Encouraging critical writing in students
On page 123-127 in For a Better World: Reading and Writing for Social Action, the author discusses a writing project where students were encouraged to identify an issue they cared about. They were allowed to utilize any form of writing they thought was appropriate for the project and purpose they chose. Examples could include petitions, letters, posters, pamphlets, poems, or any other form of writing. Students were told to decide whether they wanted their goal to be to spread awareness about a certain issue, or wanted a specific action to be taken regarding the issue (Bomer, R., & Bomer, K, 2001). I don’t remember doing any projects similar to this throughout elementary, middle, and high school. I’m wishing we had been assigned a project like this, because all our assignments were always structured, and we weren’t often left to explore our own values as far as activism, or brainstorm ideas on how to apply writing in cases where we want social change to occur. I think many of my peers and I were detached from political action despite being interested in political issues, because we didn’t feel like we had the ability to act on our opinions/concerns.
I think the only projects I was assigned through school relating to social justice issues were relating to figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. and some anti-war figures during the Vietnam war era. Those topics can be beneficial in the classroom, and would evoke some interesting conversations with enough prodding from our teacher. Even then, they were mainly informative and didn’t leave room for us as students to practice thinking about the social change we could work on enacting. It would have beneficial for me to reflect on the social issues I cared about, as well as trying to think of viable solutions.
Marriage equality is an issue I would have been likely to choose, especially since during most of my K-12 education, gay marriage was illegal here in Indiana. That changed in 2014, with the US Supreme court case Baskin v. Bogan. This project would have gotten me thinking about what I could do to promote legislative change here-making posters or pamphlets with information about the current law and voting in the area would have been good learning opportunities. Another idea would be to write a letter to a state representative requesting that they take action on the issue.
On page 127 of the text, the importance of choosing critical texts is emphasized “When teachers choose texts they think will be particularly evocative of critical conversations, they make it easier for themselves and their students to step into critique… Critique is a way of thinking, a habit of mind, and students will bring what they learn from the reading of texts to their writing-if teachers support it” (Bomer, R., & Bomer, K, 2001). Students will want to write about social issues that are important to them, and we have to be cognizant of their ability to think critically about political issues, helping them to develop those skills. Critical thinking is important for students to be able to be intellectually independent, and able to develop their own opinions on complex issues. The teacher, Katherine, encouraged her students to investigate their chosen issue, and her students become increasingly enthusiastic about finding relevant news articles relating to their topic, and enjoyed sharing them in class.
This TED talk by Gray Scott discusses the difference between grammar and writing skills, and why we tend to conflate the two.
Can we really teach writing? TED talk
Questions
How will we as teachers go about choosing texts that are critical?
What issues will be brought to light in your classroom library?
Do you think Katherine’s project will be adaptable for all learning styles? Why or why not?
What other forms of writing could our students use, besides the ones mentioned?
How important is grammar relative to the reasoning of the author? (Which is more important?)
#activism #studentactivism #persuasivewriting #socialjustice #teachingcriticalthinking #writingactivity
Christa,
ReplyDeleteTo answer a few of your questions:
1. I think this one is a bit easy and hard to answer. Because, I want to get my students input at the start of the year. That way they can tell me what they are interested in learning. But, that is hard to do as well. Because, you don't have all the time to do this as well. So, I would say pick books around several areas that are not just about girls needing help for fairly tales and picking only books with no personal lesson. I say that I will choose text that are like me and different from very great measures. For instance I want to get books from different places. One book I want for my class is about a girl from China who has to make a 1000 paper cranes before she dies. This will hit other cultures and hit some issues with people losing someone they love. For instance I lost my grandmother and I remember that book. It helped me a lot by just remembering the good times.
2. I think a few will be brought to light. I am not sure good or bad. How I want my books are for being cultural and informative. But, I said this once before in another blog post. That I do not want my future students to feel bad about something they do. I said for example that many people eat bugs all over the world. It is part of their diet and culture as well. So, I would get a few books explaining that this is normal for other people. But, I will point out that something for us here in the U.S. might seem normal, but lets say not normal for someone from Japan or Germany.
