Video Analysis + Midterm Checklist

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Classroom Tour

Midterm Checklist

Blog Post #7

Alfie Kohn                                                                                        What to Look for in a Classroom

QUOTES:  

Quote 1: “What matters most is not what students are doing but what they are thinking about while they are doing it.”

Kohn reminds us that learning isn’t about activity but about engagement and reflection.

Quote 2: “The more you rely on control, the less real learning occurs.”

This challenges traditional classrooms that prioritize obedience over curiosity, showing that students learn best when they feel trusted.

Quote 3: “Good teaching is about listening as much as talking.”

Kohn redefines good teaching as a dialogue. By valuing students’ perspectives, teachers create more authentic and meaningful learning environments. These ideas together highlight Kohn’s belief in student-centered, democratic classrooms.

Blog Post #4

Renkly and Bertolini                                                                                         Shifting the Paradigm

CONNECTIONS:    Renkly and Bertolini’s call to “shift the paradigm” in education connects closely to Anyon’s argument that structural change is needed for true equity. Both stress that reform must go deeper than surface-level classroom adjustments. While Anyon focuses on policy and inequality, Renkly and Bertolini emphasize rethinking teaching itself—centering student voice, reflection, and relationships. Their work also connects to Kohn’s “What to Look for in a Classroom”, as both reject traditional, control-based models of education. Together, these readings promote a vision of schooling that values collaboration, curiosity, and empowerment over compliance and hierarchy.

Blog Post #3

 Jean Anyon                                                                                   What Counts as Education Policy?

ARGUMENT:  This author, Jean Anyon, argues that education policy cannot be separated from broader social and economic inequality. She explains that schools alone cannot fix issues like poverty or inequity because those problems are rooted in unfair housing, health, and labor systems. Her main point is that meaningful education reform requires addressing the larger structures that shape students’ lives. Anyon’s contribution is expanding how we define “education policy” — urging us to see it as part of a wider social justice agenda rather than just school-based decisions.

Blog Post #2

 Shamus Khan                                                                                                                               The Broken Model

QUOTES: 

Quote 1: “Meritocracy has become the most accepted myth of our time.”

This means people are taught to believe success only depends on hard work, but Khan reveals that access, privilege, and wealth shape who truly has opportunities. It connects to his larger critique of inequality in elite education.

Quote 2: “The elite are not made in schools; they are remade.”

Khan argues that elite schools don’t create equality—they reproduce privilege. These institutions teach entitlement and confidence, helping the already privileged maintain their social position.

Quote 3: “The problem is not that the model is broken—it’s that it works all too well.”

Here, Khan flips the idea that the system is “broken.” He suggests that inequality in education isn’t accidental—the system is designed to protect existing hierarchies. This captures his central argument about how education upholds privilege.

Blog Post #1

 Alan Johnson                                                               Intro to Privelege, Power, and Difference: S.C.W.A.A.M.P.

ARGUMENT: This author, Alan Johnson, argues that privilege is an invisible system that benefits certain social groups while disadvantaging others, particularly those who do not fit into the dominant categories of being Straight, Christian, White, Able-bodied, American, and Male (S.C.W.A.A.M.P.). Johnson explains that oppression persists not just through individual prejudice but through social structures that normalize dominance. His main point is that privilege is maintained by silence and denial—most people don’t see it because they aren't taught to recognize it. Johnson’s contribution helps readers recognize how everyday norms reinforce inequality and calls for awareness as the first step toward real social change.

Blog Post #6

Lisa Delpit                                                                                                               The Silenced Dialog 

ARGUMENT: This author, Lisa Delpit, argues that students from marginalized backgrounds are often denied access to the “codes of power” when teachers fail to teach the cultural norms valued in schools and society.

Delpit’s central point is that well-meaning educators sometimes believe it is oppressive to directly teach students the rules of language, behavior, or power that are dominant in their culture. However, she argues that withholding this knowledge actually disempowers students, because they are left unequipped to succeed in environments that demand those skills. At the same time, Delpit stresses that these codes should be taught without devaluing students’ own languages and cultural practices. Her key contribution is showing that equity in education means both affirming students’ identities and giving them full access to the tools of power, so they can navigate and transform the systems around them.