P.S. Remember to visit the SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY BLOG, which I will keep adding to regularly.

Goodbye!

Final Reflection

What did the course feel like?

This course exceeded my expectations. I loved the feel of this course and the content of it. It was amazing and has been the most meaningful class I have taken in my post-secondary career.
I loved the connections, the new friendships, the conversations, the tears, the sharing, the knowledge, the stories, the reflections and the blogging!
I have changed as an individual. This has caused me to look deep withing and reflect on my priviledge, my perceptions, my teaching.
This course felt good! I come away empowered by all that I learned, read and was shared by colleagues and our "star" instructor Cathy!
It has been an amazing way to start off the summer.
Thank you all for being a part of this remarkable journey.

Angelina

Network of Performance Based Schools

My school, Red Bluff-Lhtako Elementary has been a part of the Network of Performance Based Schools for the past four years. Our focus is social responsibility. I have seen a great sense of community evolve in the school over that time.
Here is an outline of what the Network is about. When I read through this outline, some words that we use regularly in our class popped out at me.

The Network of Performance Based Schools is a voluntary action research community designed to improve student learning and to strengthen public education. Network schools represent the diversity of public education in BC with small remote rural schools, large urban secondary schools, schools serving vulnerable populations, and schools in affluent communities all being part of this learning community.
Network schools use teacher developed and validated classroom based performance standards in reading, writing, numeracy, and social responsibility.
Schools in the Network share a number of common characteristics and commitments:
Teamwork – a willingness to work in their own school as teacher-principal teams on behalf of their learners and families.
Interdependence – a willingness to work with and on behalf of all interested schools in BC.
Inquiry – an interest in developing and collectively pursuing significant learning improvement questions in depth and over time.
Assessment – a belief in the central importance of individual and classroom assessment evidence as a powerful change force.
Public Communication – an acted upon belief in telling change stories honestly with both qualitative and quantitative evidence sources.
Depth of Thinking – a commitment to going deeper by asking themselves increasingly challenging questions about practice.
Sustained Thinking – an understanding that realizing genuine learning gains requires time, focused work, reflection, and on-going commitment.
Connecting Ideas- pursuing over time and changing circumstances, connections among literacy, mathematical problem solving, citizenship and other areas of disciplined thought.
Metacognition – using knowledge about learning to strengthen thinking
Use of Evidence – a commitment to using clear evidence patterns to illustrate and describe improvement.
(* retrieved from the NPBS.ca website)

If you are interested in reading more about the Network of Performance Based Schools, visit their website here. You will find a list of all the schools that are involved in the Network, their stories and goals, as well as ways of getting involved in the Network.

goodcharacter.com

http://www.goodcharacter.com/ is a terrific website. They have teacher's guides, writing activites, videos to order, questionnaires, value discussion questions and more on:
Trustworthiness• Respect• Responsibility• Fairness• Caring• Citizenship• Honesty• Courage• Diligence• Integrity
Just click on the words above to take you directly to the link for a look!

A reminder to check out the info on social responsibility on Angelina & Eva's Social Responsibility blog.

Stories for teaching social justice

Another enjoyable day in EDUC 692. I am very sad to see this course end. Bravo! to all of the presentations this far. There is a wealth of knowledge in our class and I have enjoyed everything each of you has had to share.

I especially enjoyed Heather and Lorraine's presentation on Books for Teaching Social Justice Issues. I LOVE BOOKS! I always have, especially children's literature. My dream job was a couple of years ago. I was teacher librarian in a newer (under 10 years old) school library. No books from 1960 there!! Every day I received a book order was like Christmas.

One book on today's social justice book list was Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. I am using this story on the first day of school. It is a lovely tale of a little mouse whose name is Chrysanthemum. In the beginning, she faces teasing by her classmates because of her name, but in the end, they all want "flowery" names like hers!! You have to read to find out why. Let's just say it is the words and actions of a teacher that changes everyone's mind about Chrysanthemum's name! It is a sweet story to teach bullying, diversity, and acceptance.

I look forward to adding some of the resources to my personal library to help me teach social justice in the upcoming school year.

Critique of Team Meetings . . . Forums for Democratic Decision-Making

Critique of Team Meetings . . . Forums for Democratic Decision-Making
By Suzanne S. McCotter

Thesis: McCotter and her teaching partner, were “committed to building a community in which everyone had a voice” (p. 105). They used tools such as team meetings, integrated curriculum, group processing and literature groups to establish a democratic classroom.

