How Does Gender Affect the Teaching Profession?

    As females in the teaching profession, we are subject to underpay and discrimination in the system. Before reading this module and the articles that came with it, I knew that majority of teachers were women especially in the elementary setting. What I did not know is that when it comes to administration and higher positions, a good percentage are men. In the podcast Gender Matters: Challenges Facing Women in Education, It states that "83 to 86% range of teachers are women," "54% of principles are women, predominantly in elementary schools," "And then at the superintendent level, it's been around 23%." Then it talks about the flip side of these numbers for the male population in the school system. These numbers just prove that there is a disconnect in the system. Males and females who are equipt for a position should be able to take it on no matter their gender. Females who have the abilities to run a school district should be in that position over a man who has no experience or qualifications. Unfortunately in the current school system women are not always seen as having authority over anyone other than their students. As a future educator, I want to be respected by all people in the school no matter the gender or position. I also want there to be equal chances for everyone to be in a position based off of qualifications not because they are a male or female. This might be wishful thinking but if we work together we can move towards a change. 

References 

https://the-harvard-edcast.simplecast.com/episodes/gender-matters-challenges-facing-women-in-education/transcript 

Do I Have the Full Picture?

     Do I have the full picture? I think in the schooling system, it is set up so the students, and staff, don't ever get the full picture. Since taking some of the education based courses, I have realized how messed up and bias the education system can be. 

    In the social studies class I am taking right now, I learned how majority of schools only teach their students one side of the story. History is not only one side, it has many sides and perspectives of all the parties involved. When the students only learn one side of a story it can create ideas in their mind about certain topics that might not fully be true. Textbooks created for the classroom don't help this idea of one sided learning, they write the text in a certain perspective and don't share all sides. For example, when Christopher Columbus is talked about in school, they are taught that he just found new land and colonized there. The students are not taught that he caused a genocide of the Indians who lived there before he came. The Indians were treated so poorly by Columbus and his men that many of them took their own lives to escape them, if they were not killed by his people before. 

    As teachers it is our responsibility to do the best we can to educate our students on the full picture. Whether it be bringing in outside resources or people to give them all perspectives on a topic, or teaching them our own knowledge, it is important that they get all sides to a story and not just one. Some teachers are restricted on the content they are able to teach, but we have to do the best we can to give our students the best content. 

How do we talk about issues that matter?

     In school it might be uncomfortable or hard to bring up difficult topics that are going on in the world. In some cases, teachers are restricted on what they can talk about which makes it difficult to have these conversations. A way that was used to talk about these issues in my school was through videos. During our history or social studies time block is when we would watch these because they related to what was going on in the world. In a video by Facing History Kevin Toro, a history teacher, used the big paper method to talk about a hard subject, the Reconstruction Era. This activity lead the students to have conversations about what was happening. Talking about issues that matter in history are just as important as talking about current day issues. Students should learn about historical issues to see how things changed or what needs to change, also just basic knowledge about events that have happened. I remember we watched a documentary on 9/11 during world history, this sparked emotions and discomfort within the class. After the documentary we had a conversation and did an activity based off of the event. For elementary aged students some videos might be too graphic but reading children's books that relate to these issues is a good way to expose them to the problems. Even dipping their toes into the pool of issues in this world, they will become more aware than they were before. As they progress through school, hopefully they will retouch on those topics and go more in-depth with them. 

Why Teach?

     Throughout my grade school years, there have been teachers who have had an impact on the way I am today. Going into a classroom and having it feel like home is a goal that I have when I become a teacher. I have had that experience and it changed the way I viewed school, and I want to do that for my future students. I have many members in my family that work in the school system, they range from teachers, administrators, and even coaches. I hope to be the teacher that leaves a footprint in each of my students lives. I hope to teach them how to be kind to everyone no matter where they come from or their background. This world can be such a cruel place that I want to help put some good back into it. School to me is not just about learning math or how to read but also learning social skills. 

    Ideally I am wanting to teach 1st-3rd grade. At this point in their lives they are still excited about learning new things. I love math and science the most but social studies, history, and english are also subjects that I would have to teach as well. Goals that I have for my classroom are to build a trusting relationship with each of my students. I want them to feel like they can come into my class and have it feel like a safe space whether they have that at home or not. Learning should be fun not stressful.