102083Diversity,SocialJusticeandLearning

Assessment2C:PersonalReflection
ChristopherTierney18593424

Thedemonstrationofsocialjusticeissuesanddifferentperspectivessurroundingthoseissues
inclassroomenvironmentsisanimportantpartofstudentssocialandeducational
development.Thispersonalreflectionaimstodistinguishmyexpectationsforthesecond
assessmentandmyexperienceduringthesecondassessmentwhilealsohighlightingthe
importanceofsocialjusticeanddiversityinstudentslearning.

Teachersareimportantinprovidinginformationthatallowsstudentstoformtheirownopinions
andcanreproducethoseideasintootherareasoftheirlives.Asaresultteachersare
responsiblefortryingtoeliminatevariousformsofsocialinjustice(Katsarou,Picower&Stovall,
2010)inordertocreateamoredemocraticsociety(Lipman2004McDonald2007).The
educationandpresentationofperspectivesinsocialjusticealsoreinforcespositiveacademic
behavioursandteachesstudentsskillssuchasproblemposingabilitiesthatareindicativeofa
studentspreparednessforhighereducationandtheworkforce(Irizarry,2011Rogers,Morrell,
&Enyedy,2007).Schoolingeneralisalsoastagingareaforyoungpeopleandthemanyways
inwhichsocietyattemptstointerferewiththeirhopesandpossibilitiesandteachersprovide
strategiesandskillstotacklevarioussocialproblems

Myknowledgeintheareaofdiversity,socialjusticeandlearningpriortothesecond
assessmentswasquitebroad.ForthedurationofthesecondassessmentIhadtocontinueto
learnaboutsociologicaltheoriestocompletetheassessment.TheknowledgethatIgainedfrom
thisassessmentallowedmetoincreasemycomprehensionintheareaofsexualandgender
diversityandthemarginalizationofsecondarystudentsthataresexuallyorgenderdiverse.My
knowledgealsoincreasedintheareaofpedagogicalpracticesastheassessmentputmeina
positionwhereIhadtofindacreativewaytointroduceasocialjusticeissuetosecondary
studentsthatusedanengagingpedagogytomaintainstudentsinterestinthetopic.
Pedagogicalpracticeshaveneverbeenaconsiderationinmyprioreducationalexperiencesbut
thisassessmentcreatedaselfawarenessabouthowthecontentoftheprogramisdirectly
affectedbytheteachingmethod.Shulmanreflectsthatgoodteachingwiththinkingabouthowto
teachbeforebeingabletotransfertheknowledgeandthenrepeatstheprocessagain
(Shulman,1987).

Thesecondassessmentprovidedanumberofdifferentexpectationsformyself.Mymain
expectationrelatedtotheprospectofanegativegroupassessmentexperienceasmyprevious
experienceswithgroupassessmentshavenotalwaysbeenpositive.Myexpectation
surroundinggroupworkrelatedtothepossibilityofreceivinglessthanfavourableresultsand
undertakingamajorityoftheassessmentsworkmyselfaspreviousresearchhasdetermined
thatnegativeexperiencesingroupenvironmentshaveleadtonegativeresults(Pauli,
Mohiyeddini,Bray,Michie,&Street,2008)

Myexpectationsforthisassessmentweremetinsomeregardsbutnotinothers.Severalofthe
groupmembersweresurprisinglyreliableandprovidedagreatdealofhelpinthecreationand
completionofthedifferentaspectsofthisassessment.However,therewasoccasionalmoments
whereothergroupmemberswerelessthanhelpfulandprovidedarangeofexcusesastowhy
theywereunabletoattendmeetingsandcompletetasksassignedtothem,whichcreatedextra
workforthemembersofthegroupthatwerecompletingthetasksassignedtothem.

Thereareanumberofpedagogicalstrategiesthatwouldinfluenceandenhancelearning,
teachingandthestudentexperience.Aseducationandpedagogyareheavilybasedonsocial
interactionthroughZoneofProximalDevelopmentasexplainedbyVygotsky(Corsini,1999.Pg.
1086),peerbasedlearningisanimportantwaythatstudentslearninandoutofclassrooms.A
dialecticalmethodisacommonapproachtoteachingsocialjusticeissuesthroughpeerlearning
asitinvolvesadiscussionordebatebetweentwopeopleortwogroupsofpeoplethatare
aimingtoestablishthetruththroughreasonedarguments(Corsini,1999.Pg.175).Thiscan
involvepeerbasedlearningthroughactivitiessuchasdebates.Itallowsstudentstobringtheir
ownperspectivestoaclassroomandpresenttheminadiscussionwiththeteacherand
evaluatetheirownbeliefsincomparisontotheteachersandsocietysbeliefs.

Ibelievethesecondassessmenttaskisaimingtojointheconceptsofsocialjusticeand
diversitywithteachingtoprovidefutureteacherswiththeresourcesandknowledgeof
resourcestocrossanintellectualdividebetweenteachersandstudentsinclassroomswhichwill
generateabetterunderstandingofdiversityandsocialjusticeissues.Ialsounderstoodthis
assessmentwasaimingtogenerateanunderstandingoftheimpactteachersandteachers
perspectiveshaveonstudentssocietalunderstanding.

