Another aspect of Nakkulats writing that stood out to me was
the idea of tested knowledge. The example of Antwon and Ms. Petersen was a
perfect example that I have witnessed in many classes over the years. Students
tend to push the boundaries in the classroom to see how much they can get away
with. In Antwon’s case I never thought of it as a student testing a preconceived
theory they thought up. Keeping this in mind as a youth worker, instead of
jumping to the conclusion that a child is bad because they are acting out you
have to remember it might mean something more.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Nakkulat Article
I really enjoyed the reading by Nakkulat Toshalis, I love
that there was the story about Antwon and Ms. Petersen and how the reading
refers to it throughout. One section that really stood out to me was when
Nakkulat wrote about how Antwon and Ms. Petersen already had in their mind how each
other were going to be based on past experiences. I remember back in middle
school when my English teacher found out who my older brother was and was completely
shocked. Seeing how he didn’t do his work and rowdy in class and I did all my
homework and was very quiet in class she couldn’t believe we were related. If this
teacher new ahead of time we were related she would have had a preconceived
idea in her mind that I was going to be just like my brother and treat me
differently.
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I also like the connection to Antwon and Ms. Petersen because it brings the reading to live and shows the importance of really not judging a book by its cover. I also have an older brother and once teachers found out we were related they were shocked as well since we were nothing a like.
ReplyDeleteI also feel that when a child is acting out, for the majority the reason is something much bigger than what you would expect it to be. Therefore, as future youth workers we need to make sure not to judge a book by its cover and take the time to know our youth before jumping to conclusions.
I think you and Katelyn both address a key issue in the Nakkula reading: "instead of jumping to the conclusion that a child is bad because they are acting out you have to remember it might mean something more." For me, sometimes this is much easier to say than to do in practice, especially if there is an emotional situation you are working through with a student.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your post a lot Courtney. The preconceived judgment Ms. Petersen placed on Antwon is something I witnessed a lot throughout my years in school. Today my cousin is the one that everyone asks if she is related to me; which automatically makes them think she is exactly like me academically. This is something teachers need to stop doing when it comes to different generations of students from the same families. As educators and youth workers we need to realize that not all students and youth are exactly alike, but rather we they are all different in their education and personalities.
ReplyDeleteI too liked the example of Ms. Petersen and Antwon. I feel like if Ms. Petersen was more open with her feelings and tried to let her guard down then Antwon would have room to say how he feels and tell Ms. Petersen what is really going on. A youth doesn't just act out for nothing unless something has drastically changed in their life. As youth workers we have to remember that youth have had many past experiences, just like we have and they are still trying to make sense of the world. They learn something new to put into their schema's everyday.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the older sibling comparison, and wrote something similar in blog. I always remember being compared to my brother in school and what his expectations were as a student. Teachers need to break these preconceived ideas and not judge people of prior experiences.
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