Education in Politcs

    While reading the article "Education in Politics", three quotes stuck out to me. The first quote stated, "People are naturally curious. They are born learners. Education can either develop or stille their inclination to ask why and to learn." This quote reminded me of all the stories I have been hearing about my peers experiences teaching in their classrooms. Many of us have encountered teachers saying not to worry about a certain student because they are a waste of time and will not succeed. This student is going to realize that no one cares about their education so why should they. They will not want to learn and this will effect their education for the rest of their lives.

     The second quote that stuck out to me stated, "If the students' task is to memorize rules and existing knowledge, without questioning the subject matter or the learning process, their potential for critical thought and action will be restricted." This reminded me of a history teacher I had in high school. He would stand at his podium in the front of the room and read from his notes and you had to copy the notes word for word and in the format he had. He had his notes in an outline form and that is how he taught his class. "Roman numeral one... Letter A... etc" Then we got tested on these notes. All this class consisted of was memorization and I hated it. It was either you knew the material or you did not. There was no room for question or even creativity.

    The third quote that I liked stated, "To take participation into an empowering terrain, I would add that the more involved the student, the more he or she wrestles with meaning in the study." This quote reminded me of myself in school. The subjects that I actually enjoyed, I would participate, ask questions, and answer questions. In these classes, compared to classes I would just sit in and take up space, I would do so much better in.

Social Justice Event- Shirley Wilcher

     I attended the Social Justice Event with the guest speaker Shirley Wilcher who is the Executive Director of the American Association for Access. She is an activist for Affirmative Action. During this event, she gave us history and background information about Affirmative Action. She even told us personal stories about her experience with race and being a woman of color.

      Affirmative action is the support of people in the same group who lack an advantage of obtaining success due to their culture.

      During this event, Shirley Wilcher shared a personal story about her experience with racism. She is a very successful woman of color who has had many accomplishments in her life. Sadly, she still gets judged by the color of her skin. She was trying to grab a taxi on the side of the road and when she went to get in, the driver drove away. She had not done anything wrong, but because of the color of her skin, it did not matter how successful she was and her social and economic status.

    This topic reminded me of 3 course readings: -White Privilege
                                                                             - S.C.W.A.M.P
                                                                             - Indian's Father's Plea
It had to do with white dominance in today's society. One example of Affirmative Action is to prevent the white culture to feel that can over power other races and their success for the future. Affirmative Action is not just about race. It is about any culture or group of people who are different from the "norm" of today. This can be an example of the LGBTQ community. Here are 3 links that connect and better explain Affirmative Action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saIVafSC38k

http://www.understandingprejudice.org/readroom/articles/affirm.htm

http://www.civilrights.org/resources/civilrights101/affirmaction.html


   

Citizenship in School: Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome

      

     The first quote that stuck out to me was from a teacher at a small school was taught a young boy named Isaac Johnson. Her quote starts, "It's not like they come here to be labeled, or to believe the label. We're all here- kids, parents, teachers, whoever- it's about all of us working together, playing together, being together, and that's what learning is. Don't tell me these kids are being set up to fail." This quote made me actually have faith in society for once. More people and teachers need to have this kind of attitude especially towards kids at a young age. The younger the child, the more they will follow the example they see and the attitude they have towards them. Isaac and the other students will now have a better chance to succeed because someone actually believes they can succeed.

     The second quote that I liked and that I could relate to was "I don't tend to see Down Syndrome as something. If you look at those three kids running around the room, they are incredibly different from each other. They are different in terms of what their bodies are like, how they best communicate, what they are like socially, their interests. And with those three kids in the room it would be hard to say 'This is how you should teach kids with Down Syndrome'.  They are not all alike." I worked with a special ed classroom my senior year. There was 2 students in the class with Down Syndrome. They were two very different students socially, academically and in all other aspects. One student could speak pretty clearly and the other student needed you to give him 2 options and he would choose the hand that corresponded with the option he wanted. The first student I talked about was on the swim team while the other student would not be able to work as well on a high school sports team. You could not in any way teach these two students the same way just because they both had Down Syndrome.

Literacy with an Attitude

Here is a quote that stuck out to me while reading the article "Literacy with an Attitude". "I was from the working class and I knew how working-class and poor kids related to authority. They expected people in authority to be authoritarian, and I gave them what they expected. It was an an exhausting job, but my classroom was nearly always quiet." This quote reminded me of "The Silenced Dialogue". It had to do with class instead of race. The kids knew what they had to do and did not question the authority of the teacher. The students never made a sound because they knew the teacher meant business. He stated how he was more there to teach them about control and discipline more than the actual criteria.

 The second quote that stuck out to me was "Teachers rarely explained why work was being assigned or how it was connected to other assignments. Work was often evaluated in terms of whether steps were followed rather than whether it was right or wrong." This quote stuck out to me because it made me think of how in highschool I had teachers like this and hated every minute of the class. Most of the time, the work felt like busy work to pass the time and not to connect it to future experiences. This class actually has meaning to the work we do and reflects the opposite of this quote.

