Abigail Tetlow on Ethnic Studies Impact

 This week I was assigned a video and a reading on the topic of ethnic studies in the world of education. The text is by Christine E. Sleeter, a professor for education reform. Her writing explores the impact of ethnic studies. It discusses how the typical manner of teaching marginalizes under-represented groups, such as racial minorities. The document highlights how students of color become disengaged in schooling due to lack of representation. She believes ethnic studies can remedy this issue by making education more intentional for all groups.

Sleeter is advocating for the inclusion of ethnic studies into education. This idea is hard to imagine in our day and age but could be the key to the future. She believes that ethnic studies would not only benefit the students of color, but white students as well.

Ethnic studies offer a narrative that highlight histories, cultures, and struggles of marginalized communities. This addition of ethnic studies would minimize systemic oppression by raising awareness of issues on a widespread scale.

The curriculum fosters academic engagement and improves performance among students of color. This is the type of equity that is necessary in todays education. It has been proven that students of color often fall short on test scores and gpa, and to be able to boost engagement would prove that we are all equal.

this photo demonstrates that children need to learn many different things to become knowledgable on a broad range of topics. My point being, the inclusion of ethnic studies could only make education more rich and meaningful to students development.

Here are a few quotes from the reading;

"For the first time in his life, the curriculum was centered on his reality." (1) This quote demonstrates how ethnic studies really does make a difference to individuals.

"Mainstream Euro-American studies deny all students—both White and of color—an education that takes seriously the realities of institutionalized racism that people of color live every day." (5) This quote shows how all students are deprived of a complete understanding of history and society, and it would benefit all groups to include in education. 

Please consider checking out the NEA (National Education Association) to learn more about topics like this. NEA.org 

Abigail Tetlow on The Four "I"s Of Oppression

 This week I was assigned a reading and a video both by the name "The Four "I"s of Oppression". I was not sure what to expect going into this reading, but I was very interested in this concept. It describes a framework of oppression types that can be observed in society. 

Idealogical oppression is a long standing form that has become accepted and justified over time. The document calls this type of oppression "common sense". By this they mean that it is just the default and unchallenged ideology of a group of people. This type of oppression can only be broken down by long term social and political change, it is more successful on a small scale rather than large. It encompasses the other forms mentioned later in this post.

Internalized oppression is when individuals take in harmful ideas that lead to self doubt or false superiority. Such as white supremacy. The ways to solve this issue lies in demonstrations such as Dr. Martin Luther King's. Internalized oppression is dynamic and takes many forms, and can be just as harmful as any other type. 

Interpersonal oppression stems from internalized oppression. This is where internalized injustices about other groups manifest. This can take form as small comments, hateful acts, violence, and much more. It requires de-escalation and education. Often all members involved will need to take accountability to be able to grow as a person. 

Institutional oppression is the way that oppression is seen in the government, wether it be policies, laws, or mass incarceration. This also includes job discrimination. A change for a systematic issue like this one is not simple or quick. It requires institutional accountability, policy reforms, and community advocacy. Without a combination of all of these elements there will be no change and it is very difficult to make change happen depending on the situation. 

The most we can do as civilians is to be advocates for something we care about. There aren't enough people or time to solve every systemic issue, but if we all play our part and advocate for something, anything, we are 1% better than the day before. 

Abigail Tetlow on Lisa Delpit

 This week my assigned reading was from Lisa Delpit. She is an author known for writing about and promoting anti oppressive teaching practices. I read her work, "Other People's Children" which directly pertains to teaching students of color. In this reading I spent time reflecting on a class discussion about treating students of color differently than white students. But I must add that race is not the only deciding factor of power in the classroom and there certainly are disparities between students of different classes, genders, sexualities and other groups as well. This does not make this issue any less pressing regardless. 

This reading describes how students of color and white students recognize power in the classroom. For example the text describes how the different groups perceive authority differently and how black students often expect teachers to exhibit personal authority through actions. (35)  Does this imply that an educator must conduct themself differently towards a student of color, than to a white student? Yes. Or maybe it just suggests that all teachers must have a very authoritarian outlook on teaching. Regardless there is much to be understood from this statement, if it is taken at face value.

