I began with another vignette, describing my days in middle school where I first noticed participation being graded in my classes. I wondered why it was being graded and why it was so important to my teachers. As I continued my education, participation was still relevant, even today in college. I described that I was not one of the active participants in my class, but I tried to make a contribution every once in a while. Once I got to college, I realized how important participation was, even how important it is as an aspiring teacher. “Seeing that participation has such an importance to a child’s entire educational career, I think it is important to raise the question as to why some students participate, students sometimes participate, and those few students who rarely participate,” (Richard 2018). Looking specifically at Payne’s Black Bastards and White Millionaires, looking through the denial and progressive theory lenses, I noticed these theories applied to participation. These theories both looked at student’s income, “They both look at different students with different outcomes and compare their language. They found that there is a link to their language and their financial circumstances,” (Richard 2018). I also looked at the second denial theory of participation in relation to teachers creating classroom culture. I looked at Sarah Michaels’ Establishing Norms: Laying the Foundations for Academically Productive Talk, which looks at the relationship that is established between the teacher and their students. Then shifting into progressive theory, Payne “…would be blaming capitalism and the education system” (Richard 2018). Overall, both denial and progressive theories “…play a part in the cause for this lack of participation in some students, not just one specific part,” (Richard 2018).
Now after my praxis project, I am reflecting on student’s accessibility to things, their language abilities, and the classroom culture that is created with both the teacher and their students. Although, my project did not have much flexibility to the creation of the classroom culture, I did however try to pay attention to student’s accessibility and especially their language abilities. For my future classroom, I plan to take the denial and progressive theory lenses and look at my own classroom through them: Do my students feel comfortable in this space? How can I make this space comfortable? Do any of my students have language barriers? How can I help these students succeed? Are there ways I can make things more accessible to my students?
Overall, this praxis project has made me reflect a lot on my students, myself, and my future work. Looking at others and my own positionality, identity, and place in the world does have an impact in the classroom. Taking into consideration the identities and positions that my students are in, must be taken into consideration in the classroom. These all play a role into a students’ place in the classroom and can change and affect the way they learn. Moving forward as a future educator, these are the topics I will be reflecting on as I look at myself, my students, and my classroom.