 The third quote I wanted to share was "The dominant theme in the middle-class school was possibility.There was widespread anxiety about tests and grades but there
was a pervasive belief that hard work would payoff." I feel this is true in middle class schools. Students in low income schools usually do not get the credit or attention they deserve from authority and role models. They feel if no one believes in them, why should they work hard and have goals. This is a very sad reality that happens all around us.

Becoming Something Different

Here are three quotes that stuck out to me while reading "Becoming Something Different" :

 "For example, Corson (1991) has argued that ELLs have been systematically marginalized in school because of language domination, a process by which the dominant culture not only fails to recognize the value of linguistic diversity but also circumscribes the use of students’ first languages." This quote reminds me of McIntosh's "White Privilege". English becomes dominant in schools and any other ethnic groups needs to conform to this language and culture. I feel like I see this in the school I tutor at because most, if not all the teachers, that teach the ESL students only speak English. They ignore the students' other languages and cultures and just focus on English.

"Esmé’s parents were Spanish dominant, and although her mother had taken some basic English courses through community education, Spanish was the language of their home. Her parents helped her with homework as much as they could, even though her father had little formal education himself, and they attended meetings at school, although her father’s work schedule limited his attendance." I really liked this quote because it reminded me of the school I work in. The teacher tells me that a lot of the students' parents are very involved which helps a ton. These students need the extra support not only at school but at home. As long as the parents are making an effort, the child will make an effort as well. I was glad to hear that this little girl's parents made the most effort they could give.

Challenging Racism

I chose to pick out 3 quotes that stuck out to me while watching the second video with Tim Wise.

The first quote came from the opening speaker introducing Tim Wise. The opener stated “Today we live in a world where people are ignoring the issues at hand.” I feel people tend to ignore issues because they feel like they will just go away. If an issue is not thought of it just means it does not exist. Personally, I feel like this is the opposite. The more and longer people ignore an issue, the worse and harder it is to fix it.

The second quote came directly from Tim Wise. He states “So the fact that you have interpersonal relations with someone within that group does not say anything about how you view members of that group.” This quote is actually one of my favorites from the video. He uses the analogy of sexism with hetersexual males. He questions how a male can be sexist towards women but like women and find them attractive. People state they are not racist, for example, because they have friends of color. He says if this statement is true then the statement of "only gay men can be sexist towards women" must also be true. I really liked this analogy because I never thought of it that way before.

The third quote is also from Tim Wise and he states “Black women who have college degrees, good jobs, good incomes and good health care actually have higher rates of infant mortality for their children than white women who drop out of school after the 8^th grade, who are poor and do not have good health care."  Racial gaps are even at the top of the income spectrum. Generally, white people have better health than people of color.

In the Service of What?

In this article, the reader learns about different stories of students engaging in service learning projects. Immediately, I thought about a story on the Today Show about a local boy from Rhode Island who has already donated about 31,000 shoes to homeless children across the country. Here is his story:

http://www.today.com/news/teens-gotta-have-sole-charity-kick-starts-hope-homeless-kids-2D80544039



One day, his mom took him to a homeless shelter so he could see the reality of today's world. She did not want to shelter him from the harsh truth because he does live a comfortable life. His mom never thought his experience would turn into a life changing opportunity for her son.

He started donating his own shoes to local homeless children and his actions just spiraled from there. He now is in almost all 50 states and has an organization called "Soles4Souls".

I feel this is a very positive outcome of community service and it was not even forced upon him by his school or family. These actions were on his own and shows how service learning can have such a positive affect on both the giver and the receiver.

Unlearning the myths that blind us

I have always heard people talk about how Disney movies were racist and sexist but I did not realize how much negative content in the story lines there were. Here is a video link to a few examples of these 2 issues in Disney movies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sju3yvta9o8 .

The first example is the movie Aladdin. There is a scene with people of color doing physical labor. The song they are singing is about how they are uneducated and being slaved. One line from the song reads "When other folks have gone to bed, we slave until we're almost dead". How is this okay to put in a movie let alone a children's movie?

Another example is whenever a Siamese cat is played, they have slanted eyes, buck teeth and broken English which is a standard stereotype for a Chinese person.

Sexism and how these movies portray women give these young children the wrong idea early in life and sometimes a lasting impression. The women need a man in the end to have a "happy ending". Cinderella, Snow White, Ariel, and Bell from Beauty and the Beast are just a few examples of this. Here is a link of Disney movies that give young children the idea on how women should act and be: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-57zKcmrT6M .



These women stereotypes are teaching young boys to think this way. Lying, beauty, wealth, fame and charm are just what you need to succeed in getting a women to like you or just want you. Men become superior to women and that is all that matters. The younger a child is, the more influential things become. Ironically, these movies are meant for children at a young age, so these images will definitely make some impact on them.

