Talking Point #10

Ira Shor, Empowering Education

1. "No curriculum can be neutral. 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." (Shor 12-13)

This quote strongly portrays the main theme of the article. It is important to recognize things such as subject matter, textbooks, school funding, etc. because all connect to the politics every classroom. There are a variety of ways to manipulate the learning process by limiting available resources. Issues such as equal funding are extremely large problems to fight and leave some of the biggest impacts. There is no way to claim that textbooks and subject content are neutral because all textbooks are bias of the authors; all people provide one restricted viewpoint of a subject and unless teachers are providing their students with documents from every viewpoint of every concept (which is virtually impossible) the information being taught in the classroom is not neutral. This is how students from the United States graduate from high school with a close-minded background of Western Civilization; It was not until my second year of college until I learned of a non-western country. This narrow spectrum of knowledge is extremely disabling and blinding of all other possible viewpoints.

2. "teachers make many decisions--themes, texts, tests, seating arrangements, rules for speaking, grading systems, learning process, and so on. Through these practical choices, the politics of the classroom are defined, as a critical or uncritical, democratic or authoritarian." (Shor 14)

I find this quote to be a good continuation of the first quote mentioned. After coming to terms with the fact that a curriculum cannot be neutral, it is important for teachers to acknowledge how strongly their choices impact the learning atmosphere in the classroom and ways in which they can counter balance disabling issues that are out of their control. Each decision can either enable or disable students and it is the responsibility of every teacher to find ways to engage each student. In doing so, teachers must acknowledge the fact that every student learns differently and has different interests. This may involve a variety of grading techniques, textbooks, seating arrangements etc. in order to make sure that at some point each students feels most comfortable and engaged in the classroom. Encouraging participation, as also strongly focused upon in this article, is extremely critical to a democratic atmosphere of a classroom. Students can not be engaged by pure lecture. Participation of students sparks curiosity, creativity, and a larger spectrum of knowledge, beliefs, and ideas. Not only is it important for students to have the opportunity to voice their own opinions in the classroom, it is equally important for them to hear the opinions of their peers. This quote shows the true importance of being a teacher. There is an intense amount of responsibility and decision making and each one can leave a huge impact on students. I believe that these choices separate the successful, helpful, unforgettable teachers from the ones who are more concerned with following the directions and collecting a paycheck. Anyone can become a teacher but those who are conscious of making successful decisions definitely stand out from the rest.

3. "People begin life as motivated learners, not as passive beings. Children naturally join the world around them. They learn by interacting, by experimenting, and by using play to internalize the meaning of words and experienced. Language intrigues children: they have needs they want met; they busy the older people in their lives with questions and requests for show me, tell me. But year by year their dynamic learning erodes in passive classrooms not organized around their cultural backgrounds, conditions, or interests. Their curiosity and social instincts decline, until many become nonparticipants." (Shor 17)

I am sorry that this quote is so long, but I found it to be extremely descriptive and correct as to what happens to a child's creativity and curiosity as they grow older. Students are pushed away from their curiosities and creative minds and, unfortunately after years of constant discipline, they learn to become passive and unquestioning. This quote strongly reminds me of the TED video of Ken Robinson of how schools kill creativity. School curriculum and particular teaching styles can strongly disable students. Even though I think this issues has many contributing factors, lack of engagement and participation have a major impact on the encouragement of creativity. If students never question activities, subjects, etc. the only source providing education is the teacher. It is when the students ask questions and add their own thoughts and ideas into class discussions that topics can be taken a step deeper and investigated on a stronger level. If no one bothers to ask questions changes will never be made; changes that often need to be made. By pushing students to be passive and unquestioning, we are raising the future generations of adults to also be unquestioning and inactive. By looking back in history, I find it simple to distinguish between the past when people were taught to have individual ideas, to be active members of society, to produce change, and not be afraid to be curious and creative, and the present where people are much more reserved and spend more time focusing on following the rules and their roles in society. Even though I feel as though structure can be a helpful aid, it is crucial to realize that too much structure (in anything) can be destructible.

