The Learning Curve

The Learning Curve http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/ The Learning Curve documents the highs and lows of a first-year teacher with aspirations for every student to succeed, even the ones who resist meeting her halfway. en ams358@mail.harvard.edu Copyright 2011 2011-02-13T06:29:14+00:00 “Look at Egypt…” http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/article/look_at_egypt/ http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/article/look_at_egypt/#When:05:29:14Z
This instigated the 55 minute self-facilitated debate that got my 122 eighth graders so impassioned that they turned an organized 22 foot-wide circle into a 5 foot-wide huddle in under an hour. The huddled group of students were throwing out examples to support their positions that included Egypt's organization through the net, pornography, cyber bullying, digital justice, trust in one's government, internet addiction, wikileaks, freedom of speech, net neutrality, the origin of the net, necessary factors for a healthy democracy, fictional literary examples, historical examples, etc.

For 55 minutes, I sat in the back of the classroom and transcribed student speech (which was projected in real time using a document projector) and, as I had articulated to the class, I would not be allowed to speak until the clock ran the full 55 minutes. They had to self-facilitate, self-control, and self-reflect without the help of any adults.

Two parents happened to sit in on this lesson and both parents could not believe the skill-set demonstrated by the students' ability to clearly state their positions, synthesize to meaningful evidence, and evaluate the positions and evidence of their peers.

Here are some random excerpts from the transcripts:

T: Censorship may lead to a slippery slope in the wrong hands. It's a violation of the Constitution...the net is based on open perspectives.
...
D: It's already happening. One of my research articles says, "the government may block content without checks."
...
B: It's the parent's responsibility--not the government--to protect kids from pornography.
...
J: The more censoring, the less trust citizens could give to the government. Like, what might they hide from us? Take Area 51 for example...
...
A: Parents can't effectively censor everything out there---don't have the resources! It's not like a book; take Huckeberry Finn and how they took out the "N" word...
...
F: Look at Egypt...they just shut down the net because it was organizing the people...

The transcripts are then analyzed by the class (my highlights) for evidence of effective or ineffective debate skills.

The following week, students had to respond to this prompt (developed by both the social studies teacher and myself):

Dehumanization is a dangerous weapon of destruction that can lead to fatal consequences. If we could talk to the first European settlers of America, how would they justify their dehumanization of Native Americans and Africans? How would they defend their conquests while still believing in equality and freedom for “all” being essential to the growth and prosperity of the United States? Do you agree? Defend your responses with details and evidence.

It goes without saying, it's been one heck of a couple of weeks and the rest of the year is just going to get better. I love teaching, and more importantly, the youth are loving learning. ]]> 2011-02-13T05:29:14+00:00 Purpose of Life and Schooling http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/article/purpose_of_life_and_schooling/ http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/article/purpose_of_life_and_schooling/#When:01:25:32Z Race to Nowhere ; a film directed by Vicki H. Abeles, a mother concerned with the pace of her children's schooling.

The film delved into the world of competitive, even exclusive schooling and the need to always be better, do more, and be perfect. Students in the film spoke about health issues, self-esteem issues, suicides in their communities and their feeling of overwhelming gloom. What was it all for?

However, my close friends and I found ourselves perplexed by the film. It seemed, number one, that the film really focused on a small elite minority of communities where access to exclusive everything is the norm. Number two, even though the question of "What's the purpose of all this, anyway?" can be heard in classrooms across the nation, the film didn't attack this most critical of demands in education -- nay -- in life. Why was this question not tackled head-on in the film? Why did the panel after the film not make this a focus for discussion seeing that a lot of the students in the audience -- a majority being AP students, still wondered, "What's the point?"

Khadigah, one of my close friends and community development partner instigated a conversation that got me wondering: What did I see as the purpose of schooling when I was a student? And why did I love it, even with a workload that would keep me up at night?

