So I’ve barely slept for 48 hours… please don’t hold any ineloquence against me on this blog post. On the bright side: We’re all in South Africa!
The School to Prison Pipeline (STPP) is one of the very types of oppressive structures that Freire pushes back against. In the same way that the STPP further marginalizes students in a system in which they already have little power, not allowing students access to their home language (or to translanguage in ways that enhance learning) oppresses students who, again, have less access to begin with. Both of these things perpetuate systemic injustice. As I see it, some of the most serious problems that culturally and linguistically diverse students face are the constant misconceptions lobbed at them from afar. This happens to students who end up in the STPP, but it also happens to students who translanguage. Where the latter is concerned, for example, I cannot tell you how many times I have seen fully proficient bilinguals code-switch only to witness monolinguals assume that their English proficiency was subsequently not adequate. Misconceptions like these make it easier for us to paint others with broad strokes—to confine them inside narratives we’ve already encountered, whether or not we see any real evidence for doing so. What I liked about doing the CRSTP last week was that it allowed students their own voice. In this way, it allowed them to shape the narrative—a very Freireian concept indeed. When we allow students to take part in the process, we see that all students have the propensity for an academic mindset; we simply acknowledge that an academic mindset looks different for each one of them and that our receptivity to their prior knowledge and strategies makes a world of difference. We’ve only been here for a few hours now and while I’m exhausted, I’m genuinely excited for the days to come. I am of course committed to remain as safe as possible during the trip. As I do whenever I travel, I will be observant of my surroundings and will avoid being alone anywhere that I am not acquainted with. I have traveled abroad to comparatively “safe” and “dangerous” countries all my life, much of that travel has been alone; while each country is unique, those general rules have served me well. Finally, of all the current events shared with us last week, I am most interested in learning more about the “Tablet Teachers.” Most notably, I’d like to know what research suggests that this is a method of teaching that results in stronger educational outcomes. Further, I can’t help but ask in light of the course we’re currently in: In what ways is this culturally responsive teaching? No surprise, I wasn’t a fan. But even so, I’d like to know more.
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AuthorI'm Kelly. I teach English as a Second Language, business English, and writing. I eat poems for dinner. Archives
January 2019
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