I enjoyed reading this article, even though I found it to be very long and somewhat repetitive. The key points of this article were extremely powerful and relevant to what we have been learning in our class. This article definitely left me with a lot to think about; it shows how important a teachers every day decisions are and how critical it is to be conscious of every choice. It was also empowering because the article also focused on how successful a classroom can be because of the decisions of an individual teacher. Though it is stressful to realize how much responsibility teachers have, it is awesome to know how positively they can affect them as well. I think this would be a great article to look back on when I become a teacher and I start to make some of these decisions for my students. I will definitely encourage participation, group work, and asking questions in order to allow them to think critically and be active in the classroom.

This article reminded me a lot of our FNED class. Even though Dr. Bogad's class is like many classes at R.I.C. she has made small, but conscious, changes that have creative an extremely encouraging learning environment. We focus more on class discussions rather than lecture, we have an inclusive seating arrangement and do a variety of activities to help engage people differently. I think many of us knew we liked this class from the beginning of the semester but could not quite figure out why for a few weeks. This proved to me how important these slight changes can be for a student to feel like an active participant rather than an unquestioning listener. And to prove the theories of this article, I personally feel as though I have learned more in FNED than any other class at R.I.C.

People Like Us

Below are just a few pieces from a documentary called People Like Us. The main reason for this documentary is to emphasize the presence and importance of social class in America. The variety of personal stories gives the audience insight to how each group views class, their position in class, and where others stand. Many of these videos go deeply into Delpit's idea of the rules and codes of power; how does someone climb the social ladder to become wealthy, what rules do they have to learn in order to get there, and what characteristics hold people back from rising in social status? This documentary made some of the things we have been learning more real. Sometimes I think having a visual makes these topics more personal and, therefore, easier to understand.I figured that some of the other people in our class would find these videos interesting. Listening to the different stories also helped me to realize how big of an issue this topic is to Americans. Many people think of class differently. What is class? Is it based solely on economics or is it much deeper than that? What characteristics determine a person's class? These are all complex questions and could be answered differently by individual Americans. Hopefully these videos will make you think...

Talking Point #9

Kliewer, Citizenship In School: Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome

1. "Success in life requires an ability to form relationships with others who make up the web of community. Though many of us have a certain level of control over who we meet and interact with, none of us can come close to claiming complete control. So we must learn to work with others..." (Kliewer)

This quote reminded me of Oaks' article about tracking. Tracking systems are restricting and harmful. They marginalize all students, especially those labeled with disabilities. It places individuals in classes with others with the same "label" of intelligence. Not only does this stereotypes students abilities and put a cap on their expectations, it keeps them isolated from people who learn differently. The process of sorting people disables them from seeing, thinking, or acting a different way. It makes people close-minded and unaware of other perspectives. This leads to a number of issues that we have focused on in FNED, particularly the issues of privilege that Johnson focuses on in his article. FNED has opened my eyes to how narrow my world was growing up in South Kingstown. Unfortunately, I had no control over the environment that I was raised in, as does any other child. Every location has a different amount of diversity, every school is run differently, and every child is exposed to different things. As delpit proved, people from different races and, more importantly classes, are raised differently by their parents and treated differently by teachers. Most of our beliefs are solely based upon our personal experiences. If we are kept from situations to learn from people who are different from us, we will never understand how our beliefs compare. Before people can be the change, as Johnson hopes, to inequalities in the world, they must first be exposed, aware, and understanding of the issues and of others points of view.

2. "Shayne and her associates worked to create a context that supported all children's full participation. Shayne explained: 'It's not like they come here to be labeled, or to believe the label. We're all here-kids, teachers, parents, whoever- it's about all of us working together, playing together, being together, and that's what learning is." (Kliewer)

Shayne's classroom is a diverse setting with students of different ages and levels of ability. Her focus is to make sure that all students are equal participants in the class and all have the opportunity to learn from one another. She makes sure not to isolate the children labeled with disabilities in her classroom; she does not view this tactic as beneficial to either the disabled students or the rest of the class. Shayne's classroom is oppositely structured from a tracked classroom where students are sorted by their levels of ability. In this classroom, students become aware and comfortable with diversity and will grow to be much more understanding of people who are different from them. This quote also reminded me of something Professor Bogad mentioned the other day. Our classroom is not tracked. We are all asked to participate equally and we are not limited to where we sit, what we say, etc. Shayne's classroom reminded me a lot of Professor Bogad's classroom in terms of the diversity and yet strong sense of community.

