"But always, just over the edge of such precision, order and sense is a fuzziness, a blurring. The sound sharpens, swells, silences. Gaps and holes in sonic and ocular words. Precision now lacking, clarity receding. And with that, a realization. It does not have to be this way. This can change."
Crawley talked about occupied territory, exclusionary logic, and the announcement of the other. Patel discussed schooling and learning, in classrooms for high schoolers and future educators. Considering both of these pieces, my overall thoughts shift towards two questions. How did we get here, and how do we move on?
America continues to marginalize people of color. Students are forced to navigate constraints in the classroom, or are pushed out otherwise. How are we as teachers supposed to instigate change? I see already how easy it is to slip into the world of assessments and standards, how easy it is to lose sight of the systemic problems that affect the students in my classroom. What are ways we, as a cohort, cultivate learning for our students while teaching them the skills to navigate a system meant to break them (and give them awareness of this failure alongside an awareness of the necessity of their pursuit of true learning?) Can we even make solutions to this problem without falling into the trap of "five step lesson plans" and mnenonics and inspirational posters that is so heavily promoted by our college's education problem?
I know that, like many of the questions we have delved into this semester, there is not a specific answer. I also know that we all want change, and know it can happen. After a conversation with an old friend, who is currently teaching in schools much like ours, my fears of falling into the trap of teaching to the test and losing sight of why we began teaching in the first place and who we are trying to serve seemed to materialize in one of the most enthusiastic, passionate educator I have ever known. I'm scared. So, again... how did we get here? How do we move on?
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