Do I have the full picture?
I do not think I have the full picture and I don't think a lot of people actually do. In schools, sometimes they only focus on certain points when teaching and that leaves things out for us to learn about. I also think that we are continuously growing and learning things along the way that help us move towards seeing the whole picture.
Something that always sticks with me when I read about a new event is that there are two sides in every story. In history classes we would learn about wars and events that happened in the past but majority of the time these events would be told by the winner. It makes you think about the other side and if the winners were actually telling the truth or spinning it to make them look good. When learning about World War I, we could say we have the full picture on what happened but we weren't taught about what happened to the losers. I think this applies to us in real life that oftentimes we think we have the full picture but in reality we are not seeing both sides.
Just like in Victoria's Tik Tok, she was explaining all the things that she wasn't taught in school about a very significant event. She was not taught about Ruby Bridges in school and it turns out that not a lot of people were. It makes it very apparent that kids cannot get the full picture if schools are constantly leaving things out about important topics because they don't want to talk about it or even feel like that event is not significant. We need to be able to talk about the things that are going on and tell both sides of every story so then kids might be able to actually get a full picture.
Hello Maya,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you pointed out that not a lot of people really do get the full picture yet. You worded things really well. I like your statement about continuously growing and learning things that help us move forward and see the whole picture. I also never thought about how the "loser" of a war or battle felt when learning about that part of history. How the countries or people had to rebuild their entire home, went broke, or lost the supplies they needed to survive. I had never heard of Ruby Bridges in school and the TikTok just reminded me of how many stories of those who are marginalized that we do not hear about. It is important to start the change of teaching a different type of history to our future generation so that we could see a positive shift in the right direction in this society. It is important what is taught and said in a classroom because this is what influences students and what is put in their mindset. I enjoyed the inclusion of the image.
Hello Isabella! Thank you so much for commenting on my blog! I had never really thought about the "loser" side either until my teacher said that but I am glad he told me because it really made me see things differently. I agree with your last statement because school is the foundation of a child's learning and if they are not taught things in school then they most likely will not learn about it outside of class.
DeleteGreat blog Maya. I agree with you 100%. I also do not get the full picture and being in this class is allowing us to see more of the picture. Theres always room to obtain my knowledge and experience. One can not fully understand ones experiences, past, history, and racism unless one is actual in those shoes, which most of the time is impossible due to different upbringings, races, ethnicities, and etc. What we can do as future teachers is educate ourselves on such topics and try to understand our students backgrounds, culture, experiences, language, and etc. Avoiding the different learning opportunities based on race and being inclusive. At least you are aware of the terrible things that are occurring at school, homes, and society itself. The drawing or picture is definitely spot on as someone is looking at a picture, but can not see the sides as in can't see the full picture. We are brought up to only see one sided perspectives that when we do educate ourselves, we start to open our eyes and see more of the picture than what was shown in school. How would you take the knowledge you know now and go against this teacher education gap, dysconscious racism, and etc. Will you educate your current peers and family about the content of this module?
ReplyDeleteOne thing I hope to include in my classroom after reading this weeks module is that there are two sides to every story. I feel like we are constantly being told events from one perspective and not the other. Just like the picture I drew, you are only seeing one side when there are many others. I want my students to be taught both sides of the story so they can get a full picture on what is actually happening.
DeleteHi Maya. I completely agree with your blog. You made several relatable points. I agree that a lot of people, including teachers, really do no have the full picture, even if they are convinced that they do. The point that you made about teachers leaving out certain things really stuck out to me. This makes a lot of sense, and often it is the controversial topics that teachers feel uncomfortable talking about that are left out. Do you think it is mainly just the controversial topics that are left out? Another point you made that really got me thinking is how most stories in history are only told from the winners point of view. You often time do not hear teachers teach about history from the "losers" point of view. This is a great way of explaining how most people do not really have the full picture, but instead only see things from a certain point of view.
ReplyDeleteHello McKinley! Thank you so much for commenting on my blog. I think a lot of teachers leave out controversial topics the most because they fear backlash of not teaching it correctly or fear that they are going to be told their views are one-sided and racist. I think smaller things can be left out as well if there is not a lot of time to cover it or it just doesn't add anything significant to learn about it.
DeleteHi Maya, the statement when you said sometimes teachers only focus on certain things which leaves things out for us to learn is something that I agree with 100%! I have always felt like some teachers will only focus on certain events in history because they feel as if it’s a sensitive topic. However, in reality they are allowing their students to miss out on important information about their history. I also liked how you pointed out there are always two sides to every story and history mostly only tells one side and as you said it is always the winners side. This makes me think about the article “Pushing Indigenous nations to the margins: Creation of Indian Boarding Schools”, in this article the Whites had a book on the Indians about how bad they were, how they killed their women and children and burned their towns. In this case it’s a one sided story because the Indians were’t allowed to say anything so how could we really know if this was true or not.
ReplyDeleteHello Jamie! I love how you brought up the article about the Indians and how their story was only being told from one side. This shows us that not having the full picture can really hurt someone and their reputation and can change someone's feelings about the topic. Thank you for your comment!
DeleteHi Maya I love how you added a photo and I love the border of your background to really focus on what you're thinking and seeing. I like how you related history and seeing the full picture. In one of my other classes this semester we talked about how we were never taught many Asian American historical figures. This directly relates to the point you were making we rarely get both sides in histort. We never see the full picture of what everyone evolved went through and felt. I believe the United States is guilty of this especially. As teachers we need to paint the full picture for our students and do our best to tell all sides we can.
ReplyDeleteHello Hanna, now that you have pointed it out, I was never really taught about Asian American historical figures either. I think kids love to see people like each of them brought up in school and not teaching the full picture can harm the way these kids think about themselves and may see themselves as less worthy. Thank you for your comment!
DeleteHi Maya I loved reading your blog and seeing the picture you drew! I agree with you about you saying that teachers only focus on certain topics. In school I could definitely see my teachers views and strong opinions of certain topics to where they would leave out a lot of important topics. I think as teachers even if we don't agree with something we need still need to get the full picture and teach that to our students, we need to keep some of our views out of teaching and just teach the topics. We need to take a step back and try to see the full picture. Also when you said that there are two sides to every story especially in history that is when the teacher needs to get out of her bubble and talk about both sides. Students are the majority that are suffering with not getting the full picture because the teachers are deciding what to teach.
DeleteHi Maya, I loved your picture and your post. I think the drawing is very fitting to how people may think they are seeing the full picture but are failing to look outside the lines. I think that people forget that there are two sides to every story, and that the majority of the time we are only focusing on one. However, can we truly learn about anything if we are only learning about half of what happened? As time goes on, and as stories are retold, the other side gets lost, never being taught to the future generations. Most courses focus on what makes the winner, or the country, look the best. Ignoring what may have been important information, information that we could learn from, and swapping it out for the story that seems the best. We learn from our mistakes, but if we aren't learning about them then how are we supposed to learn?
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