All Students Need Anti-racism Education

https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/all-students-need-antiracism-education

action steps: 

1. re-evaluate curriculum: "students coming from positions of power need to see and understand the power and agency of those who have been historically disenfranchised, particularly since society frequently tells them otherwise."

2. help students understand privilege and power: "We need to teach students with privilege not to be “saviors” for historically disenfranchised communities, but rather to listen to, value and stand in kinship with them so we can work together toward justice."

3. interrogate how we have gained institutional power: "If you don’t have any Black students, why is that? If your school primarily serves folks with high socioeconomic status, what policies and events led to that?"

action steps:

1. re-evaluate and re-write ELA unit/social studies unit.

2. critical literacy. 

3. find allies. 

The perils of “Growth Mindset” education: Why we’re trying to fix our kids when we should be fixing the system

generic claims about the power of attitudes or beliefs isn’t just a risk of overstating the benefits but also a tendency to divert attention from the nature of the tasks themselves: How valuable are they, and who gets to decide whether they must be done?

the most salient feature of a positive judgment is not that it’s positive but that it’s a judgment; it’s more about controlling than encouraging. Moreover, praise communicates that our acceptance of a child comes with strings attached: Our approval is conditional on the child’s continuing to impress us or do what we say. What kids actually need from us, along with nonjudgmental feedback and guidance, is unconditional support — the antithesis of a patronizing pat on the head for having jumped through our hoops.

Academic language

Notes on NYSED Leadership MOOC-Expert Panel: Language Development

The value of these varieties (of non-standard English) for solidarity and for identification with the group oftentimes outweigh consideration of status or prestige or  social advancement. Kinda sad how this needs to be dissected and justified through academic lenses. The social reality is that dominant SES and political groups strongly influence what is valued in a society. (Freire & Macedo, 1987)
Teacher should help students extend competence rather than replace one variety with another.

How to tho?

• Providing opportunities for students to speak to each other

Help students build skills to not just share but go back and fourth in building/choosing ideas in extended conversations.
Think about how conversations could happen within an unit--elaborating, paraphrasing, providing evidence to establish goals for teaching. Ms. Trinkle not only has very high expectations for students to use their language but also explicitly teach/model how to build those skills. Additionally, the context is always authentic when it comes to the academic tasks she structured. 

Activity e.g.: students describe their idea or answer 3 times to different partners borrow ideas from previous partner to share with the next one. Double or triple round of turn and talk.

• Having English model

When it comes to schools high ELLs-linguistically isolated, teachers gotta be creative about having model to engage student in different types of language production.

• Listen to what students are saying.

Take a close look at the conversing. Are students engaged--do they really want to communicate with others?

• Valuing students' first language and encouraging them to be bilingual/see it as a positive assets.

• Figure out different ways to assess what's going on with linguistically rather than just look at vocab and grammar.

Acknowledging that hard to grab a hold of language development that involves discourse, having conversation, and word production. So finding ways to assess authentically is vital. Admins need to have a vision for that otherwise it's gonna be hard for teachers even if they want to do that. For Mandarin??

Caught Somewhere In Between

A friend once asked me how it is like to be an Asian in America. Such a convoluted question got me thinking real hard about my identity. I ended up saying, you know, I feel that I'm at this funny place where I can kinda pick and choose what I want to be. I could be a person of color living in the United States, when I had to pick a group (either POC or white) to participate in social justice dialogues. But not util recently I started to not take that identity for granted. Never equate me with a POC born and raise in the U.S. In the past short 5 years, I only have had a tiny taste of what they would have experienced throughout their lives. Different from them being born into it, how I have gotten to this point of being able to "pretend" to be a POC in the U.S. has to do with attending a predominantly white, private, east coast, liberal arts college, where I never felt that I belonged. Instead of positioning my Chinese (nationality) identity against "American culture" to wrap my head around the suffocating sense of alienation I experienced there, I turned to my non-whiteness for the sense-making. That was the result of 1, me being a history major and being keen on a multitude of social and historical issues in the U.S.; 2, the friendship I developed with my best friend from college, who has shared with me her stories of growing up as a Latina and a daughter of a community leader/activist in the racist America; 3, the opportunities provided by CPS that has educated me on social justice issues and given me the agency to see myself as a capable person. 
In short, I came to the States five years ago as a Chinese international student not  having the slightest idea of what I was getting myself into. Here I am now at Stanford, being trained to be an elementary school teacher in the state of California. I have worked in segregated public schools in 21st-century America. I have been empowered by Paulo Freire and all the other educators advocating for emancipatory pedagogy. I have yet to secure myself a spot aka a long-term working opportunity, through which I could maybe begin to settle down in my Asian-ness here in America.

