Saturday, March 28, 2015

Unlearning

One of the terms we use in teacher education is "unlearning."  What we mean by that is creating space for teacher candidates to unlearn what they thought they knew about teaching based on their experiences as students, or through what they thought teaching actually is.  In other words, to question what they think is true about students, the profession, and teachers.

 For example, when I started teaching at Aurora Alternative High School, I was appalled that some of my students would want to attend the local community college (never mind not go to college at all), as opposed to a state college.  I had to unlearn my assumptions that everybody who was going to be anybody in life was either a) a natural genius and didn't need to go to college or b) would go to a four year college.

What my students taught me--what I "unlearned"--is that "smart" looks different according to context.  I unlearned seeing my pregnant students as victims.  I unlearned that all graffiti was trashy.  I unlearned that smart meant being good at school.

Teacher research is all about unlearning: about questioning our assumptions and taking risks.  It is NOT about proving a particular hypothesis.  So what assumptions have you questioned about your students, teaching, or yourself during this process?  What new truths have you uncovered?  

29 comments:

  1. There are many things I have unlearned as a teacher. I think the most recent discovery knowing that middle school students are busy with their lives. Even though middle school students do not have bills, paying jobs, or “need to be somewhere”, there are so many other things on their plate than just doing school work. I am not giving excuses for my students, they are all not lazy; I am more understanding about what goes on in their lives. For example, my students not doing their homework or finishing work means that I cannot take it personally. There must have been a valid explanation. I had to unlearn that not everyone will have the same middle experience that I did.

    I remember recording a conversation with some students about why homework may have been an issue in my TR journal at the beginning of this month. Students picked up younger siblings at school, some had to cook, clean, and possibly come home to an empty home because parents were both working second shifts particular days. Some may have been high school hunting, setting up meetings with principles, doing shadow studies at schools, working on portfolio deadlines, and etc. I assumed that students have desks, access to internet, or a quiet and well lit place to do work. I assumed that my students both parents at the table at dinner time. It took me a while to understand, but my assumptions were based on the privilege.

    I have responded by giving students as much time as they needed to get the work done, as long as it is done in the current quarter. I grade on what students learn. Even if a student gives me an assignment a week or more late, it is still worth full credit. However, at the start of 3rd quarter, giving students more freedom in their spaces is proving that homework is being completed on a timely manner as a whole. If seems as they are buying into their own responsibility. So, I assumed that students play video games, sleep, and play with their friends when they get out of school. But my students are just as busy, just in a very different way as I remember.

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    1. This same question has been coming up in my classroom lately too. Homework, I only have 4 students, but when one consitently forgets his homework, is it fair to the other students, who did do their homework, to still take this one students work a week later at full credit? I know that life is not fair, but I think about in the real world, if you had a report due, or are supposed to present something to your peers and you don't have it when its due what happens? I know that our students lives are busy and that sometimes they can't fit it all in, but what about those repeat offenders? Also how often do the students turn in an assignment from 3-4 weeks previous? Do you constantly remind them or is it their responsibility?

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    2. Ken - "I had to unlearn that not everyone will have the same middle experience that I did....It took me a while to understand, but my assumptions were based on the privilege." - This is huge. I think it's pretty safe to say that many teachers became teachers because they succeeded in school - myself included. I believe I was successful because of those privileges you mentioned like dinner on the table and a quiet place to work. Until junior year of high school, school was my job. But like you said, this is not the reality for all students. As teachers it is important that we recognize and differentiate for our students' worlds.

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    3. Ken,
      I think what we learn through the process of unlearning, is that each of our students is an entire story unto themselves. You made reference to your story in some of the assumptions you may have had about what they do, based on what you did at that age. When you take the time to listen to them and hear their stories, you validate them, for yourself, and for them, and they see and respond to that. I think the coolest thing, is that now your stories become intertwined, and, moving forward, you will appear in theirs, and they in yours. 10 years from now, when a student doesn't complete an assignment, you may think back to this semester as where you may have changed course in your thinking about this. Your students in 10 years will be having a conversation with their families, about how they learned to budget time, and prioritize, because you gave them that responsibility. Of course there are some kids who go home and play video games, and waste time, but there are many more who grind and fight each day just they way we do, and understanding that, puts you on a level they can relate to, and builds so many important relationships that will pay dividends for all of you moving forward.

