Hello bloggers!
This week we had to read, The Academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies by Christine Sleeter. This reading demonstrates the important academic and social advantages of ethnic studies programs, showing how these courses can improve students' academic performance, cultural awareness, critical thinking abilities, and social justice consciousness, especially for students of color by giving them a chance to learn about their own heritage and thinking about racial and ethnic issues in society.
Within a classroom this is very important. It will reduce stereotypes within a classroom, and it will provide positive relationships with other ethnic groups that also may be within the class. A strong sense of self and cultural pride can result from studying one's own culture and history within an Ethnic Studies framework. This can boost academic motivation and self-esteem. Based on studies, taking ethnic studies classes can enhance attendance, grades, and student engagement. Especially for students from underrepresented groups who frequently feel cut out from the traditional educational system.
A personal connection relating to teaching about other ethnic groups is from my job at the preschool I work at. Each week there is a different theme that we focus on with the kids. One week we focused on learning about didn't ethnic groups. We did fun activities and read books on the different types of groups. We made sure to do all of the ones that were represented within our class. It was fun learning about them all, and the students enjoyed learning about them too! Everyone in the class got to learn about each other! I think it is important to start teaching about this to students from a young age, so they can start to become aware of it!
Thank you for reading:)
Hi Maci! I love how you related this reading to your job. I also work at a preschool and have really enjoyed learning about the different ethnic groups represented by the children. I agree that it's super important to have students learn about each other from a young age it definitely promotes more unity within the classroom.
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ReplyDeleteI can also relate what you said to the video analysis where we watched Precious Knowledge. As a future educator it is important to give your students a high-quality education and the feeling of togetherness. I work at a daycare and it's important to get to know your students' backgrounds. We teach and learn from our students every day and it can make us better educators.
ReplyDeleteI love how you made a connection and gave great detail.
ReplyDeleteHi Maci! I really like how you related this to your job with the kids, it relates well to this reading
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