Explore Roberto Rivera’s www.thegoodlifeorganization.com.
Questions of Application:
- What do we do with the ideas that have come up over the course of the institute?
- How do we apply our understanding in our specific schools and classrooms?
Useful Notions:
- Ascent and Immersion
- Borders
- Double Consciousness
- Tension Between Stereotype and “Reality”
- Post-Colonialism
- Call and Response
Philosophical Questions:
- How can teachers help a student become a unique individual and a member of a community?
- How do you go from being touched to being moved?
- How do you maintain a school system as a cornerstone of a progressive and democratic society?
Questions about Students:
- What is the impact of popular culture on our students?
- How can you help students find their voices and tell their stories? How can you find and tell your own?
- How can you foster a sense of worthiness in students?
- How do we help students understand their identities?
- To what extent should we shelter students from difficult truths?
Questions about Teachers:
- How can teachers form authentic relationships with students while respecting professional boundaries?
- How do we balance pressures to achieve (frequently measured by dictates and standards) with the meaningful, non-quantifiable elements of student growth?
- What responsibility do teachers bear for promoting digital citizenship?
Questions about Curriculum:
- What would it look like to have a coherent, aligned multicultural curriculum?
- How can teachers develop a multicultural curriculum without threatening (or seeming to threaten) the established values of the larger community?
So many questions have been raised in this class. It has been great to hear from Craig and Chris, to read such probing books and be challenged by my classmates.