Monday, June 30, 2008
Posting 5
Discuss your personal opinion about one of the topics discussed in class today: inclusion, multicultural education, divesity issues. Since we did not get to the Text Connections organizer, you might like to share the connections you made between the text and your experiences, the text and other texts and/or the text and the world.
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21 comments:
The issues we discussed at the end of class today were all very complex. To elaborate on the issue about the white teacher with a predominately black class, this was a cultural issue. Black teachers at the school seemed to have a consistent, stern demeanor toward the students and the students responded better to that. If a teacher is in an environment that they are not familiar with, they MUST adapt. Students will pick up on the insecurities and use them to their advantage whenever possible.
The issue about religion in school is also interesting to me. I think people often use religion as a reference without being aware of it. I think it is important for teachers, and everyone really, to have at least a basic knowledge of world religions so they can be sensitive to the different religious backgrounds of others.
The issue on inclusion is a controversial topic. I guess I can agree on some inclusion but not full inclusion, where a student is in a regular classroom all day. I think it is more beneficial for the student with a disablity to be in special education because he or she will have more one on one time with the teacher. Also some students with disabilities or actions can be disruptive or distracting to the other students in the classroom.
Out of the mouths of babes... I would like to comment on the classroom issue where the protestant child told the Buddhist child that she was going to Hell. This classroom sounds a lot like the ones I attended. When I was in school, it was the Church of Christ kids who did this. When my kids went thru the same school system, it was the evangelical christian right kids who were doing the same. These kids get it from the adults at the church's they attend. It makes me realize how backward (intolerant) some of these folks are. If it were my classroom, I would tell the kids that religious differences and discussion are outside what is discussed in the classroom. I would remind them that there are many established religions and that the practioners of each are following their hearts. I would recommend that if they want to learn about religion that they should talk with their parents and their pastor/priest about it. It is an important subject to many but outside the scope of classroom discussion.
The inclusion topic is what caught my eye the most today. I think that inclusion is extremely important in EVERY childs life. While it might take some adjusting time, the overall experience is a positive one for everyone involved. Teachers have a lot more work ahead of them if they have a special needs child in their classroom, but with a little extra planning and a little patience, anything is possible. All children will benefit from the experience. The special needs children will learn socialization skills, communication skills, and increased learning skills. The general education students will learn those skills as well as patience, understanding skills, and that everyone is equal. All children will be exposed to the fact that no matter a persons physical or mental disabilities, everyone should be treated with respect and consideration.
When talking about inclusion for me the major barrier with dealing with children’s different ability levels is very important. I think that teachers should make there classes a safe haven and be as open as possible. In most cases you know the child’s needs before hand, if there is a physically handicap child in your class room arrange the room so that the child will always have that space. Having students write down where they prefer to sit and why and giving you any important information can also help. Disabilities vary and I think that with each case the solution is made with the entire classrooms best interests at heart.
The biggest barrier to full inclusion to me is the training of teachers. We already have a great need for special education teachers, math teachers and science teachers. In order for full inclusion to work we must have more special education teachers to assist the already strained general education teachers. How can only one teacher manage a room of around 30 kids and of those thirty are special needs children. It would be frustrating and a lot of work. I believe more incentives should be offered to teachers, so we can get more highschool graduates to consider teaching as a career.
I think that inclusion can be very positive. It gives the special needs child a sense of belonging as well as giving the general education students an acceptance of people unlike themselves. The only problem with inclusion is that sometimes children are very extreme and cannot function in a normal setting. I think it should definitely be done if it is not going to cause negative problems for that student. It also has to be considered about what the teacher will need to meet those students needs. Schools need to make sure that teachers have every resource they need to make it successful. The only thing that worries me is the behavior disciplines because I know I would not be fully prepared to handle a bad behavior discipline but that's where the school needs to come in and give me the tools I need to handle that child.
After reading the book and discussing the topics, the issue of inclusion stands out as pretty complex. There are so many barriers, but as we learned, we can turn those barriers into 'gateways'. Whichever way the law takes us on this, we, as teachers, need to be sure to attain those positive qualities. I believe in inclusion, but I guess to an extent...not full inclusion. I am a believer that everyone benefits from inclusion.
