Julie's Connections
Alfie Kohn: What to Look for in a Classroom
During my first few visits to the classroom, I was able to spend some time looking around the space and observing how the room was set up. After reading Alfie Kohn's Chart on What to Look for in a Classroom, I found myself making connections and finding both good signs and reasons to worry.
- :) All of the chairs are around tables so that students can talk and interact with each other, and they can do lots of group work. As Kohn says, this "facilitates interaction," and provides a good atmosphere for the exchange of ideas.
:) The tables are separated into multiple groups; multiple activities can be going on at the same time, like stations.
:) The teacher uses the rug for reading time so all the students can sit together. The space is open, colorful, and inviting, a good sign according to Kohn.
:( Kennedy cash chart: behind the teacher's desk is a chart with all the students' "Kennedy Cash." I asked one of the students what it was for, and she said that the Kennedy Cash, or a slip of paper, was given out to kids for "being good." When they get the slips, they put them in the chart so they can see how many they have. From how she explained it, this is a system that rewards students for good behavior. Kohn would probably not approve of this, since it ranks the students in terms of behavior and could make some of the kids uncomfortable or embarrassed depending on how much Kennedy Cash they have, "evidence that students are rewarded or ranked."
:( Unfortunately, only most of the students get to sit together.
Why are these two kids sitting by themselves? Alfie Kohn certainly would not agree with this seating arrangement.
:) On the plus side, the shelves behind this desk are well-stocked with science materials, geometric blocks, and board games.
:) This is the reading station - the kids come here to pick out books for reading time. The shelves have books of various lengths and difficulties for different levels of readers.
:) Other shelves have stuffed animals, crayons, and markers. It's not very organized, but we do get a sense of "purposeful clutter" like Kohn lists in his chart that gives students the supplies they need for different activities. it's "overflowing with good books, art supplies, animals, [and] science apparatus".
:) This blue table is where I worked with my groups most of the time. It allows the teacher or myself to work at a station with a few students individually, but also keep them in the classroom with their peers. The teacher can also keep an eye on the rest of the class in case another student needs help. Since the teacher is typically working with students instead standing at the front of the room, it takes a minute to find her. Kohn would say that this is a good sign.
:) This is the computer station where the kids play math games. The area functions as another station where some kids can do one activity while others do something different, which Kohn says is good for the learning atmosphere.
:( What seems to be lacking in the classroom and around the school in general is evidence of student work. I saw very few projects on the walls of the classroom or in the hallways, which overall had a sort of colorless, "institutional feel" that Kohn would not approve of. The posters that were on the walls mostly promoted good behavior and the school rules, like these "3 R's" and the sign that says to be quiet in the hallways. This only shows the authority of the teacher rather than the creativity and collaboration of the students.
So what?
Alfie Kohn demonstrates that the way that we set up a classroom has a huge impact on how our students learn. Something as simple as how the desks are organized can drastically affect the students' educational experience depending on how much interaction they have with other students. If the children learn to discuss ideas with others, they develop skills needed to work well with and respect others. But if someone sits alone, like the single desk in this classroom. It takes the student away from the rest of the class, which alienates the child and makes him or her feel that he/she is not important to the group. This could also lead to the child becoming a troublemaker, since he or she would not want to be viewed by everyone else as "stupid."
Connection to Finn: I think that Patrick Finn would agree that setting a single child apart from the others is not a good sign, since this alienation could lead to a "performance strike" - purposefully not performing to full potential in order to resist authority. If the student is separated and feels that the teacher thinks less of him or her than the other students, he or she will not be willing to learn. The same effect could happen with the behavior chart: if someone isn't ranked as high, they won't be willing to try their best.
Connection to Kliewer: Christopher Kliewer would also agree with this statement, since he addresses the same issue in "Citizenship in School." According to him, separating a child from the others in order to help them actually does the reverse and creates a bigger problem. He says that "underdevelopment springs from what we might call the isolation of an abnormal child from his collective." Children can't learn at the same speed as others if they're taken away from the group.
The different stations also contribute to the learning atmosphere, since it keeps each student busy and allows them freedom to explore instead of sitting through a lecture. They can use their natural curiosity to learn and gain critical thinking skills. If they see their own work on the walls, they will be proud of their work and be motivated to try their best. As Alfie Kohn shows us, by setting up our classrooms in a way that is welcoming and focused on the students' creativity rather than the authority of the teacher, the quality of the children's education will be significantly improved.
Alfie Kohn demonstrates that the way that we set up a classroom has a huge impact on how our students learn. Something as simple as how the desks are organized can drastically affect the students' educational experience depending on how much interaction they have with other students. If the children learn to discuss ideas with others, they develop skills needed to work well with and respect others. But if someone sits alone, like the single desk in this classroom. It takes the student away from the rest of the class, which alienates the child and makes him or her feel that he/she is not important to the group. This could also lead to the child becoming a troublemaker, since he or she would not want to be viewed by everyone else as "stupid."
Connection to Finn: I think that Patrick Finn would agree that setting a single child apart from the others is not a good sign, since this alienation could lead to a "performance strike" - purposefully not performing to full potential in order to resist authority. If the student is separated and feels that the teacher thinks less of him or her than the other students, he or she will not be willing to learn. The same effect could happen with the behavior chart: if someone isn't ranked as high, they won't be willing to try their best.
