PLAY !

Shall We Play: Part 1 [Blog post] (Henry Jenkins)

Children at Play : An American History (Howard Chudacoff)

Forum Theatre: A Tool for Social Change [Blog post] (Naomi Joseph)

Theater of the Oppressed New York [5-minute video]

In Youth Development we often hear about play. Purposeful play is one of the first things that I learned while working in an after-school program although I didn’t know I was doing it. However, after going through the readings I realized that play doesn’t necessarily need to be purposeful. Play is many things and has many benefits but as adults we tend to look at things too rationally and dissect the concept of play. With play children can build on their social skills, imagination and much more. But play is a time to let loose and not really think. This made me think a lot about youth and kids and how we don’t give them enough credit for not over thinking or analyzing. An example of this is when conservative parents’ worry about their children seeing a same sex couple. They argue “how will I tell my kids” and if you do tell kids their response is along the lines of “Okay” and they quickly dismiss it and move on with their day which in my opinion is a much better response than many adults have.

While reading these articles I also found the concept of gamification. While reading the definition given in Henry Jenkin’s Blog, I realized that this is something I have been doing in my own after school programs. I try to create lessons that will be fun and engaging but still based on learning. Although I do this, I also make sure to always leave a few minuets of free time at the end. I do this unconsciously without any thought than a break for the students and myself. Looking back at the Youth study we did I realized that it was during this free time that my very quiet and shy student joined a conversation about a k-pop group. This allowed me to see a different side of her I have not seen during any lessons previously.

The more I think of play and how play is associated as a waste of time in the adult world the more I think of the definition from the Tom Sawyer books in the Children at Play: An American History article “Work consists of whatever a body is obligated to do… Play consists of whatever a body is not obligated to do…”. I began to look back on this month and wondered if I had participated in on play. I began drawing again recently for fun, not to improve my skills or for a project, just because its fun. Due to work and class I have not been able to do that these past two weeks and noticed just how much my mood has changed, however, if I did take the time to draw I would have regretted it as well because it would have been a “waste of time” if I choose to draw instead of do my work. There was a lot more to play than I realized and it connects to a lot of the work I do, the students I service and myself.  

WHAT’S CARE GOT TO DO WITH IT?

While reading this week’s readings I noticed myself stopping many times and self-reflecting. While reading Corinne McKamey’s Restoring “Caring” in Education, I began to read and ask myself the same questions she was asking the students she interviewed. I began to answer them myself and came to the same realization that every answer I had came with an accompanying story that would help me define what this caring or lack there of was. One story that really resonated with me was the narrative of Ruby. Ruby was trying to legitimize her knowledge of a word that she knew but no one else understood. She searched for teachers, family and other adults to help her show that she knew what she was talking about. In the end she had the dictionary in class to prove her knowledge to the rest of the class. I can recall the feelings of insecurity I’ve had when saying the “wrong” answer in class and how it made me feel. I can imagine what Ruby must have felt in that moment considering she had the right answer but because the majority did not know it, she was made to feel wrong. There are different types of English in the world and sometimes its just a difference in vocabulary, but because of the way’s schools are structured to have on language and that one language be “American English” any other form of speaking is out the window.

This idea of only one way of doing things made me look at ‘Caution, we have power’. This article talks about the way the systems of schools and society make it difficult for undocumented students to continue their education. Because of the way standards in schools are set, there is one “correct” way of doing something and if you cant do it that way then you are seen as less than even if you have an alternative that works just as well. This systematic failure creates that pipeline of “school-to-sweatshop” pipeline. Students that are undocumented can not continue their dreams and goals of continuing their education. DACA the Deferred Access for Childhood Arrivals has helped many children brought to the United States undocumented by family is one resource that due to the xenophobic culture of our Government is struggling to keep its doors open, without this many young people could face leaving the only home they have ever known. I can recall classmates in High School that were brought to the United States as infants, never knowing their parent’s native countries, fearing that they would one day might have to forced out. I remember the disappointment of classmates who could not afford tuition and had to hold off of school and work “sweatshop” jobs to earn money to afford a semesters worth of tuition. I did not have to go through those fears because I was “privileged” to be born in this country. I think back to these classmates and I don’t feel like I “deserved” this any more or less than they did. My mother just gave birth to be on this side of the border. Nothing else makes me any more worthy of being able to apply for financial aid than this and it angers me that my classmates deserving of high educations had to take a step back and do a job they didn’t want just because of where they were born.

Locating Yourself

I found this week’s articles relatable to my work. I always make it a point to identify myself to my students and their families. In my experience being open and telling my students and families that I am Hispanic has really helped create an immediate bond with them. Working in Central Falls, a predominantly Hispanic community, the parents felt at ease being able to communicate with me in Spanish and showing their kids that it is possible to go to school and get a job even if you come from another country. I become a role model for the parents to confide in and a friend/mentor to the students.

In Locating Yourself for Your Students by Priya Parmar and Shirley Steinberg on of the students in Steinberg’s class said “she had never heard a white person say they were White” and that made me think a lot to the conversation we had during our retreat around race. It is not often that a “white” person openly states that they are white. In my experience peoples of other origins, races and nationalities openly and happily express where they/their families come from. There is a sense of pride within their culture. I can not recall a time where a teacher told me they were “white” it was just something that was not spoken about/ needed to be address. As if it wasn’t important.

This spoke to Jamila Lyiscott’s videos. She speaks about how the classroom structure limits one’s diversity. She sees herself as “tri-tounged”. I saw this as her code switching between how she speaks around the different people in her life. Code switching is something we all do; we speak differently to different people depending on who we are around however as students when we hear codes that are not “articulate” in schools it is deemed as wrong. We should celebrate this ability but also learn from the diversity it brings into the classroom.

