What He Is, Not What He Isn't

Christopher Kliewer's "Citizenship in School: Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome"

"...actual educational arenas where all students are welcomed, no voice is silenced, and children come to realize their own self-worth through the unconditional acceptance." 

 "All students" means all students; those who look different, who learn differently, who communicate differently, who behave differently.  Education is not a privilege; it is a right afforded to all children.  Week after week I find myself noting in the margin of each reading: is this just good teaching?  I've come to realize the answer is yes.  However, education is often organized so these "good teaching" methods are geared mostly to dominant culture.  "Society itself is hurt when schools act as cultural sorting machines" limiting diversity and maintaining the status quo.  In Shayne Robbins's description of three students in her class with down syndrome, she said, "it would be hard to say ,'This is how you should teach kids with down syndrome. They are not at all alike" (85). My response: What group of kids is alike? What group has a definitive way they should be taught?  They are all individuals. 

"no voice is silenced" 
 I am reminded of Delpit’s "people are experts on their own lives." Shayne Robbins was ability to create a community experience and in essence a voice, for Anne and Isaac "beginning with the simple act of listening" (78).  Anne and Isaac had something to say, but unfortunately, like many other students who don't fit the "rigid, linear" expectations, people didn't hear them.  Hearing these students allowed Shayne to create better opportunities for them to find their voice and participate in the community.

"Children come to realize their own self-worth through the unconditional acceptance."
Think of the significance problem that existed for John in North Hollywood. Once he was "'accepted for what he is, not what he isn't" he was able to focus on "what he can do, instead of being told what he can’t do."

My father's cousin has down syndrome.  When he was young, his parents were told his future was dim.  His parents refused to accept this.  When schools seemed to have the same expectations, his parents found after school programs that allowed him to interact and learn with other students.  He celebrated his 50th birthday last year.  He is a manager for a family business and is one of the most caring individuals I have ever met.  Thankfully, his parents didn't accept the prognosis of those who could not see "past his chromosomal anomaly to his humanity" (86).


School Success VS Community Success...In this corner School Success weighing in at "test scores and AYP status" and in this corner Community success weighing in at "problem solving, self-worth, and relationship building."

"...reliance on a narrow interpretation of mathematical and linguistic characteristics when defining school citizenship in no way captures the multiplicity of knowledges valued in a wider community."

Gardner poses that schools must realign their values to more closely match those needed to participate in society.  Current models of education base intelligence and success on those who can pass the tests,  not necessarily those who have the capacity to think critically and solve  problems.  hmm...too much weight placed on test scores?

Reconceptualizing
 Vygotsky's suggest the "idea of defect emerges from culturally devalued sets of the relationships that a child has with his or her surroundings" (82).  If a student constructs relationships with his or her surroundings in a manner that does not match the accepted norm, the defect label comes out.   The defect label often leads to isolated environments which encumber the development of higher functions. "...Altering the culture of disability requires that a child be recognized as an active learner, thinker, and problem solver, but this cannot occur apart from relationships that allow for such engagement" (83).