Oppression

Kumashiro's article about oppression was quite eye-opening. As someone who has just been introduced to some of the challenges teachers must confront (I have a BA in History and just returned to school this semester), oppression appears to be as significant, if not more, than others. It was honestly not something I put a whole of thought into when I was making the decision to become a teacher.

The author offers 4 methods to mute oppression in the classroom. On the whole, I agree with Kumashiro's idea to use the classroom as an opportunity to change minds and push students to approach diversity from a fresh perspective. He argues that teachers have a responsibility to educate all students about the dangers of continued oppression, but he paints a somewhat bleak picture educators. After each section of building up his argument, he tears it down by stating the weaknesses of the method. I realize this is important, but it is not exactly a ringing endorsement. I almost feel like to implement these ideas, I will have to (sorry for the cliche) walk on eggshells in the classroom.

Final thought about the article: Reading this article from the perspective of a future Secondary Ed teacher, the one point that the author did not discuss (or at least, I did not catch it) is the timing. I understand that this is important for teachers of all levels to understand, but this should be a primary focus of Elementary Ed teachers. If they do not energetically combat oppression in young children, stereotypes and prejudices can become ingrained their minds. Thus, creating a much steeper challenge for Secondary Ed teachers.

One final thought: To confront oppression, I would try to weave some of these issues into my curriculum. Most "otherness" can be addressed in a U.S. History course. The author uses many examples, but repeatedly discusses Asian-American oppression. In a U.S. History course, we could discuss the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. Then we could pivot to a discussion about not only some of present-day issues confronting Asian-Americans, but how this sort of behavior by the powerful is a pattern.