Chris Knaus 'Breaking The Silence'

Module 1

How did this reading and analysis change, extend, and/or align with your notions of how the world works? In the chapter excerpt, Breaking the Silence, Chris Knaus made me realize that regardless of your race does not mean you have an easy life. People underestimate the fact that everyone has problems. You can be rich or poor, black or white, tall or short, etc. Whether it should do with race or not. Knaus went through most of his childhood life thinking that teachers and students in his school “tolerated him.” He “justified [the] negative treatment because [he] was poor,” it made sense to him because he smelled and had old ratty clothes, but he should not have thought that in his head. He was a child. How could an educator tolerate

In the Is Everyone Really Equal? Book, gives me a better understanding as to why it is better to challenge yourself as future or current teacher. The book shows a study done by James Banks, it is a breakdown as to what types of knowledge there is. I have come to the conclusion that you do not have to rely on just what is in the books, but also what you have to bring to the table from past experiences. Good or bad as teacher there will be cultural biases even if you know it or not. Banks states his knowledge has to do with “’what you know’ [being] connected to ‘who you are’ and ‘where you stand.’” So if you’re a white male who grew up in Lufkin, Texas who with a college degree in Forestry and Wildlife Management raised in the 1950’s. There is also a good chance he is a conservative, but he may be a liberal. While some of his intentions are unintentional people could view him as a racist, he could be the only person that owns a business in Lufkin who hires all races to work at his factory and does not discriminate. It is not his fault that when the Europeans came to the United States and the idea of indentured servants was not the best option for them so they decided to start shipping slaves over here to do all the white people’s work. Ever since then people have seen African Americans as lesser people. But on the flip side it also is not the African Americans’ fault for being forced out of their homes and towns to come to a new place and be whipped and put work by “white masters.” What I’m trying to get at is to get perspective on the people and children you are surrounded by. By doing that you, as a teacher, should be willing to push yourself to fit into someone else’s shoes. To not discount who your children and families are that you interact with constantly in a classroom. I see it would be important to tell your kids the truth or as truthful as you can get with a group of small