Think before you speak. Don't say "That's So Gay."
I just saw this video on the Disney channel. I definitely thought it was worth sharing on my blog.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Providence School Board approves 5 school closures
Providence School Board approves 5 school closures: "The city will shut down five elementary schools to save money."
Click on the link to see the story of the school board voting to close 5 Providence schools despite strong opposition from the community and very little thorough data from the school department to show that any of this was thought out very well.
Click on the link to see the story of the school board voting to close 5 Providence schools despite strong opposition from the community and very little thorough data from the school department to show that any of this was thought out very well.
Wear Clean Draws
This is one of my favorite songs. It's written by the radical hip hop group, The Coup, and the lyricist Boots Riley. It deals with a lot of the issues we've been discussing in this class like gender equality, systems of power, and stereotypes.
I think that overall it's got a great message of empowerment for young girls written as an ode by Riley to his daughter.
It's got some bad language, but it's definitely not excessive. I hope it's appropriate, and I hope you like it.
I think that overall it's got a great message of empowerment for young girls written as an ode by Riley to his daughter.
It's got some bad language, but it's definitely not excessive. I hope it's appropriate, and I hope you like it.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Talking points on Shor's, "Empowering Education."
"All forms of education are political because they can enable or inhibit the questioning habits of students, thus developing or disabling their critical relation to knowledge, schooling, and society." (12-13)
I agree with this sentiment. I believe that many of our students' are silenced in our nation's schools. To me, it is really a disservice to students to "inhibit [their] questioning habits." The well-known bumper sticker reads; "Question Authority", but as John Cougar Mellencamp sang; "I fight authority, authority always wins." It seems to me that students do, indeed, learn pretty early on that you can't really fight authority. Those who do, as Shor puts it, "drop out or withdraw into passivity or silence in the classroom. Some become self-educated; some sabotage the curriculum by misbehaving." (14) In turn, these students get seen as problems in the classroom. They get blamed for not learning appropriately within the context of the way the educational system is set up. These become the lost children in our classrooms. Tragically, too often, we look at students who are not served by the education system as, to borrow a phrase from Johnathan Kozol, "Other People's Children."
"Moreover, testing policies are political choices, whether to use student-centered, multicultural, and portfolio assessments, or to use teacher-centered tests or standardized exams in which women and minorities have traditionally scored lower than men and whites." (15)
The policy of testing is obviously a very large issue in today's schools. The subject of standardized testing dominates much of the discussion surrounding public education today.
The story that Dr. Stevos published on her blog about Hope High School is a good example of how the results of standardized tests don't necessarily reflect what kind of learning is taking place. I was at many of the school board meetings where students, teachers, and parents made the convincing case that the system in place at Hope was working. The school may not have been perfect, but one got the strong sense that there was a community there that had embraced the block scheduling and the way it effected the interactions between teachers and students.
However, this is a case where the goals and concerns of the members of the school community itself were ignored. The tests said that the school was a failure, despite the fact that the members of the school community insisted that there was success happening. So, the changes that seemed to be working were dropped, saving the city some money, and using test scores as a justification. It is now likely that Hope High School, instead of continuing to grow on the successes that it had established, will continue to sink into a state of further despair. Hope High School "fought authority, and authority won."
"Education is experienced by students as something done to them, not something they do." (20)
This quote nicely encapsulates the theme of the sense of disengagement that many students feel with the education system. We need to find ways to engage students in education from an early age, and to keep them engaged throughout their school careers. The motivation for learning should not be to get a high mark on a standardized test so your school won't be closed, but rather all children should be encouraged to become active, cognizant, citizens with the ability to learn, to question, and to think critically about issues that affect them.
Education is political. Unfortunately, I feel that to a large extent, education in our country still works towards maintaining a power structure that is inequitable for many of our students. Yes, many children come to school equipped to receive the knowledge that is given to them in our educational institutions. Many of those students succeed academically to the extent that the system expects them to. Afterall, we are all sitting in a college classroom, which to some degree means that we are academic success stories.
Personally, I don't believe that any children are unreachable. However, I believe that our educational system has yet to develop into one that works for all, or even a majority of, our country's students. For us to have an education system that accomplished the task of being able to effectively serve everyone, I feel that there needs to be more of a universal acknowledgment that there are systems of inequity in place in our society.
I agree with this sentiment. I believe that many of our students' are silenced in our nation's schools. To me, it is really a disservice to students to "inhibit [their] questioning habits." The well-known bumper sticker reads; "Question Authority", but as John Cougar Mellencamp sang; "I fight authority, authority always wins." It seems to me that students do, indeed, learn pretty early on that you can't really fight authority. Those who do, as Shor puts it, "drop out or withdraw into passivity or silence in the classroom. Some become self-educated; some sabotage the curriculum by misbehaving." (14) In turn, these students get seen as problems in the classroom. They get blamed for not learning appropriately within the context of the way the educational system is set up. These become the lost children in our classrooms. Tragically, too often, we look at students who are not served by the education system as, to borrow a phrase from Johnathan Kozol, "Other People's Children."
"Moreover, testing policies are political choices, whether to use student-centered, multicultural, and portfolio assessments, or to use teacher-centered tests or standardized exams in which women and minorities have traditionally scored lower than men and whites." (15)
The policy of testing is obviously a very large issue in today's schools. The subject of standardized testing dominates much of the discussion surrounding public education today.
The story that Dr. Stevos published on her blog about Hope High School is a good example of how the results of standardized tests don't necessarily reflect what kind of learning is taking place. I was at many of the school board meetings where students, teachers, and parents made the convincing case that the system in place at Hope was working. The school may not have been perfect, but one got the strong sense that there was a community there that had embraced the block scheduling and the way it effected the interactions between teachers and students.
However, this is a case where the goals and concerns of the members of the school community itself were ignored. The tests said that the school was a failure, despite the fact that the members of the school community insisted that there was success happening. So, the changes that seemed to be working were dropped, saving the city some money, and using test scores as a justification. It is now likely that Hope High School, instead of continuing to grow on the successes that it had established, will continue to sink into a state of further despair. Hope High School "fought authority, and authority won."
"Education is experienced by students as something done to them, not something they do." (20)
This quote nicely encapsulates the theme of the sense of disengagement that many students feel with the education system. We need to find ways to engage students in education from an early age, and to keep them engaged throughout their school careers. The motivation for learning should not be to get a high mark on a standardized test so your school won't be closed, but rather all children should be encouraged to become active, cognizant, citizens with the ability to learn, to question, and to think critically about issues that affect them.
Education is political. Unfortunately, I feel that to a large extent, education in our country still works towards maintaining a power structure that is inequitable for many of our students. Yes, many children come to school equipped to receive the knowledge that is given to them in our educational institutions. Many of those students succeed academically to the extent that the system expects them to. Afterall, we are all sitting in a college classroom, which to some degree means that we are academic success stories.
Personally, I don't believe that any children are unreachable. However, I believe that our educational system has yet to develop into one that works for all, or even a majority of, our country's students. For us to have an education system that accomplished the task of being able to effectively serve everyone, I feel that there needs to be more of a universal acknowledgment that there are systems of inequity in place in our society.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Talking Points on "Schooling Children with Down Syndrome," by Christopher Kliewer
"Humility, Friere (1993) agrees, is central to democracy. 'How can I dialogue,' Friere asks, 'if I always project ignorance onto others and never perceive my own? How can I dialogue if I regard myself as a case apart from others--mere 'its' in whom I cannot recognize other 'I's' (p. 71)' (73)."
