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: