Activism in Teaching K-8?

We’ve been asked to use our blog as a means of processing our experiences in class and further reactions to the chapters we read as an extension of journaling.  I’ve done minimal blogging within my Bachelor’s program at the UWB and the feeling is still strange.  This will be a good exercise to receive responses from peers and instructors on my thinking as well as for further reflection at the end of the certification. 

I would like to use this post to bring up my reaction to our book for Monday’s class after we read and discussed the introduction.  I actually found some parallels between themes from this book and Ayer’s book in the Wednesday class of influencing the next generation to change the world.  As suggested by Allison, I’ve been trying to find the logic behind the argument in this introduction, and been thinking hard about my own life experiences.  I have never reacted like this to the introduction of a book before.

The introduction from Rethinking Our Classrooms talks about many attributes the curriculum of a classroom must possess in order to emulate equality and social justice.  Activism is one of their points in which the author supports students to become “change makers”, and feel connected to a rainbow of diverse culture’s: “legacy of defiance” (xi).  My reaction to this was one of discomfort because I feel it is sending a political message.  Not once, in my own K-12 experience or in the 500 hours I spent volunteering, did politics enter the classroom.  Students engaged with American history and diversity within their academics;h owever they were never asked to search for: “…the ways their lives connect to the broader society, and are often limited by that society” (x).  I agree that academics is not limited to basic facts, it should be connected to the broader world.  My interpretation of the introduction is that it implies children need encouragement to change our society because it is broken.   The classroom has a diverse group of students; this encompasses their cultural backgrounds, learning abilities, families, past education..ect.   Each student and their differences are an addition to the classroom and an opportunity for more learning.  However, this is a different concept from what the book is introducing.  Are we being asked to drive a social reform? 

My group interpreted activism in different ways, although they understood my interpretation.  One woman stated that activism could refer to a positive experience with learning about composting, and then learning how they can actively participate with this in their own life.  I agree that learning should definitely extend outside the classroom and inspire the children to find their own meaning and answers.  Another woman in my group applied the idea of activism to standing up to bullying on the school playground.  I could understand how activism could be applied to those aspects of an elementary school experience, however the book mentions “equality and social justice” so frequently, I don’t understand what general topics they themselves could be addressing. 

Another dimension of examining this introduction is to understand how my own life experiences are influencing my interpretation.  I am picking up on key words that remind me of a political speech.  It also reminds me of entering community college and being amongst passionate teachers who expressed and encouraged their political opinions.  When I went to community college, this was a new encounter for me.  It allowed me to better interact with politics, and at the same time I felt swept up in the ideas of others.  I feel responsible to the young impressionable minds I will be teaching somewhere between K-6.  I don’t feel this level of activism fits with the atmosphere I’ve observed in volunteering and want to possess in my own classroom. 

References

Rethinking Our Classrooms Teaching for Equality and Justice (Second Ed.). (2007).  United States: A Rethinking Schools Publication.