Connection to Kliewer: Christopher Kliewer would also agree with this statement, since he addresses the same issue in "Citizenship in School." According to him, separating a child from the others in order to help them actually does the reverse and creates a bigger problem. He says that "underdevelopment springs from what we might call the isolation of an abnormal child from his collective." Children can't learn at the same speed as others if they're taken away from the group.
The different stations also contribute to the learning atmosphere, since it keeps each student busy and allows them freedom to explore instead of sitting through a lecture. They can use their natural curiosity to learn and gain critical thinking skills. If they see their own work on the walls, they will be proud of their work and be motivated to try their best. As Alfie Kohn shows us, by setting up our classrooms in a way that is welcoming and focused on the students' creativity rather than the authority of the teacher, the quality of the children's education will be significantly improved.
Lisa Delpit: Rules and Codes of Power
“1. Issues of power are enacted in classrooms.
2. There are codes or rules for participating in power; that is, there is a "culture of power."
3. The rules of the culture of power are a reflection of the rules of the culture of those who have power.
4. If you are not already a participant in the culture of power, being told explicitly the rules of that culture makes acquiring power easier.
5. Those with power are frequently least aware of -or least willing to acknowledge -its existence. Those with less power are often most aware of its existence."
-Lisa Delpit, The Silenced Dialogue
Lisa Delpit argues that there is a culture of power within a classroom, and that unless you are part of this culture of power, you will not know the rules and codes to follow in order to gain power. She relates this to educating students of different cultural backgrounds, telling us that in order for us to get children to follow the rules and codes of power, we must explicitly tell them these rules.
I have seen examples of this concept at work in my service learning placement over the course of the semester. The teacher that I worked with did not acknowledge the rules of power and for this reason, she had trouble getting kids to follow her directions. In particular, I noticed that she tended to use the phrase “thank you,” when reprimanding her students. The following was a scenario in which she used this phrase and the effect that it had on the students:
2. There are codes or rules for participating in power; that is, there is a "culture of power."
3. The rules of the culture of power are a reflection of the rules of the culture of those who have power.
4. If you are not already a participant in the culture of power, being told explicitly the rules of that culture makes acquiring power easier.
5. Those with power are frequently least aware of -or least willing to acknowledge -its existence. Those with less power are often most aware of its existence."
-Lisa Delpit, The Silenced Dialogue
Lisa Delpit argues that there is a culture of power within a classroom, and that unless you are part of this culture of power, you will not know the rules and codes to follow in order to gain power. She relates this to educating students of different cultural backgrounds, telling us that in order for us to get children to follow the rules and codes of power, we must explicitly tell them these rules.
I have seen examples of this concept at work in my service learning placement over the course of the semester. The teacher that I worked with did not acknowledge the rules of power and for this reason, she had trouble getting kids to follow her directions. In particular, I noticed that she tended to use the phrase “thank you,” when reprimanding her students. The following was a scenario in which she used this phrase and the effect that it had on the students:
Although her approach would have worked in some instances, here, it was unsuccessful.
In our dominant culture (white, middle class), we understand her use of “thank you” to mean “I do not approve of your behavior.” But to these children, who come from diverse cultural backgrounds, “thank you,” just means, “thank you,” which just reinforces their talkativeness as good behavior, so they continue to talk. They become confused as to why their recess is being taken away bit by bit, since the teacher is thanking them for their behavior.
In order to get her point across, the teacher should have simply said “stop talking.” If they were “told explicitly the rules of [that] culture,” they would have understood the teacher’s disapproval and would have gotten their entire recess.
So what?
“To summarize, I suggest that students must be taught the codes needed to participate fully in the mainstream of American life, not by being forced to attend to hollow, inane, de-contextualized sub-skills, but rather within the context of meaningful communicative endeavors; that they must be allowed the resource of the teacher's expert knowledge, while being helped to acknowledge their own "expertness" as well; and that even while students are assisted in learning the culture of power, they must also be helped to learn about the arbitrariness of those codes and about the power relationships they represent.” –Lisa Delpit
In our dominant culture (white, middle class), we understand her use of “thank you” to mean “I do not approve of your behavior.” But to these children, who come from diverse cultural backgrounds, “thank you,” just means, “thank you,” which just reinforces their talkativeness as good behavior, so they continue to talk. They become confused as to why their recess is being taken away bit by bit, since the teacher is thanking them for their behavior.
In order to get her point across, the teacher should have simply said “stop talking.” If they were “told explicitly the rules of [that] culture,” they would have understood the teacher’s disapproval and would have gotten their entire recess.
So what?
“To summarize, I suggest that students must be taught the codes needed to participate fully in the mainstream of American life, not by being forced to attend to hollow, inane, de-contextualized sub-skills, but rather within the context of meaningful communicative endeavors; that they must be allowed the resource of the teacher's expert knowledge, while being helped to acknowledge their own "expertness" as well; and that even while students are assisted in learning the culture of power, they must also be helped to learn about the arbitrariness of those codes and about the power relationships they represent.” –Lisa Delpit
- As Delpit says, in order to be heard and understood effectively in a classroom, we as teachers must teach children about how to participate in the culture of power. This means being explicit about the rules involved in that culture.
- However, the students should not have to sacrifice their personal or “private” identity to do so, like Richard Rodriguez was forced to do in “Aria.”
- Collier also argues that the students’ home culture should be preserved while learning the
rules of the dominant culture. - By teaching the rules and codes of power, we are helping our students to understand
and participate in the dominant American culture and ultimately helping them
achieve successful lives and careers in our society.