"Authentic caring promotes student-teacher relationships characterized by respect, admiration, and love, which in turn, inspire young Latinos and Latinos to better themselves and their communities. It also encompasses a social justice curriculum that dispels ideological notions of racial inferiority, while cultivating the intellectual capacities of poop and working class Latino students"
I feel that this is true for all students. When teachers build authentic relationships with students, it can make a world of a difference. Students may be more inclined to complete work, show up for class and ask for help or advice. When a student feels comfortable trusting a teacher, it can in turn lead to more student success. The hope for young Latinos in school was to promote them to be active citizens, critical consciousness, and more importantly increase their commitment towards transforming educational practices and improve lives for other Latino youth.
The study also talks about Critically compassionate intellectualism: create engaging critical dialogue and opinions. Making sure students have a voice and are entitled to their own opinion is something that can make a huge difference. For them to know that they are not wrong for thinking in a different way can encourage them to make a difference.
"Unfortunately, the teaching styles of many teachers seem to fall under the category of aesthetic caring, where concerns for the technical (i.e. skill level) are central". "..often shaped primarily by high-stakes testing and the dictates of such national policies as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), aesthetic caring is becoming more pervasive in US schools."
We mentioned this topic multiple times throughout the course of of class. We spoke about how teachers may be labeled as under-performing because the students in their class did not meet test score expectations. This in turn leads to schools being shut down and teachers losing their jobs. It also means that teachers are teaching to the test standards, leaving no time for creativity and fostering free opinionated learning environments. School is becoming more about testing and academics than preparing students to become ready for the real world and contribute to society in a meaningful way.
No Child Left Behind - Although I realize President Bush's intentions were good, the statistics in the video demonstrate how the testing has not improved scores and when looking at 8th grade proficiency in math and reading, some states scored as low as 14%.
Career Aptitude Test - Funny how what you score on a test could mean nothing in the future...
The author also mentions how racism could get in the way of forming authentic, meaningful relationships and inhibit self-determination in Latino students. "Teachers cannot become authentic caregivers unless they merge their caring with a counter-hegemonic praxis that both dispels notions of racial inferiority and recognizes the wealth of knowledge that each and every student brings to the classroom." I feel that what I enjoy most about teaching is listening to other people's points of views. I know everybody has a different style of learning and not everybody thinks in the same way. As students grow older, the begin to develop into these amazing, powerful, informed humans. It is our responsibility to get them there. When we stop them from free thinking, or put a racial bias on them to tell them that they are inferior, we hinder their growth as learners and devalue them as valuable people in our society.
Erin,
ReplyDeleteRacism and social, economical inequality are a plaque that has being devouring society since biblical times.
Unfortunatelly Racism, social and educational inequality will still be part of our generation and future generations unless we take a stand towards accepting and welcoming equality across the board.
I could not agree more with your comment on how racism could be in the way of establishing authentic meaningful teacher-student relationships making the teaching/learning progress a difficult one.
Unfortunatelly many Latino Student self-determination often faced many barriers which impede success. As caring educators, our job should not be limited to deliver knowledge, but also to welcome, respect and embrace cultural differences within the classroom.
Our job is to guide learners as they become responsible, powerful and informed lifelong learners.
Hi Erin! I really appreciate your analysis of these resources. I personally connected with your analysis of the Cammorotta and Romero article. “Giving students a voice” is one of the most important things I try and teach the students I come into contact with on a day to day basis. Just today, one of my students didn’t like something that the school did for reading week, so I told him during “free choice” time to write about it. He was so excited and wanted to read it to the principal. The principal was over the moon about how a 7 year old could express his thoughts so openly. It is experiences like this that we all need to take into account and push unto our students.
ReplyDeleteYou're way more generous/forgiving of GW Bush than I am, ha.
ReplyDeleteI really question the intention of NCLB. It seems pretty clear to me that the goal was/is to dismantle public education using a punitive system of accountability based on high stakes testing, privatize education via charters and voucher systems, and destroy teachers' unions. I'm not sure where children, especially working class and poor children of color, factored into this policy other than being used as rationale for the failure of the public system and the need to 'reform' it.
Anyway, end rant... :)
A real takeaway from this post is the call to action to become critically compassionate educators who authentically care. We need to figure out what that means in our various teaching contexts and how to operationalize it...this is the work....