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Cultural literacy
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As stated by Watts, Diemer, and Voight (2011), “Critical consciousness (CC) describes how oppressed or marginalized people learn to critically analyze their social conditions and act to change them” (p.44). An ethnic studies curriculum helps foster critical consciousness because students are required to think critically about the experiences of different ethnic groups. Instilling this knowledge in students of color is imperative because “young people in urban areas are often marginalized from larger societal discussions and from public policy decisions that deeply affect their lives” (McIntyre, 2000, pp.129-130). Students of color, who understand and are able to engage with the sociopolitical environment surrounding them, can work to promote
As Pollock states, “Equity efforts treat all young people as equally and infinitely valuable” (202). This book has made me realize that first and foremost: We must get to know each of our students on a personal level. Every student has been shaped by their own personal life experiences. We must take this into consideration for all situations. In life, I have learned that there is a reason why people act the way that they do. When people seem to have a “chip on their shoulder”, they have usually faced many hardships in life. “The goal of all such questions is deeper learning about real, respected lives: to encourage educators to learn more about (and build on) young people’s experiences in various communities, to consider their own such experiences, to avoid any premature assumptions about a young person’s “cultural practices,” and to consider their own reactions to young people as extremely consequential.” (3995) was also another excerpt from the book that was extremely powerful for me. Everyone wants to be heard and understood. I feel that I owe it to each of my students to know their stories and help them navigate through the hard times. On the other hand, even though a student seems like he/she has it all together, I shouldn’t just assume that they do. I must be sure that these students are receiving the attention and tools needed to succeed,
Cater, the author of the book Keepin’ It Real: School Success Beyond Black And White, became interested as of why minority students were faced with white society challenges in school systems? In her book, Keepin’ It Real: School Success Beyond Black And White, she offers an insightful look at the educational attainment in low-income urban communities. Carter suggest that these students are embraced the dominant opportunity ideology, they acknowledge the dominant cultural to obtain status and goods. However, they use their own cultural to gain status in their own communities. She conducted a research to study the importance of cultural authenticity for minority, such as African American and Latino, students. She examines how cultural authenticity influences minority students’ relationship with the values they believe are privileged in schools. Cultural authenticity reflects on the beliefs and values of everyday society. Carter questioned, why do so many African American and Latino students perform worse than their Asians and White peers in class and on exams? And why might African Americans and Latino students are less engaged in
This power keeps the behavior of the oppressed well within the set guidelines of the oppressor (Freire, 2000, pg. 47). Critical Race Theory outlines this system of oppression as it relates to white and non-white races. By using the critical race theory coupled with the system of oppression described by Freire (2000), I propose that within the system of oppression, the oppressor must keep its own members in line with the prescribed guidelines by reinforcing the social norms from birth. Freire (2000) suggest that the interest of the oppressors lie in “changing the consciousness of the oppressed not the system” (pg.34). Identifying as white, therefore, starts at birth when members of the white class work to reinforce social norms that began with our founding fathers at Plymouth Rock. This long history of white privilege was taught to me and I continue to teach it to my children. As an educator of white affluent high school students, I believe we provide college and career counseling based on this white privilege system of oppression as well. Here, I journey even closer to unraveling the myth of white privilege as I encounter the intersection of an affluent white student choosing a career after high
1) Carbone II, Steven A. (2010). Race, Class, and Oppression: Solutions for Active Learning and Literacy in the Classroom. Student Pulse, 2.01. Retrieved from:
Critical Race Theory in education recognizes that Race and racism are prevalent and significant in the American school system. This particular theory has been used to understand the oppressive aspects of society based on race, culture and language in order to generate transformation in schools as well as in society (Sólorzano & Yosso, 2001).
As an African American male, I experienced inequality, and judgment from individuals that have no idea what kind of person I truly am. As a youth, I received a lackluster education, which has resulted in me underachieving in a number of my college classes. It has come to my attention that other colored students are currently experiencing and receiving the same inadequate learning environment and educatio...
