Choices Get Voices
Choices Get Voices
By: Whitney Ginder
Removing Barriers
According to the study in the Removing Barriers article, there is an increase of 'reluctant readers' between sixth and eight grades. One of the most common reasons students lose interest in reading is because their interests aren't met. A main source of books for students comes from their school libraries, but often times libraries do not have books that engage students due to the book of choice is currently 'out', the librarian is afraid of parent disapproval, or a lack funding. Though it is understandable that librarians and teachers struggle with student engagement because of those factors, they need to try their hardest to make their libraries and classroom shelves stocked with books that attract students. Finally, when assigning class books to read about a specific topic (a topic that interests them preferably), give the students a list of books that they can choose from, so that they have the chance to find one that is appealing to them. The study showed that most students enjoyed reading and projects when they had the book that fascinated them.:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/bookmemes-3-5c52096b46e0fb00014c3a8d.png)
Choice is Teaching Democracy
"To implement a critical curriculum, especially one that asks children to do something about the world, teachers must design a democratic classroom." (Bomer & Bomer, pg. 98)
Teaching students to be critical learners means giving them the chance to participate in a classroom democracy. A way to create a democratic classroom is to follow these guiding principles:
- Intention- giving the students the chance to choose what THEY want.
- Dialogue- students need to talk to each other and hear different points of view. The students learn to share opinions and understand that not everyone has the same ideas, there are multiple sides.
- Collaboration- students learn to work together and make plans. Collaboration also focuses on the way words are stated and practicing how to talk civilly.
- Inquiry- Students should not always be given the answer. Give students the choice to choose a topic that interests them enough to dig deeper.
The teacher should let their students share their views, even if it might make the other students uncomfortable. Students should also be given the chance to talk about social injustices in their school and community. Once harder topics are allocated and handle in a way that makes the oppressed students in the situation feel heard and understood, the classroom atmosphere may feel relieved and routine can carry on in a critically conscious and academic manner.
Questions:
1. How would you handle a situation where a parent complained about the books you had in your classroom library?
2. How might parents respond if you are teaching about social injustices? Do you remember a time in elementary school where you learned about a social injustice?
3. What are ways you could give your students voice? How would you support them?
4. How might you facilitate student choice?
5. What is the importance of students sharing their thoughts and concerns?
Citations:
1. How would you handle a situation where a parent complained about the books you had in your classroom library?
2. How might parents respond if you are teaching about social injustices? Do you remember a time in elementary school where you learned about a social injustice?
3. What are ways you could give your students voice? How would you support them?
4. How might you facilitate student choice?
5. What is the importance of students sharing their thoughts and concerns?
Citations:
Bomer, R., & Bomer, K. (2001). For a Better World: Reading and Writing for Social Action. Heinemann, 88 Post Road West, PO Box 5007, Westport, CT 06881. (Chapter 6)
Worthy, J. (1996). Removing Barriers to Voluntary Reading for Reluctant Readers: The Role of School and Classroom Libraries. National Council of Teachers of English. (pg. 483-492).
To address the third question, I will answer this question in two-fold, for supporting the voice of marginalized groups, who have historically not had a voice, and for supporting the student's voice in the structure and dynamics of the classroom. For students of marginalized groups, such as students with disabilities and in minority cultures, who may perceive themselves as voiceless in the mainstream society, to build cultural competence, it is important to construct a safe classroom community, which is welcoming and normalizes diversity through incorporating text with characters of various cultures that can also provide counternarratives, and by allowing the students to manifest their cultural assets in the classroom. Moreover, considering welcoming and normalizing diversity in the classroom, this ideology corresponds with Bomer & Bomer (2001) as the authors conclude, "Empathy and imagination are habits necessary for participating in a caring, cooperative, democratic life. You have to be able to feel at least to imagine what it feels like to be the other person" (p. 104). Although having dialogue is beneficial for generating understanding between individuals of unique cultures or group identities, when educators do not implement culturally relevant pedagogy and culturally sustaining in the classroom, students may not feel supported to discuss their uniqueness, which deviates from the mythical norm. My reasoning stems from own personal experience since following the period where I started becoming called racial slurs, I would feel unsafe and develop a sense of anxiety when people started asking questions about my perceived differences. If a classroom had embraced and welcome diversity and presented stories where students could develop empathy for the obstacles that biracial children face, then I would have felt more supported by my educator and my classmates plus believe that I could have a voice to discuss my experiences safely.
