Eliminating Ableism in Education & Examined Life Argument

Thomas Hehir's Eliminating Ableism in Education

    In Thomas Hehir's Eliminating Ableism in Education, Hehir presents the argument that disabled people are regularly forced to confront and overcome difficulties in both everyday life and in a classroom setting. This is not because of their disability, but rather because of the way that society treats disabled people as defined by their disability. This argument is supported in Hehir's work by the transcribed accounts of disabled people, such as the account of one mentally disabled student. The student's mother recalls asking her child's teacher what they were learning in science, only to be informed that special education students were not learning science in favor of fine motor skills. Hehir highlights this as indicative of how schools teach students with mental disabilities: it's all centered around that disability. Furthermore, the education of the mentally disabled has been perpetually plagued by low expectations that leads educators to give less effort to disabled students relative to their neurotypical peers, which makes their learning an even greater challenge than it already is under the standardized form of schooling they face. This is supported by studies described in Hehir's work, which note that in schools where mentally disabled students who were given a focused education covering subjects akin to what their neurotypical peers were learning, there was a sharp increase in mentally disabled students that passed state tests. 

    This argument is also seen in the video "Examined Life: Judith Butler and Sanaura Taylor", in which we follow a conversation between Judith Butler and Sunaura Taylor, the latter of which is afflicted with arthrogryposis and uses a wheelchair. Together, they discuss various societal perspectives of able-bodied people versus disabled people, such as the false notion that abled bodied are radically independent and capable and disabled people are completely helpless and how society is designed to make disabled people further disadvantaged. 

    I think the detail that society furthers the disadvantage of disabled people through its lack of consideration for them is a really interesting one, and I’d like to further discuss and flesh out that idea and define some ways that societal expectations of a person’s ability provide further disadvantage to disabled people.

    Attached here is a Hyperlink to an article further discussing how society holds back disabled people: https://epicassist.org/the-biggest-barrier-for-people-with-disability/

Tongue Tied Reflection Blog Post

 

Tongue Tied, by Richard Rodriguez
 

            In Tongue Tied, this week’s assigned reading, Richard Rodriguez reflects on his experience with language surrounding his education, and how the treatment of Spanish and English in his life led him to misconceptions about the roles of the two languages. 

While I have been fortunate enough to never personally struggle with the loss of my linguistic identity, I am in a position now where I have begun to observe it in others. The first people that came to mind when reading about the author’s account of how he was confident speaking Spanish and would’ve been encouraged by his teachers or peers speaking it (and how being the only student whose first language was Spanish made him feel isolated from everyone else) are two of the middle school boys that live on the dorm I work at. Their names are Jeronimo and Mauricio, and they both come from Mexico. They’re both sweet kids, and are doing well socially from what I observe, but there’s no denying the identifiable drop in their voice whenever they speak with me or other staff. I hear them excitedly talking to each other in Spanish often, but they mostly keep to themselves and their other Spanish-speaking friends outside of light casual interactions with other students. However, there is one student who's been making an effort to learn Spanish, and I’ve noticed Mau and Jero opening up to this student far more than anyone else I’ve seen in my almost year of knowing them. It’s heart-warming to see, and this week’s reading has helped me to understand exactly what they’re feeling when they see one of their peers making the effort to communicate with them on their terms.

However, this reading has also enlightened me to exactly what they’re feeling living in a place where they’re feeling out of place on even a simple linguistic level. The segment of the reading about how Richard lost his escape from English when it began to invade his home was heartbreaking, and I’m keenly aware of how few people on campus and even in the dorm can speak with Mau and Jero in their native language. With this in mind, I am going to be more conscious of how I communicate with them, and though it’s difficult to dedicate time to learning a language while juggling work and college, I would like to pursue learning Spanish as a means of being able to speak with and bond with these kids on their terms. 

Coming into class after reading this, I think a point of discussion we should spend time with is ways to accommodate students who have a language barrier like this, when we (unfortunately) are not familiar with the language and do not have the time or resources to effectively learn the language. I’d love to know if there’s more I can be doing to effectively communicate with these kids, and if there are resources out there to make learning a new language on a tight schedule easier that I might be missing out on.

Attached here is a hyperlink to an article further discussing the struggles students with a non-english first language often face in educational environments, and some ways schools might be able to combat them: https://www.concernusa.org/story/language-barriers-in-classroom/

Literacy With An Attitude - Extended Comments on Vanessa's Blog

Literacy With An Attitude by Patrick J. Finn

        In Vanessa’s blog post discussing quotes of particular interest from Patrick J. Finn’s Literacy With An Attitude, she highlights several quotes that I found particularly interesting and worthy of discussion. This blog can be read in conjunction with hers, and I will be responding to each of the quotes she chooses to highlight and her takeaways from them as they appear. I will assume the reader has already read each point before reading my responses.

Quote One: I really like the point Vanessa makes here about how it’s odd that topics like civil rights are a discussion often avoided most in schools that would benefit most from these discussions. There's a common trend I’ve noticed in working-class schools of classrooms made up of mostly students of color, and a white teacher instructing them (this is also supported by a study linked below). This absolutely could lend itself to the avoidance of conversations that would greatly benefit the students: the teacher, in ignorance of the disadvantages they’ve sidestepped by simply being white, doesn’t think to or value the importance of having these discussions in the classroom. We’ve previously discussed in readings such as Delpit’s about how the cultural barrier between white educators and students of color can make it difficult for white teachers to adequately meet the needs of students of color, further supporting this theory. This, paired with the stigma around students of lower economic (or working-class) status that suggests they learn at a slower rate than their wealthier peers can create an environment where the conversations about the disadvantages certain groups have in the world are being avoided in the places they are most relevant.

Quote Two: Vanessa’s second quote was something that I found really interesting, and I found her connection to be even more so. I strongly agree with the assertion that relationships between educators and students is one of the most important factors in properly understanding where a student is at in their skills and how they’ll effectively improve on their weaknesses. The strengths of students are only practiced by them (and the weaknesses are only worked on) when they feel as though their efforts are being observed and acknowledged, and when students are put down for their struggles, it can become really unmotivating to try anything. I absolutely have noticed an increase in poor relationships between students and teachers over the years, and while it may just be my increased exposure to the behind-the-scenes of educations that is leading me to see this more often, it is really disheartening to see from people who are meant to be fostering these student’s paths to achieving their aspirations.

    Quote Three: While I absolutely agree with the sentiment that teachers shouldn’t be trying to control students, per se, and the students being challenged to do so here are absolutely being asked to do something well beyond their pay grade, I feel that there is still a responsibility on the teacher’s end to maintain structure and focus for the students. This is likely what was meant with the phrase “kept control of the class”, even if it was worded poorly. I’m very anti-authoritarian in educational roles and all aspects of life, but having been put in a position of authority over students a number of times, I’ve come to understand that students when left too much to their own devices can be ineffective. I think the difference between letting students run free and outright ordering them around, however, is understanding how to help channel the student’s ideas, interests and energy into their learning.

Hyperlink: https://www.axios.com/2022/01/23/teachers-schools-students-diversity

Video Analysis Links

Classroom Tour Notes: Link

Precious Knowledge Notes: Link