Final Blog

The most important thought to me has to deal with the entire education system, how it is set up, and its overall history. I feel like it is important to examine critical aspects of the processes used in educating youth, such as contents of curriculum and how educators interact with students. Basically, people involved in the educational system should pay close attention to who is being taught what, how they are being taught, and why.

The video about changing education paradigms was one of the more poignant pieces to me. I thought using animation to embellish what was being explained was a good way to make the speech more interesting. But even if you disregard the animation, I would say that Ken Robinson did an exceptional job breaking down the public education system and connecting the dots to show how the current system is based on a scholastic model that is incredibly outdated. In addition, Robinson describes how the current public education system is actually detrimental to children and their academic growth.

The question I will be continually asking myself and trying to answer is: How can I affect a positive change in the way things are done in the educational system? Another question I ask of myself is: How do I help current and future students to navigate through the current process until adequate changes are made? Whatever steps I take or moves I make will be strictly for the benefit of all children; and I know it will take a considerable amount of effort on my part to consistently fight for what is right for them.

I hope to continue to learn and grow more through experiences, as opposed to reading and taking courses. I feel that best way for me to learn is to talk and interact with children and their families from all different cultures and lifestyles, and learn more about them, as well as teach them things they might not know about me and my culture. Although I consider myself to be pretty patient, I feel I still need to grown in that regard as well; when working with young people, I find myself getting frustrated often when trying to get them to do things, especially when they are wound up with a lot of energy, or I am trying to get them to do something they do not necessarily want to do, or if they are angry or frustrated about something.

Observation #5

I currently volunteer/observe at the Pillsbury House in their After-School Arts program. As of now, I have spent a little over 25 hours working with the children in the program. I spend time reading with the children, observing them while they are doing their homework, helping them with art projects, working with them when they learning certain skills, like walking on stilts, or how to play tennis. I also play games like football, tag, and other games that involve physical activity with them. There are also times when I interact with the kids while doing music-related activities.

The Pillsbury House seems to be a very family oriented facility, and they have information that could be helpful to families. There are plenty of pamphlets and flyers right on the first floor, and they are often in multiple languages. I think that Pillsbury House makes a strong effort to connect to families and provide information to them that can help them with their daily lives.

There were many strengths that I saw being exhibited by the adult staff working with the children in the program. I thought they did a good job calming down children when they would get excited, and making children feel better when they were seemingly in bad moods. I thought that most of the programming was able to maintain the children's attention for the most part. For instance, since the kids seem to enjoy play that is rather physical in nature, one of them is often getting hurt. When this happens, one of the staff is usually pretty good at making sure the child who gets hurt feels better and does not overreact by going to the child immediately after the incident and talking to the child calmly.

Family Engagement

In the readings and videos we watched this week, there were a few things that were subtly presented, yet grabbed my attention right away.

The first things I noticed in the Negril-Pool reading was how it was an example of the fact that many parts of the country are still very segregated, but there is no mention of why that is; the issue for some reason was making Kalena, with her "dark, thick hair and chocolate brown skin" feel "comfortable" being an a classroom full of "predominantly European American" children. Even though, from how I understood it, the teacher was of Mexican descent, she still seems to hold "European American" (I put European American in quotes because I am not sure if she is referring to Americans with actual European ancestry, or Americans who have the physical characteristics to pass for, and therefore claim to be white) culture as the standard. I also found it interesting that the teacher only felt it necessary to expose her students to other cultures another culture when there was a student who was "different" in the class.

What I found interesting about the Genzuk article was how the "funds of knowledge" theory sounded like the concept of bartering, and that it is someone's way of trying to get money by rehashing and renaming old ideas. I also could not get over how in the story about Jacobo the motivation for visiting his home and getting to know his family was initially sparked. I wondered how the teacher would have went about if Jacobo behaved how he was "expected" to.

