I especially related to Campano's chapter titled, "I Will Tell You a Little Bit About My People." Similarly to Campano, I find stories to be a powerful tool in not just education, but in someone's development as a person. I have seen necessary silences, silencing in schools, and movement from silence to voice as a teacher, all headings of different sections within Campano's chapter. Although I find it difficult to do as a science teacher, I value, as Campano does, personal stories as an "academic resource." I wish I did a better job of encouraging students to voice their stories, as Erica and Priscilla do in the chapter. Hearing these stories is a reminder of how all of my students are so multi-dimensional, and it really forces me to think about what to prioritize in the 1 hour per day I have with them.
Like Campano, I have had the experience of students divulging pieces of their stories extremely non-chalantly. I taught sixth graders last year and I felt as though they were still trying to figure out how it was appropriate to communicate personal stories, and to whom it was safe to do so. When they did feel safe, the stories would emerge in bits and pieces usually in the midst of normal conversation or daily routine. One of my students had a difficult week because it was the one year anniversary of her baby sister passing away, and I only knew about it because she was doodling "R.I.P." instead of doing her work.
SILENCING IN SCHOOLS
Aside from 2 social workers (1 of whom is only part-time at my school) and a school psychologist, there is very minimal to zero effort put in to getting to know our students. Campano points out that the school's bureaucratic response is to see them as in need of remediation, instead of any attempt at understanding their story. In reality, I think a focus on making students feel heard and valued is the first step towards truly getting a child invested in their own education. However, some teachers at my school believe remediation is the first and biggest step for many of the students, and it has fueled a culture of low expectations. I also could not agree more with Campano about how families and parents are silenced. He quotes Hugh Mehan (1996) talking specifically about students who are deemed to have learning disabilities through a series of computerized and/or standardized tests, without the more narrative input of parents and even sometimes teachers. "Children are thus labeled. Without the means to challenge these 'institutionally sanctioned identities' parents often maintain a low profile" (55). Teachers then blame parents for being uninvolved, but it is sometimes because they have already been made to feel powerless. I really struggled to negotiate how to give voice to parents of my students who had IEPs. They knew that their child already had an IEP whether they agreed with it or not, but unfortunately their child did not get support in my class because I taught science. I too ultimately felt powerless and voiceless to make any real changes on my student's parent's behalf.
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ReplyDeleteDan,
ReplyDeleteI understand feeling powerless and voiceless in making any real changes especially with students who have IEPs. I have often wanted parents to scream about what their child is or is not receiving. Sometimes the child is labeled, and parents only listen to the school's interpretation of what is happening in the classroom.
Professionally, it is very difficult to disagree with the members of an IEP meeting when they claim that services are being given that you know are not. I've tried to speak to the members of the IEP team before the meeting, but I'm not always successful. It adds to the silence.