MVP: Silencing and Nurturing Voice in an Improbable Context: Urban Adolescents in Public School
By: Michelle Fine
I found this reading to be the most important because while some of the other pieces were just as true and just as valuable, this one spoke to me as the issue we could actually start doing something about as educators of adolescents. There are socioeconomic issues in the American society and what we need to do is begin to talk about them and to make students aware. We need to allow them to question and debate these social issues of the world. My own education at NYU has been invaluable in part that I was pulled into all sorts of controversial conversations, about oppression and privilege in race, gender, sexuality, class, or religion and identities.
While we may not so easily be able to change the inequalities of class/race, we can change the silence that dominates city public schools. Discussion can lead to a better understanding of an identity that is not your own and students will learn that issues really are not black and white, but grey all over. Unsilencing will strike the fear of being a participant from students. It is the issue we can better control with our own actions and attitudes toward our students.
Class identity and racial conflict are social problems that require the whole society to work on for generations. The role of teachers in redirecting students to build up critical perceptions toward different ethnic groups and even their own identity can be crucial. Lucky for us, through learning, now we can be consciously aware of some potential issues that affect the study of adolescents, such as peers, family, or silencing approach used by teachers. Therefore, as future teachers, we can be better prepared to help students achieve their life goals.
You made a great point! Learning how to question something, how to think critically, and how to voice one’s opinion is absolutely pivotal in one’s education. It is only through discussion and debate, can important issues be addressed. As future educators, we have the power – at least in our classrooms – to change the atmosphere of silence to one of participation. Children are inquisitive by nature and we should nurture this inquisitiveness and guide them to think independently and aid them in producing their own voice. Children are sometimes reluctant to speak because they are afraid of being reprimanded or being wrong. We need to cultivate an environment where children know that it is okay to be incorrect and that everyone is here to learn from each other.