Main Points/Concepts:

- McCotter gives a brief history of her background, admits to being a white, middle-class woman of privilege, took many courses in race relations, yet did “not believe that I had gained a deep understanding of racism” (p. 104).
- Transition to new school, new teaching partner (Sara), new grade
- Principal committed to democracy as “a practice and as a goal” (p. 105)
- Invited parents, students and community to share opinions in summer meetings, developed “common values . . . a mission statement, and decision-making process that involved staff, parents, and children” and that met the unique needs of the school (p. 105)
- McCotter and Sara knew that they needed to learn about each other, created common goals and philosophy, and worked together to plan their team (rotational 45-50 students)
- Team meetings: help to “meet goals of building a community and upholding our democratic ideals of including student voices in all aspects of our team” (p. 106)
- used “to gain student input and feedback on curriculum, to discuss relevant social issues and organize daily business or community news” (p. 106)
- Committees are created to follow-up and meet regarding team meeting suggestions or issues
- Students see Team Meetings as a productive place to bring up issues important to them
- Democratizing Group Processing: Students can’t choose what is taught, but can have a voice in the method and assessment.
- Devote early weeks of the school year to teaching students how to work in groups
- “group processing” helps groups “recognize the problems that can keep them from getting their task done and set a goal to avoid it”(p. 109)
- group composition is integral, “kids do better when they have some choice” (p. 110), create groups based on interest, set criteria, ask students whom they work well with and don’t work well with
- sometimes group work doesn’t work, go individual for awhile, but it is a lifelong priority

Critique:
This article has some powerful suggested teaching practises that are certainly worth trying. I have seen it in practise. My oldest daughter had a teacher last year who lead a very democratic classroom. This teacher has a natural ability to encorporate democracy into every facet of her classroom and frequently used the approaches mentioned in this article, namely, class meetings, literature groups, group processes and more. As a result, I saw amazing growth in my daughter and the classroom dynamics were amazing. Peer interactions improved, self confidence boosted, respect infiltrated and social responsibility blossomed. It was amazing to see in practice and made me want to apply these practises to my classroom.
What is omitted from the article is a reminder as to the amount of time required to make all of these practises successful. McCotter stated that she, her teaching partner, special education teacher and gifted teacher “joined our team daily for language arts.” (p. 114) I wish! This is simply not the norm, nor to be expected in a B.C. classroom. Literature circles quite often have to be facilitated by one classroom teacher.
Team meetings are an excellent communication tool, yet this reading alludes to the fact that committees were formed after team meetings to continue the process. Again, time, teacher or adult involvement and/or sponsors are required in B.C.
I like the fact that McCotter recognized that a democratic classroom means “leaving behind a lot of the comfortable routines and standard decisions that help teachers feel in control . . . The key is making a philosophical commitment to sharing power with kids . . .” (p. 116). It is apparent that McCotter teaches and practices in a way that some recognized as being “post-modernist deconstruction”(Platt, 2001, p. 1). McCotter also seems to teach in a moralistic way: one that believes in a classroom that recognizes the individual student, interactions between students and social group interactions (Boyd & Arnold, 2000, p. 1). Not all readers of this article may be familiar with post-modernist, moralistic or democratic methods of teaching, but McCotter certainly has given teachers with some examples of how to start making their classroom a democratic one.

Critical Reflection Questions:

Can these teaching approaches be used in a secondary school setting where you only have students for 60-90 minutes?
What can a teacher do if the same students are forming the post-team-meeting committees?

Critique of Ways of Being White: A Practitioner’s Approach to Multicultural Growth

Key points:
- “acting White” – has multiple, contradictory meanings, no single way
- Whites in one stage of identity often experience conflict with White peers in other stages
- We go through personal and professional growth relative to racial and cultural diversity (p. 98)
Three distinct White identity orientations:
1) fundamentalist
2) integrationist
3) transformationist
All differ in terms of how Whites feel, think and act.
Fundamentalist White Identity:
a) thinking – fundamentalist whites are literal and linear, fixed and rigid, assume White supremacy
b) feeling – strong, emotional commitment to own perspective, assume White superiority, respond to different cultures and definitions with fear, hostility and avoidance
c) acting – overly racist, hostile toward other races, covertly well intentioned, claim they do not see differences
Integrationist White Identity:
a) thinking – acknowledge diverse approaches, acceptance of differences is shallow, aware of pain, but no grasp of inequality
b) feeling – interest in other cultures/races, curious, distance selves from racism at personal/emotional levels
c) acting – open to cross-racial interactions but not personal, well-meaning but haven’t confronted White privilege, “colour of guests change, rules of the house remain the same” (p. 105)
Transformationist White Identity
a) thinking – actively seek to understand diverse points of view, challenge legitimacy of White dominance, self-reflective, authentic, anti-racist
b) feeling – growth and learning, guided by empathy and respect, motivated by social justice
c) acting – advocates, committed to social action for the purpose of dismantling racism, enjoy learning from and with other cultures, not just about them (p. 107)
Rhetoric of Whiteness
- enemies of multicultural healing are dominance, ignorance and racism
- Whites have a choice to become champions of justice and social healing