In the videos, I felt that most of them displayed attitudes and beliefs that had me questioning their intent, as well as their values. For instance, Jeannie Oakes seemed to have no problem making communities of color being synonymous with poor communities; nor did she show any hesitation in claiming to know why "many" of the people in those communities are having issues with getting their children access to a quality education. I also felt like Oakes somewhat shifted the blame on the people in the community, claiming that the issue with most families is that they are too shy to get involved.

I also felt that Nel Noddings stating that people were actually scared was interesting as well. I felt like Noddings, along with Oakes, were implying that it was people in the community's fear, and subsequent non-action based on those fears, is the reason that children of color and from poor communities are being neglected and not given access to quality education opportunities. They fail to mention how often scenarios people are supposed to be fearful of happening actually occur.

I was also put off by how Jacqueline Jordan Irvine and Noddings seemed to not have any genuine interest in or interaction with children. But with all that said, it was not all bad; I really liked what Victoria Purcell-Gates had to say about getting families involved in the education process. I also thought what Joyce Epstein was saying about principals taking the lead in engaging families and the community was very important, and I think it can be an effective strategy if done properly.

My plan for engaging with families is simple; I will let them know that I care, and that the best possible scenario would be to have every adult (even peers, older children, and teens) that is a part of that child's life to be involved with making sure that are put in the best possible position to learn as much as they can, and that they take advantage of the situation.

Observation #4

I have been observing and working with kids in an after school program at the Pillsbury House in south Minneapolis. I do more interacting with the children than just sitting back and observing; which is something I am encouraged - and I actually prefer - to do.

I spend my time with them doing a variety of different activities, such as reading, drawing, doing art projects, dancing, and playing games. There has also been a couple of times when I sat with children during the time designated for working on school work; the kids usually already understood what they needed to do to complete the work, so I would not say that I helped them, but just monitored them to make sure they stayed on task. I have observed for approximately 20 hours so far.

So far, I have not noticed any specific lessons or any other signs of the staff looking for opportunities to talk with the children about race, class, sexuality, or gender. I believe the focus is more on occupying the children's time than creating learning opportunities, which is understandable since it is an after school program; but that is not to say that there are not opportunities to engage the children in conversations about those topics.

As I mentioned, the majority of the time the kids are participating in some type of reading, art related, or interactive play activity. Sometimes during these activities, an opportune moment when a situation touches on one or more of the topics presents itself, but no attempts are made to encourage the children to talk about them. To be fair, though the racial/cultural makeup of kids who attend the after school program on the days I am there is pretty diverse, the children do not seem to have any underlying issues, at least in regards to race, and they all play and get along with each other pretty well; the only bias they exhibit when interacting with each other is in their preferred activity and styles of play.

From what I have observed, I have not been able to distinguish any specific educational philosophy being followed by the staff. There seems to be a heavy focus on exposing the children to the arts and being creative, but I have not witnessed any moments where the activities offered to the children were intended to create a teachable moment beyond the actions related to the activity itself, or engage the children in conversation. 

Classrooms as Sites for Confronting Privileges, Changing the World

There are many topics we discussed and read about so far that has stuck with me, but I would say the Changing Education Paradigms video - where Sir Ken Robinson talks about the history of public education, its intended purpose when it was initially developed, and how little it has changed over the years - and Huerta's writing on the history of public education in the United States and the Greek influence on what is taught, what is deemed as valuable knowledge, how it is taught, and who it is taught to are what will likely have the most impact on what I would teach (I would also include the impact racism has on education, but that factor has played a part in my interest in working with young people long before this class).

Society has gone through many evolutions, and so much has changed since the days when public schools were first established in this country; yet the current public educational system still operates largely in the same manner as it did when it was initially conceived. Sadly, this system is more geared towards creating obedient workers that walk, talk, and dress the same than actually educating the youth and giving them the tools to become knowledgeable, skilled, critical thinking, and compassionate adults.

I definitely feel that the classroom is a place to talk about privilege and creating change. It would be even better if classrooms were more diverse - with children from various cultures, neighborhoods, economic backgrounds, and family compositions sharing the same classroom - but meaningful conversations could still be had in classrooms that are not so diverse.

