Social Justice Reflection

New York Times Article

Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/17/nyregion/new-jersey-school-segregation-suit.html

In New Jersey schools there are still views of segregation. There is still segregation in New Jersey towns so it is going to be in schools. They need to figure out ways to integrate the schools. This is crazy to me because this article was written in May 2018 and the New Jersey schools aren't even integrated a little bit yet? Our schools are integrated but they could do better than they are. Someone needs to do something about it unless it doesn't get done. Segregation has been in New Jersey so they just let it go and then it ends up getting worse in the schools. they have never addressed the idea of segregation because it has always existed and now it has gotten so bad they don't know what to do. You cannot let segregation get out of hand because it is going to turn into a big problem like this.

The lawsuit has several alternatives to help with this segregation. They want to have magnet schools from multiple towns so that the schools are better. The students perform better in integrated schools rather than segregated schools. Every students benefits in integrated schools rather than one race having more opportunities than another. This relates to the Christensen article because it involves different races and ethnic groups. Each students deserves to have an equal opportunities in school. They are all students going to school to learn and deserve to achieve the same education.

This article also relates to the article we read by Tal and Herbert. These schools in New Jersey are fighting to be integrated and this article explains that we don't realize how much more integrated our schools could be if we tried. They are integrated but not as much as they could be. But New Jersey needs to make changes to their segregated schools to stop spreading it and it getting any worse. Schools in New Jersey need to be more diverse so the students learn better and are mixed to learn about different backgrounds and prepare them for the real world. People aren't interacting with one another and getting to know one another so it is hard to make connections.


An article pertaining to the Brown v. Board (which we talked about in class) and segregation also relates to this New York Times article because the schools are unequal and the students shouldn't have to learn like this everyday. Students need to have their voices heard and fight for an equal education just like in Brown v. Board and if their voices aren't heard then they need to do something further. This article explained the segregation, what was done about it and how schools became integrated throughout the way.

Another article that relates to this issue is, How segregated are New Jersey's schools and what can be done about it?  (https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/2018/07/13/how-segregated-new-jerseys-schools-and-what-can-done/702719002/). This article relates directly to the lawsuit article because it is about New Jersey schools. They are saying the same thing about the segregation in the schools and what should be done about it. The students are stuck surrounded by segregation everyday not only where they live but where they spend their days learning. School is supposed to be a safe and comfortable place for everyone but how can these students feel like that in this environment? Something needs to be done in order for this issue resolve.

Kwieler

Blog Post 10

Quotes

1. '...outlined, society itself is hurt when schools act as cultural sorting machines-locations that 'justify a competitive ethic that marginalizes certain students or groups of students ... [that] legitimize discrimination and devaluation on the basis of the dominant society's preferences in matters of ability, gender, ethnicity, and race ... and [that]endorse an elaborate process of sorting by perceived ability and behavior'.

Separating students in schools can have an affect on the students. All students go to school to get an education and these factors shouldn't disturb the kind of education they are getting. They are all students that are there to learn. Students should not feel like they at a competitive place when they are at school because they are all there for the same reason. In my schooling experience there were always those few students who wanted to be better than the other but it isn't about that. If you as an individual are learning and making progress throughout your schooling career then that is what matters.


2. "Dewey (1899) believed schools must serve as the sites in which children develop both a sense of commitment to one another and a sense of self-direction leading to "the deepest and the best guarantee of a larger society which is worthy, lovely, and harmonious".

Schools should be a safe place for students and everyone should feel comfortable and welcome. This is where students form connections with one another and every student should feel like they have the opportunity to do that. No student should ever feel left out or not included.


3. 'It's not like they come here to be labeled, or to believe the label. We're all here-kids, teachers, parents, whoever-it's about all of us working together, playing together, being together, and that's
what learning is. Don't tell me any of these kids are being set up to fail'.

