Empowering Education

"In a classroom where participation is meager, the low performance of students is routinely misjudged as low achievement. But the actual cognitive levels of students are hard to measure in teacher-centered classrooms where students participate minimally... in a participatory process, where students codevelop the course, teachers can learn better the actual cognitive levels of students from which to design forward development."

Empowering Education by Ira Shor was definitely worth the read. I decided to pick this quote to talk about, because I feel like this concept is often looked over in the classroom. For early childhood educators, meaning teaching grades pre-k through second, this may seem like a difficult process. How can a teacher partner with three, four, and five year olds? How can a teacher go about this process without creating chaos in the classroom? Considering Early Childhood Education is my major, I have thought of a few examples I think might work for the younger ones.

. Ask the children how they are enjoying a certain assignment, and keep track of what activities are successful/unsuccessful
. Encourage talking stations (Have certain pictures the children can pick from [animals, food, etc]. What is happening in the image? Do you like the picture? Have you seen something like this before?) This is a great activity for cognitive and social development.
. Ask the children what they think before giving the answer. (Sometimes it is easier, and faster, to give the answer right away, which is something you want to avoid)
. Encourage that "thinking time". A lot of these concepts are new to these children, let them take a minute or two to try and solve a problem. Work with them and ask them to share their thought process, rather than point to the answer right away.
. Sit back, and watch! Sometimes it is better to just let the kids run the show and to observe. Let the students solve problems on their own, and work things out without your guidance.

Here is an idea for cognitive development that can be useful for younger children;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEoNHp6IYfs

With all that being said, "In a curriculum that encourages student questioning, the teacher avoids a unilateral transfer of knowledge. She or he helps students develop their intellectual and emotional powers to examine their learning in school, their everyday experience, and the conditions in society".

Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome - Quotes

Citizenship in School: Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome by Christopher Kliewer explains some of the issues facing the disabled community. These include issues in the school system, in the community, in judgment, and in relationships. This article is outdated in 1998, so many of the issues mentioned may have (hopefully) improved over the last decade.

Quote #1
"I started to notice that I didn't like the classes I was taking called special education. I had to go through special ed. almost all my life. I wanted to take other classes that interested me. I had never felt so mad, I wanted to cry."
This heartbreaking quote is from a student who was in the Special Education department at her school. Clearly, you can see that she feels as though her disabilities are limiting her to her academic ability, as well as what she can participate in during the school day. Disability does not mean incapable. I understand that many of these students do need more attention than others in order to get their needs met, but no student should ever feel this way because of struggles they face on a daily basis.  Although this article is a bit outdated, when I was in high school, many of the students in the Special Education department were in the same electives as all of the other students. Even though some of the students needed teacher assistance, they were still able to participate in the activities and classes they wanted to be in.

Quote #2
"How absurd to be judged by others at all, especially by those who have never experienced a disability or who are unwillingly providing us with support or who don't listen to the voices we have".
This is a very powerful quote that mentions the judgments that people with disabilities face. On a more general/cliché note, who are you to judge? You never know what someone may be going through in their life. What bothers me the most, and I am sure we have all seen it at one point in our lives, is someone being judged over something they have no control over. Who are you to judge someone based on their struggles or looks. This negative attitude really is absurd and disrespectful. Empathy does not mean endorsement. It is not that hard to be kind, or to try and understand someone else's situation before making assumptions about them. It is not our place to do otherwise.

Quote #3
"[Community] requires a willingness to see people as they are- different perhaps in their minds and in their bodies, but not different in their spirits or in their willingness and ability to contribute to the mosaic of society. It requires the "helper" to have the humility to listen for what the person says he or she needs. Also, the "helper" must see that the interaction "helps" both ways".
If you are to take away one quote from this article, I believe this should be the one. Throw all ignorance and judgment aside. We are all human. This is such a basic concept that for some reason people still do no understand. We are all human. Ones disability does not define them- sure it may cause certain struggles that they have to deal with- but who are you to be nothing but understanding for their situation.


Personal Story;
This might be kind of random, but when I was younger, I went to Story Land in New Hampshire. I was probably around the age of 8 or 9. While I was waiting in line for the bathroom, I noticed two girls slightly older than me laughing at a girl with dwarfism. They were making comments along the lines of "Look how short she is! I bet she won't go on any rides!", and that is the only thing I remember from that day. It made me feel awful, even though I was not the one who made the comment. I won't even justify their actions for their age, because at 11 or 12 I knew not to be that rude or disrespectful to others. I went up to the girl they were laughing at, and complimented her shirt. She seems surprised that I had even talked to her. Long story short, I really do believe a little bit of kindness goes a long way.