3. "Community acceptance requires opportunity for individual participation in a group, but opportunity cannot exist outside of community acceptance." (Kliewer)

I had to read this quote over a few times in order to fully understand it but once I did I found it to be very powerful. Like with many other issues of inequality, our society is facing the issue of lack of acceptance of people with disabilities. Many people have used disabled people as a source of humor and have grown to use words like "retarded" in a derogatory form. In order to transform this issue into communal acceptance, we must first understand the issues, accept these people and their differences, and allow them back into the community as active participants rather than outsiders. The issue with this process, which the author rose in the article, is that communal acceptance and individual participation in a group go hand in hand; one cannot happen before the other. It is a very difficult change to accomplish which is why it is such a slow moving process. Opening our eyes to others and learning to be accepting of differences is truly the only way to begin this process of change. Shayne's classroom is a perfect example of both community acceptance and individual participation in the group. All students are active participants and are so because everyone in the class views one another as equal; equally accepted and equally important to the group. The class works as a team rather than a separation system where students are labeled by their expected capabilities.

I found this article to be extremely powerful. Like Dr. Bogad had warned, I found the first few pages to be tricky to read but the second half to flow very well. I think it is important that we read Oak's article prior to this one in order to have a background of negative situations to compare the more positive situations mentioned in this article. The two articles contrasted each other very well and I found that after reading Oak's piece I was curious to know many things that this article was able to answer for me; my main question being what makes a classroom that is not tracked so successful?

This article related very closely to some of the other authors read so far in FNED. Like I have previously mentioned, I found it useful to have a strong understanding of Johnson's ideas of privilege, lack of privilege, and the concept of being the change. I also found it important to have an understanding of Delpit's claims relating to the differences in learning and teaching styles of people from different social classes. Most of all, this article related to Oak's piece on tracking. Tracking is a very different approach from what is focused on in this piece. This article spends a lot of time focusing on school as a democracy and as a community. This article proved, to me personally, that there are other (better) ways to structure schools besides tracking. Even though there are debatable advantages to tracking schools, there are a number of other situations where students are not being marginalized and sorted by any means. Rather than seeking to categorize students, this idea of community allows children to act individually as equal citizens, equal participants in the classroom.

Below is a clip from the movie The Ringer. This is just one example of how the media has used people with disabilities for a source of humor.

Promising Practices

I had mixed feelings walking into the Promising Practices Conference. I was running late, like usual, which made me even more nervous and flustered, and the minute I walked in I realized that I was totally overdressed. After my initial anxiety slowed down I walked over to the table and found my folder. I stood in the corner of Donovan and began to scan for people that I could sit with. I was nervously searching for a few minutes until I found Tara. I felt much better after finding a familiar face to sit with.

My first session was called The Media Made Me Do It, by Marco McWilliams. His main focus during this session was to show us how much the media manipulates consumers and how often privilege and stereotypes are depicted in advertisements. I already have a strong background with this topic because I took a class called Gender and Society during my first semester and RIC. It was still interesting to hear Marco McWilliams' take on the topic and to see the reactions of my peers who were realizing these things for the first time. One thing that I wish he did differently was the way that he set up his presentation. He had a powerpoint presentation where he showed a lot of advertisements and related information. Even though I think this was helpful to his presentation, I wish that he incorporated the audience more. I felt like his presentation was more of a lecture than a workshop.

He repeatedly pointed out issues relating to Johnson involving privilege. It is common for advertisements to depict the value of whiteness, masculinity, and wealth in particular. McWilliams provided many examples of advertisements when women are objectified, seen as sexual figures, and most importantly less important than men. When men and women are seen together in ads, it is common for men to depict a person of strength, power, and assertiveness, where women are often more passive and weak. Race and class also come into the picture when males and females are advertised together because the few times that women are seen as stronger and more important than the men is when they are of a higher class or race; When their lack of gender privilege is superseded by another form of privilege. Marco McWilliams also touched on Delpit's idea of the rules and codes of power. Advertising companies and other forms of the media have manipulated consumers into accepting that these absolutely ridiculous visuals are okay. They know what sells and how to convince consumers that these are positive images when they are allowing major issues like objectifying women as sex objects to carry on.










