Today's panel has brought to my attention the complexity of the issue of school organizations and the impacts they have on the broader community. I believe that the education system should be restructured in order to provide our communities with effective organizations that provide developing students with the proper support and education needed to succeed. The text described steps for organizational change, which consisted of pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, evaluation, and follow-up (p. 199). I believe that such steps should be constantly addressed as a continuous change process in order to achieve the most effective school systems. A continuous change process would be most effective in the school system because it would be able to continually change to address the needs of the community by affecting our future workers, leaders, lawmakers, doctors, and lawyers

       According to Clip 2, the speaker describes teachers as the "custodians of our society." Their role will within the school community have a profound effect on the overall outcome of the community. As mentioned in the panel, if a teacher fails to provide particular students with the appropriate amount of time and support, students can fall into a "whirlpool" where they lose interest in school, begin to cut class, and engage in illicit activities. I personally believe that the school systems should be transformed from its current, simple structure into a more complex system where the needs of all students may be met. As recognized by the panel, all students have their own way of learning and progressing. Due to this diversity, teachers should provide their students with innovative ways of teaching in order to reach out to all of our youths. A panel member utilized the word "archaic" to describe traditional school practices. I agree. According to the text, it is ideal to constantly evaluate and adjust… operations in line with its values, goals, and changing contexts (p. 200). I believe we must constantly reanalyze the needs of our students in order to provide the most effective education and support needed to succeed in our society. Today's youth are much different from the youth of the past. I believe that school systems should be more adaptive to these changes in order to provide interest to the minds of our youth. I believe that if all teachers successfully meet the needs of ALL their students we may be able to strengthen our communities. 

A student today brought up the fact that in his school, the "good" teachers were reserved for AP classes and the "less equipped" teachers to reserved for non-AP classes. I believe this is too common in our school system when in reality a reverse action should be implemented. Students are in AP classes because their ability to succeed in non-AP classes. Non-AP students obviously require more help. I believe this type of system continues to marginalize our society because non-AP students are not allowed the opportunity to receive "experienced" teachers who have the skills to effectively educate non-AP individuals. Thus "at risk" students are not given the attention and support they need. A similar situation was also mentioned as "experienced" teachers are promoted to administrative positions leaving "less-experienced" individuals in the teaching positions. This does not make sense. Why would you remove a "good" teacher from a teaching position if they have superior capabilities in educating "at risk" students?

Overall, I believe that teachers should be better prepared for their role as an educator. I believe that teacher should become better prepared during their higher education for the diversity of minds, problems, and cultures they will encounter as they embark in their teaching careers. They must be provided with the education to be able to effectively educate our youth in order to provide children with the best possible chance to succeed. I believe it is unfair to the teacher as well as the student, if the teacher is not properly prepared for the classroom. I believe that such teachers can have detrimental impacts on students. Students may begin to lose interest in school and begin to fall into the "whirlpool" as mentioned earlier. We must work to educate and properly prepare our teachers so that we may be able to provide students with the best possible opportunities to succeed.

One question I would ask the panel is, "What type of training do teachers go through in order to address the needs of the diversity of minds in terms of learning?" Many students learn at different paces and through different means. How do these teachers address these types of diversities? If we continue to teach students with the "archaic" practices of the past we will not be able to reach the minds of today's youth. I believe that all teachers should encompass many different forms of teaching strategies in order to promote optimal student learning. This will capture the attention of students and possibly decrease the potential for dropouts. Such reduction in dropouts will increase graduating statistics and provide increased opportunities for members of our community to succeed in our society. This will consequently have a profound effect on the perpetuating systems of poverty and unemployment.

Another question I would ask the panel is, "What advice in the curriculum in the university level would they suggest in order to address the unexpected issues many of our future teachers will face?" As stated by the many teachers are not properly prepared to deal with the issues in the classrooms. I believe that these issues need to be addressed. Students are at the developing stages in life and should not be the stepping-stones for "under-prepared" teachers to use to learn. As stated earlier teachers are the "custodians of our communities." We must properly prepare teachers so that they may be able to effectively nourish our students into educated members of our communities.

Personally, I believe that the role of the school in the local community should play a very diverse role. It should serve as a multi-faceted tool that can be used to address many of the issues within our community. Ideas promoted by UNESCO should be promoted within our school. In all schools, students form subcultures within the school that continue to separate communities and promote racism. If we can promote the acceptance of "otherness" and encourage students to embrace such differences we may be able to have profound impacts on our communities future. If we can engage our schools subcultures in dialogue we may be able to assimilate these segregated groups and promote a stronger school community. I believe that solving such issues are a process that will eventually spread through all socio-ecological levels through time. In addition to minimizing segregation I that an effective school system will be able to minimize crimes, reduce poverty, raise employment as well as many other issues that plague our country. The school systems are what molds the individuals our future. Individuals of all socio-ecological levels should invest more time and thought into the school system in order to maximize school systems to its fullest potential.

Francesca Mercurio           

Forum 13

July 28, 2010

School and Community

What are your reflections from the panel discussion?

What are two questions you would ask the panelists if you were present during the discussion?

What in your opinion should be the role of school in local community?

            The panel brought up the issues of school and the community and the involvement they have with each other.  Each panel member is extremely well traveled and each knows a lot about different cultures and how education is presented in each culture.  I agree with professor Woskinski in saying how amazing and fortunate we are to have to many resources available that have so much experience with schools as well as diversity, which is a large part of community.  Anna Ruiz, teacher at North High School in Phoenix, explained how prevalent diversity is in school, yet the communication is not there.  There is no communication between schools and community, students and community or administrators, which causes conflict and tension. She has developed a "Parent Form" to bring the school and community together.  The development of the school to better the community is necessary, but when folks do not communicate and reach out then nothing gets accomplished.  The lack of communication between parents, administrators, and community causes a large gap and makes an affect on how a child can learn.  The school and community have to work together to create a good atmosphere in schools and create an optimal learning environment that is also empowering for students.  The parents have a right as a parent to ask questions to administrators and teachers about what is going on in schools.   I think the main point is that schools need to reach out more to parents and the community in order to have progress and educate students for a better and brighter future.

            A question that I would ask the panel if I was present during the discussion is "What teaching strategies do teachers use to make the playing field equal in schools for very diverse students?"  The video clip shown during the panel discussion make it apparent to me that a student or teacher of color had to work twice as hard in the past to be looked at as an equal.  They had to go above and beyond and yet have faced oppression and conflict from other just to be treated fairly.  This makes it known at the end about how resilient these people are; yet I believe it would be much easier to become resilient in the classroom and in life if there was more support given.  Emotional and psychological support as the authors of the text have discussed several times is very important in creating and maintaining well-being of the community.  The community and schools should have the same common goals involving students.  The well-being is very important in every way and respecting the diversity of students and people in the community is the other very important principle of community psychology ( Nelson & Prilleltensky, 2005, p. 28).  The values of community are extremely important and I feel that they should be re-looked at whenever dealing with a conflict with community and another organization, such as school.  The values that community psychologists involve in every society are self-determination, caring and compassion, health, respect for diversity, participation and collaboration, support for community structures, social justice, holism, and accountability (Nelson & Prilleltensky, 2005, p 65).  The panel did an exceptional job of pointing out the importance of each value and lack of these values in school and community during the discussion.  Schools and communities need to work more closely and reach out on every level of community, even if it is unknown territory, in order to make the community better and vice versa. 

            Another question that I would ask if I was present during the panel discussion is "Do you think every teacher today cares entirely about diversity and reaching out to their diverse families, or only when teaching in the classroom?"  It is obviously difficult to know the intentions of a person when you do not know them personally.  I think this makes the teacher and administrators voices twice as necessary to be heard in a way of reaching out to community.  In my experience parents and the community want to be involved and feel close to the teachers that their child spends so many hours with each day.  Trust and openness needs to be reciprocated on both ends of society in order for schools to be more effective in the community.  "Community gets served by the organization and vice versa" (Nelson & Prilleltensky, 2005, p. 191).  I did not realize how closely related schools and the community were involved in society until reading more in the text.  When there is lack of communication, trust, and common goals of teachers/administrators, and students/parents, no progress can be made in preparing and educating the student for the future.  The main goal of being in school is to learn discipline, be educated, and learn different skills and social skills to prepare them better for life.  The schools and communities must work together and community psychologists can be the gap-bridgers for this issue.  I believe each side needs to help the other by communicating more. There will always be diversity in schools and the community surrounding it, which comes with adversity but a strong community can realize this, adapt, and make progress for a better well-being of everyone.