As far as the text connections go, I simply recall my classroom experiences as a substitute teacher.
The topic of inclusion left an impression on me. Everytime it is discussed it becomes more important to me. I agree with the positive and the negative aspects of the whole topic. I agree that it would help with the child with disabilities and I agree that it could negatively affect the other general education students. What is difficult for me is to decide, yes inclusion or no inclusion. Another thing that struck a nerve with me was the topic of religion in schools. I believe that if we are allowed to teach other cultures and ethinic religions that we should be allowed to teach Christianity. I also think that if science teachers want to teach on evolution, they should also teach on creation. This is just my opinon.
I chose the issue that my group talked about "same sex marriages" The scenario for our story was the student bringing the book about a child with two mommies. We as a group were a bit lost about this issue--it being a difficult subject for most to discuss in mainstream America. We agreed that we would ask each student a general question about their book such as "who reads you this book at home?, and why did you choose this particular book? We all decided that staying from broader questioning would lesson conflict in the classroom and would not make the particular child feel uncomfortable.
As for the school district being conservative or the town being conservative--we should outline to them before such events arise in the classroom so that they are prpared and ready for the possibilty of their child being exposed to different family structures or different family beliefs that may be generally addressed in the classroom from time to time.
The issue on inclusion seems to be a very controversial topic. I do believe in inclusion however I am not completely sold on full inclusion. I feel that it is great to include students that would otherwise be in special needs classrooms into regular classes. These students will learn with the other students and develop social skills that they will carry throughout life as will the teachers and students that do not have special needs. The biggest problem I see is that some special needs children are more severe than others and those children may need more specialized attention. For inclusion to work teachers will need significantly more training on how to deal with these issues and will have to learn to coexist with another teacher in the same classroom.
The issues that were talk about in class was very interesting. However these are some issues that we will be faced with when we begin to teach. We as educators will have to know how to deal with such issues when they are brought to ours attention. During the disscussion, there is one issue that stuck out to me, this issue is about inclusion. Inclusion I feel is helpful and harmful for students who are trying to learn. It is helpful because it allows the special education students to have the same type of education as a regular student. However it may be a harmful to a regular student that a special need child is in their classroom, because of the distraction and disruptive behavior that some special need have. There are many changes that are being made in the school system, however inclusion has become one of them and since these changes has become, we as educators have to be able to adjust to these changes.
I would like to say that religion in schools is always goingto be a "touchy" subject, but I do believe it should be a part of a school's curriculum as long as it is not only focused on one or two "main religions" and is done in a scholarly way and not in a church type sermon. I totally agree with Lindsay in the ideas of having a balance between science( evolution) and what those of us consider religious doctrine (creationism). We want our students to be educated and able to make their own decisions, so we should give them all the possible questions and help them find the answers as best we can. Those who say religion has no place in school, I say evolution should not be taught under the same belief that it violates some students' rights to believe in God. That is if a student's parent(s) want religion in their child's life and schools tell them its not God, or whichever force they believe in (Allah, Bhudda, etc...), but is simple evolution is just as disrectful and insensitive as having students "exposed" to religion such as a simple moment of silence at the start of the school day. Again, some may say it has no place in school, but as Lindsay pointed out, niether does lessons on Kwanza, Rhamadan, or any other non-Christian denomination in the name of teaching our students about diversity in culture. I know it sounds crazy, but one religious belief is just as important as another, and to hide behind the word culture is just as bad. I do believe religion has a place in school, if done properly, and besides, what real harm could come from teaching students some of the moral lessons each of these religious beliefs have. They may actually find some answers many students lack.
I was glad to read the part where a child is telling another child that she is going to hell. I was shock and notice that it will make the job harder for me when I become a teacher. I am glad that my group agreed that we mention about people coming to the US to practice their own religious as part of their right. I agreed with Tom that some of them should be part of outside discussion but I agreed they should be inside discussion in class too. The reason we need to discussion it in class is because they need to let it out and move on without being mention again.
