W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.’s Post

CollegeSpring educator Dustin Langley, who teaches at North Houston Early College High School, empowers his students to strive for their highest potential. Thank you for your commitment to student success, Dustin, and we are grateful to partner with you! #teacherappreciationweek 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵?  I teach 11th grade students OneGoal Y1 which is a college readiness course designed to prepare students for their post-secondary college and career goals. I also teach AP Seminar and dual-credit Sociology. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴? I have been teaching for 8 years, all in the early college system in Houston ISD. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴? Teaching provides me with a daily opportunity to leave an impact on someone else, which is something that I find very fulfilling and that keeps me going even during times of change or stress. I believe I serve a critical role in preparing the next generation of citizens to work and live in today's society. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲? I always tell my students that their most valuable currency is time, not money, since you can always make more money, but you'll always be spending time that you'll never get back. I think this statement helps us reorient our thinking and highlights the importance of making progress each day towards the goals we set for ourselves, as the time we spend preparing for tomorrow can often be the difference between success and failure. In a nutshell, make every second count.

"Communicative strategies are important and deserve their place among a range of efforts to help first-generation and working-class students feel that they belong in college (Romero 2015). Yet they rarely address the structural sources of exclusion these students face. A working-class student who feels welcome in the classroom may struggle to succeed when a two-hour commute limits their ability to attend office hours or study groups. A first-generation student may feel valued by their instructor and peers yet fail to complete assignments they have never been given an opportunity to practice. Communicative strategies alone secure inclusion without equity. By contrast, equitable assignments and teaching activities promote just treatment, widened access, and a concrete path for educational success at a structural level." #highered #pedagogy #sociology #collegeteaching #teaching #FGWC #firstgen #workingclass

This is very interesting insight. I work hard to ensure students have resources, tools, and autonomy to be successful. I do not by any means succumb to enabling them. This creates an even bigger gap if we continue to hold hands. Simply, create support resources (continue to see if they are actually working) and give students tools to share with others. Being strategic and intentional on all fronts of the student experience is important. Don’t forget to meet them where they are but don’t keep them there.

How strong belief in your academic abilities can help you

"Durkheim argued that relatively undifferentiated societies are held together by a type of solidarity based on likeness: people (“mechanically”) resemble each other in their beliefs, values, and daily routines, and a sense of camaraderie ensues as a result. But what nurtures solidarity in highly differentiated—or we might say, diverse—societies? Conceptually, the challenge is the same in highly diverse classrooms. How do we build a strong sense of solidarity or community among students whose sense of self is organized around different group identities, values, life experiences, class backgrounds, educational trajectories, and professional goals? For Durkheim, groups like this are held together by “organic solidarity,” a thin form of solidarity based mostly on interdependence. In contexts like this, people develop a sense of camaraderie, not because they think or behave alike, but because they depend on each other for their survival and well-being." #highered #DEI #diversity #teaching #pedagogy #community #UCSD #sociology #UCsystem

From Kindergarten through college, many are rethinking the intersection of academic content with career education and meaningful skill development. Check out this article by an experienced higher education professional #Academia #CareerDevelopment #HigherEd @mlarthur Link to article: https://lnkd.in/es-m2g44

Should schools publish examination results? A complex and political discussion that sits at the nerve centre of the sociology and philosophy of education; forces that are not always pulling in the same direction, creating the tension we all face in the midst of an all-imposing narrow,high-stakes assessment system. The Coalition to Honour All Learning International School of Geneva UNESCO UNESCO-IBE University of the People https://lnkd.in/eNm2WtTZ

"Don't let other people decide your standards and worth." My mother reminded me of this life lesson a few minutes ago, one she had taught me when I was a teenager. A little context... A parent contacted me to provide tuition to her son. The boy is in the 12th standard. I informed her that my fee is 1500 for teaching 11th and 12th standard students once a week. I also mentioned my educational qualifications and six years of tutoring experience. She replied, "See, if I had contacted a tutor with many years of experience (basically one who teaches in batches), he/she would have known the syllabus and given my son readymade notes. But because you are not this kind of tutor, I will give you 1200 maximum. And I might ask you to teach other subjects in the future, for which I will pay you 1000 or 800 rupees. You'll get the opportunity to earn more." (lol) From this, I concluded: 1. My educational qualifications (a B.A. and M.A. in Sociology from some of the best institutions in India) were not enough to teach a 12th standard student. 2. My six years of experience in this field were not enough. 3. The fact that I can give individual attention to the boy did not matter. What mattered was: 1. Popular tutors who teach 15-20 students together (and cannot give individual attention as much as I could.) 2. Readymade notes which the boy can passively memorize and reproduce in the exam without truly learning. I wonder how some parents think it is very easy to exploit young tutors. I am sure they would not negotiate or say, "I won't give you more than 1200 rupees," to popular tutors who usually charge around 2000 or even more per student. What I have learned is that even though most people will try to devalue your work and worth, you should never be one of those people. In my opinion, this is the most important aspect of maintaining professional boundaries. #highereducation #socialscience #tutor

"Current approaches to building inclusive classrooms for first-generation and working-class students tend to emphasize communicative strategies: receiving students with welcoming messages that acknowledge and value their life experience and promoting a growth mindset. These methods are important, but they do little to address structural sources of exclusion, such as academic inequities and disadvantages in resources like time. Communicative strategies alone secure inclusion without equity. Equity, however, involves teaching and learning activities that promote fair treatment and access at a structural level in order to offer students a concrete path to classroom success. In this article, we develop a framework for designing assignments and learning activities that addresses the type of structural barriers that most affect first-generation, working-class, and racially minoritized students. We identify three distinct types of structural disadvantages—academic inequities, resource disadvantages, and cultural discrimination—and propose three strategies for equitable design: deliberative interdependence, transformative translation, and proactive engagement. We illustrate each strategy with concrete teaching methods. We conclude by suggesting that only a transformative, comprehensive shift to equity mindedness is capable of doing justice to the increasing diversity of college classrooms." #pedagogy #FGWC #firstgenstudents #workingclassstudents #DEI #inclusivepedagogy #sociology #equity

"Students who believe that they have the skills and abilities to succeed at academic tasks perform better than those with lower efficacy expectancies " The role of self-efficacy in education is often overlooked. When students believe they have what it takes to succeed, they are more likely to do so. Something to ponder over the summer as we make plans for 2024/25. How can we build our students up to believe in themselves? https://lnkd.in/epmCfKgq