I think this is an important question to ask for the "reflective practitioner." As teachers, sure, the traditional model of education suggests that we are the ones with the knowledge, but I believe we will be more effective teachers if we recognize that we can learn from students as well. It can be very valuable to think of the relationship between the teacher and the student as a dialogue rather than as a one-way information transfer.
This sort of dialogue is what the teacher's in these integrated classrooms described by Kliewer seemed to be understanding and engaging in. They did not see their Down syndrome students as "its" but rather as other "I's."
"Those students who exhibit the canonical mind are credited with understanding, even when real understanding is limited or absent; many people . . . can pass the test but fail other, perhaps more appropriate or probing measures of understanding. Less happily, many who are capable of exhibiting significant understanding appear deficient, simply because they cannot readily traffic in the commonly accepted coin of the educational realm. (Gardner, 1991, pp. 12-13) (80)."
Thomas Gardner's quotation given in this text is one of many examples by Kliewer that points towards how the movement to educate children with "intellectual disabilities" follows much in the same lines as similar movements about how to be effective in educating any children with some form of cultural disadvantage. The term "coin" is used where often one hears or reads this referred to as either Cultural "capital" or "currency." Of course, these all mean the same thing.
I find it interesting that the acquisition of cultural tools that allow for greater inclusion into the realm of knowledge and power is so often referred to in monetary terms. To extend the metaphor, money is really nothing more than a means for acquisition. It is not something that holds any inherent value on its own. Without the power to acquire goods or services, money is afterall nothing more than printed paper.
In the same way, cultural currency has no inherent value. However, within the larger context of society, this "coin" does allow children access to a system of personal power that traditionally has not been extended to everyone. Teachers like Shayne Robbins are trying to share the means of that access to those who have previously been denied it.
"Vygotsky found that the culture of segregation surrounding people with disabilities actually teaches underdevelopment of thinking through the isolation of children from socially valued opportunities (83)."
In reading this, I thought of the large mental health institutions which were the norm for people with severe learning disabilities up until the 1970s. I spent a couple of years working in a group home for developmentally delayed adults. Most of the people who lived in the home had grown up in such institutions. The conditions in these places were described as grim, prison-like, dehumanizing settings. I couldn't help but feel that the clients I was working for may have had much happier, fulfilled lives if they had not spent the better part of their childhoods in such an oppressive setting.
I enjoyed how this reading used a lot of the language and ideas that have been used to describe other marginalized groups and applied it to the discussion of children with developmental delays.
I was filled with admiration for teachers like Shayne Robbins. I feel that the work she does with the children she teaches represents a level kindness and understanding of social justice that is uncommon. It also seems that her talent for finding strengths where others are unable to constitutes a truly remarkable talent for teaching.
I think this is an important question to ask for the "reflective practitioner." As teachers, sure, the traditional model of education suggests that we are the ones with the knowledge, but I believe we will be more effective teachers if we recognize that we can learn from students as well. It can be very valuable to think of the relationship between the teacher and the student as a dialogue rather than as a one-way information transfer.
This sort of dialogue is what the teacher's in these integrated classrooms described by Kliewer seemed to be understanding and engaging in. They did not see their Down syndrome students as "its" but rather as other "I's."
"Those students who exhibit the canonical mind are credited with understanding, even when real understanding is limited or absent; many people . . . can pass the test but fail other, perhaps more appropriate or probing measures of understanding. Less happily, many who are capable of exhibiting significant understanding appear deficient, simply because they cannot readily traffic in the commonly accepted coin of the educational realm. (Gardner, 1991, pp. 12-13) (80)."
Thomas Gardner's quotation given in this text is one of many examples by Kliewer that points towards how the movement to educate children with "intellectual disabilities" follows much in the same lines as similar movements about how to be effective in educating any children with some form of cultural disadvantage. The term "coin" is used where often one hears or reads this referred to as either Cultural "capital" or "currency." Of course, these all mean the same thing.
I find it interesting that the acquisition of cultural tools that allow for greater inclusion into the realm of knowledge and power is so often referred to in monetary terms. To extend the metaphor, money is really nothing more than a means for acquisition. It is not something that holds any inherent value on its own. Without the power to acquire goods or services, money is afterall nothing more than printed paper.
In the same way, cultural currency has no inherent value. However, within the larger context of society, this "coin" does allow children access to a system of personal power that traditionally has not been extended to everyone. Teachers like Shayne Robbins are trying to share the means of that access to those who have previously been denied it.
"Vygotsky found that the culture of segregation surrounding people with disabilities actually teaches underdevelopment of thinking through the isolation of children from socially valued opportunities (83)."
In reading this, I thought of the large mental health institutions which were the norm for people with severe learning disabilities up until the 1970s. I spent a couple of years working in a group home for developmentally delayed adults. Most of the people who lived in the home had grown up in such institutions. The conditions in these places were described as grim, prison-like, dehumanizing settings. I couldn't help but feel that the clients I was working for may have had much happier, fulfilled lives if they had not spent the better part of their childhoods in such an oppressive setting.
I enjoyed how this reading used a lot of the language and ideas that have been used to describe other marginalized groups and applied it to the discussion of children with developmental delays.
I was filled with admiration for teachers like Shayne Robbins. I feel that the work she does with the children she teaches represents a level kindness and understanding of social justice that is uncommon. It also seems that her talent for finding strengths where others are unable to constitutes a truly remarkable talent for teaching.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
"Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work," by Jean Anyon
"Scholars in political economy and the sociology of knowledge have recently argued that public schools in complex industrial societies like our own make available different types of educational experience and curriculum knowledge to students in different social classes (1)."
I believe this to be true. It seems that in this day of standardized testing, many of the reasons for the disparities in test scores between the middle and upper classes and those from lower socioeconomic groups are due in large part to the different ways different students are taught. Simply put, those students from working and poor families are not expected to learn the cultural language of academia in the same way as those of their more affluent peers. Terry Meier would suggest that this is primarily due to a lack of understanding of cultural differences. This reading, however, seems to imply that the problem is deeper than that. Possibly, it is not not only that cultural differences effect how kids learn, but also that there exists a class system that is perpetuated due to what positions in society students are expected to fill based on their background.
I thought of how this applies to the movie we watched and the piece we read about "tracking." In this case tracking is not occurring within the individual school. Rather, it occurs in separate schools. Basically, the working class schools can be seen as remedial or vocational track, the middle class school can be seen as representing a middle level "college bound" curriculum, while the affluent professional school and the executive elite school would represent an advanced placement program.
"The first two schools I will call working class schools. Most of the parents have blue-collar jobs. Less than a third of the fathers are skilled, while the majority are in unskilled or semiskilled jobs. During the period of study (1978-1979) approximately 15 percent of the fathers were unemployed. The large majority (85 percent) of the families are white (2)."
This was an interesting description for me. If we agree with SCWAMP, Delpit, and Johnson that whiteness in itself is a significant cultural privilege, then I can only wonder what Anyon's study would have found if, for example, this study was done with the population of the DelSesto Middle School in Providence. A category would have to be added before working class entitled something along the lines of poor and non-white. Of course, this study is somewhat dated, and a study done today would probably find some differences in teaching methodologies within urban, poor, majority non-white settings like the ones that our service learning occurs in. A study of this nature would likely show discrepancies in how children are taught from school to school and even from classroom to classroom.
"In the two working-class schools, work is following the steps of a procedure. The procedure is usually mechanical, involving rote behavior and very little decision making or choice (3)."
