Skip to main content

Why Can't Students Say No?

6 Weeks AgoUnderstanding and respecting consent is one of the fundamental necessities for human interaction. And yet, we have a societal tendency to undermine or ignore children's boundaries both inside and outside the classroom. Sometimes, when the child's safety is a concern, an adult must intervene. But how much do we ignore student consent in order to accomplish our goals? My interest in this area is finding out how these actions impact students' ability to learn. Moreover, how to we healthily and helpfully incorporate non-coercive practice into the classroom? How do we balance student comfort and the learning goals?
Of the three topics I've been considering, the role of consent in our lives is something I return to again and again. It seems bizarre to me that something so fundamentally expected in adulthood is so frequently ignored in our interactions with children. My mind buzzes with questions and contradictions. How do we teach our students about consent in a system that doesn't ask them for theirs? Can we give opportunities for choice to students unprepared to make informed decisions? What can we expect of our students if they haven't been given chances to learn about consent before? And honestly, how can we believe that children will understand consent when we constantly undermine it?

 Over the next weeks, I hope to have more opportunities to learn from others. I plan to speak to teachers and parents in different school models, including Windsor House and City School. My goal is to distill this behemoth topic down into something meaningful I can learn about this year.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Being Welcome (For Oct. 12 in-class)

Below are some common classroom experiences that make me feel more or less welcome: Positive experiences opportunities to self-determine my learning space to give and to revoke consent individual attention recognition of difference between students (race, sexuality, gender, interest, etc.) teacher openness regarding and willingness to correct mistakes acceptance and praise of student mistakes as part of the learning process deliberate and explicit class and subject expectations space for and acceptance of the need for physicality and movement space and flexibility for questions and "off-topic" moments organization and routine respect for personal boundaries teacher investment in my learning positive interdependence and personal investment in my learning Negative experiences presumptive and gendered language (the scientist = he; the nurse = she) cis-hetero-normative assumptions (binary pronouns used without checking, assuming that someone who "loo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Riding a Unicycle on a Sailboat in a Storm?

"You have to go where adolescents are" - Frank McCourt The more I learn about teaching the more I realize that it is a constantly shifting balancing act. Am I professional enough but not too distant? Am I engaging my students but also teaching the required curriculum? Am I honouring teenage experiences but not overstepping on parents' rights? For Frank McCourt, erring on the side of adolescent realities was a key component of his practice of Teacher Inquiry and Teaching by Inquiry. Being true to his students informed not only the way he comported himself and interacted with his students, but also they actual material and lessons he taught. By being personal and personalizing his class material, McCourt engaged his students in an honest and meaningful way. I intend for student realities to inform my own practice, but the extent to which this will be possible is very dependent on school context. I admire McCourt's dedication to honesty, but wonder how much presen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Whole Student

What three areas am I initially interested in regarding my Inquiry 1 & 2 project? Consent Understanding and respecting consent is one of the fundamental necessities for human interaction. And yet, we have a societal tendency to undermine or ignore children's boundaries both inside and outside the classroom. Sometimes, when the child's safety is a concern, an adult must intervene. But how much do we ignore student consent in order to accomplish our goals? My interest in this area is finding out how these actions impact students' ability to learn. Moreover, how to we healthily and helpfully incorporate non-coercive practice into the classroom? Additions - How do we balance student comfort and the learning goals? Sex and Gender Education There is plenty of literature to support the positive impact of comprehensive, realistic sex education. My question is how sex education impacts students' learning in other areas. We know that by the time they've hit grade 7...
Post a Comment
Read more