Reflection on VT to the D Service Trip Presentation

Team Detroit: VT to the D                                                                  Barbara Flathers

On May 6^th Team Detroit held its final meeting in the form of a presentation. As the culmination of their service trip to Detroit, the group gave a presentation that was held in Bentley auditorium. Each member presented a portion of the talk. This tied back to the First Year Experience Office by being a Creative Audience event, and the last one of the year. The audience was considerable because many first year students attended because they needed the event to complete their 1 credit course. Many other friends and family members of the group were also in attendance as well as the President of the College and several Deans and faculty and staff members. 

Each member of the team talked about one aspect of the trip to Detroit. A little background on this- even after returning from Detroit, the group continued to meet weekly to discuss and plan for this presentation. Although students did not receive credit for this trip, they all were totally invested in delivering back a wonderful presentation that conveyed how much they loved the trip. 

To design the presentation, the team discussed ideas and options democratically- and finally hashed out the lineup and final plan for the event. On their own time, each member wrote up a small speech to about their section. Many were scared about public speaking, most had never done it before. They received support and suggestions from others about how to work this out. With support from team members they have come to know and trust, they were able to work through their nervousness. And a dress rehearsal two nights before helped work many of the kinks out. The students designed a slide show, culling down more than 1,000 pictures into a small group of about 100 images they felt conveyed what Detroit is really like: graffiti, abandoned buildings, people living there, urban renewal. They planned a music playlist of the important artists from Detroit- Motown to Eminem. They decided what to wear- since everyone had brought back a t-shirt or two with the name of companies or logos from Detroit, the dress was casual. Shoes were optional.

At the end of the presentation, the group felt relieved and excited that they had completed their presentation. Sad goodbyes and hugs were shared at the end of the evening. Students were very emotional, several shed some tears. Although everyone loved their time spent with Team Detroit, the fact that it was done and over made them equally sad.

Students were empowered by what they saw and spoke from their hearts. Some plan to return to Detroit to do other efforts- a summer internship at Quicken Loans, perhaps some more volunteering at the Core City Soup Kitchen. Others plan to continue their good work closer to JSC by working Laraway Youth and Family Services because of their connection they made travelling with the Executive Director. One student from the group has made other plans and will exit the college and return home- but with a purposeful plan in place for her time.

What lesson can I take away from Detroit and keep in Vermont? While Vermont doesn’t have a large race issue like Detroit, it does have a similar problem with class. Poverty is very high in Vermont. Breaking the cycle with young Vermonters by helping create learning opportunities, educating them on volunteering locally, giving back to the community, showing them what is out there, finding cooperative spaces –how to use and share them to start a business and bettering themselves by going to college is a great place to start.

REFLECTION                                The Critical Practioner                                    Barb Flathers

As I reflect back through the semester and specifically through the course of The Critical Practitioner, I come away with many new ideas in my toolbox. I spent the semester learning new ideas, and always brought them back to the guiding question of the course “How should schools serve democracy?” Although there was also a focus on Principles 11 & 12 which are about colleagueship and advocacy as well.

To go with this word Education that I am studying, I now have the word - Democracy. Perhaps it had always been there, but I was unaware that it was. But creating a democratic community is critical to successful education.

I have learned that what goes on outside the school and classrooms influences each person who comes into the classroom. Outside influences have a great deal of what a student is able to bring to learning. I studied Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Models of Human Development in which he explains what happens around a person, the environment that they live and grow in, helps (or hinders) their development. As he explained it, there are five different systems:

·       Microsystem-face to face settings, which includes their family, friends, and school

·       exosystem -which includes media, neighbors & local politics- two or more settings with at least one setting not containing the person

·       mesosystem in which these interact- linkages in the systems. Two or more settings containing the person

·       macrosystem that are the ideologies that the culture as a whole has

·       chronosystem- which is the study of the culture or person over time

We charted our own ecological maps and explained them in small group settings. I found this to be an important part of the course and it drove home the idea that each person brings different issues to the classroom that you need to realize impacts their ability to learn, or not learn. I now look at people I interact with a different way. I know that there is always more than what you see- never judge a book by its cover.

