum” in order to delineate the strategies that educators can use to move “beyond the fragmented and superficial treatment of diversity that currently prevails” (20). They discuss how teacher education courses often skim over culturally relevant teaching practices, and identify six characteristics that make up a culturally responsive teacher. They explain that these six strands should ...

Precious Knowledge is a documentary about the steps one school district took to inspire and teach students about their heritage, and the opposition they faced. It follows the teachers and students of the Mexican American/Raza Studies class at Tucson Magnet High School in Arizona. According to the 2010 US Census, the population of Tucson, Arizona, is 42.6% hispanic, compared to 18% nationally. Given these statistics, it is clear why an Ethnic Studies program would be desirable in this district. Teachers and students recognized a need for these students to see themselves in their texts and curricula, and this was not happening. The three students of focus in the documentary were Crystal, Pricila, and Gilbert. Each student expressed a desire to learn that clashed with the culture of their school. They felt pushed out, like education wasn’t for them even though they recognized the value of it. One teacher in the documentary stated that although ...

Our articles this week focused on two student populations that are often pushed into the school-to-prison pipeline . The case study “Smoking Guns or Smoke & Mirrors?: Schools and the Policing of Latino Boys” by Victor Rios and Mario Galicia outlines the issues faced by Latino students whose actions are scrutinized more closely than those of their white peers. They begin by recounting the story of four high-school students who were wrongfully accused of having a gun at a supermarket. “The white mother that witnessed the boys ‘grabbing whatever they could grab,’ panicked when she saw the boys in a conflict and apparently witnessed seeing a gun. She ran to the school to report the gun sighting to high school administrators. The school immediately reported the incident to local law enforcement and put the school’s students, staff, and administrators on lockdown until the investigation was over” (54). The boys in question had no idea they were even accused of a crime until they ...