Empower Through Difference

 Empower Through Difference

I’m going to describe how I empower remote students through difference when teaching through a hybrid model.  Although this situation is not typically what one thinks of when thinking about differing abilities and privilege, this topic is one that has been on my mind lately and has benefitted me immensely to explore.  Difference is essentially defined as the perceived other.  Those in privilege do not always recognize these differences because they are not living with the effects of their own actions.  This frame of thinking heavily relates to students learning in the hybrid model.  

In the hybrid model we are currently operating under, each class has, what is termed as, in-person and remote students.  The in-person learners outnumber remote students usually by at least 3:1.  For example, out of a class of 16 children, there might be 13 in person and 3 remote.  Other classes have more remote students, but they rarely take up more than a third of the class.  With these number, it can be claimed that remote students are the minority, the other, and are therefore different.  

Teachers teaching through the hybrid model are stressed because they are spread so thinly.  For some classes, this unfortunately results in remote students getting less attention because they are not demanding it in-person.  In situations like these, remote students are accommodated.   Assignments are adjusted for the sake of equality and accommodations are made in an attempt to provide remote students with a high quality education.  Because teachers have to make more, do more, prepare more, and just generally take more action - thereby adding to their metaphorically already full plates - remote students often start to be viewed as a burden.  Schalk talks of this in her article, “Metaphorically Speaking: Ableist Metaphors in Feminist Writing”.  Due to the structure of our society, women fall into the category of other, therefore are viewed as different.  Disability/difference is seen “as a negative form of embodiment” (Schalk).  In this case, and to extend the metaphor further, remote students take on the negative gender connotations of our society.  This is where my role in all of this comes into play.  I have served, and will continue to serve as a body of empowerment for remote students.  The reflection, cited at the end of Schalk’s article, is where empowerment can be found.  Language labels people as other, so we can empower others by using language that does not group them by a negative stigma, but instead by using language that acknowledges them before their circumstances.  For example, when I am teaching in a hybrid classroom, I try to avoid referring to the two groups of students separately.  When necessary, however, I make sure to say students or learners at home, instead of remote students.  In general, I refer to learners at home as remote students because that is how others commonly refer to them.  I do see how this language use is counterproductive and am making an effort to change my phrasing whenever possible. 

After watching Jonathon Novick’s video, “Don’t Look Down on Me” (2014), I was overcome by how our experiences shape and frame how we perceive differences.  It is upon reflection of these differences that we can empower through them to change others’ perceptions of difference and therefore promote inclusion.  Jonathan engages his audience as he talks about the use of ‘correct’ language.  He showed some personal experiences he had where people used hurtful language (that they saw as normal).  In one part of the video, a man is comparing Jonathon to a person who has a form of dwarfism on television.  The man says, “I hope I didn’t offend ya”, but then continues on to ask for a picture.  Jonathon follows all these experiences up by saying, “Next time you see someone who is different than you...think about their day.  What part of [theri] day do you want to be?”. Again, this is empowering through difference by choosing what language one uses.  This sends a message of how one thinks others should treat people who are different.  Jonathan’s words made me reflect further on my langage choices and how in-person children view remote students based on how I talk to and about them, as well as the language I use to do it.  

The video, “‘Disabled’ Mannequins Remind Us That Beautiful Doesn’t Mean ‘Perfect’”, has a very similar message, really speaks to the need to avoid accommodation, and promotes empowerment of people who are different.   The title says it all.  "Pro Infirmis, an organization for the disabled, created a series of mannequins based on real people with physical disabilities".  This is exactly what is meant by empowering, because it recognizes the difference, avoids accommodation, and inspires conversation. This is exactly what needs to happen with remote students and I now see how my language and activity choice plays a role in how they are perceived. 

Krupnick, E. (2013, December 03). WATCH: 'Disabled' Mannequins Will Change 

The Way You See Beauty. Retrieved from 

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/disabled-mannequins-video_n_4379586?utm_hp_ref=fb

Novick, J [Jonathon Novick]. (2014, Aug. 7). Don't Look Down on Me. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD_PWU6K514

Schalk, S. (2013). Metaphorically Speaking: Ableist Metaphors in Feminist Writing. 

Disability Studies Quarterly, 33(4). doi:10.18061/dsq.v33i4.3874