3. I have to say grammar is important to make sure others know what the author is saying. But, I have to say the reasoning from the author is more important that anything else. Because, the reasoning is what the author needs to write a piece. The grammar for them will come later in life and can be helped. But, reasoning I feel is more important.
Christopher,
DeleteI actually really like the idea of you having a book that is about losing a loved one. It is an unfortunate reality but when our kids are around the age we teach, their grandparents start to get around that age where passing happens. This is of course not always the case, but I am just saying that I like the idea of you having an option for a coping mechanism but it is also multicultural. I thought that was a great example of being diverse.
To comment on your second response, I think it is important to talk about the good things going on in the world as well. However it is like we say in class, if we stood around all day and sang Kumbuya all day, nothing would get solved. I think there is a way for you to do both. I like the idea of you informing you children of different cultures, I think that is a good idea so that your students are informed on other cultures. I think it would also be good though to address issues as well, and choose critical texts that inform our students of these issues, to allow them to be political agents and take social action. Like stated on page 159.
Christopher & Merannda,
DeleteI want to comment on the first idea you made Christopher. We have been discussing in class the importance of us (future educators) learning different ways that our students can cope in case we have a student going through trauma. So I like how you stated the importance of incorporating coping skills into the classroom on a regular. Therefore, picking text that allows students to gain new coping skills so they can use them. Thank you Christopher!
Merannda - I want to comment on your second paragraph where you responded to Christopher's second response. The following quote if from Ms. Blad blog. It shows the significates of incorporating the bad things going on in the world in our classrooms. "Students will want to write about social issues that are important to them, and we have to be cognizant of their ability to think critically about political issues, helping them to develop those skills(Blad 2019)." Unfortunately our world has a lot of issues. However, by allowing our students to have a voice on such issues our students will leave our classroom confident and ready to face the world knowing they CAN make a difference.
Christopher,
DeleteI agree with Merannda and Olivia in that your idea for having the paper crane book (or another book relating to the passing of loved ones) is a great one for class because some of our students will likely lose loved ones at some point in our teaching careers.
We'll be there for them, but it will be nice for them to have a book available that they can escape into if they'd like.
Having elements of diversity in our libraries will be important both for equity and to help our students to have a well-rounded view of other cultures and societies.
Olivia, I love your response to Chris and Merrannda- it's very insightful to implement projects that relay around CURRENT events. Not saying that past events aren't important- the past can repeat itself if we're not too careful- but so often, events and pop culture items that occur within the week are a hot topic amongst our students (ex. music videos/current news/movies/fights/school news/etc.).
DeleteChrista,
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you included that you didn't have a lot of experience with bein allowed to choose your projects and you didnt have a lot of leeway as far as what you wanted to research and go about research. I agree with you, that students should be allowed to research and be activists for the subjects they are passionate about. I really value that you said you would have loved to do a project on ga marriage because I think that is something that a lot of people don't talk about in school. Page 157 talks about being a democratic teacher, and how that means you are for advocacy for kids and a better world (Bomer. R, Bomer. K, 2001). We need to allow our kids to have a voice and we can do that by allowing them to choose their projects and their topics of social change. That is apart of being a culturally sustaining teacher, allowing your students to talk about the social issues, but not stop there, and decide how they will change it.
To answer your question about choosing a critical text, I think Dr.Taylor has given us a lot of great tips and advice on what that looks like and how to do it. A critical text is one that gives voive to the silenced, provides examples of social action, explores oppression, and includes opportunity to pose questions about how position in society is maintained. It is important to be "woke" on the issues first, so then you can find a text about it next. I think that is another thing we forget as well is that text does not have to be a book, and I know that if there isn't a book about a specific issue, there is a movie or you tube video on it.