There are so many issues! It is hard to choose just one to talk about, so I am going to give my opinion on a few. The topic of inclusion for one is a very difficult situation because there are two sides to the story. Inclusion should exist because it would be an enriching experience, plus those students who need special education would get the opportunity to socialize and communicate with new students which could help them adapt better to the world in general. The downside is that there are some special education students who will be a huge distraction and interfere with the learning process of others. Not only that, but it is called special education for a reason, they have special needs that have to be met and require much more attention than a regular ed student. So I do not agree with the idea of full inclusion because it will be difficult on the students as well as the teachers.
Now, as for the religion issue; I'm sure it would be a shock to hear a child telling another child they are going to hell, but this could be an opportunity. Of course it is unlawful to say one's religion is superior to another. I would take this opportunity to have the children learn a little about all religions. I would probably use a few days and explain the a little of the history of major religions so they can see where they derived, and to show that most religions have the same principles. So no religion is a right religion.
The last issue I want to comment on is the white woman teaching in a predominately black school. This was not an issue of race, but rather how to manage one's class. She noticed that the black teachers spoke very firmly and had much less behavioral problems. This is because they probably enforced their rules from the beginning in order for the children to know what to expect. As educators we must learn to have a strong management system so our classrooms do not turn into chaos. Also, we must enforce these rules in the beginning, because if you let students do as they please then try to enforce rules once you are fed up, then they will not listen, and your class will be out of your control.
The issues that we discussed in class, some of them never really crossed my mind. Especially the one about the issue of a child growing up with their mother being gay. I was glad that that was one of the issues because if I had to deal with that particular situation in my classroom, I would have freaked out. All of the issues that was read from the book really made me think.
The issues we discussed at the end of class today was very interesting because we touched on issues that I haven't concerned. For example, dealing with students living in same sex household and dealing with religion. It really opened up my mind to explore different solutions to these issues.
All of the discussion in class was very good about the issues that were raised, but my groups (religion) was the one that left the biggest impression on me. Maybe because we did have more discussion time within our groups than we did as a class on any given issue. It was hard to come up with a good way to handle the issue and even within our group there was some disagreement as to how each of us would handle it. There were some very good questions raised on each subject today and it will be interesting to see how we handle these situations when we become teachers.
The topic of religion in the classroom was a touchy one to me. Personally, I believe that all religious beliefs should be respected, but I don't believe that that respect has to necessarily include teaching religious doctrine in school. I don't think that religious celebrations should be observed in school. I do however believe that it is ludicrous that evolution is taught in school as if it were fact while creation is dismissed as pure fallacy. Children are not given an alternative that is what some would claim to be more scientific than evolution. That is simply not fair.
I believe that multicultral education is a positive thing that should be enforced in schools. What better way to teach growing children the different ways of life? Inspire them to learn about something that they normally would not say hey I want to go do some research on this issue. In no way, can you change a child's opinion about how they feel about certain things or preach to them about what you feel is right or wrong, but children need to be more open-minded about such issues. Everybody is not going to be the same, everybody is not going to be taught the same, brought up in the same sort of household as another, talk like this student, or dress like that student. So expressing multicultral education early on is a great way to get children focused on being positive and not neccessary liking what they see or hear, but merely interacting with the "different", whatever the "different" happens to be.
Elizabeth's Posting:
I believe that inclusion is an advantage and a diadvantage to special needs students. It can assist them by learning how to cope and deal with peers and how to operate in a diverse setting and with a diverse group of other students. However, beoing in this setting can also cause a special need student to shut down. They may not feel that they fit in and may be intimidated by others. I have a special needs daughter andhave dealt with some of these same very issues. A parent could never prepare for what a child may encounter being enrolled in an onclusion class or the special needs program itself. It true that there are some good programs available for those students that qualify, but no matter what they are, they are challenging. I hope to see more changes take place with these programs. Just as we discussed in class more funds made available, more teachers, better testing for students, more help for parents and help for the students and teachers. Special need students can have a bright future.
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