Blog Post #10 - Education is Politics (Quotes)

          Several quotes stuck out to me as I read "Education is Politics: An Agenda for Empowerment" by Ira Shor. The first was "The teacher brings lesson plans, learning methods, personal experience, and academic knowledge to class but negotiates the curriculum with the students and begins with their language, themes and understandings." I believe this to be true because similar to "Literacy With An Attitude", education takes both the teacher and students to work together in order to learn. I though this quote summarized that idea pretty well. The teacher brings knowledge to the classroom but first starts on the same level as the students.

          "Only by active learning could students develop scientific methods and democratic habits rather than becoming passive pupils waiting to be told what things means and what to do." This quote summarized the article pretty well. This article has a political ideals in it, and this quote summarizes those ideas. In order for the student to grow into a successful citizen, they must first take charge in the classroom and become active there first. These will build life goals that will help them later in life.

          "To [Bowles and Gintis], schooling supports existing power and divisions in society by sorting students into a small elite destined for the top and a large mass destined for the middle and bottom - an educational policy also studied carefully by Spring (1989) and by Oakes (1985)." This too reminded me of "Literacy With An Attitude." One of the main ideas from that reading was the study that was taken to see how schools of different economic backgrounds treated their students differently. This statement coincides with their findings. The rich schools allow students to think for themselves and give them a great schooling experience while the poorer schools care less for their students and only accept the correct answer. This quote reinforces that ideal, that students' futures largely depend on where they go to school.

This article shows several strategies a teacher can use to become a more successful teacher.

Blog Post #9 - Literacy With An Attitude (Reflection)

          I found "Literacy With An Attitude" by Patrick Finn very interesting primarily because of the study found within it. This study looked at several different schools and studied student's lesson plan as well as the teacher's and student's reactions to the curriculum day-to-day. The schools that were studied had differing economic incomes, based on the parents of the children attending the school. What I found interesting that was found from the study was that schooling changed dramatically based on how much income a student's family sees.

          In the Professional-Affluent school for example, teachers come from everywhere in the state, students are encouraged to be creative in their responses, and discovery and experience is more important than "getting the right answer." This school's parents earned the top 10% of income based on the study. This is shocking when compared to the middle class student experience. Teachers yell more often, they are more encouraged to get the "right" answer, and most teachers live somewhere in the area. When one takes a step back and looks at how differently we teach children, I believe more can be explained as to how people fall into certain categories and find it difficult to remove themselves from these categories, negative or otherwise.

This article explains how where you live can determine your educational experience.

Blog Post #10 - Citizenship in School (Reflection)

          In "Citizenship in School: Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome", author Christopher Kliewer gives insight into several different student's lives that are afflicted with down syndrome. One class that was focused on was Shayne Robbins' classroom. Shayne struck me as an excellent teacher. Robbin's school sounds like it truly cares about educating its students. It is a parent-run school that helps children in small classrooms. One of Shayne's students, Isaac, is afflicted with down syndrome. This label did not stop Shayne however, she still taught the class and treated everyone as equals. I enjoyed that the class as a whole acted out Isaac's favorite book, "Where the Wild Things Are." This is a very special book to Isaac and it must have made him very happy to not only read it in class, but later act it out as well by starring as the main character, Max. Shayne's ability to treat all of her students as equals was remarkable. This clearly had a large impact on Isaac's ability to learn and participate in class.

          The main idea that I took away from this article was as a teacher, you should treat all of your students equally, regardless of any background they may have or how high they scored on a standardized test. You should treat them like you would treat anybody else, because they are their own person, not just a test score. I aspire to be more like Shayne in my classroom one day.

This article was an interesting read on teaching children with down syndrome and their teacher's ability to help them.

Blog Post #9.5 Oakes (Quotes)

In "Tracking: Why Schools Need to Take Another Route" by Jeannie Oakes, several quotes stuck out to me. The first had to do with ineffective teaching and learning strategies. "Learning tasks consisted most often of memorizing and repeating answers back to the teacher." This stuck out to me because I have always felt that the majority of high school for me was exactly this: blindly repeating definitions we have memorized the night before in order to pass a quiz or test. I remember a teacher saying once that this strategy was ineffective because if you were to ask that student a few weeks later those same words they could not do it.

