作为研究生, Kristen 霍顿 ’19 and Celia Castro ’19 have become used to the routine of taking courses at the 威尼斯人平台’ scenic main campus. 但最近, one of their U of R courses at a quite different location has required layers of protocol. 第一个, they must make their presence known by speaking into an intercom, 然后通过金属探测器, 最后, they are buzzed through a series of doors until they reach their classroom at the San Bernardino Juvenile Detention Center.
这门课程, Critical Perspectives on Education and Inequality in America，由教授授课 布莱恩烦心事。 and brings together 15 威尼斯人平台 education students and 15 incarcerated youths for discussion about the purpose of public education in society 和 intersections of race, class, 性别, 威尼斯人平台的纪律. The class is part of a national network called the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, an organization that encour年龄s college students and incarcerated people to explore issues of crime and justice together, 监狱内部.
霍顿, who is working towards a master’s degree in learning and teaching, 和卡斯特罗, 博士生, 很快就报名参加了这门课程. Both of them have experience working with underserved youth in the Inland Empire. 霍顿 has a background helping foster children and working with Riverside Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), an organization that seeks to support abused or neglected children. 作为一门高中艺术, 戏剧, 在丰塔纳当英语老师, 加州, Castro says that a number of her students have already been through the juvenile justice system.
“我们班上的很多人, both the inside [incarcerated] and outside [non-incarcerated] students, 在威尼斯人平台有过不好的经历吗,卡斯特罗说。. “我是年纪较大的学生之一, 听到这一点很有趣, 一代代人, certain aspects of school haven’t changed at all. It led me to ask: Are we doing right by these kids?”
在教室里, Charest has the students rearrange the desks—which are initially formatted in rows—into a circle where every outside student sits next to an inside student, 自然促进讨论. Charest often uses certain exercises to break the ice between students, some of which he learned during an Inside-Out Prison Exchange Institute that he previously attended at a state prison in Michigan. From philosophical debates to conversations about educational policy, both women say that Charest’s methods of teaching have leveled the playing field among the students and allowed for heavy interaction and eng年龄ment.
霍顿 says she has gleaned insight from these discussions, specifically about practices of punishment in education. “Many people in society think that punishing students who don’t traditionally fit in a school environment is justice,她说。. “But we have to think about different ways to address punishment. 而不是让孩子离开威尼斯人平台, 那么谁更容易被定罪呢, we need to look at the underlying problems that a student is facing and try to address them as an educational community.”
类似的, Castro notes that educators have a specific responsibility to students in influencing their adult lives. 在她的学习过程中, 她经常问自己, “What do we want students to get out of a K-12 experience?”
“Educators are tasked with teaching students about the importance of civic responsibility,她说。. “If students aren’t treated in school like the good people we want them to grow up to be, those concepts of integrity and responsibility are more difficult to grasp and are less likely to remain when they become adults.”
Both women note that the experience from the class will travel with them as educators in the future. 在课程中, Castro read various studies about how teachers’ voices can trigger students’ past traumas. She has begun to work on the way that she uses her voice in her own classroom and is more mindful of how students react to her. She says that she also plans on using some of Charest’s ice-breaking exercises with her own students at the beginning of the new school year.
霍顿, 明年谁将开始她的学生教学, says that the course has changed her thoughts on the purpose of public education. “All students should have access to a high-quality education,她说。. “如果任何, this class has taught me to be wary of suspending or expelling a child from school, as so many vulnerabilities come with being pushed out of the education system.”
了解更多有关 学习与教学文学硕士(麦芽) 和 Doctorate in Leadership for Educational Justice (Ed.D) 项目 威尼斯人平台教育学院.
