Johnston, RI... where do I begin?
PICTURE THIS: -You were tasked to watch this video, that dives into the history and community of Johnston, RI-> What would your first impressions be of the town? What would you say about the community?
First off, for 50 minutes, you are going to primarily watch white men boast about the history and 'close knit' community of Johnston. The women in the video will talk about ideas revolving education and even gardening. You are going to see residents of the town stand in front of landmarks that they are 'oh-so-very proud of'. You are going to see glimpses of flowers blooming and vegetation erupting in fields across the town. It's a lovely mask isn't it!!
Allow me to throw some numbers at you:
According to the U.S census:
...
Reading this...
I wonder why I never learned about Johnston's history in school; We were never told about the history of our town, yet were pushed to take pride in this place we called home. I wonder why all my teachers through school were all white? I cannot recall one teacher of color throughout my Johnston Public Schools career. I wonder why my high school invested $3 million dollars into a new football field (athletics). I wonder why nobody thought / was taught to question anything around us?
Where was the critical pedagogy?
Welcome to Johnston... The Reality:
I will be the first to admit... It wasn't until I got to college that I began to question things around me that were my previous "normal." I did not think anything much of the town I grew up in-- to me it was just all I ever knew. The community would come together a few times a year for events held at the center of town. The season of fall meant it was time for the Apple Fest at Johnston Memorial Park, and the homecoming parade for JHS. I never questioned a single thing. After reading the case study by Comber, Thomson, and Wells-- I could not help but feel a pit in my stomach, as my mind was in awe of the words on the page.
It is safe to say that Marg Wells is a 'Rida', who developed a critical literacy curriculum based on, "what was going on in student's lives" (Comber, Thomson, Wells 455), which became the "study of their classroom" (455). She challenged her students' thoughts, imagination, ability to reflect, problem solving skills, and literacy and social practices, so that way her students could utilize their voices and be active members of the community. According to the study, "In this curriculum students were learning to do much more than voice an opinion; they were learning to go deeper into an urgent local and school issue" (460).
What inspired me was Wells' investment in her students lives holistically, and relentless spirit to be sure her curriculum adhered to her students' personal feelings, which would in return acknowledge pressing local and global issues. Wells' stressed for her students to gain a sense of who they were and where they were from, so that they could then take part in (speaking up, changing, voicing concerns and opinions, etc.) the community around them. They did not only take part in learning the elements of literacy, but the students were impulsed to delve their attention into the research, drawing, speaking, and idea-creating, when it came to the community they knew and cared deeply for.
It would be a great idea to adapt Marge Wells' project for middle school and high school students to engage them in their community, and to also show students of Johnston High the privilege that they endure. I would chose the location of Johnston High School to center the project around, that reflects and embodies issues of social power and injustice. JHS is predominantly white, and most of the students come from working and middle class families.
I would ask students the same questions that Wells asked her students: "What is the best thing in your life? What makes you happy, sad, worried, or angry? What would you wish for if you had three wishes? What would you change about your neighborhood, school, and world? Do young people have the power to change things?" (455). This could be something that students journal and reflect on at the beginning of class each day, and then build upon. It is so vital for teachers to give their students opportunities, like such, to decompress and express themselves privately as they see fit. These opportunities, or 'freedom of the mind' writes or ''stream-of-consciousness' sessions, will amount to the student developing and interrogating their own personal identities-- then equating to matters beyond themselves. I want to teach my students to challenge what is around them, and question what they see and how they feel. Applying this to literacy, would involve students delving deep below the surface of the world around them. I would then have students question their own thoughts... Why does this certain thing make you happy? Why is this the best thing in your life? I want students to be conscious of their thoughts, so that they can be conscious of their actions in the future. I also want to show them how their answers may have differed if they came from a different town, where they may not have been given the same luxuries in life. I want them to see that while most of their answers may be material (wishing for an iPhone 11 or puppy), there are some people that wish for shelter and water...
I know when I was in school, the town voted to invest $3 million dollars into a new and improved football field. At the time, barely any classrooms had an air conditioner, the heat malfunctioned, the same old copies of Julius Cesar lived on in the classroom fifteen years later, and so on... All my teachers would complain and fuss about why the money was not invested in the school itself. I mean, while we were all wearing our puffy winter coats trying to learn-- could you really blame them?
