TroubleMakers By Shalaby

 For My 5th Blog, I will be taking some quotes from TroubleMakers written by Shalaby.

Preface- "The more you refuse to hear my voice, the louder I will sing." This quote to me spoke volumes about what Shalaby was trying to showcase in her writing. When connecting it to the "troublemaking" kids, they are the birds that are being silenced or pushed away but they refuse to conform to the power that is shutting them down. In the education system, the rule followers and the submissive students are the ones categorized as "good kids" but I believe that Shalaby is posing the argument of what if the troublemakers are also considered good but just in different circumstances or environments. The reason they are considered bad is because they probably speak up or don't follow the absurd amount of structure and rules that are expected for them to follow, so when they are in the slightest form not following the rules, their behavior seems to be har more inappropriate than it really is because the lease that is set on them is one of stillness and submission. 

Introduction- "I was the adult, the teacher, the leader. He was the child, the pupil, the follower." This quote paints the picture of the culture of power, where a teacher leads, gives directions, and should expect for everyone to follow, and the student simply follows the directions they were given. As students, we are supposed to have a certain level of respect for teachers which I believe is good and can be healthy but a lot of times that respect becomes fear and then it becomes an unhealthy teacher-student relationship where all the power is on one side. 

Reflection- This piece was very enjoyable and it opened my mind to a new perspective on different behaviors by children. This text discusses the influence teachers have on students and dives into the unique individual characteristics each kind of student possesses, which play a big role in the classroom. As teachers, we are to make it more inclusive for all our students so that they don't feel caged in or dismissed. 

How Teachers Impact Their Students

  

The Academic And Social Values Of Ethnic Studies

Connection Post: In the essay "The Academic and Social Values of Ethnic Studies," Christine talks about how ethnic studies is important for students from different backgrounds. This connects with the idea of institutional oppression discussed in "The Four 'I's of Oppression." The essay points out that regular history classes mostly focus on white perspectives, leaving out the histories of black people and other cultures. The movie "Precious Knowledge" also supports this idea by showing how a Mexican American studies program at Tucson High School positively affected students, giving them a stronger sense of who they are and making them more excited about learning. Carlos's story in the essay illustrates how a Chicano studies program at a community college centered on his reality and helped him complete his BA degree in Spanish. A quote that stuck out to me in this reading was, "For the first time in his life, the curriculum was centered on his reality."  Overall, these examples highlight the importance of including diverse studies in education to make learning more inclusive and engaging.

Link for the image above: Jigsaw Puzzle Of Social Inclusion

The Four "I"s Of Oppression

 After reading and watching The Four I's of Oppression with Luna Malbroux, I gained a deeper understanding of these different levels and types of oppression. The four "I"s discussed in both the text and the video were ideological, internalized, interpersonal, and institutional oppression.

Ideological: To my understanding of these sources, Ideologies are society-built, rooted in culture, and passed down through generations. Ideologies tend to be the safe option or in-the-box thinking if you may. It is ideas and stereotypes that have been passed down and created to be the norm, and if you were to go against them or think differently you get scrutinized and looked down upon which can be very harmful and leads to oppression of those with different ideologies that may not be widely accepted.

Internalized: Internalized oppression comes from not fitting in ideologically or stereotypically with everyone else. When the idea of what is viewed as highly or worthy does not fit in with someone's characteristics, it often leads to "false supremacy or false deficiency within themselves in relation to others". These feelings lead them to think that the dominant group is simply better than them to the point that they'd choose them over themselves or someone like themselves. When people have this internalized oppression they try to compensate by overachieving in other areas in hopes of some approval, praise, or even some type of equality with the more dominant group because they don't see themselves as worthy or likable as them. Overachieving can be detrimental to someone's self-esteem and mental health because it means that they are finding their worth through an extrinsic motivation rather than an intrinsic one.

Interpersonal: This oppression ranges from thoughtless, impulsive comments to acts of violence, similar to Ideological oppression. What this does is normalize these biased behaviors and violence when expressed among groups with the same bias and beliefs. This is kind of like an unspoken kind of oppression/segregation. The people doing it might not be intentionally excluding others but the people being excluded see that they are not welcome and are left feeling "diminished, exploited, attacked, and dehumanized".

Institutional: Institutional oppression generally consists of larger communities of people like schools, neighborhoods, laws, etc. An example of this is the school funding system. Schools that are in more white dominant communities tend to have better resources and funding as opposed to schools in a mainly POC community.