These are just a few of the images that Macro McWilliams included in his presentation. The issues in the first advertisement are pretty self explanatory. Clearly the girl's facial expression, the shape of the food being advertised, and the name of the food make sexual references. The Dolce and Gabbana advertisement is very oppressive to women. She is very passive, allowing herself to be controlled, and pushing her hips towards the male in a sexual way. They are all depicted as members of the same class. Though many people would not notice as first thought, this is a very strong representation of a gang bang. The third advertisement blew me away. During McWilliams' presentation he showed these pictures separately. The cover of this magazine underwent a lot of criticism, even before someone linked it to the advertisement of the U.S. army. The last advertisement posted on my blog is a good example of how women are objectified. Her head is cut out of the picture which shows that the focus is only on her body, her physical appearance. The comment "wash me" written on her stomach shows that she is asking for attention from men.

After taking some time to visit the different stations at the Conference Resource Fair and spending sometime with a group of people from FNED, I walked over to my second workshop called The Power of Numbers, with Constance Horton. I did not realize that this workshop was held by one of my current professors until I walked in. It was nice to be in a comfort zone, however, part of me wishes that I chose a workshop where I would have been pushed out of my comfort zone. Being a math concentration, I found her presentation to be very interesting. Her main focus was on the importance of numeracy literacy. She began the workshop by relating numeracy literacy to reading literacy and how, as a society, we have become much more accepting of innumeracy illiteracy than reading illiteracy. She did a good job involving everyone in the workshop. She set up a website with all of the information that we were working on during the workshop that we were all able to access. She also asked everyone to take part in a text messaging pole online regarding math related questions. I felt like this was a good way for everyone to take part in the activities without having to feel uncomfortable. It was also an interesting way to watch the poles change before our eyes and visually see where the entire class stood on the various questions. Constance Horton then went on to show us ways that numeracy literacy provides us with rules and codes of power. There are many instances where numeracy literacy is important in order to be an intelligent consumer. For instance, understanding loans, credit card rates, taxes, bills, job salaries, etc, all require numeracy literacy. Overall, I felt like this workshop was informative and engaging.

Tricia Rose, the key speaker of the conference, was by far my favorite part of the entire day. The way that she spoke to us was very real, informative, and entertaining. Her speech was very structured and organized but still very creative. I think it was important that she mentioned the idea of teaching multiculturalism in a way that enables students. This reminded me a lot of Christensen and her tactics which not only informs her students of the injustices in the world but assists them in taking action to make changes. This also relates to Johnson's idea of being the change. Even though it is important for teachers to inform students of these issues, it is only helpful when they are left feeling that they can be a part of the change. Another part of her speech which resonated with me was her story of the girl in her class who called her computer gay. This was a good example of a painful circumstance that could not be stepped over. This story also reminded me of Carlson's article regarding the lack of focus on these oppressive comments in schools. When teachers choose to step over these situations and allow things of this nature to be said in their classrooms, it shows that they do not see them as problematic. If authoritative figures do not take action against oppression, it can not be expected that others will stop the oppression either. The piece of Tricia Rose's speech that was most impacting on me was her discussion of the difference between a person's group identity versus their individual identity. I agree with her comment involving the importance of realizing that having a privilege does not mean that all targets toward this groups is also targeted toward each individual of the group. Tricia Rose stated that "we do not choose the person we are when we come into this world but we do choose the alliances we make with other people...it isn't about what you are but what you do with your situation". I think this quote practically sums up everything that we have been learning in FNED. Basically, that it is important to recognize privilege, and your group identity, but that it is the responsibility of every individual to choose the alliances that they will make from other groups. This idea also reminded me of Jonathan Kozol's speech at RIC. He, also, spent a lot of time focusing on the importance of individual decisions in terms of making alliances with other groups. He felt that it was important for well educated, typically white and middle-class perspective teachers to reach out to students who are less privileged: lower-class students of minorities. I am really glad that I had the opportunity to listen to both Kozol and Rose. I feel like hearing both of them helped me to understand one another as well as gain a deeper understanding for the similar topics that they spoke about. I think this conference was very informative and related to the topics we have been focusing on in FNED. Overall, it was a good learning experience for me.