We had our hypothesis. To us, as Muslims who had to in adolescence really define who we were as a religious minority in America, purpose became an early priority. We needed to know and be able to articulate who we were, what we stood for and why we did or didn't do things that in no way fit into the norm of mainstream America. Since our purpose as people had been defined by our religion, families, and our cultural upbringing, school was just another place to learn--and hang out with friends. No pressure. Furthermore, our particular community was one where the immigrating families brought with them their own educational values. These values which although held learning in high esteem (particularly learning the faith), did not value formal schooling, especially for females. Thus, success in schooling was a bonus if we happened to excel, but in no way did it define us as "successful" individuals.

The purpose of schooling for us then wasn't tied to our self-esteem.

Unfortunately, I feel today that external factors are becoming the sole definers of a generation of children. What you do, what you accomplish, who you beat and how much you make are the indicators of status today, not who you are, what you stand for or how you serve the greater good. In order for someone to be seen as a winner, there has to be a loser, and parents want their kids to make losers of a lot of other kids. As first-generation formal school-goers, in our families and communities, Khadigah and I didn't feel at all in competition with others; we didn't hate school or loathe doing pages of math homework. We were also not expected to go to Ivy League schools. Both of our mothers were illiterate and our fathers at work, so the pressure to be great at school--that wasn't coming from anyone.

It wasn't until college, after Khadigah and I both become more involved with religious community work and started our studies in education, that we started to see how knowledge was critical in the fight against injustices around the world. Our religion continued to define the purpose behind our actions and our "success" became how we served God by how we served the needs of our fellow human beings. Consequently, learning about the inequalities within education, we naturally expanded our life purpose to include our work. How do we define our purpose of education? To create citizens who will pursue social justice for all ethically, purposefully, and confidently.

In short, if people have not defined for their lives a sense of purpose, how could they define a purpose for their work? If life is a race to nowhere, then school is most definitely a gloomy bend on that trail.

Although religion has defined my sense of purpose in life and work, this doesn't have to be the case. But a purpose MUST be defined before educators mindlessly mold the minds of others. Martin Luther King Jr. said it best (and said it secularly):

The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. But education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society. The most dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with reason, but with no morals...We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character--that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate.

If we are not careful, our colleges will produce a group of close-minded, unscientific, illogical propagandists, consumed with immoral acts. Be careful, "brethren!" Be careful, teachers!

]]> Philosophy of Education, Social Justice 2011-01-12T01:25:32+00:00 A Tree Grows in the Gap http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/article/a_tree_grows_in_the_gap/ http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/article/a_tree_grows_in_the_gap/#When:19:25:03Z
I always like to read 2-3 books at a time because I easily become worked up when I read great books so I need to temper my cathartic outbursts by switching reads. I've recently had the above experience reading The Global Achievement Gap by Tony Wagner and simultaneously reading Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. It was a mistake to read these two books at the same time; there was no escaping maniacal readings.

In the non-fiction corner, Wagner's book is a look into how even the best schools in the U.S. are failing to prepare students to become "jury-ready" citizens who can actively, ethically, and purposefully engage in our democracy. In the fictional corner, Betty Smith highlights one family's experience with this nation's developing society with its politics, mores, and educational system.

Francie, the central character of Smith's story, through third person narration is brought to life as a young child growing up in early 1900's Brooklyn longing to find her place and happiness as maturity and knowledge of the world slowly chips away at her innocence. For instance, a teacher Francie loves condemns some of her stories she chooses to write about her flawed father as "ugly" and tells her to set fire to these pieces and return to writing beautiful prose about nature and the world. Francie is torn between the love of her father, her admiration of her teacher, and her palpable desire to become a great writer.

I ached when I read this section for two reasons:

1) Have I ever done this to one of my students?
2) It reminded me of my own moments wherein someone I admired said something so belittling and harsh that I wanted, concurrently, to scream and cry my anger and deflation to everyone.

