Inquiry in Education - Students' work - Professor Elise Engler

Samia Amin
Centennial Essay

For my centennial project, I wanted to do something that perks my interest or a topic that I think stands out in the timeline. While reading about the free speech fight at CCNY during the 1930s I thought it was an interesting topic to expose the class to and create a discussion over. These past protests and struggles are what make the City College we know of today so it’s important to shed light on its history and especially the history that was made by students and faculty. I chose to do a painting based on my imagination and chose aspects that I think can best visualize the time period. At first, I wanted to copy this drawing that I saw on one of my sources but then I thought it would be better if I completely paint from scratch and come up with my own landscape.  it was a lot more fun, and I had a lot more freedom to be able to come up with my own ideas and choose my own colors for the painting. From making this project I learned that I should first try to use my creativity and imagination of what I want to showcase in my project before looking for inspirations from other artists. It was really helpful to see the class react in such a positive way. Thinking about the class discussion it really was interesting to know that campus militarism still exists which stood out the most in the research on this topic. It was great to know that I was able to inform people that there was a free speech fight at CCNY. Also, great to be able to show those that haven’t been to the CCNY campus before just how beautiful the Shepherd Hall building is.

Based on my experience where I was able to enjoy doing my project a lot more when I was able to come up with my own concepts, I want to implement inquiry-based learning in my future teaching by giving children the opportunity to first use their own thoughts and imagination to do an activity before looking at examples. If I have to show examples for a complicated activity, then I would keep it at a very minimum amount so that they have room to think of their own ideas. It’s also important for children to be able to engage with their peers and exchange ideas and thoughts to further evolve their own ideas. I also think it’d be important for me to be well educated and informed on the topics I’ll discuss so that there is room for the students to ask questions and explore the topic I also think there needs to be emphasis put on the process of doing things more than the result. It’s important to talk about what worked and what didn’t during the process. This will help us for future projects and allow us to reflect on the activity by thinking more about the process than what the final product came out to be. For example, when doing this project, I tried really hard not to think about the final outcome because I wanted to enjoy the process and focus on the smaller details of the painting that’ll help make the bigger picture better.

Angela Estevez ---Bilingual Education

A World of Multiculturalism and Bilingualism

As a student teacher we may wonder how education has changed throughout the years. Why we have so many courses, and programs available nowadays and if there have always been such programs available. After looking at the CCNY Centennial timeline I found one topic that stood out to me the most. Bilingual education is the topic that encapsulates my interest in education. I as a bilingual person find so important the history of bilingual education, especially in New York, where I live. Also, it is so important to me to keep my culture with me because that is what defines who I am, and language is a huge part of my culture, a huge part of me.

The acceptance and adoption of bilingual education by the United States is a long story that takes so long back in time, and like any war it has its ups and downs. Upon reading the CCNY centennial timeline, I wondered why bilingual education started at City College of New York in 1971. I researched and created a painting to illustrate the history of bilingual education in the United States. My research led to me to understand that bilingual education in the United States is provided in part by the large number of Latino immigrants in our country. Among all those immigrants are people from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic; “Since 1970, Hostos Community College, in New York City's South Bronx, serves what its catalog describes as the largest concentration of Puerto Ricans in the United States mainland. (Of 613 entering freshmen in the spring of 1977, 79% listed Spanish as their first language; of those, Puerto Ricans form the largest group, Dominicans the second.)” (Otto and Otheguy, 163). Also, events like the Cuban revolution, and the conquest of part of the Mexican territory by the United States contributed to the concentration of Cubans in Miami as well as Mexicans in other states. Therefore, I thought about including something to represent each of these cultures (Puerto Rican, Dominicans, Mexicans, and Cubans) that represent the biggest concentration of people who fought for their rights to have equal education and receive good education while keeping their languages. Furthermore, I had to add African Americans, who also raised their voices for their rights and inspired the Latino community to do the same.

