While we are going to speak about our group's reflections on our project on Wednesday, I know none of us will have the time to say everything we want. So, I wanted to jot down some of my thoughts here.
I really enjoyed going to Second Foundations School and having two workshops. Both were unique and were organized with a different purpose, but shared a united goal of awakening students to issues of gender rights and equality.
Our first workshop was primarily focused on gender harassment. What I found astounding was that our students were quite interested in this topic. Since this was a K-12 school, we had young students as well as older high school aged students.
We came with questions to allow students to give their own definitions and we added to them. So, it was partially lecture but included their voices. At the end, we had students perform skits that where the students also included a fair solution for different harassment situations.
I enjoyed the skits the students organized and performed. There was a lot of energy and enthusiasm. I think they internalized a lot of what we discussed, but also the feelings and stories that their peers brought up about being or witnessing harassment.
Our second workshop was not as successful, if based on student participation. Only half of our group was able to make it to this, and we were missing a third of our presentation. What was worse was that the two group members we were short also volunteer at the school.
I also may have made a mistake about including a historical overview of feminism. What I wanted to show was that rights were not simply given, but had to be fought for over centuries. Further, these rights can be taken away - especially with regards to women who do not have Constitutional equality in our country.
After the historical overview and a discussion about power and politics, Connor spoke about the Self-Esteem Act. Afterwards, we encouraged the students to take some sort of action. We wanted to do something that day, so we asked if they wanted to write letters. We had brought envelopes and stamps along with the addresses of our two US Senators and Representative Keith Ellison to the workshop.
Another mistake I made was not prefacing an emphasis on personal letters. I wanted to encourage students to make personal letters since they have the greatest impact when in large numbers. Some students initially wanted to write in groups and took my comment as discouragement.
All the older students who wanted this decided to leave, which is acceptable at this student-centered school where students choose what to attend or not. The very youngest students stayed and wanted to write letters. One five-year old student told me she could not read or write but wanted to write a letter to the President. I helped her write this letter in her own words, and read back to her our draft and then had her sign the final copy. It was the very youngest students of this group who felt strongly about this subject that surprised me, I thought it might be a bit more even.
However, after taking Guidance and Behavior of Children and Youth (EDUC 1235) last semester at MCTC, I thought these older students might be resistant to this course because they feel hopeless and oppressed. They could be what we discussed in class as "not-learning" about what we were talking about. The reason I say this is because one high-school aged student knew a lot about the history. She likely knew a lot more than I did, which was unfortunate because she excused herself less than halfway into our time there.
All students were aware of advertising and its ability to hurt and objectify women. However, I feel that it takes its toll over time and few want to be reminded. This is the primary explanation I have felt so far about this experience. The other possible was from another volunteer who said that these students already had a lot of writing tasks and didn't want to take on another.
I can't help but feel that our workshop was not good enough. While we gave students a voice, it still seemed similar to a banking-system model. We presented information and included what the students already knew. We also had an action plan, although we didn't want to prevent any future actions from happening. Had the students presented a different project, I would like to think we would have been flexible enough to help them with it. Still, I think we bummed many of them out with the topic and they didn't want to consider it further as the younger students still did. Or perhaps they felt that our plan was to never include their perspective.
This is somewhat how I would feel if working as a substitute teacher. I would have one day or perhaps a few days with students, where I was expected to adhere to the lesson plan. I could take different avenues but I would still be constrained.
Even as a full-time instructor I wonder how it would be work in a district with one policy with regards to behavior. Minneapolis Public Schools has a policy where they warn students and then ask them to leave. I witnessed this in a 8th grade classroom and I was shocked that students were asked to go to the main office when their behavior was pretty minor. I don't want to feel "stuck" but I also want to find a way to push the boundaries and allow for students to have a bit more power over the classroom and what they are interested in.
Overall, it these workshops were a great experience. They have invited us back, which I have no objections to at all. Our group will meetup again after our class to work on newer ones. Further, we can consider more long-term workshops. I am curious about what replies students will get from politicians. Further, I would like to know what ideas they have to work on women and gender rights issues.
