What Lengths Am I Willing to Go Through to Do Right by Every Child?

 

I find it fitting that the word "Learn" was at the center of my word it out. Learning is the base line of what everyone wants for children that go to school. It is what we all desire when we seek out more knowledge. I think that sometimes we forget that the education system is meant to teach people about things they don't know about.

To make this word it out I found that many of the articles and videos provided had the theme that education does not seem to be for students anymore. It does not serve students' needs and cannot teach them that they are important and that their opinion matters. This system seems to stifle all ideals that don't fit the mold of the "good student". I think when making this I wanted to capture that in the words and in the color. I choose green words because those should be perceived as the words to look forward to. Kind of like the saying "the grass is always greener on the other side". I left in the words of unkindness for a sense of punch. Words like "failure", "disconnect", "never", and "destroy". I think that they create a sense of urgency when surrounded by words that should not be negative, such as "students" or "school". 

As to relate to the question, "What lengths am I willing to go through to do right by every child?", I think that it is possible to go through a lot in order to connect with students and to make sure they are feeling seen. I know that it would be a lot to do such things, but it may be worth it in order to really help students. Does this come with the risk of losing yourself to make sure others are okay, sure, but being an educator is a selfless job. It is the most exciting thing to see children connect with something you are teaching or something you are doing because it relates to them. I think that all that is worth doing whatever I could to help children relate to the teachings. Relation is the only way we want to learn.

How Does Gender Affect the Teaching Profession?

 Gender in teaching is a funny thing. Women are often seen at the forefront of learning. It is more common to see a woman in education than a man. Why? Many men who enter the profession also come along with a coaching position. I have personally only seen a few male teachers who were not coaches. Do all teachers who enter the career field, regardless of gender, have that same passionate want of helping students reach their greatest potential? 

I do not think that gender affects the way someone teaches. I think each person teaches based on how much they want to. Some are more enthusiastic about it, and some would rather just get it over with. Gender does not affect the way a lesson is taught. There could also be this huge fight over male and female but what about the teachers who do not fit that mold? In these more modern times, there is the option of being absent of gender. How does no gender at all affect the way you teach or how the students receive your teaching? The way you teach does not falter but it is the way you are perceived that does. How do students go about understanding that and would parents be okay with sending their children to learn at a school with a teacher that lacks gender? Maybe it is a thought overboard from the regular gender discussion of male and female teaching, but it has crossed my mind and I could not go without addressing it.

I think there is a stigma that woman should be teachers simply because not very many men become teachers. I do not think I could answer the why they do not, because everyone is different. They all have different reasons and to generalize that is unfair. Gender does not make you better at one thing than another, I think that profession is based on preference. I also think that the way others, like students and other faculty, respond to how you teach and treat others rather than what your gender is.

Is School Equitable?

 Before I even started, I had to look up the word "Equitable". It seemed pretty straightforward, but I had to be sure. Equitable means to be fair for all. Is schooling fair for all? I think the answer is simple and very in your face, but this would not give the education system the benefit of the doubt. 

The education that I received was decent enough that I got through K-12 and am now going through college. However, the amount of information that I did not receive in school that I have now learn outside of it is alarming. Most of the information I have come across are retellings of major historical events that I was taught happened one way but really happened another. Most of these stories are minorities stories that are not taught in schools. This is an easy way for education systems to leave out certain races and culture from their schools. This is not a fair way of presenting information to teach to children in schools.

Another piece of the unfairness of schools is how they treat the students who are minorities. I grew up in a town where the majority of the population were Hispanics. The school had a majority of Hispanic students, yet still many of those students were discriminated against. We had a school resource officer that was put in charge of lunch detention, why would they need someone with that much authority running something as simple as lunch detention? School resource officers have been known to cause more unrest in students, so why do we need them to be around so often? 

I do not think schools are equitable. I do not know if they ever will be. I do know that educators, administrative staff and many others could contribute to making schools more equitable just by doing what they have to skillset to do.

Stories: Whose are Told and Whose Remain in the Margins?

Why is it that some stories are seen as "fit for children" to learn in school and some are not? What qualifies a story as being better than another or more worthy of being taught? How many stories that are a pivotal part of our history are changed to better suit one narrative or not even taught at all? And is it often an easy way for education systems to discriminate against minorities?

I feel there should be quick and easy answers to all these questions but most of the time these questions are the easiest for people to dodge around as though it were the plague. There are countless stories told of the white protagonist that saves the day, such as figures I personally learned about like Davy Crockette, The Texas Rangers, or Doc Holiday.  Yet, we fail to hear the stories that have the most impact, like stories from Ruby Bridges, Patricia de la Garza and Martin De Leon, or La Malinche who shape our history to what it is today. This does not discredit everything that the Anglo, American or European descending historical figures have done, but I think it is high time that we give the stage to stories we haven't been taught to know like the back of our hands. We should be teaching all stories, of everyone, so that everyone is represented and so no child feels like their culture it not as important as someone else's. 