"Unless teachers and administrators believe and expect all students to learn well, they will be in likely to create school and classroom conditions where students believe in their own ability and exert the effort it takes to succeed." Many people forget that school is not only the effort of the student as well as the effort of the teacher. Most people assume that if a student is failing a class that it is the student's fault, while it could just as likely be the teacher's inability to reach or teach the student. Teachers need to come in with a positive mindset as well as the students in order for everyone to achieve.

"... there is considerable evidence that even the very best students make stronger intellectual gains while working with students of varying skill levels than when they work alone." While the majority of the article spoke of group projects and students working together, this quote wrapped up the entire notion pretty well. If the mind of a student is engaged on several levels: interacting with one another, problem solving, and abstract thinking just as a few examples, their mind grows much more in these group projects than learning by themselves.

This article from Starting Point shows some pointers on assigning group work and different roles students can use to complete a certain project.

Jeannie Oakes:

Blog Post #8 - Becoming Something Different (Quotes)

          "Becoming Something Different" by Fairbanks, Crooks, and Ariail was a very insightful piece. Researchers follow Esmé from the sixth grade until the eleventh grade and note how she reacts to different components of school. "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." I picked this quote because it shows how difficult school can be for students that speak a different language. They not only have to learn English, they have to be taught in a second language, read books in a second language, and write in a second language. Many teachers are unaware of this difficulty meaning that many children are discouraged from learning and school in general. This is a terrible fact and I enjoy that this reading brings this point forward.

          "At the end of seventh grade, she thought she had become a little bit stronger student. I think it’s because I’m getting a little bit more help ’cause they changed my schedule, right? And so they gave me a reading class, a lower, a reading class [at] my level." This was good to see, the school was working with Esmé in order for her to understand her work. I was glad that the school understood that she was having difficulty and placed her in a remedial class in order for her to gain the skills she needed to continue with school. I'm sure this helped her self-esteem as well.

           "Esmé’s struggle with writing and grammar usage was a reminder of her status as an English language learner and her ongoing acquisition of academic English." This quote stuck out to me personally because I wish to become a high school English teacher one day. I want to treat all my students as equals and will hopefully realize when a certain student is having trouble with certain skills. I don't want any student leaving my class discouraged because English is not their first language.

This video shows an interesting immersion program in which students learn both English and Spanish as one at a young age.

Blog Post # 7 - Between Barack and a Hard Place (Reflection)

          In his video "Between Barack and a Hard Place", Tim Wise talks about topics of white privilege and how schools give advantages to white people and not to African Americans. Several good points were made and made me realize that some statements such as "I don't need to talk about racism, I have many black friends." I used to think this was a completely valid statement, if you have African American friends then you couldn't be racist. But as Wise explains, most people would either lie about this statement or simply state that they had friends but they were really more acquaintances. This with his statistics of white and black people in America made me realize this statement was false.

           Wise also touched on how different professions will practice these racist thoughts and stereotypes. Doctors and brokers will not give the same treatment to black people they give to white people. This was similar to several readings we have read thus far, especially "White Privilege" by Peggy McIntosh. Different racial groups will receive different treatment than white people, for example black people will be more likely to be suspected of shoplifting than white people.

          One of my favorite parts of the speech was that Tim Wise admitted to having racist thoughts. Wise, someone who fights everyday for racial equality in America, still has racist thoughts because he is conditioned to this because of several different factors in society. I was glad that he openly admitted this, and when he talked of the other college in which he did this, several students started sharing different stories of racist experiences. I believe that the first step in order to stopping racism is first admitting that it is prevalent in everyday society. If this first step is accomplished, I believe that these ideas will slowly fade from existence.


This song by Nas talks about the struggles of being brought up in a black community and the struggles such as drugs, gangs, gun violence and several other topics. Warning, contains strong language.

Social Justice Event - Shirley Wilcher

           On March 18th, I attended a Social Justice Event which was hosted by Shirley Wilcher, Executive Director of the American Association for Access. She spoke of affirmative action and the "Age of Inclusion," a time we are living in as people of different ethnicity are attempting to obtain jobs held particularly by people that are white and mostly males. This reminded me of the first reading we had in class, "Privilege, Power and Difference" by Allan Johnson. I was reminded of the term "white privilege" and I felt it was very applicable here. Jobs that have been held by white males for years are now opening up to people of different color which is a great start. Wilcher touched on this subject, saying that  if a white person and a person of color both applied for the same job, chances are it would go to the white person simply based on appearance and not on background skills or talents. People on the street talk of white privilege in this video.

