After reading Jaeger’s article, I had to remind myself that I was writing an article about our democratic nation, the US of A, and NOT a communist regime or Brazil in Freire’s day.  How can the government and/or your administration mandate what material and in what manner you can teach our student?  It’s propaganda in the schools; you are given a “script” to follow.  How can you come into my classroom and tell me what I can and cannot say and do?  How can you stifle the creativity and the interaction between the reader and the text, for example?  “Reading [is] a composition between reader and writer in which the most profound significance of the text is also the creation of the reader…Reading also [is] a dialogic experience” (Freire, p. 55).  And where we have the freedom of speech, if you don’t follow the status quo, you’ll get plucked up from your position and moved elsewhere.  How can this injustice be?  How can we be taking steps backwards?  Like everything, there is no one answer to life.  It takes a combination of instructional strategies to reach our students so how can those in power dictate what we do, especially when they are policy makers and not educators?  I think unlike Freire and Jaeger, I do have fears that are ”concrete”;  I hope that if in such a situation, I will not let others tell me what I can and cannot do or say,,.that I will not be “paralyzed” (Freire, p. 50).

The eight qualities of a progressive teacher was very insightful (4th letter, Freire).  I think these are qualities that most of us have heard time and time again throughout our childhood from our families, place of worship, “citizenship” character education at school, etc.  Seeing the qualities that translate to teaching was really powerful for me.  I think as a special educator most of my teaching career, I’ve heard people say, “I can’t do what you do.  I don’t have the patience for it.  You must really love what you do.  Otherwise, why would you still do it?”  I think that my students have taught me to be courageous.  You see, I work with the physically disabled.  Most of my students have had to endure surgeries and therapies since they were born.  Seeing the joy of living that they have helps me to possess some of the other progressive qualities.  Through their lives, I have become more tolerant, patient as well as impatient, decisive, etc.  I have no choice but to show love; “it is indeed necessary, however, that this love be an ‘armed love,’ the fighting love of those convinced of the right and the duty to fight, to denounce, and to announce” (Freire, p. 74).  Because of the qualities that they have and the limitations that they’ve been given, I have to stand up for them.  They have taught me how to utilize the teacher qualities that Freire professes.  For instance, I have a student that was recommended for Occupational Therapy evaluation the last week of school 2007.  His school did not have an occupational therapist (OT) and since he hadn’t been evaluated yet, he wasn’t eligible for compensatory therapy time either.  I kept emailing/asking my coordinator who happens to be the occupational therapy coordinator and my instructional support teacher (IST) to no avail.  I tried to remain patient but realized the injustice to my student.  I took the matter further and contacted my coordinator, my IST, and the school principal in a formal email and finally got my student evaluated and now we have an OT there.  I feel that I used many of the teacher qualities that were in the Fourth Letter in this example “so that these rights [of my students] are not just recognized but respected and implemented” (Freire, p. 84).  So, if we don’t have teachers that are teaching with ”armed love,” what will our students learn/gain from their schooling experience?  How can there still be rote memorization, learning the basic facts, etc. as the basis of our educational system?  It seems that we keep taking one step forward and taking 2 steps back.  It appears that with the changing society of America, we’re reluctant and fearful of embracing the difference amongst us.  You look at a country like India with so many different languages, religions, regions, etc., yet they are tolerant and co-exist.  Why can’t we, a nation built on immigrants, do the same?  When my family moved to the United States, my father was told to make sure that we did everything American.  In essence, society wanted us to assimilate into the mainstream culture…the white, Anglo-Saxon culture.  We didn’t have the critical multicultural curriculum in Iowa, where we first lived.  I think had this been available, it would have helped my brothers and I  “know and value the diverse traditions that enrich and dignify the nation’s heritage, and [engaged] us in learning and maintaining [our] own heritage and language” (Oakes & Lipton, p. 95).  I see my cousin who is now in high school and can speak English and Korean fluently.  Then I look at myself who can “get by” speaking Korean, although I speak like a Kindergartner, and am somewhat proficient with English.  I wonder if I was growing up now versus the early 80’s, would I have been taught to embrace both cultures?  At the least, I hope to be able to teach my students to be proud of their heritage, tolerant of others, enjoy living, etc. 

This article really hit home with me as well.  I always thought that I was reserved because that’s how my dad is and/or because I was the youngest child in my large family and no one took what I said as seriously as the comments made by my older brothers.  Now I wonder if it’s because I was taught not to speak up.  Christina says in the article, “In my home, women aren’t supposed to speak unless they’re spoken to.  It’s just the way I’ve been raised.”  I never considered this to be an option since my step-mother is a very outspoken person but it could be.  Why else are my four brothers less reserved than I am?  ’Til this day, I can only recall my father crying on 2 occasions.  Is it because he was taught that it was a sign of weakness to show his emotions, like Jeff in the article?  Whatever the reason, I struggle with speaking up in class.  In my profession, I’ve gotten better at it, but as a student myself, I still remain relatively quiet.  For instance, I think journaling my thoughts in blogs is easier than expressing them in class.  I think this goes back to my upbringing.  I think it’s because it gives me a set of rules to blog whereas in class, there are no set rules.  When I journal, I can go at my own pace, think through what I feel and rethink what I’ve read.  I’m not as good at the spur of the moment responses as I am gathering my thoughts and taking it all in.  So as a teacher, I need to be very careful when “grading” participation.  There are many forms of participation besides speaking.  I think this applies to any student, not just Asian Americans. 

Wow, what a powerful article.  I can totally relate to this article…perhaps because I’m Asian.  I’ve been uncomfortable with the “model minority” label since probably high school.  I don’t understand how people continue to lump a group of people together into one and assume that all characteristics apply to everyone within that category.  For instance, I recall clearly when I took Honors Geometry and AP Calculus in high school.  What a mistake.  I think I took it since my dad was a math professor and it was expected that Asians, especially with a parent who taught math, excelled in math.  I pulled off a C in both courses with my father’s nightly tutoring sessions.   I certainly wasn’t the typical Asian math student.  Another example is my husband.  Often times media portrays Asian male as technologically savvy.  What happened to my husband?  Why didn’t he get the computer gene?  ”Model minority” sounds so positive, but the impact is quite negative if you don’t fit the mold.  Also, I just never took into consideration the impact that this term would have on other cultures/races/ethnicity.  Have I been racist towards others by not realizing that my actions that fit the “model minority” definition are derogatory towards them?  There are so many times I say to myself, “I don’t see color in my children,” but am I being really color blind?  I think as an educator, we need to constantly bring in different perspectives, cultures, traditions, etc. to our classroom regardless of what month it is.  Who says you can only celebrate Black History in February?  Why limit Asian American celebration to the Lunar New Year or the month of May?  I need to see all my students as “model” NOT just the Asian Americans.