Monday, October 26, 2009
Talking Points #6
I thought that the videos were very interesting to see. Tim Wise actually mentions Brown v. Board of Education. He says that Obama being made president is just another step towards equality. He says that Obama's presidency is like Brown v. Board because they are both huge steps, but they are only part of the solution. Equality didn't automatically come with Obama's election. He says that people of color are only accepted by the dominant culture when they are above average in any way. Obama is very well educated and very intelligent so he is an acceptable leader. He says that by accepting the above average people of color we forget the people who are just average or below average. It is okay for a white person to be mediocre, but if a person of color is mediocre, they are shunned by society. I agree with Wise because he sees thst some things have changed, but there is much more to do. We have changed the obvious aspects of racism, but the more subtle ones remain from the past. We may think that we are different from the people of the 1950's and 1960's, but we are in the same boat they were. Hopefully, we can continue to move in the direction of equality.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Talking Points #5
Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer
“In Service of What?: The Politics of Service Learning”
1) “This experience and others like it, quite common in the literature of service learning, emphasize charity more than change. The experience was structured to promote giving rather than to provide the kind of understanding needed for the development of caring relationships.”
The quote suggests that the information available about service learning is slightly one-sided. There is more of an emphasis on doing charity work than learning from that charity work and using that knowledge to make a change. Most people think of service learning as a charity that they have to complete and not something that they can learn from.
2) “Unfortunately, in many service activities, students view those they serve as clients rather than as a resource.”
The quote says that the people that are helped by others in a service learning project also have information to offer. It’s probably not the same kind of information, but it is something that the helper could learn from the helpee. If someone who is participating in service learning, learned from the person they are helping as much as they taught the other person it would make the relationship way more beneficial to both parties.
3) “To date, however, little attention has been given to sorting out the goals and motivations that underlie the spectrum of service learning projects emerging in schools throughout the country.”
The quote says that there are just as many reasons that people participate in service learning as kinds of service learning projects. The reason for doing a service project is just as important, if not more important, as the project. If a person has a weak reason for being there, the project may not go well. If a person feels like they are only doing a community service because they are obligated, then they may not put much effort or energy into the project.
I think that the article is trying to get more people to do service learning to create a change. They want the people involved to be the change similar to what Johnson and Delpit say. I like that they talk about the different motivations people have behind service learning. I know many people that just do service learning projects because they are obligated or they feel bad that people don’t have as much as them. I like to think that I’m making a difference when I do any kind of service project and the project we’re doing in this class is no different. I’m trying to help these kids acquire a very important skill and I’m learning about diversity and culture from them. It’s a two way street and the relationship has to benefit both sides. I like that we’re building relationships with these kids and not just teaching them to read.
“In Service of What?: The Politics of Service Learning”
1) “This experience and others like it, quite common in the literature of service learning, emphasize charity more than change. The experience was structured to promote giving rather than to provide the kind of understanding needed for the development of caring relationships.”
The quote suggests that the information available about service learning is slightly one-sided. There is more of an emphasis on doing charity work than learning from that charity work and using that knowledge to make a change. Most people think of service learning as a charity that they have to complete and not something that they can learn from.
2) “Unfortunately, in many service activities, students view those they serve as clients rather than as a resource.”
The quote says that the people that are helped by others in a service learning project also have information to offer. It’s probably not the same kind of information, but it is something that the helper could learn from the helpee. If someone who is participating in service learning, learned from the person they are helping as much as they taught the other person it would make the relationship way more beneficial to both parties.
3) “To date, however, little attention has been given to sorting out the goals and motivations that underlie the spectrum of service learning projects emerging in schools throughout the country.”
The quote says that there are just as many reasons that people participate in service learning as kinds of service learning projects. The reason for doing a service project is just as important, if not more important, as the project. If a person has a weak reason for being there, the project may not go well. If a person feels like they are only doing a community service because they are obligated, then they may not put much effort or energy into the project.
I think that the article is trying to get more people to do service learning to create a change. They want the people involved to be the change similar to what Johnson and Delpit say. I like that they talk about the different motivations people have behind service learning. I know many people that just do service learning projects because they are obligated or they feel bad that people don’t have as much as them. I like to think that I’m making a difference when I do any kind of service project and the project we’re doing in this class is no different. I’m trying to help these kids acquire a very important skill and I’m learning about diversity and culture from them. It’s a two way street and the relationship has to benefit both sides. I like that we’re building relationships with these kids and not just teaching them to read.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Talking Points #4
Linda Christensen
“Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us”
1) “Early in the unit, I show a Popeye cartoon, ‘Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves,” that depicts all Arabs with the same face, same turban, same body- and they are all swinging enormous swords. At one point in the cartoon, Popeye clips a dog collar on helpless Olive Oyl and drags her through the desert.” Pg. 130
This quote surprised me a little bit because I remember watching Popeye with my grandfather when I was little. The cartoon presents myths that were believed and still may be believed in our culture. The people of ethnic backgrounds all look the same. I have heard people say this recently at my brother’s high school graduation, “I can’t tell them apart, those black kids look the same”. I was mortified when I heard it. Also the love interest is treated like a dog. She is expected to follow the man wherever he goes and never complain or rebel.
