• 2021-22, SOCIAL JUSTICE AND STRATEGIC ORGANIZATION 21-22

Classroom Inequalities: Teaching Toolbox

  • Education, Social Justice

Geno Guerrero

Hi, I am Geno from Saudi Arabia. I am an American citizen and my ethnicity is Asian. I am a senior at HPA and this is my third year here. One thing I like is when people speak or reach out to me for help. I also like listening to people’s stories. People’s stories educate me on the world and help me grow as a person. In addition, I like playing video games and hanging out with friends. So far in my senior year, I have had a great time. Thinking about the future, I am a little bit nervous and scared as this is my last year here and will have to leave HPA and move on to college.

Abstract

In our classrooms at HPA, there are many differences. Some of these are students’ abilities in class, racial identity, gender identity, sexual orientation, and more. A big factor that affects students’ ability to learn in a class is how comfortable the student feels in the classroom. In order to make students feel comfortable to speak up and willing to learn, I have created a document that gives teachers many suggestions on how to help students in these ways.

Milestones

Ideation (SEPT 10)

Links to research:

Problem Statement

Minority groups in HPA who struggle in class are afraid to speak up in the classroom due to multiple reasons. One of these reasons, being the power system at HPA. Some students and teachers in the classroom have more power than others, which makes the minority with little to no power afraid to speak up. Their participation in the class is low compared to most. People gain this power in a classroom due to either relationships they have made, their ability in the classroom, sexual orientation, gender, and more. In addition to this, there are “social norms”. According to Eric Liu on Ted-Ed, “Norms don’t have the centralized machinery of government. They operate in a softer way, peer to peer. They can certainly make people change behavior and even change laws.” This shows how classroom’s can be changed by the students in them. Currently, at HPA, kids are not participating and speaking up because they are getting little to no merit for speaking up. If a student does speak, they get teachers’ bias which causes chaos among the students. This problem has many more factors to it, and in the end, if this problem persists, minority groups within classrooms will start to share their thoughts less and less. Students want to be able to speak out about their issues and share their ideas, but this can only happen with a solution.

Citations

Liu, Eric, director. How to Understand Power. YouTube, TEDEducation, 4 Nov. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_Eutci7ack&t=412s.

Ioannou, Stefano. Minority Groups in the classroom at HPA. 7 Sept. 2021. Interview with Stefano about students being afraid to speak up in the classroom due to fear of retaliation.

“Social Identities and Systems of Oppression.” National Museum of African American History and Culture, 17 July 2020, nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about- race/topics/social-identities-and-systems-oppression.

Wormer, Katherine van. “Oppression.” Oppression – an Overview | ScienceDirect Topics, 2015, www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/oppression.

Loy, James M. “Oppression Still Persists in Schools. but Social Justice Teaching Can Help Break the Cycle.” Oppression Still Persists in Schools. But Social Justice Teaching Can Help Break the Cycle – Miami University, 7 Dec. 2017, www.miamioh.edu/ehs/news/2017/12/social-justice-teaching.html.

Pitch (SEPT 28)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CMC9V6EWqaxzWlpU8KbswHfRra0CrecA/preview?authuser=0

At HPA, there is a large disparity in classrooms. This is due to the unbalanced power system at HPA. The power system at HPA shows a bias toward people in the classroom who speak up. They gain more help because they are asking more questions. Then, there are the people who do not ask questions in a classroom and do not gain any help. In a study by Nora K. Flynn, she said that “discussion involves risk, challenge, and trust, it is an essential aspect of practice for democratic discussion.” I am going to try to get both the teacher to talk to the student as well as the students to speak up for themselves. In the end, it all builds up to students being afraid to be judged.

I want to start by observing classrooms. In order to do this, I will ask some teachers if I can come in to watch their classroom. I want to see how the teacher keeps the students engaged. Do they lecture and have the students take notes or is the class more hands on? Are there real world connections that the teacher makes? Does the teacher walk around the classroom when speaking? I also want to observe how the students act. I will see how the classroom is set up. Are the desks set up in a circle, rows, or in groups? The location of where a student sits could also affect how much they speak during the class. Which students speak the most and which do not speak at all? Do the students’ body language change when speaking or during silence? Does the student’s gender in the classroom affect how much they speak? What about race / ethnicity? Is the students’ first language English or do they have English as a second language? What grade do the students have? I also want to keep time-stamps on how fast each conversation happens as well as how much time the students are given for in classroom assignments. Are all students able to finish the assignments? Does everyone have an equal chance to speak? I will collect results on a couple classrooms and see what affects the students’ learning. This data is completely confidential as it is for my own use to see what is effective in a classroom and what isn’t.

I have attended the SDLC which has taught me lots of things about other schools and how they work as well as people’s feelings and what they have done to overcome them. In addition to this, I consider myself an international person. I am an Asian-American who has lived in Saudi Arabia since kindergarten. There are a lot more non-white groups there than in the U.S.

I want to get all teachers to integrate this into their classes. I am aware that some teachers do this at the end of the year, but I feel it would be a lot better to do it at the beginning of the year so students in that current class can choose what type of class they want. In addition to this, I want teachers to ask for feedback on the classroom and their teaching throughout the year using google forms or in-person suggestions.

Formal Proposal (OCT 15)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XVHpGE-M5W5GijndyF9LS–wQ6TNaKamfmDKH5ogXeU/preview?authuser=0

Demo/Prototype (NOV 23)

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1CvMEgGNrz6rpA5Ev7z0BAdavGJZSea1Abjylmf44x94/embed?authuser=0

Product Creation (MAR 9)

Teaching toolbox link

https://sites.google.com/hpa.edu/guerrerocapstone/introduction

Showcase (APR 25-29)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gEzCsOFkcWgOLOf5ZWMzaLa_zlnjEy2_/preview?authuser=0

Legacy (APR 29)

Secure the continuum of your capstone product and journey by creating a white paper, Standard Operating Procedure, Training Manual, and/or digital artifact you are allowing rising seniors for decades to carry your capstone product and ideas forward. Here is where you lay the foundation to do so. In this phase you will:

  • Create a white paper to document and capture your Capstone journey
  • Propose future work

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W2hKXoJ9Ix7tR6UUBsh_CQj6qmrrqjT_71acIv566K0/preview?authuser=0