Tanya Langlois

  The Academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies Christine E. Sleeter Quotes Reading this article caused me to reflect on my own educational experience. Sleeter makes an argument that mainstream curriculum fails many students by not reflecting their realities, and while my experience differs from the students of color described in this article, her research helped me understand my own relationship with school in a new way. Sleeter opens with the story of Carlos, a student who spent years disengaged from education until he discovered Chicano studies. She writes that “for the first time in his life, the curriculum was centered on his reality.” I think about how many students never have that moment. Growing up I got decent grades but was never truly inspired by school. It was not until college, when I realized I could choose classes based on my interests, that everything changed. Suddenly I loved learning and began to excel. As a White student I want to be careful not to equate my ex...

       Reading “Shifting the Paradigm from Deficit Oriented Schools to Asset Based Models” helped me connect the asset-based approach to growth mindset. Growth mindset theory emphasizes that abilities can be developed through effort, strategy, and encouragement. A deficit model mirrors a fixed mindset because it highlights limitations and assumes ability is fixed, while an asset-based model reflects a growth mindset by focusing on potential, development, and possibility. I agree with the authors' emphasis on shifting away from focusing on student weaknesses and instead intentionally building strengths, resilience, and supportive relationships.   The section on middle school particularly resonated with me, especially this quote: “It is during the middle grades that students either launch toward achievement and attainment, or slide off track and are placed on a path of frustration, failure, and, ultimately, early exit from the only s ecure  path to adult succ...

  Blog Post #3-  What “Counts” as Educational Policy? Notes Toward a New Paradigm Jean Anyon Argument For a long time, people have tried to fix "bad schools" by changing what students learn or how they are tested.  Jean Anyon   argues that  this is not the only  problem;  the  real problem  is poverty  outside  the classroom . She believes that things like raising the minimum wage should be seen as educational policy. While I agree with her beliefs, I do see potential challenges ;  if we raise wages without fixing our benefit systems, we might accidentally make it harder for struggling families to survive.   Anyon writes that "neighborhood poverty builds walls around schools and classrooms that education policy does not penetrate or scale.” In wealthy suburbs, parents have the money to give their children books, computers, and safe homes  which she refers to as  the "engine" that makes schools successful. In citi...