2) “But, like the original tale, Cindy Ellie’s main goal is in life is not working to end the plight of the homeless or teaching kids to read. Her goal, like Cinderella’s, is to get her man.” Pg. 132
The quote is explaining that while the problem of racism is addressed in the modern version of the classic tale, the other problems are not. Cinder Ellie is just as shallow as Cinderella. She just wants to be married and be in her proper place as a wife. She fit’s the role of the stereotypical perfect woman even though she is a minority. I think that it proves that the race of the character isn’t as big of an issue as the motivations and characterizations of the characters do.
3) “They accept the inequalities in power and exploitative economic relationships. Their acceptance teaches me how deep the roots of these myths are planted and how much some students, in the absence of visions for a different and better world, need to believe in the fairy tale magic that will transform their lives.” Pg. 133
The students accepted that the majority of the characters with power and the rich characters are white and the poor characters are people of color. The reason a lot of people read fairy tales as children and read them to their children because they like that the underdog characters often get what they long for. There is a promise of a better life that is not always visible in reality especially if the person has low socio-economic status or is of color.
This article was very interesting to me because I am taking a children’s literature class this semester. The class examines everything thing from Mother Goose to modern day fairy tales such as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. We spend a good portion of the class examining the characters and the theme of the works. We found a lot of stereotypical female characters that would fit in with the characterizations in cartoons that the author discussed. There is the girl who wants to be the perfect wife, but there are also girls that end up saving their loved ones like Grettel who saves her brother from the witch who wants to eat him. We read some works that the character was an ethnic person and did work to better their own lives. “Yeh Shen” is the Chinese version of “Cinderella”. She works hard to please her family and to keep in favor with the spirits who aid her in her journey. She takes it upon herself to find the lost shoe and she does not go looking for it so she can fall in love, but so she can please the spirits. I think that there are stories and cartoons that do a good job of addressing issues of race and power, but it takes a little bit more of an effort to find them. They’re not as easily accessible, but they are out there.
“Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us”
1) “Early in the unit, I show a Popeye cartoon, ‘Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves,” that depicts all Arabs with the same face, same turban, same body- and they are all swinging enormous swords. At one point in the cartoon, Popeye clips a dog collar on helpless Olive Oyl and drags her through the desert.” Pg. 130
This quote surprised me a little bit because I remember watching Popeye with my grandfather when I was little. The cartoon presents myths that were believed and still may be believed in our culture. The people of ethnic backgrounds all look the same. I have heard people say this recently at my brother’s high school graduation, “I can’t tell them apart, those black kids look the same”. I was mortified when I heard it. Also the love interest is treated like a dog. She is expected to follow the man wherever he goes and never complain or rebel.
2) “But, like the original tale, Cindy Ellie’s main goal is in life is not working to end the plight of the homeless or teaching kids to read. Her goal, like Cinderella’s, is to get her man.” Pg. 132
The quote is explaining that while the problem of racism is addressed in the modern version of the classic tale, the other problems are not. Cinder Ellie is just as shallow as Cinderella. She just wants to be married and be in her proper place as a wife. She fit’s the role of the stereotypical perfect woman even though she is a minority. I think that it proves that the race of the character isn’t as big of an issue as the motivations and characterizations of the characters do.
3) “They accept the inequalities in power and exploitative economic relationships. Their acceptance teaches me how deep the roots of these myths are planted and how much some students, in the absence of visions for a different and better world, need to believe in the fairy tale magic that will transform their lives.” Pg. 133
The students accepted that the majority of the characters with power and the rich characters are white and the poor characters are people of color. The reason a lot of people read fairy tales as children and read them to their children because they like that the underdog characters often get what they long for. There is a promise of a better life that is not always visible in reality especially if the person has low socio-economic status or is of color.
This article was very interesting to me because I am taking a children’s literature class this semester. The class examines everything thing from Mother Goose to modern day fairy tales such as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. We spend a good portion of the class examining the characters and the theme of the works. We found a lot of stereotypical female characters that would fit in with the characterizations in cartoons that the author discussed. There is the girl who wants to be the perfect wife, but there are also girls that end up saving their loved ones like Grettel who saves her brother from the witch who wants to eat him. We read some works that the character was an ethnic person and did work to better their own lives. “Yeh Shen” is the Chinese version of “Cinderella”. She works hard to please her family and to keep in favor with the spirits who aid her in her journey. She takes it upon herself to find the lost shoe and she does not go looking for it so she can fall in love, but so she can please the spirits. I think that there are stories and cartoons that do a good job of addressing issues of race and power, but it takes a little bit more of an effort to find them. They’re not as easily accessible, but they are out there.