Critique:
The author, Gary R. Howard, acknowledges that once you achieve transformationist white identity, it is not the end. Transformationist identity is an “ongoing process of change and growth” (p. 108) I think that all of White identity is ongoing. I didn’t like the idea of identifying Whites’ feelings, thinking and actions as categories. I don’t think that I fall into one category. I am integrationist in my feeling and emotional response, yet transformationist in my thinking and construction of truth. My identity is a knapsack. I am always adding to it or “unpacking”.

I felt that Howard also used words that have negative connotations when he described fundamentalist and integrationist identities. Words like “anger, defensiveness, hostility, avoidance, shame, guilt” (p. 100) are used to describe these identities, while he uses very positive words to describe transformationist identity: “holistic, enthusiasm, active, enlightened, challenge, advocate” (p. 100). When I read this, I felt some bias. I think these categories generalize. Just because you are not actively seeking transformation doesn’t mean that you aren't a transformationist. I also don’t believe it is possible for a person to be just one identity. I believe we waver from one identity to another.

Gary R. Howard states that his hope in establishing this White orientations model is to “facilitate and encourage the process of growth toward greater multicultural competence among White educators” (p. 110) Establishing this model can’t do that. Labelling orientations won’t improve the situation. How can Whites grow in multicultural competence simply by being labeled? Growth requires education. If I label students as smart or learning disabled, does that help them grow? Howard has the groundwork for progress, but he falls short and neglects to give readers all of the tools they require for achieving growth.

Mickey Mouse Monopoly

Cathy did tell us this course would make us feel uncomfortable! :) In addition to feeling uncomfortable when I watched the video, it is making me think. Then, reading the article on Teachers' Beliefs, Antiracism and Moral Education made me realize why this course is making me 'think uncomfortably'. It is because "our most fundamental beliefs about education must be changed" (p. 1) , according to the article. My educational intentions are often focused on the individual and interpersonal perspectives.
Deconstructing is a new term and new practice for me. Learning about deconstructing has and will continue to change me, my teaching, my parenting and my values. There is so much to learn and it is so valuable for me as a teacher, parent, and person.

Does it make me a hypocrite if I want to watch Cinderella with my 8-year old daughter? I don't think so. It is as an opportunity for a courageous conversation with her. I can teach her to deconstruct. She will be able to deconstruct at a much younger age and it will be a part of her natural value system.

Did Walt Disney set out to monopolize the world? I doubt it. I think that his name is on something that has gone out of control. (Just looking for items to decorate my daughter's room with this past week showed me that! Disney merchandise is everywhere!) The people who now run the corporation should know better. I think they are getting away from the initial idea Walt Disney had when he started the theme parks. Walt Disney said: "Disneyland is a work of love. We didn't go into Disneyland with the idea of making money." In fact, he spent 17 million dollars to get it off the ground "When we opened Disneyland, a lot of people got the impression that it was a get-rich-quick thing, but they didn't realize that behind Disneyland was this great organization that I built here at the Studio, and they all got into it and we were doing it because we loved to do it. We did it (Disneyland), in the knowledge that most of the people I talked to thought it would be a financial disaster - closed and forgotten within the first year.""We believed in our idea - a family park where parents and children could have fun- together."
Walt Disney also recognized the impact films have on children: "Movies can and do have tremendous influence in shaping young lives in the realm of entertainment towards the ideals and objectives of normal adulthood."(See more quotes by Walt Disney here.) I think the corporation has fallen away from Walt's original idea.

The video Mickey Mouse Monopoly did get me thinking, but I know that it won't stop me from watching TV or movies produced by Disney or any other company. I enjoy them too much! They do offer great entertainment. Instead, I will watch constructively, reflectively and have the remote control handy to pause, stop and talk about what is being seen. They will offer teachable moments and courageous conversations in my home!