          Wilcher also commented on this Age of Inclusion not only includes people of color, but people with disabilities and the LGBT community as well. This reminds me of "Speaking the Unspeakable in Forbidden Places" by Allan et. all. This reading challenges the fact that many schools don't teach about gayness at a young age, causing unfair stigmas against gays at an older age. I feel this directly relates to Wilcher and The Age of Inclusion. Many of these people not hiring gays were not taught at a young age that they are equal to everyone else. I feel like if this topic was taught at a young age many gays would be more openly accepted into society and more likely to achieve positions of power within the jobs they wish to receive. This short film explores the idea if the world was primarily gay and that straight would be the minority.

           Another group that Wilcher spoke of that are now being accepted into jobs are women. Women have gone years without holding positions of power, and not until only recently have they received these jobs. They still hold positions that make less than men, but it is a good start nonetheless. This reminded me of a quote from "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" by Peggy McIntosh. "13. I can speak in public to a powerful male group without putting my race on trial" (2). While this is more applicable to a non-white person, I felt that speaking to a group of powerful males was applicable to women in general. This is an advantage of white privilege and I found it related to what Wilcher was speaking of. I'm sure that many women are very nervous when it comes to these interviews. Wilcher also commented that one woman in particular applying for a powerful position was told that the job was "dirty" and "she wouldn't like it." Wilcher said in response to this that it was unfair for the male interviewer to say this to the female interviewee, claiming that it would be disheartening to hear this and that she was discouraged to pursue the job. This video explores the topic of gender equality.

Blog Post #6 - In The Service of What? (Quotes)

          In "In The Service of What?" by Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer, both authors compare different forms of service learning projects and their effect on the students and community they were helping. They look at two different perspectives one can have when they help others, and the two words they use to define this are "Giving" and "Caring." One quote that I found interesting was "Educators and legislators alike maintain that service learning can improve the community and invigorate the classroom, providing rich educational experiences for students at all levels of schooling" (1). I enjoyed this quote because I related to it personally. I am currently volunteering at The Met high school in Providence, and the students there are required to perform a service learning project. While theirs' is not exactly the same as the students in this article, the fact remains that Met students are going out into the world and having hands-on experiences in the field they wish to follow in life. This provides the students with "rich educational experiences" and allows them to see the day to day goings-on in a job which they would like to acquire some day.

          "By engaging in meaningful service—whether tutoring children for whom English is a second language, helping patients in a hospital, doing difficult chores for the elderly, or supervising younger children's recreational activities—students will have opportunities to experience what David Hornbeck, former Maryland state superintendent, referred to as "the joy of reaching out to others""(4). I found in intriguing that the article pointed out the differences between the two service learning projects. Mr. Johnson's class would work on the problem at hand, while Ms. Adams' class would try to understand and prevent the problem. I believe that Johnson's class having hands-on experience with the homeless for example would yield a much better experience and allow the students to see life through another person's eyes. What made this notion clear for me was from one of the students' journals that, along with his stepmother, helped veterans on Thanksgiving. "It seemed that the dinner was something special to them; it was a chance for them to get together with their peers. Many don't have families in the area and are all alone for the holidays. This made it a little less lonely, which feels great. Thank you for giving me the chance to help!" (7).

This video gives a clear definition and the importance of service learning.

Blog Post #5 - Unlearning The Myths That Bind Us (Reflection)

          In "Unlearning The Myths That Bind Us" by Linda Christensen, several points are brought up as to why feeding our children with racist cartoons, advertisements, and images of a "perfect" society is harmful. This article was interesting, I hadn't really thought about how racist old cartoons and TV shows actually are. I had always thought of them as favoring male characters by saving the "damsel in distress" for example, but hadn't really dug deeper than that. I enjoyed how this teacher made her children watch these old cartoons and enter information into a checklist when they thought something was racist or sexist. It's a great strategy to really analyze what our children are seeing and also does a good job showing why certain racial groups are looked down upon in society. No one likes talking about racism and sexism, but I'm sure it's the last thing on their mind as they're popping in a Disney movie for their young children to watch.

          Exposing children to these racist and sexist images at such a young age affects them greatly later on in life. Some don't even realize they are being fed racist material until they are in high school. That is a long period of time to be subjected to these messages. Females take a large hit too. If they are not the "perfect" body size and shape, Disney movies (along with advertisements, TV shows, magazine covers, essentially media as a whole) show them that they will not be happy. They are also fed that they need a "Prince Charming" which is also a falsehood. I am glad there are teachers that are trying to undo this brainwashing of young children's minds.

