Student-Selected Research Projects
Course
Building a Culture of Mutual Respect [8:15]
https://players.brightcove.net/2566261579001/HyuWsfFhb_default/index.html?videoId=6265760035001
About
- Learn why students feel comfortable sharing in a culture of mutual respect
- Learn the importance of evaluating your environment
- Learn how self-selected projects promote inclusion through identity
Transcript
So everyone, and I mean everyone, I don't care who you are and how diverse you are and how much you feel like you're in tune with the world, everyone needs to take time to reflect on the environment that we've created for our students. I almost fell out of my chair when I was reading this in Barack Obama's, A Promised Land. He was saying that his staff reach this point where there was not trust, there was not—not politically, not trust—but people felt like they couldn't share, that they couldn't, you know, say what was on their mind and contribute because he saw that the patterns of behavior that were second nature to the men, which they were acting like strong and they were just like, you know, verbose and they were overpowering, that left the senior team women feeling diminished, ignored, and increasingly reluctant to express their opinion. And he couldn't have that because he needed all of his staff contributing freely and not, you know, not being dismissed for their ideas. So that forced him to look in the mirror. And so if the leader of our country has to step back and say, wow, what kind of environment have I made here, then, you know, there's absolutely nothing wrong with you having to look at your library too.
So we want to create a culture of inclusion in the library and that means building a trusting, sharing environment. It starts from the moment the students walk in through the door. Are you smiling at them and welcoming them and, you know, ready to stand up and do what it takes to help them, or not? Self-selected topics, it promotes inclusion by giving the students the opportunity to draw on their own culture, which means, you know, their behaviors and traditions. So you know how people behave. You know, they walk in, they're loud. You know, I've been told I'm loud and I talk with my hands a lot and I'm sorry, that's how I was raised and that's my culture. I'm Hispanic and we're boisterous, and we love life, and we're just know, we have lots of traditions that involve, you know, storytelling and, you know, sharing, and, you know, we laugh out loud. So, you know, that's how your kids are going to be. Some cultures are more in tune to the world and to nature and time. And so those kids are going to be a little more reserved and a little more introspective. And you have to respect that. So it's not that they don't want to share, it's that they're maybe thinking about things in their own time. And then their attitudes and values also, you know, that comes from their family and how they're raised and, you know, so does it agree with your attitudes and values of the world? Maybe not necessarily. But, you know, we need to take kids as they come to us.
Identity is who we are in relationship to others. So, you know, we can share identity by telling our own stories. What what life have we lived and how have we lived it? How do we see the world and our place in it? How do we perceive and what do we expect from one another? Our life experiences have great impact on that. So a kid who has, you know, traveled the world and seen things, will have a much different perspective than the child who has never left their neighborhood. So that explains who we are and what we need to do to know ourselves better and to know our students better and how they present.
Some of the factors that influence our identity are our ethnicity, our sexuality, our age, our class, our race, religion, religion is very big, our abilities, gender and all of these things come together and they create what is being called an identity mosaic.This comes from Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice. So, you know, there's this concept of intersectionality. You know, we're not exclusively these one things, we have, you know, our sexuality and our religion and our cultural background and our race and, you know. Kimberle Crenshaw is a concept professor, and she says "many levels of identity bring attention to the struggles and the questions and the concerns that students may be experiencing." And so, you know, also, you know, consider culture. If I'm ready to talk about this or if I'm ready to pursue this question, will I be judged for it? Well, I you know, will I upset my family if I do this? And of course, there could be just very light things, you know, some kids come in light in the world and everything's fine, and everything's great, and you don't have to worry about that, but you still want to monitor them and see what they're doing, right?
So these are some of the things that could possibly cause some what remorse in your life when you think, why did I do this? Because you're going to, you know, have to deal with these kids and their life, who they are, you know, who they are as a person. Kids will feel valued if they are accepted as they are. And so we want to take them as they come. We're not going to force them to you know, you don't want a shy child to stand up and be an orator. We're not going to expect that from them, right? we want them to be included in their decision making. So the decision is not just what topic to choose, but how they're going to present, right, because that can be intimidating to some kids. We want to seek and consider their opinions and their input and their ideas, and if you give them the opportunity to do that, you are just giving them the greatest gift in education. You're respecting them. You're honoring their identity and their learning journeys and that means that you need to trust their awareness of what they want to learn. So and I know that's really hard for a lot of us to do, is to let go of that and say, I trust you. What do you want to learn? And I will work with you because it sounds like a lot of work. Right, but really, when it comes right down to it, it's not the more agency you give the student, the more they will be able to, you know, handle this project that you're giving to them, it makes it easier for them to accomplish. So look at yourself. I'm Catholic. I'm sorry. What do I do and what do I fail to do? I'm not saying you're a failure, but, you know, the Catholic guilt, it's like, what did I not do! I think a lot of us go home and we're like, oh, gosh, only, if only, if only, and that's OK. Because guess what? That's, in my opinion, my failures help me learn so much more than I think I've done everything right, all right, so I want to do my best to be attentive, to not beat myself up over it, but to be attentive to what I did not do. And what I can do differently. And we want to help that to make that happen so kids can be who they are.
Activities
It is so important to create an environment in your library that is a trusting environment so students feel supported and are more willing to open up and share their ideas knowing they will be received well.
Think about your library and its environment and how students must feel when they walk in. As Elizabeth reflected on Barack Obama's quote about taking a step back and examining the environment that formed in his workplace, this activity asks you to do the same. Using page 6 of the Course Packet found in the Resources above, reflect on your library and its environment. What are some areas that you are confident welcome your students in a supportive way? Are there any areas you know could use some improvement? In this reflection, do you have any ideas for future implementation to further create a culture of mutual respect in your library?
Entry ID: 2267542
Additional Resources
About the Author
Select Citation Style:
MLA Citation
Rush, Elizabeth Barrera. "Student-Selected Research Projects. Building a Culture of Mutual Respect [8:15]." School Library Connection, ABC-CLIO, August 2021, schoollibraryconnection.com/content/course/2267003?learningModuleId=2267489&topicCenterId=2247903.
Chicago Citation
Rush, Elizabeth Barrera. "Student-Selected Research Projects. Building a Culture of Mutual Respect [8:15]." School Library Connection video. August 2021. https://schoollibraryconnection.com/content/course/2267003?learningModuleId=2267489&topicCenterId=2247903.
APA Citation
Rush, E. B. (2021, August). Student-selected research projects. Building a culture of mutual respect [8:15] [Video]. School Library Connection. https://schoollibraryconnection.com/content/course/2267003?learningModuleId=2267489&topicCenterId=2247903
https://schoollibraryconnection.com/content/course/2267003?learningModuleId=2267489&topicCenterId=2247903
Entry ID: 2267003