Kumashiro's "Toward a Theory of Anti-Oppressive Education" presents us with the tragic reality that is American education. The education system in our country has always been an oppressive one from its inception, not allowing women, people of certain religions, people of color, and poor people to attend schools. Although much of this has changed, Kumashiro reminds us that our schools are still oppressive environments for many. Therefore, it is critical for schools to promote and provide safe environments. Kumashiro writes, "the school needs to provide separate spaces where studnets who face different forms of oppression can go for help, support, advocacy, resources, and so forth" (28). I went to a high school that served approximately 1800 students each year, as my own graduating class consisted of 666 students. However, there was no LBGTQ club or office, and not enough counselors to serve students. One guy I had been friends with since elementary school "came out" in seventh grade, and by ninth grade he was using marijuana daily and started using cocaine by sophomore year. His sexuality may not be the reason for this, but as Kumashiro includes, "some have [...] turned violence onto themselves by abusing drugs" (27).
Kumashiro also states that we must not ignore students' differences, but embrace them and empower all students. Obviously, it sounds much easier than it actually is, but doing so is possible. The most outstanding part of Kumashiro's article for me is when he states that rather than aiming for understanding "Othereds," anti-oppressive pedagogy "should aim for effect by having students engage with relevant aspects of critical theory and extend its terms of analysis to their own lives" (39). This holds an importance because no matter how hard we try to understand where someone is coming from, we can only truly understand ourselves.
4 comments:
There are many circumstances that schools cannot control. One of these problems are issues within a child's family. You were mentioning your friend who "came out" in 7th grade, and was smoking marijuana two years later? Perhaps there were issues that the school could not control. Well, one of my best friends was devastated by his parents divorce. What is worse, his mother did not even want him or his sister. He became very bitter with his mother and started experimenting with marijuana and alcohol when he was a junior in high school. His dad took care of him, but he was gone half the time because he was a truck driver. Therefore, he did not really have anyone to mentor him throughout much of his high school life. I guess what I'm saying is, no matter how schools will try to make sure everyone's needs are met, it just won't happen because there will always be problems in society.
If you go to a school that graduates 600+ people, there is no realistic way that a school can make "everyone" feel accepted. There just isn't enough teachers or counselors to do with everyone.
I agree that it seems an impossible task to make everyone feel accepted.
I was also a bit disturbed by some of the things I found in this reading selection. For example, on page 27, Kumashiro cites that students respond in varying ways to being oppressed."... some have endured depression, turned violence onto themselves by abusing drugs..." There are, I feel, many students that belong to the obvious majority, that partake in these actions for varying reasons. How are we, as teachers, supposed to reach everyone?
The friend you mentioned in your post had started to use drugs because of personal problems. But it is not clear that his problems would exclude him from the general school population, or place him into the category of "other" as defined by the reading. If their were "help groups" available at your high school, would your friend have been able to find one that he felt comfortable in?
I think, that as educators, we have a daunting task ahead of us to make every student feel included and still unique. How can we make the students feel unique for who they are without noting what makes them different from others?
I agree with cjevans in that there probably is no real way to make everyone feel accepted especially with the size school that was being discussed. I believe that as teachers, we will have the responsibility to make every student feel comfortable enough to speak with us candidly about any issues that they might have, but the reality of the situation is that students will only be with us (teachers) for a few hours, while they will be among peers, family, etc. for much more time - so we only have so much power.
Also, that kind of brings me to another point, dealing with your homosexual friend who smoked weed and experimented with coke. If I understand correctly, you're saying that drug use is a symptom of opression - and I agree - in many cases it is. However, there are plenty of non-opressed individuals getting stoned out there too. White middle class males to name one demographic - and I would tack that usage up to peer pressue, and a curious age group.
It seems that we as educators face an extremely tough task of dealing with the myriad of problems that arise in school and out of school. Many oppressed students often turn to drugs as a "way out" and seems to almost be an epidemic in many school systems, especially schools of low SES. I took a gay and lesbian psychology class last year and learned that people in the L.G.B.T. community experiment and become addicted to drugs and alcohol because they see it as their only answer. Like you stated, there just aren't enough educators and counselors to deal with everyone and the problems they encounter. I think that we as society have made a lot of progress towards acceptance of all people yet we have a long way to go.
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