1. First classmate T.K
My knowledge, skills, and dispositions of early childhood education is evolving everyday. The responsibilities I hold, especially in regards to accommodating diverse learners, is something that I do not take lightly. I am furthering my education by taking courses like this to develop my understanding and ensure that it consistently remains up to date. Because early childhood education fosters some of the first impressionable experiences in an individual’s life, every activity and lesson conducted must be handled with care and strong consideration.
As I have seen from my teaching experiences, every student has their own story. With every student comes their own unique set of cultural values, living situations, religious beliefs, life experiences, and much more (Morrison, Woika, & Breffni, 2021). As a result, every student has their own set of strengths and weaknesses as well as learning styles. As my pedagogy develops, I realize the true importance of building relationships with students. Students learn best from those that they trust. By making myself approachable and taking an interest in my students’ personalized interests and ideas, they have responded more effectively and respectfully towards me. In addition, especially for younger students, children can struggle with accurately expressing their feelings and knowledge as well. Through a more developed relationship with my students, I can better understand how they may be feeling and how they may best display their knowledge. I can also tailor my lessons to reference the interests of my students, making it much more memorable for them.
The article included in this module titled “Seattle Schools Lead Controversial Push to ‘Rehumanize’ Math” discusses an issue that I’m somewhat surprised to read about. I acknowledge that I am not an expert on the complexities of discrimination and oppression in America, however I was still surprised to read about the use of mathematics in systems of oppression and Seattle’s attempts to reduce such biases. It’s hard to determine whether or not the Seattle School District was successful or not in their efforts as the article states that their movement to “rehumanize” mathematics hasn’t been put into place yet and is still in the proposal stage (Gewertz, 2019). However, to make a prediction for such a proposal being implemented, I believe it would be both successful and unsuccessful. Like the article explains, this is a controversial topic. Like any other controversial topic, people inevitably become divided. Some people may agree with the efforts set forth by such a proposition while others may strongly disagree. Especially because it is seemingly already receiving pushback, I believe that Seattle may face extreme difficulty when trying to incorporate ethnic studies in K-12 mathematics curricula. I particularly like one objective of the proposal mentioned by Tracy Castro-Gill, the ethnic studies director for Seattle, that is to guide students to recognize that there are multiple ways to solve a problem and reach a solution as opposed to only one (Gewertz, 2019). Early childhood learners may not be cognitively ready to learn about such a controversial topic during mathematics when it can be difficult enough by itself. Of course themes of ethnic diversity can and should be utilized in early childhood mathematics lessons, for example, using diverse names and images of individuals in mathematical word problems. This would introduce early childhood students to ethnomathematics in a way that is accessible for them, while laying the groundwork for more intricate discussions and topics later on in their education.
I recognize that this article was published a few years ago, therefore I tried to do some research of my own on this proposition to see if it was actually successful or not. I didn’t find really any additional information on this movement, so I’m not sure if it ever came to fruition. If any of you have any additional information to share on this topic, I would be interested to learn more.
References
Gewertz, C. (2019).
Seattle schools lead controversial push to ‘rehumanize’ math. Education Week. www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/seattle-schools-lead-controversial-push-to-rehumanize-math/2019/10.
Morrison, G., Woika, M. J., & Breffni, L. (2021).
Early childhood education today (15th ed.). Pearson.
Second classmate 2.T.C
2. Chapter 2 of Fundamentals of Early Childhood Education and the article Seattle Schools Lead Controversial Push to ‘Rehumanize’ Math, deepened my understanding of how to effectively support diverse learners. The chapter emphasizes the importance of recognizing the students’ social, cultural, and economic contexts and how these factors shape their learning experiences. As educators, we are called to create inclusive environments that respect each child’s background, identity, and needs, which aligns with the intent behind Seattle’s approach to rethinking math education.
3. The Seattle initiative challenged me to reflect on how I view curriculum design and equity in the classroom. By incorporating themes of identity, power, and historical context into math instruction, Seattle Public Schools attempted to make learning more meaningful and representative for students from backgrounds that are often marginalized. It reinforced the idea that academic content does not exist in a vacuum and that we, as educators, have a responsibility to connect learning to students’ real lives. While I understand the concerns about maintaining academic rigor, I believe this model could have potential if implemented thoughtfully through professional development and maintaining balance between cultural relevance and foundational skill-building.
4. Personally, being a special education teacher, I consider inclusive education as more than simple differentiation; it is also about validating students’ identities and having their background and experiences reflected in the curriculum within lessons and activities. For this reason, I view Seattle’s attempt as a promising step toward equity in education since it encourages important conversations and opportunities for growth for educators.
5. References:
6. Morrison, G. S. (2022). Fundamentals of early childhood education (9th ed.). Pearson.
7. Sawchuk, S. (2019, October 23). Seattle schools lead controversial push to ‘rehumanize’ math. Education Week.
8.
