Social Justice

Social Justice is the idea of creating a society that is based on the principles of equality.  Social Justice in the classroom has many problems.  People believe that it is wrong to teach social justice in schools.  This is because they just want to teach the children the basic things of schools.  They are scared to bring up race, gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation because of the questions and arguments that go along with all of these.  This things are all differences among people in the world and that is what makes us unique from one another.  So I believe that social justice should be taught in the classroom.

A big problem with social justice is homosexuality especially many years ago.  Schools are suppose to be safe and comfortable learning environments for all students.  But everyday, children who are starting to notice that they are attracted to the same sex, feel very lonely and not accepted in school.  All schools teach about relationships and families as having a mother and father.  They never teach about a family that has two mothers or two fathers.  Homosexuality is becoming more and more apparent and it should be taught in schools.  People who are homosexual feel like they are different and not accepted because people are so against talking about it because it is different then what it supposed to be "normal".

People who are attracted to the same sex have a higher alcohol rate.  This is because they are trying to drink away their problems.  They feel as if people will laugh at them and call them names because of who they are attracted too.  Also homosexuals have a higher rate of suicide because they feel unaccepted and different.  This is completely wrong.  That's why I believe that homosexuality should be taught in the classroom as a part of Sex Education.  If this is taught and people know about it, it wouldn't be as "weird" to them and people wouldn't have as much of a hard time coming out. 

The new slang words such as "faggot" and "that's gay" need to stop.  People who say it don't mean what they literally mean.  But people who are homosexual get very offended by these words and this is what leads who depression and suicide.  This is why I believe that Social Justice of all aspects should be taught in schools, so children know from a young age that everyone is equal no matter what.

www.atypon-link.com/AAP/doi/pdf/10.1375/ajgc.18.1.76
www.critpath.org/pflag-talk/socialjustice+churches.html 

Idealism

Idealism was discovered by Plato.  He believes that ideas are the only true reality.  He thinks this is the only one worth knowing.  Reality lies within out own intellect.  Plato who is the father of Idealism explained this view in about 400 BC in his book "the republic" and it has been around since.  Plato believed there were two worlds.  The Spiritual/mental world and the appearance world.  This is what we refer to as the duality of mind and body. 

Idealism in critical in the classroom.  This philosophy helps better the society by discovering each students abilities.  This occurs most in literature, religion, philosophy, and history.  I believe this is a great way of trying to teach a child.  Since different children learn and behave in many different ways, teachers have to know how to deal with all these different children.  A teacher should definitely should know this philosophy because it encourages the children to learn on their own and strive for achievement.  

Inclusion in the Classroom.

When I first thought about the idea of inclusion, I didn't think of it as a good idea.  Inclusion is when you mix the children with disabilities with children who do not have any learning disabilities in the same classroom.  I thought that it will have a negative effect on both of the children.  The children with learning disabilities might feel not as smart as the children without any learning difficulties.  Also these children might not get the full effect of of the learning experience.  This is because the class might go too fast for them and these children might not ask all of the questions they have because they could be embarrassed.  It could have a negative effect on the children with no disabilities because the class could go too slow for them and they might not get to learn all they need to in the class they are in.  So I asked the question of what could be the good side of inclusion.  I learned that an inclusion classroom has two teachers.  One teacher is a regular educator and the other is a special education teacher.  Also the children in the class are not to know who has the disabilities and who does not.  Inclusion has some very strong pros for children with disabilities.  They get to be in a regular classroom with all of their peers.  They do not feel different as they would in a special education classroom.  This helps children who might have autism make friendships with other children since autism deals with social interactions.  It also has some good effects on children without any learning disabilities.  They don't know who the children are who have disabilities, they only know they are in a classroom with some children who have unique abilities.  This allows children to interact with other kids who may learn differently.  This helps because in the real world everyone is different and people learn and do things differently everyday.  The only bad thing about inclusion is that the teachers might spend more time on children with learning disabilities even though they are not suppose to.  So overall, after researching inclusion, my whole outlook on inclusion has changed for the better.

