1. SESSION 8
ASSUMPTIONS OF TEACHING AND
LEARNING
POVERTY: AS SEEN THROUGH NARRATIVES
• An International Inquiry: Stories of Poverty – Poverty Stories
(Ciuffetelli Parker and Craig) Introduction: This article examines poverty not as depersonalized,
decontexualized meganarratives (Olson & Craig, 2009) that categorize humans (Coles, 1989),
but as “small stories” (Georgakopoulou, 2004) educators and students live and tell on the
edges, in small moments unseen, unheard, and unaccounted for in grand narratives.
2. AGENDA
• Chronicle presentations
• Housekeeping -exit cards
• Quick review of assignments and due dates
• Review of Assumptions
• Poverty
4. LAST WEEK’S EXIT CARDS: A FEW ANSWERS
• Some things I can’t change but will pass on the information- course time
and length (having two sessions instead of one long one), readings: number,
length, difficulty
• What is appropriate teacher/student relationship
• How to engage all students in time restricted classroom
• Schwab - 4 common places
• Parker – connecting the readings and stories
• OCT – how to use Standards of Practice
• Well Being Strategies
• Caring – how it differs throughout the world
• Can we add to the room? More inviting?
• Parking lot board- take a stickie note to put on board with comment,
5.
6. ACTIVITY
• You are boarding a plane for a 12 hour flight. There
are several vacant seats available beside people who
are described on the cards that are posted around the
room.
• Read the descriptors and choose where you’d like to
sit.
• Go and stand by your choice but don’t say anything.
7. DISCUSSION
• Why did you sit beside that person?
• What do you think they might look like?
• How might they act?
8. LET’S SEE WHO’S SITTING WITH WHOM
A world class basketball
player is:
Elaine Allard
(Canadian Wheelchair National
Team)
In 2003, she reached the peak of Kala
Patthar, at the mouth of Mt. Everest in Nepal
Speaks Portuguese
Has her scuba license
Awards/Highlights:
Recipient of Queen Elizabeth II Diamond
Jubilee Medal, 2013
Named to the 2011 CWBL Women's National
9. AN EX-CONVICT
Nelson Mandela (1918 – 2013)
In1963 he was sentenced to life in
prison for his fight to end
apartheid in South Africa.
Mandela spent 27 years in prison
before being released in 1990. In
1994, he became South Africa’s
first black president, stepping
down in 1999, after one term. He
is a Nobel Peace Prize winner.
10. A TEENAGER WITH A SHAVED HEAD AND
TATTOOS
Anne Frank was born in 1929 in
Germany and lost her citizenship in 1941
when Nazi Germany passed the anti-Semitic
Nuremburg Laws. She gained international
fame post-humously after her diary was
published. As persecutions of the Jewish
population increased in 1942, her family went
into hiding in the hidden rooms of Anne’s
father, Otto Frank’s office building. After two
years, the group was betrayed and
transported to concentration camps. Anne
Frank and her sister, Margot, were eventually
transferred to the Bergen-Belsen
concentration camp where they had their
heads shaved and they were tattooed. They
both died of typhus in March of 1945. Anne
11. A REFUGEE
Albert Einstein lived through
the pain and uncertainty of exile and
went on to make extraordinary
contributions to intellectual
development. Authoring the Theory of
General Relativity in 1905, Einstein
changed fundamental ideas about
space, time and gravitation. In 1933,
Einstein, already a prominent German
scientist, was accused of treason by
the Third Reich. His books were
burned. He sought refuge in the
United States where he used his
influence and financial resources to
obtain visas for other refugees.
12. SOMEONE WITH A MENTAL HEALTH
DISORDER:
Cameron Diaz lives with
OCD:
Diaz has publicly admitted that in
order to open a door, she must
first clean and rub the knob for so
long until the paint discolors.
When she finds the doors open,
she usually uses her elbows to
push it. She also washes her hands
”hundreds” of times a day.
13. A SURVIVOR OF SEXUAL ABUSE
• Oprah Winfrey was born in
Mississippi in 1954. She is a talk
show host, actor, philanthropist,
humanitarian. Winfrey has stated that
she was sexually abused by her
cousin, her uncle, and a family friend
starting when she was 9 years old.
Her Oprah Winfrey Show became one
of the most successful and highest-
ranked television shows in history.
The program was viewed by more
than 20 million Americans every week
and broadcast, internationally, to over
100 countries worldwide.
14. DEBRIEF
• Where you surprised by who the person turned out to be?
• How was he or she different from what you were expecting?
• Can you think of anything that may have influenced those
assumptions?
• Is it fair to judge someone by their labels?
• What can happen when we only consider labels and not the
individuals behind them?
• How can we be more aware of these unconscious biases in our
classrooms?
15. WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT POVERTY &
WHAT DO WE ASSUME?
Think-Pair-Share
• What has shaped your ideas about poverty? Who or what has
challenged those ideas?
• How can poverty impact a narrative in terms of temporality,
sociality and place?
16. FREEDOM WRITERS AND TO SIR, WITH LOVE
•Diary scene
https://youtu.be/lLL7nShKplU
•Showdown
https://youtu.be/HU_BueZZNd8
•Line Game https://youtu.be/eYYf-
mUmPqI
•Final scene
https://youtu.be/loujLaKioNA
17. FREEDOM WRITERS AND TO SIR WITH LOVE
•Which “small story” from the movies
had an impact on you?
In 2 groups, consider:
•What is the teacher’s narrative in each
film?
•What was it about each teacher that
made them stand out to their
18. WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM STORY
• Using pictures books
• Choose one of the books and in your group have one member read it
to the rest of the group. Together pick a grade that you would like to
use this book with.
• What do you think this book brings to the students in your class?
• What else would you do with the students after reading the story?
• What small stories are in your book?
• How can these inspire narrative?
20. IAN JONES AND MILTON DISTRICT HIGH
SCHOOL
• background of the area
• who is Ian Jones
• what did he change and why
• Results:
21. SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR
MD?
•28% reduction in suspensions
longer than 1 day from 2007 –
2009
•Students Services reports that in
20 years, there has never been
this amount of interest in post-
secondary destinations dealing
with world issues, humanitarian
professions
22. SO WHAT…
•Significant reduction in
vandalism
•EQAO math scores…
•Applied level - greatest increase
in Halton 2007-08
•Increase from 30% - 70% level
Three on first try
23. SO WHAT....
•Cultural Diversity Fund
•students can apply for a bursary
to participate in humanitarian
trips
•Halton Regional Police
•30 % reduction in reported hate
crime in Milton 2007-2008
24. HDSB survey key questions:
1. Do you feel safe at school?
YES 74%
Board Response
Question 1
YES 92%
MDHS Response
Question 1
25. HDSB survey key questions:
2. Do you feel as if you
belong?
YES 95%
MDHS Response
Question 2
YES 73%
Board Response
Question 2
26. PREPARING FOR NEXT WEEK
READINGS AND REMINDERS
• OTC Additional Qualification Consultation on Teaching LGBTQ
Students
• Exploring the Ethical Standards for the Teaching Profession
through Anishinaabe Art
• Field Placement Reflection Due!
• Parking Lot…….
