Gender Social Injustice Event Blog

Gender: A Restorative Way of Thinking

When you are bullied in school based on gender, you feel unsafe to be in this community and feel too shy to tell someone. If that is the case, then one productive action to take would be to come and visit one of gender studies’s powerful seminar hosted by a powerful speaker who really has a strong understanding on how to solve gender and social inequalities in schools. 

For example, on October 17th, I went to visit a lecture on Preventing Gender Based Violence through Restorative Justice hosted by a powerful woman named Kiara from Pawtucket, RI. This lecture talks about how people with different genders are bullied and provides some solutions on how we shall prevent others from bullying. This can be involved and take place at home, school, and/or any other location. As she talked about the basics of gender bullying, Kiara talked about how we should use restorative justice (such as talking to others and discussing how can we solve this issue) rather than retributive and punitive justice. For example, if gender bullying happens at school, I believe that there is a guidance counselor or possibly a school principal that we should talk to in order to get restorative justice instead of just being punished by rules. Gender is a voice, a voice where you speak up for yourself and not be shy or too afraid of the bully. Despite this example, I found three articles from Johnson, Delpit, and August.

Connection 1: Johnson’s Article

My social justice event connects to the first article from Allan Johnson’s article, Privilege, Power, and Difference. From this article, Johnson argues about how important it is to talk explicitly about issues of privilege, power, and difference and work towards a more just and respectful world. One quote that I found that connects Johnson’s argument to my gender social justice event really exhibits a powerful message that says, “WE CAN’T TALK ABOUT IT IF WE CAN’T USE THE WORDS” (Johnson 11). This powerful message teaches gender-based students how to speak up when being bullied and be an advocate for yourself. Additionally, let’s talk about another author that argues about power and what rules and codes we shall teach to the kids in line with the message of the social justice event.

Connection 2: Delpit’s Article

My social justice event connects to a second article: Lisa Delpit’s article, The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People's Children. From this article, Delpit argues that other teachers explicitly need to teach the rules and codes of power to students who haven’t learned it at home. These rules are explained as Delpit Moments because they “are a reflection of the rules for the culture of those who have power” (Delpit 24). This means that teachers can have the authority to teach students how to speak up for yourself and not feel like you are left alone and being miscommunicated. This message reflects the same message about teaching students to speak and stand up for themselves as it is portrayed in the social justice event.

Connection 3: August’s Article

My social justice event connects to the third and final article from Gerri August’s article, Safe Spaces: Making Schools and Communities Welcoming to LGBT Youth. From this article, August argues that people can’t learn if they don’t feel safe and makes a suggestion that schools need to work on how students can express feelings about themselves whether they have a gender problem or not. While doing this, August targets any teachers who really want to help students feel safe by saying, “any adult interested in creating safe spaces for LGBT youth needs to consider the impact of schooling on the social and psychological development of young people” (August 84). This means that you can bring discussions into the table for students to listen and learn how to solve solutions while standing up to someone who is bullying those particular gender-based students.

In conclusion, my social justice event connects to many different arguments on how we should solve a gender-based bullying problem. All of the three ladies above show we can use a restorative way of thinking rather than punitive and retributive ways of thinking for all teachers. They all explain differently, but agree on a direct solution to stop gender-based bullying in schools. To learn more about restorative justice and to stop gender-based bullying, visit some of the hyperlink articles below. Thank you!!

Hyperlinks:

1. https://www.weareteachers.com/restorative-justice/
2. https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/restorative-justice-overview/
3. https://chalkbeat.org/posts/us/2019/01/04/the-first-gold-standard-study-of-restorative-justice-is-out-heres-what-it-tells-us/

Shor Blog

Education is a term of not just academic or social aspects, it is about politics. 

Ira Shor's article, "Empowering Education Critical Teaching for Social Change", is definitely an example of politics in education. Ira Shor writes and publishes this article to explain why teachers disagree on what curriculum they should follow by their school district. He offers a strong pedagogy for teachers. It also exhibits suggestions for teachers on how to transform approaches toward critical thinkings.






As I would like to talk a little bit about Shor's Article, I will extensively comment on Shaelyn's arguments about the article.

