For a long time, teaching was, and still is in some parts of the world, seen as a deficit model system. A system that portrayed the idea that student’s minds needed to be filled with the wisdom, insight, and knowledge provided by the teachers. Maureen Joy’s staff fights this deficit model every day using simple methods that every school could implement, but for some odd reason, doesn’t.
In the 21st century, the idea of a multicultural classroom seems like normal scenario. Sadly, from my youth and experiences in the Durham community, I know that not all forms of education include the histories, texts, values, beliefs, and perspectives of people from different cultural backgrounds. The perpetration of the dominant white narrative is present not only in the curriculum but the atmosphere of schools. Bilingual students, who don’t speak English at home, are already struggling with acculturation and on top of that there’s constant code-switching required in order for them to facilitate conversations between the school and their families. This cultural mismatch causes distances between student, parent, and educator interaction. Maureen Joy destroys this distance by having the most welcoming atmosphere of any school I’ve ever seen. Once inside, the open concept design, which also contains the main office, creates a sense of unity and invitation. The main office staff is warm, kind, helpful and even offers …show more content…
Maureen Joy is an outstanding example of all these concepts and it strives to foster learning and give opportunity to children of all
In the 21st century, the idea of a multicultural classroom seems like normal scenario. Sadly, from my youth and experiences in the Durham community, I know that not all forms of education include the histories, texts, values, beliefs, and perspectives of people from different cultural backgrounds. The perpetration of the dominant white narrative is present not only in the curriculum but the atmosphere of schools. Bilingual students, who don’t speak English at home, are already struggling with acculturation and on top of that there’s constant code-switching required in order for them to facilitate conversations between the school and their families. This cultural mismatch causes distances between student, parent, and educator interaction. Maureen Joy destroys this distance by having the most welcoming atmosphere of any school I’ve ever seen. Once inside, the open concept design, which also contains the main office, creates a sense of unity and invitation. The main office staff is warm, kind, helpful and even offers …show more content…
Maureen Joy is an outstanding example of all these concepts and it strives to foster learning and give opportunity to children of all