I would first encourage my students to do research regarding the demographics of the town, and scaffold them to question what the school could benefit from having? I would continue to have them propose ideas to making the high school a better place to be. I would then have them write letters to persuade town officials as to why they should have invested the $3 million into the high school, instead of fully into the field. Students will then acknowledge their privilege and advantage... Who is this letter coming from? What benefits to I have because of my privilege, to persuade my intended audience? Most students at the school, being white, will have time to see where their white privilege may take affect.
Overall: My goal is for students to be able to look critically into their own community, but also to see the privilege they endure. I would like for students to first personally reflect on their lives and how they feel as members of the community. I would encourage them to explore their own identities. I would then want students to engage in literary practices, in order to ignite thought and understand how their voices can be heard within the communities on a larger scale. I would lastly want students to understand the privilege that they have so that they can come up with ways to make a global impact, and think of how to support people that are not as privileged as they are holistically.
Hi Leah! I really enjoyed reading your blog because it brought in so much history and background as to why your students would be engaged in the critical theory practices in your classroom. I particularly admire the way you would have the students examine the privileges they have to make them consider what truly matters within their town. It is almost like you are bringing your own practices of self-reflecting and adapting it to fit the students’ critical literacy curriculum!
ReplyDeleteI also wanted to actually comment and build on your self-reflection of your school environment and also ask some questions about your thoughts. I want to focus on your statement, “I cannot recall one teacher of color throughout my Johnston Public Schools career” because I can relate to that as I grew up in the primary white suburbs of Cumberland, Rhode Island. I also cannot recall having a single teacher of color in my school, but this connection does bring up a question that I’ve been stewing on for a few days now ever since reading the chapter in Girls, Social Class and Literacy by S. Jones. I was a white girl taught by white teachers, and Jones mentions a story where a Black girl felt “...comfort in her school where Black children were taught and cared for by Black teachers (63). Do you think that the black students that were in our schools felt uncomfortable being taught by only white teachers? I know you cannot speak for them, but I just wanted to see your thoughts based on Jones’ quote.
Furthermore, this quote makes me think about how black students have reacted to ME as a white teacher stepping into their school in urban cities. When I subbed in an urban school with primarily black students, I would ask some students to “Take a seat” or “Please work on your assignment” and I would often be told by the students “That’s racist.” I never knew how to respond to this statement told to me by the students, and I still have no idea how to respond. Any thoughts Leah?
Hi Megan!
DeleteThank you for your comment, and I appreciate the thoughts you posed! It’s really interesting because until recently (past few years of college), I had never thought to acknowledge the fact that I had all white teachers in my public school education, nor had I ever reflected upon that fact. It was not something I previously questioned, nor had any ambition or knowledge TO in fact question. The only black teacher I can recall in high school was a music teacher (that I never had, not being musically inclined, unfortunately!). I think that this also connects to the fact that in my high school, there were not that many black students, nor latinx. This is reflected in the population of the town, in which it is shown that 90.5% of the population is white, while 9% is hispanic, and 1.9% is black or African American. Therefore, my school was not diverse in any way. In addition to how those few black students felt about having all white teachers, I wonder how they felt being practically the only person of color in the classroom. Their peers were mostly all white as well. I cannot speak for them, but I can assume that it may have made them feel some type of way, for sure. Especially as younger kids.
To be honest with you, that would have caught me off guard too, and would have caused me to self-reflect as well. This would really make me consider how my presence in the classroom is perceived, and how I can manage the classroom in a fair, yet inviting way. I feel as though sometimes it may be hard for a substitute to really connect with students, as they only have 50 minutes with them (maybe ever), and they have to have students work on whatever the teacher has left. Therefore, I can understand where the pressure comes from. I think possibly finding a way to connect to the students would be beneficial. Possibly, this would call for finding a balance between classroom management and connecting with students in a sincere way. As to what to say to a student that says, “That’s racist”, I would not really know what to say either, even now. I would probably want to read more about how to handle this sort of situation in a way that defuses the tension in a classroom, and promotes a positive learning environment! Great questions, and I think you also are doing a great job at self-reflecting so that you can be a critically informed educator!
Hi, Leah! Your blog is very organized and visually interesting. Your use of different fonts and eye-catching pictures really makes me feel engaged as a reader.
