Let's Agree to Disagree
By: Stephanie Norman
"Should young children be shielded from controversial current events, or should they be invited to learn about, explore, advocate for, and critique issues that matter to them?"
I hope to create an environment that encourages children to explore, advocate for, and critique the social issues that matter to them within my classroom. An important component of critical literacy is that it is lived. This means that the conversations and learning experiences about social justice issues come about naturally, we do not have to force them upon our students. The conversations are sparked because of current events happening within the community or the student's interests. Based on what we have previously learned and my experiences in school, students are more engaged with what they are learning when they feel as though it has a connection with their own lives. Not only will our students be more engaged with our curriculum, but they are learning skills that will help them in aspects of their life outside of the school building.
Kid President posted an awesome video on Youtube in September of 2016 that focused on how to disagree. I would consider showing this video to my students at the beginning of the year because Kid President sends the message of "We do not have to see eye to eye to work shoulder to shoulder." I think this is a great concept to stress to our students.
"I just want kids [my students] to be able to speak for themselves, advocate for themselves, and be aware that they can have an opinion" (Darolia).
This quote embodies the vision that I have for my future classroom. I want my students know that they are entitled to have their own opinions about social justice issues and how to respectfully voice that opinion to others. Using critical literacy in the classroom exposes students to opinions that may be different from those they have heard to be true at home or in their communities. Our job as teachers is to encourage our students to see the value in every single one of those perspectives, whether they agree with it or not. Similar to what Kid President says, I want my students to understand that they can value someone's opinion without accepting it.
Discussion Questions:
- Do you feel that young children should be shielded from controversial current issues? Why or why not?
- Since many social issues are controversial, what issues (if any) could you see arising in your classroom? How would you solve this or prevent it from happening again?
- In what ways (if any) have you seen the language and culture deficit myth played out in your schooling experiences or experiences as a student teacher?
Stephanie,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog post as well as watching the video! I think it would be a great idea to show students this video because it is very kid friendly and agreeing to disagree is not only important when talking about issues in the classroom but, just a general life skill that students need to have. To answer your first question I do not believe that children should be shielded from controversial current issues. I believe that it is our job to facilitate those conversations if and when they arise and also provide material in the classroom for students to think about outside issues. I love the idea of doing current events in the classroom because it keeps the students up to date on whats happening in their world. Bringing in topics this way does not make talking about social justice issues seem pushed by the teacher. It allows students to bring up their arguments on their own and think for themselves. Issues can also be talked about through children's books in the classroom.
Maddy,
DeleteI loved how the video was kid friendly and discussed situations that our students could actually see themselves in. I'm glad that you think agreeing to disagree is just as essential as I do for our students to know how to do. You make a really good point about how our job as teachers is to facilitate conversations if and when they arise, meaning it arises organically. Current events is a great way to bring in the issues that are near and dear to our student's hearts, which helps us know more about who are students are both inside and outside of our classrooms and what issues are most important to them.
Stephanie, I really enjoyed your post! It’s such a difficult question, “when is the right time to talk to students about controversial subjects”. I agree with something Mara said. She said that if a child brings up the subject - we should address it. Addressing these issues in way that children can relate and understand is so important. Remember that students think in concrete terms at young ages, so even if they do ask the questions, we may have to think differently about how we respond - respond for understanding. When you asked, “In what ways have we seen the language and culture myth played out”, I think about sorting. The constant sorting in education based on assessments that are biased. Our kindergarten class started the year with an assessment, on computers, where most of these students had never touched one. The assessments in no way reflected the intelligence of the students in the class. The students are lucky enough to have a teacher that recognizes this, and reject a deficit view of language and ability.
ReplyDeleteDee,
DeleteYou pointed out how students think in concrete ways while they are young and I am so glad you did! I think that recognizing how our students think about ideas and issues in the world in a concrete manner is important as we frame our discussions. I love the solution you gave, "respond for understanding." Not only is this something we as teachers should pay attention to, but I think this is a great skill to teach our students in our classrooms. The example you give of the "language and culture myth" is eye-opening. I am so glad that your students are lucky enough to have a teacher that recognizes how harmful this could be to some students. Hopefully, that is the type of teacher we will all become.