Thankfully, Wagner swooped in with concrete actionable items to target when aiming to educate a generation of youth with little to no permanent damage inflicted. Repeatedly, Wagner mentions that when assessing for good teaching, one solid indicator is the asking of good questions which allow students to be co-facilitators in their learning. It is NOT a series of facts or opinions being doled out to be repeated back to the teacher or testing administration verbatim.

This put my aching heart at ease because I do demand that my students don't follow every opinion or statement I make in class blindly. I also force them to push-back when they feel I have inaccurately assessed any of their work. I just ask them to come with 2 things: Respect and Evidence.

Do I have every good intention possible when I teach my students? Absolutely. But so did Francie's teacher--her soul-crushing instructor. As Wagner and other educational researchers point out, good intentions aren't nearly enough--they're an unstated prerequisite. There's a learning gap for everyone involved in education: teachers, students, administrators, parents, community members, etc. However, it's in the gaps that true innovation and progress can be made towards true empowering education for all.

]]> 2010-12-31T19:25:03+00:00 “F” is Like a Bad Boyfriend… http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/article/f_is_like_a_bad_boyfriend/ http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/article/f_is_like_a_bad_boyfriend/#When:00:40:32Z
Yes, this has become my classroom philosophy since I discovered my students' absolute fear of failure/fear of not getting the "right" answer--a condition some French researchers are calling "intellectual timorousness" (read this article for more information on the French's "Festival of Failures").

Out of 130 students, 127 of them have "F's" in my class three weeks into the school year. As my last entry explained, the default grade in my ELA class is a "C"; however, after my first pre-assessment, it was discovered that the majority of students have skills below grade level or worse, are limited to basic memorizing and regurgitation. In other words, they lack critical thinking skills.

But this is all fine and dandy! I've worked with gaggles of students several grade levels behind in ELA and in one semester, they were right where they needed to be or better yet, well beyond their perceived potential. I put my sights on getting them to be expert critical thinkers, rolled up my sleeves, asked them to do the same and went to work.

And then I noticed it--the reason for my new "LOVE THE 'F'" philosophy which has got parents in a tizzy. When students would come in to write their 10 minute journals, pens and pencils would hover over their pages for more than half of the allotted time. When students were asked to brainstorm (no right or wrong answer--just spitting ideas on a page), pages would have 1 or 2 words after 3 minutes around loaded words like "American" or "Culture." When students were invited to share their unfiltered thoughts as a discussion warm-up, students would raise their hands enthusiastically and then drop them right down like a lead hammer--thunk--right back onto their desks.

And whenever I asked them why they hadn't written anything, spoken up, shared their ideas, the response was always the same: "It's wrong, Ms. Saidi." How do they know it's wrong? "Because--I don't know--I just know it is." Students have been conditioned for so long to think that there is always one, single right answer and that they MUST get it right on the first try that they have become timorous thinkers, never ever daring to transcend the boundaries of general statements or equivocal answers beginning with "I think..." or "In my opinion..."

"That's it!" I start one day. "How will you guys ever know if your thoughts are right or wrong if you don't put them out there? And so what if you're wrong?! Be honest--don't you learn more from your mistakes than you do from your successes?" Students nod in unison. "And great thinkers of the past--great scientists--if they did a hundred experiments to discover something, how many of the experiments are wrong until they get it right?"

"Umm--," starts a student, who then shakes his head no and shyly smiles avoiding eye contact with me.

"'Umm' what? Come on! This is what I'm talking about! How do you know you're wrong before you put it out there? How many of this scientist's experiments are going to be failures out of the hundred he conducts towards a great discovery?"

"Umm--99 of them?"

"Say it like you mean it!"

"99 of them!" he says smiling while other students chuckle.

"Yes! Every other experiment will fail somewhere until this scientist gets it right! And after every failed experiment, he'll take notes, make changes and do it all over again. And even when he gets it right, who is to say he'll be right forever?! Remember when the earth was thought to be the center of the universe? WRONG! Duh, it's not the earth, it's the sun, silly people. WRONG, again! And these theories were held for hundreds of years--some came with the threat of death if you challenged them (ask my ol' friend Copernicus, he'll tell you)."

