Ideas. Illustrated.

Week 3, Chapter 1 – Idea Illustrator – Elizabeth

Nieto encourages teachers to incorporate active learning, through constructivist approaches to education, in our practice. She discusses Vygotsky's theories of social constructivism and how students best learn when lessons and activities align with their individual zones of proximal development. In the video, "Social Constructivism: Literature Circles," (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2CnA0uIqMs) Elizabeth Buckhold tells about her experiences as an 11th grade ELA teacher who uses literature circles, a Vygoskian approach to literature and reading comprehension, in her practice. She discusses the positive results literature circles have had on student achievement.

I found the following images to "illustrate" two more of Nieto's chapter about learning.

The first image below, which I did NOT create, is a visual representation of Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences (Nieto, 1999, p. 10; image from http://www.collegetocareers.com/college-help-howard-gardner/).

Finally, I created a map of the Five Principles of Learning (Nieto, 1999, pg. 3).

Social Interaction <----> Learning Development

Christina Trovato  - Discussion Director & Creative Connector
Week 2 - Chapter 1

* Steels's conclusion was that something else depresses the academic achievement of Blacks at every level of preperation. The "something else," Steele claims, is the inability to identify with school, which leads to their not being treated as valuable members of the school community (p.44).
This was something that jumped out to me as I had been reading. Before this passage Sonia Nieto explains that many students of color had been given many opportunities to enhance their learning.  Learning orientation nor socioeconomic disadvantage had anything to do with this, it is the idea of identification and acceptance. I have seen this throughout my education. And she went on to say, dis-identification can spread like the common cold. As I had spent many hours observing schools in the city of Buffalo, this concept of dis-identification is a common fall back from learning. Students develop an attitude of "not caring" which is actually a shield to protect them from feelings one would feel as a vulnerable outsider. It is important to develop a trusting community within a classroom and school, in order to promote positive learning.

 

*  It is especially significant that teachers grasp the influence that social and political context may have on learning beacuse this realization can alter how they percieve their students  and, consequently what and how they teach them (p. 43).
A teacher cannot just meet with their new group of students in September and check off premade plans throughout each day. A large part of teaching is getting to know student's on a personal level, understanding their interests, experiences, strengths, weaknesses, developmental, cognitive level etc. A student's background plays a huge role in how to lay out a lesson and execute it. I can remember some teachers who had taken the time to get to know me and developed strategies to help me understand difficult concepts such as math. I also remember teachers in elementary and middle school who covered the topic and that was that. I was lost and felt stupid to ask for help after all...the teacher only looked bothered when someone did.
      Also, digging to the root of the problem is part of understanding each students and seeing them a certain way. For example, a student's behavior may be caused from past experiences or life at home.

* That is, virtually all children develop many cognitive abilities before even setting foot in a school building, and these include at least one language, among numerous other skills. children come to school as thinkers and learners, aptitudes that usually are acknowledged as important building blocks for learning (p.39).
A huge part of learning is building off what students already understand. Setting the bar slightly higher to absorb a new package of knowledge. In the beginning of one of my graduate classes we had many different "ice breaking" or "getting to know each other" activities which reminded me of this concept. In order to teach towards a goal of new learning...instructors must understand student's capabilities. This not only sets a framework for rich lesson plans but also builds a sense of community and attribution to the classroom. Giving students the opportunity to see what they can contribute as an individual and as a whole in the classroom can bring a sense of purpose and power to grow as a learner.

Week 2, Ch. 1- Who defines learning?

Laura Nardozzi- Literary Luminator and Essence Extractor

Passage 1: “In the most restricted sense, learning can be thought of as the mastery of a series of skills leading to good grades and high scores…When learning is defined primarily through test scores, learning is restricted by narrowing the curriculum and pedagogy and reducing teacher motivation.”- pg. 33

            This passage struck me as particularly powerful because I feel as though this captures the error we may get sucked into as educators. It is so difficult to look beyond the standardized tests are students are expected to pass for a series of reason: one being that this is what we will be “judged” upon as teachers. How well our students do on a state mandated test somehow tells the state how capable we are of teaching the youth of New York State. Also, as teacher’s it is difficult to get excited about learning ourselves when there is a lack of freedom in what and how our students learn.

Passage 2: "Learning is an active process in which meaning is developed on the basis of experience...at its crudest level learning is thought of as the reproduction of socially sanctioned knowledge."- pg. 35

             I thought it was very interesting to see the viewpoint that learning is constructed by the meaning we take from the world around us. In other words an individual is not learning if they are not able to apply what they have learned to their environment.