Students shouldn't be going to school to get assigned to different groups but instead to achieve an equal education. Schools already produce inequality so it is important for teachers to balance it out. I agree that learning involves everyone in order for it to be effective.

https://www.noodle.com/articles/the-inclusive-classroom-education-for-children-of-all-needs

Oakes

Blog Post 9

Quotes

1.  "On the other side, growing numbers of school professionals and parents oppose tracking because they believe it locks most students into classes where they are stereotyped as "less able," and where they have fewer opportunities to learn".

Tracking might seem to favor one group of students over the other and that is why some parents and teachers don't like it. I agree that by tracking all students don't get the same education and advantage as others. But also tracking can help put students in the right classes that they need to be in so it prepares them for higher ability classes if that's what they can handle.



2. "More-over, the nature of these differences suggests that students who are placed in high-ability groups have access to far richer schooling experiences than other students. This finding helps explain, at least in part, why it is that tracking sometimes seems to "work" for high- ability students and not for others".

To students tracking may not seem fair since the higher ability students tend to have more of an advantage than the lower ability students. Every student deserves the same education so it is important for students of different abilities to be together so they all can benefit.

3. " On the other hand, without a positive classroom climate, students spend considerable energy interfering with the teacher's agenda, and teachers must spend more of their time and energy just trying to maintain control".

I agree that sometimes it is hard to have students of mixed abilities together because half the class is on one page while the other half is on another page. The pace is also hard to control but the high ability students could be a model for the lower ability students.

http://www.nea.org/tools/16899.htm

Tal, Herbert, Website

Blog Post 8
Separate and Unequal 

Extended Comments

For this blog post I am writing extended comments to Emily Vieira's blog.
I agree with the quotes that she chose because they show how the students reacted to the transfer students. They didn't think anything different of them and that is important because the students are all just there to learn and get an education. The parents were downgrading these transfer students because they thought they were going to affect the school but they didn't at all. This isn't good for their kids to hear either because then they are going to be in that mindset when it is actually not like that. The students in that school became better because of the integrated school. There were no negative effects because of the transfer students. Integrated schools are beneficial for all students because it provides different resources and learning tools to the classroom.

The issue is blacks not getting the same education as whites and there needs to be more integration. The teachers usually turn away from low-income and poverty schools so that leaves these students with a less education than others. The teachers don't really want to be there so they aren't going to put their all into the job and then the students struggle. The courses taught are different and the students aren't getting the education that they should get. The advanced kids get better quality teachers than the kids who are behind. I agree with the quote that she included about the integration of lower-class communities into upper-class communities. These lower class students thrive in an upper class school because they get a better education and have more tools and resources for them to use. Overall, all students will benefit from transferring lower class students to a middle class school.

The society now should be way more integrated than it actually is.

https://www.loc.gov/collections/civil-rights-history-project/articles-and-essays/school-segregation-and-integration/

Kahne and Westheimer

Blog Post 7

Reflection

In this reading I agree that service learning for students is a great way for them to understand and help others in need. Some students don't learn well just sitting in a classroom listening to lecture or reading from a book so the hands-on part is really useful. Sometimes we even learn more because there is more opportunity for experience. Service learning is a way to reach out and help others while also learning from it at the same time.

When I was in high school I took a child development class and towards the end of the semester we visited a daycare we were assigned to until the end of the semester. This was a great opportunity because I got to help children that needed more help and just watch how they learn through play at that age. We would observe and then help out and it was a great experience and made me even more want to be a teacher!

Just like now, it is such an experience to get to be able to service learn children in a school. We get to see what it is like nowadays to teach children and learn from it. By being in the atmosphere experiencing the teaching it is way more beneficial than reading from a book about lets say how a classroom should be set up and the daily curriculum. Having this opportunity of service learning it makes students aware of how much of a difference they can make in the world just by helping out.

Blog Post 5

These articles on election teach us about gender by explaining how men speak to one another about other females. It also explains how other females talk about other females because they want to gain more power. Men are only looking for women to impress them so that then they can go talk about us. White males are holding all the power and they want to keep it that way which is why they go after woman and don't want anyone to take their power away from them.