I think that it is important for everybody to learn as much about as many different cultures and lifestyles as possible, and the younger one is introduced to them, the more susceptible they are to developing a true understanding of different cultures and people who do not look like them. I am not sure if privilege should be confronted as much as people being denied opportunity and being treated unfairly. I also feel that change is a part of life, and without it people are in danger of accepting things that are harmful to themselves and society as a whole - because that's "just the way it is".

Observation #3

So far, I have spent about 10 hours volunteering/observing youth in an after school program at the Pillsbury House in south Minneapolis. I believe there are four full-time staffers that work with the children in the program; during the days that I have volunteered, there were always one or two artists of various disciplines, and a number of college students volunteering, on site working with the youth as well. Out of the staff, two of them are African American, and the other two are white, and they are all women. The artists working with the children that I have come in contact with was an Asian male, an African American male, an Indian (or possibly Arabic) woman, and a white woman. All of the volunteers that I seen were young white women. The administration that I have met consisted of a white woman (the volunteer coordinator) and a Hispanic woman (front desk receptionist). The students in the program seem to be of various races and cultures. During the days that I volunteer there is usually around 40-50 kids in the program, and there are usually a few more girls than boys. The kids in the program are in the age range of first through sixth grade; they all seem to get along with each other for the most part, and there is no division amongst them in terms of race or gender, but they do sometimes tend to group together based on their age groups.

Since it is an afterschool program and not specifically a learning institution, I do not think that too many of Delpit’s principles applies to what the program does. There is time set aside for the children to do their homework, but there are no instructors, and they do not communicate with their teachers to know what the children are supposed to do for their homework. However, there are some principles I think that the staff does address on some level, including:

CREATE A SENSE OF FAMILY AND CARING IN THE SERVICE OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

The staff does seem to communicate with the parents or other family members that pick up the children, talking to them about their day, regardless if the child had a rough (or good) day.

HONOR AND RESPECT THE CHILDREN’S HOME CULTURE

The children in the program represent a diverse number of cultures, and the staff seems to respect that; the most telling examples of this is when they talk with the parents, often times speaking with them in their native language.

There is a lot of arts related programming, such as music, dancing, painting, drawing, crafts, writing stories, reading, and acting, but the projects that I have seen the kids take part in were not specific to any certain culture.

Education Debt

I have many concerns in regards to the educational system and its history of educating students of color, particularly African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans. I am not overly concerned with the terms used to describe the situation; although I do see the difference in referring to the issue of disproportionate numbers of minority youth not having access to high quality learning opportunities as “educational debt” as opposed to the “achievement gap”.

What I wonder about the most are the intentions of the people who make the decisions regarding public education. I wonder if they really believe that they are doing what is best for all children, if they are only concerned with what happens to a certain segment of the population, or if they care at all about any of the youth their decisions impact. I wonder if getting caught up in arguing about the semantics of the phrases used to describe the issue is an intended distraction from the issue itself; I also wonder if popularizing the use of the term “educational debt” instead of “achievement gap” would cause anyone to act any differently.

When I hear people say things like, “I use the term ‘achievement gap’, I do it because I’m so use to saying it”, it makes me think about people’s actions, and how much of what they do is based on how they have been more or less conditioned to think and act in a certain way.

You would think that many decisions that do not seem to have the best interest of the youth in mind could be justified by simple economics. But the cost estimates from the Closing the Gap: Early Childhood Education article on the ASCD website state otherwise, noting that “conservative cost-benefit models show that for an initial investment of roughly $15,000 per child, the return to society was roughly $250,000, or $17 for every dollar invested” (Nelson).

The only reason that makes even the slightest bit of since as to why the public is not strongly advocating for investing in early childhood education is that are simply not aware of the cost advantages of doing so. You would like to think that the welfare of children should be enough motivation, but it obviously is not since the current system is operating as it has been for years with little resistance. I will do my best to help change that by spreading the word about the benefits – both social and economic – of investing in children’s education early on.

