Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Talking Point 9

Citizenship in School: Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome
By: Christopher Kliewer

Kliewer deals with some issues that schools face with children that have disabilities like down syndrome. He speaks about how schools stick to their teaching styles despite the fact that it can hinder and does not benefit students with cognitive learning disabilities.

1. "Community built on the recognition of individual value occurred through a curriculum developed by Shayne in dialogue with her students. For instance, her student Isaac was born into a family that loved books. On a visit to his home, his mother told me, "Isaac's surrounded by reading. From Marx to the Bible, it's everywhere he turns!"
This statement makes a lot of sense, if a child is surrounded by something( ie books) they are going to grow knowing and loving books, most of the time. If you take anything and surrond a child with it his or her's life that is what they are going to know, usually they will love it because that is what they know but other times they can get sick of it because they are always around it. I use to love to read when I was a kid, although I was not surronded by many books, and soon I lost interest in leisurley reading. Maybe because I was not always surronded by books, I soon lost interest.

2. "In an extensive study of the acceptance and respect accorded severely disabled and nondisabled people, Bogdan and Taylor (1989) noted that these relationships include: (1) the attribution of thinking to one another;(2) the ability to see one another's individuality; (3) the ability to view the relationship as reciprocally valuable; and (4) the attribution of a valued social place for one another. Though Bogdan and Taylor focused on relationships outside of school, these dimensions appear to be critical to establishing a recognition of citizenship for students with Down syndrome in schools, as described below."
I think number two is very important, if a person is blind to one's individuality, than there is no way to accecpt them, I think that goes for nondsiabiled children as well. But the points that they came up with are interesting and are interesitng to read considered I grew up with a disabled sister, and now a cousin with down syndrome, whom I absolutley love. Baiscally to accept anybody, according to these points, you need to look far beyond their beatuy, and disabilities, it goes deeper. And I agree with the points that they came up with.

3. "Assessments of how well a student conforms to expectations (measurements through which students come to be defined either as smart. or as lacking intellect) tend to focus teacher attention on the child's adeptness at responding to classroom-based math and language tasks. These evaluative instruments supposedly measure either a student's understanding of a transmitted knowledge base (hence, a preexisting one) related to math and language, or the student's ability to discover the knowledge base through carefully contrived activities."
I wish there were other ways to assest children other than test, I think they need to combine it with how well they can listen and respond in a classroom. Because I am a horrible test taker, and my grades were often effected because of it. But in class I was the only one that knew the answers and helped everyone else with the problems or whatever, but when it came time to take test I did not do as well. Even important standarized test, like MCAS, and SAT, those did not show my skill level at all, it only hurt me. So I think that judging a child's ability needs to be more than just taking test.


Growing up with disabled children in my family, and wanting to pursue a carreer teaching the disabled, this aritcle was interesting to read. It was not to difficult to read or understand, maybe my interpertations of some of it is a little different from maybe what it is suppose to be, but this is definitely something that interest me.

4 comments:

  1. I am sure that your life experience helps you bring personal connections to this. What did you think of the film??

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  2. The film definitely hit at a personal level, because when my mother was trying to get my sister into "regular" classrooms she had many difficulties. Then she was told that my sister would be in classes with other students but when it came to the school year, my sister was stuck in a room with about 5 other disabled children. And she has been stuck in that room throughout her high school career. My mother has continually argued with the school about this issue but keeps on losing. And it is funny because in the contract my mother had when bringing my sister there said that this situation would never happen, and that is why my mother agreed to send my sister there.

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  3. i can connect with you on this becca....i have a close friend that has a disability and it was tough to get him into a classroom because it seems like no one wanted him in their class.

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  4. i also can connect with you becca because my first cousin is disabled and i see how he gets treated and it really bothers me because he is the same as everyone else but can not process information and retain it. Im glad that you have an interest and helping childern like this we need more like you

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