Talking Point #8

Jean Anyon, Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work

1. "One teacher said in some exasperation to a boy who was fooling around in class, 'If you don't know the answers to the questions I ask, then you can't stay in this class! [pause] You never know the answers to the questions I ask, and it's not fair to me-and certainly not to you!'" (Anyon)

This piece of the article touches on a few important topics. This teacher is from the Middle-class School and, like in many other instances, pushes the idea of obtaining the correct answers. Anyon seemed to make a distinction between the Executive Elite School and the Middle-class School in terms of importance of work that the students complete. The Middle-class School teacher focuses primarily on teaching her students to get the right answer. Therefore, the actual outcome is more important than the learning process and conceptualization. The other part to this comment that caught my eye was the fact that this Middle-class School teacher resorted so quickly to making her students leave the room. This reminded me a lot about a discussion that we had in class about our learning service projects. Asking misbehaving students to leave the classroom only sets them further behind. It is a simple solution to the problem. However, it is much more damaging than other forms of discipline.

2. "The teachers rarely explain why the work is being assigned, how it might connect to other assignments, or what the idea is that lies behind the procedure or gives it coherence and perhaps meaning or significance." (Anyon)

I feel like this piece of the article relates very closely to the first quote that I mentioned. This is Anyon's description of the Working-class School Teachers. From this depiction, it seems like the teachers do not spend enough time making connections with the students about the importance of the activities that they do in class. Without providing the students with a background and some kind of connection to the importance of the activity, they are going to view it as pointless. It is important for teachers to show how important the entire learning process is rather than simply trying to pull the correct answers from students in order to move on. It is not about getting through the material, it is about actually teaching the students strategies that they can use in different situations in the future.

3. "'I'm more--just as interested in how you set up the problem as in what answer you find. If you set up a problem in a good way, the answer is easy to find.'" (Anyon)

This quote is from one of the Executive Elite teachers. This quote shows just how different the views are of the Middle-class School teacher from the Executive Elite School teacher. Unlike the Middle-class School teacher who was most concerned about teaching her students to get the right answers, the Executive Elite School teacher places a greater concentration on the learning process. This is a much more difficult process for the teachers. However, it is extremely helpful for the students because it teaches them to think for themselves and truly investigate the process of something before accepting the final answer. This kind of teaching approach is much more engaging than pushing the message that the reason for classwork, homework, and school (which will someday be a career) is to finish the assignment and to solve for the answer. It also provides them with an opportunity to view themselves as the teacher rather than the student and allows them to be creative and independent.

This study was helpful for me to read because it truly separated each situation and showed how different they are simply by explaining them individually. After reading this article I feel even more assured that students in lower-class schools do not receive the same education as students in middle to upper-class schools. Anyon's article was easy to follow. I like the way that the article is set up; with an introduction, a description to each school, and a conclusion. One thing that I noticed about this piece which was impressive is that the author made it clear that they were not going to make a generalized statement about all lower-class and all upper-class schools based off of this study. I personally feel like this is one of the many pieces of evidence which prove the inequality of education among classes.

This article reminded me a lot of Delpit who focused a lot of time explaining the differences among teachers of different classes and races. I saw many of her claims in this article. Specifically her claim about the assertiveness of teachers in lower-class situations vs. a lack there of in middle to upper-class classrooms. The few comments from teachers that were placed in Anyon's article showed the differences in tone that each teacher used. The middle and upper-class school teachers were much less clear and assertive than the lower-class school teachers. This article also reminded me of Kozol's speech. He spoke a lot about the need for teachers in the lower-class schools. He mentioned that many of these schools hire teachers with little credentials and expect them to teach to receive answers, like a few of the teachers mentioned in this article. He also pushed that it is important to provide students with incentive to learn; to hold high expectations of them and treat them as if they are going to be successful members in society. This statement means a lot to me because I understand how the standards set by the teacher impacts the standards that students hold for themselves. It is the responsibility of educators to push their students to achieve and believe that they can succeed; if their teacher does not even believe in their future, why would they believe in themselves?

