Diversity, Democracy and Ethics, EDUS202

Are you familiar with the term “deficit thinking” (a.k.a. “deficit model or deficit “ideology”)? If not, look up a quick definition. Have you seen evidence of deficit thinking in schools/society? Give an example if you can. If not, ask a question or comment on other folks’ comments. 

Keeping in mind that we want to interview teachers about what sort of organization would help to serve their needs to be empowered and free to teach as they see fit and to help provide a way for teachers to be in community with each other, please suggest potential question/s that we might include in our interviews. Feel free to include questions about how they think about their work, the purpose of schools, how they feel about school reforms (like school choice, etc.), why they became a teacher, etc. You are also welcome to comment on your classmates’ questions. I will take what you do in your blog posts and put together a list that will serve as the starting point for our work on Tuesday to develop interview questions. 

Let's use this space to start a discussion about teacher activism. Now that you've read Stemhagen and Sober (#16 in Course Readings on blackboard) share a question or some thoughts that you have about teacher activism. Possible topics: Did you find anything out that you didn't know prior to reading the article? If you didn't know much about teacher activism, why do you think that is? How does teacher activism make your feel? How does this relate to other things that se have read/discussed?

Pedagogy of the Oppressed  can be a difficult read. As I said in class, I am less interested in seeing that you get deep into the specifics of Freire's ideas and more interested in using it as a way to begin to think about what critical pedagogy is and how and whether it has a place in today's public schools in the U.S. So, for this post, please ask a question about the reading or about critical pedagogy in general. ***Metaphorical bonus points to all who attempt to engage with another student’s question.***

I hope you enjoyed the "This American Life" podcast about the Brooklyn Free School. There is a lot of conjecture about whether it is a good example of Deweyan educational principles in action or if it fails to capture the spirit of his progressive education. What do you think about it?

Jefferson was very interested in creating a meritocracy (leaders chosen for their talent, virtue, ability, etc.). Discuss the idea of meritocracy, either in Jefferson's time or how it seems to play out today. Some possible questions: Do we live in a meritocracy? Did Jefferson's ideas have potential to move us toward a meritocracy? What problems are there with the idea of meritocracy (in his time and/or ours)?