Homosexuality in Elementary Schools

After reading Chapter 3 in the McNergney book, I have come to the conclusion that I believe that teaching students about different sexualities is acceptable.  This is because if a student grows up thinking that the only thing acceptable is a men with a woman, then they might be scared to come out to people if he or she is gay.  Many young teens commit suicide because they are gay and don't feel accepted.  So i asked the question of how people stand on teaching about homosexuality in schools.  When I researched this question, I found something that troubled me.  I found that in Tennessee, they passed a law that you can't talk about homosexuality in elementary or middle schools at all.  Gay-rights advocates were all over this new law.  They law only prohibits talk about homosexuality but they can talk about hetersexuality.  This is completely wrong! How are you going to let children talk about one sexuality but not another.  People don't choose to be gay.  If they like their same gender, then it should be fine.  This is the same as being prejudice.  We as a nation have gotten past the whole race thing basically so why are we started another war with sexuality.  This is ridiculous.  The gay-right advocates are saying that this is discriminatory because they are saying that homosexuality is off limits but heterosexuality is not.  What if a student in the class has a gay brother or sister?  They are refused to talk about it to anyone.  Since they are prohibited from talking about it, they must see it as something bad.  I can't believe that Tennessee has really passed a law that is so wrong.

Source Used : http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/28/tennessee-bill-seeks-to-forbid-talk-of-homosexuality-in-grade-school/

Bullying in School

Bullying in schools has became a very big issue.  Children have always bullied one another but it's getting worse.  With today's society, all the bullying and violence has become much worse.  There are worse gangs around and mostly more weapons.  If people are fighting each other when it's other, it usually begins with bullying as children in elementary schools.  Bullying just became a big concern, people in the past didn't really care for it before.  They thought that since all children have been bullied or bullied other children, that it was just a phase and it would go away.  But I believe that it should stop and it won't stop unless we try to help stop it.  Every state in the U.S. needs to pass a law to stop bullying.  But I wonder how they can pass a law to stop children from making rue remarks.  Children always say mean things to each other but it needs to stop.  As of 2003, 15 states have passed laws to stop bullying.  The definition of bullying varies in many states but it comes from the same basis which is the same as harassment and intimidation.  In 6 states, when people see bullying going on, they have to report it to the police.  The school officials stated that children who are being harassed can not learn in that kind of environment.  The procedure for the laws in school has a detailed guide for how to enhance the discipline strategies.  It always has a plan on how to respond to complaints by parents of those who get punished because of bullying.  Also every school needs to have a go-to person that is there for children who are getting bullied on how to handle the pain and the teacher all have to take a course on how to help stop bullying in the classroom.  I believe that there needs to be an end for bullying.  There are too many young children who are committing suicide because they cannot take the humiliation of the bullying that is happening to them.

http://www.columbian.com/news/2011/feb/20/school-districts-take-closer-look-at-bullying-hara/

www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/hhs_psa/pdfs/sbn_tip_6.pdf

Why to teach

Teaching is a job not everybody can do.  You have to have a lot of patients and love to be around kids.  There are very different reasons people choose to teach.  One reason is to be apart of the next generations lives.  Another reason is to have the  mind of children expand.  Teachers try to have their students be curious about different topics in education.  When they are curious they will want to learn more about the topic.  The three most important characteristics you have to have being a teacher is kindness, patience, and understanding.  Teachers like to watch children succeed in life.  When their students understand something after they teach it, teachers are ecstatic.  They want to send their students down the successful path in life.  The main reason why I want to be a teacher is to make a difference in their lives as my teachers have made in my life.  Also to help children in the society.  I want to help people in the society and there's no better way then to help a student's brain develop.  All of these reasons make me think that teaching is a very complex job.  When I told my family that I chose to be a teacher, they all told me that they could never do it.  You need to have special characteristics to succeed in the field of education. 

http://www.yic.gov/publications/tenreasons/

About Me

Hi everyone, my names Amanda but i go by Mandy.  I'm a sophomore at Salem State and I'm majoring in Elementary Ed and Sociology.  I've always wanted to be a nurse until recently when i changed my mind to teaching.  My interest in children grew when my niece was born.  She is two now and I'm with her everyday.  I hope to someday have an impact in many children lives as my teachers did when i was young.