Weekly Update (x 4)

Right...

I opened up my solo teaching with a lot of work on bias and racism. We discussed the systematic basis of racism through activities like tallying what groups of people are represented in magazines and catalogs, watching and responding to Obama's landmark (at least for the public sector) speech on race, and reading from Toi Derricotte's The Black Notebooks. We used that learning to dive into studying the Civil Rights Movement using Seattle's de facto segregated schools as an entry point. We then broadened into employment discrimination, and then moved into labor unions and the IWW.

Overall, the student buy-in is very high. I think the students are sick of studying inane topics and are very into being treated as mature people who can handle tough topics. Having set the tone from day one, they will often 'discover' instances of subtle systematic bias and bring them to the attention of the class. Questions like, "Why doesn't this book I'm reading describe white characters as white when it describes black characters as black?" and "Why is it man-to-man defense even when it's women's sports?" are commonplace. A few days ago, we had a great discussion about bias in dictionaries when someone pointed out that the Merriam-Webster definition of 'guy' claims that it is gender neutral. I took them to the definition of 'right' (the power or privilege to which one is justly entitled) and then to 'privilege' (a right or immunity granted as a peculiar benefit, advantage, or favor) and to 'just' ( acting or being in conformity with what is morally upright or good OR being what is merited OR legally correct) and talked about how these definitions fit together.

I'm having a lot of fun breaking through the encapsulation of these kids, and I think they're enjoying it too; they seem to feel like they're being rebellious. I hope this enthusiasm is something I continue to see in my career. If so, I know there's no danger of me burning out. Sure, my content will be revealing that which is most unnerving about our world, but student enthusiasm is what gives me the most hope for the future. At the very least, teaching this group of 60 students is giving me increasing drive for beginning my career.