My takeaway; I intend to collaborate with communities of color and keep an open mind to accommodating towards any disparities in my classroom. It will become part of my mission to ensure treatment of all students is equally as effective for all groups involved. 

https://www.heritage.org/education  is a great place to continue to read on issues affecting the schools in America. 

Abigail Tetlow On: Allan Johnson's "Privilege Power and Difference", S.C.W.A.A.M.P

 This week I read sociologist Allan Johnson's "Privilege Power and Difference", this same week I was introduced to the concept of S.C.W.A.A.M.P. 

ARGUMENT

Johnson argues that privilege is embedded into society and the inequalities and discrimination we have in America create ongoing social injustice. His main argument is that privilege is not about an  individual or their actions, but about the issues woven into the infrastructure of everyday life.  Johnson insists, many people, especially of society's dominant groups, don't recognize their privilege, and denying privilege continues the cycle of division and inequality. Johnson believes that real change in society will only come when people of privilege, such as men or heterosexuals, actively acknowledge their advantages and work towards taking down oppressive systems. To reiterate, Johnson does not blame individuals but he encourages a shift in thinking to help identify privilege. He also encourages meaningful discussions and action.

QUOTES

"Privilege is always at someone else’s expense and always exacts a cost. Everything that’s done to receive or maintain it—however passive and unconscious—results in suffering and deprivation for someone."

Johnson is explaining how privilege is not a neutral topic. It comes at a cost to those who do not have it. He is referring to how those who benefit from privilege may not recognize it. Additionally, privilege isn't about individual benefits, its about the structure that keeps under privileged people down.

"The trouble around difference is really about privilege and power—the existence of privilege and the lopsided distribution of power that keeps it going."

The existence of difference isn't the problem. The social constructs that include superiority are the issue. The privilege structure in place is not random, it is an imbalance of power that stems from benefiting white citizens. 

"The bottom line is that a trouble we can’t talk about is a trouble we can’t do anything about." 

Johnson truly believes that silence only continues the injustice and we need to challenge the issues at hand. By ignoring disparities, they go unchecked and continue to effect large groups of people.  Johnson is also adamant about having conversations about racial issues and other forms of oppression to break past the barrier of uncomfortableness. 

CONNECTIONS

This reading made me think of the TV show "Dear White People", this show follows black students at a white college, where they face discrimination and privilege and become activists. The show addresses white privilege in detail to help the viewer understand the systematic imbalances. It hammers in the same ideas as Johnson about having difficult conversations about race issues and doing what you can to eliminate discrimination. 

REFLECTION

Johnson's view on race issues connect to Critical Race Theory. In my reflection of this article, Johnson puts too much pressure on grouping people into the categories of "oppressors" and "victims." While his apparent effort clearly shows his care towards eliminating discrimination, his writing carries many themes of CRT, such as; racism being prevalent through all areas of life, that our country is split into groups, etc. I cannot allow myself to fully learn from this reading due to these key factors.

On another note, Johnson highlights the importance of communicating with peers and family members. The author explains that these conversations can be difficult but are highly important to the elimination of racism and discrimination in today's society.

This week I was introduced to the concept S.C.W.A.A.M.P. which stands for, straight christian white American able-bodied male property owners. These are the groups who are generally more privileged in society. I would love to go deeper into this concept because we didn't talk much in class other than how we know they are generally more privileged. One thing I noticed in my class period was that the group who listed the reasons for able bodied people having more privilege actually did their anchor chart in the reversed way.  ( see above ) This group actually listed ways that disabled people are "privileged" in our society. Which made me think about how different the class would be if we focused on everything put in place for groups with "disadvantages", perhaps "NS.NC.NW.NA.D.F.NP." or "non straight, non christian, non white, non American, disabled, female, non-property owners." I am absolutely certain that there are laws, acts and societal norms in place that benefit every single one of these groups, but instead we focus on the other side of the coin.