我眼中的“公共说理”-- 2014Co-China夏令营申请论述文章

公共说理是一个能让我们的公共生活更加有序、健康的过程。其基准是建立在个体自由和个体间的平等之上。个体自由意味着个人抉择不受其他人的道德体系的绑架，自由地做出选择。但生活在社会里，人们总是在一定程度上受制于一定的道德原则、政治体制。公共说理的意义就在于从个人的立场出发，通过论证、说理，把个人支持的观点和社会准则统一起来，即完成了一个把限制个人选择的道德原则和政治体制正当化的过程。

公共说理默认的一个前提是说理渠道的多元性。也就是说人们之间的分歧不仅仅是由偏见、以自我利益为中心的非理性辩护导致的。即使生活在同样的社会里、对相同的现象进行辩断，因为不同的人有不同的认知立场和背景，两个理性的人之间产生分歧是很自然的事（Rawls，1996）。当一方向另一方提出道德要求时，必须让对方从他自己的立场上意识到并认可此要求的正当性。参与公共说理的过程便是投身于寻找这种认可的征程。因为没有哪条道德准则或哪个政治系统的正确性是不言自明的，它们统统需要通过公共说理来被正当化。

人的主观性（subjectivity）要求个体不受权威的摆布，个体只需遵从他从理性上认可的原则。社会契约的概念和公共说理都是民主社会不可或缺的一部分。社会契约强调个人融入政治社会，是一个双向的过程：个人同意遵守共同原则的同时接受相应的义务。公共说理的成果在于个人和社会规范达成一致，同时个人自由也得到了充分的尊重。尊重个人自由是公共说理的底线。它意味着在尝试说服他人的时候，不能把自己的价值体系强加在他人身上，而是要站在他人的立场上进行说理（Larmore，1999）。公共说理和辩论不一样。说理时，不能把他人看成是需要被你说服的对象，而是尊重他们作为个体的独立性和能动性。辩论到最后两方总会分个高下胜负，公共说理则是一个过程，是一个并不一定能达到共识或结局的过程。公共说理和发表意见也不一样，前者在表述的同时更重要的是倾听异见，进而理解对方的立场和出发点，再发起共同辨析的过程。

公共说理有其实用性也有其内在的价值。从实用性上来说，公共说理支撑着民主社会里的政治、法律体系的公正性。它是公众视野里的工具和平台，社会中的政治机构时刻都在这个平台上接受参与公共说理的公众的检查。在最理想的情况下，公职人员（政府官员、法官、人大代表等）如要尽其职责，应该用公共说理向公众说明他们的政见和基于此提出的法案、做出的选择。而普通公众也应该具备相等同的公共说理能力，以行使自己的监督权，追究“不讲理”的官员的责任（Rawls,1999）。就公共说理其本身来说，这个过程能够帮助建立公众与政府之间沟通的桥梁。当人们在公共说理的过程中能够互相尊重，即使没有就某一政治原则达成共识，人们也将为彼此间分享的理性精神感到欣慰，而互相欣赏。

有效的公共说理需要多层面的支持。从个体的角度来说，公民需要良好的逻辑、说理训练。社会需要提供好的说理环境、说理文化，要保证言论自由。之外，还需要参与者有基本的共识，比如认同尊重个体自由、平等等原则。在民主社会里，学校应该向公民提供说理训练。一方面，公民学习逻辑、表达技巧；另一方面，提供在学习中实践的机会。讲逻辑是说理的最表层的部分。推理、辨别逻辑谬误并不是一门高深的学问，“讲道理”是人人都具有的能力（徐贲，2014）。但现实中，“不讲理”或者“讲歪理”的例子比比皆是，造成说理困难的原因也有很多。比如，在当代中国的政治生活中，“说套话”是阻碍说理的一大障碍。“说套话”是一种动嘴不动脑的说话方式：“并非所有的词语和套话都有唤起形象的力量，有些词语在一段时间里有这种力量，但在使用过程中，这种力量也会消失，不会再让头脑产生任何反应。这时它们就变成了空话，其主要作用是让使用者免去思考的义务。用我们年轻时学到的少量套话和常识把自己武装起来，我们便拥有了应付生活所需要的一切，再也不必对任何事情进行思考”（勒庞，2005）。民主社会里的公民有必要拆解、质疑套话式的语言：“深化政治体制改革”到底从哪几个方面“深化”了？“深化”的范围有多广、有多深？参与决策的人员有哪些？决策过程又是怎样的？只有放弃套话式的语言习惯，才能开诚布公地进行的公共说理。