Cartoon to accompany Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

I found this cartoon in a copy of "Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" on line. I know it is tough to read, so here are what the frames say:

"You gotta understand. I'm not responsible."
"Maybe if I've ever competed with a black for a job or apartment or something I had an unfair advantage."
"But that's not my responsibility. Anyway, no one can prove that's ever happened, right?"
"It's a shame cops harass innocent blacks, but I'm not the one who voted in this mayor."
"Come to think of it, I did vote for him -- but that was about other stuff!" "Anyway, isn't it great crime is down?"
"Nowadays everyone's a victim. . . like gays. What do gay rights have to do with me?"
"Yes, I am married. What does that have to do with gay rights? It's not like I'm the one asking for special privileges."
"Nothing against gays, but marriage is special. If gays could marry it would diminish it for straights.""What do you mean 'Wow?' It just would!"
"It's like women these days, always complaining . . when really women are equal today!"
"If women get less money and aren't nearly half the senetors, it's because they don't want that stuff!" "Women are just different that way!"
"The weird part is, with affirmative action and special programs and all, all these people actually have a big advantage!"
"I mean, what kind of privileges do straight white men ever get?"

Have you heard these words from friends, family, colleagues?
How does this cartoon make you feel?
Have you ever had any of these thoughts?

Pre-democratic classroom

So this is what Dewey was referring to!

Dewey, a man ahead of his time

I think Dewey was a man ahead of his time. He was a man that believed in social responsibility long before performance standards!! "I believe that the only true education comes through the stimulation of the child's powers by the demands of the social situations in which he finds himself. . . he is stimulated to act as a member of a unity, to emerge from his original narrowness of action and feeling . . . Through the responses which others make to his own activities he comes to know what these mean in social terms."

I am teaching at a new school, which focuses on involvement of the entire school community (students, staff, parents, community, band, etc.) This is something Dewey felt was important.
"I believe that much of present education fails because it neglects this fundamental principle of the school as a form of community life. The teacher is not in the school to impose certain ideas or to form certain habits in the child, but is there as a member of the community to select the influences which shall affect the child and to assist him in properly responding to these influences.I believe that the discipline of the school should proceed from the life of the school as a whole and not directly from the teacher."

Dewey is probably rolling in his grave with the Ministry's focus on testing (FSAs, provincials in grade 10 and 12).
"I believe that all questions of the grading of the child and his promotion should be determined by reference to the same standard. Examinations are of use only so far as they test the child's fitness for social life and reveal the place in which he can be of the most service and where he can receive the most help."

I, too, believe that an effective school is a school community. Everyone can be a contributor to the success of a school and the students.
I am also an advocate for social responsibility. I feel sad and discouraged at the way I see some children and youth act and treat people and property. Respect and responsibility are key words in my vocabulary. I believe that I can teach my students to develop and practise respectful, responsibile, kind and caring behaviours.

Week 1 of EDUC 692

Gone are the days where children are seen but not heard, sit with hands on the desks and feet planted on the floor, and every child in a classroom sits and records from the chalkboard all day. An elementary classroom in 2006 is interactive, busy, and engaged in activity. Children share the responsibilities, engage in meetings, discussions, reflection and peer evaluation. I have seen this in action.

My oldest daughter just completed grade 4. She had a teacher who leads a very democratic classroom. I saw students engaged in all of the activities listed above throughout the year. I admired this teacher's approach. She has a natural ability to encorporate democracy into every facet of her classroom. I saw peer interaction, classroom meetings, teaching the children how to question and make personal connections in daily assignments, and more. As a result, I saw amazing growth, improved self confidence and peer interactions in my daughter.

I am impressed with what I have seen in practise. It is my goal to incorporate and use the tools we learn in EDUC 692 to have a more democratic classroom.

Democratic Schools: What do they look like?

What does a democratic school look like?
What does a democratic classroom look like?

These were the opening questions we had to consider and reflect on for the EDUC 692.

My definition began by stating that a democratic classoroom is a place where children are helping make the choices, there is equality, staff and community are a part of it, and we respect others ideas and opinions.

By the time I worked with my final group (Eva, Kevin Mamie and myself), our definition was actually an illustration. It was a circle, with all the adjectives that we felt defined democracy, surrounding it.

In words my group defined a democratic classroom as is a community that establishes trust in relationships, acceptance of cultures, inclusiveness of all voices, respect of all ideas and opinions and the time devoted to establishing this type of environment.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog! This blog will include info on my reflections, findings, etc. for EDUC 692.
I am enjoying the course so far and it is great to be working with members of the PG and WL cohorts.