This description of teaching methodology made me think of Delpit's advice that children from certain cultural backgrounds learn better if they are taught "explicitly." Some might argue that this is simply what's going on in the classrooms mentioned in this study. The point might be made that this study was done in a time (the late '70s) when teachers and educators better understood how some children learn differently than others, and that those with less academic advantages entering school need more concrete, specific instruction to catch up with those who come to school with all the cultural trappings that make it easier to ensure academic success.
I would argue, however, that while this type of procedural instruction might make some more sense in the earlier grades like kindergarten and first grade, once children start to advance in grade levels, they need instruction that challenges their cognitive development more. I don't see being clear about the rules and challenging students to think more abstractly and analytically as being mutually exclusive in a classroom. I think the film on the integrated, non-tracked classrooms illustrated ways to accomplish this method of teaching quite effectively.
Overall, I enjoyed the essay, and like all of them, I found it thought provoking. I certainly didn't see it as a scientific study that really proved a case, however. Anyon, herself, admits that the data discussed only "offers tentative empirical support (1)." I also found it significant that this study is more than 30 years old. I would like to see more comprehensive studies like this done in today's classrooms. I do suspect that finding anything conclusive would be extremely difficult, as I would doubt that most classrooms fit as neatly into distinct categories as the ones described in Anyon's study. Having said all that, I still have little doubt, personally, that the way students are taught in our schools varies greatly according to a number of economic and cultural factors.
I believe this to be true. It seems that in this day of standardized testing, many of the reasons for the disparities in test scores between the middle and upper classes and those from lower socioeconomic groups are due in large part to the different ways different students are taught. Simply put, those students from working and poor families are not expected to learn the cultural language of academia in the same way as those of their more affluent peers. Terry Meier would suggest that this is primarily due to a lack of understanding of cultural differences. This reading, however, seems to imply that the problem is deeper than that. Possibly, it is not not only that cultural differences effect how kids learn, but also that there exists a class system that is perpetuated due to what positions in society students are expected to fill based on their background.
I thought of how this applies to the movie we watched and the piece we read about "tracking." In this case tracking is not occurring within the individual school. Rather, it occurs in separate schools. Basically, the working class schools can be seen as remedial or vocational track, the middle class school can be seen as representing a middle level "college bound" curriculum, while the affluent professional school and the executive elite school would represent an advanced placement program.
"The first two schools I will call working class schools. Most of the parents have blue-collar jobs. Less than a third of the fathers are skilled, while the majority are in unskilled or semiskilled jobs. During the period of study (1978-1979) approximately 15 percent of the fathers were unemployed. The large majority (85 percent) of the families are white (2)."
This was an interesting description for me. If we agree with SCWAMP, Delpit, and Johnson that whiteness in itself is a significant cultural privilege, then I can only wonder what Anyon's study would have found if, for example, this study was done with the population of the DelSesto Middle School in Providence. A category would have to be added before working class entitled something along the lines of poor and non-white. Of course, this study is somewhat dated, and a study done today would probably find some differences in teaching methodologies within urban, poor, majority non-white settings like the ones that our service learning occurs in. A study of this nature would likely show discrepancies in how children are taught from school to school and even from classroom to classroom.
"In the two working-class schools, work is following the steps of a procedure. The procedure is usually mechanical, involving rote behavior and very little decision making or choice (3)."
This description of teaching methodology made me think of Delpit's advice that children from certain cultural backgrounds learn better if they are taught "explicitly." Some might argue that this is simply what's going on in the classrooms mentioned in this study. The point might be made that this study was done in a time (the late '70s) when teachers and educators better understood how some children learn differently than others, and that those with less academic advantages entering school need more concrete, specific instruction to catch up with those who come to school with all the cultural trappings that make it easier to ensure academic success.
I would argue, however, that while this type of procedural instruction might make some more sense in the earlier grades like kindergarten and first grade, once children start to advance in grade levels, they need instruction that challenges their cognitive development more. I don't see being clear about the rules and challenging students to think more abstractly and analytically as being mutually exclusive in a classroom. I think the film on the integrated, non-tracked classrooms illustrated ways to accomplish this method of teaching quite effectively.
Overall, I enjoyed the essay, and like all of them, I found it thought provoking. I certainly didn't see it as a scientific study that really proved a case, however. Anyon, herself, admits that the data discussed only "offers tentative empirical support (1)." I also found it significant that this study is more than 30 years old. I would like to see more comprehensive studies like this done in today's classrooms. I do suspect that finding anything conclusive would be extremely difficult, as I would doubt that most classrooms fit as neatly into distinct categories as the ones described in Anyon's study. Having said all that, I still have little doubt, personally, that the way students are taught in our schools varies greatly according to a number of economic and cultural factors.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Talking points on "Race, Class, and Gender" by Peter McLaren
"The development of an underclass in American society can be linked not only to economic stratification due to capitalist relations of exploitation but also to racial stratification."(226)
This point relates to much of what we have been discussing in this course. While research has discovered the economic status is the greatest determinant towards how a student will perform on things like standardized tests, I think it is clear and unfortunate that race and ethnicity are linked to economic status in our country. Of course, everyone has anecdotal evidence of someone from economically disadvantaged families who has succeeded in school despite the odds. These stories are great, but they do nothing to help the fact that there is a larger problem in our society.
What makes it worse is that many schools are still largely segregated despite the fact that racial segregation in our schools has been illegal for more than 50 years. The segregation that occurs today is based on economics. School systems like Barrington, for example, which is predominantly middle to upper class, are also predominantly white. Poor families, many whom are non-white, simply can not afford to live in these neighborhoods. This segregation is not mandated, but it is real.
Even in a city like Providence in which the majority of students are poor and non-white there exists subtle forms of segregation. In a city where approximately 85% of public school children qualify for some form of free or reduced lunch, there is an elementary school on the East Side where more than half the children come from families affluent enough to not qualify for any form of reduced lunch (the reduced lunch program being the only way that the state of RI makes economic distinctions for its students). Its no surprise that a majority of the students at that school are white, as well. Strangely, only about 10% of the students at that school live within the one mile radius which classifies students as neighborhood kids. The rest come from other areas around the city. This is disturbing. It points to the idea that this particular school is reserved, as it were, for middle class families who want to send their kids to public schools, but are reticent about city schools that largely fit into a lower socio-economic status. This middle class school also happens to have the highest test scores among Providence Elementary schools.
This is just one example, which is close to home, that points to some form of unofficial school segregation. When the mayor of Providence announces that he is closing four schools around the city where the combined population of those schools is over 90% qualifying for free or reduced lunch, there is an equity problem. Basically, over 2,000 poor kids are getting displaced from schools, and herded around to wherever they can fit to save the city money.
No child left behind? really?
"Resistance, then, is a process in which the working-class student further solidifies his or her position in the lowest tier of the class system, helping to confirm the view established by critical theorists that a nation's educational system is subservient to its economic system."(228)
Resistance seems somewhat inevitable considering example like the one above on how school systems and other institutions systematically devise subtle way to perpetuate the systems which keeps the power structures in place. This relates to Delpit's rule that those with the most power are least aware of its existence, and those with the least power are most aware of its existence. Groups that have been marginalized are surely keenly aware of injustice. School children in these situations may not be aware of many of the ways that these power inequities are preserved and maintained, but they know that something is amiss. Considering this, some form of resistance seems inevitable in many cases. If something is inherently unfair, it seems to me only natural to resist it and rebel against it.