In another hand, I also researched and considered important movements and the situations that happened which led to the development of bilingual education in the United States, movements like the Civil Right Movement of 1954, the Civil Right Act of 1964, the protests in the 1960’s in New York City for the establishment in programs of Black and Puerto Ricans Studies.  Also, important changes like the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, the Bilingual Education Act (BEA) of 1968, and so many other movements and important dates that shaped the history of the bilingual education.

Liana Mora
Professor Engler
EDCE 20000
16 May 2021

The Road to Bilingualism

Culture and diversity are essential concepts that define bilingual education at The School of Education (SOE). This program is an opportunity for people of different backgrounds to come together for one purpose: to keep the native language alive. This might become difficult in this country since the mainstream language is seen as superior to any other language. For SOE’s centennial event, I made a painting depicting the route the SOE has gone through to reach where they are now. I have also added a girl in the middle who portrays any immigrant who arrives for a better life however remains humble by staying true to its roots and beginnings.

The painting was done with crayons, markers, and watercolors. This project was indeed a matter of trial and error. From unintentional blending and smudging to choosing which background color will best suit each section, I had a lot of fun. The liberty to pick what topic and object I will like to focus on allowed me to have endless opportunities for exploration, which I will look back to in the future. I began this project thinking that bilingual education is a program that just appeared from thin air; however, I soon learned that was not the case. The Board of Education developed a new program “directed to all pupils in all schools in the city who are unable to learn basic subjects — such as mathematics and science — when they are taught in English and who could learn if they were taught in Spanish.” (Buder) Becoming accepting of another language in the education system was a milestone. The system left aside the “present and powerful … overarching dominant language ideology of English superiority” (Baker) and became more susceptible to change. It welcomed a new language that will soon turn into many more.

The court case ASPIRA of New York vs. Board of Education of the City of New York 1972 also influenced the uprisings of the bilingual education program in the SOE. The board agreed to “begin to provide a transitional bilingual instructional program to LEP (Limited English Proficient) children” (Isaura). This decision encouraged the SOE to hire additional bilingual professors such as Gerardo Torres. This topic was of interest to me because I attended a dual language program for six years which influenced me to become a bilingual teacher. I have witnessed the “flexible uses of bilingualism in education” (Garcia), such as using one language to understand a concept in a different language. I intend to create a classroom that welcomes diversity. As a class, we will learn from each other’s cultures to promote diversity and appreciation of our roots.

Though it was not my intention, I see myself as the girl in the middle of the painting. We often feel divided because we live in a country that is different from our native land. However, we do not entirely relate to the culture of our native country since we spend the majority of our time in the United States. It is a complex idea to process, which will put into question our identity. Creating this project allowed me to ask my family members about our culture and further understand my roots. It was rewarding to see my classmates relate to my painting and even mention that we share the same culture. This will become a project in my future class that will target more prominent topics such as identity and belonging. Overall, it was a fantastic experience, and I will always look back at the painting that is now hung on my wall as a reminder of who I am.   

Neha Naz
May 15th, 2021
Final paper on Centennial project
Inquiry in Education
    
For the centennial project, I created a painting of a scene that featured a bunch of students protesting several issues that were going at the time in City College. First, I gathered my materials, which was a canvas, acrylic paint, water, several paint brushes and a napkin. Before painting, I drew an outline of the building and drew more lines to separate the building from the grass. Next, I mixed several colors to paint the building, grass, sky, and clouds. Honestly, my object came out exceptional given that I usually have a hard time painting buildings.
     
My painting came out somewhat different than what I imagined in my head. The building was supposed to have several windows, but I had a hard time doing that, so I created a couple of giant windows, which came out better than I thought. Also, instead of hands and arms I wanted create actual people holding the picket signs, but it turned out to be difficult, so I just painted hands and arms. For the sky, in my head I wanted to do a dark color to signify a rainstorm but instead I painted a bright blue sky, which showcased a bright beautiful day. Instead of it being a day in darkness, I painted a day bright day. Consequently, my painting turned out different than what I imagined but the result turned out better than my imagination.
     