#1: Shaelyn's argument on "teacher and student" mutual respect

I believe that Shaelyn did a really nice job with arguing on how school classrooms should be places where you would get involved in a discussion with a teacher about your education. I think this a good thing because it should allow students to have more of a say in what they are learning. Students would have more of an interest in going to school and to learn. To back this up, I chose a quote from page 24 on Shor's article saying, "The authoritarian traditional curriculum itself generates bad feelings which lead many students to resist or sabotage the lessons." This quote shows how students act out when they don't agree with a teacher's bad curriculum. This quote goes to show that giving students more of a say shall avoid negative feelings toward the teacher and the curriculum

#2: Shaelyn's memory on her past education (Pre-College Memories)

I also believe that Shaelyn did a really nice job on her past education memories in her talking points section. This made me think of a memory of when I had struggled through certain academics like English and Writing. If I were to have a bigger voice, then I would've had more of an interest in those classes. This compares to Shaelyn's memory because we both have educational experiences where we wish we had more of a say in what we are learning.

In conclusion, I really liked Shaelyn's post overall because I liked comparing educational memories with hers. I also liked how her blog made me think about how teachers and students should have mutual respect for each other. For the article, I liked how Shor's argument toward a good education for students and how we should allow students to be in an open discussion with teachers. To wrap this up, I believe that both Shaelyn and Shor did a really nice job at making their arguments about education.

Brown V. Board of Education Blog

Brown V. Board Case: A Message of Inclusion

Segregation? Is that a good word for our schools? A good word to say in front of other Americans based on race? I must say, ABSOLUTELY NOT because I will tell you a brief history of what segregation means in the United States!!! 

From the early 1900s, the United States America was under a group of horrible racial laws called the Jim Crow Laws. These laws segregated all whites and African Americans from going to places equally during the first half of 1900s. On the education side of things, in the early 1950s, many African Americans were sick and tired of getting separate educational studies from other individuals.



All of this history led to the most ambiguous 1954 Supreme Court case called the Brown V. Board of Education. This will be the topic of discussion through quotes in this blog.

Quote 1: 

"Expectations regarding student achievement are frequently much lower, and there are lower levels of parental involvement. These, of course, are the very schools in which so many black and Hispanic children are enrolled."

This quote came from the first page of Herbert's Opinionated Article, "Separate and Unequal". I chose this quote because it shows the expectation of how minority students don't perform as well as whites do academically. Meanwhile, the 1954 Brown v. Board case targets better educational opportunities for all disregarding race and wealth. Because of this, there is absolutely no defense for rampant racism in public schools.

Quote 2: 

“Ninety-five percent of education reform is about trying to make separate schools for rich and poor work, but there is very little evidence that you can have success when you pack all the low-income students into one particular school.”

This quote came from the second page of Herbert's Opinionated Article, "Separate and Unequal". I  chose this quote because it shows how people are trying to create schools for the rich and schools for the poor. However, this can absolutely never work because the Brown V. Board Case tells that being separate is very unequal for all people who pursue the right education for success.

Quote 3: 

“So we're not talking about the Normandy School District losing their accreditation because of their buildings, or their structures, or their teachers. We are talking about violent behavior that is coming in with my first-grader, my third-grader, and my middle schooler that I'm very worried about” (Cirami).

This quote came from an Anti-Normandy protestor named Beth Cirami. For those who don't know, I believe that an Anti-Normandy protestor is something that you do not like about the Normandy School District. Anyways, back to explaining the third and final quote, I chose this quote because it is showing that they are ignoring and violating the 1954 Brown V. Board of Education by separating students by race. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY NOT RIGHT FOR OUR SCHOOLS!!!!!




In conclusion, we know that Brown V. Board Case tells us that we can make a difference for all who pursue the right educational needs no matter what status and background they may have. The first two quotes represent right answers, but incorrect ways of thinking. The final quote tells that Normandy is a place that has had previous Brown V. Board violations. Although, over 50 years later, people are still violating this case as a matter of justice. But guess what guys, IT'S ABSOLUTELY NOT OK TO VIOLATE THIS INSPIRATIONAL AND POWERFUL CASE OF INCLUSION AND EQUALITY.

Hyperlinks:

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/segregation-united-states

https://www.landmarkcases.org/cases/brown-v-board-of-education