So, I have a running joke with my students which helps them understand that failing is part of the process of authentic learning. I give them this speech:

"You have to learn to love the 'F' because the 'F' teaches you valuable information. The 'F' is like a bad boyfriend: he doesn't beat you or anything. He just isn't the right fit for you. But he's easy to get along with and he doesn't bother you or make you do anything you don't want to do. However, you look around and you see there are better boyfriends out there. Nicer ones who support their girls into getting into college or get them through difficult times. You've learned from 'F'--you've learned what you DON'T want in a boyfriend and you learned to appreciate those other boyfriends when you're finally ready to meet them. 'F' deserves some love like all the other letters, but you don't want to move in with the 'F', get a timeshare with him and most definitely don't want to marry the 'F'. So you thank him for his time and move on."

This speech goes over amazingly well with my students but not so well with parents. What puts the parents at ease is the fact that grades, like learning, are fluid in my class. If a student fails at a skill multiple times, but finally gets it in the end, his/her last grade replaces all previous grades. So the "F" is no longer a threat, but rather, as parents hope bad boy/girlfriends become, a passing phase.

]]> 2010-10-05T00:40:32+00:00 “Man, this class is pugnacious!” http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/article/man_this_class_is_pugnacious/ http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/article/man_this_class_is_pugnacious/#When:20:33:07Z

Things quickly got heavy with my new eighth graders as soon as I passed out the class syllabus which contains the following paragraphs (selected because they caused the loudest sighs of exasperation and/or shouts of defiance from my students):

*CRITICAL INFORMATION* “C” is the default grade for any assignment, NOT an “A” since an “A” means going over and beyond what is requested of the skill and requires further independent research from the student. See attached article for further explanation and reasoning for this grading practice.

and...

Students will receive a zero only when they fail to turn anything in demonstrating a total lack of effort. But let it be understood that effort does not equal passing. A student may try really hard but be focusing on the wrong skill-set and thus failing to accomplish the predetermined objectives. As long as a student works with me through successes and failures, he/she will be able to at least pass the course.

I made sure that students understood that "C" being the default grade means that when they step into my classroom on day one this week, they do not have an "A" in the course, but rather a "C". Some of you may be thinking, "Wow, Ammerah, this doesn't sound very democratic to me. This sounds almost draconian, perhaps dictatorial--and dare I say it, yes, even poopy." Or as one annoyed student put it, "Man, this class is pugnacious!"

However, the awesomeness that is a sincere concerted effort to create a culture of learning that is engaging, ethical, and authentic produces conversations like the following with my students:

Ms. Saidi: Ok, so I can see you are all annoyed, angry, maybe even scared. But what are you really angry about?

Student: We're all gonna fail! It's not fair I get a "C" on day one.

Ms. Saidi: Who said you "get" a "C"? It says on the syllabus on page 2, grades are earned in this class, not given. Have you earned an "A"?

Student: Yeah. I showed up, didn't I?

Ms. Saidi: Does a doctor earn a check just for showing up or does he have to produce some results?

Student: Ok, yeah--but this is just school.

Ms. Saidi: Yeah, so it sounds like school isn't important to you. I think I know why. Let me ask you guys something: What does a letter grade mean? What does a "C" mean?

Student: Average. An "A" means excellent.

Ms. Saidi: But what does excellent mean? What does average mean? (we discuss these terms a bit and I ask for evidence to support each definition)

Ms. Saidi: Ok, so let me see by show of hands, how many of you here have gotten grades in classes you haven't earned--meaning you walked out of that class and forgot nearly everything you were taught?

(Everyone's hand, including my own, goes up)

Ms. Saidi: Does that sound fair to you? That whomever gave you that grade lied to you--that they put a stamp on their work saying you understood the material even though you knew and they probably knew you didn't?

