6/12 Preface and Introduction.......Troublemakers by Shalaby

 Preface and Introduction for 

Troublemakers by Shalaby

The author's point of this article is that we need to look at the labeled "troublemakers" as our "saviors" because they are telling us that the system we use for education is broken.   They are making noise because they are not free to learn in a style that works best for them.  They are not asked to provide information that will make the lesson more engaging.  Instead they are kept in control, demanded to do as they are told and to never question authority.  The trouble makers are compared to the Miner Canary that give up it's life to help others, these troublemakers are involuntarily giving up their futures for the benefit of capitalism.  How dare we build our country on the backs of people much less children!

three stand out points for me were:

1. researchers found that  as many as 46% of kindergarten teachers report that more than half of their class has trouble following directions, 34% report children struggle to work independently and 20% report that their kindergartners are immature and have poor social skills.   These figures ought to led us to question if the demands of school are reasonable!

We are not the world we were when I was learning we have progress so much just due to the world wide web.  We have to be willing to change with the times.  The kids are learning and seeing things on the internet that we did not and they are potentially more aware of some things.  What we should build on is the social emotional skills need to be resilient and self confident that is when the best learning happens.

2.  The withholding of education is a political toll used to maintain and ensure economic and social underclass.   Schools are deeply implicated in the systemic maintenance of the racialized American caste system.

Education is a part of oppressing those who are "non-whiteness"   If we start making changes in how our classrooms look we can start to encourage youth to ask questions and to expect "freedom" to learn. 

3. I care about children at school because I am a human being, I recognize every child's right to be free.  BY virtue of being human each child is endowed with the unassailable right NOT to have any part of their personhood assaulted or stolen.   

Why are we not giving EVERY child what they need to be successful.  The world will naturally have those who do not excellent for what ever reason.  Their will always be a natural hierarchy of class, that would reflect every race, culture, sex, etc.  Why do we continue to put certain minority in a place to be oppressed for capitalism.  What would capitalism look like if the bottom of the barrel was diverse by nature.  Why is that not considered fair?  

Check out this TED lecture about "No Kid is Bad"       Kids do not choose to be bad, if a child is having behavior or seems to not be following directions what you should do is ask...... "why". because it is actual a cry for assistance.