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I was angry/frustrated when I read several different topics that we came across within this course. There were definitely certain topics that I felt more passionate about than others. The topic of Zero-Tolerance infuriated me as it talked only of punishment as a means of handling a disciplinary situation. The lack of any compassion or understanding of the true cause behind the behavior baffled me. This methodology seemed very “old school” to me and was very reminiscent of my own punishments I received as a child and the resentment I had for them. The story of its enforcement in the podcast reignited this fury as I listened to how this policy disproportionately affected Black/African American populations for seemingly no other reason other than the color of one’s skin. Also, Week 4 What Should be Taught discussion on Multicultural Education boiled my blood as well. It was infuriating to read the level of ignorance for cultural identity or history and how it could potentially play out in an educational setting. Stripping an individual of their cultural identity for purposes of “assimilation” to the American culture and way of life does nothing but whitewash a person and create resentment for the system that did it to them. If we are to be proper educators, why would we encourage our students to leave behind the knowledge of their own culture? This topic truly went against all of my morals that I hold as a teacher and a person.

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I want to know more about what I can do as an individual teacher to improve the circumstances of inequality that I see within the field of education. Much of the readings and research that we’ve completed throughout this course give us a historical context as to where these inequalities came from (well done might I add) which is the foundation and precursor to implementing change. The one thing I wish we spent more time on, maybe one of the week’s topics, would be about actions that are being done to combat these inequalities and how we can be part of that within our own classrooms. I think it would be beneficial for teachers to have scaffolded activities and/or lessons for various subject matters and an understanding of how they might fit within a classroom setting.  I think the easiest context would be social studies/history, but for me as a science teacher, how can I incorporate more diversity and equity within my classroom? This is not an easy task, as every class, school, and district is vastly different and may hold different values or social norms depending on where your schooling is located.

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I empathize with all of my students that are innocent bystanders in all the inequality that occurs unto them. On several but rare occasions, the topic of racial discrimination and how it plays out in society has been brought up by some students of mine. Personally, I don’t shy away from these conversations, mostly because I understand that if they are comfortable enough and trust me enough to have a conversation of this nature that I should have it because they might not have anyone else that fits that bill. I’ve shared some of the research and data that I’ve collected about our local school, as well as national, with them on occasion. Mostly they are appalled by these statistics but being that my students are of high-school age, I believe they can handle the truth and that it may even better equip them or embolden to not be a statistic. I can recall one conversation I had with an AP student after she approached me about filling out her college application. She inquired why the Race/Ethnicity question stated African Americans instead of Black. The conversation then sprawled into verbiage for different races/ethnicities, Affirmative Action, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Conversations like this one, I believe, help students understand the historical context of things in an approachable manner and aid in decision making as well as to opinion-forming on matters of race/ethnicity and society. I believe more conversations like these should be had with students, specifically on a personal and authentic level as much as possible.

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I related to many of the topics that we read and discussed throughout this course. The discussion of different school types resonated with me as I’ve been a student of, and now a teacher for, several different types. My upbringing brought me though a traditional public school system, my first job was a virtual charter, my current is a school of choice with a magnet option for math and science, and my wife’s family attended private schooling. As I read through all these different options, I could relate it to my own experiences or those that I’ve heard from relatives. The Week 2 discussion on Whose Interests Should Schools Serve? Justice and Equity truly related to my own experience as an educator as it brought in the topic of science, religion, and their roles within education. I’ve been a science educator, Biology specifically, for seven years now, and this discussion often gets brought up by colleagues, friends, and family alike. Thankfully I’ve had many years to form an opinion on the topic in a manner that I see as appropriate and fitting. Both viewpoints resonated with me as I consider myself a man of faith and yet of science as well, however, I am able to reconcile the difficulties within each position personally.

