Review Five: Teaching Boys and Girls Separately

In this article by the New York Times titled “Teaching Boys and Girls Separately” (click link) discusses how at a public school like Foley Intermediate School in the United States has designated certain classrooms in the school for each separate gender. Teaching genders separately has long been part of the private school sector but is now taking shape in public schools. When the author Elizabeth Weil spoke to the fourth grade students the boys said “they like being on their own, they say, because girls don’t appreciate their jokes and think boys are too messy”. The change at Foley Intermediate happened after principal, Lee Mansell, read a book by Michael Gurian called “Boys and Girls Learn Differently!” it discusses how separate classes in particular help boys who are “failing and on Ritalin in coeducational settings and then pulling themselves together in single-sex schools”. The idea of single-sex classrooms or even schools is quite intriguing but I do not believe it works for everyone. Some individuals enjoy interacting more with the opposite gender then those of their own gender. Also, about that individual who is transgender, what category would they fall under? At least at Foley Intermediate during recess and lunch students are able to interact with all different types of people but I am not sure if this would work in a lot of cases.

Review Four: Government Funding in First Nations

The article I read on CBC news titled “Government Urged to Invest in First Nations Education” (click link) sparks quite a controversy among Canadians. Former lieutenant governor of Ontario, James Bartleman discusses how he thinks inequality in funding reveals racist attitudes. He thinks there is under funding of First Nations schools in Canada and says “Canadians view Aboriginal people as less than human…let things happen that you wouldn’t accept with other people in society”. Some students go months without attending classes like in Pikangikum First Nation in Ontario where moulding in teachers housing put classes on hold and might ruin the school year for students. Bartleman knows first hand how education is a way out of poverty and how “First Nation schools now receive one-third to one-half less funding per student than other schools in Ontario”. Those statistics do not sit well with me at all.

Review Three: Bilingual Education

          This video clip titled “Parents Take on Bilingual Education” is just a short clip to the hundreds viewers can watch about the debate on students learning through bilingual education. Although this clip is based on the United States it can be used as an example here in Canada as well. In the United States, Spanish is considered the second most spoken language. Most Spanish speaking individuals believe that not only should Spanish be taught as a course throughout school but it should also be offered as a bilingual education system. Here in Canada most schools now have the option of teaching students just in English and taking a class in French or teaching French immersion right from the beginning. There is great debate in both countries about whether students being taught a new language will lag students behind in their own language but if you look at the review I did on Finland you will notice that is not the case. In Finland by the age of thirteen students have already learned three to four languages. Elementary years are the best time children are the most open to learning anything especially a new language.

Review One: Finland's Education Success

As we have previously discussed in class Finland has a superb education system that many countries envy. This BBC clip titled “Finland’sEducation Success” gives viewers a day in the life of a Finnish family during a school day. Finland expects quality education for its students and value education in the highest regard. As mentioned in this clip “less can be more” when it comes to Finnish schools, starting with the fact Finnish children do not start school until age seven. First rule of Finnish schools; “relax, take your shoes off when you arrive”. Students are encouraged to call their teachers by their first name and these teachers stay with them for most of their school life. Teachers are able to grow up with their students and know what is best for each student…almost like being their “school mother”.

Review Two: Clickers

            This article by the New York Times titled “Speak Up? Raise YourHand? That May No Longer Be Necessary” discusses the use of clickers in many locations including elementary school classrooms. I found I could relate to this article since here at university I have used clickers in my classes before. I believe if clickers actually started being used in more classrooms there would be a debate on if they were actually necessary or just the “next” gadget that most schools would not be able to afford. There are two sides to the debate: some individuals believe these “devices can give voice to people too shy to speak up” on the other hand “in a society in which checking the crowds opinion becomes the norm…taking risks or relying on one’s instincts may be devalued”. Obviously the clickers work in business when they hold meetings or in churches to check if the congregation is paying attention to what their learning.

Critical Reflection Five: Critical Pedagogy

            The article this week by Ozlem Sensoy (2011) recounts his work with twenty seventh graders from Vancouver and there results from a photo essay about living with racism, classism, or sexism. Sensoy decided the students from Poppy Elementary were viable candidates to study based on the fact they represent a diverse community. Their teacher Ms. Chandra teaches from a critical pedagogy framework. Ms. Chandra asks students “to think about the textbook as a constructed narrative and by bringing students’ own lived experiences and concerns into the classroom” (Sensoy, pg. 323). By letting her students tell a ‘counterstory’ they are “‘telling the stories of those people whose experiences are not often told’” (pg. 324). Many scholars used “counterstories or counterstorytelling to examine how race and racism in particular have shaped the lives and experiences of students of color” (pg. 324). By following the students work throughout the month Sensoy found three main themes: theme one was “thinking literally and thinking metaphorically”, theme two was “I want them to ‘feel’ what it’s like” and theme three was “unsettled expertise” (pg. 324).