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    4. Ken, that's such an important "unlearning" that many of us had to get to. I, like Brittany, didn't have to worry about working or doing much of anything except school until I was a junior in high school. My parents always said, "school is your job, that's where you need to focus." Some of our own students' lives aren't like that - and that's not something that they (or we) can control. I think it's really cool that you've noticed a difference since you've allowed them more freedoms this quarter...can't wait to see how that pans out!

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  2. Throughout this process, I think I've been learning more about myself than about my students and my actual research project. I've unlearned expecting more from my students and myself than I should. I've unlearned the overlooking of silly things in my survey (like asking whether teachers are male or female in a survey about gender awareness…who does that?!). I've unlearned that students who don't do work in my class are lazy, and I've unlearned that tea can sufficiently replace coffee. All of this unlearning has led to major learning. I might make mistakes the first time around, and I know that I will learn more from those mistakes than by just doing things "the right way" in the first place.

    I guess mainly I've unlearned that research just magically appears as awesome stuff. I thought that researchers were just good at what they did - that's why they come up with new studies and findings and information all the time, isn't it? It's so much messier and harder and more beautiful than that. There is much more blood, sweat and tears that goes into this whole process (maybe not so much blood, but sweat and tears DEFINITELY).

    Just last week, I came across Linda Christensen's "Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us," in which she discusses "the secret education" delivered by children's books and movies that so many children are exposed to growing up. She argues that the stereotypes and gender expectations rooted in these stories become accepted knowledge. During the course of a unit on reading cartoons and fairy tales and exposing the myths and stereotypes of race and gender, her students come to realize that they can analyze the rest of the world, not just cartoons. This lesson seems to be particularly difficult for students because they can't just write an essay and then forget about it - they are exposed to the messages and expectations that society sends to them in infinite ways on a daily basis, whether it be TV, cartoons, music, video games, or toys. This part drives them crazy, and one of her students asks, "don't you ever get tired of analyzing everything?" while another says that once in a while she wishes she could remain "ignorant and happy." This is where we have gotten ourselves through this process. We can't just learn about theory and issues and talk about ways we can change society - we have to actually find ways to do it.

    In the process of unlearning certain things, we become better teachers, students, writers, researchers, and people. We also become exposed to certain truths of the world around us, and our positions as teachers in schools provide us with opportunities to take action, both for and with our students and the world around us.

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    1. Christensen's article sounds really interesting. I had to do this type of activity in Dr. Horwitz's class with children's books. One of my favorite books, The Giving Tree was ripped apart. For awhile I walked around, also analyzing everything, thinking of my own childhood and the cartoons I watched and the fairy-tales I believed in. I too could not just write an essay and then forget about it. I think that now I still can enjoy The Giving Tree, and other stories, fairy-tales, but I am more aware now of the stereotypes and I will try to balance them more.

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    2. Tina - I LOVE your line: "We can't just learn about theory and issues and talk about ways we can change society - we have to actually find ways to do it." This is why I get so stressed planning new units. Being a teacher comes with so much power and privilege - and I don't want to misuse it. The themes/topics/texts I invite (or don't invite) into my classroom sends a message to my students. Coming to college and especially now grad school is a HUGE unlearning of the sheltered, conservative, Catholic education of my childhood. As for the analysis of children's books in Dr. Horwitz's class, I'm not sure that I can say that I am able to "enjoy" those anymore.

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    3. Tina, what scares me, about your post this week, is how invasive and prevalent the threads and tendrils of the stories and morality tales children hear growing up are, how deeply they are rooted, and how far reaching. While Pinocchio may speak to the ills of lying, it also reinforces racial stereotypes (Stromboli the Gypsy) and sexism (in Collodi's original version, he is made to dress up like a girl as punishment: http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2011/10/carlo_collodi_s_pinocchio_why_is_the_original_pinocchio_subjecte.html). This is just one seemingly innocent story, how could we ever address all the layers and layers of crud heaped upon us over our lifetime, and all the lives of those who came before us. The simple answer, obviously is that we can't, but, we can find some new tales to tell, and, by examining and talking about the important themes we find, we can start to change some of the ideas moving forward. Awesome post, thanks for all the guilt for reading my kids those stories.

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  3. My assumptions:
    ~Students ask too many questions.- When I first started this study I thought that my students were asking too many questions without really thinking about them. What I have learned through collecting data on when and what kind of questions students ask, is they don’t ask enough. My students do not often question what they are learning, they believe almost anything I tell them about math. My students do not question themselves. When they solve a problem they do not think to themselves: Does this make sense? Did I do all the steps correctly? Do I understand where I got my answer from? I am working right now to have my students think more deeply about their thinking and their mathematical reasoning. Question themselves but also questioning me.

