Troublemakers by Carla Shalaby
QUOTES
1.
“At the time, I was a twenty-two-year-old fresh
out of teacher training, and I somehow felt that the combination of my
credentials and my status as an adult should signal to Anthony my clear
authority over him – my earned, legitimate right to control his activities and
his behavior… I was the adult, the teacher, the leader. He was the child, the
pupil, the follower” (xxv).
I chose this as my first quote because it reminded me of our
class discussions about the culture of power and the power dynamics in the
classroom. I remember Dr. Stevos asking us who has the power [in the classroom]
in one of our first few class sessions. This teacher was confused and wondering
why her authoritative role was not resulting in her control of this student in
the classroom. I think that our discussions, readings, and the videos that we
have watched really get the point across that just because someone is the
teacher in the classroom, that does not mean that they have a total control
over the students.
2.
“Routinely pathologized through testing, labels,
and often hastily prescribed medications, these young people are systematically
marginalized and excluded through the use of segregated remediation,
detentions, suspensions, and expulsions. The patterns of their experiences,
especially those of older children, are well documented in what we know about
the school-to-prison pipeline” (xix).
The systematic marginalization and exclusion of students in
schools due to being “troublemakers” disproportionately affect children of
color. This is related to power and privilege because students/children of
color are most affected. Shalaby also states that although this is happening in
all schools, it is less prevalent in more wealthy schools. This also reminded
me of SCWAAMP and the value that society puts on whiteness.
3.
“These interconnected machineries of violence
are built into the foundation of our nation, and our children saw them given
new life and strength when we recently elected a president who explicitly
promoted them, celebrated them, and promised to maintain them” (xvii).
This quote relates to the culture of power. This section of
the preface reminded me of the video on the history of public schooling in the
United States. Schools are taking away children’s imaginations and are clearly
valuing obedience to authority, promptness, and attendance.
I also thought that the first quote you put was very impactful because it's so true and happens so much. Some teachers think that just because they are older they have all the power and the children should just listen to everything they say because they are older. Instead of teaching as an equal human being, they teach with dominance.
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