ReplyDeleteAs previously mentioned, another strategy an educator can incorporate to support students of marginalized groups, consist of providing students to express their cultural competence. My ideology extends the reasoning of Bomer & Bomer (2001), who determines that Katherine promotes the following action in the classroom discussion over the concern of the Asian girls that are being teased, "Solicits their ideas for solving the problem. She asks them to make an action plan. The solution to the issue of teasing was to ask the three girls to talk about their culture" (p. 109). Through having diverse students of marginalized groups discuss their culture, the student not merely recognizes that they have a platform, which allows others to comprehend and emphasize with the students' cultural assets and counternarratives but may comprehend that the educator supports their distinct voice in the classroom. This ideology can extend to students who manifest a disability as well. For instance, when I went to the Conner Prairie Deaf Heritage Day, members of the Indiana School for the Death, with the assistance of interpreters, discuss their personal experiences and the historical culture of the deaf community. Moreover, presenting an analogous opportunity in the classroom could have become beneficial for one of my friends, who experience deafness, on my middle and high school football team. Furthermore, through predominantly talking considerably more through sign language, my friend could potentially have felt less isolated and extended his education if educators would have supported his voice more in the classroom.
(Here's the rest of my response)
DeleteAnother way I would support students' voices revolves around allowing students to co-create some of the classroom decisions and through providing groupwork and class discussions. Bomer & Bomer (2001) determine, "Making joint decisions as often as possible. Even if the final decision will be the teacher's, conversations with the people affected should surround the decision" (p. 101). Furthermore, student's voice would become supported when students can express their opinions on the classroom rules, classroom jobs, and discussion on various classroom incidents or concerns, such as conflicts which disrupt the harmony of the learning community. When students acknowledge that they have a role in the development of the classroom environment, the students should comprehend the message that their voice matters in the classroom, and the educator's position of authority does not inhibit the student's voice. Lastly, intertwining the previous ways of supporting students' voices in the classroom, I would support students' voices through groupwork and classwide discussions. I believe these activities would become beneficial in the classroom by allowing students to use their voices alongside one another to present their unique expertise, experiences, and perspectives to challenge and build upon one another's conceptual framework. With the establishment of developing a safe classroom community that welcomes and embrace diversity and multiple perspectives, I will support and scaffold students to work in a group dynamic that acknowledges and encourages multiple voices to become heard in the classroom.
References
Bomer, R., & Bomer, K. (2001). For a Better World: Reading and Writing for Social Action. Heinemann, 88 Post Road West, PO Box 5007, Westport, CT 06881.
Great post, Whitney. I really like how you discussed the importance of democracy in the classroom. School functions a lot differently than society in general. The United States take a lot of pride in the “American Dream” and anyone can do anything, meaning the amount of choices are endless. However, schooling seems to be the opposite. It is very important to have structure and order, but I think students should have more choice in their learning than they do now. I think administrators and teachers have to know a lot of the reading students have to do doesn’t relate to them, and that is why many students are reluctant to read.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your fourth question, there are a couple ways I would facilitate student choice. I would off multiple different assessments for students to choose from. Instead of just giving a test at the end of the unit; I would allow students to create a presentation, write a paper, create a play if applicable, create a podcast, and there any many other possible ideas. To facilitate student choice specifically for reading, I would allow student to vote. There were times in school where the class had to read the same book and almost all students didn’t like the book. By allowing the class to vote on a book will mean majority of the class will want to read the book and this would be a great way to practice democracy in the classroom. I think this connects the idea the article provided where the students were interested in the ocean and the teacher allowed students to explore different topics in the ocean (Worthy, p. 485). By asking the class it allowed the teacher to see what interested the class as a whole.