School Funding Formulas

My biggest concern is how much of the funding for public schools comes from property taxes, and state and local sources. This seems to an unfair burden on communities where poverty is concentrated.

I think the issue of public education should be more nationalized, and an effort should be made to show how the lack of educational opportunities for some parts of the population affects us as a nation. I think there should be some form of vertical equity applied, and I do not feel that it should be seen as being unequal to allocate more resources to where it is most needed. Nobody is stressing that point about children born (or adopted) into wealthy families with a ton of resources.

I would not be opposed to funding public schools through any certain means, but I would change how those funds are distributed. I think that in terms of taxation, collecting from sales tax would be the most fair to the taxpayer; but it monies are collected through property and income taxes, it should not only go to the schools within that region, but be distributed in terms of need until a level of parity is reached in all public learning institutions in America. Fundraising should be encouraged, but I feel that schools in lower income areas should look more into raising funds from sources outside of their communities where there is more disposable income. Grants from foundations should be allowed, but distributed more evenly, or even favor schools with higher needs. I also think that businesses and corporations should share more of the responsibility of funding schools, especially since they are often the beneficiaries of strong educational systems by having a highly educated talent pool to hire employees from.

I also believe that progress and achievement levels should factor into how much a school is funded. The most effective schools should receive all the funding they require to operate, and those underperforming should be subject to being completely restructured or closed altogether. I know this would raise concerns as to what would be considered satisfactory levels of achievement and progress; I feel this issue should be addressed through national discourse and some form of a voting process to determine acceptable standards.

I believe that my plan is generally equitable in a relative sense; children with less access to a quality education should be given the opportunity to gain access to one, and learning institutions with less resources should be allotted more funding to acquire more. My primary concern is children - all children - and all should have the same opportunities to learn. A child's access to a quality education and subsequent future should not be determined by the economic situation they were born into.

Observation #2

I am observing at the afterschool program at Pillsbury House in south Minneapolis. I am encouraged - as a matter of fact expected - to participate and interact with the children in the program as opposed to just sitting back and observing what is going on. So far this has included basic interactions with the children, reading, talking, and playing games with them. I recently have been cleared to volunteer through background checks and only been in to observe one day for a few hours so far.

The program seems to be more geared towards activities than learning and teaching, even though they do have a library, and there is time scheduled for the kids to read and do their homework. I have not yet been able to identify any type educational philosophies being followed; I will continue to look for clues or examples of any educational philosophy.

A majority of the time is allotted for creative play; there is even a block of time scheduled for the youth to work with professional artists. There is also free time when the kids are encouraged to draw, build things with toys (such as Legos), and make things with their hands. The staff spends most of their time interacting with children, making sure the kids are being kept busy, and helping them with their homework, reading, creative projects, or whatever else they are doing. The staff also keeps busy making sure the kids are behaving, staying on task, and working to resolve any conflicts between them. All of the staff seem to have good relationships with the children in the program, and the children seem to like and respect the staff.

The spaces where the children spend most of their time are generally wide open spaces; one is set up with tables and chairs, has a few separate rooms connected, and is next to the kitchen, while the other space is completely wide open and has toys in the room where they can run around freely and burn off some energy.

The question that I have after my first observation is basically, "What is all this about?" I wonder if the activities have any other purpose than keeping the children occupied until their parents pick them up. I am hoping to get a better idea of what and why in regards to the programming as I spend more time there.

Build Your Own School - Content/Curriculum

Each student’s learning curriculum is based on the results of an initial assessment that is given to them prior to being assigned a classroom and instructor. The assessment will measure the student’s current education level, learning capability, and willingness/eagerness to learn. There will also be an assessment of the student’s personal interests, as well as their social and communication skills.