            The role of school in the local community should play a diverse and multi-level role.  Students spend many hours of the day and many years of life in schools.  It would seem natural that they become close and build strong trust bonds, but that has not been the case.  I believe community psychologists have a duty to help mentor teachers and students on how to communicate better and re-instill the values of community psychology in each school.  The table on page 203 of the text is a very informative and understandable piece of work that describes the roles, steps, tasks, and challenges for the development of community partnerships.  I believe this should be taught in every school and brought up in context for every parent meeting to better the communication within schools and the local community.  When roles are clear, goals are apparent, and willingness is present, schools and the local community can change and work to better education for students in the community and prepare them for life, which is the ultimate goal.  The dilemmas or issues that are experienced in organizations (the school), make life much harder in community settings as well, and we can avoid this by all maintaining the same values, reaching out, and communicating better on every ecological level (Nelson & Prilleltensky, 2005, p. 207). 

This panel was very interesting to me because before pursuing my education in psychology I wanted to pursue my degree in elementary education. However, all the bad aspects of teaching like money and school systems drove me away. I liked how the teacher represented selves as a positive side to be a minority, they are unique, can express their culture, and speak on behalf of students because in their 'community' or 'culture' they are taught differently. The bad side that almost all of the guests mentioned is that they had to work twice as hard to be equal. It is so sad that some of our society has pushed minorities twice as hard to be equal when our whole country contains such a diverse population. Another positive and downside mentioned by Anna was that she was the first and only Jr. ROTC teacher that was female so she had to represent herself as a role model and succeed above and beyond.

I was very intrigued to hear how all these different teachers have tackled the role of discipline. It seemed that Dr. Hart was the main inspiration for many teachers and seemed to help teachers establish their discipline. Throughout the discipline video in the panel teachers expressed students discipline through aggression, threats, throwing objects, ditching class, and the list goes on. The reason they seemed to express is that students get bored in class so their brains shut off and that leads to behavior problems. The cause of this is because teachers are not implementing a routine, procedure, self-discipline, motivation, good communication skills, good interpersonal skills, and good management skills. Without these key ingredients teachers will not be able to provide an effective learning atmosphere or be able to reach out to the kids through their subject of teaching. The teachers need to reach out to the kids through personal learning experiences so that they can relate and grab their attention. Also, another important thing pointed out is that on the first day of school kids try to feel out the teacher to see where there boundaries lye, this is why it is important to set out structure and routine on the first day of school and be consistent with it.

I was happy to hear that most of the teachers experienced good interactions with parents who wanted to take the time to help their kids. I was also sad to hear of Anna's experience with one parent who cussed at her and said that her kid will succeed without her help. She didn't want to hear what Anna had to say and thought she was defending her kid. But in the end, her defense is causing her child harm in helping her education.

The first question I would want to ask the guest speakers is; what are good ways to draw in parents to become more involved with school and their children? What about the parents who are single-parents and are working all the time, how can they find time to help their children?

The second question I would want to ask the guest speakers is; what do you think could be done in the school systems to help empower teachers to become more motivated and reach out to children more? What do you think are the major issues that need to be changed to help school teachers?

I think that the role of local schools should look at the overall aspect of diversity in teachers and students. They should focus on minorities and prioritizing them to be equally viewed as the rest of the community. Dr. Hart described her discipline initiative program to help schools establish principles of classroom management order by managing classrooms and preventing discipline. She believes that by having the same rules for all cultures and education levels (AP, regular, lower learning level) shows every student that they are equal and all have the same potential. It is important to show that minorities are equal and that everyone, no matter what culture, should work twice as hard to achieve what they want. I also think that schools should look at empowering their staff. They should look for advice and ways to improve things. They should also look at the teachers who experience disadvantages and search for ways to improve these disadvantages and turn them into advantages. Some ways to do this are listed on page 194, by inspiring leaders, growth-oriented belief systems, strength-based philosophies, structures that enable learning and role rotation, focus on self and community, comprehensive system of social support, and high sense of community. This will create everyone to feel equal, a sense of belonging, empowered, self-help groups and social support (for staff, students, and parents), and greater sense of well-being for the staff and the students. I think another important thing to add is comprehensiveness and awareness for the teachers to understand as well as students and their families. "… intervening at multiple levels and targeting multiple issues at the same time," (p. 205). I think this is important because if you are solely focusing in on one minority or one student culture than you will not know how to help the whole community. It is important to see what is good for the community as a whole and implicate that in the classroom so that you are targeting multiple levels of learning with a higher sense of belonging. One more thing that I would like to point out so that students and teachers can still feel a sense of culture in the classroom is to create a sense of creativity so that all students can express themselves in their own way. This was mentioned by Bobby in the panel discussion and by the website UNESCO, "Creation draws on the roots of cultural tradition, but flourishes in contact with other cultures. For this reason, heritage in all its forms must be preserved, enhanced and handed on to future generations as a record of human experience and aspirations, so as to foster creativity in all its diversity and to inspire genuine dialogue among cultures." I think it is important to realize that we are all equal but can still be deeply intertwined and rooted in our culture. You can express this creativity through art, poems, physical activities, music, etc. I think it would be good for the staff, students, and parents to learn about each other's cultures to find many similarities and differences and further more create an equitable and non-judgmental atmosphere.

    The panel had an interesting conversation on how schools interact with the community and the issues that can come from this interaction.  One of the issues that was brought up was how there was little communication between the two communities.  One of the panelist talked about how at their child's school the students were forced into putting their bags in carts to be checked.  The panelist mentioned that when she asked about why they were doing this she was told that she didn't need to know.  She also talked about how it was inappropriate to be checking the students personal belongings in such a manner.  She talked about had there been communication between the school and the parents that this would not have happened.  It was also mentioned how there was no unity in the school, no excitement/school pride among the kids or teachers.  This is an example of the poor communication that can happen between the two communities.  I thought it interesting that the panelist talked about how it was important for them to get to know their students.  This sort of thing does happen but it doesn't happen a lot.  The panelist also mentioned that the good often taught the honor students while those who were not in honors had teachers who were just ok and who did not take a personal interest in the kids well being.  It was also mentioned how schools are a mini community and the book defines a community as a "group or groups of citizens who have something in common" and "our need for affiliation in times of sorrow, our need for sharing in times of joy" (pg. 94).
    If I could ask them one question it would be how does the communication with the community differ among elementary schools, jr. high school and high schools?  I know at the elementary school that I work at there is communication between the school and the parents.  We have a position called a parent teacher liaison who gets parents who would usually would never get involved to be involved and help out.  Our school makes sure that the parents really know what's going on and if there is anything the school needs help with.  Do other grades do this or do they just figure that because their students are older and in their teens that they will tell their parents what's going on with the school?
     I would also want to know is there a difference in communication between how poor or how rich a school is.  Is a poorer school more or less open about what is happening at the school? And is a better off school more or less open about what is happening at the school?
    I think the role of a school in the community should be a place where children feel safe to go to for help and to learn.  It should be a place that can be a place of refuge in a time of crisis and need.  I know in some of the poorer areas during the summer break lunch is open for any child 18 years or younger.  I think it should be a place where those who need help can find resources and help.  A school should also provide free counseling sessions for the children who are struggling with emotions or anger issues.  I think to help with the communication and to help with communication that all schools should employ a teacher parent liaison to get parents involved.

What are your reflections from the panel discussion?

The panel discussion was a good topic because as a student, what goes on in the school and in the community around it, are important to me. One of the panel members gave an example of what it was like when her daughter attended a school where the school and the community were not involved. She was concerned about something that was going on within the school but was told that it was none of her business. As a community member and as a parent of one of the children who attended that school, it is definitely her business to know what is going on inside of the school.

Parents should be aware of what goes on inside of the school. Some parents think that just because it is a school they can trust what goes on but they should know the environment that their children spend the majority of their time. School needs to bridge with community and keep them aware of what is going on.

I was also very interested in the video about minority teachers. It was definitely eye opening because I never really thought about the fact that maybe minority teachers might have it harder than other teachers. They brought up good points such as how it might be harder for some students to relate to minority teachers because they are a different race. And that the teacher has to constantly try to prove themselves to their own students as well as other faculty members in order to show that they do have plenty of knowledge about the topic that they will teach. And at many times they can be compared to other minorities that people have made negative stereotypes about so maybe it can be difficult for them to break those stereotypes. It may also be difficult for people of color to be respected as teachers because there typically aren't very many people of color in leadership positions. These are all things that I have never thought of before when it comes to the challenges that minority teachers have to face.

School systems should not have better, more equipped teachers teaching the elite students while the teachers who aren't as prepared teaching the other students. I believe that all teachers should be adequately prepared to teach any kind of student. I think that if we treated every student the same, we would have more good students. I'm sure that students who are not as smart as other students are used to getting treated poorly while students who are smart are treated better by teachers and other administration. This could lead to the student acting out because they might already feel like they can't accomplish much and teachers aren't helping.  

 What are two questions you would ask the panelists if you were present during the discussion?

 One question that I would ask the panelists is, have you had any personal experiences dealing with the struggles and challenges of being a minority in the school systems? I want to ask this because they seemed like very strong and very intelligent people and I would want to what they did to rise about the stereotypes. Another question that I would want to ask the panelists is what are ways in which the school and the community can become more involved? I would like them to go more in depth with their answers because it is important that the school and the community work together to build a good environment for students.