    ~My classes are typical boring math classes and my teaching style is traditional- I felt like I was in a slump in January, I think that I was not feeling connected with the school and that I had such a short class that there was no way I could pull some of my previous techniques like workshop and fishbowl discussion into this class. I was getting into a very basic routine, warm-up problem, review homework, learn a new step, assign homework, repeat. But that is not my normal teaching self, I needed to get rejuvenated and come up with some new lesson plans and ways to make my 20 to 35 minute period work. So far I feel like it has been working, though I still have a day here and there that I use direct instruction, I have been working on my planning a lot more and trying to reach out to what the students need and what I need to keep this interesting and moving forward.

    ~I have a hard time connecting with my students, school, co-workers- I still feel like an outsider at my school, and that may never change because I am outside, I literally am not in the building and I work part time. But I have been trying, I volunteered at the school play, I volunteered to lead up a math meeting and then again at the middle school teachers meeting for our Self-Study program (we are up for reaccreditation right now). I do however feel connected to my students. We have really been working the last few months to make our classroom our own. At the beginning of the year I tried putting the two tables together to make one big desk, but the students didn’t like it because they didn’t have enough room. Recently I tried again both classes love it. Instead of me spending a lot of time at the board, now I sit among them and we work on whiteboards so we can all share-out our thinking. I have also made an effort to hang up posters and student work around the classroom.

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    1. Jenny - It's awesome to hear that your research has helped you to bring back your previous techniques like workshop and fishbowl. Having a routine can be nice because it provides a structure and clear expectations, but it can just as easily become a rut. From the sounds of their approval of the "one big desk" it sounds like this revived approach is working!

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    2. Congrats on feeling connected in the classroom, Jenny! I think that was my biggest struggle in the beginning. I was told by a teacher when I started, "be robotic and don't crack a smile til Christmas-- then you can loosen up." Boy is that something I regret from year 1. I think what you are doing by making the classroom more an intimate space is probably the best the best thing that you can do. The kids must like the new classroom environment because it probably breaks up that traditional classroom feel. Your 20-35 minute time with them is so crucial. I think they will appreciate what you are doing for them. I like the new routine and classroom set up. If could use emojis I would give you two thumbs up!!

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    3. Jenny,
      I started sitting with my students early on, because it felt natural to me, and I always really liked the dynamic, I am so glad you are finding that connection as well. Don't sell yourself short on a boring math class, if your students are beginning to question themselves, and wonder why they are learning, instead of just accepting, then you are waking up their minds, and that will serve them forever. Keep up the good, work and see if while you are weaving yourself into the fabric of their lives and the school more and more, if your connectedness and value don't start to peak as well.

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    4. I just really had to laugh at Ken's comment here - I heard that from somebody before teaching, too, and knew there was NO WAY that was going to happen. I can hardly last a few minutes without smiling. Jenny, I love hearing that you're having a more enjoyable experience in your classroom! Yay for action research in action!

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  4. I think this an interesting question and it reminds me how important reflection is in the teaching profession and in life too—which makes me happy because that idea validates my research questions and some of the research I’ve been doing. I think I am constantly “unlearning” because my perceptions are always shifting and evolving based on my professional and life experiences.
    In terms of students, I have “unlearned” a great deal. When I taught at the New England Laborers’ Construction Career Academy, I worked with students who were going into the construction field. I unlearned that all students wanted to attend college. I unlearned that there was little to no value in being an expert at a trade. And, most importantly, I learned that being smart does not necessarily coincide with being a good student. The students at the charter school certainly taught me a great deal more than any of my “college prep” students had taught me prior. So, now, as a result, I value education and training, but I do not believe it has to come in the form of college.
    Teaching as a profession. This is a toughie. I guess the biggest thing I unlearned about teaching is that it would get easier with time. I feel just as challenged and unsure (maybe not about everything) as the first day I walked into a classroom. It’s almost as if when I first started teaching, I didn’t even know what I didn’t know. I also unlearned that I would most definitely retire as a teacher. I’m not sure I can stay in this profession for the next 20+ years, and that is ok. I know my heart is in education, but I’m not sure it is going to stay in the high school classroom.
    Teachers in general. This unlearning is based on my experiences as both a parent and a teacher. I unlearned that all teachers are fair and work as hard as I do. I know that sounds negative, but I have seen many teachers who are pretty much skating along for the ride, with no real integrity or work ethic. This is obviously a small number of teachers, but I have witnessed it. I also unlearned that all teachers have pretty much the same work load. Ha! High school English teachers, in my opinion, have the majority of the paperwork load…That is why I am teaching myself (ironically-through this unlearning) to work smarter not harder!