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I felt, and still feel, that historically we have not done enough to acknowledge the inequality that exists within our culture, education and otherwise, nor has enough been done to address the issue. Within recent years, the conversation of inequalities that exist in our everyday lives has come to head more and more frequently: sexual discrimination with the #MeToo movement and Black/African American discrimination with #BlackLivesMatter. Part of what drives the need for these conversations and ultimately a change in our culture is a lack of accurate historical context for these topics. Through our readings and research, it became very clear that there are different narratives being spun in different parts of the country. Within certain school districts, the concept of Manifest Destiny would be idolized, the discussion of slavery may be glossed over if even covered at all, The American Civil War has two completely different stories to it, and Women’s Sufferage movement be downplayed. If we are to make any advancements in the way of human rights we first need to understand the historical context of how we came to be. This cannot be accomplished with so many alternative versions of history present, which, unfortunately, is partly why we see such divisiveness among individuals and how to proceed further. This lack of a common language has stalled the progress toward making lives more equitable and only serves to further these inequalities to the benefit of those in the position of power. I feel that we as a country have failed our citizens to allow these inequalities to exist and worse over to continue.

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I was surprised to learn that there are school districts that exist and operate on archaic and outdated practices and policies. One example of this was during our readings for Week 6 about The School Community: Individuals and Environments. I’ve heard of the Zero-Tolerance policy, however, never seen it in action or fully understood the intentions and reasoning behind it. After reading the chapter, I was surprised at the content of the policy I had read and how recent its implementation was within school districts. Behavioral psychology has been around for quite some time, with research dating back to the late 19th century. There has been much progress made in the way of shaping human behavior through reward and consequence, with many findings pointing toward positive reinforcement being the best choice of actions for shaping positive behaviors for youth, and yet this policy only focuses on punishment. In recent years we’ve seen how the roots of this policy (law enforcement) have played out with the War on Drugs. Since the initiation of this policy, which has a Zero-Tolerance approach, we’ve seen record numbers for fines, arrests, incarcerations, and ultimately the disruption of individuals’ lives. This initiative has not proven to be successful (declared a failure in June of 2011) as illicit drugs still run rampant and it disproportionately affects those of non-white/Caucasian populations. This same policy that is being applied to education is doomed to a similar fate and school districts must adopt more effective means to operate on.

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I am now more aware of the vastness of disparities in education that still exist within this country. Several years ago I joined my school School Improvement team and have made it a personal mission to sift and sort through as much data as I can get ahold of. Currently, I’ve compiled over five years of data about our school’s changing demographics, socioeconomic status, free-and-reduced lunch program, and standardized testing including NWEA, M-STEP, and SAT. Part of my findings in nearly all categories speaks to much of what we’ve been reading about and discussing throughout the class. This data supports the claim that there are disproportionate inequalities, educationally and else wise, among our non-white/caucasian student populations. Through my own findings, I’ve found inequalities among my local population, however, this course has broadened that view to a more grand scale. Listening to the podcasts from This American Life (arguably one of my favorite informational shows to listen to) shared stories from around the country that most of us would never hear about. I think at times we get stuck in our own little worlds and forget that things happen in other parts fo the country and especially the world. These stories that were shared illuminated the same disparities that I’m seeing within my own district elsewhere.

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I changed my attitude about the public policies that were and some that still are in place. I’ve always understood that being an educator wasn’t going to be an easy job. My friends, relatives, and especially my mom, made it very well known of their thoughts that I should choose a different career, however, now that I’m in the thick of it (seven years into my career now) I’m happy that I stood by my decision as we need good educators now more than ever. Unfortunately, policies such as No Child Left Behind, 3rd-grade reading law, and unjust evaluations of schools based on standardized tests, just to name a few, stand as blockades and impede the good work teachers are trying to accomplish in their classrooms every day. The bureaucracy and politics that goes on in the work of education is daunting and serves little to improve the goals within education: to properly educate all students and help them be productive members of society. Even today amidst a pandemic, education is being wielded as a political weapon to gain favor for the upcoming election. Once again, as with the past policies, this agenda and unwanted burden that is being pushed unto all educators is being decided by individuals of other professions, such as law and business, when it should be left to educational professionals. I would hope those policy decisions would have the best of intentions behind them, however, the more I read and understand historical policies that have been made the more I lose faith in them with an emboldened sense that I as an individual can have a greater positive impact on the lives of my students.