Understanding the Light in their Eyes

Shawne Murphy
Blog 8
Chapter 7
Vocabulary Vitalizer AND Idea Illustrator

Vocabulary Vitalizer:

Micro-level Issues – cultures, languages, and experiences of students and their families and how they are taken into account in determining school practices and policies

Macro-level Issues – racial, social class and gender stratification that helps maintain inequality, and the resources and access to learning that are provided or denied by schools

School Reform – antiracist and anti-bias, reflects an understanding of all students as having talents and strengths that can enhance education, individuals connected with students should have a meaningful connection with student, high expectations, rigorous standards for all learners, empowerment and justice.

Institutional Power – institutions that are more powerful than individuals, develop harmful policies and practices that victimize powerless groups

Block Scheduling – the realignment of school schedules in middle and secondary schools from 40-minute slots of 1-1/2-, 2- or 3-hour-long segments.  Students are allowed more time to tackle important issues, teachers can form significant relationships with students and teachers can work with one another.

Idea Illustrator:

“We also must pay attention to relationships among students, teachers and families; to the identification and connection that students feel with schools; to the cultural and social realities of students’ lives; and to the economic and political context in which schools exist” (Nieto, 2010, p. 184).



“Teachers who begin by first learning about their students and then building on their students’ talents and strengths change dramatically the nature of the teaching/learning dynamic and the climate in which education take place” (Nieto, 2010, p. 192).



“When teachers understand the light in the eyes of their students as evidence that they are capable and worthy human beings, then schools can become places of hope and affirmation for students of all backgrounds and all situations” (Nieto, 2010, p. 197).