I can say with confidence that a lot of what I read this semester has opened my eyes to different perspectives when it comes to the world of education. To be honest, there's too much that I could write about each topic, but that's what the blogs have been for, right??
The first thing that I think was the biggest eye-opener for me would be the topic of asset-based education. I've been able to apply that lens to my studies in music education, and to say it's helped me rework how I connect with my students would be a vast understatement. Connecting with students and writing lessons based on their interests and what they can do has shifted their mood to where they look forward to coming to music class every week, and that's something that I'll continue to hold in my heart.
On another note, the "Precious Knowledge" documentary we watched in class also helped me see other perspectives in how we can help students engage in learning. Seeing the Ethnic Studies courses in action and how motivated the students were to participate showed me that, as Delpit wrote in "The Silenced Dialogue," we must not only listen to our students, but we also must hear them. We must take their perspective seriously and use it to recognize our own internal biases and work towards providing our students with an equal, free, and appropriate education.
Lastly, I think I enjoyed reading the article on neurodiversity the most because I was able to recollect my memories of how autism has affected my elementary school (and even middle and high school) performance--academically and socially--and truly feel like I wasn't a bad kid, or a troublemaker. I was genuinely struggling, and I had no support. Advocating for neurodiverse students is something I have grown to be passionate about, and I've learned to adapt my teaching styles to these neurodiverse students.
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