Merannda, I agree with you that we need to have a space to allow our students to have a voice, their voice. I know when I was in class my teachers often told us our responses were incorrect. I later learned, our responses were incorrect because they weren't what she/he was looking for. That really frustrated me because so many topics have a greater meaning and if we are told we are incorrect how does that allow for growth in our schema, especially topics that are more difficult to discuss, if we are not allowed or encouraged to bring what we know into the conversation. Like you said, it is important to be "woke" on the issues first. If we are not given this opportunity then growth does not take place and real conversations do not happen. I enjoyed what you wrote, thanks for sharing.
DeleteHeather,
DeleteI experienced something similar to this in the classroom. Specifically, when I was in math class, I sometimes solved problems in a way that was different than the teacher. However, although I arrived to the same answer as my teacher, she told me I was wrong. This was not only frustrating but confusing. I began to form thoughts about my ability to achieve and internalized messages that such classroom interactions brought. When teachers view education as static bodies of knowledge and not about processes, they do their students and themselves a disservice by limiting them. Randy Bomer and Katherine Bomer state, "Rather than viewing piles of information banked in the mind, it is essential to be well acquainted, from the inside, with the processes and practices into which we are acculturating our students" (Bomer & Bomer, 2001, p. 155). Rather than taking on this "banking method" of education where teachers feel they have all the information to be deposited into students' brains, we can view teaching as a process of engaging in material that allow us to grow and become better advocates for the world in which we live in and the people living in it.
Merannda-
DeleteI appreciate how you point out that Dr. Taylor has given us some great tips. I agree that she has given us a lot of manners of picking good books. It is more important to understand the issues first and then focus on finding the text. It is hard to be critical of texts when you have no idea what the issue actually is and who it effects. I also agree that we tend to overlook texts that are not traditional books. I love how Dr. Taylor tends to put importance on raps, music, and nonfictional news articles. I have a book of poetry from Tupac at home. These could be truly powerful in the classroom. They speak on racial issues and the government. I think that it would be fantastic to use poetry of someone aware of the struggle.
Merannda,
DeleteThanks so much, I appreciate that!
That's a great point-if we can't find a text on a certain political issue we want to elevate, we can seek out other media that highlights the issue.
Emma,
DeleteAgreed; this is such a frustrating phenomenon! As teachers we'll be able to change the narrative of "my way or the highway," allowing students to solve math problems with the method that makes the most sense to them personally.
Christa, I really like what you had to share about critical writing and texts because it allows students to share a topic they are passionate about and gives the teacher new information they may not know. It also allows the teacher to create a space for positive discussion in the classroom on important topics. I think Question 1 and 2, (How will we as teachers go about choosing texts that are critical? AND What issues will be brought to light in your classroom library?) work hand in hand. I think it is important for teachers to select a variety of texts that allow students to explore topics they would like to learn more about and/or topics they know about and want to share deep thoughts and knowledge about these topics. Gay marriage, marriage outside of own race, racism, religion, faith, politics, climate control, etc. are some of many topics that will be discussed in my classroom. I think hearing many voices and encouraging those who would not normally speak an opportunity to bring light on topics that are relevant to them. This light will also show others there is more than one way to see or view a topic and when we do not agree it is important to know that is okay. We all think differently, experience differently, and absorb information differently that it's time to come together to share our differences in text as well as in spoken word. Great post!
ReplyDeleteHeather,
DeleteThanks for your reply~ Marriage outside of own race, religion, political views etc is a great topic that will be valuable to have in either book form or another form of media in our classrooms.
Especially in the case of marriage/dating those from a different religion or political views, I feel like these topics are often overlooked and would be beneficial for our students to think about. People can co-habitate with, respect, and love those with different opinions/worldviews from their own.