"Their 'failure' in school cannot be interpreted as resulting simply from individual deficiencise; it must be understood as part of a play of diffences between radically disparate cultural fields."(229)
While I think that "disparate cultural fields" does play into difference in school performance for children from different backgrounds, I believe that a pervasive system of inequity is a bigger factor. If we did not have systems of segregation in place where those in the schools from families with less resources receive less support than those of their more affluent counterparts, then I think we would start to see an educational system in our country where everybody was achieving at similar levels regardless of cultural backgrounds.
This was an interesting reading which provoked a lot of thought for me. A lot of my thoughts are also being provoked by the current process of school closings and displacement of poor children which is currently going on in my city. I am interested in how the ideas we are learning in this class are relating to real world events which have a profound impact on not only those who live and have children attending schools in Providence, but also on anyone who is planning to be a teacher here in RI, and really anyone who is concerned about issues of justice and equality.
This point relates to much of what we have been discussing in this course. While research has discovered the economic status is the greatest determinant towards how a student will perform on things like standardized tests, I think it is clear and unfortunate that race and ethnicity are linked to economic status in our country. Of course, everyone has anecdotal evidence of someone from economically disadvantaged families who has succeeded in school despite the odds. These stories are great, but they do nothing to help the fact that there is a larger problem in our society.
What makes it worse is that many schools are still largely segregated despite the fact that racial segregation in our schools has been illegal for more than 50 years. The segregation that occurs today is based on economics. School systems like Barrington, for example, which is predominantly middle to upper class, are also predominantly white. Poor families, many whom are non-white, simply can not afford to live in these neighborhoods. This segregation is not mandated, but it is real.
Even in a city like Providence in which the majority of students are poor and non-white there exists subtle forms of segregation. In a city where approximately 85% of public school children qualify for some form of free or reduced lunch, there is an elementary school on the East Side where more than half the children come from families affluent enough to not qualify for any form of reduced lunch (the reduced lunch program being the only way that the state of RI makes economic distinctions for its students). Its no surprise that a majority of the students at that school are white, as well. Strangely, only about 10% of the students at that school live within the one mile radius which classifies students as neighborhood kids. The rest come from other areas around the city. This is disturbing. It points to the idea that this particular school is reserved, as it were, for middle class families who want to send their kids to public schools, but are reticent about city schools that largely fit into a lower socio-economic status. This middle class school also happens to have the highest test scores among Providence Elementary schools.
This is just one example, which is close to home, that points to some form of unofficial school segregation. When the mayor of Providence announces that he is closing four schools around the city where the combined population of those schools is over 90% qualifying for free or reduced lunch, there is an equity problem. Basically, over 2,000 poor kids are getting displaced from schools, and herded around to wherever they can fit to save the city money.
No child left behind? really?
"Resistance, then, is a process in which the working-class student further solidifies his or her position in the lowest tier of the class system, helping to confirm the view established by critical theorists that a nation's educational system is subservient to its economic system."(228)
Resistance seems somewhat inevitable considering example like the one above on how school systems and other institutions systematically devise subtle way to perpetuate the systems which keeps the power structures in place. This relates to Delpit's rule that those with the most power are least aware of its existence, and those with the least power are most aware of its existence. Groups that have been marginalized are surely keenly aware of injustice. School children in these situations may not be aware of many of the ways that these power inequities are preserved and maintained, but they know that something is amiss. Considering this, some form of resistance seems inevitable in many cases. If something is inherently unfair, it seems to me only natural to resist it and rebel against it.
"Their 'failure' in school cannot be interpreted as resulting simply from individual deficiencise; it must be understood as part of a play of diffences between radically disparate cultural fields."(229)
While I think that "disparate cultural fields" does play into difference in school performance for children from different backgrounds, I believe that a pervasive system of inequity is a bigger factor. If we did not have systems of segregation in place where those in the schools from families with less resources receive less support than those of their more affluent counterparts, then I think we would start to see an educational system in our country where everybody was achieving at similar levels regardless of cultural backgrounds.
This was an interesting reading which provoked a lot of thought for me. A lot of my thoughts are also being provoked by the current process of school closings and displacement of poor children which is currently going on in my city. I am interested in how the ideas we are learning in this class are relating to real world events which have a profound impact on not only those who live and have children attending schools in Providence, but also on anyone who is planning to be a teacher here in RI, and really anyone who is concerned about issues of justice and equality.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Talking points on "A Particularly Cheap White Wine" by Tim Wise
"Of course, on an even more basic level, to complain about so-called unfair preferences for students of color, be it in terms of scholarships or affirmative action policies in admissions, is to ignore the many ways in which the nation's educational system provides unfair advantages to whites, from beginning to end." (P. 2)
I think that white students do receive many "unearned advantages" throughout their school careers. This is particularly true for those white children who come from families who have the means and resources to ensure quality education for their children. The truth is that, as Wise points out, the majority of non-white students come from backgrounds with less money and less education than their white counterparts. I believe that this is a cycle that continues to get perpetuated. I believe that this cycle is deeply rooted in our country's racist history. The effects of this history continue to play a role in the lives of people of all races in our country. As Allan Johnson suggests, these issues need to be acknowledged rather than ignored if we ever truly want to achieve a society where equality exists for everyone.
"Since scholarships would have been more equitably distributed between the races in a system without a history of institutionalized discrimination--and to doubt this is to assume that folks of color still wouldn't have qualified for them, which means that one would have to believe in inherent inferiority on their part, which belief is the textbook definition of racism--to now steer scholarships to such persons is only to create a situation closer to that which would have existed anyway, but for a legacy of racial oppression." (P. 4)
This is an interesting quote. I believe that in 2010 one would be hard pressed to find someone north of the Mason-Dixon line and under 60 years of age who was willing to admit to the belief in the "textbook definition of racism." Unfortunately, I think that the belief that people of color are less than white people is still more of a prevalent attitude in our society than most would want to admit. By and large, I believe that white people still see themselves as the norm, while non-whites are seen to fall outside the norm. This, to me, is one of the most insidious aspects of modern racism. If no one is willing to acknowledge that it exists, how can it be overcome?
"Surely scholarships for people of color are not predicated on intolerance for whites, nor are they based on some kind of blind contempt for whites as a group." (P. 4)
If we agree with this quote, then clearly scholarships for people of color are not racist. They exist, rather, in an attempt to rectify some of the injustices done to people in this country based on racism. I firmly believe that affirmative action policies and scholarships for non-white students need to continue and be broadened in an effort to try to undo the damage that racism has done to our country.
I enjoyed this article, and found myself agreeing with the points made by Tim Wise. Equal opportunity for everyone should be an important goal for our country. I believe that in some ways we have been taking baby steps towards that goal over the course of the last century, but I do not think that we are yet close to achieving the goal.
I think that white students do receive many "unearned advantages" throughout their school careers. This is particularly true for those white children who come from families who have the means and resources to ensure quality education for their children. The truth is that, as Wise points out, the majority of non-white students come from backgrounds with less money and less education than their white counterparts. I believe that this is a cycle that continues to get perpetuated. I believe that this cycle is deeply rooted in our country's racist history. The effects of this history continue to play a role in the lives of people of all races in our country. As Allan Johnson suggests, these issues need to be acknowledged rather than ignored if we ever truly want to achieve a society where equality exists for everyone.
