Equity and Social Justice in CBS

The flags of the different nationalities that are represented in the class

CBS Primary as I've mentioned before is in a particularly unique situation compared to other schools in the region.  Half of the school is Muslim and they are one of the first schools in the region to have an Autism Spectrum Unit for students on the autism spectrum, one of the first to have an English as an Additional Language program (EAL), and one of the first to have a targeted literacy intervention program in this city.  Many immigrant students in the school are from Eastern Europe and Central Asia.  It is also a DEIS school which is the equivalent of a Title I school in the US.  Many of the students are coming from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and the school is underfunded.  Ireland is still a very homogeneous nation which means that overall many Irish schools lack the resources to support all learners because there has been no need.

Maths posters in Arabic and English

My time at my school has gotten me to think about the ways in which I have been privileged enough to have access to the resources for me to learn best in school.  I think my time teaching abroad has challenged me and the ways that I think about teaching for social justice because I have never been in a school that has had students from such diverse backgrounds. In one class there could be one student who is born and raised in Ireland his whole life and next to him might be a boy who just started learning English this year in 6th class and it's the first time going to formal schooling.  Then there's also the interesting dynamic of it being a public Catholic school and having half of the school identify as Muslim.  It makes me wonder, how will I as a future educator be sure to include my students in all aspects of school, including the social environment of school.  

Sometimes I feel like the teachers at CBS are not being the best advocates for the students and it's made me think about how I as a teacher should be treating my students so that they are able to succeed in school.  It makes me think about how my perspective on teaching has been shaped because of my background as a child of immigrants whose first language was not English.  My practicum has made me more aware of how language can be so important in school.  For example,  many of the Muslim students shared a language, Pashtu, which they used to communicate with each other especially those who are still learning English. Towards the end of my placement, I noticed that students were being discouraged from speaking their native language during class time because it was seen as being "uninclusive" of students who don't speak the language. I can see why someone might say that, but I think to stifle one's language is to stifle one's identity because language is so tied with culture and identity. 

There is so much diversity within the school that I wish that the teachers engaged with when planning lessons. There have been incidents where students have made comments that stemmed from a lack of understanding of students from different backgrounds. This has made me even more convinced of my responsibility to get to know the students and build a community in which students feel cared for.  Although my international practicum has not been what I expected, it has reaffirmed my beliefs in teaching for social justice and the need for it.

Mischief Managed

I have been hopping around to different classrooms for the past three weeks that I have been at CBS, so I've observed a variety of classroom management styles and strategies used. Most of the classrooms I've been in are the 5th and 6th classes which are the equivalent of 6th and 7th grade.

In regards to classroom size, most classrooms are between 15-25 students with the older classes having more students per class.  The rules and expectations are different for each class, but most include a rule about respecting the teacher, students, and classroom, raising your hands to speak, and following directions.  I haven't seen any classrooms that classroom rules that the students made and then signed like a contract, even with the older classes.  I also don't see any teachers refer back to the rules during class, so I'm not sure how effective they are.  

I've noticed a school-wide expectation is that before entering a classroom or even just to pass through the classroom because many rooms are connected to each other, students are expected to knock on the door and ask.  One classroom I observed used Class Dojo to earn participation points which then allowed the students to have one homework pass when they reach 30 points.  This particular teacher also had a point system for tidying up tables at the end of the day.  The first table to tidy up their tables and put up their chairs at dismissal gets a point and after a certain number of points, the whole table gets a treat.

In terms of discipline, I mentioned in a previous blog post that this school seems to implement more traditional ways of discipline.  For example, in one classroom if the students misbehave, they have to copy lines , stand at the wall, or get extra homework.  I have seen teachers yell at students from across the room if they are not doing their work quietly and quickly.  Sometimes students are sent out of the room or down to the principal's office.

Overall, I think classroom management at this placement is something that needs improvement.  Right now, students are just expected to sit, listen, and obey, and I don't think this is really an effective way of teaching because there are no conversations.  Even though I have been here for three weeks now, I haven't seen any SEL teaching or lessons other than some anti-bullying posters that are hung in some classrooms.  I've found it difficult not to want to step in when I see the teachers doing something that seems to be shaming the students and not really solving the problem.  They seem to be scaring the students into doing what they should be doing rather than trying to meet them in their needs.  Again, I'm not speaking for all the teachers, but for many of the classrooms that I've observed.

Boston to Limerick: Teaching From Across the Sea

I've been at my placement now for three weeks and I have already noticed many similarities and differences within the school from my pre-practicum experience at BC and my own experience as a student in elementary school.

Similarities:
Small group work/ Co-teaching- The school is starting to use more small group work and co-teaching in their lessons.  This method of teaching is relatively new to the school, but it offers more flexibility for students to get the individualized instruction according to their ability level.  

Assessment- Students are given assessments at the beginning of the year to test their knowledge of literacy, maths, and other subjects.  This assessment then determines their group for instruction during those subjects.  Students go to different classrooms during those blocks according to their ability level group and assessed continually during the block by each teacher.

Differences:
Discipline- Last week, I was talking to one of students during group work and they had mentioned that some of his peers needed to do "lines."  When I asked him about what they were, he said that they are when the teacher has the student copy the same line over and over again on the board as punishment.  I thought this was really old-fashioned and I had never heard of a teacher in the US doing the same type of punishment on students today, but when I told another teacher about it, she said that it's more common for teachers to be stricter during the beginning of the school year so that they don't have to continue disciplining students all throughout the rest of the year.