Passage 3: “However, culture is never fixed or passive, nor is it manifested in the same way in each person. What is needed is a different way to appreciate how culture may influence learning.”- pg. 41

            Often when we learn about multiculturalism in our classroom we make generalizations about culture in an effort to be diverse. However, we need to remember that while culture can play an important role in how our students learn, it does not negate their individual learning needs as well. 

Essence: Learning is complex and is determined by multiple constructs within society.

Learner Agency: Making a difference in pre-existing conditions

Shawne Murphy
Rigorous Researcher
Week 2
Chapter 1

                Sonia Nieto described learning as being actively constructed in which she placed learner agency at the center of the ability of a student to construct knowledge in a multicultural setting.  What she did not do was describe how students can use learner agency to become comfortable in their ability to construct knowledge.  Learner agency is the ability of an individual student to develop their own strategies to aide in their educational success.  Many individuals have a desire for acceptance into the classroom environment to where their thoughts and ideas can be valued in order to increase their confidence and growth in understanding.  It can be seen in an everyday classroom that students of various multicultural settings just want to be valued for whom they are and be accepted for what they know and how they can use it to make a difference in both the classroom setting and the community.  Learner agency is closely related to the zone of proximal development.

 Billett, S. (2005, September 18). Exercising self through working life: Learning, work and identity. 

           Griffith University, 1-18. Retrieved from http://www.98.griffith.edu.au

What does "that" mean?

Week 3, Chapter 1 - Vocabulary/Concept Vitalizer - Elizabeth

“banking education”: Freire’s theory that knowledge is simply ‘deposited’ into students who are thought of as empty receptacles; a passive learning process (pg. 3) – vs. “Constructivism” – active learning; students “make” their own meaning; “best practice” (pg. 3)

“habits of mind”: Meier’s term for critical thinking and learning; active participation in and responsibility for one’s learning (pg. 5) – Minority groups typically thought NOT to possess abilities required

cultural capital: Bourdieu’s term for the knowledge and experience that children from socially and culturally dominant groups enter the school system that has historically placed them at an advantage over students from groups that are deemed socially and culturally inferior (pg. 6) – Perpetuates notion that minority students are lesser students

jíbaros: greenhorns (slang term for immigrant; gullible) or peasants newly arrived from Puerto Rico (pg. 7, www.dictionary.com) – from Nieto’s personal experiences with oral tradition and (early) literacy

tabula rasa: “blank slate;” a biased view pertaining to a belief that students from socially and culturally inferior groups arrive to education with no knowledge or experience (pg. 8) – Same implications as cultural capital (above)

How Diverse Am I? Elizabeth Degnan

Prior to completing the "My Life Experiences" diversity survey, I viewed myself as a person who is multicultural. As a teacher that subscribes to social justice theory, it is impossible, really, for me not to embrace "the other." Sometimes, "the other" is a student with a skin color unlike my own. Other times, "the other" is a student with dyslexia which results in below grade level reading ability. Still, "the other" can be the educator that does not share my values and educational philosophy.

I scored a 62 on the survey, which places me in the "monocultural, but moving in a multicultural direction" group. I was raised in the inner city of Rochester. I attended private schools with students predominately like me, although various black and Hispanic students were present during my educational career. It wasn't until I was living on my own, and working to support myself while attending college courses at night that I honestly began to consider people not outwardly like me with more respect and appreciation. Finally, when I decided to become a teacher, a little light bulb clicked: at the core, each and every one of us is more like “the other” than unlike him other. While it is important to embrace our differences, it’s equally important to make connections and develop relationships through our “sameness.”

PS. Do you two like this template? Thought it was a little happier but feel free to change it!

Self Assessment Laura Nardozzi

After taking the self assessment test, it was not a big surprise to me that I scored a "Monocultural with a transition to multicultural". When I first began my undergraduate degree and the topic of diversity would come up, I always felt somewhat ashamed by my lack of experience as an adult with " the others". I finally went to one of my professors and shared with him my concern for my lack of knowledge. It was not until one of my professors said to me, "You know Laura, admitting that you are not diverse is the first step to becoming it!" Slightly worded like an anti-drug commercial, yet still very effective. Although I feel that I had a very diverse experience as a child living in Germany for three years, I still do not feel that I carried that experience fully into adult hood. It was almost as if I viewed the short time of living there as a long vacation where in the back of my mind I knew I would be returning to my "real" friends and my "reality". This is not to say that I did not experience a diverse group of people and I did not benefit from it, because I truly believe that it has helped form some of my major values. However, believing in diversity and experiencing it on a daily basis are two very different things. One can believe that diversity is a good thing and be completely excited about the idea of it, but may lack the experiences to claim diversity within their lifestyle.

