Back in August, many people, particularly white women, got angry when I tweeted that “learning loss” is based on arbitrary standards that could be changed and adapted to better suit our current reality of trying to survive a multiyear pandemic. Some people tried to mock me, others claimed I wanted schools closed forever, while others claimed my point of view came from “privilege.” I was actually amused that white women, who based on their Twitter bios and feeds, I suspect were economically of middle or upper class with children in well-funded school districts and private schools, were attempting to chide and scold me about “privilege.” Meanwhile, I am a biracial “Latina” (a Black mother from the U.S. and a white father from Colombia) with a child in a Philadelphia public school, a school district infamous for issues such as asbestos in buildings, lead in drinking fountains, lack of air condition, and lack of funding, to name just a few. That said, I don’t deny a level of privilege that my job as a professor affords me, including being able to work off campus and some flexibility in my schedule. Those Twitter people assumed that because of the above, I preferred remote schooling and made the de facto assumption that it was good for my child as well. As I said in my Twitter thread, I will not disclose all my child’s business publicly just to “win” online debates. What I will say is that remote schooling was less than ideal for my child, not because of his teachers, who were fantastic and went above and beyond to teach as well as they could under the circumstance, but because it’s not best suited to his needs. He, in fact, thrives in an in person setting. But more important to me and my husband was our child’s health and
Very well said! As I hear people say learning loss, I’m thinking of how many ways I saw school could be done differently. What I saw was dull curriculum not culturally responsive to my student, Fridays that seemed to be a “fun” day and not enough paper or computers to even have a lesson. I seldom saw a lot of learning happening.
Very well said! As I hear people say learning loss, I’m thinking of how many ways I saw school could be done differently. What I saw was dull curriculum not culturally responsive to my student, Fridays that seemed to be a “fun” day and not enough paper or computers to even have a lesson. I seldom saw a lot of learning happening.