Mike Gaudreau's Blog

  Subversive Criticality in an ELA Classroom De los Rios, Lopez & Morrell’s “Critical Ethnic Studies in High School Classrooms: Academic Achievement via Social Action” makes a strong case for the need to rethink educational practices in order to better represent the changing demographic in America’s public schools. They point out, “Of the 6.9 million students who are enrolled in the nation’s largest 60 school districts, 71% of them are either African American or Latino.” Studying current trends in the U.S. population, they point out, “While a generation ago, America’s schools could have been identified as predominantly White, this group now compromises just 52% of the national population and by 2023 it is projected that nationwide White students will only compromise 45% of the U.S. population.” In light of this fact, it seems hard to deny that educational practices need to be examined in order to best serve all students, and if schools are becoming more academically diverse, ther

  Approaching Critical Language Arts Instruction Through the Lens of Abolition             Duncan-Andrade and Morrell’s “Critical Pedagogy in an Urban High School English Classroom” was interesting to read on 6/11/2021, with Critical Race Theory being one of the most highly contested political talking points of the time. Many states are pushing to block Critical pedagogies throughout the country. Even Barak Obama made reference to CRT practices in his interview on CNN with Anderson Cooper this week. So the more politicized debate I listen to regarding Critical pedagogy, having read this article, I find myself repeatedly asking the same question; “What are people so concerned about?” Duncan-Andrade and Morrell suggest an approach to teaching that I agree with philosophically, and feel is a beneficial way of thinking about instruction for all students. They argue that “instruction is rooted in the existential experiences of marginalized peoples; that it is centered in a critique of str

  Building Hope and Solidarity in a Language Arts Classroom               My initial reaction to the material covered this week left me feeling vulnerable and hopeless. By taking a close look at racism in America, both from a historical perspective, as well as from that of an educator preparing to enter into a classroom to deal with the impact that systematic racism has had on so many of our students, I initially felt unsure of myself. When Tricia Rose defines structural racism as “the normalization and legitimization of an array of dynamics that routinely advantage whites while producing cumulative and chronic adverse outcomes for people of color,” I’m forced to reckon with the fact that I have lived my entire life reaping the benefits of white privilege without ever considering it. Things that I have taken for granted, such as safe and stable housing, access to education, and the benefit of the doubt that my race has given me in terms of criminal justice are all things that many