Education is like a jigsaw puzzle.

Education is like a jigsaw puzzle every piece is necessary and important. In educating a child there are many parts that goes into this. A child has to have teachers that want to teach, There needs to be an inviting classroom setting. There needs to be tools for the student to use to learn. There needs to be diversity and understanding of ones ethnic and cultural needs. There has to be a curriculum that is taught the way in which a child is able to understand and grasp. There needs to be respect and rules for children to follow. There needs to be different settings for learning. There needs to unbiased on the parts of teachers and administration. Children need to feel safe and secure. Teachers need to make learning fun, exciting and attainable. These are the peices to a puzzle and when all the pieces are molded together the out come is excellence.

Is Inclusion in Schools working?

http://www.learningrx.com/

http://www.4children.org/isssues/2003/january_february/special_needs_mainstram_classrooms

Inclusion of kids in Special Education started off being a great plan for students with special needs to be in regular classrooms. It evolved as a part of the Education Act in 1993 and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act in 2001. Research has showned that in today's classrooms teachers and students are not benefiting as much as it was originally planned. It is true that there are a wide spectrum of disabilities students in Special Education have and each disability calls for special attention with well educated and skilled Professionals. I believe that not all children benefit from being included in regular classrooms. I believe some children need the one on one attention and detailed instruction from their teachers in separated classrooms. If children that need that type of care are mainstreamed it tends to take away from the majority of kids that have mild or no learning issues. Students with special needs it can overwhelm the teachers and it is expensive to facilitate the staffing needed to handle each individual child's needs. I do understand the need to want to make all kids feel accepted and liked by their peers. I do understand that Inclusion tries not to stigmatize and label kids in Special education classes however in reality it's no secret that some kids require more assistance and aid than others. Kids in elementary schools don't really have issues with peer pressure and acceptance as do most middle and high school students. I believe that if separate classes are needed to help kids gain the needed skill and learning tools to receive knowledge then that is what should be used. I do believe special consideration needs to address thoroughly before kids with mild disabilities such as academic or mild behavior issues are placed into the Special Education program.  Inclusion has seems to be a great idea on paper but does it really help the student? Does it really make a child feel included. In my opinion it does not.

4 Approaches to Multicultural Education

http://www.intime.uni.edu/multiculture/curriculum/approachs.htm

McNergney, Robert F. Education: the Practice and Profession of Teaching. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/ Merrill, 2009. Print.

 

Schools today are trying to promote diversity amongst students and teachers. They are trying to make classrooms learning facilities to welcome the contributions of each culture represented there. One way that this is address is by using the 4 approaches to Multicultural education. The Contributions Approaches uses the least amount of involvement. It does not change the curriculum at all. It does use books with cultural/ethnic subject matter, it does celebrate holidays such as Martin Luther King and special events such as a Multicultural food day. The Additive Approach is added to the curriculum but does not change its basic structure. In this approach content, concepts, themes, and perspectives are added to the curriculum without changing its basic structure.The Transformation Approach changes the curriculum. It allow all students to see concepts, issues, themes, and problems from several ethnic perspectives and points of view. The Social Action Approach is the Transformation approach put to action. I feel the last 2 approaches are really needed and desired  from students. If a student is able to learn about other cultural contributions and it own then there may be a higher self-esteem and expectations There needs to be reform in today curriculum in schools. What do you think about Multiculturalism? Is it attainable?  Multicultural approaches to education sounds just fine to me.

Labeling??

 

http://www,edycatuib,cin/refernce/article/advantages-disadvantages-labeling

http://www.multculturalfamilia.com/2011/06/13/at-risk-in-school-what does it mean/

Is labeling students in elementary really necessary? Is there an advantage to such tags? It seems that what started out as a great idea to combat the problems that students face in school as now gone sour. Too many kids are being targeted as being a potential problem before they even get a chance to develop and grow as a student. A student who fits one or more of these criteria are label "At Risk". If a student has at least one disability, been retained in a grade at least once, speaks English poorly,comes from a single parent home,parents are immigrants, is poor according to poverty limits or parents/parent is unemployed. This is supposed to be the criteria regardless of race or socioeconomic status however why is it that in urban schools the only students you see in these programs in large numbers are minorities. How is it that a child can be put in such a category that follow him or her for the rest of his school years solely on outside influences that may or may not effect his academic performance An excerpt from the book, Tyrell, by Coe Booth, a 15  year old minority high school drop out states:"Starting in first grade, them teachers took one look at me and stated putting me in programs for at-risk kids, then at risk boys, then at risk teenagers, Personally, I ain't never knew what the F***I was s'posed to be at risk of except growing up black, but ain't no program I know of gonna change that." how powerful a statement is that. It speaks volume. How many kids will feel this way because of being label "at risk" and being placed in special programs? There needs to be reform. Teachers need to see children as individuals and not have preconceived notions because of where a kid comes from or how a kid behaves. There are some that my argue that labels are necessary to get federal funding for programs. Others may argue that labeling brings public awareness to problems facing today's students. This all may have weight but it seems in public urban schools labeling is just modern day segregation and racism.

Why Teach

http://www.terry.uga.edu/~dawndba/4500FailingBlkBoys.html

Canestrari, Alan S., and Bruce A. Marlowe. "Why Teach." Educational Foundations: an Anthology of Critical Readings. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2010. 27-28

 

Why is teaching important to me? There are a lot of reason's I believe people want to become teachers. I comment the few that choose to go into this field. There is a need for devoted, unbias skilled teachers in the urban areas. Too many of inner city youth are fail and falling behind in school. The drop out rate is getting higher in High school. Why is that? I want to teach to help close the margins for inner city youth. My special interest is African-American males. In articles and stories I have read it seems there is a big problem of how young boys are taught in elementary school. Most of the teacher's today that work in the inner city schools are have no clue on the cultural differences of African- American kids. They are not equipped with the background to really understand what it takes to teach a kid from that Environment. How can you teach all kids to read one way when they all don't learn the same way. There needs to be more training on the part of teachers that teach inner city kids. There needs to be more effort and time spent learning how to reach each kid at thier cultural level. I want to teach because I want to be that beacon of hope for these kids. I want to see positive articles on the success in spite of social and economic challenges of these kids. I want to teach because I believe in kids and I believe kids have a lot to offer this society. They just need help starting off the ground. The article I have referenced is one that speaks volume to the reality that African- American boy are being failed by schools. I don't want this to continue and I want to be apart of change that I believe will happen.