C4T#3

C4T#3P#1
This blog post was entitled "Schools Can Be." He begins this post by describing how afraid and he was to share his actual opinions and angry that he could not do so teaching at his previous, more conservative school. He goes on to describe his anger and disdain he had towards the establishment for not being able to do so. Then he describes how he has let all of this go because he has such freedom and flexibility at the new school he is working at in Singapore, UWCSEA East. The post continues with examples of the positive and liberal of this schools different approaches to teaching. This is the first of such activities that he shares:
Last week, I was part of a Share Your Beliefs session with our current grade elevens, as part of their TOK (Theory of Knowledge) exploration of faith. It looked a bit like this: Your role is in session 1; when you be based in a single -classroom and you will have three sets of some 13 students come your way; one set at 8.30am, one at 9.00am and one at 9.30am. The students are all mixing up for each session, so all will hear from you and two different people; in all cases students hear from an atheist and two people of different faiths. We have several speakers from outside school coming too. The aim is for you to share with students your beliefs, and to have a short discussion/debate with them. This will then form a solid platform for later analysis and comparison.The following faiths were represented: Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Reikei, Baha’i, Hinduism, and Atheism. This is the second year in a row that I have been able to talk about my unique melange of Zen inspired spiritual atheism with a group of young people. I spoke about how my Buddhist principals have shaped my ethical and moral choices when it comes to teaching, parenting, and being an active and thoughtful member of the human race. I pulled no punches and spoke about my animosity and disdain for organized religion based on the effects of Islam on my country of birth, Iran. I spoke about how a belief in a patriarchal omniscient deity just doesn’t jive with how I view the natural world. In short, I was able to have a very open and frank conversation with a group of young people about who I am and what I believe, without fear of reprisal from an angry community member, because by making this sharing of ideas possible, UWCSEA is telling students and parents that we value a range of ideas. We are saying that no one idea is correct or carries any more weight then any other. We are free to hold our unique beliefs, but we must be open to the idea that others may disagree. This melting pot of ideas may seem obvious to anyone who has studied or worked in a progressive environment, but I think we all know that open-minded is not always the case especially when it comes to religious matters.
His next experience of freedom at his new school is describing how his daughter, grade two, was recently visited by Cowboy James, who spoke to them about his experience on a dairy farm and growing up in rural Canada. He said that she was curious and excited to hear about this process and it led to them talking about his current decision to become vegan. They negotiate her understanding of their family’s choice to be vegetarian in the light of Cowboy Jame’s message. He goes on to describe how they wanted to share some of her thoughts from their conversation with her class. So, they prepared a 25 minute presentation they showed to her class about why their family chooses not to eat animals. Her quote being: “We simply love all animals like our pets and don’t want to eat any of them.”

Then, he shares that he is an Atheist, Vegan, long haired, bearded and tattooed, He describes that working at this school is the first time in his career where he feel at home where I work, and that it is the first time he feels he can be be his complete self. He goes on to say, "I think a school with such freedom of ideas should be celebrated and upheld as a model for effective learning communities everywhere. I cannot imagine having opportunities like the ones I just described in too many American schools. It is precisely because of this celebrated diversity that I work internationally."
This was my response:
Hi Jabiz, I am currently a student at the University of South Alabama and I am an aspiring high school English teacher. I am so happy that I was assigned to comment on this wonderful post of yours because it addresses so much of the issues in my own life and has inspired me to work hard to seek out a place where I can work and contribute in my own way. I have been an atheist since I was in middle school. I actually did not even know what the term was until one day my mother was questioning me on my beliefs in god and religion. Immediately after I decided to research all the religions I could before I committed to the label because calling yourself an atheist in Alabama tends to invoke either dislike or attempted "saving" from others. I have always heard from people that I must not have any reason to be good and that is why being an atheist is such a bad thing. I used to lash out and use my knowledge to break down their religion, but now I simply try to explain that I have morals that come from myself and the common sense of being a good person. I have also always loved the principles of Zen Buddhism in that I believe everything is of the same and should be treated as such. My philosophy of religion professor even pointed out that many scholars consider the first Buddha to be an atheist himself. I would love to have a chance to discuss this with students and try to enlighten them that there are so many layers to a person's beliefs no matter what label they have chosen to describe themselves. I am also very impressed with the way that your school arranged for the students to visit and discuss with people of so many different faiths. I am amazed that you can discuss such things at a high school level! Noting on your second story, I love that you and your daughter took the time to offer a counter to Cowboy James' presentation. I too have been a vegetarian since the day my father decided it would no longer affect my growth (he is a doctor so there was no arguing) and I think it is fantastic that your daughter was able to voice her opinion on the issue and hopefully help create a few more veggies out there! Your school sounds so amazing and I am very glad to know that there are teachers out there who care about their students and have such wonderful lessons to share with them. I hope to one day work in such a place!

C4T#3P#2
In this blog post, Jabiz discusses his new found tool for encouraging his students to partake in reading for pleasure. He first describes how he has been a bit of a book snob in that he only values the noted literary works and more intellectual novels. Then, he reveals his epiphany about the usefulness of actually reading the books that his middle school students would be reading and how it has benefited the quality of their relationships. He describes how now that he is actually reading the books for teenagers and not just scoffing at them has led to a new found excitement between his students and his own reading experiences. Now that he is involved with "what teenagers read," he has been able to make specific recommendations for individual students based on what he knows about them. He even now has students bringing him their own copies of books that they feel that he would enjoy. He also makes a very strong point that this was intended originally for teachers, but it that this could be an invaluable tool for parents as well. He goes on to encourage parents to try the same methods at home because of the importance and benefits of reading for pleasure.
This was my response:
I love this post! I am not yet an English teacher as of yet, but I think it is fantastic that you are taking time to find ways get your students more in to reading books for pleasure. I also really like that you point out to encourage parents to experiment with reading these YA books as well. I grew up during the “Harry Potter Era” right as the books were coming out and both of my parents are book junkies regardless of the genre. I say this because it became an activity of sorts that involved the entire family. We would order one book and it would go down the ranks of who got to read it next. First was my dad, then my mom, and then usually myself because I am the next in line book junkie of the family. The fun part of it was discussing the book and giving my thoughts about “who is the bad guy this time?” with my parents as I progressed through my reading. I have always been a big reader on my own, but having that type of stimulation as I read made me all the more passionate about the book. As a teacher I very much hope to encourage my future students to read for pleasure and I am so happy that you have reminded me of that time in my life that helped me to do the same at that age. I can’t wait to incorporate this idea into my teaching like my parents did for me!

Posts done on Intrepid Teacher by Jabiz Aisdana