Madison Hill
"Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world." -- Harriet Tubman
Hazelbaker, Taylor, and Rashmita S. Mistry. "“Being colorblind is one of the worst things”: White teachers’ attitudes and ethnic‐racial socialization in a rural elementary school." Journal of Social Issues 77.4 (2021): 1126-1148.
This article discussed the issues with the ERS education style, which includes the idea of a colorblind education. The author explains that the Eurocentric ERS practice is the basis of our system, as it includes the education on mostly important historical events revolving around white men and women. The article focuses on the education of Christopher Columbus, which although that is currently being debated, is still an important foundation of our education. The article also mentions having holiday parties in the classroom, and how they contribute to the teaching that certain religious holidays hold more importance over others. The author and other collaborators on this study believe that there needs to be a system level change on how we are educating our children, as it’s hard to realize how deep rooted the issues truly are.
After reading this article, I feel as though my perspective on American history has been very blinded. Although the majority of important American history includes the triumphs of white males, the way that we are being taught this is completely different than how it should be. In my own classroom, I will make it a priority to ensure that my students understand the history of important figures in literature, including those from all cultures. Although some may not be as crucial to the culture of some students, all students need to be well aware of the importance of understanding the history of all cultures. If the students understand all culture’s literature, they will appreciate the different styles of writing and storytelling that has been achieved throughout history.
Fernandez, Anita E. "Autobiography in multicultural, anti-racist education: Three case studies." Teaching & Learning 18.1 (2003): 5-15.
The study used for this article helps to prepare educators, specifically female English teachers on anti racist education, as well as the history of racism and white privilege. The way that this study is designed is by having the teachers create a cultural autobiography at the beginning of the semester, and another at the end of the semester. The author felt that it was important for white educators in general to understand their own privilege before teaching about it. I think this is an extremely important study, because it helps the students become passionate about anti-racist education. Once the teachers are fully aware about the issues of the system, they can passionately teach the students with a different lens that helps the students to better understand the lessons.
I think this is something that I could incorporate into my curriculum, especially since it has been practiced in EFN 299. By incorporating the cultural autobiography into our syllabus, it will help me to understand how much my mindset has changed about the education system. Along with this, will show me how many different ways I can incorporate this into the Enlish curriculum. One quote from the article that really stood out to me was, “How could I expect these students to listen to cultural stories from around the world and to be enthusiastic about Latino literature when they were waking up at 5 a.m. to ride a bus for an hour and a half to school, going to school all day, riding home for another hour and a half, and then going to work for eight hours?” By understanding the struggles of the everyday student, I will have to try my best to figure out ways to teach the students these important lessons about racism and privilege in American literature, without losing their attention. The author also says, “ I felt good about what I was doing and confident that I was about to teach these students the right way.” This shows that being confident and passionate about what you are teaching is extremely important. I will make sure that I am fully educated in what I am teaching my students, and making sure that it is all extremely relevant and important.
Dunn, Damaris, and Bettina L. Love. "Anti Racist language arts pedagogy is incomplete without Black joy." Research in the Teaching of English 55.2 (2020): 190-192.
This article summarizes the correct ways to introduce anti-racist pedagogy when teaching language arts. The author argues that instead of having the students reflect on the trauma of their ancestors, they should be reflecting on the black joy. Integrating works from extremely successful black authors is just the first step, as it introduces the amazing talent and creativity that comes from their culture. The strategy the author used in this article to introduce this pedagogy was by creating the Junior Scholars program. This program allowed the small group of young adults to dream and create, and really reflect on how they can be creative with their own writing styles.
After reading this article, I understand that my goal as a language arts teacher is to ensure that the pedagogy goes beyond just including an anti-racist education. By introducing examples of great works in the African American community, the students will be confident in their abilities. In most language arts pedagogies, most of the works discussed are written by white authors. Some of the true canons for our society are based upon racist principles, which can make the black students in the class feel alienated from the rest of their peers. My goal will be to introduce works featuring authors from all different backgrounds, in order to instill in my students that every culture’s literary history is important.
Lawrence, Sandra, and Beverly Tatum. "Teachers in transition: The impact of anti-racist professional development on classroom practice." Teachers College Record 99.1 (1997): 162-178.
The study conducted in this article revolved around educating white suburban teachers on anti-racist education. One of my biggest takeaways from this article is a quote from one of these teachers, in which they say, “I will continue to learn about racism and antiracism and teach it directly in my classroom. I intend to be vocal in all areas of my life.” This is extremely important in education, as in order to create a change in the pedagogy, it requires all teachers to be outspoken. However, the author uses this promise made by this teacher to ask the question, will she follow through with her promise? Fortunately, all of the teachers included in the study made excellents strides, ensuring that all students are willing to change the way that they learn. The author included an example of an English teacher who critically analyzed a sports article, ensuring her student’s awareness of the racial terms. The article talked about white sports players as “good strategists”, and only complimented the black players based on their physical assets. This is just one example of how the teacher and students work together to better understand racism in literature and in other parts of the curriculum.
This article helped me to better understand that I’m not only teaching my students, but I also have to work with my students. If I am unaware of all of the ways that racism haunts our literary history, my students will refuse to listen to the true meaning behind that. I will strive to achieve a curriculum that is based upon a foundation of learning about the history of the books that we read. This way, the students and I can educate ourselves together as we piece together the true meaning of the pieces. I also now understand how important it is to be vocal about these strategies to other educators. If I don't passionately explain to other teachers about the importance of anti-racist education, then the progress of our system will be inconsistent among the students.
Baker-Bell, April. "" We Been Knowin": Toward an Antiracist Language & Literacy Education." Journal of Language and Literacy Education 16.1 (2020): n1.
This last article is an extremely important one, because it is the whole career of a black woman educator, telling her strategies for teaching the black language. Oftentimes in literature, the black language is ridiculed, and is dismissed for not being grammatically correct. The author tackles important questions throughout her career, including how exactly she should go about using language and literacy research to work against racial and cultural injustice. Another thing I really liked about this article is it shows the progression of her literacy strategies alongside the terrible hate crimes in the news. It really shows how important it is to maintain relevance by comparing these issues historically with how they’ve changed into today’s culture. This article also discusses how the Black Language is usually dismissed in ELA classrooms, with the teachers being unaware that it is still an extremely important part of the linguistic system. The author continues to thoroughly research the effect of incorporating linguistic learning into anti-racist pedagogy.
It will be my job as an educator to make sure that all of the students are aware of the issues within American literature. A big issue that I realized while reading this article is how the Black Language is so heavily criticized throughout history. So many students are taught that the progress of the African American community is within their ability to integrate into society, especially in terms of the language. This is extremely incorrect, as the language should be celebrated alongside the integration into society, and not discarded. I will make sure to discover resources for my students who wish to learn more about linguistics, in order to make sure that my students fully understand its worth.