What in your opinion should be the role of school in local community?

 The role of the school in the local community should be a very important one. It should actually be one of the most important ones. The school is where the future community leaders are raised and educated. If they are educated properly they can learn to give back to their community as much as their community gave to them. Teachers should be educated their students on what goes on in the community and the different kinds of communities that are out there so that they are aware of them and able to help them. It is important that we create awareness in the students so they won't grow up not knowing what is going on around them.

Hernandez, Samantha Forum 13

When listening to the panel discussion Dr. Ann Hart brought up the point that there is little communication between the school and the community. I was surprised by this because I thought education was important to the community, which is why our political figures push for education in their campaigns. She further goes on to say that there is no collaboration and no support from the community for the schools. I really think that this is sending the message that education is not as important as it really should be. I think that if schools had support from the community, it would minimize the drop out rates, delinquency and possibly even crime.

            Dr. Hart brought up an interesting story where at the end of the school year, shopping carts were brought out for students to put their backpacks in because it was assumed that these students could possibly have a bomb or other hazardous things that would disrupt the campus. However, there were no instances that occurred that would the school to do such a thing. Additionally, she brought her concern up to an administrator and he told her that her concern is not his business. I do not understand how her concern does not matter when her child attends this school and her child's privacy is being intruded upon. This type of mind set is outrageous and should be of everyone's concern. But, this goes to show that based on geographic location and the culture and/or your race follows you everywhere, even to school, which is supposed to be a safe place to learn.

            One question I would ask is why doesn't the community support their local schools? I think that education is of utmost importance as it is what helps us to give back to the community when finishing school. Education provides our future, the students, with the necessary tools to become better people, so they can take care of those that supported them. Another question I would ask is why does the issue of race remain a problem in our society? I think that this is something that needs to be put behind us. We are oppressing people based on a small fact versus looking at the whole picture, getting to know a person. It is really sad that this still remains because this oppression is what leads some students to not want to pursue a higher education because they are constantly being held back or told that they cannot do it. This in turn leads to higher crime rates in our society. Cultural diversity is inevitable; it is something that will exist forever, so there should be a more accepting society. According to UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, a document that observes, "cultural diversity as a 'common heritage of humanity' and considers its safeguarding to be a concrete and ethical imperative, inseparable from respect for human dignity," (unesdoc.org, 2010). We need to have respect for everyone in our society to have a successful community.

            In my opinion I think that the school should reach out to the community and pull them in. Perhaps creating community clean-ups or having socials or even fundraisers so that the community and the schools can learn about each other and that way the community can see what these students need in order to be successful. I even think that schools should raise awareness in their communities about what it is they need. It was really heartbreaking to hear from Dr. Hart that some schools do not even have a very fun-filled homecoming because of lack of support.

forum #13

            The role that teachers and public schools play in their communities is something that hits very close to home.  My wife is a first grade school teacher at "Sunrise Elementary School" which is located in Deer Valley School District.  Our National, and more specifically, our state public education is in dire straits.  Arizona ranks 49^th out of 50 states in "American Legislative Exchange Council's" annual public school report cards.  In 1999 Arizona ranked 17^th out of the 50 states; what happened? 

            The discussion panel video was very interesting and informative.  It was nice to hear a different side of our state's public education problems, other than my wife's not so subtle rants about her schools troubles.  Dr. Ann Hart was my favorite panel member.  I agree with her when she said that we need to bring fluid synchronization between the school and the community.  When there is no harmony, the students will not learn as well, or they as hard in the classroom.  Dr. Hart went on to say that when the school engages students in extracurricular activities including programs and clubs; the community takes notice and start to establish a bond with the school.  This bond grows stronger as these school programs reach deeper into the community; to help it and to raise pride for the school.  Dr. Hart formulated a "parent group" at her school to help elevate the harmony between the school and the community.  The more the student's parents are involved in the school; the better the learning environment is for the students, and the more the community puts value into education.  I think that Dr. Hart hit the nail on the head.  The problem is getting the parents to be involved; that's the difficult part.

            The first video clip was a bit disturbing.  It showed a couple of interviews given to minority teachers, who taught in schools with a mostly Caucasian staff.  These minority teachers discussed the fact that they were treated differently by the students, and by the other staff members.  They felt as if only their teaching skills were being accepted; not their culture or the rest of their personality.  They always had to be on their toes because they were always being tested; or given extra work.  Being from a different racial background, they felt like they had a lot to offer these children and staff members.  However, they felt as if they couldn't share this part of themselves.  I sympathize with them; I would hate to feel the way they do.  However, I wonder how much of these feelings, and thoughts are due to their own perception?  If you perceive something as being racial; then to you it will be a racial issue.  It's difficult to say whether these teachers were actually treated different because of their skin color; or if it had to do with their personality or their work ethic.  The "UNESCO" website said that one of its goals is to "prevent segregation" and to put a stop to all racial incidents.  I agree that this needs to be done.  However, to view something as racial, just because it involves a minority person, will only shadow the other variables and factors that are involved.  A great example of this is the definition of a "hate crime."  If a white policeman kills a black man, almost every minority in America will view it as a "hate crime."  They will think that the policeman killed the suspect because of his skin color, and that he would not have killed him if he was a white suspect.  When in reality, the policeman would have reacted the same way and killed the suspect no matter what his skin color was.  They are overlooking the other variables, such as the man had a gun, the man aimed at the officer and so on.  Naming it a "hate crime" will only perpetuate the fact that "minorities are treated differently," instead of having everyone view it as just a "man on man" circumstance.   

            The school and the community need to work together in order to create the most optimal learning environment.  I believe that the community needs to recognize that the schools are educating the next generation of leaders.  There is not enough being done for our public education system; that is why it is failing.  It all comes down to money, as it always does.  According to the "ALEC" 2006-2007 Arizona report card; Arizona is last in the country for spending on the student's behalf.  Arizona also ranks dead last for student to pupil ratio.  The countries average students per classroom is 15; Arizona's is 25.  Arizona is also in the bottom half of the states in teacher compensation.  So, we spend less on our students, we pay the teachers less money to teach more kids; and then we sit around and wonder why our state is having trouble with test scores.  When every district in the state cut teachers jobs last year, they did it by seniority.  So we had all of these smart, young, ambitious new teachers who got fired; and all of the old, worn out, stale, can't wait to retire teachers left to educate our youth.  What's wrong with this picture?  I believe that when these school districts need to cut teachers, they should do it on a performance based basis.  My wife teaches in a title one school.  This means that 80% or more of the children that attend are from low income homes.  The parents of these children are not very involved with their kid's education or with the school.  My wife sends home forms, emails and calls these parents to let them know that they need to help their child understand the homework because they are failing in the classroom.  Nine times out of ten the response is something like, "I don't have time for that!" or "Isn't that your job?!?"  She's lucky if they even pick up the phone, or return her calls; and they almost always never show for scheduled appointments.  How do we fix this?  I had a long talk with my wife and she believes that these parents deal with so much stress and turmoil; that they can barely keep track of their own life, let alone their child's education and well-being.  The biggest reason that most of her student's parents like these public schools is because it serves as a "free daycare."  Anything beyond getting their child to school and home from school is too much for these parents to handle.  I think that the schools need to become more tailored to these types of parents.  How about some free, mandatory family counseling?  That would hopefully at least get the parents involved with their children.  There needs to be school functions where there are some classes for the parents and they teach them just how important education is to their child.  My wife tells me that whenever there is a school function at night, like a play or game night, it is always busy when there's free food; and it's a ghost town when there's not.  So maybe there should be a free pizza social where the parents have to sit down and talk with the teachers before they get their pizza.  These are just some ideas we came up with.  The point is that the schools need to find a way to get these parents involved with their children's education.  If they are involved, their children are always at the top of their class. 

            If I had attended the discussion panel, I would have asked the panel, "What are some ways to get these low income parents to get involved with their children's education?"  With all of their backgrounds, experience and knowledge, I think they would have come up with some great ideas.  I would have also asked, "With our state's school budget so far out of whack, what do you think is a viable option to fix it for the future?"  I really think our state needs to address our public school budget.  My wife has been teaching for 5 years now, and is making less money this year than she did her first year of teaching.  Read that statement again.  The only reason she is staying is because I make a good enough living for the both of us, and she loves what she does.  However, her school alone has lost good quality teachers because the pay is way too low.  You are then stuck with the "leftovers" who "just don't want to have to go out and get another job."  That's who is teaching our children?  My little sister, who waits tables part time, makes more than my wife who has a master's degree in early childhood education!  It just makes me sick!  We need to pay our teachers more money.  This will create a desire for the position; and then you will get the brightest and best molding the minds of our nation's future leaders.  Like I said before, it all comes down to money, it always does.