There is always the question of how we integrate other cultures into our everyday lives. I think we should start just but teaching our children different culture's stories and letting them know these stories like the back of their hand. Why shouldn't they? It is knowledge and knowledge is what you send children to school to obtain anyways. I think that stories left in margins by people who do not even understand why the stories are important should be displayed everywhere for everyone so that no one can be cast aside anymore.

Do I Have the Full Picture?

 It is possible for any of us to really see things from everyone point of view. Is it possible that any of us are able to really sympathize with everyone around us? None of us have the full picture. We cannot possibly know how everyone was raised, what they experienced, and how they feel. I cannot understand someone else's race fully even if they can give me a clear idea of it. No one can in fact understand things this way. Our way of connected it comparing others experiences to our own and seeing the similarities and differences. This, even though worthwhile, does not provide the full picture on someone else's culture or life.

Taking the time to travel and learn about others is a beautiful thing in its own right. It can give you many memorable experiences and broaden your thinking of the world around you. It can help you see more of the picture, but you will never know the full picture because you are not the artist. An artist of a certain painting knows exactly what stroke went where and what colors or bases in underneath the work. The viewer of this painting will never see that without the artist telling them. Even still the viewer will never know what that looked like because they did not experience the art being made. An odd analogy really but I feel that is the only way what I am trying to say makes sense. 

I think it is important to try and see as much of the full picture as you can. Being knowledgeable about things that happen for certain cultures or certain people will help foster the understanding that is needed to really connect with others. It provides a base of feeling understood and like what you have going on matters to others. So, while I do not think one person will ever have the full picture, I think it is good to seek out many different pictures to help you piece together your understanding of a subject.

How Do We Talk About Issues That Matter?

If something matters, you need to voice it. Whether it is with your friends, family, or sometimes even strangers. How do we voice issues that matter within a classroom setting? There are many ways to do this, and the school systems do some of the work for us. They speak on things such as the importance of voting, why not to do drugs, or how to treat people with kindness. But how do we speak on more serious matters? 

Back when I was a junior in high school, I remember a couple of speakers coming to our school to talk about mental health. Mental health is something serious and something to pay attention to, these speakers called to this point. They had interesting things to say and do that kept your attention until the presentation was over. I had mostly walked away from these presentations all teared up because their words really stuck with me. Another type of presentation I had seen were the talks about addiction. "Don't do drugs" was always a big topic in school, now as we were older, they talked about addiction and what you could do if you or someone you knew experienced it. It was always a sore topic for my school because we did in fact need the information presented, even if no one wanted to fully admit it. These presentations only came when we were old enough to understand the topics at hand. What about younger kids though?

When I was younger, I remember a presentation put on in our school gym by a man who was skilled at the yo-yo. What his message was to us, I do not recall but I do remember him doing the trick "walking the dog" with his yo-yo. I do not remember any significant presentation that we needed to hear, even from inside the classroom the only think that spoke on an important issue was "red ribbon week" which was supposed to be our call to be drug free, but I think at my school it was just a week to play games and have field day. I think this ideal even lasted until at least the 5th grade. With middle school I have no recollection at all of any speaker or in class presentation that didn't have to do with drug use that even took place at the school. Is it on purpose that these crucial years are devoid of influence from anyone? Even if the influence, encourages students to be aware of their mental health, to stay away from drugs, to seek help if they need it, or even to be kind to everyone. 

Is there a better way to give information that will stick with students? And how do we speak on issues that really matter? How do we include younger children, so they are able to understand and receive the information? How do we help 6th through 8th graders receive this information without if being too much or too childish? I feel these are core questions we must answer before we can discuss what can be presented to children in public school.

The Purpose of Public Schools

Why do public schools exist? What is the reason for them? I am sure there are many different answers to these questions, and some are probably far more positive than others. My answer however would have to be that public schools are for educating mass amounts of students so that they are able to enter the working class as literate and educated adults. This seems simplified however I think this is the base layer of the public education system. Things that elevated this base line are the things such as interesting lessons, activities, clubs, and educators that inspire students. I find that in my own experience in public school I found more education in asking my teachers extra questions that weren't entirely a part of the lesson they were teaching. I learned to play instruments and dance because my public school's teachers fought to have this type of information available to students. The purpose of public schools is uninspiring but having teachers that care, administrators that listen, and the opportunities to learn really elevated the experience of attending.