Modeling as a Multidimensional Cultural Space

     For this weeks blog post, I read "Modeling as a Multidimensional Cultural Space" the reading begins with a discussion on areas of education being safe spaces, the mortality rate of youth in America, and the percent of students that drop out from high school. Within the reading it talks about schools who teach the most at risk students within the mortality rates (Minority/Impoverished) are the least physically/intellectually/social safe spaces. It also discusses the way teachers teach students, I think its really interesting because it talks about teaching students with histories of academic underachievement, and what changes must be put into the way we teach to help them.

    One quote that really stood out to me was "The problem, however, is not whether basic skills or instruction oriented toward problem solving is better or worse for students with histories of academic underachievement. Rather there are more foundational questions: What routines can socialize students into being more disposed to persist in the face of difficulty."  I think this is a very important thing to keep in mind for us as educators. The idea that we have to be able to teach kids that its okay to make mistakes and that even if something is difficult for us we have to persevere and continue to struggle and learn. As I've stated in my previous blog post, I believe making mistakes in one of the few blessings us humans are given. Mistakes are the most important thing in learning because it lets you grow your understanding of whatever problem you are doing. 

    Another important part of the reading is the subheading called "Leveraging Everyday Knowledge" this focuses on creating a curriculum that is made with a detailed knowledge of not only subject matter but of the routine practices carried out by students. I think this is really awesome, I'm completely for creating curriculum based around the nature of our students as i think this would give the students a much safer learning ground and a more natural learning ground too. It very well may be more tedious but I think we have a lot of debt as a society towards students. 

Comments

  1. Wilson Caraballo IIIOctober 19, 2024 at 2:16 PM

    Hey Sam I think the first quote you selected is very important. I can't speak for the whole of education/educators, but we are facing a huge issue of "learned helplessness" in my school (and your former school!). Many students we see as freshmen are coming to us without the skills to cope with, and think through, challenges. I can't tell you the amount of times I have worked with students helping them process information and dancing around the answer, for them to say "ok but what do you want me to say". They assume learning is getting the answer right, not thinking through how to get the answer.

    Helping kids realize the learning and the process behind it is struggle, and that we want them to struggle is becoming harder and harder. To say COVID has done some damage to our systems of education is a bit of an understatement. At the high school level seeing the struggle with struggle is disheartening as an educator. Thinking critically should be fun, but we have a system in place that doesn't reward that critical thinking. It incentives formulaic approaches. We can hope to break that trend, but until there is a country wide break from the idea of standardization we will continually judge a fish for its ability to climb a tree.

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  2. Samuel MedinaOctober 21, 2024 at 3:59 PM

    I recently wrote a small reflection for my Hist 420 class on Title 23 which is The Illinois Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading Standards, although I think you may know about them already I think this policy is important and I’m excited to carry it into the classroom, and be the best person I can be for my student. In relation to your response, parts of the standard address issues of understanding identity and context in students lives which can be mortality rates. Nonetheless, I agree that being a good person requires mistakes. Every person has context to their daily lives, for instance underachieving schools may not even be underperforming as their communities have been underfunded or students cultural background has been historical stumps purposefully and not had access to the same level of education as white students.

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  3. AnnikaOctober 21, 2024 at 4:44 PM

    Many of the readings we do in class are related to the issues with standardizing education. I struggle with this idea sometimes because as someone studying math education, it looks less obvious on how to make content culturally relevant to students. I hope in the future to find more resources connected to culturally relevant math education. I also wonder if the reason those connections are harder to make is because of the way we expect math learning to look like. I am curious how math educators view their profession and what the radical reimagining of math education could look like.

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  4. Colum McNallyOctober 21, 2024 at 10:19 PM

    I resonate with your opinions on growth and perseverance for both students and teachers alike. Of course it's a student's job to overcome obstacles and achieve their academic goals, but it's a teacher's job to make a student realize why their education is valuable to them. The data in the text shows that minorities have the lowest chance at academic success and suggests that certain racial demographics are more motivated than others. While this may be true, it's the furthest thing from the full story.
    A teacher's job is look at statistics like these and think of ways to improve the environments of their students. It's not just that some kids are better learners than others; it's that some students are given an advantage while others aren't. Students need to feel validated before they can be taught and that requires an effort to center curriculum around the students. I like how you acknowledged that we're responsible for the continuation of these trends and obligated to change them as future teachers.

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  5. Julian FaustoOctober 28, 2024 at 3:53 PM

    I agree with heavily with your thoughts on creating a safe and engaging spaces in education. The quote you chose about building resilience is not only important, but also resonates with me. Helping students see mistakes as a part of learning makes a big difference. "Leveraging Every Knowledge" feel powerful, as it centers students experiences and makes learning feel more relevant. A great wat to connect with the students lives in the classroom as it might help learning feel natural. As future educators, rethinking traditional methods and finding new ways to include students experiences in lessons can help us better support every students success and can help address disparities.

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