Critical race theory (CRT) is a framework that may be useful for examining how racial climate impacts the undergraduate experiences of African-American students on college campuses (Murphy, Gaughan, Hume, & Moore, 2010). CRT draws from a broad base of literature in sociology, history, ethnic studies, women’s study, and law (Murphy, Gaughan, Hume, & Moore, 2010). CRT consists of five elements: 1) the centrality of race and racism, and their intersectionality with other forms of subordination, 2) the challenge to dominant ideology, 3) the commitment to social justice, 4) the centrality of experiential knowledge, and 5) the transdisciplinary perspective (Murphy, Gaughan, Hume, & Moore, 2010). Applying CRT to education is different than other CRT applications as it challenges traditional paradigms, methods, texts, and separate discourse of race, gender, and class by showing how social constructs intersect to impact on communities of color (Murphy, Gaughan, Hume, & Moore,
Therefore, universities have had to implement new measures that address racial insensitivity expressed by White students. According to Chao et al. (2015), in college campuses, student of color can hear every day racism comments, therefore, to create college campuses with a healthy climate, educators and psychologists must find ways to promote justice attitudes among non-Latino White students and foster racial empathy for targets of racism (p.95). They said: “White empathy refers to White students’ expression of empathy through a deep understanding of their fellow students’ experiences, especially those of racial and ethnic minority students suffering from racism”, (p.95). Educators and counselors must work together in helping students to better understand how to appreciate differences between groups. Chao et al., underlined in their study that to be able to understand individuals’ perceptions toward diversity, researchers have proposed the concept of openness to diversity (OTD), which refers to the appreciation of similarities and differences across cultural groups (p. 96). Open to diversity (OTD) also involves students ' interest to know more and more about unfamiliar cultures without assumptions. They said that “OTD moderates the relationship between White racial identity and White Empathy”, which means that when White students have greater OTD, they may be more likely to understand how minority students experience racism and when White students are less open to diversity, they may also be less willing to consider different perspectives on racial issues (p.
Meanwhile, as the pressure of schools losing their students due to dropout, it is important that the inner city students have the support they need in school or at home, because many years of oppression have kept African-Americans from having the will to do better. Now young African-Americans have that same oppressed feeling in the schools that they are attending. When the students give up it seems as though everyone around them wants to give up. In fact, “In many parts of the country, the problems present withi...
The first chapter is about the origins and the purpose of CRT, the second chapter is an analysis of the methodological tools of CRT, the third chapter highlights the key themes of CRT, the fourth chapter provides us with some useful information about the racial inequalities in education and the last chapter is about the influence of CRT in education and the way that it helps us to understand some racial inequalities that take place in the field of education. 1. What is the difference between a. and a The Origins and Purpose of Critical Race Theory. Critical Race Theory (CRT) comes from the scholarship of Critical Legal Studies (CLS) which has observed the continuing domination and power of some groups, such as males and whites, over some other groups and it has argued that political and social change was necessary (Taylor, 2009). Derrick A.... ...
Intersectionality was one of the greatest concepts this course shed light on, intersectionality is can be broadly defined as the coming together of various social groups to work together to fight against forms of oppression. In the conceptual frameworks portion of the book Readings for Diversity and Social Justice, they talk about the importance of privileged identities and disadvantaged identities coming together to work towards solving a particular issue. While before taking this course I was somewhat aware of the various forms of oppression, I never gave much thought to how I could help combat forms of oppression that I did not necessarily experience with my own identity.
The California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI) has several characteristics, including truth seeking and open mindedness (Laird). The CCTDI says that “Open mindedness incorporates one’s tolerance of different viewpoints and sensitivity to one’s own biases” (Laird, 368). “Items on the CCTDI used to measure open-mindedness include ‘It concerns me that I might have biases of which I’m not aware’” (Laird, 368). In order to address and perhaps minimize biases, exposing students to a diverse educational setting has proven to hep develop critical thinking skills needed to reflect on current prejudices. Indeed, “involvement in diversity courses…may be a curricular mechanism for students to develop the habits of mind of a critical thinker” (Laird,
“Consciousness is defined as everything of which we are aware at any given time - our thoughts, feelings, sensations, and perceptions of the external environment. Physiological researchers have returned to the study of consciousness, in examining physiological rhythms, sleep, and altered states of consciousness (changes in awareness produced by sleep, meditation, hypnosis, and drugs)” (Wood, 2011, 169). There are five levels of consciousness; Conscious (sensing, perceiving, and choosing), Preconscious (memories that we can access), Unconscious ( memories that we can not access), Non-conscious ( bodily functions without sensation), and Subconscious ( “inner child,” self image formed in early childhood).
Analyzing Your Cultural Eye has been a move I frequently use this semester. Conversing with my daughter in law, Ashleigh about Black Lives Matter is one example. Ashleigh’s father is a cop, in California and my son is a black teenager with a driver’s license. Because of our backgrounds and experiences, we view the Black Lives Movement from complete opposite ends of the spectrum. When speaking with Ashleigh or communicating via social media, which can be taken out of context anyway, I am trying to be more cognizant of why she feels the way she does and am trying to give her things to think about in a way that doesn’t elevate one position over the other.
Explaining Consciousness Provides Physicalism With Challenges That Place Limits On Scientific Knowledge, And What It Can Uncover About Consciousness