Christine Frawley

EDL 318
April 21, 2014

Mid-Term Work

MINI LITERATURE REVIEW:
As my main topic of inquiry I posed this question: How do I create an
environment that allows students to truly express themselves and learn the skills to
do so in a constructive way? Though there is sufficient research that shows stress
management is essential for student success, there is little to say how to integrate or
teach these skills on a whole class basis.
Students should have a right for self-expression, and be afforded the
opportunity to demonstrate who they are in a creative way. Firstly, there is power in
the student being able to have a voice about experiences in school. Dutro explains
By providing opportunities for children and youth to be the active documenters of
their own relationships to schooling, students both provide powerful testimony and
make important demands of their witnesses. Here, Dutro is both challenging and
demanding teachers to encourage students to speak freely of his/her relationship
with school to ensure each child is as comfortable and successful as possible. Dutro
also believes that students should be able to have an active voice when speaking of
community when his article states that, Indeed, whether it be through personal
narrative writing, letters to the editor, multimedia projects shared with community
audiences, performance poetry, or civic engagement activities, students should be
allowed to speak back to the entrenched images of life in high-poverty
neighborhoods. Clearly Dutro is explaining that self-expression is vital, and
necessary and gives a few ideas as to how to provide activities to do so.
Unfortunately, these ideas do not show how to create that environment, or if all
young learners could benefit from these cathartic releases.
Thankfully, there are many articles that speak of developing the whole child.
Dutro spoke specifically of documenting school experiences and allowing them to
speak back to his/her own community, but that may or may not have direct purpose
within the classroom. Now, Schools are concerned with the whole child- that
fulfilling students needs and providing a supportive climate create the essential
conditions for academic learning, (Building a Community of Hope). This is the key:
meeting the needs of students and giving them support. Only when these two
conditions are met, will students be successful. A major component of the whole
child is the emotional aspect of a student, meaning a student must be able to express
emotions, and do so constructively, in order to ready to learn.
A major component of self-expression is feeling comfortable enough to do so.
This means that my classroom, and ideally the whole school, must become its own
community. As schools currently stand, students are unable to express concerns, or
are taught how to handle tough challenges that are occurring at home.
Unfortunately, this leaves the child feeling broken, and the child is not able to
perform to the best of his/her ability. Establishing a strong community is the first
step in allowing students to grow. Moving from an ordinary school to a community
of hope is a kind of psychological magic. But we can make this magic happen by
identifying and committing to our key articles of faith, by establishing structures
that translate our hope into action, and by providing the context for both the school
and the individual members of the school community to realize their full potential,
(Building a Community of Hope). As a future teacher, this article is demanding that I
not only have a strong belief, but also make an action plan.
Unfortunately, my cooperating teacher for field this semester does not seem
to believe in developing the whole child or creating opportunities for self-
expression. Having a positive outlet would be so helpful for these students from
poverty, with family members in jail, and family members that work all night long.
However, my teacher believes that They couldnt handle that, and it takes so long
to get through the material that there would never be any time. These comments
sadden me, but also anger me as research shows the importance developing all
aspects of children.

CONTEXT:
The New Miami school district is located in a rough area of town. Research
done for EDT 473 Community Awareness Project showed these statistics: 30% of
the population in New Miami is at or below the poverty level, the average income
per person is $17,045, 91% of the population is white alone, there are 184
registered sex offenders living in Hamilton meaning there is a 341:1 ratio, and
Hamilton is the most dangerous compared to nearby cities.
The school alone is struggling. Every single child gets free breakfast and free
lunch. Educationally, the school is on academic emergency and has two years to
show growth. In order to help raise student test score, the school hired nine tutors
for tier two and tier three intervention, and created an after school program that
goes till five that focuses on more skills needed within the classroom.
Most students from New Miami had parents that also went to this school
district. The whole building is one district that has preschool through twelfth grade.
This creates a really small community within the school, which actually represents
how small the surrounding community actually is.
This first grade classroom is comprised of eighteen students. One student is
African American, two are Hispanic, and the other fifteen students are Caucasian.
The classroom has two small windows, but they are mostly covered and provide
little natural light within the classroom. The students sit at tables that are aligned in
rows so that each student faces the board. There is little interaction between
students, as all work is individual.

FINDINGS:
My inquiry focus question was this: How do I create an environment that
allows children to learn how to express themselves in a way that gives them the
opportunity process thoughts and feelings? In order to answer this question, I
looked at articles that challenged how school taught now. I also asked my
cooperating teacher, and other teachers within first grade at New Miami school
district.
Research proves that it is absolutely critical to work on the development of
the whole child. Articles challenged how we view our students, and demanded that
we create a community in our classroom that allows students to row to his/her full
potential. Sadly, the teachers in the school have given up on students. The only
activities my students do in the classroom are reading, writing, and math. This
method of teaching only addresses the mental intellect of the child.
Sadly, I believe it is my students from a rough area that need self-expression
the most. Most of my students only live with one parent, the other murdered or in
jail, or with grandparents. The students are from low-income families, and hardly
ever have parental support in the classroom. Two students live in foster care,
confused about whom to love since each child still has visitation with mom. As I talk
to these children, it is so clear that every single one of them need my help. These
students have not learned how to deal with these conflicts, or how to even respond
to them. A conversation alone would help them to know that someone was there to
care and listen. Teaching them how to journal, draw, paint, or just find outlets for
emotions would be life changing.

DISCUSSION:
This inquiry is so close to my heart. Through my research and interactions
with teachers and students at school, it became painfully clear that not enough was
being done to develop each child individually as a person, instead of just a student.
Students right now are expected to forget about everything going on at home to
come to a building where each student sits in a row to learn reading, writing, and
math. That tells the child that as a teacher, you dont care about anything more than
academic success. Ironically, academic success wont happen until the child is loved
and cared for.
Research and teachers believe that students that are from low-income
families cant succeed. Well if every child is born the same, it would make sense that
each child should be given the same opportunities in a classroom. However that is
no longer the case, as teachers look down upon the students in the classroom just
because these students have different challenges at home. Every child has some type
of hardship, but the impact of learning how to process thoughts and feelings is a life
skill that should be both taught and practiced.
As a country, education has become very test oriented, leaving little wiggle
room for teacher agency. Providing students with a stress management curriculum
or taking time to teach the emotional aspect of students could be scary or
intimidating. Teachers are left to question how to use instructional time, and what
to omit from teachings. Until teachers are no longer judged on test results, or
teachers on an individual basis choose to prioritize teaching the whole child,
students are going to suffer.
Personally, I would rather take the first two weeks of my school year creating
a community within my classroom. Open, honest communication is necessary, as
well as feeling loved and valued. Then, and only then, can academic material be
presented to students.


SOURCES:
Community Awareness Project
www.city-data.com/crime/crime-Hamilton-Ohio.html

www.neighborhoodscout.com/oh/hamilton/crime/

www.usa.com/new-miami-oh-income-and-careers.htm

www.nsopr.gov/en/Search/Results

www.thecounselingsource.com

www.staloysiuscincinnati.org

Interview with cooperating teacher Ms. Dye
Dutro, Elizabeth(2009)'Children's Testimony and the Necessity of Critical Witness
in Urban Classrooms',Theory Into Practice,48:3,231 238

Sergiovanni(2004) Building a Community of Hope