Chapter 3 Teaching To Change The World

This chapter was a review for me regarding the history of education and all of the changes that have happened with education and the philosophies of education. As I was reading I was trying to find which philosophy I was most similar with. I thought “maybe a little of this a little bit of that” as I continued to read. I think it was best said towards the end of the chapter, ” Each day American teachers confront and win the curriculum battle, as they engage students with rich and powerful ideas that touch their lives. That is one reason they return to school each day.” I think teachers are winning the curriculum battle because we are utilizing bits and pieces from a wide variety of philosophies and incorporate this diversity to the benefit our students. As teachers we need to stand strong and confident not be told what is best for our students (NCLB). We should always remember the above quote and the importance of engaging the child to touch their lives and help them grow as a child.

The true stories/examples throughout the chapter were interesting to me and intriguing to read. I like having real life examples to help me connect with the text. Two of the stories that most interested me was the story about Halloween and Dia de los muertos by the first-year bilingual teachers and the story by Chang, the first grade teacher. Both stories brought in the relevance of the home/school connection in the classroom. I have actually heard teachers in my school tell their Spanish speaking students,”Do not speak Spanish in school-tell me in English and talk to your friends in English.” I want to run and hide of embarrassment for that teacher. The diversity of all of our students brings such richness and learning opportunities to our classrooms. How sad for a child not to have the opportunity to share their personal identity with school and make those connections not only for students of the same culture but all students. I’ve realized that I also need to let this happen more in my classroom and bring in MORE home/school connections than I do now. All year I kept saying I would love to ask some of my bilingual moms to come in and teach Spanish and share the Spanish culture to my students but I still have yet to do that. Why did I wait and keep putting that off? Does it go back to the curriculum dilemma of not having time for something like that and the administration feeling that is not an important part of the curriculum at this time. Back to winning the curriculum battle…