                Although in retrospect my life is not very diverse, I do feel that my sense of intuition about others and how they are feeling is certainly stronger than most. I feel that this is what is going to make me an effective teacher simply because diversity is about learning about, understanding and accepting differences in others. I do not lack the desire to experience diversity, I simply lack the environment to seek it out. When I am in the classroom, my ability to interact with each child and truly attempt to relate to them and experience all the diversity they have to give is when I am the most content. That is how I know there is hope for me and maintaining a multicultural classroom. First I admitted that I have a problem, now I am learning how to help myself and my future students!

Self Assessment of Personal Diverse Experiences by Christina Trovato

        As I began assessing my experiences with individuals from diverse cultures and our minority groups, it was a big eye-opener. Ever since my early years as a child I have had a desire to teach my knowledge to others as well as learn from them. My young sisters played an influential part throughout my elementary school years. I often proudly presented them with concepts I was learning in school. Reflecting back on my neighborhood as a child, family origin and elementary school, I did not have many experiences with people from diverse cultures and minority groups. The students in my school were almost all white and many of the students with special needs were self-contained in a classroom. The classroom was all the way at the end of the hall, almost isolated from other classrooms. This limited opportunity to gain experience from students with special needs. The area my family lived in mainly were all people of similar socioeconomic status. My assessment as a young child consisted of mainly 3's - very little exposure to diversity.

       As the questions shifted in the assessment to my experiences as an older student my numbers went up...a little. I could say my middle and high school experience is around an 8. I recall working with peers who had unique learning needs who were a part of some of my classes. I also had moved around this time with my family into a new house. The neighborhood is quiet and within the same socioeconomic status as our old one but there is something different. One of our neighbors is a older man with downs syndrome. I often chat with him when he is outside and he tells me about his job, very friendly neighbor. 

         As an adult my diversity exposure has made a great leap. The one ten I circled was for, current work experiences. I currently work as a Grad Assistant on campus at the day care. I teach art to a group of 10 Kindergartners, Substitute teach in Hilton and work as a sales associate at Sears. All these jobs allow me to gain the opportunity of working with several different people of gender, race, socioeconomic status, culture, people with disabilities and so on. After answering all the questions my assessment fell under the category of slightly multicultural. I believe this is an accurate placement of where I am right now.

         The amount of contact I have had with individuals with disabilities has fallen under S for sometimes having contact. My Os for the often has been, study about in school, read stories about, attend school with and see on television. Again another eye-opener in my self assessment because many of my Sometimes having contact were stretching it.

           It would be very hard for me to survive in poverty. 3 out of 15 of those poverty questions I was able to circle and of those 3 I cannot say I circled them confidently. As a teacher, it is important to understand each student's background such as poverty issues because without meeting their basic needs learning cannot happen.

Individual Assessment - Shawne Murphy

I have always thought of myself as being a multicultural individual, but once seeing the survey and the questions posed, I began to feel challenged.  I never would have thought about myself as not being diverse and it made me feel horrible to think that I could be mono-cultural.  As I was going through the survey, I was mainly circling twos and threes with the exception of one ten which made me question whether I was a multicultural individual or not.

The experiences that I was provided with while growing up, are what have placed me in the mono-cultural category.  I grew up in a community where there was not a large variation of different cultures.  I was surrounded by individuals who were just like me.  I was not fully exposed to other cultures until I reached college, where I was introduced to a whole new world.  Not only did I come into contact with different cultures in my classes and living situation, I also spent adequate time in the Rochester City School District.  The opportunities that I have been provided with over the last few years have allowed me to move from the mono-cultural category to the mono-cultural but moving in a multi-cultural direction. 

I have been immersed into a whole new culture as I have been in an interracial relationship for about two years now.  I have been given the opportunity to try new things, meet new people and form new beliefs and understandings about myself and the person that I have become.  I believe the experiences that I have been a part of will allow me to form relationships with my students in order to get to know them and their own personal culture.  I cannot wait to start reading The Light in Their Eyes to learn more about diversity and how I can embrace upon it in the classroom setting.