RIC FNED 346 Fall 2019

Empowering Education Critical Teaching for Social Change In the text Empowering Education: Critical Teaching for Social Change, by Ira Shor, argues that the classroom and educational setting should not solely be centered around the teacher. The author argues that students should be able to have a voice in their education and be able to question the material that they are learning. She believes that the classroom should allow for negotiation between the teacher and the student, in which she states that there should be "a reciprocal relationship between teachers and students, where respect for the teacher coexisted with cooperative and student-centered pedagogy" (Shor 12). In the text Shor repeatedly states that students should be able to critically think about their education and schooling. Shor includes a quote from another author Banks that states, "a curriculum designed to empower students must be transformative in nature and help students to develop the kno...

The Blind Poet This week I attended the diversity event called "The Blind Poet". Dave Steele has recently, within the last six years, lost most of his vision due to a hereditary disorder called Retinitis Pigmentosa or R.P. for short. He was able to come to Rhode Island College because one parent has a daughter who is gradually losing her sight and hearing and connected with Steele Facebook asking if he would come to the college during his United States branch of his tour. Along with him Steele brought Barry Asmen, who is a vision specialist in Baltimore and is currently helping Steele travel during his tour. Asmen works for his family's practice and stated that there mission was to improve (those who lose their vision) their quality of life and ensure that they are included. Asmen's goal is to educate the public more about sight loss, because a lack of education has led to patients having less options and resources to benefit them in their everyday life.  Dave St...

SUMMARY In episode 562 The Problem We All Live With, Ira Glass interviews reporter of the New York Times, Nikole Hannah Jones. Jones has been reporting on the schools in Durham, North Carolina during the time of No Child Left Behind. She has reported that many of the school districts there are, have implemented many different strategies in order to ensure that students are receiving the same education and decreasing the education gap between black and white students. However, Jones states the only strategy that seems to work the most is integration. Black students were scoring almost 40 points behind their white peers at the start of desegregation in 1971 and by 1988 the black students were still behind the white students, but this time by 19 points. It was because black students were being integrated into higher class schools systems where they were receiving the same resources and better teachers than those in low income school districts. Even though it appears to only be an...

SUMMARY The article In The Service Of What?: The Politics of Service Learning, by Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer, discusses the different approaches of service learning and the different domains that impact service learning. Throughout the article,the authors examine the various ways of ho w educators, politicians and academicians deal with and think of service learning. The authors argue that service learning is a chance for students to further their learning by using the community as a tool and the students can provide help to others in need. The main question of the article, "In the service of w hat?", brings attention to people like educators, that, "the idea of learning and service reinforce each other and should come together in America's schools" (Kahne). The two authors also believe that students need to analyze, reflect and discuss their service learning in order to truly comprehend the benefits of it. The article further goes on to explain...

Safe Spaces   Summary    In the reading  titled  Safe Spaces: Making Schools and Communities Welcoming to LGBT Youth,  by Annemarie Vaccaro, Gerri August, and Megan S. Kennedy, the authors discuss how educators can create a more inclusive environment for their students. The authors argue that by not including the history of LGBTQ, not validating those who are LGBTQ or have family or friends who are, and by not integrating them into the curriculum, educators are marginalizing these students. In the reading it states, "Without the deliberate creation of an inclusive atmosphere, however, what happens inside classroom walls reproduces the prejudices that exist outside these walls: straightness and gender conformity are assumed; LGBT identity is deviant" (August 84). The authors provide examples of teachers who integrate LGBT into their classrooms along with examples of teachers who fail to provide positive teaching lessons regarding LGBTQ history, fam...