While doing this project, I learned about what city college students had to undergo to obtain rights on their campus. They protested on many occasions throughout the years of 1931 to 1942. I learned about some of the protests and why it was happening. One reason why CCNY students began protesting was because of the firing of eleven staff who were accused of believing in communism. After the firing, students began protesting for the false firing. Many events were similar to this, where staff were fired of false accusation. With these protests, they were able to fight the inequalities at CCNY. I’m proud to be attending a college that had students fighting for what they believed in.
    
My classmates’ responses were extremely heartwarming. They made me feel proud of my whole centennial project. They complimented my art piece and video and compared me to a youtuber. They said the way I presented and talked in the video was calming and cute. When I speak in front of camera my voice tends to become higher than normal and they noticed that and compared it to the way I talk in class. My classmates also asked me if I had a passion for painting? To which I answered, “I only paint for fun”. Lastly, one person mentioned how they liked the scenario, meaning where I sat and recorded myself. It was bright and joyful because of the lighting and my cute pillows in the back. Overall, I really enjoyed this project because I was able to learn about CCNY students fight for rights.
    
When I begin teaching, with my project in my mind, I would definitely implement questions to have my students thinking. Similarly, to this project, I would ask my students to research basic information and create an object based off their research. This will definitely get them to think and create an object or painting. In other words, the assignments that I will assign will require both hands on and writing, where they are allowed to be descriptive and creative to write about what they think is appropriate. In conclusion, for future teaching I want to create assignments and group activities for my students that makes them question and be curious about it.

References of Centennial project:
https://virtualny.ashp.cuny.edu/gutter/panels/panel1.html
https://cdha.cuny.edu/items/show/3732
https://virtualny.ashp.cuny.edu/gutter/panels/panel10.html
https://virtualny.ashp.cuny.edu/gutter/panels/panel19.html

Carline Vertusma
EDCE 2000
4/27/21
        
My centennial project was on progressive education. And I made my drawing using drawing paper, watercolor, sharpie, pencil, oil pastel, color pencil, and Markers. To start, I did some preliminary sketches. One was a drawing of two kids of different racial backgrounds doing math with cubes because an important part of progressive education is diversity. Another was a drawing of students doing experiments. And then a drawing showing the opportunities for disadvantaged students. Furthermore, a drawing of money for the funds they received and the Medicare program that helped millions of children. However, as I did more research on progressive education, I was inspired by what I read and saw. So, I decided to make some changes to my drawings. I watched YouTube art videos that gave step-by-step directions on the specific things I wanted to draw to make the drawing. Each drawing reflected an aspect of progressive education.
        
For the first drawing, I drew a table that had objects that represent hands-on and experiential learning. I also drew a boy watering a plant because, in progressive education, students are learning by doing. Furthermore, I drew a little girl reading in a tent. Because it further expresses what progressive education is, including having an open classroom where the children can choose an activity based on their interests rather than having desks and chairs. Moreover, I drew money to represent the funds given to schools of disadvantaged students because, in progressive education, there is not a one size fits all model as portrayed in traditional education. And the funds provided more options for the students to help them with their learning. I also drew different autumn leaves to show object-based inquiry because progressive education includes inquiry and having them interact with their environment. Lastly, I drew a student cooking because, in progressive education, the students can learn life skills.
        
I found other aspects of progressive education interesting, but I did not include them in my drawing. One was that in progressive education, there is collaboration so the students can work together instead of being competitive. Another was the focus on the student's social and emotional well-being. I started this project not knowing much about progressive education.    However, after my research, I know more and have learned a lot about it. I feel progressive education is good because students can receive an effective and quality education with it. One of the things I learned is that a school needs to include the children's interest in their education to help them flourish and learn. And differentiating is used to help meet the needs of children. Also, there is a different center in the room with an open classroom that the students can interact with. Overall, the way I will teach a lesson with my drawing is I will ask the students to observe the painting and come up with questions based on progressive education.