The classroom and instructor each student is assigned to is designed to maximize the learning capabilities of every student in a comfortable environment. Each classroom is structured around the learning capabilities and interests of the students. The instructors will be able to teach basic academic skills (reading, writing, arithmetic, communication, effective expression) and various types of learning techniques, which will be categorized by levels of difficulty and complexity. Students will be able to choose which level they begin their learning program in, but will be expected to complete that level and advance to a higher level within a specific time frame. If the student does not advance to a higher level within the allotted time, a reassessment will be made on the student, a meeting will be set up between the student, their family and faculty, and recommendations on future learning goals and objectives for the student will be made.

Other faculty will work with the instructors to provide the students’ learning experience. Professionals that have specialized skills and training will focus on teaching students aspects of learning that are related to their interests; there will also be staff dedicated to working with students on social skills, self discipline, and communication.

Observation #1

I have decided to my observing at the Pillsbury House and volunteer with their Youth Arts after school program. I am still in the initiation stage in the process of observing, and was informed, largely for safety reasons, that I will not be able to do any actual observing of the children until my background check clears.

I did have a meeting and interview with Mary Beth, who is the volunteer coordinator, and Eyenga, the youth arts coordinator. Mary Beth's time was spent mainly taking care of her daily duties of answering the phone - which was constantly ringing during the time I was there - and assisting people who came in, so our interaction was brief overall; she did tell me about the history of the organization and its time operating a facility in the Powderhorn neighborhood. Eyenga did more than an adequate job informing me of the various programs and services Pillsbury House offers.

Pillsbury House has something for children of all ages, with an Early Education Center for preschool aged children and an Afterschool Program for kids in grades K-6. They also have programs for youth in middle and high school, including a program that trains homeless youth how to fix bicycles and provides them with employment opportunities.

There is a strong emphasis put on the arts and fostering creativity, and it seems that is an artistic component incorporated into almost every program Pillsbury House offers. They bring in artists of all disciplines to come in and work with the youth; Eyenga had given me an example of how a professional dancer comes in to work with the youth, introducing them to music and dance moves they are not necessarily familiar with, but pick up on the moves and connect with the music as if they were parts of their daily routines. A theater is within the establishment, but I did not get a sense for how much the youth are involved with or how often they use the theater, but they do have adult theater programs.

I believe the only person I had any interaction with that was actually involved in working with the youth was when I met with Eyenga. It is easy to see that she has a sincere passion for not just some, but all of the children that walk through the Pillsbury House doors. I remember how she expressed that the biggest challenge for her was finding a way to emotionally detach herself from the young people that eventually age out programs and no longer come to Pillsbury House.. And then, as if on cue, a group of adorable little kids from the Early Education Center made their way through the lobby. "You see what I mean?" Eyenga asked, referring to how it easy it is to start to care for the children at first glance.

History of (Mis)Education in America

There are many things about the Public Education system that bother me, but the biggest concern I have is with the overall structure of the system, and how it seems to contradict its intended purpose to "educate" young people and help prepare them to become well-rounded, productive adults. And by "educate", I mean the teaching of basic academics (such as reading, writing, and arithmetic), health and fitness, and skills that allow them to maximize their learning capabilities.

Since levels of success in Public Education are based on certain standards - many of which were set during a time period when world circumstances were much different - that are expected to be achieved by a certain age, children are often put into categories that dictate how they are taught. If the focus is on teaching kids to recite certain standards, then it seems that there would few, if any, opportunities for young people to think creatively, formulate and share ideas, and actually learn to use their brains. In addition, these standards often are tinged with racial, gender, and socioeconomic stereotypes, and ignore a child's individual circumstances. Most children are misdiagnosed, and as a result, their learning experience suffers, often times doing more harm than good. This starts at the beginning of their educational experience, and continues throughout its entirety.

Moreover, there seems to be more of focus on getting children to fit a particular mold as opposed to strengthening their minds and increasing their intellectual capacity. Children are often removed from classrooms and schools altogether if they are not behaving accordingly, denying them the opportunity to learn anything. Some are even heavily medicated, which is supposed to help them learn; I have no doubt it has the opposite effect and does irreparable damage to their minds and bodies that are still developing. 

