3 IDEAS I AM NOW PONDERING
One idea that I am now pondering after reading the Yoon article is how I, as a future educator, need to learn how to focus on a child's capacities rather than a deficiency that they may have. I believe it is essential and crucial to encourage students and remind them that they can do anything they set their minds to. I also liked how Yoon discussed the essentialism of having access to inquiry opportunities, flexible curricula, and full inclusion of students.
A second idea I am now pondering from the Hammond video is how we as educators need to focus on minimizing stressors for our students and rewiring their brains so they can learn to their fullest capacity and be successful. She discusses how many factors go into this process, such as letting go of our biases and being anti-racist, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive to all students.
A third idea I am pondering from the Muhammad reading in the Cultivating Genius text is how the new framework that she is creating, HRL, is designed for all students and is responsive to people of color. This framework focuses on dimensions we do not typically see in our current states, such as identity, culture, and criticality. She discusses how the framework we currently have in place is not responsive to those who are culturally diverse and the importance of having a framework. The current framework does not focus on diversity or inclusivity and does not allow children to ask questions or learn about themselves or those around them. The current framework we use does not enable all children to succeed due to its limitations.
2 COMMENTS THAT INSPIRED ME
One comment that genuinely inspired me was from the Muhammad text, where she mentions that creating a new framework and allowing students to learn about themselves and their identities will enable them to "have a tool to fight back." She connects this to the Black Literary societies and how learning language and forming these groups allowed them to fight back and have the power of knowledge that others were trying to limit them from.
A second comment that inspired me was in the Hammond video when she discusses how all of the instruction placed in schools is "culturally responsive, but to who?". That statement stuck out because it is easy to assume that education in schools and classrooms is culturally responsive. After all, to the majority of people, mostly White Eurocentric Americans, it is culturally responsive to them. We seem to forget that other groups are disregarded, their needs are not being met, nor are they learning things geared toward their cultures or identities. The framework that we have in place is culturally responsive to those who created it, not everyone else.
1 COMMITMENT I WANT TO MAKE FOR MY FUTURE STUDENTS
A commitment that I want to make for my future students is creating an environment with full inclusion, diversity, and culture. I want my students to learn about diversity and inclusion and their identities and the identities around them. I want my student all to be successful regardless of their differences and want them all to feel comfortable and supported.
Amanda F, you raise some very important points in this entry. I couldn't help but wonder... if you change some of your "We" statements at the end of the sections to "I statements", what else might you say? For example, if the Next Generation standards do not easily offer opportunities to create instruction "geared toward your students cultures and identities" what will you be willing to do when you say you want students to be successful?
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