One my favorite things about children are their resiliency. Their ability to 'bounce back' and persevere. I think that this term relates to many aspects we have been talking about in class. Looking back on the Baraka Boys Film - with some guidance, faith, support, and many other aspects, most of those boys graduated high school, and are pursuing careers despite their challenges growing up.
Strength also describes all children. I believe that children are much stronger than they get credit for. Strength comes into play when talking about power and privilege - especially when they are ones without access to the codes of power, within race, within socioeconomic status, and within their families.
Human I think this states that all children no matter what race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, language etc. this is the foundation of connectedness, this is the common factor we all have. With that said, this relates to some of the ideas we have been talking about when we state that differentiation often benefits all students rather than just a few, TAG benefits all students etc.
There are so many connections, too many to name.
I agree with you about how strong each of the boys were in the film. Even when Richard was talking about his neighborhood and drugs and recognizing what could be in store for him and his brother, I was so moved by his strength. It reminds me that kids are strong and resilient and want to succeed, so I want to be intentional in how I teach. I don't want to ever break a child's spirit and let them feel like they've lost their strength.
ReplyDelete