Stephanie, I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on this. I agree that it is a super controversial subject for some. This is something I also hope to embody in my students and in my own children. So often kids are told that their thoughts and feelings don't matter and that they just need to go to school and do what they're told. I think that's the first way we sabotage out children into not being able to think critically about these subjects. In order for us to foster critical thinking I think we need to validate their thoughts and feelings about all of this.
ReplyDeleteAlso I love kid president!
Mara,
DeleteI think you pointed out something really important, how we set children up for failure by not teaching them how to evaluate the thoughts and feelings of others and simply critically examine the world around them. I agree that validating their thoughts and feelings is a great first step in helping children see that, as a human, they are entitled to have an opinion. I think the next step we could take is exposing our students to opinions different than theirs, in order to think critically about their perceptions of the world in comparison to the opinions and lived experiences of others.
I love Kid President too! I think the videos can benefit both us as teachers and our students, because they are framed from the eyes of a student.
Stephanie, I really enjoyed reading your blog this week. I think teaching critical literacy is something essential to have in the classroom. I agree with what Dee was saying, where if a child brings up a topic, it should be discussed. If a child brings up a controversial topic, they’re likely ready to start talking and thinking about it. Shooting down these independent thoughts that students are having can lead them to think that talking about certain things is inappropriate. It is our job to facilitate these discussions, and students will be more engaged in our classrooms if they know that it is a safe space where they are aloud to speak out about things that matter to them and to ask questions. It’s important to teach students how to respectfully share opinions, while also teaching students how to listen to others and to respect their opinions as well.
ReplyDeleteEmily,
DeleteI completely agree. If someone brings something up, they obviously want to and are ready to discuss it. If we are not the facilitator of this conversation, like you said, we could force students to believe that what they are going through has no business being discussed in the classroom. I think it goes even further than just creating that safe space, but creating a space where students allow themselves and their ideas to be vulnerable and subject to change. Respect is a great word to use for this, because they do not have to take on another persons viewpoint but they should be kind and listen to understand their view.
Great blog post Stephanie! When students feel they are forced to discuss a social justice topic they will not be engaged in a way that is beneficial for them. It important to make these discussions a natural thing in the classroom so they feel comfortable to engage. The classroom should also be a place for them to openly share their thoughts and not have their thoughts being shot down by the teacher. I absolutely LOVE the video you shared and it so perfect to show students not only for these types of discussions but life in general and disagreements you will come across throughout life. The quote you shared is amazing as well and I want that up in my classroom! Students should be able to share what they think and have their opinions be valued by all. Sometimes agreeing to disagree is the perfect happy medium!
ReplyDeleteAlexis,
DeleteI think that it is essential for us to recognize how our students will not be nearly as engaged when they feel the social issue they are learning about is being forced. We also need to recognize that we do not always agree with everyone's opinions, so it would be wrong of us to force our students to think they should always agree. Agreeing to disagree is definitely a happy medium, and I think we could make a huge impact if we entered our future classrooms with this mindset.
I think as teachers we can have more of a hand in creating critical learners. As a whole I have seen classes where conformity is one of the most important aspects of the class. If you have a student who has gone through these types of classes they may not know how to bring up critical topics to discuss. You may even have students who are against these kinds of exercises because it goes beyond the norm of what they are used to. If this is the case we can't rely on student being the only ones to bring up controversial issues we should be pushing and challenging them to think critically.
ReplyDeleteParker,
DeleteI see what you mean, and I also agree that we can create more critical learners. One of the readings discussed implementing a "Social Justice Read Aloud" on Friday's, which was an idea that I thought I could use in my future classroom at the beginning of the year. I think that this would allow for some of these issues to be brought up in a way that is not nearly as forced as it would be if the same books were implemented in your guided reading unit or writing lesson. Setting aside a separate time for this read aloud would allow for a conversation that is not guided by standards, but is guided by organic discussion by the students and teacher. Also, I recognize that this is not always possible because we only have so much time in a day. This is how I would ideally make this work. I think it is important for us to push students past their "norm" of their previous learning experiences.