References:

Only A Teacher - Interactive Timeline, http://www.pbs.org/onlyateacher/timeline/index.html

RSAnimate - Changing Education Paradigms, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U&feature=youtu.be

Teaching as Autobiography

The earliest memories of my educational experience takes me back to my early childhood memories in general and before I even started attending school.

I grew up in a single-parent household where my mother did her best to take care of two energetic, precocious boys. I can remember how early on she would teach us basic things like colors, numbers, ABC's, and how to spell our name. I even remember being enrolled into Head Start for two years; the first year she told me to tell anyone who asked that I was a year older than I actually was (I'm assuming because there was some sort of age restrictions for being accepted into the program). My mom would always tell me to think, and not to be afraid to ask questions about things I did not know or understand.

When I was in kindergarten, we moved from Seattle to St. Paul, and it was during school. But the transition did not really have any effect on me; I was actually excited at the chance to meet some new people. It was a private Catholic school, but the majority of the students were African American, and I do remember that it was a comfortable transition and I had no problem making friends. I also remember that there was a mural on the tunnel wall that led to the lunchroom that said "Black is Beautiful". But I don't remember any real focus on race, racial issues, or even African or African American History.

Although I don't remember her name, I remember my kindergarten teacher - a blonde, middle-aged white woman who wore glasses. She was very kind and encouraging, always telling me how smart I was. She would even buy me little things like pencils and notebooks; she even tried to give me a pet gerbil once (my mom wasn't having it though). She also suggested that I skip a grade, but I didn't want to because I was scared I would not have any friends and not fit in - it's amazing how big a difference a year seemed to be to me as a kid.

I'm not sure of the exact reason, but I wound up leaving private school to go to public school in the 3rd or 4th grade (I believe it was because my mom could no longer afford to send me there). I didn't mind at all, because I had cousins who already were attending the school I was going to, and they made it seem like would be a lot more exciting. And it was, for many reasons; there were a lot more kids at the public school, and they represented a wider range of ethnicities and cultures. The learning environment was much different as well, as it was more hands on and experience driven as opposed to being just from books. We actually had classes that focused on diverse subjects such as languages, science, camping, and various arts and crafts. I don't remember any of the teachers, but I vividly remember the learning experiences and being exposed to new things.

I believe that because my mother lost her job and had to find a new one, we moved to Minneapolis during my fifth grade year. She tried to keep me in the same school, but it soon became too much of a burden and I wound up transferring to a school in Minneapolis.

The teaching process was much different than what I was used to in St. Paul, as it was more focused on controlling the classroom than on teaching. This was when my attitude towards learning changed. Although I did have a few teachers, school administrators, and employees I remember and felt like they actually cared about me personally, I started to feel like there were different things expected from me by teachers and others in charge, as well as my peers. I started to subconsciously accept idea that learning was not important, and it was more about appearance and reputation. So far the remainder of my educational experience, I adjusted my actions accordingly.

Because I had to figure things out largely on my own, I did not recognize the error in my ways until much later in life. My desire to become involved in the education of young people is based entirely on my own experiences, because I want to help those who might be facing the same challenges that I faced and help them make decisions that positively affect them much sooner than I did. 

What is urban?

I feel that there is a difference between what urban is supposed to mean and how the term is used in society. The definition Webster's Dictionary gives of urban is "of, relating to, characteristic of, or constituting a city". This can mean many things, but to me I think it is supposed to refer to more of the core of a city, where there is a mix of housing, businesses, and modern structures such as paved streets, stop lights, highways, and public transportation. 

But I believe that when it is often used, it is done in a context meant to describe something specifically in a politically correct manner, to make sure no one is offended. To put it bluntly, "urban" is just a code word for "Black", "Latino", or any other non-white or European person or culture. This especially true when it comes to the media and "experts" conducting studies and collecting data.

1st Post

What up!

My name is Jamal Denman. I am a DJ, writer, and an all around creative person. I also like to cook and stay active. I am also the father of a wonderful daughter who is also a college student. 

I love working with young people and helping them realize their full potential.