Critical Pedagogy

Readings week 2

Against the Dark: Antiblackness in Education Policy and Discourse

• I really appreciated how the author starts off by explaining his use of the word “Black” throughout his writing.
• This is an uncomfortable conversation to have but:  “Inspired by this theoretical work on antiblack-ness, I argue here that any incisive analyses of racial(ized) discourse and policy processes in education must grapple with cultural disregard for and disgust with blackness.” My first reaction to this statement was “This is a bit harsh”. Eventually I understood the importance of calling a spade a spade.
• The afterlife of slavery is a real thing:  “Because racial exclusion has become part and parcel of African American political identity since slavery, it cannot be willed or wished away.
• This statement really caught my attention:” In fact, it is the social and cultural inclusion of non-Black people of color that is often offered as evidence of the end of racial animus and racial barriers in the society. There-fore, the failure of large swaths of the Black population is purported to be a result of cultural deficits within the Black. The slave, always suspected of being lazy and shiftless, now must bear primary responsibility for not making it in a society, which—officially, anyway—thrives on multiracial harmony and civic participation.” I’ve always felt stuck in the middle of the contempt that both groups hold for one another. It’s as if I never truly belong to either despite identifying as Afro-Latina. It has often felt like being a pawn. The white people want to surround themselves with people like me to look progressive. The “Blacks” will surround themselves with people like me because I am the lesser of two evils.

You’re Asian How Could You Fail at Math:

·       This is another prime example of how “accepting” a particular race, in this case Asians, is used as a platform for looking down at the “lesser” races because clearly the “other” races are lazy or incompetent.

·       Paying close attention is to how stats are obtained is very crucial. This article explains how the misconception that Asians are financially better off than other ethnic groups is a result of faulty research. I see this in RI when looking at graduation rates and suspension rates to name a few. Some districts define “drop-outs” and “suspensions” differently, which gives the semblance of having a more stable school system.

Race: Some Teachable and Uncomfortable Moments

·       Since I teach Science, these teachable moments regarding race are a little harder to come by. I have to literally weave it into my lesson plan if I want them to happen and usually they are supported by irrefutable scientific data so they seldom result in a full blown discussion. However, it’s when I’m not teaching and students are in transition that I can catch comments made by students and I have to decide in that moment whether or not to address the statements, at the risk of burning through classroom time. One day I overheard a student refuse to work with ESL students and go as far as to call them “dumb”. You can imagine that the day’s lesson went out the window. I was already aware that the student that made the negative remark was formerly an ESL student. I had emt with his mom who didn’t speak a word of English. So I wondered if he didn’t want to continue being identified as an English language learner because of the negative connotations that go along with it. It was in that moment that I realized how hard he was trying to shake off his identity as a Latino and for me it was a teachable moment, not only because I would never allow anyone to make English language learners or any other group of students feel unsafe in my classroom, but also because I had to wonder “Where do I draw the line about being proud of one’s heritage?” It is entirely up to the student to decide for him/herself if they want to hold onto that part of their identity. I can ream them about discriminating against the group, and I can go on for days about the benefits of being multilingual but can I really comment on their decision to shed their parents culture and attempt to blend in with the majority? Isn’t that what the school system has probably been teaching him to do since the moment he walked through the door?