I've enjoyed reading the questions you have all posted regarding what you would ask the panelists if you were present during the video discussion. These questions are interesting and thought provoking. On page 75 of our textbook, it states that "Students in smaller schools, including students with academic and social difficulties, were involved in a wider range of activities than students in larger schools" What are your thoughts about smaller school environments vs. larger school environments in terms of student participation in activities and do you think this has any effect on students feeling a "sense of community?"

April Vickery

PGS365

Forum 13

"What are your reflections from the panel discussion? What are two questions you would ask the panelists if you were present during the discussion? What in your opinion should be the role of school in local community?"

            I feel that Arizona has a poor education system compared to the rest of the country so I thought that this panel discussion was quite relevant.  It was very interesting to learn about the differences between minority students and other students in school systems around the United States.  When one panelist was talking about how children in schools with a lower income and a higher percentage of minorities do not receive the same benefits as other schools across the country I was shocked.  She says that these students have homecoming dances with no food, no drinks, no decorations, etc.  I thought this was horrible because it discourages the students' passion for learning or giving back to the school itself.  It does not motivate them or give them school pride and they feel unappreciated.  If they are not rewarded for their hard work then they will feel that they are recognized.  I agree with another panelist that teachers should realize that they have pre-conceived perceptions of minority students that they should come to terms with before working in a classroom.  Students are influenced by their teachers and if they feel judged because of their ethnicity then they will have a harder time learning and with school in general.  I also found the subject of discipline in schools to be interesting because it does seem like a lot of schools lack it.  Growing up the majority of my teachers would rather the students like them then to regulate the rules of the classroom.  I feel that it is important for students to be disciplined (especially younger ones) because you never know if they are receiving it at home.  Discipline can help students stay out of trouble and focus more on learning. 

            If I was involved in this particular discussion I would ask the panelists what the role of the parents is in their children's education and how important is their participation in the classroom?  It seems as though many parents today don't have the time or don't put in the effort to make sure that their child is receiving a proper education and abiding by the rules of the classroom.  I would also ask the panelist if they think it would be a good idea to have a class that motivates and prepares high school students for college or if there is anything similar in schools across the country?  A lot of students aren't getting that motivation to go to college at home and I think that it would be a great idea to implement a class preparing seniors for college.  I came from a small town so I'm not sure if other schools have classes like these but when I got to ASU I had so many questions that were unanswered.  I also have many friends that could not afford college and so they just gave up.  They were unaware of options like student loans and scholarships.

            I think that the role of schools in local communities should be helping to unite different cultures and ethnic diversities.  Schools should offer after-school programs that encourage parent participation and activities that involve integrating different cultures.  Schools should address issues about discrimination, poverty, teen pregnancy, and domestic violence and how students are affected.  They should provide counseling for the students and even allow their parents to come in if they need to.  And most importantly teachers and authorities should make sure to praise their students so that they feel appreciated and motivated for success inside and outside of the classroom.  

Forum 13_School_Community_Brasington

28 July 2010

http://ucpsarnet.iglooprojects.org/forum13

"What are your reflections from the panel discussion? What are two questions you would ask the panelists if you were present during the discussion? What in your opinion should be the role of school in local community?"

My favorite teacher was a fifth grade teacher who cared about our classroom; she made the classroom experience and rules specified to the students. I felt like ownership in the classroom and was excited to participate in the class. Some of my most horrifying moments came from aloof teachers with guidelines that seemed out of touch and impossible to achieve.

The lecture focuses quite a bit on disciplinary action. Among the panelists, there was no real universal theory to what discipline does, how much should be used and when it should be used. For example, Anita Ritz focuses on organization and standards up front with high expectations; she has only written four referrals in three years of teaching. Roberta Languana focuses on holding everyone to school standards and writes up to four per week. Winston Tease Jr. thinks that discipline is essential to embrace and to respect. Aydin Bal thinks that it is a feeling and an understanding of what cultural artifact is and when behaviors are necessary to be addressed.

My feeling about discipline is that the teachers should all be on the same level of what discipline is and what it is not so students are treated equally. There must be studies that describe the best approaches to discipline. Universities should focus on these, as discipline is big problem which disrupts the learning environment, and then execute it based on those findings. Dr. Anne Hart promotes parental involvement, communication and community building. She also promotes teachers to be well organized in their classrooms, ethnic minorities represented as teachers and that students take pride in their school.

How do all these things help the school become the best place it can be? Aydin Bal suggests that it is the culture of the environment in which you survive. The question then arises, how can I make a difference if I am a teacher or a parent? UNESCO suggests cultural diversity is key, 'At the same time, acceptance and recognition of cultural diversity - in particular through innovative use of media and ICTs - are conducive to dialogue among civilizations and cultures, respect and mutual understanding.' Thus the relationship in which prejudgment is put aside and time is spent understanding the other culture is necessary in promoting a learning and successful environment for the students.

The text describes that being accountable to the community involves caring, 'being proximal and distal at the same time. Whereas proximal caring refers to the compassion and support we display towards those close to us, distal caring reflects our concern to those who are not physically or emotionally close to us, yet worthy of our respect and obligations' (p. 119). Thus this interaction at school is very important. The speaker LaTanya Jones makes commitments to involving the parents by showing up to their homes to learn more about who the student is and what environment the student is coming from. This is building the respect and obligation the text is referring to. Taking this time and individual commitment to students builds and promotes the trust that is needed to bridge the cultural disparity.

Furthermore, the Cornell video: American Schools: Who gives a Damn? Is essentially dialoging the problems of our time. As teachers have so much adventure of creating the and capturing the potential in their students, the teacher is paid poorly with little opportunity for advancement or control over their curriculum. Roberta Laguna talks about how decisions are no longer made from the top down in her school, but now they are made laterally, which is contributing to better learning curriculum and overall job satisfaction. Afterall, the teacher is the expert, especially in promoting community, if done right. Our education is the most important asset, although our tax payer dollars don't show it. I'd like to see this change so good teachers will stick around and contribute to a better future.

Lecture (2005):Dr. Ann Hart, Deputy Associate Superintendent Discipline Initiative, ahart@ade.az.gov
     Anna Ruiz, Education Masters Curriculum, North High School, Phoenix, annarzm@aol.com
     Winston Tease, Jr., Instructor North High School, Phoenix,Wteasejr1@cox.net
     Aydin Bal, Special Education PhD Student, Aydin.bal@asu.edu
     LaTanya Jones, Educational Technology, North High School, Phoenix, joneslc@hotmail.com
     Roberta Laguna, Secondary Education, North High School, Phoenix, Rlaguna423@aol.com

UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity

Shoemake, Larry  Forum 13

What are your reflections from the panel discussion?  What are two questions you would ask the panel if you were present during the discussion?  What in your opinion should be the role of school in local community?

One of the biggest things that stuck with me during the panel discussion was the fact that minority teachers have to do twice as much just to be considered equal to their counterparts.  I must be naïve.  I can't believe we live in a society where this still goes on.  At this point we have gone to school with and been integrated in our community with minorities for so long that I figured we would just be used to it.  Of course it's still my belief that we are all just humans anyway, not black, brown or white or even men and women, but just humans.  We are all equal.  Even more astonishing is the fact that these teachers are treated this way by the students as well.  Why in the world would any teacher, who should automatically be considered an authority, have to prove themselves to any snot nosed kid?  That blows my mind.  The one teacher that spoke of one of her peers saying that "she didn't expect to learn anything was out of this world."  I liked how one of the panel members mentioned that not only does she work twice as hard to be respected as an equal, but she just turns around and passes it on to her students as well.  She is, although it is unfortunate that she has to, preparing her minority students for the future.  She wants them to know what to expect and be prepared for the racial profiling and discrimination that lie ahead.  No wonder, based on what we learned from the panel discussion, that the majority of teachers are white.  Why would minorities want to voluntarily put themselves into an oppressive situation?  

For the minority teachers that forge ahead and don't let this abuse get to them I liked how a lot of the panel talked about using their minority status to their advantage.  Because of the fact that in many communities, especially in large cities, what we used to consider the minority isn't so much the minority anymore.  Many of the kids are of Hispanic or African American decent.  As mention from some of the panel, these teachers understand these kids' background and culture and can use it to their advantage in not only communicating but also gaining a mutual respect with the kids.  These teachers can also speak on behalf of the kids to other teachers or students, because they understand the culture they can help the other teachers or students understand.  Weather it be a language barrier issue or a discipline issue, they can add some insight to the situation and make people realize that it really isn't a situation at all, but maybe just a cultural misunderstanding.  This then creates a level of trust with the kids.  These minority teachers can use their culture as an advantage to be role models to these kids.  This in turn creates a positive experience that the kids take home with them and then it further creates a good relationship between the school and the community.

