Passive Racism

FINAL PAPER for EDUC 221

FINAL PAPER: 150 points. A maximum of 15 points will be deducted for excessive
(more than 3) grammatical errors. Please staple the rubric to your Final paper.

Question 1: As the majority of students in teacher education programs are monolingual and White who have very limited experiences with children of color and English language learners, they also bring misperceptions, stereotypes, biases, and passive racism to their field experiences (Marx, p. 163).

a) Describe and discuss (1) example each of “white savior mentality” and “deficit thinking” that the White tutors had when working with Latino students. How did these concepts resonate with you? Explain how these two concepts are forms of passive racism
that interfere with teaching effectively? (15 pts, 2 pages) b) Identify and explain 2 reasons on why it is crucial that you, as a pre-service teacher, become empowered by recognizing passive racist attitudes and deficit thinking in the dominant culture in order to adjust your disposition in a professional manner.
What were some of the attitudes/dispositions that the tutors had before talking with Marx that you recognized in your own thinking? What are some steps pre-service teachers should take in order to value racial, cultural, and linguistic differences in the classroom? (15 pts, 2 pages) c) Describe how Marx’s study of White pre-service teachers helped you to deconstruct the neutrality of whiteness. Reflect on your own socialization into whiteness and the supremacy of whiteness as a value in the dominant culture. How does the ideology of whiteness socialize people to marginalize perspectives from people of dominated and/or immigrant cultures? How is whiteness hegemonic for Whites? Reflect on your role as a teacher in either perpetuating or countering institutionalized racism and classism. (25 pts, 2-3
pages)

Question 2: Compare and contrast the hidden curriculum for the majority of Black and Latino students in underfunded public schools in the U.S. and the hidden curriculum of Schultz’s democratic citizenship curriculum class project. Identify and discuss at least 3 positive outcomes for student learning while engaged with a democratic citizenship curriculum project. (15 pts, 2 pages)

FINAL PAPER for EDUC 221 (page 2 of 2)

Question 3: Identify and discuss particular chapters from Everyday Antiracism OR situations from Spectacular Things Happen Along the Way OR any of the readings that clarified ways for a new teacher to:

a) connect curriculum to students’ experiences and cultural identities by incorporating multiple perspectives. (15 pts, 1-2 pages) b) be responsive to student differences and that promotes development and learning for all students.
(15 pts, 1-2 pages) c) design and organize a classroom that reflects student differences and promotes issues of equity and access for all students. (15 pts, 1 page illustration and 1 page to explain) d) design disciplinary policies that are congruent with culturally responsive practices and promote equity and access for all students (including GLBT students). (15 pts, 1-2 pages)

Question 4: In Marx’s text (p. 165), she advocates that pre-service teachers enter the communities where they do their tutoring and student teaching as “learners” rather than as “authorities.” In addition, pre-service teachers should adopt a “funds of knowledge” philosophy. (See Blackboard, Content, Week 15 for documents with more background information about “funds of knowledge.”) Explain and describe 2 examples of how the “funds of knowledge” philosophy prepares a pre-service teacher to facilitate partnerships with families and the communities. What are some of other suggestions (as stated in class discussion) that pre-service teachers can do to teach for social justice? How does the “funds of knowledge” approach help teachers reject deficit thinking of students of color and students from working class neighborhoods and become an advocate for marginalized students? (20 pts, 2
pages)