DeleteChrista,
ReplyDeleteI can relate to you when you explained that you weren't given many opportunities to explore and be activist in our communities. I feel that in order to encourage and grow leaders who are democratic beings, we must allow them to foster those abilities in the classroom. When re-reading chapter 8 and reading chapter 9, I found many connections to the readings with our social justice unit plans we are completing right now. As I begin to explore with my group members what the goals for our final culminating project will be, I have been reflecting on the lack of opportunities to critically reflect on the world and develop a plan to counter-argue it in my academic career up to college. In chapter 9, "Teachers as Political Agents", Randy Bomer and Katherine Bomer state, "To create classrooms as spaces where people participate in democracy and take up social action as part of their processes of thinking, we need to be involved in activist communities outside of school" (Bomer & Bomer, 2001, p. 155). Therefore, engagements with students, such as our culminating projects, must be aligned with the world both inside of the classroom and outside of the classroom as well.
Emma,
DeleteRight, it'll be imperative for us to give our students these types of opportunities to truly help them develop their critical writing skills. Having a piece where students are able to share their thoughts on how they would remedy or work on solving certain political issues they care about (in and out of school) will be important.
Emma,
DeleteI too found myself thinking about our social justice unit plans that we are facilitating in Dr. Taylor's classroom. There is a critical difference between what we are doing this semester versus last semester, and I found that my students are re engaged, interested, and eager to learn more when we focus on social issues that affect them or others around them. My students were all able to find personal connections with either themselves or someone close to them when discussing the CTPP through a context that they could relate to. It aligned with both the world in and out of the classroom, and my students started to make connections about interactions outside in their communities to experiences in the classroom.
Emma, Kristen, and Christa,
DeleteI found myself reflecting on my own education growing up during this read and tried so hard to think of time where my teachers asked me to critically think about what goes on in the community around the school, to watch the news and think upon that, more our readings in school. I was always told to annotate what I was reading but never to come up with my own thoughts and have a class discussion about what we read, what we saw on the news, or whats going on in the community. Reflecting on this semester and the past field we have had I find that our students are more engaged and have lots to say when it comes to social justice issues and its so important for us to allow them to develop their activists voices at such a young age. When our students make connections they can see the bad but they can also the good that some people are trying to make or the good a community is trying to make. Bringing up social justice issues and making it relevant to them it so important in allowing that development to become activists and to participate in this "democratic" society.
Secilia,
DeleteI defiantly have been reflecting on my fields I had with my individual buddy compared to our group fields. In my individual field, my buddy voiced her opinion about the social issues that people of color face, people with disabilities, or just people that are different. Everyone is different and some people think that because of that they are inferior to everyone else. My buddy has defiantly grown since our first meeting. She voices her opinion, she isn't afraid to stand up for what she believes in. We have been discussing the lack of resources and even though she feels that their isn't that gap between the school districts, that is her opinion and she can think whatever she wants to think. Like you said we need to let them develop their activists voices early. I do have a question for you though, do you think we live in a democratic society? Just something to think about.
Christa-
ReplyDeleteI think that we as teachers need to pick texts that are critical by choosing books that allow for exploration of salient issues such as racism and class ism. I think the best way to do this is by assessing the students you have in your classroom and choosing issues that closely effect your students. I want to choose texts that offer perspectives other than the societal norm. I think that each library will differ from classroom to classroom a bit. I think that the majority of texts should relate to your specific students. However, I think there is a lot of importance in offering the perspectives to all students regardless of if the text relates to them or not.
I appreciate your personal experiences in the blog.I understand what your mean by not being given the opportunity to work toward change in the classroom. I think this is a pretty common experience for most of us. Like we were discussing the other day, we were led on the "correct" way of thinking and were never truly taught to think critically.
I agree Melissa. We have been made to follow rules, get good grades, but it was never about self expression. School work doesn't have to be as structured as we have been led to believe. We have talked about in class about not knowing what the teachers expect and I think that just shows how much we have been made to think inside the lines. This semester has challenged me to think outside of the lines, and it has been challenging, but I think we also have to keep that in mind for our students. How are we going to help our students think outside of the lines when they have been put through structured lessons, and structured assignments? I have noticed with my students that when I give them too much free reign they freeze at first, which only shows that they don't get that in there everyday classrooms.
