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urban education
Like most of us I just completed my semester. I taught a class on urban education to new graduate students in an urban education program. Although my class was quite diverse the assumptions/myths in the class were anything but diverse. It surprises and saddens me when I have students who parrot the beliefs of society. Especially when these are students who have a concern for urban education. In class I heard them describe urban schools as jungles with uncontrollable students. Throughout the semester I had to constantly drill into my students heads the need to be more critical and analytical when discussing urban education. Ask themselves why they would use the word "jungle" to describe urban schools? Why would they blame the students (who after all are children) for the problems (discipline) and not look at the teacher, the curriculum, the administration, etc?
Often after a three hour class I was mentally drained and scared that I would not teach what I needed to teach and these same students would go out into the schools and teach still with their assumptions.
- Rochelle Brock's blog
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I am equally as frightened when I hear my colleagues refer to minority students in a derogatory manner.
I see my students as children who are in need of adult guidance. I am still puzzled about where the guidance will come from. It seems as if in the twenty-first century people are not responsible for their actions. It has become a matter of passing the buck.
Let's attempt to have the buck stop here in the twenty-first century and hold everyone accountable for the injustices that are allowed to continue to perpetuate our daily existence.
As a teacher educator, I have come to learn that even among those professing diversity within educational fields there lives a pervasive use of and belief in deficit language for minority students and especially students from diverse backgrounds that include poverty.
Deficit language and practices have crept into the field of education under the guise of "scholarship" and "research" in the work and publications of Ruby Payne—although her work is neither scholarly nor research-based.
The blind embracing of Payne's work is paralleled by "intelligent design" masquerading as a science; the look of scholarship and research is being co-opted by some dangerous forces.
More work is appearing discounting deficit approaches to students form diverse and impoverished backgrounds, but the language and perspective is powerful.
Paul Thomas
Thanks so much, Rochelle for your blogs. All of us, I think, have experienced the drain and anguish that come from dealing with these deficit assumptions about poor and/or racially diverse students. I write this from Barcelona as we are attending the launch of the Freire Project here in Spain. After working with colleagues in the Netherlands and Spain over the last two weeks and listening to the problems they face involving racism directed toward immigrant and Gypsy populations, I yet again understand the similarity of the problems critical pedagogues face all around the world. The same xenophobia, racial discomfort, and feelings of white supremacy are at work in all of these contexts. It is so important for all of us to listen to the experiences of diverse critical educators and to learn from and gain support from one another.
Thanks so much for your insights.
Joe L. Kincheloe
Canada Research Chair in Critical Pedagogy
Faculty of Education
McGill University
Rochelle,
I have felt a sense of futility and/or exhaustion at times over similar experiences to the one you describe, but of course, thankfully, the feelings pass and the work must continue. It is a reminder of just how important the work is.
Your post brings back memories of experiences I had as an assistant to a special education teacher. She used labels regularly and the children knew their labels well. The school district attached negative labels even in cases in which none of their ready-made labels really fit. Emotionally disturbed was reserved for those cases: students were regularly classified as emotionally disturbed if testing could not reveal an explanation for lack of success in school (see Notes, below).
The particular teacher I worked with would whisper to me that a certain boy in the class was “E.D.,” (emotionally disturbed) as if he was not aware of his label and the fact that it affected her expectations of him. He was probably very aware of her whispering about him or other children in the class. Of course, she did this with all of the children, and it made me feel extremely uncomfortable. I tried several times to talk to the teacher (very diplomatically) about using labels. It did no good. I was only the assistant; she had been in practice many years.
What else are children to do, but live up to their labels and the expectations set out for them? It was very painful to watch, and I did what I could to try to minimize the damage she was causing these children. I would regularly take them in groups out of the classroom to the library – where they actually did their work! The first time I took this particular boy to the library, he informed me that he acts strange sometimes, stating, “ because I’m E.D.” It felt like my heart was torn out, the way he stated this so matter-of-factly and had literally owned it for himself. I tried to downplay it by telling him that I don’t pay any attention to such labels. From then on, he always chose to go to the library and he was well-behaved, thus he had chosen not to act out his label.
It’s bad enough that school districts feel they must attach labels to track students. There must be a way for teachers to teach without emphasizing them. But it seems many teachers have adopted the view that labels are just the norm, and they are completely desensitized to them. Of course, the children are not.
I recently read an article about teacher education by Lilia Bartolome in “Critical Pedagogy: Where Are We Now?” (McLaren & Kincheloe, 2007) in which she discusses the difficulty of changing teachers’ ideologies. You may have already read it. It’s a difficult task to convince teachers they need to advocate for children if they believe the system is just fine the way it is. Somewhere in all of my reading, I have read that it takes an “existential crisis” before people can alter their beliefs. Theoretically, there are ethical ways to help this along, which is something I have looked into some, but might research further. I had done some work on a multimedia presentation design in which I was attempting to create a sort of simulated existential crisis to compel teachers to reexamine their teaching philosophies. It would make an interesting study, actually…at any rate, I hope you have an enjoyable break.
Thank you for sharing your teaching experiences. I’m looking forward to reading your future blog entries.
