Blog #11- Semester Review

 This semester, we were given many powerful and impactful pieces of film and literature to reflect on as students and future teachers. A few of these pieces stuck with me stronger than others and truly impacted my idea of education.

"Precious Knowledge" 2011 Film

Precious Knowledge was a film that followed an ethnic studies program in Arizona. This film well depicts the struggles of running an ethnic studies program in a red state, and how the program inspired the students to learn, was being fought to be taken away. In this film, the educators created a comfortable environment for students who struggled and felt uncomfortable in their classes during school. In this program, they learned about their heritage and the history of their ethnic backgrounds. This caused the students to look forward to coming to school, to want to learn and to know that they have a safe space to go to. As an educator, I want to make a strong impact on students, and I want to inspire students to want to learn and to know that it is okay to learn about history other than U.S. History. This film was the most impactful out of each film we watched as I hope to be a high school/ middle school history teacher. When I was in high school, history was strictly U.S. History. On my own time, I did my own research and learned as much as I could on World History. I believe as a future educator, it should not be the student's responsibility to educate on important topics.


In class~ Card Game

In class, we played a card game that focused on putting students into different groups and each giving them a different set of rules, the students were unaware of the differences. We were also not allowed to talk or communicate during the game, we had to be completely silent. After they practiced a few sets of the game, they would go on to a different group, with another set of rules. The students would then play the game, and all be left with the confusion. This game is supposed to represent different languages trying to understand and communicate in a setting with people who speak another language. For example, a student who speaks primarily Spanish, trying to learn in a classroom where everyone speaks English and not Spanish. It was truly eye-opening to be put in a situation where everyone understands something one way, but you were taught something a completely different way.

Hehir- Toward Ending Ableism in Education

I liked Hehir's reading Toward Ending Ableism in Education, as it discusses Ableism in the education system, which I feel gets put on the back burner of social justice in education. This reading made me think of my own experiences in public school and how students who were in special education were either put into average college prep classes without help or put into a classroom in the corner of the school and only learned in this one classroom, and never left. In class, equality is such an important topic, and as educators, we have to learn to make sure that everyone has a comfortable space in the classroom. Many of us had negative experiences in school, and that is why we are becoming educators as we can change the system of education's reputation for teachers who are there "Just for the paycheck".

Comments

  1. Olivia HarrisDecember 8, 2024 at 8:04 AM

    I like how you included Hehir's reading. Like you said, ableism is often dismissed when talking about social justice in education, and many of us have seen this ring true in our own school experiences.

    ReplyDelete
  2. JordanTaylorDecember 9, 2024 at 6:29 AM

    Hi Michelina! I also wrote about how much the card game impacted my perception of entering a classroom. I really enjoyed your blog!

    ReplyDelete

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