Prompt 1
Hi! We are getting ready for our reaction paper next week. "Get to the Point" is the title of the reaction paper guidelines and I thought we could practice that same guideline here.
I thought you could choose one of these and limit your answers to 100-250 words. This also gives us some breathing room to simultaneously write our reaction papers. I know I am the WORST offender by writing a lot on the forums (and I edit! - you should see my blog where I initially do my homework answers- I cut so much out!) But, of course, it's your learning process and I am the moderator this week. I am happy with any and all things I can learn from you all, and will try hard to facilitate and support our group.
Here are some things that the readings brought up for me:
Whenever I hear the word 'standards' I think of baseline and mediocrity. Standards are not the pinnacle of learning but the baseline. Standards are the 'just above average' area of mastery. But to me standards do not equal mastery. What are your thoughts?
In Chapter 5's section (p. 55), "Silencing in Schools." I was intrigued and challenged by the lift from Pierre Bourdieu (1993) describing the world where "a multiplicity of co-existing and sometimes directly competing, points of view" produces new kinds of social suffering (p.3). I thought of my nephew (born in the 1990s) who was diagnosed within the autism spectrum which had not been identified during the youth of my brothers (1950s & 60s) nor of an uncle (born in the 1920s) who was probably autistic but never diagnosed. My nephew being identified within the autism spectrum actually REDUCED the amount of stress on my family because we understood better how to interact with him as well as my brothers. And it actually empowered my nephew because he had awareness of his behaviors and could negotiate support for himself in situations he otherwise would have done poorly in. To me this diaganosis was a type of social liberation for my family, generations of Polish Americans who severely tried to 'break' habits which were actually a disorder. What is your opinion about learners as objects of correction and remediation?
On page 64, Campano mentions two models of childhood social and educational development that are at odds with one another. One is to measure value qualitatively and in relationship to others. The other is the individualistic notion of self, which is evaluated quantitatively with test scores and measure the conforming with or deviation from a norm. Which do you see as the predominant model in your local (or recent) teaching location? What is your preferred model of socialization for children?
One of my colleagues who teaches in Japan has made a series of readers about non-traditional workers in several countries (Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Southeast Asia). He has also made EFL materials, Global Stories of the World's Invisible Children and their Cultures, that introduce difficult topics such as child prostitution, child soldiers, child factory workers, gang life, runaways, bullying, street life, abandonment, refugees, genocide - in a way that is simple without being insulting, naive, or too traumatic. What are some of the 'tough issues' in your class/school? What materials do you use that help the learners dialog about these issues in the safe space of the classroom?
Prompt 2
In Chapter 8 (p110) Campano states: "Part of becoming a more literate teacher involves becoming an educational activist." Do you agree? What has been your experience? Who is a literate teacher in your professional learning community? Why do you think so? Who is an educational activist that you know? What's their story?
Campano talks of a "shared phenomenology. Teacher researchers' experiences, taken as a whole, may begin to constitute a type of social identity." (p.114) We are a group of teacher researchers working together virtually. What do you think is our emerging 'shared phenomenology' in this course? What is our social identity?
