Teach Out/Reflection

 Hannah Laurianno 

June 19th, 2023

Teach Out

For this, the two things I was keeping top of mind were patience and thoughtfulness. I decided to do this teach out with my father. I knew I wanted to do this teach out on “Black Lives Matter” and I knew I wanted it to be meaningful. This conversation would be meaningful because my father does not fully understand “black lives matter” and has used the phrase “all lives matter '' before but also because I felt like he was ready to have the conversation. 

The first thing I had to think about was where I wanted this conversation to take place. I wanted to make sure we were somewhere my father would feel comfortable to speak freely. I decided we would do it at my apartment but I also wanted to make sure it was just us so I asked my partner to be somewhere else while this conversation was happening. Next I thought about when. Fathers day weekend was coming up and I knew I didn't want to do it on that weekend so I decided to do it Thursday night. My father doesn't work so he didn't have to worry about being up too late. We had the conversation over dinner. I felt like thi would keep things more casual and not feel so ridge. I know that my father can take things personally and i didnt want to make him feel cornered. Finally I had to figure out how I was going to document this conversation. I knew I wanted to make this conversation as comfortable as possible so I didn't feel like recording was the best option. I decided I was going to take notes. I let my father know i was doing this for class and that i was just going to be jotting down some notes as we talked, my father was actually very happy to hear i was doing this for class as he is very proud i am in grad school so he was happy to see me taking notes.so on Thursday June 16th, my father came over my apartment, I made dinner and we sat at the table ready for this conversation.

Thankfully my father started off the conversation by saying “how is school going?”. This allowed me to start this conversion in a more organic way. I responded by telling him I'm loving class, and that my favorite class we have had so far was the conversations we had around the idea of black lives matter and why all lives matter is a problem. Then my after asked something that was very unexpected. He asked “why is all lives matter a problem?” He asked this question with curiosity and a little worry. I explained to him that we read this really great and kind of funny article in class. I asked him if he wanted to read the summary I wrote about it. He said he didn't want to but agreed to letting me read the summary to him. After I finished the summary I exaggerated the point that many times people who say all lives matter place this invisible “only” in front of “black lives matter”. Again, to my surprise, my father said “that makes sense”. My father was a correctional officer for 15 years. He explained that he always had a hard time understanding that people of color are treated differently because HE never treated them differently. He explained “all the inmates respected me because they knew I didn't care who they were or what they looked like or where they came from. I treated everyone the same”. I explained to him that I heard what he was saying and that it makes sense why it's hard to understand but I also told him that that's not the case for everyone and that many people do mistreat people of color just because of what they look like. He went on to say “oh I know, I worked with some f*cked up dudes, they never hide their racism, it took me awhile to get used to it when i first started working but when you hear it everyday you don't really think about it anymore”. 

I decided to circle back to what my father said about treating everyone the same no matter who they were or what they looked like or where they came from. I asked my father if he had ever heard of the word colorblindness. He of course cracked a joke about “of course i know about color blindness why do you think i never match”. I then clarified that I was talking about color blindness when it came to race, not actual colors. I then told him that there was another great article I read for class about color blindness and he said I could read it to him. So I read him the article and then explained color blindness in my own way. I explained to him that sometimes, a lot of the time, not seeing someone's race is having the opposite effect of what you think you are doing. I brought up the idea of intent versus impact. That while his intent was great; he didn't want to treat anyone different based on race because he believed that was what racism was. The impact of that was missing out on equity. I told him that many times treating people with equality doesn't allow for equity. My dad was then very brave and admitted that he did not know the difference between equity and equality. I then showed him this visual on my phone. 

I then explained to him a connection between equity and “Black Lives Matter”. I explained that we needed to lift the idea that black lives matter because white lives have always mattered and are treated as such. It was at this time I could see my dad getting a little upset and I knew that we would have to stop talking soon. I had one last attempt at me and I tried to use an analogy that my ad might understand. My father is a type 2 diabetic and uses Ozempic for his diabetes. We started talking about the Ozmepic trend and many upper class people are using it to lose weight. He admitted that this made him really mad and really affects him because Ozempic have been harder to access. I explained to him that this is similar to “All Lives Matter. If a doctor had you as a patient and three others that just wanted to use Ozempic to lose weight and he gave all of you the Ozempic because “All Needs Matter” how would you feel? He said “ i would be pissed, i NEED that to live, the doesn't NEED Ozempic they just want it.'' I said “exactly” people of color need black lives matter because they are being killed and abused just because of who they are and what they look like and not admitting that their race affects the way they are treated is denying what they NEED. Around this time I could tell that my father was just getting a little too defensive, it felt as though he was taking things personally so we stopped the conversation there, and I thanked him for talking and for being open. 