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    2. Melissa - Your unlearning that teaching would get easier with time sounds scary to a newbie! But like you alluded to, things are challenging, but in a different way. Year 2 has been lightyears easier than Year 1, but new challenges are popping up. And I think if I ever get to a point that teaching is just plain easy, then something needs to change...

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    3. Melissa, I have to say that reading your "unlearning" experiences made me think about some of the misconceptions that came along with teaching. When I came into the profession, I was astounded at what "I thought teaching was." I agree with "...but I have seen many teachers who are pretty much skating along for the ride, with no real integrity or work ethic." I think if I EVER got to that point, it is the time to leave the profession because the only people that suffer are the students. That is just not fair. I also think your heart is in education, and once you get a classroom, I am certain you will enjoy it more. Stay motivated!

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    4. Thinking about retiring in like 48 more years, makes me sad :( so I am going to focus on the positive in your post. What we do is never the same, year to year, or even month to month, that is what I love about it. I am thrilled that I am not the same teacher I was when I started, and I m sure that some introspection and unlearning on my part from my students has led me to where I am. I was never the most successful of students, I found school mostly irrelevant, other than a few great novels, and some very specific skills, but the people really made a difference. What I learned from my own education, and from my experience as a teacher, is to stay true to the kind of teacher I responded to, and those colleagues I look up to, who are passionate and connected. I feed off my students, and hope they feed off me as well, and as long as it is working that way, I am excited to go to school tomorrow.

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    5. I agree that with each additional year that I teach, what I thought would get easier doesn't always. I think it comes down to what you said about when you first started teaching you didn't even know what you didn't know. Every year we are met with new challenges, we may pick up skills and methods along the way to deal with certain situations, but once we clean up that spill there is another one to focus on. And I think that is a good thing, as Ken said if I ever get to a point when this job is easy, when I skate through, then its time to move on.

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    6. I really can relate to a lot of things in this post, Melissa. I love that you talk about not knowing what you didn't know - there were certain things I thought I didn't know or that I was nervous about, but then I realized that those would become non-issues and other concerns would come up! I also agree that not all teachers are in this for the same reasons we are, nor will they ever work as hard. But that's ok, too - I think we, as teachers, learners, and human beings, get as much out of our days with students as they do from us. That's something I love so much about teaching.

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  5. I think a lot of my unlearning this semester can be traced back to something Melissa mentioned in her post: “being smart does not necessarily coincide with being a good student.” I hung out pretty exclusively with the “good student” types for most of my school career. I couldn’t be bothered with the nonsense of my unserious peers. I had a job to do in school (get the highest grades possible) and I wasn’t going to let anyone distract me. I was pretty successful in meeting my goals, so I was happy and didn’t question this. I played school all the time as a kid, practicing my future career as a teacher envisioning rows of students eager to read and write and raise their hands - a classroom full of kids like me. And those unserious ones? Nothing a few stickers and smiley faces on spelling tests wouldn’t fix.

    Obviously this vision grew more complex as I learned what it actually meant to be a teacher.

    But as I wrote about often at the beginning of this semester, part of me still connects best with those “good student” types. I don’t know that I can help it. So, I took on this research to challenge myself to go beyond those easy relationships and provide alternate ways for students to show their smarts. I am incorporating reflection so that they can recognize their own smarts and the smarts of their peers. In my fieldnotes I am trying to track the positive things the students are doing rather than all of the things that they aren’t - and then praising them accordingly. I am unlearning the habit of taking students’ challenges/resistance so personally. Like Ken mentioned, they have busy lives of their own and responsibilities and emotions and family issues that affect the behaviors and academic performances that we see. I need to work with these rather than against. Because I am on their side - all students’ side - regardless of the label they might have.