ReplyDeleteI notice that you begin your blog with an anecdotal story about a video you viewed in high school that enlightened you to a problem in the community. I found that there was a lot to unpack in your opening paragraph where you suggest that Johnston has a race problem (“white men boast about the history and 'close knit' community”) and supports sexist beliefs by showing women in traditional female roles (“The women in the video will talk about ideas revolving education and even gardening”). While these beliefs are prominent in American society, I am a bit hesitant to agree with you in that the town of Johnston made a video where they glorified how white the community is. You could argue that the video made known an implicit bias in Johnston that may have been perpetuated by unclaimed white privilege, but since there is no video linked at all I can’t say if this is so for sure.
Finally, in your second paragraph you note how problematic it is that Johnston’s population is comprised of 90.5% white people. I’ll play devil’s advocate here for a second. Would you hold these same beliefs if Johnston was composed of 90.5% Black, Hispanic, or Asian people? I have noticed that many fall into equating no white people as diverse but there is no true diversity if any one race is excluded.
Hi Tim!
DeleteI appreciate your feedback and your stances that prompted further thought on my end. There is actually a link to the video where it says "this video"-- and it is hyperlinked for reference. Also, I agree with you in the sense that I do not believe that Johnston made the video to necessarily "boast" about the whiteness of the town. After watching the video, I merely stated facts as to what to expect while watching the video from my personal, critical observations. I think part of looking into the video through a critical lens, led me to realize the way individuals were celebrating their class ranking, and were essentially all white. Being honest, prior to taking part in this and previous courses that centered on critical literacy and social justice, this is not an observation I would have picked up on right away. To me, you can blatantly see the white privilege that these individuals endure, and they are by default (and I can confirm this from having lived her my whole life) representative of the population as a whole. This video was definitely made to boast the town of Johnston, but I believe that if you were to look at the video through a critical lens, you could see that there is far more beyond the surface!
The statistics were provided to showcase the fact that there is no diversity within the town, and even at the high school. It also gives context for the project I am proposing! I agree that diversity does include a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds-- and upon reading the statistics of the town’s population it is evident that diversity within the population is nonexistent. The problem is not the matter of the specific race or ethnicity of the population, it is the lack thereof, and the sense that diversity is not a concept recognized nor addressed!
In addition to the lack of diversity, there was no push towards any idea of social justice within my high school. The statistics were also provided so that my project would make sense for the students to understand the white privilege that they have and benefit from on a daily basis. I am aiming for the population to understand their white privilege and take that into account as members of society.
First of all, your blog is so visually interesting! I come from Exeter-West Greenwich, and our towns sound super familiar -- predominately white students and teachers and investing way too much money into the football team (except, our football team was absolutely horrible!!) instead of more important things like ac, updated books, and technology. It was only when I started college that I began to question everything I was taught, much like you. I think privilege is SO important for students to become aware of! There are ways we can use our privilege to make change... It's true we don't really question anything while we are living it, but when we look back it seems so wrong, like why athletics needs three million dollars and not education. Students should be taught to ask hard questions and challenge injustices in their communities.
ReplyDeleteI really like your project -- I think writing letters are always meaningful and engaging! It might be interesting to go beyond this and think of other ways the students can make change in their community and help the school. This could be done trough a student run fundraiser that will get everyone involved! Letters are beneficial, but they are hard to be persuasive when the damage has already been done. Maybe the students' letters can go beyond discussing the football field and they could propose a different way to invest money into the school! Overall, this seems like a really great project!
Awesome blog, Leah!
Hi, Sam! Thank you so much for the compliments and I agree totally-- our towns do seem extremely familiar! It’s really cool too because I never really knew much about Exeter-West Greenwich until reading your post! I also agree with you that it is not until we look into the past, that we can then register how we were really blinded to what was going on around us, in many different ways. We were never taught to question the norm. Not only was it not heard of or out of the ordinary, but I was also never encouraged nor taught to think inside this critical realm. I know as an educator, I would want to challenge students to think critically so that they have this enlightenment sooner in life, and so that they can dig deep and make a difference in their communities. Like you, I want to encourage them to ask these critical questions, which may be challenging and out of the norm for most of them. I feel as though this will really open their eyes, and will allow for them to question the oppressive institutions around them, their friends, their neighbors, and their community. I want to not only promote, but welcome their ideas and critical observations.
DeleteThat is also a great idea regarding a student-run fundraiser! I think that is a great way to get students involved in a more innovative way. I think it will be little events and activities as such that will really motivate students and have them thinking beyond the classroom! Thanks for the suggestion!