Speaking the unspeakable in forbidden places

     This article was very powerfully because it had a personal story that a women was able to talk about and share to the world. At first, it was interesting to me that the students were able to understand the word "gay" and relate the meaning to the relationship of 2 guys, the word "lesbian", which the teacher was, was different to them. As I continued to read more about her students reactions, I remembered a time in 3rd grade when this happened to my class. 

     I cannot remember exactly why the word "lesbian" came up, but when my teacher said it in front of an entire class of 7 and 8 year olds, there was many giggles and chatter. Immediately, my teacher yelled at the entire class because her sister was a lesbian and we all got in trouble. Our punishment was to write a sentence about making fun of people about 20 times. I remember this sort of well because this created a big uproar with the parents. During the next week, many parents came in and talked/yelled at the teacher for punishing the students for laughing. It is hard to say who, or if anyone was in the wrong here. Were us students just not educated about gayness yet so to us it was still new and unknown? Or, was the teacher wrong for not accepting the fact that the 3rd graders thought that the word "lesbian" was funny?

     I found a link on YouTube about children 5-13's reaction to gay marriage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TJxnYgP6D8  Most of the children had an understanding of gayness. Some of the younger children had a more shocked reaction but still were not completely shocked. I am not sure if it had to do with their life and how they were brought up or if they were educated on the issue so it was not a big deal to them anymore.

"Why Can't She Remember That?"

                               

While reading this article, the authors examples of each child's use of different humor with their parents stuck out to me. Marisa, the Spanish speaking preschooler, used a sing song intonation associated with teasing her community to joke around with her father. Lindsey, the English speaking preschooler used a poem to get her mom to grab her food from the floor when she refused. "Each of these preschoolers, socialized in very different linguistic and cultural communities, demonstrates the ability to use language in powerful ways to negotiate relationships with other people. " I think this quote explains the authors whole idea and meaning behind her examples.

Another quote that stuck out to me was "Children who don't have many early book reading experiences learn their cultural lessons through interaction with family and other communities." The author uses immigrant children and families as an example. Many do not grow up with books to read at home whether it is due to the fact that their families can not afford them or it is just not part of their culture. They learn from different experiences like their interaction with family as stated in the quote above. Their experiences and life lessons may be different from other children, but that does not make them less off than the next child. It may be just due to their culture and family back ground.

Silenced Dialogue

There were a few quotes that stuck out to me while reading Delpit's article. "If schooling prepares people for jobs, and the kind of jobs a person has determines her or his economic status and, therefore, power, then schooling is intimately related to that power". This quote does make sense because schooling is a chain effect related to your future and status. Determining at a young age where you are from and what school you go to has a way of determining the means and access to different job opportunities, 

The quote above is linked to another quote in Delpit's article. "Children from middle class homes tend to do better in school than those from non middle class homes." This quote reminded me of when the women from Inspiring Minds came and talked to us about the diverse classrooms in the Providence school system. These families are mostly low income families. They gave a statistic where these children hear half the words per hour than those of a middle class families. This then is taken to the classroom where the child may have difficulty learning. Now, this is a chain effect like the quote above states where this can determine the job they get later on in life, which then can relate to their economic status.

White Privilege

I read the article "White Privilege" by Peggy McIntosh. I agree and disagree on a few of her listed points she made about white privilege.

One point I disgree about is "I can go into a music shop and count on finding the music of my race represented." Depending on when this article was written, most music now a days is made by people of color. I can definitely argue new music such as rap, pop and hip-hop. I feel it is actually harder to find new music made by white people. In my opinion, this example is the opposite of white privilege. 

One point that I agree with is "I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed." I see this at work often. I work at Target and we have security that walks around and investigates people. If you observe long enough, they pay more intention to people of color than white people. Whether this is a policy for them to follow or their own personal actions, it still gives white people the privilege and advantage as a customer.

McIntosh had strong arugements that were based from her personal life and personal experiences. As a white female, she knew she had privileges but did not realize how many she had until she sat down and started to write them down.

     Hello, my name is Amanda Smith and I am a freshman here at Rhode Island College. I am an Elementary Education major with a concentration in Math. I am a full time student and I work part time at Target at the Warwick Mall. I am the oldest of 2 siblings. Family is a huge part of my life.

     In high school, I was very involved. I was Vice President for my class my Junior and Senior year. I was Drum Major of my school's marching band which is the only competing marching band in the state of Rhode Island. For anyone who does not know what a Drum Major is... I basically was in charge of the whole band and conducted the show on the field. With the band, I have performed in Downtown Disney, and marched in both Magic Kingdom's and Sea World's parades. That was probably the highlight of my high school career. I also got the chance to march Nationals at Metlife Stadium where the NY Giants and the NY Jets play football for any sports fans out there.  

 In my free time, I like to cook, listen and play music, go for random car rides and play with my dog. I enjoy to meet new people and get to know everyone. I am excited about this class because I will be able to do both.