Reading Patrick Camangian’s “Subverting
the Master’s Syllabus” I found myself nodding my head at his explanation of how
we as teachers can “translate personal experience into an American or World
History class”. I find myself
constantly trying to get my students to connect their world with that of those
who lived throughout history.
However, I am curious as to how this type of teaching can translate to
the other subjects – math and science in particular. What kind of
curriculum can we, as educators, create?
Patrick Camangian’s essay spoke of
connecting with students, and how important it is to know their
backgrounds. After teaching over a
hundred students in a year I have come to understand just how hard this concept
is. Regarding Camangian’s
thoughts, and what we have discussed in class how should we as teachers
overcome our own backgrounds to connect to our students in such a way that will
benefit them as students, and as individuals?
The United States was formed around
the principles of freedom of one’s self, including freedom of speech. Therefore, the new Arizona bills that
seek to restrict teaching courses that “promote to overthrow the United States
Government” cause a rock to form at the pit of my stomach. History is about learning not only what
our world and country has done well, but also about learning from our history and how we might
improve our world as a whole. If
we are to restrict such learning in the classroom as the Arizona Bill suggests,
where does it stop? Are these
bills even constitutionally possible?
Within a society such as ours, with
segregation and marginalization being so prominent, is it possible to create a
certain amount of equality within the classroom setting? How should educators go about creating
a safe and unbiased system where students can flourish? Is it even possible?
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