This is a discussion that I posted in my Sociology of Education class here at UNCC and the dialogue following.
1. I think that today in the climate of education being a minority can have its advantages for education. I feel that being a mixed male special education teaching student might afford me a better chance to obtain job placement when I graduate and being that there are fewer males in elementary teaching roles now. That's my intersectionality. I believe that the demand for minority teachers is good for me but they shouldn't place a male in a teaching role if they're not qualified same as a woman, it just so happens that it's a role that is needed to be filled in society.
2. Attention should most certainly be given to economic segregation. It should be addressed but as the problem that whites have been afforded a head start in the game. It's like a video I just watched in Child Psych. If we as a society could get over living in white-walled neighborhoods where we don't want our children to attend schools with lower-class children which include children of minorities the scales would be tipped. Many neighborhoods are segregated in the US still. If minorities were able to obtain living situations in those communities the viewpoint of segregated whites would change. If you stay the same and perpetuate staying the same; nothing will ever change. If BIPOC peoples have opportunities and see the opportunities available to pull themselves out of poverty and it becomes a cycle of the majority of minorities changing their economic future then things could change. If we believe that we can achieve greatness then our children will obtain greatness, and if we desire to stay at the bottom the children will be bottom feeders.
3. I wish I was fluent in Spanish and other languages. I often resent my brain because I can't even draw sentences perfectly in English on average I'm a much better writer than an orator. My dad wishes I was fluent in Spanish because from him working in the banking/IT world he noticed how important in the Americas it is in a business sense. So as for students, it's mutually beneficial at a young age to be with each other. If students are mixed in with English and non-English speaking the kids grasp an early knowledge of other languages. It's beneficial for two-way bilingual education to happen in schools. There were Hispanics here in the United States before the US was a solid country of 50 states. It's important to be able to promote global communication and facilitate at a young age understanding between cultures. If I had the chance to learn Spanish and other languages before high school I would be fluent maybe. The benefit to non-English Speaking students is that they learn English and assimilate into the culture, melting pot, but their parents can learn too from their students. I've seen many kids translate for their parents when I worked in Sam's Club. I think both sides learning each other's languages could cut down on xenophobia that our country currently has as pg. 176 in the text discusses.
From Allie:
Joshua,
I am curious to know your opinions about the effects of gender and race on a macro level. Do you believe that overall being a male is beneficial? I agree that in the teaching field you are more likely to get a job placement because of your gender. Do you think this holds true across different careers?
Also, I 100% support your beliefs on giving attention to economic segregation. Based on your description, it seems as if you also believe that economic and racial segregation are not mutually exclusive events. I took the same standpoint in my argument. On a micro level, however, do you feel as though race or economics has a higher impact on educational outcomes?
From Joshua:
Allie,
I think that because of how many female teachers there are in the elementary level that it's a need, I still would have to earn it and I think I would have a better chance because of the need. Also, there's a need for non-white teachers too but I identify as mixed so I understand that if you don't have anyone as a boy to look up to that is a male or is your skin color it's difficult. I have forgotten if it was this or child psych that had a thing about women in engineering. The field is growing with women but not fast because in college the teachers are mostly male. Women have fewer role models and it's discouraging to do something and not see someone like you in that field. It's hard to get mansplained even being a man. That's why the STEM programs are so important to get younger girls interested and explain hey you can do this and you can do anything you want in life but you gotta work for it.
On the micro-level of racial economics, I liken it to this. If higher-income families of any ethnicity can afford tutors and the best tech for their kids even in a public school their kids will come out ahead of the kids in the public schools in areas with low-income families because those families can't afford the same things to get their kids to even the reading level they're supposed to be at. Lebron James created a school for inner-city kids to go for free and to college when they graduate. He leveled the playing field for those kids. They don't have to worry about if they are gonna eat twice during the day, also if their calculators are gonna work, that they have a full set of crayons, or if their laptop is gonna be five years old and a hand me down from their uncle. When the playing field is level for kids they shine. Kids can surprise you when they only have to worry about school. That's like being a construction team and they are building a bridge over 485 in Matthews and another team is building a bridge in the university area but one team has inferior equipment and the same contract to get it done in. The team who doesn't finish on time or their work is subpar won't get hired again. If kids all have 12 grades to get through and one set is at a constant disadvantage and they know it, why show up.