Jordan's Blog

     Both the excerpt from the reading The Academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies and the video clip from the film Class Dismissed, A Short History of Public Schooling show that the education system has had flaws from the beginning and how important incorporating ethnic studies is to future generations. Growing up in a primarily Catholic surrounding neighborhood, we all celebrated Christmas, and I remember how interested I was to find out that not everyone celebrates Christmas. I know that is a simple example, but when you're a kid, that's how simple you see things. Looking at the situation, it was a lack of inclusivity and education for other students. As educators, it's our responsibility to ensure that all students feel heard and included, regardless of their background. This is the true ideal of education.  The video shows the very beginning of schools and the evolution of laws in public schooling. As a society, we can see that schools have been favored towa...

     According to the Training Resources for the Environmental Community, the Four I's of Oppression is a common framework used to illustrate how systemic injustices can infiltrate our society over time. While watching and reading about the different types of oppression, we see today. The four different kinds are ideological, interpersonal, institutional, and internalized. Starting with Ideological Oppression, which, according to the article, is rooted in value systems that allow people to dehumanize, exploit, or harm other individuals or groups, this ideology is usually presented as "common sense." An excellent example that Luna mentioned in the video was considering gender stereotypes, like what it means to be a "real girl" or a "real boy." These ideologies that we have embedded into our brains shape the way we go through life. The next I would be Internalized Oppression, which is how individuals absorb belief systems that contribute to feelings of f...

 Lisa Delpit reflection       As educators, we must realize that most schools are run by a culture entirely of power that most students cannot access. The entire school community must unite and use our collective knowledge to our advantage. By doing so, we can ensure that we are all working towards increasing the educational experiences for our students and others around us. Delpit says that students who are outside of the culture of power were never given the right tools to navigate the culture, and without it, they have suffered. Again, Delpit exclaims that students should be exposed to the culture. The further the children are disconnected from the curriculum and the hidden norms that are embedded into the power culture, the harder it is for that child to succeed in school. Even if students are academically able to continue in school, they struggle to succeed without knowing the five aspects of power.          "I have frequently heard...

     The S.C.W.A.A.M.P activity in class was an excellent segue to connect to Privilege, Power, and Discrimination by Allan G. Johnson. While doing the activity, as groups, we brought so many different ideas, thoughts, backgrounds, and personal experiences while coming up with points for each letter in S.C.W.A.A.M.P., which stands for straightness, Christianity, whiteness, American-ness, able-bodiedness, maleness, and property ownership, which are all the great pillars deeply valued and perceived in our culture. Leslie Grinner did a fantastic job with connecting all of these points to how much they are deeply cared about in the society we live in today.       Privilege, Power, and Difference by Allan G. Johnson is a piece on how to think critically about inequality, oppression, and racism. White privilege and power have always been a deep-rooted issue in the United States, along with the invisible systemic racism and sexism that lies in our c...

Hello Everyone!      My name is Jordan Taylor, and I am transferring from CCRI to RIC this fall. I enjoyed my time at CCRI but am now ready for a change and to continue my journey into teaching! I am from Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and graduated from Saint Rays in 2022. I originally went to school for dental hygiene but discovered that it was not for me, along with nursing. I am now a Secondary Education History major and am so much happier now that I am doing something I have always dreamed about. I have always wanted to be a teacher to give students a safe space like some of my past teachers had given me and others, as well as make the time in high school more bearable. I guess I have also been interested in history since middle school, and I can not wait to have my own students to allow them to have a creative outlet when learning.  Outside of school, I am a waitress, and I really enjoy my job and working with some of my close friends! I also enjoy hanging...