The last issue that I had reflections on from the panel discussion was that of discipline.  It was shocking to me to hear that discipline problems even outweighed drugs and other problems in the school.  Its one thing for the kids to make fun of the teachers and chalk it up to kids being kids, but the fact that these teachers have to deal with verbal and physical abuse is unacceptable.  My sister in law is a teacher in New York City and has told me the same stories of kids being verbally and physically abusive to her as well and she's a music and choir teacher.  She falls into the example of one of the teachers that didn't last three years as mentioned in one of the videos.  She went on to do something else because she didn't want to deal with the abuse and disrespect anymore.  She, like many other teachers, went to school for a long time and got her masters to become a teacher, only to find out it wasn't what she expected.  The sad part is that music was her love and this experience just ripped the ambition to teach right out of her.  It is a sad and probably all too common story.

The first of two questions I would have asked the panel is why teachers to this day are still so underpaid?  Teachers, firefighters, and policemen are the three most important jobs there are and yet they are all the most underpaid.  Like it was mentioned in one of the videos, why don't we treat this profession like a profession?  One of the students made a good point.  Without teachers there wouldn't be any lawyers and doctors!

Second, what is being done to train new teachers to deal with minorities and their cultural and language differences?  As I mentioned earlier, minorities are really minorities anymore.  White is becoming the new minority.  It seems as if even a lot of the discipline problems would be eliminated if teachers were better trained to integrate some cultural diversity into their daily lesson plan.  This should now just be part of what is required to become a teacher.  It should be integrated into the college of education as a requirement for a teaching certificate.

In my opinion, what should be a role of school in the community is involvement.  To hear the story in the beginning of the lecture of the high school homecoming that had no banners, no concession stands, no assembly, or school spirit was alarming.  It shows there was not only a lack of involvement between the school and the community, but also no sense of pride, identity, or relationships between the teachers and students and their community.  It was mentioned in the lecture that parents should be part of the education process and decisions.  I think this should be mandatory.  Children and their parents should be required to sit with the guidance counselors and go over, not only the options available to the kids, but also the requirements to graduate.  This way the parents are involved early with the kids and their teachers, not just after a problem exists and the damage has already been done.  This should also be done on a regular basis and after the initial meeting with the counselor, once a curriculum has been set, then the students teachers should be involved in future meetings.  It was mentioned that successful kids have strong parental involvement.  I also think this would keep the teachers more engaged in the students and parent's lives and create a strong sense of community between them and their school.  The students and the school should also have fundraisers for the school out in the community.  They should be trying to obtain sponsorships from parents and local business to raise money for school functions and programs.  As well, they should hold booster club meetings and school board/town hall meetings either at the school or in the community to address any problems, questions or concerns between the school and the community.  They should also keep the alumni involved.  These are the people who work in the community and run businesses in the community.  This creates a sense of loyalty and pride between the school and the community.  These are just a few of my thoughts on what role the school can play in the community.

The panel was extremely interesting and I highly valued the diversity that they brought to the table. However, I became frustrated at times because I was blown away by their stories of inequality or of how they were discriminated against (intentionally or unintentionally.) I am always blown away at our culture because, for me, discrimination against color is a thing of the past. I discriminate against people who are crude and promote inequality and have no respect for diversity. Everyone should value people's color and background and make absolutely no assumptions of a person until they have proven to you their incompetency. And still, your perception of their incompetency has nothing to do with their gender, color, ethnicity or culture. Moving on, culture, color, gender and ethnicity have nothing to do with the level of respect and education a person deserves to earn.

Dr. Hart was extremely articulate in her argument against the lack of organization and community within the schooling system. She displayed a sense of awareness and motivation to "fix" the education system to promote equality and organization within the schools.

Anna Ruiz has an interesting background because of her military experience as well as her ethnic background. She suggested heavily that she is able to communicate with her students because she can relate to them because of her color.

LaTanya suggested the same argument as Anna. This is where I started to become frustrated because she expressed her struggles in her professional life because of her gender and color. Winston also agreed with the idea that it is easier to communicate and teach people who are the same color as you because there is no discrimination. In my opinion, Arizona is unique because we do not possess and extremely diverse culture. I would hope that other parts of the United States that have a more diverse culture experience this discrimination much less.

Bobbie is always extremely sweet and understanding and I believe she truly respects diversity. I believe this because she has had such a strong background working with other cultures in on different continents. She has taken time to learn languages other than her own and travel around helping people. She expresses we need to have a sense of understanding and acceptance towards others.

At the end of the day, it is about the students. We need to take the time to put their education first and not teach them to discriminate. There needs to be equality in the schools. Students deserve a healthy, happy, and fulfilling education experience. Bobbie suggested there needs to be stability, which I agree with. There should be reinforcing agents within the school system that promote the well-being a child will receive from going to school and staying committed to their education. Of course, school doesn't promise you a job, but remaining engaged and committed to educating yourself will make you healthier and happier because of the knowledge you have acquired.

Two questions I would extend to the panel would be to LaTanya and Bobbie. First: LaTanya, what helped you through the discrimination you experienced while teaching? What did that do you help you deliver a more positive message to your students? Second: Bobbie, what made you want to travel other than to avoid being bored? Do you feel that your traveling allows to you look at your student population more objectively?

Community has a huge influence on local schools because it is our children that go to these schools. It is a matter of educating these children at home to reflect a non-discriminatory ideal. When there is no discrimination in the house hold, that will reflect accordingly at school. The same example goes for that if the parents value education, they will teach their children to do the same. They will teach the child that education helps you better yourself from the inside out. It makes you more desirable at job interviews and it creates a goal you can accomplish for yourself. All education needs to start at home. People need to have serious conversations with their children about their futures and how to treat people.

            I thought the panel discussion on diversity in school was interesting and I enjoyed how the speakers discussed their experiences with students and discrimination.  First of all, teachers should not be judged by their ethnicity and be discriminated against.  They are there to educate children and teachers work hard to develop learning plans and activities for the students.  Even though we have come a long way from discriminating people for their cultural background, it is still a problem that occurs.  LaTanya Jones mentioned how she faced discrimination and the struggles she had to suffer based on her race.  She also expressed how it is easier to connect with students when they are the same ethnicity.  Anna Ruiz and Winston Tease agreed with LaTanya because the other students do not have a reason to discriminate and the teachers also become more relatable.  The video shown during the lecture discussed how teachers can have a difficult time controlling the students, and that demonstrates how students need to learned how to respect teachers and not discriminate against them.

            Anna Ruiz explained how she incorporates her military background with her teaching methods.  It gives her an advantage because she has the discipline to handle any kind of adversity that comes her way.  One of the things that she expresses to her students is how she will not tolerate intolerance.  I think it is necessary to have that approach because intolerance should not be tolerated.  When it comes to tolerance of other cultures Bobbie Laguna has a strong grasp on the subject.  She teaches Spanish and French and she has traveled around the world.  She understands the importance of accepting diversity and that discrimination will not help anyone.  Two questions that I would ask the panelists if I were present at the discussion are: what are the strategies that they incorporate in their teaching to promote diversity and what would be the best way to approach discrimination with students?

            The impact of community on local schools is to demonstrate that everyone is connected and that it is important to have variety in the community.  I think if a community has diversity, then students in local schools will display less discrimination.  Students need to be taught about different cultures and that it is important to accept those differences.  The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is an organization that "works to create the conditions for dialogue among civilizations, cultures and peoples, based upon respect for commonly shared values."  One of their objectives is foster cultural diversity and address social and ethical challenges.  When it becomes a global issue to promote diversity, then eliminating discrimination can become a reality.

I'd like to start by saying that i enjoyed hearing the panels discussion on how school and community are tied together.  I thought that it was very informative of them to share their individual experiences with the class.  Some stood out to me more than others and i thought that the ones that did displayed great inner strength and intelligence. 

I found the African American lady from the panel to be very strong and brave.  I liked her comments on how she was there at the high school to do her job and she was there to not show favoritism towards anyone but rather to give no special treatment and to just do her job to the best of her ability.  Due to the fact that she took that job when there were little to no African American staff at that high school, i would ask her what it was like going through the transition of possibly being judged by other students and faculty members while they were getting used to her presence both in and out of the classroom. 

I also liked her comments on how disciplining students starts at home.  Teaching our children and our future students right from wrong undoubtedly starts at home.  How our children and students view the world and act in it is a direct reflection of that students upbringing from the parents.  Teaching kids that they are above the law in any circumstance is not only wrong and un fair to the other students but it is crippling their mentalities for the rest of their futures.  A second question that i would like to ask the panel is how would they propose the school insist parents take an active role in their children's lives who clearly are not currently doing so?  The parents role in the students life and future is crucial to that students success. 

The impact of the community on local schools, i feel, could be very positive.  Not all kids are blessed with parents who take an active approach towards the kids education.  I believe that if communities become closer they can act more as a family and help these less fortunate children along.  When i say less fortunate, i am not refferring to the socio economic level of the child because, as shown in previous research, neglect can occur at all class levels. 