在实践公共说理的过程中，参与者需要首先学会包容异见。在这样的前提下，才有可能解决分歧，乃至完善或重建道德准则或政治体制。因为在公共说理的过程中，大家都需要用说得通的、别人能接受的道理来表达自己的观点或看法，所以对于与自身相左的观点和看法要抱有同理心，要用对待自己观点的态度来对待他人的观点，去理解他人的出发点、知识立场和逻辑脉络，再在这个过程中寻找可以协商的空间。公共说理并不一定能带来共识，但是这个过程很多时候能帮助梳理不同的观点、意见，给社会行动者以改革和进步的启迪。比如今年台湾学运反服贸，公众的一个声音就是反对黑箱运作，即反对有关签订贸易协定审核过程的不透明。梁文道在《锵锵三人行：台湾学生反服贸运动透视》节目中提到，审核服贸的程序并不是不透明，而是不健全。即使早在两年前有高级法务人员向马英九提出警示，但并没有被重视。当“逐条审议”的要求被民众以大规模社会运动的方式提出来，马英九政府的窘迫处境反映了相关法律法规亟待改善。公共说理在这里不仅揭示了分歧产生的根源，还起到了敦促立法和行政机构改善政策和体制的作用。

正因为公共说理的结论不是由超然于人的“客观标准”所决定的，当一定要辩个“我对你错”的结论时，需要有外在的程序或权威来决定，如法庭“判决”、投票“表决”或专业人士的“裁决”（徐贲，2014）。这些程序的建立又依赖于更高层次上的说理。网络和新媒体给中国大陆民众打开了前所未见的公共讨论空间。但在威权政治下，民意不如其在民主制度下有力量。网络上的讨论和说理很难被导向更高层次的程序，所以目的性很弱。网民们发表的意见和产生的辩论（即所谓“舆论”）对公共事务的最终决策和公共事件的发展方向所带来的影响很弱。这样的无力感带给人们的是一种“虚无”的情绪，让人难以意识到公共说理、讲道理的必要性。由此可见，要进行有效的公共说理，光有会说理的民众是不够的。公共说理还需和民主政治相辅相成：后者提供给前者空间和保障，前者推动后者的完善和进步。

公共说理提供给社会一个面对分歧的有效渠道，去倾听、理解和尊重异见能够推动社会的进步，而非蔑视、反驳和驱逐异己。公共说理需要不断的实践。在公共讨论中，参与者需要时刻自我对话、不断反思学习，让自己和他人都能更加有效地参与到公共说理的过程中。一个良善的说理环境的形成，需要每个自由、平等的个体承担起自己的一份责任。



参考文献：
Larmore, C., 1996, The Morals of Modernity, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rawls, 1999, The Law of Peoples, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Rawls, J., 1996, Political Liberalism, New York: Columbia University Press.
徐贲(2014)。《明亮的对话：公共说理十八讲》。中信出版社。


谢谢唐同学的修改意见。

Educating with Love

“I define love as a combination of care, commitment, knowledge, responsibility, respect, and trust.”                                                                                                                                                               –bell hooks

I participated in the “Models of Urban Educational Reform” Immersion Project during Spring Break. During our stay in Baltimore, we led an after-school program--the College and Career Institute--at Midtown Academy, a charter school in Baltimore. We worked with 7^th or 8^th graders, aiming to help them to look into options for their futures. Last Thursday, the group of students from Midtown Academy visited Gettysburg. 

Many relationships I built throughout the Baltimore visit have inspired me. But I would like to spend time here talking specifically about one I built with Ellie*, a 7^th grader at Midtown. When I led the after-school program at Midtown, I designed activities that encouraged my students to reflect on their past experiences, their passion and aspirations. In the first session, I asked them about the things they enjoy doing and encouraged them to bring anything that relates to their interests into class for the next session. Some brought drawings. Some showed their poetry pieces. Ellie, who had spoken about her interests in fashion and design, brought a pair of miniature jeans she sewed. I asked her to pass the pair of jeans around so anyone who wants can take a close look at it. I was very impressed by the little piece of work. 

In addition to being artistically talented, Ellie is also mature and reflective. When I asked them to write down three things they expect to do when they would come to visit Gettysburg, she wrote that “I want to meet someone who share my interests and can give me good advice.” Unlike some other goals such as to eat at SERVO, I was not able to guarantee Ellie that her wish would come true. But I take on the responsibility as the teacher and put in my effort to create opportunities that may help her to realize the vision.

