I found there to be many great points within Kumashiro’s article, but also some weaknesses. My point of view comes from the fact that I was one of these students that Kumashiro refers to as “other”. I am Honduran (Latina) and Native American, and I constantly felt isolated throughout all my primary and secondary education. I remember when Thanksgiving would come around and the teacher would make us dress up as pilgrims and natives. The story did not include, however, that there was a genocide of Native peoples following Columbus’ voyage and landing in the western hemisphere which made the population today so small. This lack of education made it very hard for me to relate to any of my classmates, and it made me feel like the teacher did not have a good grasp for how her minority students felt. Now, granted, I was one of the only minorities in the schools I attended but in my opinion it is as important to make 95% of the student body feel at ease at school as it is for the other 5%.
I found that the avoidance or sugar coating of topics in my history classes about Native peoples, slavery, etc. made it a biased form of history and therefore not reliable. I therefore agree with Kumashiro when he was quoted as saying that “sometimes, however, the harm results from inactions by educators, administrators, and politicians”. (Page 26-27) This is also something I will address when teaching my own classroom. I am going to make it a point to educate all my students on various aspects of history about various groups of people. This will allow all students to feel included, but will also allow a lot more knowledge to be learned. This will prepare the students on working and living with and around people of different backgrounds than themselves in a healthy way.
One of the things I found troublesome in the article however was the fact that all these good ideas were brought up, but it seemed as though as quickly as they were brought up they were shot down. I found that a lot of the ideas would be able to be incorporated into the classroom without there being so many negative things coming from it. It is just important to use the time, which isn’t much, wisely and efficiently and to make sure that no individual is feeling like they are being ignored or left out. This could easily be assessed by asking the students at the beginning of the semester to look through the syllabus and then the text and pick one theme or topic that they would most like to learn about. This way, each child feels as though they have gotten individual attention, that they have been included, and that their opinion is important. It is then important as the teacher to make sure that their choice of topic is not left out or given more or less time than the topics given by other students. This would help promote anti-oppressive education.
About Me
- Brittany
- -Did gymnastics for 14 and 1/2 years -Coached gymnastics for 7 years -Lived in the South all my life until I moved to Wisconsin -Got my B.A. in Psychology -Starting student teaching this semester -Getting a Post Bacc Certificate for secondary social studies: Psychology, Sociology, History, Geography
4 comments:
I agree with your post. In hindsight, the charade of dressing students up around Thanksgiving is a preposterous.
I too was dismayed by the Kumashiro's decision to highlight the weaknesses of each method.
I have a story relating to your genocide comment. When I got my undergraduate degree (6 years ago), we had to participate in a "debate" in my Early Civilizations class. The concept was simple: two groups were assigned one issue and each group had to choose a side, do some research and defend your position. The question we had to argue about was, "Was Columbus a conqueror or a discoverer?" My group argued (apparently not very effectively) that Columbus was in fact, a conqueror that introduced disease, committed genocide, etc. The "jury" (the rest of the class) sided with the other group and decided that he was, in fact a "discoverer." This was an early civ class, so most students were fresh from high school. Had they been introduced to another angle, perhaps they would not have such a high regard for "the Great Christopher Columbus" and may have some sympathy for the oppressed.
Honestly I'm shocked that your teacher pulled the student with pilgrims and indians and didn't address what happened to the native peoples after everyone supposedly got along so well. i find that history usually leaves out those mess little details such as the genocide of native peoples. that's why ideally i would like to focus on teaching not just the standard history that is usually taught to students but also the other side of story. those who really built and paid for this country with their blood and sweat. if i could get away with it i'd assign "a people's history of the united states" as a textbook. however, i don't see that ever happening in a high school or middle school for that matter. of course maybe i could just make copies of a couple key chapters and use them as handouts so that students can compare that to the history in their textbooks.
i thought your post was very interesting. i was in the majority through out my grade school and high school. i can see where it can be hard for you to have that in class. its important that teahers, schools, etc include everyone and not make anyone feel left out.
in on of my other classes i learned about the making of text. what makes it and what doesn't. text are being made with saying the "indians moved west." and thats what students will think when they read the text. but they dont keep in mind that indians where being killed and forced west.
I thought that Kumashiro needed to include the weaknesses of each view because there isn't a clear-cut way to "fix" the education system. Also, if we plan on implementing any of these views in our classrooms, it is always helpful to note the weaknesses of what we're going to be bringing into the classroom. To me, the weaknesses made the article stronger because it showed that Kumashiro was leaving it open for the reader to decide which view would be strongest in the classroom, he is just trying to raise awareness to the problem..
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