           

School Uniforms

I just watched a video (click here) on YouTube about school uniforms all over the world. Most people have a particular stance on how they feel about uniforms in schools and if they are being worn for the correct reasons. In Morris (2005) article he notes how students and teachers interacted when it came to dress and manner and how it alienated race, class and gender. If used for the right purpose uniforms are OK but I personally believe having clothing rules is better. Some people may not feel comfortable wearing a uniform and there are still ways of individualizing oneself while wearing it (hair, makeup, shoes, etc). I think the original purpose of uniforms has passed and are now being used as a type of prestige and are all about cultural capital.

Governmentalization of Education?

I was reading this article on CBC news On Independent Schools in Saskatchewan (click to read) and could help but see the connection between it and Simon and Masschelein's (2000) article on Governmentalization of Education. By the government giving each independent school 5000 dollars per student "IF they qualify by following the Education Ministry curriculum and meeting other criteria". By the government offering this money to schools I believe they just want their hand in ALL schools. 5000 per student would be really tempting for an independent school who may be lacking in funds since the student population is quite low. I think parents should have a say in where their children go to school and I also believe that all schools should be given government funding BUT not if that funding comes with strings attached. By giving the schools money the government will be getting more and more say in what happens in the school and sooner or later that school will not appear any different then any other public school in the area. This article made me think of the quote  “within the social rationality of governing, educationthus became a governmental concern, and the national government started tothink of itself as being responsible for governing the relation between“education” and “society” (p. 395).

Critical Reflection Four: Governmentalization of Education

Simons and Masschelein (2008) discuss the governmentalization of education and the history behind it. I found this article had many similarities to last week’s article by Deacon (2006) since they both draw from Foucault and his ideas on education. Simons and Masschelein’s main argument is education is all about learning and how learning brings people experience. In terms of learning “we” as a people are less about “how, at a particular moment in history, “we” have come to understand who and what we are and do in terms of learning” (Simons and Masschelein, 2008, p. 392). By having the continual ability to learn “we” “play a central role in the present regime of governmentality (p. 393). Simon and Masschelein take special interest in analysing the important reasons why we learn and the present at which we can “question whether the experience of learning indeed results in the freedom and collective well-being that is being promised” (p. 393).

           

Critical Reflection Three: Foucault on Education

                The chapter this week by Roger Deacon (2006) discusses Michel Foucault’s thoughts on education and its progression from past, present and future of schooling. Though Deacon (2006) discusses Foucault’s work, Foucault himself never wrote on education in great length rather in just two texts. Foucault’s interest in education can be dates back to “his involvement in the ‘May events’” in 1968 (Deacon, p. 178). The three themes Deacon discusses (and I will further elaborate on) are “the ‘technico-political’ history of the school, the everyday mechanics of schooling as ‘moral orthopedics’, and the modelling of education as a ‘block of capacity-communication-power’ (Deacon, p.178).

           

Critical Reflection Two: Banking System

The chapter this week in class by Paulo Freire (2000) discusses the idea of a “banking” educational system between teachers and students. It is a common practice that the teacher knows everything and the student is to be like an empty deposit box and all the information will just fill their minds. This type of education is based on knowledge which “is a gift bestowed by those who consider themselves knowledgeable upon those whom they consider to know nothing” (Freire, pg. 72). No creative or individual input is needed since the teacher does all the deciding on what is valid for a child to learn. Children are like sponges and they absorb information at a much faster pace but they also do not question why they are being taught a particular way. Freire writes “it is the people themselves who are filed away through the lack of creativity, transformation, and knowledge in this (at best) misguided system” (pg. 72). As individuals continue on to post-secondary education they start to question authority more and learning becomes a lot more creative and individualized.

        

Critical Reflection One: Disciplinary Reform

The article by Edward W. Morris (2005) discusses disciplinary reform in education with regards to dress and manner. Morris notes how students and teachers interacted when it came to dress and manner and how it alienated different race, class and genders. Focusing on mainly African American girls, Latino males and white and Asian males Morris describes how each is perceived by educational authorities. Clothing and manner “can function as very important and visible aspects of cultural capital” (Morris, p. 26). It is assumed when people choose to dress a particular way it is to stand out but in many cases it is to fit in and not feel alienated from the people that you want to associate with (i.e. your community). Morris states his “literature suggests that race, class, and gender are not inherent characteristics people possess but identities people work to inhabit and re-create” (p. 28). I personally believe that these stereotypes of class, race and gender-based cultural capital have impacted my own education and those of my peers.