DeleteMelissa and Kyrsten, I totally agree that teachers need to choose texts that are critical and it is also very important to touch on the social justice issue. Some people might say the younger students are "too young" to learn about social justice issue and they don't know better, however, no one can be too young to learn and be aware about issues that our community or the world is facing right now. Going off of what Kyrsten said, most of us, we have been trained to obey and follow rules throughout all our elementary, middle, and high school and because of that, it still effects us in some ways that we might not even think about. It is crucial for teachers to encourage students to think critically about the social issues round us and discuss about it. Not only that, it is important that students are thinking outside the box and explore many different ideas.
DeleteMelissa,
DeleteYes I defiantly agree with you about learning the "correct way". Growing up my teachers would give you step by step instructions and you had to follow them or you would get them wrong. I have always struggled with math and like Emma commented above there's multiple ways to solve a math problem. We have learned that in our math class when we share the problems on the board. But when I was growing up they taught you one way and didn't let you do your own way. We as teachers need to have those critical texts in our classrooms. Not all parents are going to introduce their kids to social issues when they are growing up, so we teachers need to be able to explain these issues and have resources for them to read.
Christa,
ReplyDeleteWhen choosing what students are writing about there is a lot to consider. I remember teachers giving me options when doing a project, like in a history class they gave me options as to how to present, poster, poem, song, etc. But in English it was always doing exactly what the teacher asked for, and writing about exactly what they ask. In my speech class we actually had off limit topics that were too controversial, in English we never talked about real issues, we only read a book, wrote a biography, etc. Now as an educator I realize how important it is for students to see they have a voice.
If I would have been aware of what I could do to make change, I would feel even stronger now, and I would have been working to make change before I got to my last couple years of college. Students too often feel powerless. We have seen over the last few years that students have so much power. The school shootings that have been happening initiated school walk outs, which only shows how much power students have and how much media coverage they can get.
I would Love to bring in letters to our congress, or create posters when doing a persuasive piece about something they feel passionate.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteKyrsten,
DeleteI really love how you talk about how it is so important for students to realize they have a voice, because I feel like I did not even learnt that until this class. Learning this would be so beneficial not just in their education, but life as well. I think the letter to congress would be awesome, because it is enforcing students to realize they can be heard! I think activities such as this would be awesome for all ages of students. Awesome idea!
Kyrsten,
DeleteI like how you tied in the school shootings because it is very relevant to our students. Many students probably question what they can do to prevent a school shooting so encouraging them to use their power could help them feel .. well .. powerful! I also want to note that if we are producing critical thinkers in our classroom once they move on they will question norms. For example, if they were told like you were that certain topics might be too controversial they might question these norms. Which relates to what we discussed in Dr. Kazembe's class about leading by example.
- I wanted to add a question -
When you were told in your speech class that there were certain topics that you couldn't choose because they were too controversial - How did that make you feel?
I wanted to touch on this "too controversial" topic that has been brought up. I also had the same experience in my speech class. I even had this happen in my college speech class! We had a whole list of things we could not talk about. I remember standardized testing being one of them. It's crazy to me at the college level, we have to censor what we want to talk about. It makes me feel like I'm in a box like the story we read in last class. I feel like I didn't get the chance to become a critical thinker, which is what we should be striving for at this level of education.
DeleteKyrsten,
DeleteI appreciate that you shared that your teachers never let your class touch on certain topics that were 'too controversial'. It's a shame that they didn't take the opportunity to allow your class to engage in a civilized debate about topics if people happened to disagree. It's a valuable skill for students to learn to listen to opposing viewpoints and practice defending their own stances on political/controversial issues. I agree that writing is a great tool for students to express themselves/the topics they care about, and feel empowered through that.