"Since scholarships would have been more equitably distributed between the races in a system without a history of institutionalized discrimination--and to doubt this is to assume that folks of color still wouldn't have qualified for them, which means that one would have to believe in inherent inferiority on their part, which belief is the textbook definition of racism--to now steer scholarships to such persons is only to create a situation closer to that which would have existed anyway, but for a legacy of racial oppression." (P. 4)
This is an interesting quote. I believe that in 2010 one would be hard pressed to find someone north of the Mason-Dixon line and under 60 years of age who was willing to admit to the belief in the "textbook definition of racism." Unfortunately, I think that the belief that people of color are less than white people is still more of a prevalent attitude in our society than most would want to admit. By and large, I believe that white people still see themselves as the norm, while non-whites are seen to fall outside the norm. This, to me, is one of the most insidious aspects of modern racism. If no one is willing to acknowledge that it exists, how can it be overcome?
"Surely scholarships for people of color are not predicated on intolerance for whites, nor are they based on some kind of blind contempt for whites as a group." (P. 4)
If we agree with this quote, then clearly scholarships for people of color are not racist. They exist, rather, in an attempt to rectify some of the injustices done to people in this country based on racism. I firmly believe that affirmative action policies and scholarships for non-white students need to continue and be broadened in an effort to try to undo the damage that racism has done to our country.
I enjoyed this article, and found myself agreeing with the points made by Tim Wise. Equal opportunity for everyone should be an important goal for our country. I believe that in some ways we have been taking baby steps towards that goal over the course of the last century, but I do not think that we are yet close to achieving the goal.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Talking Points on Kahne and Westheimer, "In the Service of What?"
"In contrast, much of the current discussion regarding service learning emphasizes charity, not change."(4)
I agree with the authors that service seen exclusively as charity is ultimately flawed. Charity can certainly be a good thing when it helps those in need. Who can argue against such actions as providing shelter, food, and clothing to those in desperate need? However, charity does very little to change the systems of inequality that are in place in our society. Creating a society of people from all backgrounds who recognize the existence of systemic inequalities and the need to fix those inequalities, has much more lasting value.
"In caring relationships, Nel Noddings asserts, we try to consider the life and disposition of those for whom we are caring. We attempt to 'apprehend the reality of the other' and then to 'struggle [for progress] together.' In so doing, we create opportunities for changing our understanding of the other and the context within which he or she lives."(5)
I believe this an important point. There is a lot of misunderstanding about the "other" in our country. I think that preconceived notions about who people are or what their lives are like have always represented the most powerful forces in maintaining systems of inequality and oppression.
The authors go on to provide an example of a group of middle class students whose families are concerned about holding a concert at a school in a poorer neighborhood. The middle class children expected the students at the school in the less affluent neighborhood to be "horrible children running around on a dirty campus."(7) After the event, these same children's attitudes changed about the reality of the kids at the school where the concert was held.
Assuming the middle class children had very little prior experience with children from a poorer, urban neighborhood, it is disconcerting that they held these preconceived notions. Unfortunately, these sorts of stereotypes which create fear and mistrust are commonplace, and many times are held on to and reinforced by the media and people who influence the minds of children.
"When I care, Noddings explains, a relationship develops in which 'the other's reality becomes a real possibility for me.'"(7)
This relates back to the previous quote, and the misperception of "others." There is a sense of humanism that is lost, when we view the reality of other people from afar and have no real perspective on individual people's lives. We can't know everybody or as Allan Johnson says, we aren't all going to "love one another in some profoundly idealistic way"(6) However, I believe that the more we are exposed to real people and not just the created myths about "others," the closer we'll come to eliminating some of the obstacles to having a truly just, democratic society.
Overall, I agreed with the premise that service learning projects can be more useful if they help students to be able to "respond in meaningful ways to a variety of social concerns"(4) rather than being seen more as disconnected acts of charity.
This gives us something to think about in relation to our own current service learning projects in the Providence schools. It served as a reminder for me to think about not only how to maximize my current volunteer position at the school itself, but also how I can integrate the lessons that I learn into my eventual role as a teacher and member of this community.
I agree with the authors that service seen exclusively as charity is ultimately flawed. Charity can certainly be a good thing when it helps those in need. Who can argue against such actions as providing shelter, food, and clothing to those in desperate need? However, charity does very little to change the systems of inequality that are in place in our society. Creating a society of people from all backgrounds who recognize the existence of systemic inequalities and the need to fix those inequalities, has much more lasting value.
"In caring relationships, Nel Noddings asserts, we try to consider the life and disposition of those for whom we are caring. We attempt to 'apprehend the reality of the other' and then to 'struggle [for progress] together.' In so doing, we create opportunities for changing our understanding of the other and the context within which he or she lives."(5)
I believe this an important point. There is a lot of misunderstanding about the "other" in our country. I think that preconceived notions about who people are or what their lives are like have always represented the most powerful forces in maintaining systems of inequality and oppression.
The authors go on to provide an example of a group of middle class students whose families are concerned about holding a concert at a school in a poorer neighborhood. The middle class children expected the students at the school in the less affluent neighborhood to be "horrible children running around on a dirty campus."(7) After the event, these same children's attitudes changed about the reality of the kids at the school where the concert was held.
Assuming the middle class children had very little prior experience with children from a poorer, urban neighborhood, it is disconcerting that they held these preconceived notions. Unfortunately, these sorts of stereotypes which create fear and mistrust are commonplace, and many times are held on to and reinforced by the media and people who influence the minds of children.
"When I care, Noddings explains, a relationship develops in which 'the other's reality becomes a real possibility for me.'"(7)
This relates back to the previous quote, and the misperception of "others." There is a sense of humanism that is lost, when we view the reality of other people from afar and have no real perspective on individual people's lives. We can't know everybody or as Allan Johnson says, we aren't all going to "love one another in some profoundly idealistic way"(6) However, I believe that the more we are exposed to real people and not just the created myths about "others," the closer we'll come to eliminating some of the obstacles to having a truly just, democratic society.
Overall, I agreed with the premise that service learning projects can be more useful if they help students to be able to "respond in meaningful ways to a variety of social concerns"(4) rather than being seen more as disconnected acts of charity.
This gives us something to think about in relation to our own current service learning projects in the Providence schools. It served as a reminder for me to think about not only how to maximize my current volunteer position at the school itself, but also how I can integrate the lessons that I learn into my eventual role as a teacher and member of this community.
Monday, March 7, 2011
"Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us," Talking Points
"The 'secret education,' as Chilean writer Ariel Dorfman dubs it, delivered by children's books and movies, instructs young people to accept the world as it is portrayed in these social blueprints. And often that world depicts the domination of one sex, one race, one class, or one country over a weaker counterpart."(126)
In our reading by Johnson, Delpit, Kozol, and Carlson, we have been shown that there is a power structure in our society which creates inequities for those who are not members of certain groups. In this reading, we see how this structure is perpetuated in our culture through seemingly harmless media outlets. This "secret education" is pervasive and almost universal in our age of instant, global information. I think the stories are changing. There are certainly still some very negative messages being given to children, adolescents, and adults alike through books, magazines, cartoons, film, TV and other media outlets, but as Christensen herself points out, things are improving; "in old cartoons . . . the stereotypes are so blatant." (129) There are representations of people that would have been commonplace and widely accepted as recently as 50 or 60 years ago that today would be considered unheard of. This represents social progress, but it does not mean that negative stereotyping has been eliminated. The process of unlearning the myths is ongoing.