My nephew has recently graduated from a head start program in my community.  It is a class that teaches kids about manners and respect before they start kindergarten.  Most of the parents were stay at home mothers who would attend class with their child daily.  There were a few children whose parents never showed and were alone all of the time.  Other parents caught onto this and immediatley took the neglected children under their wing, so to speak, and included them in all of the adult/child activities.  This is just one of many examples inwhich other community members can pick up the slack for neglectful or possibly even busy parents and give these children the attention and guidance they need. 

The panel for the schools and community topic was very diversified in the sense that they all brought their own unique view of school experiences to the table. Each had a different background from which they came from giving the panel as a whole a good range of experiences to share with the class. A common theme throughout the discussion was that of inequality and discrimination due to certain ethnic differences. It seems that even in this day and age we still cannot escape discrimination due to color even when school teachers and the children they are teaching are involved. School is supposed to be a "safe haven" of sorts but based on the experiences shared by the panel, it definitely is not.

            I thought that LaTanya and Anna Ruiz shared some interesting points when they were both speaking about their experiences based on color. They both stated that they felt it easier to communicate with and deal with people of their own color. This is an intriguing concept because it's definitely true that when teaching children of your own race, discrimination never really enters the teacher's or student's minds. It's not until there is an ethnic difference that thoughts of prejudice and discrimination enter one's thoughts. I especially enjoyed the part where, because of her military background, Anna Ruiz would not tolerate discrimination of any kind in her classroom and due to the same military background, instills discipline in her classes. However, it was rather disheartening to listen to LaTanya speak about her past experiences with discrimination and how she struggled to deal with it.

            Bobbie Laguna offered a little different perspective on the topic. She spoke more of accepting diversity and being able to understand people that come from different backgrounds. Through her travels across the globe, Bobbie was exposed to a vast array of different cultures and backgrounds which in turn, made her more aware of, and more willing to appreciate people of different ethnic backgrounds. She has even gone as far as learning the languages of the places she has visited to enable her to more effectively communicate and help others.

            Two questions that I would ask if I were present at this panel discussion would be: If given the opportunity to instigate a rule change in the schooling system as a whole, even at the simplest level, what would it be? And secondly, how can we teach students and teachers both to appreciate people of different ethnic backgrounds and accept them for who they are?

            Schools and community go hand in hand and have a huge effect on each other. For the most part, people who attend school know each other outside of the school as well. They hang out together, go to each other's houses, and their parents know each other as well. This means that anything that happens outside of the school will affect the in-school daily life and vice-versa. Hence, there needs to be an open and safe atmosphere of communication in which teachers, students, and parents can all be on the same page in the case that there is an incident such as discrimination taking place. If there is such a communication line open and available to all involved, a smooth and effective solution can be achieved and future incidents of discrimination can be avoided all together.

The panel talked about several consequences in that result from a lack of communication between the community and the schools. This lack of communication throws the relationship into a state of chaos. Without communication there can be no collaboration with the community. This means that activities such as homecomings and sports are virtually non-existent because they have no volunteers from the community to help run the programs. Another related problem is that without communication programs that the school attempts to institute programs fail because of lack of support from the community. They lack the funding to get these beneficial programs off the ground because the community is so uninvolved. This leaves the students feeling disjointed. They have to live in two environments that may have completely different policies and the two environments are not connected to each other in any real way. This can leave the children feeling confused about what is appropriate school behavior. Because of this confusion, they may find themselves getting in trouble at school and not understanding why. The panelists talked about how students should feel happy about where they go to school. They should feel like there are clubs, sports, or other activities in their school that they can become involved in to enrich their lives. Without these activities students can become disinterested in going to school and may develop attendance problems and their grades may begin to drop. The anecdote about the students having their backpacks taken from them in shopping carts to be inspected shows what can happen when the community is disconnected from the school. The parents were clearly not alright with what was going at the school, but they had no way of expressing that to the school and the school did not care what the parents had to say.

It was sad to hear that often minority teachers aren't respected by administration or students. The undergo much harder time trying to establish control over their classrooms. Non-minority students often think that they are not going to learn from the minority teacher and because of this they become disruptive and disinterested. Administrators expect minority teacher to perform higher than non-minority teachers for the same rewards. Minority teachers do experience an advantage when working with their own population. With this advantage they can help minority students gain a

advantages teaching minorities sense of empowerment. It also gives them the unique ability to speak up for students who may not speak up for themselves because they have a better understanding of that students ethnic background and situations arising from their background. The phrase "community starts in the classroom" was used in the panel discussion and this phrase does a great job of describing the importance of the influence of schools on children throughout the rest of their lives.

There are some problems that non-minority teachers face in dealing with minority students. First is that they do not understand the culture of the students and this may cause them to misunderstand their behaviors. Second, teachers need to be willing to address their own preconceptions about students. They must acknowledge that they have some biases that they must work to overcome.

Communities shape the schools that exist within the community. The school is a microcosm of the community. If there are problems in the community those same problems will be reflected in the school. Communities can make sure that the school is successful by supporting them and helping out with programs that enrich the lives of the students. Without the support of the community schools cannot function effectively. Students have the sense that their lives are fully integrated and that their parents and community members really care about the way the school functions. The community also serves to keep the school in check when they institute policies that the community disagrees with. They can stand together as a united front to provide the best possible environment for the children.

        Wow what I can say about this panel discussion? I have to start by saying that I was glad to hear positive stories about teaching from most of the teachers that formed part of the discussion. The panel discussion was very interesting because every teacher that was part of the panel presented different opinions about the educational system.

            I have always known that it is difficult to be part of the minority, but I never thought that this was also included in the educational field. During the first video it was shared that people of color are not always in the "power" positions. Minority teachers are not only "bullied" by the students they teach, but even the teachers that surround them. LaTanya Jones; Educational technology at North High school explained that you do have to work harder if you are a teacher of color. Yet, for the teachers in panel, it was evident that teaching about diversity makes everything easier. When students understand that diversity is needed, the job becomes lighter. Dr. Ann Hart; Deputy Associate Superintendent shared that it is not only about "crying" about that minorities are not treated equal, but that even the minority teacher needs to become closer to the people in the "majority" to understand them.

            The panel of course was not only how heart breaking it is to be a teacher of a minority background, but about other things that are of a concern in our educational system. When someone decides to become a teacher, they understand that it is not because of the money; most of the time it is because they want to make a difference. Being a teacher is not an easy thing to go through, but as the panel discussed, teachers need to love what they are teaching and they will do a great job.

            Growing up I had good teachers as well as bad teachers. Some were respected and some where not. A member of the panel, Anna Ruiz; Education Masters curriculum shared that if a teacher lacks on having a set routine and procedures, their classroom will lack on discipline. This statement is very true. I know of teachers that feel that in their classrooms there is nothing but "devils" that can not be managed. In contrast, a different teacher might get the same student, but because that new teacher has great rules and procedures, the student not only behaves, but learns. As a student during panel shared, having a structure is the key to great education. Most times it is not that the students do not want to learn, but about the educational system they have become part of. A great example that I want to share is the movie "Waiting on Supermant". In this movie it provides a clear examples that if the student does not have a good teacher with a structure, he/she will lack in other things that are part of their lives.

            This brings me to my last point in regards to schools and communities. The teachers are not the only community that needs to be strong for a child to succeed, but parents and students themselves. As Winslow Tease; Instructor at North High School explained, when parents are involve in their child's education; that child becomes more successful. If there is a strong community that supports the schools and understand that education is a great way for preventing other issues, our cities, states and even country will no longer be so self center. As the last video showed, many communities can look down on the career of being a teacher. Many have forgotten that if it was not for the education they received from great teachers, they will not be where they are now. Yes teaching does not make you rich money wise, but you are able to create a positive future for the young. I was glad to hear from the panel of teachers, superintendents, etc that there are many positive sides to teaching and it is up to the community to show more respect to that great career. I do not know who sets the rules in how much a teacher can make a year, but if our government will just remember what teachers did for them, teacher's salaries should be more than just the minimal.

"Community psychology begins at home, where we live, where we work, where we volunteer" (Nelson & Prilleltensky, 2005).

 Chapter 9, Organizational and Community Interventions, discusses the correlation between organizations and community.  The organization to be discussed is school.  Education is such an important part of all of our lives, not only for us to learn different curriculum, but to learn about ourselves and what our interests are to prepare us for the future.  School is the foundation to becoming who the students could potentially become. 

This panel discussion revolved around schools and community and how they are connected.  I really enjoyed what Anne said about how the administrator told her that the things going on at her child's school wasn't her concern.  This comment from the administrator seemed like it'd be very discouraging to even want to be a part/communicate with the school community.  Ann also discussed a situation where there were no student organizations in the school as well as having school leaders with an "I don't care" attitude could be a huge downfall for a school because students won't even want to be there because the administrators don't care. 

