Current Elementary School Issues Article
http://cie.asu.edu/ojs/index.php/cieatasu/article/view/1056/421
The article I chose to read addressed the lack of equity pedagogy in the elementary mathematics setting. Specifically, Christa Jackson, the author of this article, speaks about the idea that African American students in elementary school settings are not treated fairly and included as they should be. Their cultural values and norms are not considered and it is unfair to those students that are African American. This article specifically states themes that should be present in culturally relevant pedagogy practices. These themes include specifically relating mathematics lessons to African American students’ lives and their individual experiences, the idea that teachers should use a variety of instructional strategies, teachers should achieve accomplishing a positive community in their classroom, and several more about relationships with the African American students and their position in the classroom. The article, by using anecdotes of teacher’s experiences discusses how much of a problem this is in the classroom, specifically referencing examples of African American students being left out entirely and their cultural views and values being looked over completely and not paid attention to. Although the article was longer in length, the focus was on the examples they gave and the way these problems can be worked around and plausibly fixed in the longrun. In my opinion, the facts were concrete, the examples were appropriate and the suggestions were valid. But, I did have a few outstanding opinions on the paper. I do agree that African American students are not include and understood as well as they should be in some classroom settings, but this article made it seem as though no other culture is not equally include in the classroom. To achieve equity pedagogy, teachers need to also take into consideration the rest of the cultures around the world. There are many cultures in each classroom
The article I chose to read addressed the lack of equity pedagogy in the elementary mathematics setting. Specifically, Christa Jackson, the author of this article, speaks about the idea that African American students in elementary school settings are not treated fairly and included as they should be. Their cultural values and norms are not considered and it is unfair to those students that are African American. This article specifically states themes that should be present in culturally relevant pedagogy practices. These themes include specifically relating mathematics lessons to African American students’ lives and their individual experiences, the idea that teachers should use a variety of instructional strategies, teachers should achieve accomplishing a positive community in their classroom, and several more about relationships with the African American students and their position in the classroom. The article, by using anecdotes of teacher’s experiences discusses how much of a problem this is in the classroom, specifically referencing examples of African American students being left out entirely and their cultural views and values being looked over completely and not paid attention to. Although the article was longer in length, the focus was on the examples they gave and the way these problems can be worked around and plausibly fixed in the longrun. In my opinion, the facts were concrete, the examples were appropriate and the suggestions were valid. But, I did have a few outstanding opinions on the paper. I do agree that African American students are not include and understood as well as they should be in some classroom settings, but this article made it seem as though no other culture is not equally include in the classroom. To achieve equity pedagogy, teachers need to also take into consideration the rest of the cultures around the world. There are many cultures in each classroom