Professor Greg Michie Concordia UniversityGuest Speaker Today author of“Holler if you hear me”

Professor Greg MichieConcordia University

University of North Carolina 1985 B.A. in mass communication

University of Illinois at Chicago 1992 Masters in education 2003 Ph. D. in education

1996 Golden Apple Foundation Award for Excellence in Teaching

Holler If You Hear Me: The Education of a Teacher and His Students (1999,2009) Teachers College Press.

See You When We Get There: Teaching for Change in Urban Schools (2005) Teachers College Press.

Why was the Library of Congress classification of Holler if you hear me a shock to the author Greg Michie?

First edition-- Socially handicapped children

Second edition-- Children with social disabilities

Michie comments that is harkens back to “cultural deprivation” theories of the 1960s

Their disadvantages arise not from within, but from a society not willing to invest in their schools and communities (xxvii).

Holler if you hear me

Michie concludes that good teachers are crucial, and can make a difference in lives of students.

But larger social problems—poverty, lack of opportunity, discrimination, violence—can’t be solved by good teaching alone (xxiv).

The book has received praise for its honest reflections about the challenges and rewards of teaching in an urban school.

Michie aims:

To show the goodness and possibility that reside in all children—sees his students as resilient, courageous, and creative.

To contradict cultural deficit thinking about urban students and to document conditions (parents care, kids care but can be discouraged).

To show the need for greater investment in education of all children—all students need best teachers and best teaching approaches, support services, and resources.

To highlight the voices of urban students.

Michie rejects the reading of his story as the urban teacher-hero. Because he:

Learned from students

Is not a hero—that is he did not sacrifice everything for his students, he made mistakes, did not work miracles.

Is not a lone hero--gained from collaboration and support from other teachers.

Michie applies ideas and teaching approaches contained in critical theory (Tozer, Chapter 13).

Cultural subordination (Michie pays attention to the impact of uneven power relations, structured inequality in their lives, and their inferior status in society).

Cultural difference (Michie is a culturally relevant teacher).

Resistance theory (Michie understands why students resist, acknowledges inequities, works to engage students in studies that are relevant and challenging).

Holler if you hear me

Dear Mr. Michie,

Don’t take it personal but your class is very boring that is the reason why I don’t participate or at least your subject is boring. What I think you should do is do fun stuff and fun projects as well. Before your class was fun but now it is more like a chore.

Thank youAnonymous (119)

Holler highlights how schools, combined with political, economic, and ideological forces of society impact the lives of students--

VOCIE OF STUDENTS to express their views about:

Challenges presented by urban conditions Police don’t want to come into their neighborhoods (146) Gang activity limits their mobility (181) Consequences of concentrated poverty

Cultural difference

School policies and teachers that are hostile and antagonistic

toward students (causes resistance and apathy)

Critique or just complaints?“See if I care”

Samuel and Ruby both advise teachers about making learning fun…

In her 7 page letter, Ruby advises: Show patience Don’t make kids feel bad Students need to act better as well

Michie is a Culturally Relevant Teacher He holds these views about culture and identity, relationships, and knowledge: (Tozer, on Ladson-Billings, 430)

Conceptions of themselves and others. Recognize that culture impacts everyone’s learning. Caution about cultural generalizations that would

erase individuality (experiences, gender, class, family, etc.)

Conceptions of social relations. Social relations impact motivation, why we learn,

interpretations, how the community views the school.

Conceptions of knowledge. Knowledge is constructed, useful, changing, linked to

experiences.

Michie Applies a Culturally Relevant Teaching Approach -- “connect with the kids’ culture”

Key chapters are (found also in other chapters): “Look at Your Hands”, “Story of Their Lives” and “Nancy”

“Look at your hands” Students studied: Mexican heritage Mexican-American identity Faced some of their own biases Human Differences (Gender, World Cultures)

“Story of their lives” Project to tape a book: Lessons from House on Mango Street reading

What teaching is about: to explore with students, connect and build Most reading materials did not reflect students’ identity and experiences

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xP11RgMlMU&feature=relatedYoutube see: bestofssn

Seward School, Chicago Student from Michie’s Media Class 1990s

The cultural identity of students is important.

What is a Mexican?

“Look at your hands” Michie’s students are: children of immigrants, from a working class neighborhood, living in the Southside of Chicago, in a climate of fear of immigrants, and more.

Michie Applies Goals of Culturally Relevant Teaching

Academic achievement To promote academic success for all.

Maintaining and supporting cultural competence. Cultural Difference Theory--Different cultures are

respected, all cultures seen as having ASSETS, minority cultures are not viewed negatively.

Fostering a sense of sociopolitical critique in students. Cultural Subordination--Acknowledges injustices,

discrimination, institutional racism, the need for structural changes in school, the neighborhood and the larger community.

