Blog: Complete reading Darling-Hammond (194-328) as time permits, but focus on her last chapter. This week, please blog about how implementation of such policies could affect change in education and about John's Dewey's quote from 100 years ago. Darling-Hammond laid out her policy prescriptions in the closing chapter of Flat World Education. She organized them into five key elements:
The moral/ethical imperative stated in John Dewey’s quote made one hundred years ago, “What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must we want for all children in the community. Any other ideal for our schools is narrow and unlovely; acted upon, it destroys our democracy” and the perspective of your own classroom. As other members of this cohort 9 have stated, there have been many times when students have actually refered to us as "Dad" (or "Mom" in my case). Yes, we teachers definitely want the best for our students -- but unfortunately, there are parents in society who are unable to partner with us teachers for the success of their child/children and/or are indifferent to their child's well-being for myriad reasons (too busy, actually do not know how to parent, drug addiction, etc.). So, it is important for us educators to do our part as in "the village" to provide the upbringing our society's children need; and, for that upbringing through our classrooms to be done equitably. That upbringing refers to the education we teachers provide. It includes the social-emotional, behavioral, and academic content: foundational and abstract, skills and thinking. If ALL students were nurtured in the equitable learning environment that Darling-Hammond and Dewey argue as a moral and ethical imperative, social justice would prevail! Our society as a whole would benefit not only in innovation, but more importantly in the kindness and coopertation that could occur if everyone's needs were attended to. If our US educational system was, in fact, inclusive, that is, one in which the funding, the teacher quality, and the materials (site building, curriculum, and supplies) were equitably distributed and sustained, then there would probably not be a society of "haves and have-nots," which means criminal activities based on greed/hoarding would potentially eventually disappear. Our flattened world would be even more flattened if everyone in the US and globally fostered this equity for ALL students who would potentially grow up to be equitable and cooperative loving people who cared not only for themselves, but also for each other, other species, our environment, our world! Ever since I began my career as a teacher, I have shared this belief with my colleages (passing out car bumper stickers, etc.), taught my students, and have done my best to instill this motto in their hearts, mind, and actions: "Everyone Does Better When Everyone Does Better" with the practice of each of them doing what they can to lift up their classmates (emotionally, psychologically, and ultimately academically)! All supplies/materials are shared; students share their ideas with the understanding that divergent thinking is encouraged; and, students reach out to give care to each other anywhere on campus. My prayer is that they continue to think and act this way beyond my classroom, for the rest of their lives to contribute to making our world an equitable place to live in, that is, a peaceful loving planet Earth. I am extremely grateful that our Napa Valley Unified School District believes in and promotes this equity-based thinking throughout the district to close the acheivement gap. You can view their District Policy by clicking HERE.
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AuthorJulie C D Meyer-Houston began her exciting journey during Spring 2016 as a grad student in Touro University - California's Innovative Learning program to earn her Master of Education (M.Ed.) degree, which focuses on Social Justice & Equity and the use of technology in education. Archives
May 2016
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