Assessmenttask2hasprovidedmewithagreaterunderstandingofhowtopresentarangeof
differentsocialjusticeissuestostudentsinaclassroom.Theexpotaskwasespeciallyhelpfulto
seeotherapproachestoresourcesandclassroomlessonsasitshowedhowsomanydifferent
learningconceptscouldbeappliedtosimilarsocialjusticeissuesandscenariosinthe
classroom.AsmyteachingexperiencehasbeenlimitedIdonothaveaparticularteaching
method.However,Iamnowmoreselfawareabouttheimpactthatteachershaveonstudents
andstudentssocietalinteractionsandasaresultIammoreselfconsciousaboutpresenting
mypersonalopinionsandfeelthatIwillbenefitmorefromexpressamoreimpartialopinion
towardsstudents.

Mypersonalteachingphilosophyisstillinitsearlystagesbutfrompersonalexperiencesithas
developedintoanideathatcloselyrepresentsVygotskyssocialdevelopmentpractice
(Vygotsky,1980).Ibelievetheideathatstudentslearnbestinasocialcontextandsettinga
frameworkforstudentsandslowlyremovingthatscaffoldisimportant.However,Ibelieve
completingagroupassessmentdifferentiatesfromthisperspectiveasitismypersonal
understandingthatsociallearningintheclassroomisabetterwayoflearningthanforcedgroup
assignmentsexternalfromtheclassroom.Thisassessmenthashasmadememoreselfaware
abouthowteachingpracticescanimpactonastudentsengagementwithsocialjusticeissues.


Ibelieveteachersshouldbeabletoaddressissuesofequalityinclassroomsettings.Teachers
canutilizearangeofappropriatepedagogicalstrategiesandapproachestomeettheneedsand
rangeoflearnersaswellashelpthemandstretchtheirproficiency(Adams,Bell&Griffin,
2007).BloomandKrathwohl(1956)identifiedpedagogicalstrategiesthatcoverthreedifferent
domainsoflearning.Furtherresearchinthisareahasshownthatsustainedlearningoccurs
whenteachingthatspansacrosstheidentifiedlearningdomainsofcognitive,affectiveand
kinaestheticsimultaneously(Anderson&Krathwohl,2000Bloom&Krathwohl,1956).When
studentsareengagedthatmeanstheywillbemoreresponsivetoissuesofinequalityandbe
mindfulofthesocialjusticeissuesthatarepresentedintheclassroom.Thisengagementcan
beseenintheuseofthegamewecreatedwhichallowsstudentstobeaffectivelyconnectedto
aninternetconnecteddeviceandtothesocialjusticeissueimpliedintheresourcebyfeeling,
sensingandrespondingtostimuli.Thekinestheticdomainisalsoengagedthroughthespeed
componentoftheresourcethatrewardsfastreflexeswithadditionalpoints.Thecognitive
domainisconnectedtotheresourcethatwecreatedthroughpreviousknowledge,analysisand
synthesisofinformationthatstudentsreceivefromthecontentontheirdeviceaswellas
externalinformationprovidedbytheteacher.

Socialjusticeanddiversityeducationisanimportantaspectforfutureteachersandtheir
development.Teachershavearesponsibilitytoteachstudentswithanethicalandunbiased
agendaandteachingsocialjusticeissuesareimportantinprovidingstudentswitha
comprehensivebasistoreachtheirownconclusionsaboutsocialjusticeissues.Overallmy
experienceduringthisassessmentwasmostlypositivebutwithsomeexceptionsthatIhad
expectedforthebeginning.InthefutureIthinkgroupworkshouldbeexcludedfrom
postgraduatelevelsofuniversityeducationasthemajorityofpostgraduatestudentshave
alreadybeenthrougharealworldexperienceexternaltouniversityandintheirundergraduate
degreewhichinvolvedworkingwithpeerstoreachacommongoal.

Resources

Adams,M.,Bell,L.A.,&Griffin,P.(Eds.).(2007).Teachingfordiversityandsocialjustice.
Routledge.Pg97

Anderson,L.,&Krathwohl,D.(2000).Taxonomyofteachingandlearning:arevisionofBloom's
Taxonomyofeducationalobjectives.A.Woolfolk,EducationalPsychology,479480.

Bloom,B.S.,&Krathwohl,D.R.Taxonomyofeducationalobjectives:Theclassificationof
educationalgoalsbyacommitteeofcollegeanduniversityexaminers,ed.HICDomain.(1956).

Corsini,R.J.(1999).Thedictionaryofpsychology.PsychologyPress.Pg275&1086

Irizarry,J.G.(2011).TheLatinizationofU.S.schools:Successfulteaching&learninginshiftin
culturalcontexts.Boulder,CO:Paradigm

Katsarou,E.,Picower,B.,&Stovall,D.(2010).Actsofsolidarity:Developingurbansocialjustice
educatorsinthestruggleforqualitypubliceducation.TeacherEducationQuarterly,37(3),
137153.

Lipman,P.(2004).Highstakeseducation:Inequality,globalization,andurbanschoolreform.
PsychologyPress.

McDonald,M.(2007).Thejointenterpriseofsocialjusticeteachereducation.TheTeachers
CollegeRecord,109(8),20472081.

Pauli,R.,Mohiyeddini,C.,Bray,D.,Michie,F.,&Street,B.(2008).Individualdifferencesin
negativegroupworkexperiencesincollaborativestudentlearning.EducationalPsychology,
28(1),4758.

Rogers,J.,Morrell,E.,&Enyedy,N.(2007).Studyingthestruggle:Contextsforlearningand
identitydevelopmentforurbanyouth.AmericanBehavioralScientist,51(3),419443.

Shulman,L.S.(1987).Knowledgeandteaching:Foundationsofthenewreform.Harvard
EducationalReviews,57,122(Pg13).

Vygotsky,L.S.(1980).Mindinsociety:Thedevelopmentofhigherpsychologicalprocesses.
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