One thing I planned for Ellie was visiting our art gallery on campus. After lunch on Thursday, I took Ellie and another student to the art gallery, where some students were working on installing their senior project. It was a very dynamic scene. The moment we stepped into the gallery I heard Ellie gasped: “This is so cool!” with her eyes wide open. The artworks opened up conversations among the three of us. We talked about our feelings, memories and emotions evoked by the artworks. By sharing the emotion and feelings we projected onto the same artworks, we were able to connect with each other emotionally. By the time we walked out of the gallery, I felt our relationships had opened up to a new front. They became more comfortable sharing their ideas and started to ask me questions. Growing up without having this type of cultural enrichment due to the lack of resources, never had I known the power of art in education till this gallery visit with my students.

What was more exciting was the Gettysburg student whose fashion work was displayed in the gallery happened to be in the art class I arranged for Ellie to visit later that day. Ellie had a great conversation with the student, exchanging ideas and asking questions. At the end of her visit, I asked her if she enjoyed the art class. She told me that she really enjoyed talking to the student who had given her some good advice and suggested some books for her to read. In seeing Ellie fulfilling her wishes and they way that the visit had turned out to be a meaningful one to her, I see the purpose of my work in education, aka making human connections with love.

What fascinates me about education has always been this process of connection-making. The loves for knowledge, expansion of experiences, and mindful awareness and compassion, which cannot be quantified but can only be achieved through human connections, are the reason why I want to devote myself to the process to foster such growth within individuals as well as communities. 

*Name changed. 

We Make the Road by Walking

Minnijean Brown-Trickey, one the "Little Rock Nine," who, under the gaze of 1,200 armed soldiers and a worldwide audience faced down an angry mob and helped to desegregate Little Rock Central High School in 1953, spoke at Gettysburg College last Wednesday.

I was not sure what to expect going into Minnijean Brown’s lecture. Although I have read the excerpt from Warriors Don’t Cry, in which her personal narration vividly recreates the tumult experience of that historical episode, I feel that I know little of her as a person except the couple of days of her life, which have been enshrined in the nation’s history. Coming out of the lecture, I was impressed by her casual demeanor and conversational style of presentation. Despite her humorous way in presenting her points, the lecture provoked me to think about what social change means to her as well as to me.

She opened up the lecture by asking us to imagine ourselves as fifth graders, not only because fifth graders are cute and can say funny things without caring too much of what others think, but also for the sake of rewinding the socialization process we have been engaging in throughout our lives and unlearning the assumptions we have developed consciously or subconsciously. When talking to adults, Minnijean maintained, we are trying to change people’s mind. When talking to children, however, we are trying to help them to learn—not so much “what the world is like” but “how we are able to see the world for ourselves.” But being a fifth grader was not an easy task. It is a constant process and struggle to keep our assumptions in check and navigate the world with a critical and open mind.

Curiosity was another concept she brought up that tied neatly to the idea of being a fifth grader. The state of being curious urges us to pose questions and to interrogate history as well as the status quo. Minnijean Brown used the example of Thomas Jefferson’s view on slavery to enlighten us of prejudice embedded in the nation’s long history and its founding principles. By understanding where we come from, we are able to see a clearer picture of what we believe in and why we do so at present. While it took the oppressed prolonged struggles and a civil war to dismantle the institution of slavery, we are still grappling with the more subtle and engrained means of oppression in our society. The list of issues, Minnijean Brown pointed out to us when answering a student’s question of which contemporary issues she is concerned with, seem daunting. But it served the purpose of keeping us away from complacency, with so many unfinished tasks need to be accomplished. And only with a curious mind, we can start the journey.

To achieve social change involves the process of retrospection, but more importantly, it requires bold action. “We make the road by walking,” the poem of Antonio Machado Minnijean Brown cites, encapsulates the spirit of progress and fearlessness. None of the Little Rock Nine or any of the civil rights activists who fought the hard battle for justice and freedom had the ability to predict future. They walked in darkness without knowing if their work was going to give birth to a better future. They, however, were not deterred; nor did they give up facing all the adversities and frustration. They persisted by charting a terrain that had not been explored. One of the greatest figure in modern Chinese literature, Lu Xun (1881-1936), whose work has reflected upon a time of profound social change in China and in the world, has sent similar messages: “I thought: hope cannot be said to exist, nor can it be said not to exist. It is just like roads across the earth. For actually the earth had no roads to begin with, but when many men pass one way, a road is made.” This idea of making the road by walking transcends cultural boundaries and leads the change agents to work towards a more just and free world.

I was greatly inspired by the lessons Minnijean Brown gave at the lecture, in addition to her personal participation in one of the most iconic episodes of the Civil Rights Movement. Her life and continuous involvement in social work have showed us that we are far from arriving at an oppression-free (or post-racial) society. Much work is left to be done by us.