This teach out was very surprising. I decided to do this each out with my father because this is something he had openly been against. He did not understand black lives matter and he thought he was doing something good by not “seeing race”. He really surprised me with how he asked questions and admitted that he did not know or understand certain things. This meant a lot to me because my partner is a person of color and I hope this conversation opened my dads mind a little and just made him think a little deeper about the world around him.

Teaching at the Intersections & 5 Tips for Being a Good Ally

 Teaching at the Intersections by Monita K. Bell has some amazing talking points that can really give some insight to teaching students through an intersectional lens.

Talking Points

1. "Nicole isn’t just a black student; she’s also a girl from a low-income family who bears the responsibility of taking care of her two younger siblings." Now this is a very specific example of this particular student that was used in the reading. With that being said, this is all of our students. Each and every one of our students is a complex individual that is much more than we see at the surface. If this teacher had not taken the time to look deeper into this student, the teacher might have only been thinking of the color of the students skin or only about the fact that she is female presenting. Once we take a deeper look, it becomes easier to see the intersectionality of this student and all of our students.

2. “Every day kids enter our class, there’s an opportunity for them to be empowered or oppressed." This quote really stood out to me. Personally, I always try to think about the power that I have as the teacher in the classroom and at times, I like to take a step back from that and give my students as much autonomy as I can. I (and we as teachers) are responsible for the learning and tone within our classroom. As every day that we are not actively teaching through an intersectional lense and looking at each student as an individual is a day we are allowing oppression to make its way into our classrooms.

3. In the video titled "5 Tips to being Good Ally" by Chescaleigh tip number two is called "listen and do your homework" this really is a great tip that mostly sums up what it is to be a good ally. First and foremost, you must listen. You cannot speak for a group you are not a part of. There are times where it is just time to sit down and listen to those who are a part of the group. Then it is time to do our homework. Look things up, talk to people find as much information as you can in the subject you are trying to support. Spreading misinformation can be just as harmful as not speaking up at all. HERE is another video I used to show my first graders to teach them about being a good ally.

Connection: this made me think about the conversation we had in class about the documentary we watched. We had all started to talk about how difficult it must be to be a parent with a child with a disability then we made the connection that being a parent with a child with a disability and being a part whose native language wasn't English is a barrier on top on a barrier. The intersectionality of being a parent with a child who has a disability and being a parent who does not speak English is something that affects individual in a deeper, more intense way.

Bilingual Education

         In “Aria” by Richard Rodriguez, the author reflects on his own education as a bilingual student and his experience seems largely negative. He mentions his teachers, nuns at a Catholic school, insisting that he speak English all of the time. He writes “What they understood was that I needed to speak a public language”. He describes the nuns coming to his house to ask his parents to use more English at home and details how this caused his household to fall silent. There was less interaction between him and his family because of the pressure to speak more English in the home. This experience seems to be the opposite of the type of education that is explained in “Teaching Multilingual Children” and the Teaching Bilinguals web series.

In Teaching Multilingual Children by Virginia Collier, the author goes over several guidelines when teaching these students and these practices are in direct conflict with the education experience of Rodriguez. The guideline that stands out particularly is the third, which states “Don’t teach a second language in any way that challenges or seeks to eliminate the first language”. In other words, students should be encouraged to use their first language and the second language shouldn’t be taught as if it is superior or ‘correct’. The nuns in Rodriguez’s school seemed to be doing just that. They wanted Rodriguez to speak English at all times and practice it at home, to the point that his parents only spoke in English with him. In these ways, his first language was marginalized and eliminated from his daily life. They taught him English as if to replace his first language, not coexist with it in his life.