Listening to the replies on this thread makes it clear that many of us had the same unfortunate experience in how our teachers made a list of topics that were deemed "too controversial" for the classroom. These are the same people who think its possible to keep education and politics as two separate entities. In my opinion, if this is the attitude you have, you cannot call yourself a true educator. It is your job to educate students on topics that will affect them, regardless of your personal thoughts and feelings about it. It is your job to give them the opportunity to think critically and apply the knowledge they have learned in the classroom to real life issues.
DeleteChrista,
ReplyDeleteI really like how you bring up the writing project, where the students have to write about something they cared about. I think that is awesome! I think this activity could be done with a very young age group of students, and instead of have them writing about it, draw it or act it out. I also think this would be important, because students would be learning to be activists at such a young age.
An activity such as that could follow them throughout their lives, and something they could carry with them. I think this goes strongly with what the author said in chapter nine, "To create classrooms as spaces where people participate in democracy and take up social action as part of their processes of thinking, we need to be involved in activist communities outside of school" (Bomer & Bomer, 2001, p. 155). Because it is not just something we can walk in and teach about it is something we have to do and learn ourselves. To answer your question, like I said earlier I think a good way of using another form of this activity would be to act it out. This could be a fun and critical activity for younger students!
Allison,
DeleteI like your idea of being able to apply this type of project to younger grades! Allowing for critical thought early in education would be valuable. I agree that we'd have to modify the media they use to communicate, possibly using drawing or acting. Great ideas~
Allison,
DeleteTo add to this, I do also agree that students should write about something that they care about. This goes hand in hand with what are just learned and talked about in Hayess' class. Students need to know that their opinions, values, and interests are cared about In order for them to respect the learning environment, and fully engage in the lesson. According to Cunningham and Milner, "Caring learning environments are spaces where all students feel fully seen, herd, respected, and cared for.” (pg. 97).
Great blog post! You included great graphics and an interesting Ted Talk!
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question "What issues will be brought to light in your classroom library?", I wanted to share about how I want my classroom library to be set up.
A classroom library can be the most powerful area of your classroom and it should be treated that way. Our students should have the chance to read books about everything their little hearts spark interest in. And its our job to provide those books for them. I want to include books about different cultures from around the world so my students have a chance to learn about people all over the world. I also want to include books that hit hard issues like racism, classism, sexism and everything in between. The best part about that is if a students starts to read a critical text and has questions about it, it can spark a whole class discussion. Then all the students in the class can benefit from it. Students aren't going to learn how to be critical thinkers if everything they read is unicorns and happiness. Also, when including critical texts like this, a student who may be facing dilemmas in their personal life can turn to texts in your library to help them. We should do our best to include different topics in our library to help reach every students needs
Hannah,
DeleteHow you mention in your response to Christa, is the same as my own. I told of a past event in my class where I read about a girl who had to make a 1000 paper cranes and she was very sick. Unfortunately she did not complete them and died. I looked back on that event reading about the book and all that I have lost. Books are the way to the mind and soul. They connect the non-connectable. They make people see truths and the lies at the same time. It is the job for the teacher to prove the correct material and lessons to better help them be better for themselves. I am saying that life is unfair and it will be still unfair after as well. But, if we stop trying, that is the greatest sin or fault we can teach students. I agree that books like Christa blog as about is more important in this life right now.
Hannah,
DeleteIt sounds like you have great ideas for your classroom library-I'm sure your students will appreciate the range of topics about different cultures and 'harder' topics too. That's a great point-when students read texts that touch on tough issues, they'll likely spark some class discussions. Those moments can be great learning opportunities for our learners.
I really like your philosophy about your class library having pieces available to cater to every student's needs.
I completely agree with many of your points Hannah.