To answer question five, I think it is very important for students to share their concerns in the classroom. By allowing students to share their concerns in the classroom, I think this promotes a safe classroom environment. It also shows the students that the teacher cares about what they think and want their feedback.
Billy, I liked the way that you said you would allow students to choose from multiple assessment types. That would be awesome and give them the power to have a say in their learning/assessment. When things are more applicable it makes all the difference. I have personal connections with that and it made my learning a lot more interesting and beneficial. I think I might keep note of this so that I can do it in my classroom someday.
DeleteBilly, I hadn't even thought to connect the readings to the American Dream. What an awesome connection! How would you facilitate your students when they are sharing their thoughts and concerns?
DeleteWhitney, I would facilitate this by allowing my students to ask me the questions. If I ask the only questions, I subconsciously gear the questions to get the answers I want to hear, and not actually find a solution to the problem. I definitely it is important as a teacher to allow the student to guide the conversation when students are expressing their concerns, because I could very well be the cause of these concerns, so by fixing it, I have to listen first.
DeleteNice blog! Your first section about reading and students being able to pick out books that interest them in order to do projects, etc. is something I was really glad you touched on. I think that I would have done tremendously better in school if I had a say in what book I had to read for projects or book clubs. I didn't ever feel a connection or have an interest because I knew in my head that the teacher picked the book out and I had no say. This type of involvement in a student's classroom learning is important and worth letting them choose the text/book. Looking at question two, I think that the majority of parents wouldn't have any issue with teaching about social injustices. There may be some that don't want their student to have to think or know about how the world can be about these issues but I think that after a teacher discusses the importance of it, that they would understand and get past it. Personally, I don't remember ever learning about social injustice very often, especially not in elementary school. I know that if that was something I did learn that my parents would have no issue with it. They aren't the type of parents who question teachers. They know that teachers do what they do for a reason and trust that.
ReplyDeleteAbby, One of the points made in the Removing Barriers article was that you do not want to over do the projects and tests for the books because the students may take it as that is the only reason people read, for projects and tests.
DeleteAbby, I also did not really connect to any books in school, because like you said the teacher picked them out. I remember when I had "freedom" to pick out my own book, there was a lot of conditions the book had to fall under, therefore I still coudn't find a book I could really make a connection to. I don't remember learning about social injustices often either or even at all. My parents most likely my parents would have had an issue with it either, as long as the conversation was productive and not just the teacher pushing their beliefs on the students extremely hard.
DeleteJust like you, Abby, I never read any books about social injustices in school. Unlike you, I think my parents would have had a problem with those books, but they wouldn't have done anything about it. They would likely complain about how "they don't need to be teaching you those things" and other things like that, but they wouldn't take action. I'm not sure how I would have reacted to that as a child. I might've believed what my parents said, or I might've believed what the teacher said, I think it would have been a confusing controversy for me to deal with. So, I think we have to keep in mind that even if some parents don't say anything to us, they may be giving our students mixed signals at home which can cause some students to resist any exposure to societal issues that we bring into the classroom.
DeleteAbby, like you I never took interest in reading a lot of the assigned books that I had to read in school. I remember looking up notes online before class so that I could have an idea on what we were supposed to have read. I know I wasn't the only one that did this too because my friends and I all would talk about not doing the readings. I think that this is something that needs to be improved on because not only was it a waste of time for me, my peers, and the teacher, but it also made us all very disengaged in class. This would frustrate our teacher a lot of times because he could tell that we didn't read. I think that if we were to have done more engaging activities with this book, or literally anything other than having a chapter to read and a worksheet to fill out with it, then me and my peers would have felt differently about it and would have enjoyed this lesson more.
