Argument - “The Future of Healing” by Shawn Ginwright

The author, Shawn Ginwright argues that Healing Center Engagement is better than trauma-informed care because it focuses on how you faced your trauma and treating you like a whole person instead of labeling them as the victim. The Healing Center Engagement gives us a new perspective on trauma by highlighting the positives of the specific person to strengthens them and give them prosperity. It tries to help them move on from their trauma, discuss about what we can learn from it, and acknowledges that they are more than just their trauma. The trauma-informed care instead views them as a product of their trauma and treats the specific symptoms rather than the person by minimizing their habits. It leans more towards how the trauma will impact their lives instead of resolving the trauma. The new method also gives us more options in trauma healing from a cultural aspect. Discrimination happens frequently in the world from race, beliefs, sexuality, gender, socioeconomic standing, etc. From your cultural background you may have different healing principles or mindsets to other people so having new strategies will benefit more people into mending their trauma.

Comments: People being generalized makes them feel dehumanized and like their personal traumatic experience was insignificant as a whole. They are labeled as the victim and put under the same category as everyone else against their own will. These people’s cases are not being seen as their own individual stories, rather as a consequence of actions that were not under their control in the first place.

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Meaningful FNED 246 Spring 2023 Highlights

1. My reflection post about Privilege, Power, and Difference by Alan Johnson was a topic I had some experience in. It was gratifying to openly discuss about them and read other student's experiences.

 2. My video analysis for the film Precious Knowledge was personally one of my best works during the semester. I enjoyed watching the film and was glad we were using a worksheet that was previously used by another video analysis we have already done together in class. 

 3. My hyperlink post about schools accomodating transgender and gender nonconforming students because I am a straight ally who wants to support the LGBTQ+ community. I was also glad to be able to finish all of the five topics I can choose from for each blog post and use the hyperlink option on a subject I love discussing because doing the hyperlink was going to be the biggest hassle for me.

Hyperlink - “RI Laws and Policies” by RI Department of Education

The news about Harvard EdCast discusses about some of the topics found in the RI Laws and Policies that support transgender and nonconforming students. Melinda Mangin, Professor Educational Theory Policy & Administration states the importance for schools to feel inclusive towards minorities and the students feel affirmed by their beliefs, mindsets, and goals so they can safely receive an education and graduate in their schools of choice. She encourages schools try to integrate inclusive practices by not using gender as an organizational tool, giving opportunities to discuss about gender in class whether it be in literature or casual conversation, and overall treating them like any student trying to gain an education. Changing the school culture is needed however few students are willing to express their gender identity because many fear of being ridiculed so what ends up happening is only a few percent of students are willing to advocate while the remaining stay quiet. Students also should have classes studying and discussing about gender and sex identity because for most people it is a journey like in elementary school where transgender or nonconforming students usually go through social transition. They change their clothes, hairstyle, and pronouns. While in middle school and high school they might go through a gender transition or medical transition. These are phases the RI Laws and Polices are discussing and trying to intergrate and promote in our learning curriculum and teachers are there to enforce this progression.

Comment: A child’s growth especially once they have a better understanding of their identity is important and it is up to the teacher and parents to accommodate for it so they both need to develop a partnership in order for the student to succeed and have joyous school life.

Argument - “Eliminating Ableism in Education” by Thomas Hehir

This author, Thomas Hehir, along with the Examined Life video argues that people with disabilities are constantly forced to overcome the percepition our society and educational system has placed upon them by having to mold and learn how to be more able bodied instead of educators learning ways to teach them properly and alongside abled bodied students. Disabled people usually are treated as just their disability, not as a person. The eduaction for the mentally disabled further exemplifies this by giving them lower expectations and less effort compared to abled students. They are not being properly educated for guaranteed success on daily living because society considers them slow, low intelligence, or not willing to understand them. These thoughts and assumptions people have of them are the main issue of why students with disabilities are at a disadvantage towards succeeding in our society. They should not feel the need to ensure they will be treated equally and that teachers will accomodate for them. All students should be offered the same things like any other ordinary student receiving an education and feel united with each other than divided.