For those who did not make it to his speech, here is a video that is similar to Kozol's speech given at RIC.

Talking Point #7

Gender Equity in Education

After doing some research, it seemed pretty evident that there are current issues involving gender differences inside the classroom. The topic of gender difference in school settings has been studied in many forms and continues to be open to testing. There is an overwhelming amount of research which shows that teachers, in fact, treat their students differently due to their gender; most of which are unintentional instances. Many people claim that this has had an influence on the decisions these students make later in life. For example, some claim that the tactics that teachers often use persuade girls to further careers in english and art related subjects and bots into careers in mathematics, science, and technology related subjects.

One particular study called The Third-Grade Teachers' appeared in The Elementary School Journal in September of 2001 to show how three teachers that were studied over a fifteen-week period subconsciously contributed to the gender gap of their students. They made common mistakes such as calling on boys more often than girls, finding ways to excuse boys for breaking the rules, holding higher expectations of girls, altering lesson plans to suit the boys learning styles, etc. They proved to also expect more from the boys in subjects that they are stereotypically superior such as math and science and expect more from the girls when working in subjects such as grammar and history. All three teachers claimed to be gender equal and yet they all proved other wise. This study shows that even teachers who believe they are aware of these issues continue to teach in a way that is marginalizing students. This also shows that we are clearly having a hard time facing, claiming, and understanding this problem.



This video shows how powerful these seemingly unnoticeable tactics can be on the future of these students. This subconscious gender gap that has emerged in many teachers' lessons can often persuade students so greatly that they revolve their lives around these stereotypes. The man who is seen talking in this video is stating the problem that many people have yet to face; that there are gender related issues in the classroom and that teachers are teaching in a biased, stereotyping way. He is claiming that it is clear that there is an impact on these students (just look at the ratio between male teachers and women) and now it is important to determine why this is so. Is it because of how we are taught in school? Is it because teaching has always been a feminine profession?



This video is an awesome example of how schools can work to become conscious of gender differences and be open with their students about this issue. The Gender Project works to involve students in all aspects of the gender gap. They focus on things such as vocabulary, biology, media, etc. in order to be able to be conscious of stereotypes made about each gender. In the end, the students are asked to determine how we learn to act as men and as women; what makes us act the way that we do? This way of facing the problem and taking time to work through it in various approaches reminds me of Christensen and how she worked to help her students interpret the media.

This video (which I could not figure out how to post!!) is another good example of how teachers can work to break the gender gap and promote differences among students. This particular school tried to push boys in girls to career paths that have proven to be a-typical for their gender by placing them in workshops that give them a taste for the profession. During the workshops they show the students how each career can work well for each gender. For example, in a metal/shop class which was typically chosen by males they incorporated feminine activities such as jewelery making. Though these workshops may not have changed the decisions of the overwhelming majority of students in the school, it was able to open up the eyes of the students and teach them to be less judgmental.

Another website offered a number of links that prove that the issue of gender inequality exists in educational settings. Many of the links focus on tactics that teachers use which lead to these problems while others promote ways to be the change and help close the gap of gender inequality. I found this site to be very helpful because it provides a large variety of information on this particular issue. It shows that in education today, many people are unaware of the gender inequality among students as well as the effects that occur as a result of this gap. Like all other problems, we must first acknowledge the problem and understand how and why it is an issue before attempting to fix it. Solving any kind of equality among people takes years and conscious people who are willing to stop and be the change.

Martin Luther King Jr. Speech

Martin Luther King Jr. Where Do We Go From Here?

Today, I was assigned to write a short paper on a primary source document in my political science class. It just so happens that I was assigned a piece of a speech by Martin Luther King Jr. The entire time that I read through his speech, I thought about our class and Kozol's speech from last Thursday night. The speech is called, where do we go from here? and was on August 16th, 1967 at the convention of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. I wish I could find a video of his speech because the entire duration of his presentation resonated with everything that we have been learning about in Dr. Bogad's class.