Connect Michie’s Teaching Approaches with Freire’s View of Knowledge

Friere’s View of knowledge Teachers and students learn together. INQUIRY &

DIALOGUE, ACTION & REFLECTION

Non-authoritarian relationships.

Values all kinds of knowledge.

Seeks to connect knowledge with the reality of students’ lives.

Teach students how to transform their own lives.

MEDIA STUDIES CLASSMichie advocates critical literacy “No Zombies Allowed” Chapter 6 To engage students in critique.

Inspired by the movie “Night of the Living Dead”

Michie- Teaching CRITICAL LITERACY “No Zombies Allowed” Through media literacy class kids

expressed their ideas and creativity through film, poetry, writing. Michie respects the students as social critics.

Michie includes study of issues important to their lives such as cultural difference, poverty, safety, gangs, how their neighborhood relates to Chicago politics, and their relationship with police in the neighborhood.

MEDIA STUDIES CLASSMichie advocates critical literacy “No Zombies Allowed” Chapter 6 To engage students in critique.

Analysis of messages in:

TV programs

Talk shows

How are youth portrayed in the media?

How is Mexican culture portrayed?

Michie is worried about basic skills and critical thinking.

Explain what kind of education Delpit is advocating for minority students. What educational outcomes is Delpit seeking for minority students?In what ways does Delpit reveal her alliance with a critical theory perspective?

Let there be no doubt: a “skilled” minority person who is not also capable of critical analysis becomes the trainable, low-level functionary of the dominant society, simply the grease that keeps the institutions which orchestrate his or her oppression running smoothly.

On the other hand, a critical thinker who lacks the “skills” demanded by employers and institutions of higher learning can aspire to financial and social status only within the disenfranchised underworld.

Lisa Delpit, Other People’s Children

Through Holler if you hear mewe learn about some of the experiences Mexican-American youth.

Latino Youth 19% of school students, are the fastest growing minority in US.

And they have the highest dropout rates, and lowest college attendance rates.

Many of Michie’s former students did dropout of the Chicago Public School System (196)

Why should society be concerned about students who dropout?

Every 26 seconds, a student drops out of high school in America. That adds up to more than 1.1 million students per year.

In Illinois, over 22,000 students dropout each year.

Why might citizens beconcerned about theeconomic cost of dropouts?

Every high school dropout requires approximately $__________ in additional public expenditures over the course of his or her lifetime, meaning that the students who are projected to drop out in the next decade will cost the country approximately $____ trillion.

Economic Costs of Dropouts

Every high school dropout requires approximately $260,000 in additional public expenditure over the course of his or her lifetime, meaning that the students who are projected to drop out in the next decade will cost the country approximately $ 3 trillion.

One argument for good public schoolsEconomic Value of Schooling in 21st Century

On average, a high school dropout earns

23% less income than a high school graduate,

39% less than a holder of an associates degree,

55% less than a holder of a bachelor’s degree,

62% to 79% less than holders of advanced degrees.

MC versus OPC

Are dropouts targeted as a priority in our nation’s schools?

Do we know how to reduce the number of dropouts?

Latino Dropouts ”Breaking the Pattern” 4-26-05Listed on Reading Table for this week. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education/jan-june05/dropouts_4-26.html

“Poverty doesn’t cause dropouts.”

“Schools don’t inspire Hispanic students.” These students usually get the:

Least qualified teachers Least enriched curriculum

We already know a lot about how to create successful intervention programs, like AVID, BRIDGE, THE FOUNDARY.

These special programs are being cut as schools experience

economic problems and pressures to focus on high stakes testing

Reasons students say they drop out…How do structures & quality influence completion?

STUDENTS SAY: Were not motivated or inspired to work (69%) Found classes uninteresting (47%) Were failing in school (35%) Starting high school poorly prepared (35%) Would have to repeat a grade to graduate

(32%)

Had to work (32%) Became a parent (26%) Had to care for a family member (22%)

Culturally Relevant Teaching in Michie effortsKnowledge & relationships

ALL ARE INTERRELATED ALL ARE ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS

1. Believe in the intellectual capacity of all students. Hold beliefs about minority students that all can learn (and hold them to high expectations).

2. See themselves as part of the community in which the students live.

3. Assist students in making connections between their local, national, racial, global identities.

4. Establish relationships with students that are fluid, equitable, and extend beyond the classroom.

Culturally Relevant Teaching in Michie effortsKnowledge & relationships

5. Demonstrate connectedness with all of their students.

6. Encourage students to learn collaboratively.

7. Believe that knowledge is re-created, recycled, and shared by students and teachers. Use inquiry-based learning.

8. View the curriculum critically.

9. Committed to providing readiness and support necessary for learning.