Student: Yeah. You know, our ELA teacher last year just had us watch movies and do worksheets for the last two months of school. (Other students proceed to share their examples of getting grades, not earning them).

At this point I give the following speech:

Ms. Saidi: Here are some numbers that I think will get you to see I'm on your side in the best kind of way. There is a 29% graduation rate here in Detroit for high school students--right here, in our city. This means that out of a hundred students who enter DPS schools, only 29 will make it out with a high school diploma. Now, of these 29% who make it out, there is a significant portion of students who are either illiterate or only functionally literate--simply meaning they can't read. (students are nodding their heads) Some statistics put Detroit's illiteracy levels anywhere from 33% of our population up to 49%. So, what did their grades mean? The grades they "got" which moved them from first grade, to second grade, to third, fourth, fifth, etc.

Students: Nothing.

Ms. Saidi: So my promise to you is that grades will mean something in this class. I will never lie to you. I will never falsely praise you. I will support you to help you truly "earn" grades and not "give" them just to get you out of my class. But your promise to me is that you won't ever quit. You'll accept that failure is part of the process--failure which won't hurt your grade in this class if you push through it. Your promise to me is this: I will chase the skill, not the grade. The grade will follow my skill.

And boom. It shifts. I smile from ear to ear when I look around the room and see students smiling back, nodding their heads and saying to me, "Ok, you got me. I'm in. Let's do this."
Why this whole note? This is all, of course, tied to the schooling failures of this country (and parts of the world) to produce happy, ethical, motivated, intelligent individuals. Instead, we are producing the opposite of each of these adjectives to the detriment of each of our communities--no matter how far removed you think you are, we're all interconnected.

As I wrote in my defense paper identifying the purpose of education to be social justice:

We live in an interconnected global society; one in which the pain and anger of an individual thousands of miles away can impact my comfortable happy life here in the U.S. instantaneously. Pearl Harbor, global warming, Rodney King's beating, Archduke Ferdinand's assassination, Columbine, September 11, 2001, and the economic crisis today are all examples of why we need to care about the health, safety, character and intellectual development of every individual in the world. All the money, power, or intelligence in the world will not stop the bullet of an immoral thief or mistreated/misguided youth. No matter if we reach the pinnacles of academic attainment or economic prosperity or domestic tranquility, if we do not explicitly teach that the protection of life and liberty for all humans is upon all our shoulders, the threat of destruction is forever present in each of our lives.

Get the word out. And to be concise, just share this video:

]]> 2010-09-11T20:33:07+00:00 Home at Work http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/article/home_at_work/ http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/article/home_at_work/#When:04:25:04Z
It was never my intent to move around in education as much as I have, but life is funny that way. I officially decided to resign from the public school system that I've waited six years to get into simply because I discovered a school that rocked my world.

The school is part of a national network of charter schools that not only talk about getting kids out and learning in the "real world" but actually build their schools inside public spaces (like museums and art colleges). My school is built into the first 3 floors of an art college where students in grades sixth through twelfth interact with faculty and college students in this prestigious art school in Detroit.

So what hooked me? Aside from living the public schools in public places philosophy, the school's focus is on creativity and innovation by any means necessary. Art is a core class (just like English, science or math) and a class on the Fundamentals of Design and Innovation. Furthermore, the school has made it a requirement that students must do regular field studies in their communities (and the world, if we so choose and get funding) and also develop adult partnerships. These field studies and partnerships are to be cornerstones for the youth to discover real-time problems in the world; and best yet, they must take two week's time to design a solution. In this process, they focus on stages of empathy building (perspective/purpose), ideaing (brainstorming), prototyping, field-testing prototypes, and repeating the cycle while understanding that failure is a requirement in the process of innovation.

