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Final Blog - 3 things that I think will stick with me.

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 I really loved taking this class this semester. I experienced a whole range of emotions. I started the course four weeks late, which required some adjustments, but in the end I really enjoyed how the course stimulated our thinking and brought out the best in us in terms of thinking and critical thinking. We read a lot of articles and watched several documentaries, each as interesting as the last. I learned a lot in this course. The ability to express ourselves freely demonstrates that this is a democratic space, even when we disagree. Plus, I really enjoyed sitting next to Grace, Gavin and Amara who I passed yesterday in the school hallways. This became our unspoken rule and we formed a dynamic group. Overall the experience was fantastic, although it took a long time. I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Stevos' flexibility in completing our academic tasks. Several authors have influenced me, such as Finn, Shalaby and others. However, if I had to pick three to do the journey, it w...
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Blog # 11 - Sex and Gender-Based Systems Read RI Laws and Policies Woke Read Aloud: It Feels Good to be Yourself

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This week’s readings are as follows: the “Rhode Island Guidelines for Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Students” (2016), the essay "Queering Our Schools" (taken from the volume “Rethinking Sexism, Gender, and Sexuality”), and a read-aloud of Theresa Thorn’s book, “It Feels Good to Be Yourself”, produced by the "Woke Kindergarten" initiative. Together, these resources blend policy, theory, and pedagogy to focus on creating safe and affirming learning spaces for all students. As an educator in Providence, I find the Rhode Island guidelines particularly significant, as they establish a compassionate and legally grounded framework for supporting transgender and gender non-conforming students. Doing those policies is a way to guarantee safety, confidentiality, and respect for every student’s identity within a diverse and secure environment for all. The essay "Queering Our Schools" challenges us to think beyond simple anti-bullying rules and to adopt an int...
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Blog # 9 - What Is Neurodiversity?

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Neurodiversity: Definition and Movement Neurodiversity is a concept and theory that refers to the natural cognitive and neurological diversity of the human species. It posits that differences in neurological functioning—such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and high intellectual potential—are normal variations of the human brain, rather than pathologies or impairments. This movement was initiated by an Australian sociologist who is herself on the autism spectrum. Singer viewed neurodiversity as a social justice movement aimed at promoting equality for what she termed "neurological minorities” individuals whose brains function in atypical ways. The struggle for these minorities cannot succeed without addressing the root cause of the problem: neoliberal capitalism. The neoliberal capitalist system is a global economic and political model in which the market dominates every aspect of society: economic, political, cultural, and legal, replacing the earlier model of national, state-regulat...
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Classroom Observation

 In my observation school, one student reminded me of the "troublemakers" at Shalaby: Soren, a fourth-grade student, white, a bit reckless, and prone to challenging authority. During encouragement days, the teacher creates a roundtable discussion to praise and encourage (and criticize) the students who have behaved well and those who have been disruptive during the past week. Soren is the one who always goes against the grain, even if everyone gets in his way. During my second week of observation, after a series of encouragement and criticism, obviously directed at Soren, the teacher posed this question: Does everyone feel good at school? with the environment? As always, the majority of students answered in the affirmative. Surprisingly, Soren asked to speak and said the following: "I hate school and the environment because you're all sucks." The teacher, who is originally from France, didn't understand at first, so I explained it to her. She then lashed out...
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Blog #9 – Troublemakers by Shalaby

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  Since my arrival here nearly four years ago, the teachers with whom I have interacted have consistently expressed their distress and their recurring sense of powerlessness in the face of agitated and impulsive children—children who struggle to internalize boundaries, the kind of children who "drive you to the brink," as A. Ciccone (2006) so aptly puts it. This issue raises the question of internal security—not only for the child but also for the adult. It is a lack of security that triggers aggressive behaviors in the child—who feels threatened—and that provokes destabilization—or even a breakdown—in the adult, who, in turn, feels wounded and profoundly vulnerable deep within themselves. Indeed, examples abound of children described at school as hyperactive, struggling to follow rules, lacking concentration, or frequently refusing to learn—children who not only spark anxiety in teachers regarding their academic future but also leave them feeling insecure, for they act as ...
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Blog #8 - Literacy with an attitude by Patrick J. Finn

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  In the second chapter of "Literacy with an Attitude", Patrick Finn draws upon the pioneering research of Jean Anyon to reveal how schools serving different social classes prepare students to occupy very distinct roles within society. He identifies four types of institutions, those intended for the working class, the middle class, the affluent professional class, and the executive elite—and explains that each conveys subtle yet powerful messages regarding students' identities and what they can expect from the world. Meanwhile, in 1960s France, public authorities were expanding access to education in the hope of making society both more prosperous and more just. Amidst this drive toward a liberating school system, Pierre Bourdieu and Jean-Claude Passeron—in “Les Héritiers” (1964) and subsequently *La Reproduction* (1970)—analyzed social inequalities regarding access to and success in university (and, more broadly, in schools) as the inevitable outcome of the functioning o...
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Blog #2 – The Broken Model by Khan

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  The way Khan portrays the school system as a "broken model" compels us toward a form of introspection that is both stark and undeniable: many of us passed our exams—some even excelled—all while silently accumulating gaps in our knowledge that we subsequently chose to conceal rather than to fill. His concept of "Swiss cheese learning" is not merely a metaphor for missing content; it serves as a diagnosis of the fragility of our understanding when we are advanced to the next level before we are truly ready. When I picture the student who scores 75% on an exam and is assured that everything is "fine," I see a person being subtly taught that partial understanding equates to total mastery, and that feigning knowledge is safer than admitting confusion. Over time, this message seeps into the very core of one's identity: assertions such as "I’m terrible at math" or "I’m just not cut out for science" stem less from innate aptitude than fro...
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