Affirming Diversity: Response 2 - Seminar in Teaching English in Secondary School | ENGL 693, Papers of English Language

Download Affirming Diversity: Response 2 - Seminar in Teaching English in Secondary School | ENGL 693 and more Papers English Language in PDF only on Docsity! Response #2 Linda Norris I am reading Affirming Diversity and following along with the companion website and would recommend that to everyone. The section on Critical Thinking Essay Questions for each chapter poses excellent questions for us to consider as we read these chapters, for example, for Chapter Three: In the chapter Nieto and Bode address the difficulty that many teachers have addressing issues of race and racism. Why do you think racism is so hard to talk about? What can teachers do to combat racism? These are tough questions, especially for privileged white preservice teachers or teacher educators who may not have had a diverse student body in their own secondary schools if they grew up in rural or suburban Western PA. What are some of the ways we can begin to break through and address issues of race, gender, and social class? One way might be to begin with literature discussions of texts like To Kill a Mockingbird, The Drowning of Stephan Jones, or Anne Frank or any of the listed books and films Dr. Miller suggests in Chapter Three of our book. One of the statements on the Nieto website that struck a chord with me is “Multicultural education concerns the goals of tackling inequality and promoting access to an equal education; raising the achievement of all students providing them with an equitable and high-quality education; and giving students an apprenticeship and the opportunity to become critical, productive members of a democratic society.” (Critical Thinking Key Concepts) Defining multicultural education and living it through day-to-day practice are two very different things, however. Both of these texts helped me to realize just how complex and critical affirming diversity is for teacher education programs and especially for new teachers who, if they are promoting democratic principles and social justice, must consciously enact this pedagogy in their classrooms and incorporate it into their teaching philosophies. We can support multicultural education if we question and challenge the “canon” (Nieto & Bode, p. 48) and emphasize “an awareness of the influence of culture and language on learning, the persistence of racism and discrimination in schools and society, and instructional and curricular strategies that encourage learning among a wide variety of students” (N/B, p. 55). The bottom line with me is what Nieto and Bode write in the Summary at the end of Chapter Three: “…all good education takes students seriously, uses their experiences as a basis for further learning, and helps them to develop into informed, critically aware, and empowered citizens” (N/B, p. 59). From this text I have learned to ask the questions, Do I take into account the diversity of my students so that each one feels part of a learning community? If so, what do I do on a daily basis to insure that all students learn, achieve, and succeed? I also want to mention how the Nieto & Bode text reminded me of teachers I had who mentored me in school and who nurtured gifts and talents like my love of theater and performance versus ones who devalued me, mainly because of my gender (p. 80). One specifically crushed my belief that I could do math. Although it is more difficult for me as a white person to know or experience what people of color may feel in terms of constant devaluation (and I am ashamed of this), as a female, I experience a similar kind of devaluation frequently with the hurtful attitudes and insensitivity often coming, from of all people, other female family members who perpetuate raising up dominant males and suggest through their words and actions that a patriarchal society is best. I mention this because it is not just in schooling that racism and predjudices rear their ugly heads,