Subjects- Although most of the subjects are the same like literacy, maths, etc.  There are two subjects that I are unique to schools in Ireland, most of which are also Catholic: Irish and Religion.  I thought it was interesting considering this is the equivalent of a public school that the students would have Catholic religion classes because in the US, there is a more distinct separation between church and state.  It would be expected if one were to attend a privately funded school, but most schools in Ireland are religiously affiliated, even if they are public.  Irish is a mandatory subject in Ireland, although I've found that most people forget their Irish after secondary school because no one uses Irish in daily living.  

A Typical Day at Scoil Iosogain CBS Primary

My placement is at Scoil Iosogain Christian Brothers School Primary (CBS Primary) in Limerick City, Ireland. It is an all-boys Catholic school that serves students from second to sixth class (the equivalent of 2-6th grade) and has about 240 students.  Most schools in Ireland are Catholic school, especially in this particular region of country.  This school stands out compared to other schools in the area because many students in the school come from disadvantaged communities and are new immigrants, some attending formal full-time school for the first time. Most schools in Ireland have a very homogeneous population of students, white Irish and Catholic, but many of the students in this school come from Afghanistan, speak Pashtu at home, and are Muslim.  This sudden increase of immigrants in the school has only happened in the last 10 years, which means the school has had to adapt quickly to the sudden influx of immigrants.

8:00 am- Arrival
I take the bus for half and hour from University of Limerick to CBS Primary. I go to my placement on Mondays and Wednesdays.  After I arrive, I go to the staff room to drop off my lunch, have a cuppa tea, and talk with the other teachers while we wait for the morning bell to ring.

9:00 am- Maths
Class starts and students stream into the classroom after playing outside in the school yard.  The students line up behind their teachers as each teacher brings their respective class up to their room. The day starts for me in sixth class where I help the students with their maths.  There are three teachers who work with the sixth class maths subject and are in three separate classroom.  The students are placed with a certain teacher according to ability level.  The teacher usually presents a large group lesson and then assigns independent work for the duration of the class.  Sometimes the teacher adds in a little Gailge, Gaelic, lesson at the end or before starting maths.

11:00 am- Break
Tea Break!  The students bring up crates with snacks and the teachers go down to the staff room.  I was surprised the first time I saw all the teachers in the staff room while the students were in the classroom by themselves, but it seems to work fine for them.

11:30 am-Literacy
I move to one of the fifth class teacher's class for their literacy block.  I've noticed that the deputy principal, the equivalent of a vice principal in the US, is very involved with teaching the students.  I'm not sure if this is particular to this school because of its unique circumstance within the context of Ireland, but the deputy principal helps teach many of the students throughout the day and acts like a paraprofessional.  Literacy is usually done in stations so I supervise one of the stations, usually handwriting.  The students have to copy letters, words, and sentences into their copy books to practice writing legibly.  I haven't seen this done as much in the US, but I think that it is a useful skill to practice especially since I've noticed many students in the US have very poor handwriting.

12:30 pm-Lunch/Recess
The students start eating some of their lunch in the classroom before heading outside for recess and I head back down to the staff room.  The teachers alternate recess duty from day to day.

1:30 pm
I have been with different teachers every afternoon, sometimes I'm in one of younger classes like second or third class and sometimes I'm working with some individual students who need extra help in literacy.  Most recently I was with the English as an Additional Language class (EAL) during a Language Experience session where the students play games to practice using their English vocabulary that they have learned during the week. 

2:30 pm- Dismissal
The teachers bring the students outside to the school yard and the children are dismissed for the day to their parents or they go to an after school program at the school.  Many of the teachers leave school along with the students which I thought was interesting because teachers in the US usually stay at least one or two hours after school to finish work and preparing for the next day.

Staying Sharp for the Summer

For my last day at my practicum in Japan, I wanted to leave my students thinking about the importance of keeping their minds sharp when they are on break from school. The objectives of my lesson were for students to demonstrate understanding of what a sharp mind means by orally providing examples about how they use their working memory, particularly in the context of what they will do this summer.

I began my lesson with asking students, “What will you do this summer? What are your plans?” As expected, the students mentioned their vacation and camp plans. However, I wanted my students to ponder how they could continue learning sharpening their minds. I then asked, “What does the word ‘sharp’ mean?” The students said things like “a pointy edge” or “when people look nice.” I told the students that you are sharp when your minds are mentally alert and can understand things quickly. It is crucial that students stay sharp over the summer break so that they continue improving their skills and bring new knowledge for the new school year.

People’s brains need to practice and review what they have previously learned in order to remember things over a long period of time. The brain has a short-term memory, a working-memory, and a long-term memory. I told students that a lot of information we learn gets stored temporarily in our working memory, which means that we have to work hard to remember it and make it into a long-term memory.

Students turned and talked with each other about ways to stay sharp over the summer. They discussed how they can keep their reading and writing sharp this summer by reading and going to the library, as well as writing stories about their adventures. Students also talked about doing fun science experiments or art projects. Teachers and students have to remember that learning never stops, and can be found in many contexts.