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    1. Brittany, I actively "played anti-school" when I was growing up, I was so dissatisfied with the education I was getting by the time I was in third grade (I have some crazy third grade stories). I couldn't put that into words then, but looking back, I see a lot of the things I did were in protest of the Anglo-centric education model (mine was parochial as well). I am sure that is why I work with the kids I do. Students like you intimidated me then (and still to some degree) because I know that those who take it seriously and set goals are getting something I did not from school. I think what is important to realize, through our unlearning and reflection, is that our kids need all kinds of influences in their lives. The passion and energy you bring to the classroom will inevitably reach a wide range of students, and inspire them as it edifies. For some of the struggling ones, the passion and energy is possibly more critical, because it forces them to look at their relationship with education, and adults who care for them and maintain high expectations. Find ways to laugh with them, and connect even if it is non-academic, and they will respond in ways that will force you to unlearn even more. The better you know them the more often they will find a variety of ways to surprise you.

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    2. Brittany, I'm with you too. I have always been the good student, no procrastination here. I also find it hard to connect with the students that are struggling with good student behaviors. I had a recent conversation where someone was telling me that during their senior year they skipped 30 days and were tarty for 50. WOW was all I could say, didn't your parents care? It astonished me that his parents would allow him to miss that much school. Its hard for me to think that not everyone values education as I do, or as I was brought up to do. BUT this is why the work you are doing this semester is so important. As Brian said it is important to find ways to laugh and connect with all students, especially those ones who are least like us.

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    3. Brittany, I think this is something we've talked about before - being "good at school" and what that means. I love that you said you took on this research to challenge yourself - that's what makes you such an inspiring teacher and friend to work with :)

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  7. I had a conversation with my principal Thursday last week, as he and a guidance counselor were dropping off a new student (yes, I get a new student just about every month). He (guidance) began to tell me some of the reasons that this young lady had been unsuccessful to date: teachers she had fought with, attendance, behavior problems she had struggled with... I watched her shoulders slump, and her eyes cast onto the floor, and I stopped him in mid-sentence, and said in front of the girl that I was not really interested in any of that, I asked her if she wanted to graduate from high school, and what her favorite subject was, and waited for eye contact and her answer. She said "yes", and after a little hemming and hawing - "History." I told her that I did not care about what had happened in the rest of the high school, and that if she was willing to show up, work with me (but more importantly, be honest with herself) then we could get her caught up, and ready to graduate with her class in June 2016. The guidance counselor left her with me, and I sent her into class, but the Principal held me back for a minute, and said to me "that is why I recruited you to work in this program, because you looked at her and saw possibility, where most of the other teachers in the building only see her difficulties." I thanked him for the acknowledgement, and went on about my day, and I didn't really think about it until about 330 that afternoon. What I unlearned at that moment, was that there are no private conversations. How you feel about a student cannot be faked with words, it is communicated in so many more ways. They hear and see, and feel our bias, or belief, and by stopping him I voted for her. I'm not sure how it will turn out, but I believe I built at least some credibility with her as a starting point, and I have hope.

    Through my TRJ's this week, and my observation, I am continuing to unpack just how valuable that un-learning lesson is. My students are rocking my world with some of the things I have picked up in their speech patterns, ideas that I had no idea had resonated with them, that months later are showing up all over the place. I had another student, who has been very successful, and is graduating, mention a conversation we had on september 2, (I had to look that up) about wanting the house someday rather than the chips today, and another who went on and on about the Wolves in Yellowstone park (October 27) and how you never know the effects of the things you do today. I had a student take offense Friday at the term "leftover socks" that I used in SED 561, and another who apologized for an argument we had heading into February break. I guess I am unlearning the power of the casual comment, or conversation, that doesn't seem like much at the time, but carries a power that may not be realized for some time. It is forcing me to be more conscious and precise with my interactions, and more purposeful with my language. I am realizing just how much goes into the message that is heard, not just the things you think you are focusing on, and your intent. The truth is that your entire body of work, contributes to the message, along with their entire body of work, the context, and tone, and that what you believe is so much more than just the words.

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    1. Words.... Words and actions are so very important. Twice a week I work in a 4th grade classroom. Every time I go into that classroom the teacher tells me how unorganized she is, how disruptive the students have been that day, how she has not finished anything because they can't listen to her and so on.... She says this in-front of the students, while they are reading so I'm sure they all here her. I have tried to change the subject, or check-in with her earlier while the students are not in the classroom. It has been a very tough year having to work with this teacher. I wonder how many of these students will carry the words of this teach with them for months, years to come.

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  8. Brian, I think it's so awesome that you let this new student see right away that you were totally into helping her reach her goal of graduating, and that all the stuff that was in the past (although it'll have to be dealt with eventually) will not ruin her shot at that. I think that is why you have such a great relationship with most of your students, and that is something that they can count on every day when they walk into your classroom.

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