Chelsea Needham - Blog #2

                This chapter I found to be a lot of information to take in, and it for the most part was very dense.  There were a few aspects that I could connect to that I found very interesting.  On page 49 it talks about how “white culture is often seen as the norm in most curriculums”.  This sadly is the case in most schools, even though some schools may not Caucasian is not the majority of the school.  In the school that I am doing my practicum the Caucasian children are the minority.  It really makes me think about how we are trying to develop the other students in our school.  How is it fair that students learn predominantly white culture, when we don’t try to make an effort to learn their cultures?  I believe that teachers need to make more of an effort to incorporate other cultures into our classrooms.

                The textbook also touches on how children are also impacted by the environment around them (43).  This is very true, children are impacted by many different aspects in their lives, and if they aren’t surrounded by a positive environment it can hurt them in the future.  Teachers can also help with this because they spend a great amount of time with their students.  If there is a positive environment in the classroom then it can help the children become adults who have a better chance in society. 

                On page 36 the textbook says “our decisions may be our own decisions, but they are greatly guided and restricted by the social structure that exists within each of us”.  This is a very interesting concept because as much as we think we are independent and we can think for ourselves.  For the most part it is our society that dictates our ideas, to fit in we try and say what we think others will want to hear.  I think it is important that we create critical thinkers instead of people who just conform to societies ideas.

Discussion Question: How do we create critical thinkers while still giving enough structure for our students to succeed?