Of the many articles and books I read for the class, I found several quotes that fascinated me and were worthy of being written down. I believe they will help guide me and further formulate my stance on education:

“Education is a system- not a series of isolated parts.”  (Beach)

“Researchers studying the process of education must be mindful of the less visible psychological and social processes affecting more visible markers like student achievement on tests.”  (Beach)

“Community is the primary setting for learning.” (Stein)

“Three factors that impact the amount of time necessary for change are-

1.      urgency of a crisis situation

2.      the attractiveness of the proposed change to individuals

3.      the strength of the culture that exists   (Boyd)

“The Deficit Model- large degree of failure equals more support. Parents must declare themselves deficient in some way to qualify for help in solving their problems.” (Paquette & Ryan)

“The problems students and families face are caused by the conflict between the workplace and family life- not between families and schools.” (Paquette & Ryan)

“The principle of separation of church and state guarantees the freedom of religious belief and association, but at the same time clearly segregates the religious sphere, which is considered to be essentially private, from the political one.” (Bellah)

I enjoyed the initial classes which were more lecture styled. In the discussion of the value systems of American society, connections were made back to the middle ages and to early days of America. It all tied together with ecological systems- how the Sheriff was in charge of the “shire”, how it created a middle class and how Jefferson said to give power to the people in small enough units so they got to really know each other. It is this style or system that created educational choices & decision we still use today.

I read Nel Noddings book, Education in the 21^st Century which essentially said that we need to move out of the 20^th century ways and create and update the system of education so it will work for today’s society- which is quite different.

“Who are you most like?” was the line I wrote down during one lecture about styles of educational philosophy. I understand and enjoy each philosophy, see parts of myself in each, but  I will need to read and learn more before this is clear to me. I  can’t quite peg myself into any one category. I feel like I am trying on hats- to see which one fits best. But I enjoy Dewey right now, so perhaps I fit into Progressivism block. 

One week we watched a documentary called “The American Promise”, which was about a private school which was very elite. Students that were filmed by their parents were black. The school was primarily white. So the film chronicled the level to which their race was a problem. The students had similar struggles with course work with the added pressure of being African American. One interesting statement of the discussion afterward was that white children never try to get into a black school. The great disparity in education today transcends race. It is about class. There is a large income separation that must be addressed. We need to close the gap between rich and poor.

Another topic that was brought up in class was that of voluntary vs. involuntary immigrants. This one thought has been the major point of my reflection over the past few months. Most of us who live in America have traveled here. Those who were dragged here & enslaved, had quite a different Ecological environment than those who chose to relocate here for a better life and search of the American Dream.

The second half of the class focused primarily on episodic analysis. We spent time reading case studies, understanding motivations. Learning about Consequentialism and the outline format to follow when writing up- Describe, Analyze and Reflect.

We broke out into small groups that were randomly selected by us. We practiced writing up case studies after evaluating them together in our group. Strike’s book, The Ethics of Teaching was used for the cases. Ethical dilemmas wind up always having to go against the tradition or rule. Humans have issues and problems that supersede the laws as they were written.

The largest portion of our grade was on an Inquiry project. We were to spend 20 hours at an agency and report about colleagueship and advocacy and write a 15 page paper on it. I was fortunate enough to be able to travel to Detroit for this experience. The agencies and people I connected with were amazing. The city has come through a lot- economic issues, crime, drugs, race riots. The city was once one of the largest in the country. It is now half its size and burnt out buildings and poverty remain. The people that remain are full of hope, promise and love for their city. It was an amazing and transformative trip for me.

A quote from Strike’s Ethics of Teaching: “Personal growth requires freedom…..People who lack the opportunity to make their own decisions also lack the opportunity to develop the capacities to make their own decisions competently. Personal competence requires practice. When we deny people the right to make their own decisions we deny them the right to grow.”

The final book I read for the class, The Critically Reflective Practitioner (by S. & N. Thompson) helped frame my thought process with this list:

            “The more pressure we are under, the more we need to be thinking clearly and carefully about:

• ·       What are my roles and duties? Am I clear about what is expected of me?

• ·       What are my goals? How will I be able to achieve them?

• ·       What are my priorities? What is the best use of my time?

• ·       What strategies are available to me in order to manage the pressures I face?

• ·       Who can I rely upon to support me? Who can I collaborate with?

• ·       What previous learning can I draw upon to help me cope with my current challenge?

I shall incorporate many of these into my own ecosystem of education.