In the epilogue Mrs. Starr expressed her concerns of how she had taught the class in the past. I appreciate that she didn't become defensive as a lot of people would and deny that the way she taught was anything less than perfect, she actually thought about the way she had done things and was willing to change to improve her future classes' experiences. It would be interesting to follow two of her students in her 'after' classroom to see how the changes affected them. To show what the changes were and if they really did improve the experiences for minority children.
It would also be interesting to have some other teachers in Mrs. Starr's school read this book to see how they react, to see if maybe it will help them to realize why Mrs. Starr is doing what she is doing.
Does anyone else think that these are good ideas? Why or why not?
I think, judgeing by what was said in Chapter 8, most of the parents were very accepting of the new way she was teaching. To see a teacher now trying to include each student and bring what they each knew and lived through, into her educational plan was a huge step forward. I just find one question that continues to ring in my head, would everything she is trying now work with the new laws, NCLB, etc? But yes, seeing how the students are now reacting would be interesting. I personally would want to wait 5-7 years down the line though because we could then see if she continued with her plan or just gave up.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting that the Epilogue emphasized that these changes were easier to implement because Mrs. Starr was teaching kindergarden, . Its as if once a pattern is set and the parents become familiar with it, it becomes difficult to break them from that pattern. I always assumed that it was the students who would have the most resistance to change, but this highlighted parental involvement in the process.
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