An example of a racist cartoon that is related to this article would be this one. It is a banned Daffy Duck cartoon, in which he portrays being a Nazi during World War II. It contains extremely racist portrayals of different racial groups as well as war propaganda.

Linda Christensen:

Blog Post #4 - Speaking the Unspeakable in Forbidden Places (Reflection)

          In "Speaking the Unspeakable in Forbidden Places: Addressing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender equality in the Primary School" authors Allan, Atkinson, Brace, DePalma, and Hemingway discuss what it is like for teachers who are "out" to teach young children and student's reactions to gay and lesbian discussion. I enjoyed this article because I agree with the notion that children should be exposed to gay and lesbian relationships early. This is important so they don't get the notion that being gay is "weird" or "strange." It's necessary for a child to learn there are gay and lesbian people in the world so that when they get older, it's not an uncomfortable and strange notion to them. It is these kinds of feelings of confusion that I believe lead to gay and lesbian students being bullied and labeled an outcast.

          I thought this article was similar to the articles we have read in the past about certain racial groups feeling like outcasts just because they were a different color or looked slightly different from the Caucasian race. In this case however, it is a person's sexual identity which makes them feel like an outsider, which is equally as ridiculous. Just like African Americans not being able to see their race being represented on TV commercials and in greeting cards, as are homosexuals not being represented in mainstream society. Most Disney stories are told through a heterosexual lens, with the feminine princess falling in love with the masculine prince. That is why the teacher in this article dressed up as a slightly more masculine Cinderella, dubbed "Cindy" donning a leather jacket and tutu. Similar to most articles we have read thus far, "Speaking the Unspeakable" made me realize there are many problems that teachers can solve slowly but surely within the walls of the school system.

If you want to witness how children react to gay marriage first-hand, this video will give you good insight.

Blog Post #3 - Why Can't She Remember That? (Quotes)

          There were three quotes from Terry Meier's "Why Can't She Remember That? The Importance of Storybook Reading in Multilingual, Multicultural Classrooms" that stuck out to me. The first was "She found very few differences between the two groups on quantitative measures of linguistic complexity or in the abstract level of their talk." (242). This was in reference to the comparing the linguistic skills of low-income African American children and middle-class European children. The results found that there were very few differences in the way the children talked and interacted with their classmates. This quote stuck out to me because too easily most people assume that children of different background will think a certain way or will not be able to learn a certain way and keep up with all the other children in class. This is not the case, as this study proves. It's terrible that society groups these children together as separate groups at such a young age and gives one group advantages that the other doesn't have. How can certain groups of people be expected to thrive and be successful in America when they are categorized and stereotyped at such a young age?

          The second quote that had an impact on me was "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 and to accomplish his or her social purposes." (243). This was in reference to several different children of different backgrounds using the stories they had read to them to their advantage, such as the girl who dropped her rice cake and recited part of a song so her mother would get it back for her. She realized that simply asking for it back wouldn't accomplish her goal, so she used her charm and sung a cute verse so her mom would get it back for her. This is similar to the African American child who recited a poem created on the spot to escape punishment from his mother. Both cases are amazing to me, that at such a young age children realize how to recite important verses from stories they are being told and apply it to a real life situation. I didn't realize that children had the intellectual ability to do this and I really enjoyed learning that they can perform such a feat.

          The third and final quote that stuck out to me was "Yet no one could argue with the fact that the earlier this experience occurs - the sooner children forge a deep and authentic connection to books - the likelier it is that they will be successful in school." (246). This quote is a constant reminder the importance of books and education in general. Learning to read and write are the important skills a young child needs, but going that deeper level and connecting with a book and applying it to real life, as the children did that were mentioned earlier, has a deep impact on a child and the rest of their life will follow this trend and they will eventually become more and more intelligent.

Brain Development in Young Children

Blog Post #2 - Delpit Reading (Reflection)

          In "The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People's Children", author Lisa Delpit tackles the tough subject on how different teaching styles affect children of different color and background. She also discusses how white teachers teach vs. African American teachers. The "silenced dialogue" she is referring to is white educators not listening to African American educators and parents alike when they try to tell them that their teaching method is not effective based on the fact that African American children learn slightly differently when compared to white children. This is due to a number of different factors. Differences in life at home and rules children are given change the way they perceive commands. The "silenced dialogue" is the white teachers listening, but not really listening.
         