Vanessa
Notes
EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCE
A condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that affects a child’s educational performance: (A) An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors. (B) An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers. (C) Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances. (D) A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression. (E) A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems. The term includes schizophrenia. The term does not apply to children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they have an emotional disturbance. [34 CFR §300.7(c)(1)]
References
Idaho Department of Education (2006). Primer on Special Education in Charter Schools. Retrieved May 16, 2008, from http://www.sde.idaho.gov/SpecialEducation/default.asp
McLaren, P. & Kincheloe, J.L. (eds.). (2007). Critical Pedagogy: Where Are We Now? New York: Peter Lang
What wonderful and thoughtful comments from all of you. In response to Paul, Indiana just passed (or supposedly put more weight behind) a law which requires all Indian teachers to be culturally competant. In July a day of the Black Expo is devoted to this and the speakers are-- Ruby Payne and Jawanza Kunjufu. As you stated Payne's work is problematic on several fronts and I know she can teach me (or others) nothing what so ever about cultural competance. I read Kunjufu in the 90s and then he had some interesting theories about specifically the educational delimas of Black boys. I ask why these two when there are so many wonderful people who have made culturally responsive pedagogy an important part of their research agenda? I signed upi for the day workshop and will let you know what (if anything) I got out of it.
Vanessa, your post was extremly thoughtful and I agree it takes an "existential crisis" to make teachers (and all of us) examine our beliefs/ideologies. Axctually the research project you briefly described where you "create a sort of simulated existential crisis to compel teachers to reexamine their teaching philosophies" sounds great. I suggest you continue with that and use the folks on this blog to help you ferret out/analyze/theortize/etc what you want to do.
Labels are an evil animal and you are right when you described the young child who bought into the label the teacher placed on him. This is something we all fight against--I know as a Black woman I am constantly fighting the label placed on me by society. As "old" and "knowedgable" as I am I still find myself at those weak moments temporairly buying into some of the labels. So I ask myself how can our students deal with those labels on a daily basis when even I have trouble with them? Pam, so right you are--we have to all be accountable to make a difference in the lives of students.
Perhaps when I am at the conference anfd Ruby Payne begins to speak I can hold up a sign that says "You are full of shit" followed by another sign that directs folks to "real" scholarship on how to help teachers achieve cultural competence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
McDermott (1993) proposes that one can find bad if one looks for it. “Once questions about children are framed in deficit terms, once our inquiry is narrowed down to the question of what is wrong with this or that child, support for a deficit theory can be found wherever one looks. . . . Cognitive difficulties separate those who can from those who cannot and make the deficits obvious, and, with the separation, student identity becomes socially inscribed” (p. 281). This has become the predicament of labeling. Using labels such as “achievement gap” sentence students to lifelong categorizations of underachievers. The labeled student becomes a statistic, lumped together with other students sporting the same labels, continuously reproducing learned behavior suitable for those so categorized (Mehan, 1993). Students create an identity from a label and, like prisoners, they become represented by that label. Basic skills students are grouped by ability or tracked according to the results of IQ or standardized tests into lower-level academic situations, and their labels become a part of their identities. Often in schools students, teachers, administrators, and parents assume their roles through the acceptance of labels within school walls. It becomes apparent, through the fluidity of the school day, that everyone involved in the circular motion of self, school, and societal worlds is tracked and positioned in specific spaces. Many labels have negative connotations that produce negative psychological effects and compromise academic achievement. A number of labeled basic skills students do not reach their potential. They attend and exit school with cognitive, social, and psychological deficits. If the cacophony of “deficit” talk is eliminated and multilevel interventions are implemented, labeled students can begin to acknowledge their hidden potentials and climb to higher levels of achievement. Let’s consider delabeling students! (Joyce, 2008)
Hello Everyone,
I have just taken my first course in critical pedagogy with Shirley Steinberg. This has had a profound impact on me both personally and professionally.The interesting thing about this, is that so much of what I have learned are things which I have instinctively fought against during my 30 year teaching career. I really didn't know that there existed a body of work which addressed the questions and concerns which have consumed me for a lifetime. Somehow, I managed to work around many of the constraints of the system. At the same time, critical pedagogy has brought this to a whole new level of self-reflection and conscientization. Though I only have about 10 years of teaching left, I am determined to make an even greater difference for those who cross my path. The responsibility is overwhelming yet the challenge is exhilirating.
The concept of labelling is one which is not only rampant within society but seems to be born out of our education system. A system which labels you from the moment you begin your schooldays. The harm that is done by this type of labelling can haunt someone for the rest of their lives. There is a propensity among educators to categorize and classify in a hierarchical fashion all members of the system. This is almost a way of pre-determining the ultimate success or failure of students. Its a setup really. In learning about urban schools and the vicious circle that is created by the powers that be, I am dismayed. This conspiracy against 'others' is one which must see the light of day. The fundamental right advocating that our youth be able to express who they are through hip hop and their poetic voices, is so inspiring. As both an English and dance teacher, I look forward to using these to inspire my students to tell their stories and to do others to do the same. I plan to do whatever I can to discourage the use of labels by my students and colleagues. Only in this way will emancipation begin to take root...
Nicole
MA Educational Leadership
McGill University
Organic intellectualism is an interesting notion described in Chapter 4 of The Art of Critical Pedagogy: What a coach can teach a teacher. The definition comes from Gramsci on p. 71. I like this definition of how students learn. The definition gives all students the label that they can learn; this seems unlike the current definitions we work under.