Electing black women into office seems absurd for a lot of candidates and people. The idea of gender gap is what holds men and women apart because of their different political views. Women became very involved in politics and were actually the majority of voters in the 1980 election. They had distinct opinions on politics and they wanted to make change so they were using their voices. Men obviously didn't like this because women are "inferior" to them and they don't want them to have as much power. Which is why there are so many gender issues within the elections. This also relates to the Christensen article that we did about gender roles.


These articles relate to the article about gender inequality we did in class and also about the differences between race. There shouldn't be these gender gaps because men and women are all people just think differently and it is useful to hear other's opinions.

Safe Spaces; Zelle

Blog Post 4
Hyperlinks

Teaching children about the LGBT community is very important. Students need to learn that is okay to be different and they can't associate certain groups of people by the ways they are brought up with.  Teachers are trying to incorporate this topic in their learning when they get the chance to so that all students feel comfortable and welcome. Examples of this include adding more books that have a variety of family styles, talking about it when it gets brought up instead of pretending to not hear the comments and making a safe space for those students who are LGBT. As this article mentions even in elementary school there are teachers trying to incorporate and include everyone. There are many ways they have explained and had a discussion with their students about LGBT and it makes them have a positive view of it rather than what they might hear about it at home or from someone else.We need to teach children that it is okay to not be the same as everyone else and feel different. 

It is important that teachers include the LGBT community into their classrooms. Any chance that there is to include such explanations should be discussed. This will create a more comfortable atmosphere for those who define themselves as LGBT or children with LGBT parents or relatives. It is in this world today so we can't just let it go unseen and if we hear it being talked about it is important to chime in and create a discussion.


https://www.glsen.org/educate/resources/curriculum
In this link there are various lesson plans that incorporate LGBT into the curriculum. There are ideas on how to make LGBT students feel comfortable in your classroom and ways to make the lessons reflect them as well. Even today I feel as though teachers need to be comfortable explaining and teaching this because it is going to come up in discussions. They need to be able to put their views of it to the side and be open minded to teach these students about it.



http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2158244017739949
This table was conducted to show whether there is a relation to teaching about LGBT and the teachers age. As you can see the trend was as the teacher's age increased their comfort with teaching about LGBT in literature decreased. Except the over 60 year old teachers. This is because the older teachers weren't brought up learning about this and they want to stick to the way they know things. The younger teachers know more about this and were in this generation so they feel comfortable including it.

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/john-depasquale/2017/Create-Inclusive-Affirming-Schools-for-LGBT-Students/
This article talks about creating a more inclusive atmosphere for LGBT students just like the reading we did. Including more books in libraries so that students have a variety and that is exactly what the librarian in the "Safe Spaces" reading was doing. This article also explains how there needs to be allies for these LGBT students. Even the teachers could be allies when they hear students talking about this topic they should chime in and have a discussion to create it into a learning experience rather than something negative. Like the reading said it is important to make these students feel like they are part of the school than to just let ideas about LGBT go unseen.


https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/what-your-child-needs-know-about-sex-and-when/201112/teaching-your-young-child-about
As the "Safe Spaces" article talked about parents also have an affect on their children when learning about LGBT. It is important for parents to encourage and teach this rather than just shrug it off and not discuss these situations with their children because then when they go to school they will have negative views on LGBT and could be a bully of the LGBT students. Parents helping their children to be aware of this can help in school and creating a safe place for those LGBT students. Many students have a lack of knowledge of what this means and it should be Brought up within the household as well so the children see the many different ways of living and others don't feel offended.

Most of the LGBT students don't feel welcome or safe in their classrooms and that is why they would rather skip school. So instead of having them feel like this it is important to be mindful of every student and include them despite their differences.

I really liked the comment in the "Safe Spaces" article that said "classrooms need to be windows and mirrors..". This was an interesting point because the windows represent the children going above and beyond and looking into the future and the mirrors represent the children themselves. So they can act like themselves in a classroom and feel safe.





Discussion:
Let everyone be accepted and feel comfortable in the classroom because they can choose to be whatever they want.

h