          This was another piece that made me realize that there are problems in the world that people deal with every day but because of my skin color and gender, I simply don't realize exist. For one thing, I can't imagine how unbelievably frustrating it would be to tell someone something and have them not listen and keep on making the same mistake. This is how I allowed myself to get into the mind of someone experiencing having their dialogue silenced. From here, I read the remainder of the article in this mindset. One quote that helped me further understand this problem was a comment made by one of the parents of the African American children. They said (in direction to the white teacher) "My kids know how to be black - you all teach them them how to be successful in the white man's world." This quote was especially powerful to think about. Again, an issue that I personally have not witnessed by as soon as it is introduced to me, makes me think. With our class discussions of the subject of white privilege and whites holding powerful positions in the job world, and the fact that the average white family makes 10x more than the average African American family, a parent being upset that a white teacher is teaching their African American children how to succeed in the white man's world makes complete sense. The white teacher has a warped sense of the world because they can not see the world through the eyes of the African American student, making succeeding much more difficult for them.

          This piece made me realize that just because there is a difference in the way certain children learn, doesn't mean that we should silence those just trying to help. If a person understands a problem better than you, the best course of action is to listen to that person rather than attempting to solve the problem based on your own solution. This was a powerful piece, and made me realize there are problems in the world that need to be tackled together.

Lisa Delpit talks about her book Multiplication is for White People

Lisa Delpit:

Blog Post #1 - McIntosh Reading

          In "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack", Peggy McIntosh argues that one of the main reasons white privilege exists is because of white's failure to recognize its existence. McIntosh references the fact that males realize that females are at an disadvantage when it comes to several aspects: women make less, women hold less positions in political office, women are not taken as seriously as men when they express their ideas to a group, to name a few. Men will admit these problems exist, but they won't admit that their gender admits them to these privileges. McIntosh uses this example and compares it to white privilege. "As a white person, I realized I had been taught about racism as something which puts others at a disadvantage, but had been taught not to see one of its corollary aspects, white privilege which puts me at an advantage." (McIntosh 1). McIntosh argues that admitting that privilege exists is half the battle. In other words, realizing that other groups are at a disadvantage is a good start, but to fully solve the problem there must not be advantages for one group of people and not another.

          The list of advantages that McIntosh lists were interesting and eye-opening as well. Similar to the Johnston piece that dealt with white privilege, there were several privileges that I read that I had not considered before. Both pieces that dealt with white privilege made me realize that I, a white male living in a society that is dominated by white males, am subject to much advantage compared to non whites or females. One point that had an effect on me was the following: "20. I can easily buy posters, post-cards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys, and children’s magazines featuring people of my race." Something like this simply had not occurred to me before. It just seemed natural to buy a poster or Hallmark card that featured a smiling white person. But to someone that is not white, it must seem very strange to buy a card for a loved one that does not feature one's own skin color or ethnicity. Most of these things I take for granted, whether it be buying a magazine at the store and seeing a white person on the cover, or buying something from a store without having several forms of ID being shown. I have lived my life through the eyes of a white male, making this reading as well as the Johnston reading eye-opening as well as putting things into perspective.

          A related link: Jon Stewart invites Bill O'Reilly onto his show to debate the subject of white privilege. Several related topics are discussed during this debate, along with putting things into perspective for white males who share O'Reilly's beliefs.

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8raaT7SRx18

          One point I can raise in class is to cite the list that McIntosh created to display the several advantages whites have over other races in society. Several different points touch on how whites make more than other races, have the ability to criticize the government, are able to buy dolls and toys that resemble whites, and several other examples. McIntosh does a good job of explaining to the reader the concept of white privilege, and cites many examples as well.

Peggy McIntosh:

An Introduction

Hello,

          My name is Frankie O'Hara and this is currently my third year here at RIC. I was a Computer Science major but decided to switch to Education because I enjoy the idea of being a teacher much more. I am so far enjoying this semester, all of my classes, including this one, are going a-okay. I enjoy going to RIC, this school always seems to help me out of problems that may arise as I'm picking classes or any other run of the mill problem. I have nothing else to say, so I will end this post with a picture of an adorable kitten: