Shannon Renkly and Katherine Bertolini's "Shifting the Paradigm"

 The authors argue that... it is imperative for schools to adopt an assets based model as opposed to a deficit based model. This is because the process of building up students' strengths fosters more growth and learning and is proven to be more successful than the process of fixing students' weaknesses and risky behaviors. 

Three Talking Points:

Beginning: The beginning of this reading identifies the issue that schools tend to use deficit models as opposed to asset models. In a deficit model, if a student is failing, the assumption is that the student is not trying hard enough and educators and schools have to fix this problem. The authors write, "it seems the education field is focusing too heavily on reducing risks, when a higher emphasis should be placed on building up student strengths." They identify 40 assets that students may have and split them between external and internal assets. They argue that if schools put their energy towards building up their students assets, risk reduction will occur naturally. 

Middle: The middle section points out that asset based models support higher partnerships between schools, parents, and the community. In deficit situations, community members could be unwilling to be supportive to youth as they are associated with being "trouble-makers." In contrast, the authors note, "When the focus shifts to assets, community members can easily work together to build up and nurture positive attributes in youth." When adults see all of the good things that children and adolescents can provide for their communities, they will be more willing to support their growth as students! Youth programs are super beneficial for students are very reliable for providing predictable thriving outcomes for student success.  

End: The ending section was most impactful to read, as it emphasizes specifically the importance of building assets in middle school settings. This section notes that the largest drop of assets in a student happens between seventh and eighth grade. The authors note that it is during the middle years of education that less asset building opportunities are typically provided to these students, yet these years are the most pivotal in terms of a student either becoming a high achiever or getting off academic track and leading towards frustration and/or failure. Educators have a very large role in ensuring that their students do not get off track. One study even claimed that "teachers’ expectations impact student success more than a student’s own motivation.” This was super powerful to read because educators really make a huge influence in a child's life!!!

Reflections/Connections:

First, I really appreciated the academic tone and formatting of this reading, it really took me back to my undergraduate days of reading peer reviewed articles and papers! I really appreciated the quantifiable statistics they provided throughout the paper as well, such as the number of assets there are and how many an average sixth grader possess, and how that number decreases until they reach adulthood. For me, I find quantitative data to strengthen a piece of research and it makes me conceptualize the issue at hand a bit better.

After reading this, I definitely agreed with the argument presented by the authors. It was concise and straight to the point. The asset based model corroborates with the way in which I view my classroom because it is so much more powerful to assess what your students can do and are capable of versus what they cannot do and what they are lacking. Also, one thing I have been engraining with my first graders is the power of the word "yet." This word can have such a huge impact and it's only three letters. During social emotional learning blocks, I really try to motivate my students when we are about to learn a very new concept. Instead of saying "I can't do this" say "I can't do this yet." This is one way that I connected to the reading because saying yet switches to an asset/growth mindset versus a deficit one. I think that fostering growth mindsets in our students would be essential to an asset based model, and here is an image on some of the ways educators can do this!

Finally, the portion of the text that discussed how asset based models strengthen family and community partnership really resonated with me because it made me connect to something I learned from a different graduate course at RIC. Family partnerships are super important in the context of a school. However, it is important to note that for families who come from low socioeconomic status, there are many factors that could potentially contribute to them being less involved in their schools, such as personal previous negative experiences, inadequate access to transportation, language barriers, work conflicts, etc. There are so many benefits to a family being involved more in their child's progress in and out of school, and schools need to ensure they are reducing barriers for families to be involved in the school community. As an educator who works in a Title I school district, this is especially relevant, and educators have a responsibility to involve families and inform them on their child's growth so they can also support at home. This resource from the IRISCenter on family engagement gives advice to educators on how they can better strengthen the partnership with families. 

The Harsh Truth: Khan's "The Broken Model"

 The author argues that... the education system that has been constructed in a flawed way that is interconnected with so many other aspects of our culture that makes it difficult to eradicate and start fresh. Khan argues that while it is based upon subordination and performance and inherently unfair, there are aspects of it that have worked, but educators need to address the weaknesses of the model. 

Three Talking Points

Beginning: One of the first sections discusses how the American model of education is adopted by the Prussian model. This model does not care to produce independent thinkers but rather produce loyal, obedient citizens that learn the value of authority and hierarchy. The most alarming new piece of information I learned from this section was about how bells and class periods were constructed. Khan states, "the bell rang and they had no choice but to break off their conversation or deeper inquiry and move on to the next episode of approved instruction." This was pretty unsettling to read as schools would rather have students move onto the next period of the day and follow order without processing the information they just learned with their peers. 

Middle: The next section talks about testing and how the model has huge consequences for students who do not test well. Khan points out that tests are not the greatest measure of student's ability as they only really measure a student's memorization or current understanding of the subject rather than their potential to learn and succeed. He states, "As we've seen, what we're not measuring is meaningfully measuring student potential. On the other hand, what we're doing very effectively is labeling kids, squeezing them into categories, defining and often limiting their futures." Initially with the model, tests actually limited a child's educational attainment because it would determine based on pass or fail if they could continue to go to school after eighth grade, which is extremely harsh and thankfully no longer legal!

End: The final section of this reading identifies how the model does not allow for the expression of creativity during learning. Because of the labelling process that often happens early in a student's educational attainment, their creative problem solving skills may not be identified in a system that prioritizes one way of thinking. This undermines creativity and how it can manifest within our students. I found it interesting as well that he mentioned how "many educators fail to see math, science and engineering as 'creative' fields at all." These subjects have historically been taught as steps and procedures and facts to memorize when they could have the potential to be much more creatively stimulating. 

I felt like this image accurately depicts Khan's last section. It is so sad how undervalued creativity is! I found this resource for teachers on inspiring creativity in the classroom for anyone who struggles to find ways to make their classrooms more creative when the standards can sometimes be so structured in a way that crushes creativity!

Reflection/Connection:

This reading has really made me reflect on my role as an educator who works in this continuum of a system that is flawed. First, I would like to quickly mention how the video "A Short History on Public Schooling" corroborates with Khan's information in his chapter. One thing that was mentioned in the video was how schools are a place where students are learning subordination and obedience to authority is so they could be a part of an obedient workforce as this was during the time of the Industrial Revolution. While we are no longer in that era of time, I still notice that students are required to follow rules and respect their authority or they will get punished. While I feel like there are more positive reinforcement behavioral strategies put in place than way back when the Prussian model was adopted, there is still such an emphasis on the role of a teacher to manage classroom behavior. It honestly frustrates me and makes me wish more of this burden was placed on parents!! I try to deliver lessons and stimulate academic growth in my classroom but this cannot occur without following my expectations. Sometimes, I wonder if I am was already predestined and conditioned to be an authority figure because of the system I work in. 

While I feel like there is more of an emphasis on student academic achievement in a way that does not limit students to what they can grow up to be in their future, I still notice the huge emphasis that test scores have on students during their academic journeys!!! I feel extremely grateful that as a first year teacher, I teach first grade, where there is no state standardized assessment attached to my responsibility, as this requirement starts in third grade. Becoming aware of the claws that some of the academic deans have on the upper grades in my school to produce good tests scores was honestly shocking to me as someone who was placed in a charter school through Teach For America. Essentially, Teach For America is a non profit organization that accepts "teacher leaders", essentially people who can have a Bachelor's in any degree but can prove that they will work to dismantle the broken education system by working in a low-income school for at minimum two years. During the training process of Teach For America, it is really catered to developing leaders in education who will try to eliminate some of the weaknesses like the overemphasis of testing or lack of creativity. I now sit in this class a little over halfway through my first year of teaching wondering why some things still have not changed at all!!!!!

Armstrong and Wildman's "Colorblindness is the New Racism" and Hobson's "Color Blind or Color Brave?"

 The authors argue that...colorblindness, which is the belief held by white people who deny the existence of racial inequality, is harmful and should be combatted by color insight, which is the recognition of racial relations and intentionally using that recognition to challenge racial inequality.

Three Talking Points:

Beginning: I appreciated the mentioning of how colorblindness specifically impacts the education system at the beginning of the reading. Armstrong and Wildman mention "Efforts to equalize educational opportunity that recognize that race is still a determinative factor become bogged down by the rhetoric of colorblindness. Courts invoke colorblindness and divert attention from examining how race impacts the distribution of educational opportunity." I would have loved an example of how the courts have invoked colorblindness in relation to educational policy issues. That being said, I would agree with this statement and take it a step further that it requires anti-racist educators to disrupt the system of inequality by acknowledging how historically our schools have been built upon the premise that black and brown students are incapable of performing as good as their white counterparts. 

Middle:  The middle sections discuss the process of color insight and how it can promote equality and emphasize nondiscrimination between races. The authors suggest different exercises that apply color insight instead of color blindness in the classroom. For example, educators can name white normativeness that permeates our culture instead of being silent or neutral about the issue. This made me think of how important it is to call out the standard way of teaching certain topics by naming the ways in which it has been taught by for years by white people. 

End: In the conclusion, the authors write "Color insight does not provide a magic wand that dispenses with racism, but it does offer a vocabulary and some significant points of entry for deeper conversations." I think this is very important to recognize because just being aware of people's races and their struggles associated with it does not end racism once and for all. I think a large cultural and political shift would have to occur in this country with actions and reparations, but I think if people turned from colorblindness to color insight then it would be more achievable to make change. 

Reflection/Connection:

The first thing I thought about this week when I realized what we were reading about was the saying I have heard dozens of times through my life by a white person "I don't see color." This phrase eliminates any acknowledgement of their privilege even though right after someone calls them out for saying this they always go "But I'm not racist I love everyone the same." I don't think it's possible to love everyone the same or be a true ally without recognizing each race's unique struggle up until this point and the challenges they STILL face today.

With respect to the Ted Talk, I loved how Hobson says to be color brave and actively seek out uncomfortable experiences, because learning how to live in your discomfort is going to make you a better person. I found another Ted Talk by Afrika Afeni Mills titled 4 Ways to Have Healthy Conversations About Race that gives more tangible ways to have healthy conversations about race if you find them to be uncomfortable and wanted to learn more about race. 

This made me reflect on my experiences with having conversations about race. I grew up in a rural and conservative small town in Connecticut, but my first experience actively seeking out people who had different experiences than me was when I became a part of a traveling social justice theatre group based in Hartford, CT. This experience really taught me at a early age how to have conversations with people of different racial backgrounds than mine and led me on the path to being super passionate about social justice. 

Finally, here is an image I found on how to be an ally when having a conversation about race. 

Alan Johnson’s “Privilege, Power, and Difference”

 The author argues that… the way in which the construction of our society has been built ultimately benefits certain groups and harms others. 

Three Talking Points:

Beginning: Humans belong to a system that they have created. Johnson states, “We are not prisoners to some natural order that pits us hopelessly and endlessly against one another. We are prisoners to something, but it’s closer to our own making that we realize.” Because race, gender, and sexual orientation are socially constructed classes; wherein a dominant group has cast aside “deviant” groups  as less than or othered in society, our society functions as a result of decisions made by humans. This flaws any argument that one race is biologically better than another, for example, because this cannot be true when race categorizations have changed throughout history based on who holds power. So, in order to dismantle systems of oppression that are at play, humans can work to undo the powers at play instead of sitting around and acting hopelessly.  

Middle: The bulk of this reading discusses privilege and how it manifests in our society. One interesting quote I found was, “But when the stakes are privilege and power, dominant groups are quite willing to ignore such inconsistencies so long as the result is a continuation of their privilege.” I found this to be quite compelling because the history of who has power and privilege is extremely inconsistent, but people who hold current power and privilege would of course be ignorant and unwilling to recognize the inconsistencies.

End: This reading ends with a discussion on oppression and how it is the flip side of privilege. I found it very compelling to have a section on this after the bulk of discussion on privilege as it is the complete oppositional force of privilege. Oppression is the force that shuts groups of people out of society based on their deviant characteristics from the dominant ones. The author makes a point that someone can be placed in a category of people that commit oppression without being an oppressive person. This closes out the reading’s point that privilege, oppression, and power are systems that are socially constructed and not based upon individual acts.  

Reflection/Connection: The middle quote makes me think about many Italian communities in the US. As the reading mentioned, Italians used to not be considered “white” in the US when large numbers of immigrants from Italy entered the country in the 1800s and 1900s, as they were othered and discriminated against. I have noticed that many Italian-Americans can recognize this past history of not being “white”, and either become oppressive to non-white communities in modern period or ignorantly claim they are still people of color because they once used to be. This article I found gives a good account on How Italians Became White in the US. I find this history very interesting as an Italian-American, and have reflected on how I can use this knowledge to inform some other Italians of their ignorance with topics related to race. 

Additionally, one of the social constructions in our society that was talked about in the reading is gender. Our culture has been constructed to recognize two genders. While in recent years, there is more acceptance of differing genders, such as non-binary which I identify as, I would agree with the author's point of view that anyone who doesn't fit into the binary is an outsider. In an undergraduate course I took called LGBTQ+ Issues in International Affairs , there previously were many civilizations that recognized genders outside of the binary and those people had a recognized position in gender structures, but white imperialism has largely eliminated the existence of these roles. 

Finally, I wanted to include a visual graphic that depicts power and privilege. The inner most ring is the dominant group, the middle ring is the name of the system of oppression, and the outer ring is the oppressed group.