The videos in the web series advocate for the use of the first language to help students with their second language. The web series focuses on the strengths of a bilingual education and using an asset rather than an obstacle. One teacher discusses having students write in their native language as a form of pre-writing in order to get their ideas out before figuring out how to express some of those ideas in English. This is so important because these teachers are using the students’ native languages as tools to aid the learning of the new language. Rodriguez’s educational experience can be characterized by an all or nothing attitude: either fully embrace English and speak it at all times or fail to learn the language. The modern concept of a bilingual education is that both languages can exist simultaneously and students can even use the first language as a means to help learn the second language. The web series contained a lot of helpful ways to embrace bilingual learners in the classroom and incorporate their own cultures and languages into the learning. This article on Education Week also contains a lot of strategies to use when teaching bilingual learners. It can be scary and challenging to teach these learners without being bilingual but it is crucial to embrace their home languages in this instruction.

Summaries

“Colorblindness is the New Racism”

Colorblindness is the new racism is a reading written to show how being “color blind” is just as bad as being racist. To be colorblind is to not take into account a person's race when viewing them as a whole person including how they are viewed and treated by the world we live in. The two authors that wrote this piece bring up how the idea of colorblindness is typically brought up in our justice system to excuse actions that would discriminate based on race. The authors gave what they believe is a step toward the right direction when it comes to getting rid of colorblindness and that is called “color insight”. Color insight allows us to admit that most of us do see race. But not only that it teaches us how to ride our sleeves of colorblindness through four steps. The first step is considering context for discussing race. The second is looking at systems of privilege. The third is taking away white normatively and finally getting rid of stereotypes and looking to make connections with each individual.

“Why You Should Stop Saying All Lives Matter”

This is a news article that gives 9 reasons as to why “All Lives Matter” should not be used. In this article the other brings up, in a light hearted way, that many people insert an invisible “only” in front of the saying “Black Lives Matter”. This article explains that “Black Lives Matter” is not saying that other lives do not matter. It is simply stating that black lives are valued differently than those of what lives in the United States. In the article there is a great example that explains why we need “Black lives Matter ''. It gives the example of a burning house. If your house was on fire and you asked someone to use water to put out the fire and they put the water on a different house )a house that was not on fire) with the idea that “all houses matter” that would not make sense. White lives are always protected in the United States so we need to stop saying all lives matter because it is black lives that are being taken and black lives matter just as much as white lives.

Going to School Documentary

 Talking Points

1.  At the beginning of the documentary a women was introduced that used to be the principle at the school that was highlighted in the documentary. She was the principle there when the start of inclusion happened. she was told "I'm sorry we have to do this to you" when she got the information that she would be getting the "most handicapped student in the district". this really stood out to me because it shows the real thought behind helping the children. for many they look at is as something they have to do, like a chore. instead of being proud and honored that thy are entrusted with these special students.

2. The mom of one o the students that was shown mentioned how she was her sons aid for three years because one one told her that her son could have an aid. this made me really think about the limited recourse out their to inform parents of their rights and protections. it made me think of my time as a social worker. i had several clients who were unaware pf the fact that a student with and IEP for a 504 has the right to bussing. no one had ever told them so they didn't know. 

3. The idea of segregation within special ed was something that kept coming up in the documentary. But the perfect example was the fact the the special education classrooms themselves were segregated. they were in a completely different part of the building. the teacher mentioned how no one even walked down the hallway anymore because it was so segregated. 

Argument: The argument in this documentary is to have inclusion for students with special needs. but also to involve parents in the decisions that are best for their students when it comes to inclusions. 

RI Laws and Policies

 Three Talking Points

1. "All people, including students, have the right to privacy, and this includes the right to keep one's transgender status private at school." "Disclosing information to other students, their parents, or other third parties may violate privacy laws. such as FERPA." I picked this quote out because i think this is a great addition and very important. With today's climate there are some states that are passing laws are regulations stating the opposite of this. stating that if a child were to disclose a transgender status to their teach that teacher would then have to tell that students parents. adding this to these laws and policies is a great remainder that even students are protected by law and have their right to keep their medical information private.