Comments: Teachers need to give disabled students the help they need instead of complying with giving them less consideration and more hurdles to overcome in order to prove they are capable despite their disability. There should not be a need to to prove that a student have a disability by performing a test, but a need for the teachers to accommodate with it while teaching them. Hyperlink

Extended Comments - “Aria” by Richard Rodriguez

The Teaching Billinguals episodes 1,2, and 5 along with Aria by Richard Rodriguez discuss the importance of speaking different languages in a classroom. It would not only help students better communticate to other people by being bilingual, but also improve students', whose first language is not english, learning experiences by showing that we are making an effort to give them comfort and understanding them. Teacher must learn how to include these student into their lessons rather than excluding them and forcing them to convert to only English in the classroom. While reading Matt Belleavoine's blog post I have to appreciate him for using current examples and agree that bilingual students do bring valueable insite towards different cultures with students who have grown up in the same environment for most of their lives. Although it can be challenging to teachers who are not fluent in the bilingual students' native language, there are ways to incorperate it while teaching by simply asking the students the translation like in Matt's example. This makes the students and teachers work together along with feeling united. Students will also be more engaged in not only learning different languages and course material, but having a safe and comfortable environment to express themselves in.

Comments: Learning a different language is difficult with the differences in tone of voice and other anomolies. Breaking the language barrier also takes time and practice outside of a school classroom. Ensuring that all students feel connected and are learning about eachother instead of being a burden is a major hurdle teachers have to over come. There should not be a "public" and "private" language, but instead an acceptance and celebration of multilingual students for both educators and students. Hyperlink

Connections - “Literacy with an Attitude” by Patrick J. Finn

Following Patrick Finn when reading Literacy with an Attitude by telling us that schools should teach social justice through literacy and how "dangerous literacy" can help students challenge the status quo and discuss these difficult topics normally. It sparks conversation that need to be address in a safe space and by having a group with diverse ideas in an educational environment can lead to people understanding certain perspectives. We should also be aware of the differences in how students are being taught in schools based on their family's wealth and status. The working class receive domesticating education which brings the basic functional level of literacy while the upper class receive empowering education which is a better understanding of literacy that can bring students to their potential in brilliance and help shape the world. The working and middle class schools also have limited choices in creativity and freedom as well as have a set routine they have to follow with no mistakes. These are signs of bad classroom environment is what Alfie Kohn would perseve in the book What to Look for in a Classroom. The teachers asserted their dominance over the students by telling them to act a certain way and the students were waiting for the classroom to end in order to leave. This teaching style did not give students the skills and tools to better prepared themselves for real life and for the social disadvantages it will bring. A classroom has to make students feel motivated and engaged to help them reach their full potential. Teachers need to give students opportunities to learn from each other as well as be trusted, respected, and challenged in order to have an equal chance because, by giving students freedom and having great communication with them, they will have a well-rounded education to help shape the world too. Other People's Children by Lisa Delpit helps support this claim by acknowledging that students need to incorperate different perspectives from other diverse backgrounds because it gives smaller communities more power and is useful into helping our society by shaping our world view. This is why we should not stereotype students base on races, wealth, and academic grade because it leads students of diverse backgrounds further away from having an mutal realationship with each other.

Comment: The students have to undrstand how to listen to other people and not feel superior in any form of knowledge they come across in order better climb up the social ladder. It is the teachers' responsibility to help students be a paticipant in our society and help minimalize the social injustices by letting them know about the dominant cultures rules and customs. Hyperlink

Video Analysis

Hyperlink: Precious Knowledge

Teach Us All

Classroom Tour (Blue - Kozol on top 5 pts, Pink - Culturally Responsive Teaching on bottom 5 pts)