Now, it has only been two weeks since I started this job (and it has only been professional development since the students do not return until the 7th of September), but I'm already a smitten kitten and I cannot wait to dive into this authentic world of education. ]]> 2010-08-28T04:25:04+00:00 Because I’m a part of it http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/article/because_im_a_part_of_it/ http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/article/because_im_a_part_of_it/#When:02:25:22Z U.S. Social Forum. Our presentation is called "Urban School Awakening: Critical Elements of Urban School Reform."

For our workshop, I've invited several students to help facilitate the break-out session of our presentation. I selected students who over the years have demonstrated the product of true liberating education. And what's the litmus test? I am getting wind that these students are getting in trouble in other classes for speaking up for themselves.

This is music to my ears because as our theory of action outlines:

"To combat the rigidity of dysfunctional school environments and didactic instructional scripts associated with underperforming urban schools, students must be the ones to demand a reevaluation of school practices and structures to best serve their educational and life needs."

And this is exactly what's happening to a handful of students. Students are advocating for themselves and their education.

While a student and I were meeting to discuss our presentation for the forum workshop, I asked her, "Why did you change this year? Last semester, you didn't care about school. This semester, you care more than anyone else."

Her response solidified for me the need for democratic education that treats students as thinkers and doers, and not pails to be filled. She answered, "Miss, I used to think school was nothing because it was. Teachers just gave us stuff. Now I feel I'm a part of it -- I'm a part of the learning." And this is all she needed to become the transformational citizen she has decided to become.

]]> Students, Teaching 2010-06-16T02:25:22+00:00 Inquiring Minds Want to Know http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/article/inquiring_minds_need_to_know/ http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/article/inquiring_minds_need_to_know/#When:02:59:12Z one!" voiced a brilliant woman today at our Detroit IDEA launch party.

This woman's emphatic declaration reminded me of a situation in my classroom this semester.

I have my students write reflection journals for the first ten minutes of class. On the first day, I discuss with my students the possibility of their opinions not being their own.

"Nobody tells me what to think or do."

"Yeah right--I don't follow anyone. They follow me."

"What? How's that even possible?"

"This is dumb."

Such is the start of this conversation with my students. I ask them to tell me what the first word that comes to mind when they think of the word "terrorist." They all scream, "ARAB!"

I then ask them to tell me who the best singer is right now. Out of 7 to 10 students, they all name 1 to 2 artists. I ask them to look at their shoes--out of 7 to 10 students, 1 to 2 brands are worn (Nike or Chuck Taylors).

Some students start recognizing a pattern. Even though there are 7 to 10 individual minds in the room, there are usually only 1 to 2 opinions. We discuss this and, not to outline the whole discussion here, the point is my students recognize they may have indeed lost touch with their own voices.

I then ask them to listen to their voices in their heads and write out the first sincere question they hear. Then I say this:

"Nope--not that first voice. That's MTV. No--not that one either, that's your friends. Nu-uh, that one is CNN and Fox News. Sorry--nope, that one is your mom. Turn them all off. Listen to that quiet little one that you might have buried a long time ago..."

At this point, a majority of the students start writing but one student always drops his/her pencil and asks, "But Miss! I don't have any questions! I don't wonder about anything."

"If that were true, you'd be braindead. And I can prove it. We all naturally question the world around us every day, every second."

I ask all students to drop their pencils and ask them to imagine the following:

"Take yourself back to when you are about 4 or 7 years old. You're in the backseat of your car on a sunny day. You're looking up at the sky and you notice the sun today. You notice the car goes right. The car goes left. You go straight. Right again." They are all intently listening, waiting for it...

"Now, what did each and every one of us--every single one of us in that very same backseat--what did each of us wonder at that very moment?"

Silence.

"OH! IS THE SUN FOLLOWING ME!" Everyone shouts in agreement--and then astonishment: "You too?! Oh my God! I swear to God I thought it was just me!"

And then all their childhood wonderings come out. Wondering how the leaves change color. Where does hair come from? Does God just push play on a video of our lives? Does my dad move the steering wheel or does the steering wheel move my dad? And the question that children really aren't having anymore thanks to cable: "Where do babies come from?"