There was a huge discussion about discipline in the classroom.  I think that if a teacher wants a classroom to behave, then they need to love their job and be willing to do what ever it takes to make the students feel comfortable in their learning environment.  When a teacher concentrates too hard on trying to be the student's friend, this is when disobedience happens most often.   Also, I was alarmed at how STILL there is a huge problem with respecting minority teachers.  Growing up in Chicago, I was exposed to all different people of different ethnic backgrounds.  I think that this has helped me be who I am today because I learned about different subcultures of our city starting at a younger age.    

I appreciated all of the panel participants' ideas and opinions for this section.  Hearing some of this information from the teacher's point of view helped to understand a little better about how my teachers were thinking when I was still in grade school and high school.

My response is attached

Stephen Sprague

Community and Schools

            I think that the discussions from the panel really hit some of the key things that help make schools and the community work together and really make a difference. I think that the talk about different ethnicities and how that affects schools is strange to me. I never had any problems or any sort of feeling of people being different from me due to this but I can see how this could really disrupt a community and the schools unity and learning environment. Harmony and unity seems to be needed to really create a good stable learning environment. Schools need to meet community needs and the community needs to help the schools to reinforce what they are teaching and show support to the students. I would if they feel year round school would help create strong communities and learning environments? I would also ask what they think the best way to create unity between the community and the schools learning environment?

            Scott Naputi's comments are very close to how I feel. He talks about how schools should continually be changing and adapting to the needs of the students and the community as well as the community should do the same for students and the schools. I also agree that I think though teachers jobs are very difficult they need to be trained to handle all the problems that will arise. There are few teacher that I have had that have really been amazing and able to handle all the diversities and all the problems with elegance. Teachers need to know that they could be teaching anywhere and have to deal with many outside problems that will affect learning in their classrooms. I think that because everyone is changing as they grow up and because the world is ever changing it only makes sense that schooling and education should change as well as because it is part of the community it should change and adapt along with the community to better serve its students and their families. I also think that because outside factors do affect learning that teachers should be trained on how to handle these changes and how to teach all types of students.

            Another comment is by Vanessa Hamilton. She talked about how the best teachers shouldn't always be teaching the elite and the poor teachers teaching the less fortunate or less gifted students. This way of thinking and teaching creates the problems in the first place. By singling out students as better than others it creates a paradime. It makes those smart students smarter and the less gifted students do worse. There have been many studies that have shown that if you tell students they are smart and amazing and the best they perform better and those same students if told are stupid and not good will do poorly. She also talked about how the minority teachers in the video were treated. This is shocking to me and to her as well. I never thought about those teachers as any different and I certainly didn't think at that level of teaching that it would even cause a problem. Equality for everyone should be a fact for everyone. I agree with her being shocked, I mean how can educated adults treat others differently sounds childish. As well as her feeling on the teachers who are good teaching the "smarter students". As I said with all the studies been done it obviously creates this separation and impedes educational progress. 

Nowadays most schools everywhere have diverse students attending, particularly in big cities. For myself, I came from a small town high school about 600 students in it. It wasn't exactly diverse in ethnicities because it was an Indian reservation school. I can remember that everybody was excited that two African American students were attending one year, which I had a suspicion it was the stereotype of their athletic skills. Anglo students were extremely rare on occasion although we did have some Anglo staff/teachers. In my school, the only diversity we had was the usual clichés: jock groups, goth/metal, basketball, wrestlers/footballers, and other little clicks. A majority of our staff/teachers were Navajo because they could understand to some extent where the students came from. Anglo teachers in this case usually moved here because they couldn't find a teaching position anywhere else and immediately accepted my school's offering from what one teacher told me. Either that or my counselor told me one time that she accepted it because it was a forgiveness program for four years. In my experiences, I felt that I learned better (and made friends) from Anglo teachers than native teachers because in my frame of mind then, the Anglo teachers had more experiences and knowledge than the other teachers. I also observed that students in general paid less attention to Navajo teachers because we know how they teach. One difference I think would be effective for reservation is to incorporate effective traditional teachings into the education system. As I understand, my high school recently built a Navajo Hogan on its grounds which I think is a very good idea. Ironically, the current principle is Anglo and helped funded the construction. This shows that he appreciates our culture very much and tries to help.

            From listening to the discussion panel, I can better understand where the Anglo teachers came from when they first started teaching at a reservation school. It would be like living in a different world. From what the discussion stated, I would imagine that the Anglo teachers are careful on what they have to say about Native traditions and beliefs. This situation would be the same for Roberta Laguna who taught in the Peace Corps. The teachers here were surprised when they learned about some of our traditional beliefs. I would also imagine that an outside student would assume that the Native students could get along with Native teachers. That's not exactly the case for several reasons. One is that the Native teachers could be somehow related to the students such as nieces/nephews, grandkids or cousins through Navajo kinship or clan system. Also some of the teachers would personally know the student's parents or relatives. In my school, all the Navajo faculty was related to me (they were my aunties, uncles, and cousins).

In disciplinary problems, it is typical in any high school such as gangs, drugs and alcoholism. On the reservations, this is caused mainly from broken homes, family abuse, extremely low opportunities, poverty, and almost no positive role models. Needless to say, there are a lot of problems on the reservation, especially in the education system.
            My two questions to the discussion panel would be:

1. What is your advice for a minority teacher if she/he is teaching in a different cultural school system?
2. What in your opinion would students do if they have a minority teacher?

My opinion of the role of the local community in my case is to teach the kids our traditional beliefs, our values because that is the core of who we are. If we don't install that sense of self, they will become lost. Like the discussion stated, the discipline starts at home which is supposed to be upheld by the parents and relatives. The parents also have to get involved in our school activities and share advice of the schools progress. Not only this, it will help guide the students in their studies and let the parents know of their progress. In my schools, they had parent teacher conferences 2-3 times a semester. Only some parents would show.

In April Vickery's comment, I believe that having culture programs after school is a great way for students to feel closer to their tradition and each other. In the elementary school in my community, they have rug weaving classes and Navajo Language. Also there is silver smithing with silver and turquoise. I hope that the school can have more cultural programs available to both middle school and high school students.  

In Anthony Cappello, he mentions that his wife is a teacher who goes through hard times with her students and parents. One of his stories really intrigued me because he would state that his wife would send mail, emails, calls, and forms for the student's parents. She rarely gets a reply back. Also she works in a school that 80% is in low income homes. That is how my school is like with the parent's income. Sometimes the parents won't even care about their kid's progress. 

The panel discussion on School and Community was very intriguing. I learned a lot from the panelists, and much of the opinions I already had were either expanded on or changed. I found it interesting how some of the panelists seemed to disagree slightly on the most effective forms of discipline. Some of the teachers believe that writing referrals is a last resort, and that doing so discourages students from participating and exchanging thoughts and ideas. Other teachers believe that a strict routine and strong disciplinary tactics were the best thing for students who misbehave or may be inclined to do so. The students in the class admitted that they size teachers up on the first day, deciding whether or not they are worth respecting, and some continue to test the teacher throughout the school term. Teachers need to be prepared for this. I know from my experience that if I did not respect a teacher on a personal level, I would also not respect him or her on a professional academic level. Teachers have a hard job. They are responsible for reaching a variety of students, who all come from different backgrounds, and who all have different styles of learning. Tapping into each one of those students' potential is a difficult task, and many teachers fail to do this. I found it very interesting how minority teachers feel that they have to be twice as good just to be equal. This is very true. One of the panelists who was an African-American woman described how students, and even fellow administrators, did not expect to learn from her and were surprised when they did. This really got to me. Students should always be able to expect to learn when they walk into a classroom. Some times I think that majority students have never had minority teachers, and so when they do they tend to rely on inaccurate and very outdated stereotypes to form their opinion. Also, in the United States, neither majority nor minority students are used to having a minority authority figure. People of a minority do not hold as many positions of power or influence. The fact that our President is black is a wonderful thing, for innumerable reasons. Children of all backgrounds learn to respect all people, regardless of skin color, and minority children have a powerful and influential role model to look up to.

One question I would ask the panelists if I were present during the panel discussion would be, "What are the various ways you modify or adjust your style of teaching in order to reach students with very different learning styles and very diverse backgrounds?" This is a big issue for me, because I feel as though many students are left behind when their style of learning is not the same as the instructor's style of teaching. When I was in high school, I felt as though each teacher had a specific style of teaching with more or less of the assumption that the majority of kids would learn from that mode of instruction. For those students that were struggling because of the different ways they process information, it didn't seem like much was being done to ensure that they did not fall behind. I feel it is our teacher's responsibility to take every effort to ensure that every student's educational experience is maximized to its fullest potential. This being said, teachers are not paid enough. One of the videos shown during the panel discussion touched on this very issue. Who would choose a career of being a teacher? It is a thankless, yet overwhelmingly difficult, job with a meager salary. Teachers should have incentive, just like doctors, to do the best job they can. They have one of the most important responsibilities.