2."This may include the addition of privacy partition or curtain, permission to use private restrooms or office, or a seperate changing schedule." i felt compelled to use this as a talking point as it directly relates to the article that i chose from rethinking schools. in the article that i read a transgender teacher was speaking about the fact that when he came out in high school he was met with a conversation saying that he really wasn't safe to use any bathroom. and this shows the importance of allowing students to feel comfortable to function in school.

3. RIGL 16-2-17 Right to a safe school "each student, staff ,teacher, and administrator has the right to attend and/or work at a school which is safe and secure and which is conductive to learning, and which is free from threat, actual or implied, or physical harm by a disruptive student". I pulled out this as it relates to my last point. as an educator most, if not all, of us have come across the hierarchy of needs and at the very bottom of that is safety. a student cannot learn or even attempt to learn if that's student is not safe.

4. I also wanted to touch upon the woke kindergarten video. This video was really great at teaching kids about pronouns in a simple way. But i really wanted to point out the pause the author/ person took. they made a mistake on a characters name and paused the video to state that they made a mistake. This was a great real life way to teach kids that we aren't perfect but that we need to admit when we made a mistake and keep working on getting better.

Argument: The articles for this week have information that supports the argument that all students have the right to feel safe and seen in their classrooms.

Teach Out Proposal

Colorblindness

Who: I will be doing this teach out with my father

What: This teach out will focus around the idea of colorblindness. starting with exactly what it is and transitioning into why its a problem.

Where: This will be done at his home in a casual(ish) setting to make him as comfortable as he can be for this sensitive and complex topic.

When: This teach out will take place in mid June as soon as my teach out is prepared 

Why: Growing up i learned very quickly that my father was "colorblind". he had a difficult time admitting his white privilege and felt that because he worked hard for the tings he had in life he was not privilege. and i want to open up with conversation in hope that i can help him understand colorblindness and the negative impact it has.

How: Im going to find or create some illustrations around the idea of colorblindness as well as putting together some notes for myself to help keep the conversation on topic. I will also be using the Armstrong and Wildman reading as well as the "All Lives Matter" article.

Rethinking schools: Teaching Gender Diversity in Biology

 Sam Long, Diversity Is What Makes It Interesting To Study Living Things

"The message was clear: Biological or anatomical traits outweigh personal conviction in deciding whether someone is male or female." This is a quote that come after the author explain that he is a trans man. This was the conclusion he came to after the principle in his school explain that he couldn't use the girls bathroom because he might scare people. And he can't use the boys bathroom because he's not biologically male. And he can't use the single stall bathroom because thats for staff only. This is an important quote because it explains how biological traits don't alone define your gender but more so of how people preserve you. This also alludes to the idea that being different is a problem rather than just a thing that makes you unique from others.

"When we talk about gender in our classrooms, the words that we use can shape the ideas that students take away." This is a very simple quote yet very straight forward and powerful. This is the first sentence that comes after the subtitle; Language Matters. This supports everything the author is trying to explain. That being mindful of the language we use, and ensuring we are using inclusive language matters. It not only matters to the students in front of you who are getting early exposure to inclusive language but it also maters to the teacher. We all have to retrain our brains to use inclusive language because it has not always been around. An example of using inclusive language that the author gives in this article is "biological parents" as a class they came to the conclusion that not every person gets their DNA from the mom and dad because not everyone's mom and dad are also their biological parents. So as a classroom they refer to the people you get your DNA from as your biological parents.

"For the next year, I changed all the project documents to say “genetic trait” rather than “genetic disease.” The author changes the language in the final project from "genetic disease" to "genetic trait" after reflecting on quite a few genetics changes that become a part of a persons identity. I chose this quote as it shows even as adults we always need to be reflecting and working to better ourselves. This supports the authors point that language always matters. In the spirit of always bettering ourselves here is a resource you can use to brush up on inclusive language to ensure we are always reflecting and working on ourselves because language matters.

I yet again make the connection to SCWAAMP. This idea that we talked about in class really connects to so many things. We discussed the idea that if you are not SCWAAP you are outside of the privileges that this world values. in my opinion, inclusive language is a counter to SCWAAMP. It ensures that everyone is included especially those who are out side of the SCWAAMP privileges.