Three Things that will Stick With Me

 

Three things that will stick with me from this class:

1. The activity that we did with the card game to teach Delpit

1. I think this was one of the most effective classes of the entire semester. 

   It was a fun activity, but it also really showed the frustration that occurs when 

   
   miscommunications happen or when you arent given all of the tools you need to succeed.

   It was also very interesting to have students move tables throughout the game, as it did a

   good job of simulating how moving up in the world is made much more difficult when you 

   are “playing a different game” than your peers. 

    

2. Kozol’s Amazing Grace

1. The frankness and compassion of the writing in this piece was very striking for me. 

   Reading about individuals and the struggles they face, but also the vibrant community

   that they create regardless was very intense. The most striking moment in this piece

   for me was when the author says “There’s a whole world out there if you know it's there, 

   if you can see it. But they’re in a cage. They cannot see”, its such a true and powerful 

   statement.

    

3. Finn’s Literacy with an Attitude

1. This article really captured the essence of what Ive been learning throughout this class 

   and others. The systematic inequality that exists between social classes and the 

   difficulties it creates. The huge disparity between the opportunities that students from 

   different classes have access to. I hope that in the future we will be able to rectify this 

   inequality and make it possible for every student to have equal opportunities to succeed. 

    

Gender Nonconforming Students: RI policies- Reflection of sorts

    Gender seems to be plaguing me of late, and as such, this week's reading and video were quite relevant to my life. Gender equity and LGBTQIA+ issues are very important to me as I am immersed in the community that they affect. As an out queer student from eighth grade on, I had more than a few unsavory interactions with other students and even teachers at my schools. Being a queer kid is confusing and can make you feel like you are doing something wrong or, at the very least, something out of the norm, just by existing.

    Support from school staff, queer inclusion, and effective tolerance education are incredibly important for creating an environment in which all students feel safe and are able to fully engage with their education. Educators being aware of these issues is paramount to the health and safety of queer students, so reading the guidance for gender-nonconforming youth gave me some joy that there is an effort to communicate that to teachers. It has all of the components it needs including, most notably, the list of relevant definitions. Simply the language to understand and refer to the experience of trans youth is integral to having a healthy relationship with the topic. This is also why books like He, They, She, as Easy as ABC are so important. Giving students the language that they need to be able to express their internal view of themselves, whether related to gender or otherwise, is a large part of what we, as educators, should be striving to do. 

    Having experienced my own complicated relationship with gender and witnessed the struggles that my transgender peers and friends experience, I feel it is important to underline the importance of access to language. My partner is transgender, and she has expressed on countless occasions how much she wishes that someone would have told her the words she needed. She didn't have any access to the community or knowledge of genderqueer people beyond the media until her mid twenties and feels that she wasted a lot of time being unable to work through the complicated emotions that are connected to the trans experience. Having seen the regret and upset that this has caused her, I urge all of my fellow educators to try to incorporate queer representation in their classrooms. This does not mean sitting down and giving a lecture on gender, but simply including relevant information in your class. This can be as simple as assigning a reading written by a queer author and mentioning their identity in context to the material, it can mean showing art created by or concerning the queer community, it can even mean simply having the inclusive pride flag on your wall or a sticker on your laptop. Letting students know that you are creating a safe and inclusive space could save their life. 

     I've already written far more than I intended to when starting off with this post, and I regret that I did not post on time and as such this will likely only be read by myself and Professor Bogad, but I still feel it was good to write. 

    If anyone would like to discuss this topic with me at length or have any questions about the community and our experiences, feel free to reach out. My email is abarnes8472@gmail.com 

Hehir: Eliminating Ablelism & Butler and Taylor: Examined LIfe- Extended Comments

Hi Megan!

I really enjoyed reading your post on Hehir and the Judith Butler video. The way you explained the information was very concise and definitely helped me connect better with the information. Reading the Hehir piece was a little difficult due to its length and density, so I found it useful to have other’s posts to help explain.

I picked your post to respond to because you and I seem to have found similar merits in each assignment for this week. I too thought some of the most profound information in Hehir’s piece was the discussion on how people with disabilities can be put at a disadvantage when they aren't given relevant education. The need for teaching people the best ways that they can interact with the world is present in all classrooms, but is doubly important for people with disabilities. This pervasive idea that people with disabilities have less skill and ability is so damaging. In addition, the discussion on the importance and value of an integrated classroom is so important! As an art educator (which I of course look through the lens of) I believe that integration is essential to the growth and development of artistic talent and knowledge, as well as representation of artists from all backgrounds and abilities. If youre interested, you should check out this article on one of my favorite ceramic artists, who happens to have lost his vision, Felice Tagliaferr. https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-ouch-29837275 Anyway, one of the most powerful sentences in your response was the following “...there seems to be a present narrative that disabled peoples' impairments are solely hindering, and therefore they are "less than'' as people, with their accomplishments being the only thing that displays their value.” This idea of disabled people having to work twice as hard to be seen for their accomplishments, and that when they accomplish something they are applauded for “overcoming” their disabilities is a pivotal idea in Hehir’s work.

Once again your comments on the Examined Life video were spot on. The thing that stood out most to me was the idea of “impairment” and “disability” being distinct in their relation to society. The viewpoint of “disability” applying to the social ramifications of impairment rather than the physical aspect makes so much sense, though I never would have considered it on my own. One thing that I found interesting about this video was Taylor saying that San Francisco is the most accessible city in our country, which to me seems bonkers. Having been to San Francisco, I can't imagine that navigating the narrow streets and enormous hills would be particularly easy for those with ambulatory disabilities, so the fact that it is one of the most accessible places shows me that we need to work on accessibility in other cities far more than we do.

Thanks for your post! It was very illuminating and a good read.