Talking Points #9

Christopher Kliewer: Citizenship in School: Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome

1.) "Democracy can only occur when no person's voice is deterministically silenced"

- Teaching in the society we are in, we must do our best to include every voice and individual student and let each individual develop to become a helping member of the community. Inclusion of voices speaks of the very essence of a democratic society.

2.)"Professional reliance on a narrow interpretation of mathematical and linguistic characteristics when defining school citizenship in no way captures the multiplicity of knowledges valued in the wider community"

- This quote is just saying that the way intelligence and competence is defined in schooling today doesn't truly measure one's ability to apply themselves in the real world society. One could be great at math and english standardized testing but can't apply it in the community another person who isn't as "smart".

3.) "[Community] requires a willingness to see people as they are-different perhaps in their minds and in their bodies, but not different in their spirits or in their willingness and ability to contribute to the mosaic of society. It requires the "helper" to have the humility to listen for what hat the person says he or she needs. Also, the "helper" must see that the interaction "helps" both ways."

- I loved this quote. It is basically saying that we need to embrace differences and realize that these differences do not segregate is in our ability to contribute to the school society and the society at large.

Thoughts:

Reading this article by Kliewer was sort of difficult because of its lengthiness and somewhat boring parts. However, the main points and little stories and examples were quite interesting and good to read. I really liked the way Shayne talked about her students and atmosphere she created in her classroom. It kind of reiterated some points from previous articles, like the fact that all voices should be involved in the classroom. We should see differences in students, like those with down syndrome, but not separate students because of them.

Here is a youtube video that goes along with this week's article: