“When people are placed in positions slightly above what they expect, they are apt to excel.”
~Richard Branson
I saw the following student work displayed in a 9th grade science class:
I waited for the teacher to turn around before I snapped the pic. I didn’t want her to know that seeing this caused me have an ulcer for the day. This is exactly what I taught my first graders when we were learning about the same topic. Something is horribly wrong here!
Lately, a running theme in my work has been observing urban educators with low expectations of their students. Many times, I don’t even think they realize they are doing it. I have been a part of multiple conversations recently where people use the label “SPED kids” or Special Ed kids”. This terminology makes my skin crawl. We have to look at the child first. People can say it’s all the same thing, but is it? I would rather hear “student with special needs” or a “student with a disability”. I heard a school administrator call a student: “the downs kid” – REALLY??? How about calling a student by name? Or saying the child with Down’s Syndrome? We must stop using these identifiers in this manner.
How can we better model and teach the language and practice of inclusion and tolerance? How do we change the discourse?
Comments welcome
EDspired 