Another question I would ask the panelists would be, "What suggestions do you have for getting parents more involved in the educational experience of their child?" Many of the panelists described feeling as though their effect on the student could only go so far, and then the student would go home, and all of the teacher's hard work would be lost. The importance of discipline at home cannot be stressed enough, and I am curious as to how the different panelists get that message across to parents who seem to just pass on the responsibility to the teachers.

In my opinion, the role of school in local community should be to promote an atmosphere of personal and collective growth. Kids should feel as though their involvement in school and school-related activities has a positive effect on their community. Likewise, kids NEED to be involved in order to benefit fully from their education. As some of the panelists described, students need to be academically involved in school, physically involved in school, socially involved in school, musically involved in school, and so on and so on. Schools that encourage and ensure this are also ensuring that their students will participate in their community as they grow up and move on. The sense of belonging is very important, and will transfer over from school to local community if done correctly.

Both Francesca Mecurio and Scott Naputi brought up interesting points in their post on the forum. Both of these students talk about the importance of school and community organization. I agree with Scott's comments that the school system needs to be restructured, and the needs of diverse students need to be addressed and met more effectively. The panel discussion made this very clear. Francesca also made a good point about how diversity is extremely prevalent in schools, yet the communication is not there. The panelists touched on this a lot, stressing the importance of bridging cultural gaps in order to reach minority students. I agree with this, and think it is one of the most important things that can be done. It is not acceptable that students are being left behind in the classroom because of cultural differences and a failure of teachers to understand the impact diversity has on students. 

            I feel that schools play a major role within local communities. It is a place where the community youth spend most of their time for nine months out of the year. I feel that if the local schools provide a safe environment, good education and a place where children can feel like they belong, we would not have the violence and crime that we do within communities in our country. I was very fortunate to live and belong to a school district that was exceptional, from elementary school all the way up to high school. However there are people that live in low-income neighborhoods that are filled with dangerous activities, such as gangs, drugs and crime and these neighborhoods need to good schools to keep their children safe and give them a future. It is pretty obvious that good neighborhoods have good schools and bad neighborhoods have bad schools. Now we don't know for sure which came first the chicken or the egg, but I feel that the reason we have good neighborhoods is because we have good schools. I know that I learned a lot of from my teachers growing up, not only academics, but also life lessons and how to be a good, driven, caring person. Teachers have more of an influence on a child's life then people think they do, my teachers made huge impressions on me and I thank them for that.

            Dr. Heart in the panel discussion mentioned that it is difficult to bridge the gap between school and community when people do not get involved. She spoke about how if the administration of the school doesn't show interest in building a good school and community, that students and parents will not be motivated to do anything to make a change either. I feel this pertains exactly to what I was discussing earlier. In order for their to be good schools and good neighborhoods, people need to want it and care enough about to do something. My first question that I would ask the panel would be how we can make the communities want to get involved and make a better school for their children? My second question would be what could I do to make a difference? Dr. Heart made a great point about bridging the gap being the toughest task. In order to have  good school, the community needs to want it and in order to have a good community the school needs to make the effort the influence the children to make good choices and strive for healthy, safe and successful futures. 

I thought the panel was very interesting and very informative.  I went to a school with not a lot of diversity and a strong sense of community so it was shocking to me that not all schools are like that.  Hearing about the school where students had to put their backpacks in the shopping cart was vastly different from my experience.  The panel made it very apparent to me that the "archaic" school system must be updated in order to embrace the needs of all of the students and the issues and needs vary from school to school.  Schools need to become more integrated.  Arizona has a terrible public school system and I did not think it to be that way because of my experience but the panel really showed me how true this is and how much needs to be done to make schools acceptable and hopefully, productive. 

I agreed wholeheartedly with how the panel said that disciplining students starts at home.  If the student has no structure or rules to follow at home, then when they come to school they are going to rebel and misbehave.  They will not respect authority or the rules placed upon them and will be combative and defiant.  If the student is raised to be respectful and to follow certain rules, then they will be able to behave properly and then they will be able to learn.

One question I would ask the panel is how else could safety be ensured in schools without intrusive bag checks?   I do not think that such invasive ways should be used but on the other hand, safety is very important and if the school has a history of drug use and violence, then it is imperative that something must be done to eliminate the problem.  I would be interested in how else this could be achieved without making the entire student body feel like criminals. 

Another question I would ask is what do the panelists believe should be required of parents and what should simply be encouraged?  I would like to know at what point do they think the parents must be forced into compliance and what consequences would result if they did not comply.  I do not think it's fair to punish the students for the ambivalence of their parents so I would be interested to know in what ways they would encourage participation from parents and how they would go about increasing involvement.

I feel that schools should be involved in the community.  I think that if students get in trouble, instead of detention or suspension they should have to give back to the community.  If the schools contributed to the community then the community would be more inclined to donate to the school.  If the school and the community had a mutually-beneficial relationship then progress would be made it would be more beneficial to both.  I feel that parents should be strongly encouraged to contribute and should be involved in their child's discipline and educational progress.  Schools should be open to parent's opinion and help and the parents should be encouraged to make their opinions heard.

I agree with Larry Shoemakes opinion on the role of school in community.  I attended Chaparral High School in Scottsdale and I feel that my school had a significant sense of community and a lot of community involvement.  My mom and most of my friend's parents volunteered at a school and if our school was having a fundraiser they tended to get a significant amount of support.  There was a lot of school pride and a strong sense of community among students.  I feel that the community involvement and sense of community was instrumental in the low dropout rate and the high test scores at Chaparral.  Although I do not recall a significant amount of contact between my school and my parents if I missed class they were always alerted and if there was a problem in one of my classes they were notified.  So even though they were not highly involved in the classes I took they were always cognizant of how I was doing.  I agree that successful students have strong parental involvement.  I always had a lot of pressure from my parents to do well and my parents were involved in all aspects of my life.  The pressure they put on my early on contributed my drive and desire to always do well.  The involvement my mother had with the school in general, although not with me in particular, had my parents and my entire family engaged and they felt like they were a part of the community.  My brother and I played lacrosse in high school which was a club sport and all of the parents of students on the team were involved in raising the money we needed to play.  Since the school was not contributing to costs, the parents had to do more which led to a strong sense of community on the team.  Furthermore, businesses in the community would advertise in the directory and newspapers offering discounts for products and services which tied them into the community as well.  All of these aspects helped to create the loyalty and pride we had as a school and I can't imagine my high school experience without the school pride and community involvement and I am grateful that this was part of my experience.

I also agreed with the opinion stated by Vanessa Carriedo.  She emphasized diversity and variety and how it relates to minimizing discrimination.  At my high school, there was not a lot of diversity.  The vast majority of our school was upper-middle class and white.  The people of other cultures did not discuss their culture a lot.  The ESL students tended to stick together and did not really integrate with the rest of the school.  I feel that if we had been taught about other cultures our school would be more integrated and the results would be beneficial in all aspects.  As it was said in the panel, the Columbian teacher who was harsh who the mostly minority students loved because she was one of them was able to get the students to love the other teacher because she was friends with her.  If diversity was used to show that we are all alike and can get along, the school would be more integrated and as a result, more productive.  While I was in school we started a chapter of the gay, straight alliance and I feel that the presence of the club was probably comforting to students who did identify as gay.  I feel that as a school we could have learned a lot from the cultures of the students who came here from another country as well as the students whose parents were first-generation.  It is important to eliminate discrimination and I agree that knowledge is instrumental in doing so.

My reflections from the panel discussion are that I feel that a good school creates a good neighborhood. If there is a great school environment for students, the students will be able to develop a positive role they need to have on themselves. Teachers are a huge factor and many people are not aware that teachers have a huge impact on students. When the teachers educate the students and have a positive light on students the more they will succeed. You see it as this that there are good schools and all those good schools have good students that come from good neighborhoods. Poor schools have the students that come from bad neighborhoods. We can come to believe the more money that a community has they can have better school systems. If we broke that gap then we could have better schools as Dr. Hart discussed. I feel that if teachers understood this more they better their role and understand that they are mentors to students.

When I was growing up and to support the good neighborhood and bad neighborhood opinion I was brought up in a good community and also a wealthier area. I was going to a better school. I think that the teachers know that we have a brighter future they will try and make their students succeed in this factor. I believe that in order to create a good school community we need to have teachers be more dedicated to their students and have a positive look that these students will succeed. In the more poor communities the students don't have the assumption that they will all have a bright future. These students in the poor/bad schools there is more diversity to the students backgrounds. These teachers might be more timid to being more strict or discipline to the students.

My two questions that I would ask the panelist is that:

1. How would teachers discipline their students if they were in a bad school, how would they help the factor?
2. If teachers were in a bad school and bad community what would be the best way to better the community and the school? Also incorporate how would you involve parents to also better the community and school environment.

In my opinion and what should be the role of school in a local community is that more schools need to be more community organized. Meaning, if the parents, teachers, and the community were involved with the school organization the role of school in the community would be more of an importance. Students that are left behind normally have parents that do interact with the school or are not apart of the community in general.