We all wonder. We all want to learn. It's just a matter of learning to listen again to our wonderings. ]]> 2010-05-09T02:59:12+00:00 Pulling That Injustice Trigger http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/article/pulling_that_injustice_trigger/ http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/article/pulling_that_injustice_trigger/#When:00:45:39Z here).

What moved me about this student-led protest is that at such a young age, these students recognize how to magnify their power through unity against a single injustice: school cuts that compromise their education. From one Facebook invitation to protest these cuts that pulled their injustice triggers, 18,000 students were moved to the streets with signs and their voices.

Now, this injustice trigger--a trigger that instantly moves us to action--is something innate. Remember when we were children and we knew when things were unfair and glory be to God we had the pride and self-worth to be able to say right then and there staring into the face of our oppressors, "THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Slowly but surely, through the acceptance of certain authoritarian figures and structures in our lives, we learned to be submissive even when we have the right to get downright pissed and indignant. (See Milgram experiment and Stanford Prison Experiment for proof of our submissiveness.)

No. I don't like protests (not ones without some sort of economic consequence for non-compliance--think Montgomery Bus Boycott in the 1950's). But this protest is different simply because of the age of those participating. These young people, by following their injustice triggers into action, are stopping the submission process before it's too late -- that is, when they can't remember that they ever had an injustice trigger.

The proof is in the pudding.

About one student's reaction, Winnie Hu writes, "Emma Wolin, a junior at Columbia High, walked out of second-period Spanish with several classmates, even though the school had warned that they would face detention." This simple decision to face the consequences of her actions in order to uphold what she believes to be right makes Emma a hero. She is displaying the strength to overcome submissive social conditioning simply to act according to her principles--not her school's idea of "appropriate student conduct." Simply put, she is thinking for herself and what a victory for our youth!

This story proves beyond a doubt that if we reconnect our youth with their right to act against injustices with forethought and conscience, those youth would be a force to contend with.

"The tyrant, an individual, can never be stronger than thousands or millions, should they attach the proper value to their humanity, dignity, self-respect and freedom." ~Sayyid Qutb
]]> DemEd in Real Life, Social Justice, Students, Youth Leadership 2010-04-30T00:45:39+00:00 They Literally Threw in the Sink http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/article/they_literally_threw_in_the_sink/ http://democraticeducation.org/index.php/blog/article/they_literally_threw_in_the_sink/#When:02:35:18Z
What does this have to do with democratic education? It's a clear sign that the type of education they were getting was anything but. I remember reading Ain't No Makin' It by Jay MacLeod and it was in this book that I first learned about how acts of disobedience can sometimes be a way for someone to regain or attain power he/she has lost. This made me look at gum chewing, skipping, cursing, graffiti, and now sink-pulling in a whole different light.

When students respect what the institution they are in stands for, they respect the physical space as well. In Alternatives in Education Greg Goodman, an administrator in an alternative school, in order to assess if the students were actually learning in school, would at the end of the week check if there was writing or damage in the bathrooms in the school.

On a smaller scale, I use this same rule of thumb or paradigm to assess whether students are feeling empowered and cognitively challenged in our classroom. I check desks after they leave for writing or curse words; walls for paint peeling or writing, crevices stuffed with trash and candy wrappers, supplies gone missing or markers left uncapped. These are little signs that reveal to me if students are needing to attain power in destructive ways. In the beginning, there was a lot more of all of the above. Slowly but surely, this behavior has nearly disappeared. I even see and hear students reprimanding others for disrespecting our space.

But I'm looking for transferability--I don't just want my students respecting our classroom; I want them to respect the whole school and their community. This is how I know we as a class haven't just modified behaviors externally but we've touched minds and hearts with the liberating power of authentic democratic education.]]> Students, Teaching 2010-04-19T02:35:18+00:00