What does it mean to be a “good” student according to the commonsense? According to Common sense, being a good student means that we listen when a teacher is talking, we hand in our work on a timely fashion (when the teacher has declared we do), we sit still and obey.. for the most part. There is a typical mold that our current education system would like our students to fit into, and when they don’t, it is seen as a problem. Just like with Kumashiro’s high school student, N. N was questioning the curriculum around him and would defy the teachers in their methods or concepts in the lessons. He was aware that they had to teach it that way because that was what was asked of them. N was an intelligent individual and could comprehend his readings and assignments, he just wanted to have a different stance on them, over the one he was told to take. Other teachers struggled with N, but Kumashiro allowed N to voice his understandings and view points, instead of shutting him down, telling him he was wrong and not allowing for his own growth.
Which students are privileged by this definition of the good student? The students who are privileged by the definition of a good student, are the ones who “fit the mold”. Which basically means, those who conform to, or have a background in the Colonial ideal, or those who do not have a Learning Disability. If you can sit still, follow directions, listen intently and participate thoroughly, you are considered a good student. A student who has a good supportive home life, with proper meals to fuel their bodies and brains. The privilege could come from a family that has had many generations living within the country, they are established in the traditions and customs. Now, that is a hard statement to make, because it does not acknowledge Indigenous people who were successfully living here before the disruption to their lives, when settlers came in and rip their world and lives apart. Just like in the Painter textbook, it outlines and breaks down the groups of people that they perceived as not being able to become good students, or even educated for that matter. We tried to completely change the Indigenous population to become like the settlers, forcing them out of their comforts, and now to this day, we are still seeing generations struggle from Inter-generational Trauma, leading them to the possible lables of “bad students”
How is the “good” student shaped by historical factors? I think through my other two questions, I have also answered this. Through colonisation, we are trying to fit many traditional customs and understandings into a “western” ideal, disregarding others that do not fit. Those this is changing for the better all the time, still, those who are advantaged are those who find familiarity in the system laid out, or those that reaped the benefits during settlement into Canada.
2 thoughts on “Week 4: What it means to be a good student”
Hello Jada,
I completely agree with you when you say that the system is set to favour those who benefitted from the colonization of Canada. If a student does not conform to colonial ideas or originate from European lineage, they are immediately disadvantaged by the Canadian schooling system, whether they are attending private or public school. I love how you touched on the idea of a “bad student”, as I believe that there is no such thing as a “bad student”, simply there are students that are not being educated sufficiently.
Hey Jada! I really enjoyed how you answered the blog post prompts and your reflections on the readings. In Kumashiro’s article sharing his experience with N, that student challenged the expectations for “good students”. N mainly was engaged in the content and would contribute to the class conversation, but they were critically analyzing the reasoning behind learning this content. When you’re able to question things and dive deeper into the meaning, that can show a deeper understanding, but in terms of education and classroom dynamics, challenging the teacher to explain reasoning is seen as pushing back against the teacher or defiance. I really appreciated your analysis of the text! Thanks for the great post and I hope you have a good weekend!
Hello Jada,
I completely agree with you when you say that the system is set to favour those who benefitted from the colonization of Canada. If a student does not conform to colonial ideas or originate from European lineage, they are immediately disadvantaged by the Canadian schooling system, whether they are attending private or public school. I love how you touched on the idea of a “bad student”, as I believe that there is no such thing as a “bad student”, simply there are students that are not being educated sufficiently.
Hey Jada! I really enjoyed how you answered the blog post prompts and your reflections on the readings. In Kumashiro’s article sharing his experience with N, that student challenged the expectations for “good students”. N mainly was engaged in the content and would contribute to the class conversation, but they were critically analyzing the reasoning behind learning this content. When you’re able to question things and dive deeper into the meaning, that can show a deeper understanding, but in terms of education and classroom dynamics, challenging the teacher to explain reasoning is seen as pushing back against the teacher or defiance. I really appreciated your analysis of the text! Thanks for the great post and I hope you have a good weekend!