I really enjoyed going to Second Foundations School and having two workshops. Both were unique and were organized with a different purpose, but shared a united goal of awakening students to issues of gender rights and equality.
Our first workshop was primarily focused on gender harassment. What I found astounding was that our students were quite interested in this topic. Since this was a K-12 school, we had young students as well as older high school aged students.
We came with questions to allow students to give their own definitions and we added to them. So, it was partially lecture but included their voices. At the end, we had students perform skits that where the students also included a fair solution for different harassment situations.
I enjoyed the skits the students organized and performed. There was a lot of energy and enthusiasm. I think they internalized a lot of what we discussed, but also the feelings and stories that their peers brought up about being or witnessing harassment.
Our second workshop was not as successful, if based on student participation. Only half of our group was able to make it to this, and we were missing a third of our presentation. What was worse was that the two group members we were short also volunteer at the school.
I also may have made a mistake about including a historical overview of feminism. What I wanted to show was that rights were not simply given, but had to be fought for over centuries. Further, these rights can be taken away - especially with regards to women who do not have Constitutional equality in our country.
After the historical overview and a discussion about power and politics, Connor spoke about the Self-Esteem Act. Afterwards, we encouraged the students to take some sort of action. We wanted to do something that day, so we asked if they wanted to write letters. We had brought envelopes and stamps along with the addresses of our two US Senators and Representative Keith Ellison to the workshop.
Another mistake I made was not prefacing an emphasis on personal letters. I wanted to encourage students to make personal letters since they have the greatest impact when in large numbers. Some students initially wanted to write in groups and took my comment as discouragement.
All the older students who wanted this decided to leave, which is acceptable at this student-centered school where students choose what to attend or not. The very youngest students stayed and wanted to write letters. One five-year old student told me she could not read or write but wanted to write a letter to the President. I helped her write this letter in her own words, and read back to her our draft and then had her sign the final copy. It was the very youngest students of this group who felt strongly about this subject that surprised me, I thought it might be a bit more even.
However, after taking Guidance and Behavior of Children and Youth (EDUC 1235) last semester at MCTC, I thought these older students might be resistant to this course because they feel hopeless and oppressed. They could be what we discussed in class as "not-learning" about what we were talking about. The reason I say this is because one high-school aged student knew a lot about the history. She likely knew a lot more than I did, which was unfortunate because she excused herself less than halfway into our time there.
All students were aware of advertising and its ability to hurt and objectify women. However, I feel that it takes its toll over time and few want to be reminded. This is the primary explanation I have felt so far about this experience. The other possible was from another volunteer who said that these students already had a lot of writing tasks and didn't want to take on another.
I can't help but feel that our workshop was not good enough. While we gave students a voice, it still seemed similar to a banking-system model. We presented information and included what the students already knew. We also had an action plan, although we didn't want to prevent any future actions from happening. Had the students presented a different project, I would like to think we would have been flexible enough to help them with it. Still, I think we bummed many of them out with the topic and they didn't want to consider it further as the younger students still did. Or perhaps they felt that our plan was to never include their perspective.
This is somewhat how I would feel if working as a substitute teacher. I would have one day or perhaps a few days with students, where I was expected to adhere to the lesson plan. I could take different avenues but I would still be constrained.
Even as a full-time instructor I wonder how it would be work in a district with one policy with regards to behavior. Minneapolis Public Schools has a policy where they warn students and then ask them to leave. I witnessed this in a 8th grade classroom and I was shocked that students were asked to go to the main office when their behavior was pretty minor. I don't want to feel "stuck" but I also want to find a way to push the boundaries and allow for students to have a bit more power over the classroom and what they are interested in.
Overall, it these workshops were a great experience. They have invited us back, which I have no objections to at all. Our group will meetup again after our class to work on newer ones. Further, we can consider more long-term workshops. I am curious about what replies students will get from politicians. Further, I would like to know what ideas they have to work on women and gender rights issues.