DeleteA classroom library is important aspect of our classroom. It opens the many worlds for our students. The books we will provide for the students will have a chance to learn different types of social issues. This exposure will help students spark discussions with other students. We can't strip this opportunity of learning from them as it is important to become a critical thinker in the long run. Students are so intelligent and they can share great opinions and thoughts to others. As you said, students could have a personal connection with what they read. It is important that students read texts that correlates with what they are going through. Students could see the classroom texts as tools in life. Students can be inspires from their texts or gain a better clarification on the social issues they are experiencing.
Christa , I lobe this post that you did. I think it’s extremely important to have our students learn how to think critically in general but on top of this learning to take this thinking and out it to written word can literally change their lives and those around him. I also love how you included the pictures of those in movements as well as those of MLK. Dr. Kings “A letter from Birmingham jail” is one of the best pieces of writing in our time, his understanding of critical issues and how to analyze the issues in our world are iconic and showing those examples to our children will help them understand their potential impact. Criticality and approaching everything from an inquiry based line of thinking helps build well developed children , adults and members of society.
ReplyDeleteNathalie,
DeleteAgreed; it's so important to help our students learn to think critically and realize that their words hold power. I like that you mentioned starting with inquiry based thinking-that'll be so valuable for our students in learning to question sources of information and develop their own thoughts.
Christa,
ReplyDeleteYou asked the question, "What issues will be brought to light in your classroom library?" Personally, I think that all issues should be brought to light in your classroom. Students should be able to be curious and political change agents, but we cant allow that to happen unless we give them the tools that are needed to succeed. Everyone identifies with one issue more than other, so by providing books which covers ALL issues like (gender stereotyping, racism, food deserts.. etc.) we can make sure that EVERYONE can identify and relate to something that they read.
Ashley, I really like the point that you made. Like you said, it is so important to bring up all issues into the classroom library because every student is different so their interest in those issue will be also different. Because of that, it is important to allow students to be curious and explore on their own and teachers guiding them along the way by providing them with necessary tools. I think teachers should cover many issue as much as they can so that every students can find something they can identifies with.
DeleteGood post Krista!
ReplyDeleteTo answer your first question: How will we as teachers go about choosing texts that are critical?
As future teachers, we should select books that covers the lives of influential people. It can be about the lives of world great heroes such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln, and etc. We should make sure we have a variety of biographies, so it can appeal to every student in our class. If we want our students to create writing projects that advocate for important causes. We should introduce them to books that highlight social issues such as LGBTG, gender, race, religion, and etc. Students should be encouraged to read different text context like articles, so they can gain more insight on the actions of well-known activists. In the text, its mentions, "When teachers choose texts they will be particularly evocative of critical conversations they make it easier for themselves and their students to critique (127)." The types of issues I would bring into light in my classroom library is racial issue (Civil rights movement), gender issues (woman suffrage or women right to vote). I would allow my students to read a wide range of social issues as every student have different interests than their peers. I wouldn't keep them from learning more from the political/social movements that are happening currently. So I will make sure I have magazines, articles, journals that highlight current events available for my students. This way they will be more likely to advocate for certain social issues or write powerful messages on projects that motivate others to advocate for important causes.
Eva,
DeleteI think you make a powerful point in recognizing that our students will all have different interests and especially in reading. I think its great to have a library started in our classrooms of books, articles, newspapers, and movies even that talk about the many different issues not only in the US but in other countries as well. Another great addition to this library would be what the students can bring to it. Students will get really excited and more engaged when they are able to participate in the addition of readings and being able to share their friends. This is a great reply, thanks for sharing Eva.
Christa,
ReplyDeleteIn regards to your question as to how we will go about choosing texts that are critical, I belive that is very contingent on the context that you are teaching in and the cultural experiences, priveleges, and or oppression that you students may face. I find that it is necessary to allow students to explore their immediate world, and Bomer and Bomer relates this to say that we need to understand our students and get to know our community that we teach in in order to form a more critical curriculum that our students may connect with. This doesn't go to say that we should only explore issues that our students face, because it is necessary for students to be globally and nationally aware of the social issues that people face throughout the world, but they also must be able to have personal exploration through literature that allows them t understand their world in a deeper and more critical way. In my experience, my literature lacked criticality K-12, and I want to interrupt the narrative of having a cookie cutter curriculum and provide my students with the opportunity to explore social issues well before they go to college.