He made the statement, "Negroes are still impoverished aliens in an affluent society. They are too poor even to rise with the society, too impoverished by the ages to be able to ascent by using their own resources. And the Negro did not do this himself; it was done to him." This reminded me of Tim Wise's interview on the Ring of Fire where he claimed that blacks, hispanics, and other minorities continue to be segregated by lack of opportunity to things such as housing, employment, education, health care etc. We did not provide African Americans with equal opportunities in 1967 and sadly, we still do not today.

Martin Luther King went on to defend Johnson's theory by claiming that in order to move forward, it is necessary to understand where we currently stand. He stated "In order to answer the question, 'Where do we go from here?', which is our theme, we must first honestly recognize where we are now...In elementary schools, Negroes lag one to three years behind whites, and their segregated schools receive substantially less money per student than the white schools. One-twentieth as many Negroes as whites attend college. Of employed Negroes, seventy-five percent hold menial jobs. This is where we are..." He pushes that we need to be honest with where we stand; that we can't be afraid to state our problems in order to fix them. This also shows that the Brown vs. the Board of Education was extremely necessary because the segregated schools were not providing equal treatment to the African American schools. Though we have grown from these numbers, we still have alarming statistics in relation to the difference of educated and employed African Americans vs. whites. Clearly, many changes still need to be made in order to have equality in the future.

Reading Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech reminded me a lot of Jonathan Kozol's speech. Miguel was right when he said in class today that they both speak about one cause. They are both so incredibly passionate about equality and speak in a way that is tremendously powerful. I am glad that I was assigned this particular primary source document in my political science class because it related extremely closely with everything that we have been learning.

Talking Point #6

Tim Wise/ Brown vs. Board of Education

1. "I like to be hopeful but I think that it is important to deal with what's real...whether were talking about housing, education, criminal justice, employment, health care, or elsewhere, the evidence of discrimination against average everyday folks of color is still very much in evidence." (Tim Wise)

Tim Wise stated this quote in beginning of the first video. In relation to President Obama representing changes of racial equality, Tim Wise clearly believes that the United States has a long journey ahead. He claims that even though he likes to be hopeful about the future of equality in the United States, the only way to actually reach that goal is to look at the problems that need to be fixed. This reminds me of Johnson's idea of "naming the problem". Both Johnson and Wise claim that he must identify the problem and recognize that we, as a nation, are failing to treat all men equal before we can reach equality. Even though the case of Brown vs. The Board of Education was a major building block for racial equality, it would be foolish to assume that putting a law in place automatically fixes these problems.

2. "We just need to be on the lookout for the potential of success of what I am calling racism 2.0...to support Obama because they view him, as many in fact said they did, as transcending race as being different from the black or brown norm and my fear there is that the black and brown norm is considered in a negative light. The fact that we can carve out exceptions for certain people of color that make us comfortable is not going to get us the whole way towards racial equity." (Tim Wise)

What Tim Wise calls Racism 2.0 is really a tactic that people use to attempt to fit other people into the categories of S.C.W.A.A.M.P. The need to fit people into the norm of society and try to find reasons for powerful people who don't fit under the norms of society pushes us further from equality. By making claims such like: Obama is an exceptional black man; that he is so successful because he has many white qualities, all prove that our society continues to shame his race. That we, as a nation, do not want to give credit where credit is due; people will not accept that a black man is successful because of his race, it must be all of his other privileges that made up for his lack of privilege. This shows that we are continually in denial, unable to name the problem, and are unwilling to see people for who they are as individuals rather than their categorical privileges.

3. "we, as white folks, can be really articulate or really inarticulate and still become president..." (Tim Wise) "...the standard is that you [minorities] have to be truly exceptional to break that glass ceiling." (host?)

This conversation between Tim Wise and the host of the Ring of Fire Talk-show shows the continuing double standard between people of different races. In relation to the presidential election, Wise focused on how a person of white ethnicity, such as George W. Bush, can be extremely inarticulate and still become president for two terms. While President Obama does stand today as an African American president of the United States, it required him to be much more qualified to be provided with the same opportunity. The truth is that blacks, Hispanics, and other minorities are not provided with equal opportunities to things such as education, criminal justice, and employment as white people. Therefore, it is common (if not always the case) that successful people of color are forced to work much harder than a white person simply because of their lack of privilege.