"Most of the early information we receive about 'others'--people racially, religiously, or socioeconomically different from ourselves--does not come as a result of firsthand experience. The secondhand information we receive has often been distorted, shaped by cultural stereotypes, and left incomplete . . . ." (126-127)
This is the problem that is created when we have segregated cities and towns with segregated school systems. The best way to really get to know people and to see people as real people and not stereotypes is to actually get to know people. This doesn't happen if children are raised in communities and sent to schools where everybody more or less comes from the same backgrounds as them. This is the problem that our country has been working on since Linda Brown first entered an all-white school in Alabama in 1954. Although, we have legally outlawed school segregation, our society has continued to find economic and social ways to keep many of our school systems almost completely homogeneous. This is where I believe that diverse school systems like the one here in Providence will be at the forefront of the next wave of educational reform. There are advantages for all children in these types of heterogeneous environments that don't necessarily show up on the NECAPs.
"It's okay for some people to be rich and others poor; they just want to see more rich people of color or more rich women. Or better yet, be rich themselves. They accept the inequalities in power and exploitative economic relationships." (133)
Earlier in the essay, Christensen references the Brazilian educator Paolo Friere. This quote speaks directly to one of the main ideas in Friere's book The Pedagogy of the Oppressed. He talks about the idea that the system of oppression can never really change unless oppressed people view the system which oppresses them as flawed. If the ultimate goal is to attain power within that system then oppression will always exist regardless of who is in power. In Friere's view, a successful rebellion against the power structure must not simply overthrow the individuals or groups who hold the power, but must overthrow the system itself.
This was an interesting read, combining social philosophy with real world teaching examples. I was intrigued by Linda Christensen's examples of the ways in which she helped her students to look at the world in a deeper way than they were accustomed to. It left me wondering how she manages to teach what she is teaching without being forced to desist in her methods by the school administration. Presumably, her relatively radical lessons aren't a part of the "approved curriculum" of her district.
In our reading by Johnson, Delpit, Kozol, and Carlson, we have been shown that there is a power structure in our society which creates inequities for those who are not members of certain groups. In this reading, we see how this structure is perpetuated in our culture through seemingly harmless media outlets. This "secret education" is pervasive and almost universal in our age of instant, global information. I think the stories are changing. There are certainly still some very negative messages being given to children, adolescents, and adults alike through books, magazines, cartoons, film, TV and other media outlets, but as Christensen herself points out, things are improving; "in old cartoons . . . the stereotypes are so blatant." (129) There are representations of people that would have been commonplace and widely accepted as recently as 50 or 60 years ago that today would be considered unheard of. This represents social progress, but it does not mean that negative stereotyping has been eliminated. The process of unlearning the myths is ongoing.
"Most of the early information we receive about 'others'--people racially, religiously, or socioeconomically different from ourselves--does not come as a result of firsthand experience. The secondhand information we receive has often been distorted, shaped by cultural stereotypes, and left incomplete . . . ." (126-127)
This is the problem that is created when we have segregated cities and towns with segregated school systems. The best way to really get to know people and to see people as real people and not stereotypes is to actually get to know people. This doesn't happen if children are raised in communities and sent to schools where everybody more or less comes from the same backgrounds as them. This is the problem that our country has been working on since Linda Brown first entered an all-white school in Alabama in 1954. Although, we have legally outlawed school segregation, our society has continued to find economic and social ways to keep many of our school systems almost completely homogeneous. This is where I believe that diverse school systems like the one here in Providence will be at the forefront of the next wave of educational reform. There are advantages for all children in these types of heterogeneous environments that don't necessarily show up on the NECAPs.
"It's okay for some people to be rich and others poor; they just want to see more rich people of color or more rich women. Or better yet, be rich themselves. They accept the inequalities in power and exploitative economic relationships." (133)
Earlier in the essay, Christensen references the Brazilian educator Paolo Friere. This quote speaks directly to one of the main ideas in Friere's book The Pedagogy of the Oppressed. He talks about the idea that the system of oppression can never really change unless oppressed people view the system which oppresses them as flawed. If the ultimate goal is to attain power within that system then oppression will always exist regardless of who is in power. In Friere's view, a successful rebellion against the power structure must not simply overthrow the individuals or groups who hold the power, but must overthrow the system itself.
This was an interesting read, combining social philosophy with real world teaching examples. I was intrigued by Linda Christensen's examples of the ways in which she helped her students to look at the world in a deeper way than they were accustomed to. It left me wondering how she manages to teach what she is teaching without being forced to desist in her methods by the school administration. Presumably, her relatively radical lessons aren't a part of the "approved curriculum" of her district.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Talking Points on Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community by Dennis Carlson.
"In normalizing communities, identity is typically constructed in rigidly oppositional ways, with one pole of identity privileged and viewed as 'normal' and the other pole viewed as deficient and 'abnormal.'" (P. 245)
I feel like this statement gets to the heart of the what we have been discussing throughout this course. I also truly believe that we are incrementally starting to move away from being a society that holds onto this "rigidly oppositional" way of looking at difference vs. normalcy. As future teachers, I think it is of the utmost importance for us to work towards continuing to unlearn the idea that what Carlson refers to as the "normalized culture" is somehow the right culture and that cultures that don't fit into that scheme represent an abnormality to be marginalized.
"For the most part the institutions that make up the gay community are not open to adolescents, so that most gay youth continue to stay unattached and even unaware of this potential community of support." (P. 246)
When I attended high school in the mid to late '80s, there were no openly gay students in my very white, very middle class school of over 600 kids. Statistically speaking, I find it very hard to believe that there were no gay students in my high school. Having gone through that school, however, I find it very easy to understand why gay students would have been reluctant to come out in that environment. Gay slurs and stereotypes were commonplace at the time, I would even go so far as to say they were rampant. It was in no way an environment that accepted difference of any kind very readily.
Some of my classmates here in this course have mentioned that their high schools had Gay and Lesbian Alliances and other support groups for gay students. This is a positive step, and helps to confirm my belief that our society is making steps towards being more accepting and open to people who in some ways don't fit into the "normalized culture."
"One way to rupture the boundaries between groups is to emphasize the multiple subject positions (class, race, gender, sexuality, etc.) we all occupy." (P. 250)
Carlson mentions the major markers of cultural advantage in the parentheses before giving us the etcetera. If he had gone on to list all the cultural factors that make up who people are, that list could fill a whole page. The point being that people are generally so much more than the larger cultural classifiers that we often use to make superficial judgments on who that person is. As citizens, and more specifically as teachers, I think it is important to not judge our students' needs, abilities or backgrounds based purely on these superficial factors.
I really enjoyed this reading and found it very thought provoking. I think that adolescence is a difficult time no matter what your sexual orientation is. The teen years are an often angst filled time of self-discovery and identification. There is a lot of pressure for youth to fit into the norm, in whatever ways that "norm" happens to be constructed.
I think that adolescence can be a ruthless time for kids, regardless of sexual orientation or whatever other cultural factors that might mark someone as an outsider. I also feel that the kids who feel the most adrift are often the ones who get the most overlooked by their teachers and other adults whose job it is to help the youth grow positively into adulthood. The kids who are the most self-assured or feel the most like they understand and belong in their own space often command the most attention as they are likely the easiest to deal with and to teach. Hopefully, as good teachers, we will learn to be able to reach those kids who need our help the most, but are unable to ask for it, due to feelings of not belonging.
I feel like this statement gets to the heart of the what we have been discussing throughout this course. I also truly believe that we are incrementally starting to move away from being a society that holds onto this "rigidly oppositional" way of looking at difference vs. normalcy. As future teachers, I think it is of the utmost importance for us to work towards continuing to unlearn the idea that what Carlson refers to as the "normalized culture" is somehow the right culture and that cultures that don't fit into that scheme represent an abnormality to be marginalized.