Christa,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing about your experiences in school. I appreciated it because I can really relate to it as well. It seemed like even if you weren't limited regarding the topic you were supposed to talk about, then you were definitely limited in how you were allowed to present it/speak about it. There was always some limitation one way for another. I never felt like I had the freedom to choose what I wanted to learn about, and I know that would have worked wonders for my engagement and attention span. This is the type of environment I want to have in my classroom. One that, as you mentioned, encourages students to think critically about issues that interest them and then see the connections that exist between them and their communities. Taking it a step further, allowing them to see how they can be potential change agents in advocating for those issues.
To address your question about choosing critical texts, I think we need to take our time in finding ones that address issues that are relevant to their lives both inside and outside of school. It may take some time-- this is something a learned when finding a critical text for our field experience this semester. I think we need to not be afraid to get texts that address "controversial" issues as these are the types of issues that could really encourage students to develop their own thoughts and ideas as well as learn how to present/justify them to others how agree/disagree. Find topics that relate to issues happening in our society. For example, reporting on current events like we are in this class. It is a great way to give the students choice, keep them engaged, and teach them about real, relevant topics.
Christa,
ReplyDeleteYes I couldn't agree more with you. The only things that we really learned about was MLK and like you said things about wars. We were censored in what we learned throughout school. I remember learning about Rosa Parks and the civil rights movement. But I love the have learned about this and then make posters on what our signs would say if we were going to a protest. I knew that I had a voice growing up, but I was too shy to voice my opinions on subjects that I cared about. I feel that it is harder to voice our opinions in general in today's society. There is always someone that is going to be on the other side of what you believe.
As many of you know my mother is gay. She wasn't always, but she came out as gay people treated her differently. People would look at her weird if she held her now wife's hand in public. I was also afraid to tell my family and friends about it because I was afraid they would judge her and me. But everyone is going to have their own opinion about something and you can tell them yours, but you can't really change there's no matter how many facts your throw at them.
When choosing critical texts for our students we need to think of them. Choose texts that they can relate to and that can strike up a good conversation. Let them learn the whole truth about what happened. Until I really read about Christopher Columbus, I thought he was the good guy. You know, we have a day names after him, we celebrate it in schools. But from Cosby's class last semester, we learned the truth. I wish that we had more freedom in what we teach. I hate how the government tells us what we have to teach and what we can't.
Amber,
ReplyDeleteI remember the first day you shared about your mother. I knew part of what you must have felt during that time frame. Because, like many know, my cousin is gay and I was thinking the same thing for him. Now, again he isn't in my life enough to make a big impact like your mom is for you. But, he was one of my best friends and he was like a brother at times. I knew from a early age he was gay. But, I knew he hide it for reasons I can only assume. But, like you and many have said, why is it a big deal. Why do people judge me based on things I choose. Well most of it has to do with people not seeing the big picture. That is why books in the room are needed. Books on boys liking pink and girls playing with boy toys. They need to see people hearing them for being themselves and not being something else. I know that my cousin was gay and I believe he hide it for reasons like this. I can think of ways to help him now, that I wish I did sooner. He does have emotion issues before hand and I don't know if that played a role in anything. But, if people did not hate people for liking someone of the same sex, we would not have an issue. I see books helping many to understand why someone does this for many reasons. One example I used was people eating bugs. In some places they eat bugs as a main diet. But, some people like me when I was young did not know that. I would have judge people like many others would have if they did not know. Now, I have eaten bugs to try it and I have to say it was not as bad as I thought it would be. I would not do it on a regular bases though, but the experience lives with me.