Krista- Blog 7

Chapter 7 focuses on “Structural and Social Inequalities in Schooling”. The three things that stood out for me was the sections on lone-parent families, children in care and statistics for Aboriginal students.

I will start off by saying I get upset when I see this research that states people like my son will never succeed because “research shows” that he pretty much should quit while he’s ahead. That’s the way I perceive the so-called statistics for children of single parents. I am a single mother and have been raising my son on his own for the past 7 ½ years, and yes, there have been struggles, but my son have been able to overcome every single one of them because I advocate on his behalf. As a training teacher, I really should not be speaking out about these injustices I have seen my son struggle through due to his special needs, but I am definitely using his experience as a learning experience so I know how to treat my future students. I am an only child and my son is an only grandchild, so I get a ton of support from both of my parents. They’re not there to hold my hand, but to lift me up when I need help every so often. In serious situations, they are willing to drop what they’re doing to help me if I really need it. We aren’t exactly financially stable, but we make do with what we’ve got and it usually works out for us most of the time due to budgeting. I suppose not everyone is fortunate to have supportive parents like I do, which is what probably leads to the drop out rates and criminal offense rates in children who have single parents. My son has a long way to go, but he is definitely in a home where his needs are understood and he is loved for who he is. I think it’s important to consider this when you have students who are from single parent families, and even then, there should really be no room for judgment because you don’t exactly know what your students’ parents are going through just so they can make ends meet.

Children in care is an issue that I am passionate about. I worked in CFS in 2005-2006 with some pretty  awesome children who came from all kinds of homes where they were abused, neglected or the parents were fighting for custody and using them, so they were deemed unfit and the children were taken away while they battled it out in court. As teachers, it’s important to know who these children are, what makes them tick, and what sets them off, because the time that they are in care is an extremely sensitive time for them. In the text, Mitic and Rimer argue, “to best help children in care, their teachers need to be kept informed about their living situations. Similarly, teachers need to be trained about how to be sensitive to the unique needs of this population” (204).  It takes a special kind of person to genuinely care about these children and really love them for who they are and applaud them mentally and emotionally for their strength in their time spent away from their families, especially Aboriginal children in care, which I will refrain from getting into because it can lead me into some pretty controversial opinions! All children in care need to be looked at like any other child in the class and teachers need to really be cautious and understanding. These are the children who bug the living crap out of you and are most likely the ones to disrupt the class. I am not one to be a fan of statistics, but when it comes to children in the child welfare system, the statistics don’t lie when they say most of these children are children whose mothers have abused alcohol and drugs while they were pregnant and were apprehended from the hospital. Imagine being that child, never knowing your biological parents, and never being able to have a relationship with them, and being bounced from home to home. I can’t agree more when the text says that teachers need to be sensitive to these children, because it really is a difficult time for all of them.

The text also talks about Aboriginal children and the “ways of knowing”. Going through culture shock, I can attest to this. I raised my son for two years to create my bond with him and then I made the decision to move to Winnipeg and continue my bachelor’s degree. It took me four years of taking classes that taught me how to think critically because I was never taught how to in high school. When I didn’t understand something, my mom said I need to argue or clarify with my professors that I have a different way of thinking and understanding the world, even though I was being graded to think in the most Western way possible, especially in many of my Psychology, Philosophy and English courses. The two departments I would have to say that allowed my way of processing information and was very understanding and compassionate about my thought process were the Womens and Gender Studies and Family Social Science departments. I received nothing but straight As in those courses because even though I may not have got the “big idea”, especially if it involved theory, my professors understood I didn’t have a Western way of thinking, and it was completely acceptable and they were interested in my way of thinking. I can’t help but thank the professors enough because it was so hard to earn all of my grades in my first degree.

Question: As a teacher, how can you create inclusive lessons that address all types of families, especially around Mother’s Day and Father’s Day? (For my son last year, the teacher said “Some friends don’t have daddies, so if you want, you can create a card for your uncle, your grandpa, or someone else who you look up to.” She even said that a child in her class made a card for her mom’s coworker who always has always sent her gifts home).