Philosophy: Are Middleboro’s attempts to be inclusive to cultural minorities fair to everyone? Why or why not?
Religious Canadian holidays in an educational atmosphere deems to be difficult when trying to create an inclusive space for all students. Canada is known for its openness toward welcoming other cultures and as an educator, I believe that it is important to consider all students when it comes to cultural beliefs and create an inclusive atmosphere that strives to celebrate everyone. Hallowe’en happens to be one of those holidays where you are expected to attend school if it lands on a weekday, as it is not deemed a statutory holiday. With that being said, Middleboro’s attempts to be inclusive was fair to everyone. They were finding alternate activities for the students to participate in, rather than having a Hallowe’en themed party. They chose to take an inclusive approach. It was not a decision that affected the students who do celebrate Hallowe’en because when they arrived home later, they would still be allowed to partake in their Hallowe’en celebrations. In a school setting where not all students practice the same religion, it is important to keep them in mind when developing lessons and activities ensuring all students are feeling safe and respected. During my practicum, my teacher mentor provided alternative ideas to the Hallowe’en theme such as basing it around the season of Fall. Since Hallowe’en is not part of the curriculum, there is no need to cover it in lessons, but adapting the Hallowe’en theme to Fall, allows all students to be included and a chance to learn.
Implications for Practice: How might you maximize the benefits and minimize the limitations of journal writing for your students?
Understandably, journal writing and reflecting may not be the most exciting task for everyone. However, it is something that I find gets easier with time. I believe that the limitations placed with journal writing stems from the lack of understanding and reasoning behind reflective writing. Ensuring students understand the rationale of journal writing helps them to be informed and it places purpose on the task, therefore helping maximize the benefits. Throughout my education, we were given a journal to write in but I never fully understood why the students were expected to write in journals. Informing students about the benefits of journal writing such as, the opportunity to reflect on past occurrences, helping to achieve goals, improving creativity and improving memory, it gives journal writing a significant purpose toward achieving success. Furthermore, from my past experiences with journal writing, there has always been the stress of having it graded, which makes me wonder, how can personal thoughts and reflections be graded without underlying biases from the one who is grading the journal. Moreover, when there is the pressure of grades along with journal writing, it forces opinions and thoughts out that in some cases may not be true, but rather stated to please the reader and not benefitting the writer. In that case, I believe if the pressures of grades are stripped from the process, but rather a pass/fail mark for completion, students would reap the benefits of journal writing, thus setting the students up for success. In this reading, the teacher was worried after hearing negative talk surrounding his journal reflections. This shows that he cared and was finding ways to adapt to ensure there weren’t negative connotations attached to journal writing.
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Sociology: What is it about modern cultural phenomena such as video games that people find so threatening?
Modern society has shifted to a space where past ideologies are no longer deemed as acceptable. When looking at the reading, there is not much evidence proving that the violent behaviour exhibited by the student derived from playing violent video games, however, it is the subject of blame. The reading mentioned the game of “cops and robbers” and how those who played the game never turned out to be violent. Since then, games have surpassed the realm of imagination and shifted to a space where imagination is no longer necessary. The graphic and disturbing images that are rated “M” for mature manage to reach children who are not yet mature enough to be playing the games. Modern cultural phenomena such as video games are seen as threatening because it exposes children to graphic and disturbing images which children should not be exposed to. It is important to monitor the games children are playing to ensure they are not playing inappropriate games for their age. During my practicum, my Teacher Mentor and myself were on the topic of violent video games and discussed the importance of teaching children about appropriate behaviour and kindness. When students are exhibiting bad and/or violent behaviour, rather than placing blame on home life, focus on having a teaching moment and express the importance of educating children on being kind and compassionate humans.