I thought todays presentation was very well done!! It taught me more than what I knew about hidden curriculum before for sure and it definitely just makes you more aware of the messages the content you use are sending.
I hadn't heard of Bill 44 as I'm not really up with the news, politics, and current events... which I should be! I think that's going to make things rather tricky especially in middle school and high schools as students do get interested about sex education and sexual identity is definitely becoming a bigger deal I think. I personally was never really taught sex ed in school... maybe one class that briefly discussed sex but nothing in depth at all. Kids are definitely becoming sexually active younger and younger these days and I think if we are not allowed to answer our student's questions honestly and openly in the classroom then parents really need to take the initiative in talking to their children at a young age about sex. Because seriously.. the teen pregnancy rate in my home town, pretty bad I would say. Religion I understand more because some people are really strong about their beliefs and don't want their children to be taught otherwise or be forced into different beliefs and values. Us as educators I don't think should ever be pushing things such as that on our students. As was said in one of the videos I think we should be teaching them how to think not what to think. We just need to be sure that we aren't leaving out certain religions and as was metioned just have respect for everyone and their beliefs.
It doesn't surprise me that pictures of white people far outnumbered people of other races in textbooks. Other races are definitely underepresented. However one person in my group mentionned... but look at Alberta, how many black people or other minority races are there really? Our population does look to be majority white people so it's not necessarily an inaccurate representation of where we live. It is good to here that the genders are equally represented. However as we discussed, what are the women doing in the photos? Having them stand around or doing stereotypical activities doesn't really do anything. You might as well have more men then because it wouldn't make a difference. As for people with disabilities it's very sad that there aren't more pictures of them involved in different activities or being the scientist or whatever it may be. It is unfortunate they are only in pictures when discussing the disability because people with disabilities are not incapable of doing things therefore should not be shown in this manner.
That's about all for my opinions! Great presentation!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The point of teaching religion is an especially interesting topic for me. I grew up in a sheltered, LDS town and I cannot express how much I wish I had learned at least a little bit about some of the different religions in the world. I definitely do not think any one religion should be prominent in any classroom (unless you're in a religious school) but I do think, as educators, we are obligated to open our students' minds to the possibilities that are out there. Even something as simple as bringing up some interesting facts about different religions. I know that there are parents out there who would rather have their children remain ignorant of other religions and that's why it'd never work, but a girl can dream! :)
ReplyDelete