"For the most part the institutions that make up the gay community are not open to adolescents, so that most gay youth continue to stay unattached and even unaware of this potential community of support." (P. 246)
When I attended high school in the mid to late '80s, there were no openly gay students in my very white, very middle class school of over 600 kids. Statistically speaking, I find it very hard to believe that there were no gay students in my high school. Having gone through that school, however, I find it very easy to understand why gay students would have been reluctant to come out in that environment. Gay slurs and stereotypes were commonplace at the time, I would even go so far as to say they were rampant. It was in no way an environment that accepted difference of any kind very readily.
Some of my classmates here in this course have mentioned that their high schools had Gay and Lesbian Alliances and other support groups for gay students. This is a positive step, and helps to confirm my belief that our society is making steps towards being more accepting and open to people who in some ways don't fit into the "normalized culture."
"One way to rupture the boundaries between groups is to emphasize the multiple subject positions (class, race, gender, sexuality, etc.) we all occupy." (P. 250)
Carlson mentions the major markers of cultural advantage in the parentheses before giving us the etcetera. If he had gone on to list all the cultural factors that make up who people are, that list could fill a whole page. The point being that people are generally so much more than the larger cultural classifiers that we often use to make superficial judgments on who that person is. As citizens, and more specifically as teachers, I think it is important to not judge our students' needs, abilities or backgrounds based purely on these superficial factors.
I really enjoyed this reading and found it very thought provoking. I think that adolescence is a difficult time no matter what your sexual orientation is. The teen years are an often angst filled time of self-discovery and identification. There is a lot of pressure for youth to fit into the norm, in whatever ways that "norm" happens to be constructed.
I think that adolescence can be a ruthless time for kids, regardless of sexual orientation or whatever other cultural factors that might mark someone as an outsider. I also feel that the kids who feel the most adrift are often the ones who get the most overlooked by their teachers and other adults whose job it is to help the youth grow positively into adulthood. The kids who are the most self-assured or feel the most like they understand and belong in their own space often command the most attention as they are likely the easiest to deal with and to teach. Hopefully, as good teachers, we will learn to be able to reach those kids who need our help the most, but are unable to ask for it, due to feelings of not belonging.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Talking points: Richard Rodriquez, Hunger of Memory.
"It is not possible for a child--any child--ever to use his family's language in school. Not to understand this is to misunderstand the public uses of schooling and to trivialize the nature of intimate life--a family's `language'." (P. 10)
I don't see why this should be the case. It seems to me that lots of children do use their family's language in school. I feel that no matter what language or dialect you speak, there will always be elements of private, intimate language spoken in families away from a school setting. So, if Spanish were taught in public schools at an early age, I don't think it would have to detract from the language that families speak at home.
"An accident of geography sent me to a school where all my classmates were white, many the children of doctors and lawyers and business executives." (P. 9)
Today, in a lot of classrooms in a lot of cities, like, for example, Providence, the experience of many children is very different from the one Rodriquez grew up with. Providence Public Schools are over 60% Hispanic. Many of these children often let their "private language" of Spanish intersect with the public language of school. When I was working with the bi-lingual 6th grade class that I was assigned to through VIPS, I noticed that the kids felt comfortable speaking with each other in both Spanish and English. They could easily make the transition from their speech with each other to the speech they used with myself and the school librarian who I was working with.
"What I needed to learn in school was that I had the right--and the obligation--to speak the language of los gringos." (P. 18)
This relates back to what Delpit was referring to in The Silenced Dialogue. All children need to learn the language of power to be able to participate in it and have a voice. The current structure will never change if everybody is not receiving the same kind of education in reading and writing in formal English. I think this can be accomplished while at the same time acknowledging and even teaching other languages in schools.
I think it would be a great idea if all children were taught English and Spanish from pre-school or kindergarten on through high school. We are increasingly turning into a bi-lingual society. In many places, there are more students in the schools who speak Spanish than those who don't. Why not utilize this fact to start truly making our country bilingual? It seems to me that the ability to speak more than one language should be viewed as a positive thing, a skill with real value. If young children had classes in both Spanish and English, it would benefit the students who speak Spanish at home as well as the students who speak English at home. The Spanish students could learn that Spanish is not only a "private language", but it's a very important public language, as well. In turn, the English speaking students would begin to learn this second public language.
It seems like a clear win-win to me.
While I disagreed with Richard Rodriquez' overall premise that his private language should never be used as a public language or taught in the schools, I did enjoy reading the piece. As someone who grew up bilingual myself, I identified with some of his descriptions of what it was like growing up with two languages. Although my experiences were very different, I found myself relating to his descriptions of what it was like to have a private, intimate, family language.
I don't see why this should be the case. It seems to me that lots of children do use their family's language in school. I feel that no matter what language or dialect you speak, there will always be elements of private, intimate language spoken in families away from a school setting. So, if Spanish were taught in public schools at an early age, I don't think it would have to detract from the language that families speak at home.
"An accident of geography sent me to a school where all my classmates were white, many the children of doctors and lawyers and business executives." (P. 9)
Today, in a lot of classrooms in a lot of cities, like, for example, Providence, the experience of many children is very different from the one Rodriquez grew up with. Providence Public Schools are over 60% Hispanic. Many of these children often let their "private language" of Spanish intersect with the public language of school. When I was working with the bi-lingual 6th grade class that I was assigned to through VIPS, I noticed that the kids felt comfortable speaking with each other in both Spanish and English. They could easily make the transition from their speech with each other to the speech they used with myself and the school librarian who I was working with.
"What I needed to learn in school was that I had the right--and the obligation--to speak the language of los gringos." (P. 18)
This relates back to what Delpit was referring to in The Silenced Dialogue. All children need to learn the language of power to be able to participate in it and have a voice. The current structure will never change if everybody is not receiving the same kind of education in reading and writing in formal English. I think this can be accomplished while at the same time acknowledging and even teaching other languages in schools.
I think it would be a great idea if all children were taught English and Spanish from pre-school or kindergarten on through high school. We are increasingly turning into a bi-lingual society. In many places, there are more students in the schools who speak Spanish than those who don't. Why not utilize this fact to start truly making our country bilingual? It seems to me that the ability to speak more than one language should be viewed as a positive thing, a skill with real value. If young children had classes in both Spanish and English, it would benefit the students who speak Spanish at home as well as the students who speak English at home. The Spanish students could learn that Spanish is not only a "private language", but it's a very important public language, as well. In turn, the English speaking students would begin to learn this second public language.
It seems like a clear win-win to me.
While I disagreed with Richard Rodriquez' overall premise that his private language should never be used as a public language or taught in the schools, I did enjoy reading the piece. As someone who grew up bilingual myself, I identified with some of his descriptions of what it was like growing up with two languages. Although my experiences were very different, I found myself relating to his descriptions of what it was like to have a private, intimate, family language.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Talking points on reading from Jonathan Kozol's Amazing Grace.
Quotes:
"In some cities, the public reputation of a ghetto neighborhood bears little connection to the world that you discover when you walk the streets with children and listen to their words."(pgs. 3 and 4)
Kozol goes on to describe the incredibly bleak surroundings he discovered in this particular section of the South Bronx in New York City. The destitute reputation of this neighborhood seems to mirror what life is like there. Living in Providence, a city that certainly has a less than stellar reputation in some circles, I found myself thinking about how this quote relates to my own city. While the schools are struggling here and many people are living in poverty situations, I have never found the reality of the neighborhoods here to come anywhere near approaching the almost apocalyptic conditions described by Kozol in this reading. As a matter of fact, I find Providence to be a diverse, integrated, and safe place to live and walk around.