DeleteTo answer your question "What is the importance of students sharing their thoughts and concerns?" Like I stated in my comment on Abby's response I remember feeling like a lot of my assigned books to read in high school were very boring. Not even necessarily because of the book but because we would have the same type of worksheets to do with every single chapter. I know I was not the only one who felt this way because my peers and I wold discuss it. I think that if we would have been able to share our thoughts and concerns with the way our teacher was teaching this book to us, then maybe he could have came up with more engaging activities that would have made us more interested in reading the book to begin with. When such boring and disengaging activities are given from the start it is hard for students to even have the motivation to complete the assignments.
ReplyDeleteRylee, I also agree that the books given to us were boring in high school. I thought that if we had a choice in what book that was chosen, more people would have enjoyed the reading or actually read it. I think sharing our thoughts would be very important. This could show the teacher what you got form the reading.
DeleteI agree. I remember hating reading and still do sometimes. I am not interested in things that have nothing to with me and my life or my dreams. If I feel that way, then I know my students would too. They are human just like us and aren't robots that we make do task and expected them to ace it. They have feeling and interest and it is our job to accommodate them the best we can.
DeleteI also struggled with assigned reading in highschool because I felt like it was more of an obligation and a chore than something I wanted to do and enjoyed doing. If teachers make it a priority to build a relationship with their students, I feel like they are going to prepare activities that are more engaging and keep the students interested throughout the reading assignment. This is why a sense of community is so important in the classroom.
DeleteTo answer your question "What is the importance of students sharing their thoughts and concerns?" Like I stated in my comment on Abby's response I remember feeling like a lot of my assigned books to read in high school were very boring. Not even necessarily because of the book but because we would have the same type of worksheets to do with every single chapter. I know I was not the only one who felt this way because my peers and I wold discuss it. I think that if we would have been able to share our thoughts and concerns with the way our teacher was teaching this book to us, then maybe he could have came up with more engaging activities that would have made us more interested in reading the book to begin with. When such boring and disengaging activities are given from the start it is hard for students to even have the motivation to complete the assignments.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question, "What is the importance of students sharing their thoughts and concerns?" it makes them feel included in the classroom. A lot of times students don't feel like they have any say in a classroom and that they are lesser than the teacher in the room. It is important that all students know that they can be heard whether it is out loud to the entire room or maybe just between themselves and the teacher in private.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to question 2, if I was teaching about social injustice in my elementary classroom, some parents my disagree due to age of my students.I would let those parents know that it is important that they are educated on the social injustices of our country because it includes them too. The more people that are aware of the injustice, the more that they may want to do about it. There is a whole education system that is against our minority students, they need to be informed of the injustice to know that thy don't have to follow or give in to it even at a young age. Our elementary students are smarter and more advance than we think. What they feel and think matters and they need to have a say so in what is fighting against them daily.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your last question, it is important to get feedback from students. Allowing them to share their thoughts and concerns will benefit the student and the teacher. For students, it will benefit them because they will be allowed to share their feelings in a safe space, give their thoughts on the lesson and how it was taught which then the teacher can learn from and build from their comments. For teachers, it is important to understand the students beyond just if they are learning the content but also how they are reacting to it and internalizing what they are learning.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more with this. As teachers, we are also learning from our students. Even though our job is to teach them, they can also teach us how to be good teachers. Allowing students to have a voice teaches them from a young age to be confident in their thoughts and opinions. Being a quiet and shy student, I was never comfortable sharing my thoughts because I always thought they were "wrong.' Helping our students feel comfortable in this format will allow them to continue this confidence onto their adult lives.
DeleteIn regards to question two, I feel like some parents might have a little pushback in teaching about social injustices. I know that my parents are very firm in their political beliefs and views and some of the things that we touch on in class are things that my parents disagree with (such as white privilege). I think that, if you do meet parents who have something negative to say about your classroom, you could explain your reasoning for teaching the material that you are. If the parents have an issue with it, you can tell them that their child can learn different material but it will be separate from the rest of their peers.
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