YDEV Retreat

On Saturday morning we attended a retreat for our YDEV class. I was sleepy and honestly not looking forward to being in “class” all day. But YDEV has this magical way of creating such a safe and empowering space that really changes what it means to be in a “classroom”. The idea to journal our journey was an amazing place to start. It was rewarding to hear everyone being so open and honest about their journey and story. I think it helped create that safe space to have the types of discussions we did.

The theme for the day was race. I thought that by now I knew what race was but when asked to define it I couldn’t put it into words. I was most shocked with Dr. Natalia Lopez’s question on whether race was real or not. That began the discussion of the History of race and when the word came into existence. I was most shocked when she stated that Mexicans were considered “white” when needed for their labor. I found it interesting that a whole peoples race changed when it was convenient. When speaking and learning about race I had never really LEARNED the history of how it came to be and I think that it is an important piece of information that is missing from the story.

I think the pre-retreat assignment was also helped me in a self-discovery of who I am and who my people are. I liked being asked questions that really make me think. At first it seemed easy but the more I thought about it the more complicated the question became.

YDEV Ideology

For this I post I decided that it would be best to start off by describing which YDEV philosophy’s I resonate with. I remember doing an ideology inventory previously but don’t remember my outcome.  I’m curious to see if my ideologies have changed over time with my experience and newfound knowledge.

My inventory was interesting because Positive and Social Justice YDEV were tied as my most dominate with a total of 9. Where my Civic and Risk Prevention YDEV where 19 and 22 respectively and I see that’s a big difference in numbers.  I think its important to know what style suits you and which is an area you need to work on. Although the numbers were surprising, I do agree with the beliefs from both of my ideologies. My reflections will reflect how I feel and connect to the text with both ideologies in mine. The text I have chose to read and reflect on is Principles of Youth Development by Stephen F. Hamilton, Mary Agnes, and Karen Pittman.

Marcus: On Being Good

Marcus: On Being Good by Carla Shalaby was this week’s reading and my favorite so far. It brought to light the reality of a student “Marcus” and his struggles within the classroom. At first glance it would be simple to say that he is a “troublemaker” that interferes with day to day operations of the classroom, but as the reading goes into depth it makes you take a step back and observe rather than judge.

Some of the visible codes of conduct that govern the classroom are the rituals put in place by Mrs. Emily. Things like their morning circle, the take a break table, the buddy room, timeout desk,  and bathroom pass are all examples of the rituals and rules that the class follows. The invisible rule/goal that seems to govern the classroom is independence. As stated in the reading Mrs. Emily’s core principle in teaching was independence.

Trouble making in my after-school space would be in the form of someone talking over me during instruction or being rude to any of the other students. I have had students that have fallen asleep, or just constantly on their phones. One thing I like to do in my youth spaces is create those visible codes of conduct but create them with the students. Making the rules with the group helps them set expectations for themselves and for me so that we all feel heard. In order to keep my group engaged I set up time for a break and leave enough time in the agenda for free time; if we finish everything we get free time, if there are issues that keep us from going the work then we wont have that extra time. When it comes to the students, I would constantly have sleeping in my class it was easy to be upset and make him wake up and expect him to participate at the same level as everyone else. However, what I did was pull him aside and asked him why he was always falling asleep. It turned out that there were some issues at home, had I not taken a step back to understand then I would not have known how to approach the situation. Its tough on teachers when they have a classroom that is typically over the class size average but its important in understanding the students to take a moment and understand.

My experiences vary from youth space to space. Once constant is the similarity that I too want for my youth to be independent. That is not to say that I will not be there to aid them, but I don’t want to be a source of power and fear. I like my students to try on their own or even use each other as aid before coming to me. In addition, I like the idea that there are stages in Mrs. Emily’s class before being “removed”. In many classrooms I have seen a student like Marcus would immediately be removed from the class. Having areas for students to take a step back for a little is very beneficial. This gives them independence and a chance to regulate their own emotions as well. There are many times as an adult that I need to just take a break for 5 minutes.

Stereotypes of Youth

Unfortunately, stereotypes are a part of our society. Stereotypes are mistaken beliefs put upon a group of people. In this week’s readings we explored 3 stereotypes of youth. Youth/ adolescence are a large group to stereotype, from difference in age, race, class, gender and sexuality it's ridiculous to keep them under a single umbrella.

Adolescence are described as being hormonally driven.  Being hormonal is a stereotype in itself. This stereotype keeps people from seeing youth as people that can make responsible choices. This sets up youth to fail. If people do not see these youth as capable then they are only expected to reach a certain point and are not given the space to rise above and beyond. However, that is one single outcome. Another crosses race/sexuality. Young Black females are hypersexualized and considered to be more aggressive than their white and even male counterparts. These stereotypes change how the worlds sees them and acts based on false realities.

Another stereotype is that young adolescents are peer oriented. This means that youth are reliant on peer culture usually as a result of peer pressure. Although this occurs the stereotype dictates that their social standing is more important than their education. This is not the case for all youth which is why stereotypes are so constricting.

Stereotypes are typically based on a white, middle class male perspective. In the video we watched the narrator states that children that come from a good home where they are spoken to often and read to are in a better place when they start school. Unfortunately, this is not how every household is. 

Stereotype; Adults are "more than" youth

This is again based on the white middle class see as the theoretical “norm”. Youth Development is all about working with and along side youth in order to help them become healthy adults. The third stereotype is that adults are for lack of a better term “more than” youth are. Adults are just as susceptible to making mistakes as any age group. I have seen adults scold youth for pointing out a mistake and it scares youth from calling out mistakes or bad behavior in the future. If youth can’t trust and be safe around their adult counterparts how do we make them feel safe?