Working through the reflections in chapter one was very interesting. There were a couple things that I learned about myself that I think were pretty important.
Probably the most important thing I learned was that I've not thought at all about needing something to "sustain" me as a teacher. While I am entering the profession with many of the idealistic principles that a lot of people become teachers with I am also aware that teaching is going to be a lot of work. That it is a largely thankless job, unrecognized by most students and much of society for both it's difficulty and it's value as a profession. What I do think will sustain me, having thought about it further, as a parent and a non-traditional student, is that I realize how much I value a quality education and I want to have the ability to give that opportunity to students.
The other thing that I learned about myself doing the reflections is that my life has been rather disconnected from multicultural issues. The statements by Dale Spender and Sojourner Truth were difficult to understand. Honestly, that puts me firmly with Spender's first line of "Our problem had not been perceived as a problem...". My education has been such to give, at the least, the perception that the issues of feminism have been largely dealt with and I have not had the need or opportunity to challenge that perception. The quote from Sojourner Truth, in my struggle with figuring out what she's trying to say, supports my realization that I have more to learn about feminist issues. I'm still not sure what she was trying to say.
Ryan, yes I totally agree that our job will be thankless. That is a great way to put it, students and parents are not always greatful for what we the teachers do for their children. I understand that you want to give the opportunity of education to students. How will you know if you have given the opportunity of education to your students? will you know from testing? discussions? participation? How will you know if you have educated your students?
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your willingness to examine your perspectives on women/girls' experience in the classroom. I think most of us carry on without really understanding how our actions or the actions of others might be negatively influencing someone else. Obviously, it is not possible to be perfectly sensitive in every moment, but if we are open to learning and open to communicating with people, then I think students, in particular, will feel more comfort in classrooms and increase their ability to be successful in school.
ReplyDeleteYeah bring up interesting stuff with Dale Spender's comments. I like the quote about not perceiving it as a problem. I never really perceived my love of math as a problem and was not hindered in my study of math. However I heard my teacher who had been teaching for many years talk about how she was completely ignored in her math classes in college because she was a girl. So at the time it was not a perceived as a problem. I think what she is saying is that there is constantly new isms and stereotypes being forced on students and we need to be aware of them so that we don't continue them. It may take time to recognize those problems as problems. I think it will take more time after that to deal with the problems because they may seem controversial with people at first.
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