While I am not unaware that there are people here living under very difficult circumstances, the conditions of despair are nowhere near as universally pervasive, even in the poorest neighborhood. It was depressing to read of a place where there simply seems to be no hope for any of the inhabitants. Although, there was only a passing mention of the school system in this section, I can only imagine that trying to get an education in that neighborhood is virtually impossible.
"`The day is coming when the world will be destroyed,' he finally announces. `Everyone is going to be burned to crispy cookies.'" (pg. 10)
This quote from the seven year old Cliffie brings home the reality of what I referred to as apocalyptic conditions in the last passage. There is a wisdom, almost a wry humor, expressed in the words of this very young boy living in this utterly despairing environment. They also convey a poignant reminder of why people in the most dire circumstances often turn to religion as a way to make sense of the world around them. These words, even though they express a feeling of hopelessness, almost give me a glimmer of hope for the youth living in this environment.
"`Evil exists,' he says, not flinching at the word. `I believe that what the rich have done to poor people in this city is something that a preacher could call evil. Somebody has power. Pretending that they don't so they don't need to use it to help people- that is my idea of evil.'"
This quote from Mrs. Washington's teenage son, David relates to Lisa Delpit's descriptions of the structure of power in "The Silenced Dialogue." Delpit's last principle related to power states that, "those with power are frequently least aware of-or least willing to acknowledge-its existence. Those with less power are often most aware of its existence." David is clearly very personally aware of the existence of an oppressive structure of power. He doesn't seem willing to believe that those with power are subconsciously unaware of its existence. Rather, he seems to be of the opinion that those in power are very aware of the situation, and only "pretending" that it doesn't exist so they won't have to help those on the opposite end of the spectrum. How could he feel otherwise, living in the situation he lives in, and knowing that nobody is doing anything to improve the situation.
Reading this excerpt, I initiallly found myself thinking that Kozol must be exaggerating the conditions for effect. However, when he cited the murder rates and some of the specifics of the conversations he had, I started to think that this description was, indeed, very real. The style of the piece was certainly different than the others we have read so far. While Johnson's, Delpit's and Macintosh's writings were more sociological and academic, this was much more of a narrative, telling a story and creating a setting. I won't say that it was a difficult read from an intellectual perspective, but from an emotional standpoint, I found it very difficult. I'm sure that was the intention, and it worked on me.
The simple question that I would want to share with the class is, as prospective teachers with backgrounds, presumably, worlds apart from this setting, how would we go about teaching in a school located amidst this kind of despair?
"In some cities, the public reputation of a ghetto neighborhood bears little connection to the world that you discover when you walk the streets with children and listen to their words."(pgs. 3 and 4)
Kozol goes on to describe the incredibly bleak surroundings he discovered in this particular section of the South Bronx in New York City. The destitute reputation of this neighborhood seems to mirror what life is like there. Living in Providence, a city that certainly has a less than stellar reputation in some circles, I found myself thinking about how this quote relates to my own city. While the schools are struggling here and many people are living in poverty situations, I have never found the reality of the neighborhoods here to come anywhere near approaching the almost apocalyptic conditions described by Kozol in this reading. As a matter of fact, I find Providence to be a diverse, integrated, and safe place to live and walk around.
While I am not unaware that there are people here living under very difficult circumstances, the conditions of despair are nowhere near as universally pervasive, even in the poorest neighborhood. It was depressing to read of a place where there simply seems to be no hope for any of the inhabitants. Although, there was only a passing mention of the school system in this section, I can only imagine that trying to get an education in that neighborhood is virtually impossible.
"`The day is coming when the world will be destroyed,' he finally announces. `Everyone is going to be burned to crispy cookies.'" (pg. 10)
This quote from the seven year old Cliffie brings home the reality of what I referred to as apocalyptic conditions in the last passage. There is a wisdom, almost a wry humor, expressed in the words of this very young boy living in this utterly despairing environment. They also convey a poignant reminder of why people in the most dire circumstances often turn to religion as a way to make sense of the world around them. These words, even though they express a feeling of hopelessness, almost give me a glimmer of hope for the youth living in this environment.
"`Evil exists,' he says, not flinching at the word. `I believe that what the rich have done to poor people in this city is something that a preacher could call evil. Somebody has power. Pretending that they don't so they don't need to use it to help people- that is my idea of evil.'"
This quote from Mrs. Washington's teenage son, David relates to Lisa Delpit's descriptions of the structure of power in "The Silenced Dialogue." Delpit's last principle related to power states that, "those with power are frequently least aware of-or least willing to acknowledge-its existence. Those with less power are often most aware of its existence." David is clearly very personally aware of the existence of an oppressive structure of power. He doesn't seem willing to believe that those with power are subconsciously unaware of its existence. Rather, he seems to be of the opinion that those in power are very aware of the situation, and only "pretending" that it doesn't exist so they won't have to help those on the opposite end of the spectrum. How could he feel otherwise, living in the situation he lives in, and knowing that nobody is doing anything to improve the situation.
Reading this excerpt, I initiallly found myself thinking that Kozol must be exaggerating the conditions for effect. However, when he cited the murder rates and some of the specifics of the conversations he had, I started to think that this description was, indeed, very real. The style of the piece was certainly different than the others we have read so far. While Johnson's, Delpit's and Macintosh's writings were more sociological and academic, this was much more of a narrative, telling a story and creating a setting. I won't say that it was a difficult read from an intellectual perspective, but from an emotional standpoint, I found it very difficult. I'm sure that was the intention, and it worked on me.
The simple question that I would want to share with the class is, as prospective teachers with backgrounds, presumably, worlds apart from this setting, how would we go about teaching in a school located amidst this kind of despair?
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Introduction
This is my first week of school in over fourteen years. I am enrolled as a full time student in the RITE program, with the aim of becoming certified to be a High School English teacher.
I am taking two 200 level English classes, an Educational Psychology class, and, then, of course, this one on Schooling in a Democratic Society. So far, I have found them all to be interesting in their own way, although one of my English classes (which meets once weekly for a four hour session) was cancelled due to a water main breakage.
I'm guessing that the Educational Psychology class will be the most difficult for me. It seems to primarily involve taking a lot of notes, doing a lot of text book reading, and memorizing a lot of information. Then again, this kind of linear thinking might represent a welcome alternative to all the critical thinking and ideas formulating that will be expected of me in my other classes.
I feel like the first week has really been mostly about getting my feet wet and getting back on track. My feet are now wet (even if I'm still a little wet behind the ears), and I'm really looking forward to diving right in.
Tobias Haller
I am taking two 200 level English classes, an Educational Psychology class, and, then, of course, this one on Schooling in a Democratic Society. So far, I have found them all to be interesting in their own way, although one of my English classes (which meets once weekly for a four hour session) was cancelled due to a water main breakage.
I'm guessing that the Educational Psychology class will be the most difficult for me. It seems to primarily involve taking a lot of notes, doing a lot of text book reading, and memorizing a lot of information. Then again, this kind of linear thinking might represent a welcome alternative to all the critical thinking and ideas formulating that will be expected of me in my other classes.
I feel like the first week has really been mostly about getting my feet wet and getting back on track. My feet are now wet (even if I'm still a little wet behind the ears), and I'm really looking forward to diving right in.
Tobias Haller
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