Chapter 4 Turning on Learning Before-After Lesson Plan Analysis Paper

A single-group study is enhancing ones knowledge about a group by studying it in some depth and from that groups perspective. It is said that before 1970, most school curricula was concentrated on White European American, male studies. Today, there has been an improvement to that approach. Although there has been an improvement, a teacher must remain cognizant of their lesson plans to assure no group is excluded altogether. While single-group studies can be done well, they also can be done superficially and poorly. When setting about to attempt to teach about groups a teacher must learn about the group themselves. The teacher should present points of view from the members of the group being studied. A teacher is not prevented from presenting their point of view, but it is important to remember to let the students know that it is just that; a point of view, nothing more. When presenting the culture of a group one should remember that it encompasses its whole way of life and show the groups creativity, the way the group has given meaning to its existence, and the way it has maintained and expressed its selfhood. This approach helps to use education as a mean of bettering a groups current social condition. Furthermore, it helps students view themselves as active citizens who can make a positive difference in society. The first before and after lesson plan I choose was Science and Animal Instincts and Using Science to Investigate Maternal Instincts. The main differences between the before and after lesson plans is that students are learning about Animal Instincts with little to no relationship to human issues or particular interest to the students themselves. The second before and after lesson plan I choose was Identifying Themes in Literature and Culture in Native American Literature, both of these lesson plans have students learn how to find themes in a story and how to write a formal essay. The main differences

between the before and after lesson plans is that students are gaining insight from Native American points of view in Native American history, culture, and issues. The changes in the first lesson plan encourage students to think critically about what they read. Students examine the extent to which their biology textbook teaches them about instinctual behavior. Students are then placed in the role of questioning knowledge produced by other. It is important to realize that this is not rejecting it, but seeing its limitations and producing knowledge themselves. The changes in the second lesson plan encourage students to develop contextual knowledge and understanding. The literature in this lesson helps to illuminate the Native Americans lives and provides an authentic interpretation of the events. I believe that the changes in both lessons are appropriate. In the first lesson the lesson plan changes took a lesson on Animal Instinct and turned it to the area of maternal instinct. It took the approach of teaching animal instinct from the aspect of human beings and the topic of material instinct. Every student is an expert on being a human being. It put the focus of the lesson on the social group of what its like to be a human being and have maternal instincts. In the second lesson the points of view of the Native American people are being brought fourth superbly. In using the readings and movies the teacher is immersing the students into the culture, history, and issues of the group they are studying, which is an important aspect of multicultural education. I have had the chance to be in classes that have taken a look at social issues and put the class in the unique aspect of being a specific social group to focus on that one particular issue, most of the time it has either been in the subjects of English or History. Huckleberry Finn is one such topic that I remember my English teachers bringing in the topic of single-group studies into the curriculum. Class discussion would usually focus on the N word and the topic of slavery. Although I dont remember there being

any additional movies or readings other than the literature by Mark Twain, I do believe additional texts on the topic would have been more enriching for us as a class. As a future teacher I believe I could incorporate single-group studies into my content area, although it would be challenging at times, and probably not something I would be able to do on a continual basis. I believe it would be possible to bring the Native American culture into a topic of environmental science nicely. The second lesson plan could be done much the same with slight changes on the movies and reading materials to show how and what the Native Americans thought of the Earth and how these views connect with caring for the Earth today. It would be interesting to see what Native Americans think of our need to have a branch of science for the environmental. Of course the first lesson plan would not need many changes seeing that it was already written to be taught in a Biology classroom. Of course other single-group studies could be brought into the area of science, just as the Native American example. It is interesting that Science does not lend itself well to the concept of other cultures being though about along with the scientific principles that are taught. As a nation we explore topics such as space exploration, and yet we dont delve into the issues of the International Space Station and how 15 countries came together to build it. What each countries contribution was to it, and how they view space exploration and scientific discovery. Single-Group Studies is an area of multicultural teaching that is powerful motivator for students in our classrooms. I believe it can be used to help motivate students and show them that they can indeed make a positive impact on society. That their differences and diversity isnt an issue to hold them back, but to propel them forward, that they have unique skills and views on the world they live in.