Talking Points #3 (super late, but better than never)
Dennis Carlson
“Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community”
1) “At the level of state educational policy, it is noteworthy that no state currently recognizes gays and lesbians as legitimate minority or cultural groups to be considered in textbook adoption or to be included in multicultural education; and a number of states explicitly prohibit teaching about homosexuality.” Pg. 236
I thought this was interesting because I didn’t realize that homosexuality was being banned from the curriculum on the state level. I find it interesting that ethnic literature and history is beginning to be integrated into the curriculum for students, but nothing about gays and lesbians. I wonder if the continued avoidance of the topic is because some people believe you can choose to be gay or lesbian, but cannot choose what race you are. Therefore if it is shunned in school, it would deter young people from feeling that the gay/lesbian lifestyle is okay.
2) “Aside from being an absence in the curriculum, gayness has been made visible in some various limited and marginalized contexts. To the extent that gayness is recognized in the curriculum, it is likely to be in the health curriculum, where it is associated with disease.” Pg. 237
When a child is taught about homosexuality, they learn about it in a negative context. Homosexuals are associated with AIDS because they were one of the first groups of people it was discovered in within the country. Again the school system seems to be doing everything it can possibly do because they want to discourage the students from accepting the gay and lesbian lifestyle.
3) “Part of the problem to begin with was that the curriculum was developed by school district staff in the central office with relatively little input from the communities that were to ’implement’ the imposed plan for multicultural education.” Pg. 250
This seems similar to the problem with multilingual education in that the people who have to use the educational curriculum have little input on what it would look like. It causes tension between the school and the home cultures. Also it could make children feel like they are not good enough if their culture is not represented in the curriculum.
There was one part of the article that I could really connect to. It was when the “witch-hunting” of gay teachers was being discussed. This actually happened in my high school. I went to a pretty strict Catholic high school and we had a gay English teacher in our freshman year. The administration did not know that the teacher was gay for about three years. All the kids had their suspicions, be we all respected and liked him enough not to voice those suspicions to parents or the principal. One kid got a D as a midterm grade and he was pretty upset about it. He didn’t think that he deserved it so he decided that he was going to get back at the English teacher. He told his mother, conservative Portuguese-speaking Catholic, that the English teacher was gay and was making comments to all the boys in the class. Completely false information, but the mother took it to the principal and the principal had the teacher removed. He was allowed to finish the year, but the vice-principal oversaw all his classes and he was not allowed to talk to any of the students outside of class. He was humiliated and we lost a really good teacher just because he was gay. It was like the administration thought that gayness was contagious or something. The school is independent and doesn’t answer to the Diocese or the school district so there was no way that we could have the decision overturned.
“Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community”
1) “At the level of state educational policy, it is noteworthy that no state currently recognizes gays and lesbians as legitimate minority or cultural groups to be considered in textbook adoption or to be included in multicultural education; and a number of states explicitly prohibit teaching about homosexuality.” Pg. 236
I thought this was interesting because I didn’t realize that homosexuality was being banned from the curriculum on the state level. I find it interesting that ethnic literature and history is beginning to be integrated into the curriculum for students, but nothing about gays and lesbians. I wonder if the continued avoidance of the topic is because some people believe you can choose to be gay or lesbian, but cannot choose what race you are. Therefore if it is shunned in school, it would deter young people from feeling that the gay/lesbian lifestyle is okay.
2) “Aside from being an absence in the curriculum, gayness has been made visible in some various limited and marginalized contexts. To the extent that gayness is recognized in the curriculum, it is likely to be in the health curriculum, where it is associated with disease.” Pg. 237
When a child is taught about homosexuality, they learn about it in a negative context. Homosexuals are associated with AIDS because they were one of the first groups of people it was discovered in within the country. Again the school system seems to be doing everything it can possibly do because they want to discourage the students from accepting the gay and lesbian lifestyle.
3) “Part of the problem to begin with was that the curriculum was developed by school district staff in the central office with relatively little input from the communities that were to ’implement’ the imposed plan for multicultural education.” Pg. 250
This seems similar to the problem with multilingual education in that the people who have to use the educational curriculum have little input on what it would look like. It causes tension between the school and the home cultures. Also it could make children feel like they are not good enough if their culture is not represented in the curriculum.
There was one part of the article that I could really connect to. It was when the “witch-hunting” of gay teachers was being discussed. This actually happened in my high school. I went to a pretty strict Catholic high school and we had a gay English teacher in our freshman year. The administration did not know that the teacher was gay for about three years. All the kids had their suspicions, be we all respected and liked him enough not to voice those suspicions to parents or the principal. One kid got a D as a midterm grade and he was pretty upset about it. He didn’t think that he deserved it so he decided that he was going to get back at the English teacher. He told his mother, conservative Portuguese-speaking Catholic, that the English teacher was gay and was making comments to all the boys in the class. Completely false information, but the mother took it to the principal and the principal had the teacher removed. He was allowed to finish the year, but the vice-principal oversaw all his classes and he was not allowed to talk to any of the students outside of class. He was humiliated and we lost a really good teacher just because he was gay. It was like the administration thought that gayness was contagious or something. The school is independent and doesn’t answer to the Diocese or the school district so there was no way that we could have the decision overturned.
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