4. "If you want to know if a problem is still a problem, it probably makes sense to talk to the ones that were the target of it, not the ones that don't have to know because were not...I don't have to know that; I can be a good person, a decent person, and remain oblivious." (Tim Wise)

This quote reminded me of McIntosh a lot. This resonates with the entire idea of white privilege; that white people have the option to be oblivious; that they can stand in denial and be completely unaffected. It also focuses on one of the major problems that relates to equality: most of the information about any topic is generally based from the suppressor; the people in power. It is very rare that the people being targeted by inequality are asked how they feel and it is much easier for the suppressors to stand in denial than to actually accept their crimes. Fortunately, there have been cases in the past, such as Brown vs. Board of Education, where suppressed people have fought for their chance to be heard and make the changes that they know are necessary. Even Though instances such as this one are extremely important to the continual growth of equality, we must carry on by being aware of new forms of inequality. We must remember to focus on the present rather than solely remembering events from history; even though it is important to remember the steps that people have taken to put our nation in the place it is today, we must continue to better the lives of our citizens and focus on our future.

I really enjoyed this week's assignment. It was a nice change from the articles and I think having a visual often makes things easier to understand. I like that Dr. Bogad is asking us to draw a link between the case of Brown vs. Board of Education and the current issues of inequality that we are facing as a country. Clearly, there have been major steps that have been taken, such as Brown vs. The Board of Education and the election of President Obama, which have improved equality for Americans. However, as Wise explains in the video, change requires a collection of these changes. Yes, one thing can make a difference. But, a number of things make an even bigger difference and a problem that is as big as equality of all people requires a lot of time and effort to make a complete transformation.

These videos brought up a lot of ideas that we have focused on with previous articles. Being able to name the problems we are facing is extremely important to the success of the future of Americans. It is a theory that was mentioned by both Johnson, in the topic of privilege, and Wise, in the topic of race inequality. Also, McIntosh's idea of whiteness as a invisible privilege is also highlighted by Wise. He claimed that it is important to ask those that are suppressed about the topic of being suppressed rather than the suppressor. Often times, the suppressors do not even believe, or realize, that they are suppressing others. Therefore, it makes sense that they would not be knowledgeable of how to fix this problem. I really like how this assignment tied in so closely with other articles from the class. I also think it is important to realize that issues of inequality began a long time ago and will continue in the future.

Talking Point #5

Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer, In the Service of What? The Politics of Service Learning

1. "These curriculum theorists and education reformers wanted students to engage in service learning projects so that they would recognize that their academic abilities and collective commitments could help them respond in meaningful ways to a variety of social concerns." (Kahne and Westheimer, 3)

This quote is in reference to the service learning projects that were assigned by Mr. Johnson and Ms. Adams. Even though each project was slightly different in the sense of what they provided the students, they both focused on the "transformation potential" that was explained in the article. Both of these projects provided the students with the opportunity to use their knowledge, beliefs, goals, and curiosities to take action and make use of them. These assignments also allowed the students to take the information that they were learning in the classroom and apply it to the real world; to actually make a change and take the assignment to the next level. By assigning the service learning piece to their lesson, these two teachers were forcing their students to think of these issues outside of the four walls of the classroom. This reminded me of both Johnson and his idea of being the change, and Linda Christensen's technique of taking an assignment to the next level in order to push her students to put their knowledge to good use in their community.

2."He experienced the joys of service, but he had few opportunities for meaningful interactions through which caring relationships and understanding might develop." (Kahne and Westheimer, 6)

This citation focuses on a particular student in Mr. Johnson's class who completed a service learning project. For his assignment, this student created "Daily Life Kits" and passed them out to homeless people. Unfortunately, most of the work that this student completed, in relation to this project, was done on his own. He never worked with the homeless before making these kits and was never informed of the types of things to include in these kits. Therefore, this particular student was able to give back to his community and feel the gratitude of giving to someone less fortunate. However, he was unable to make deep enough connections to make real, significant changes to the people he was giving to. This is an example of the idea of emphasizing charity more than change, which was highlighted in the article. Many people believe that service learning often focuses primarily on pushing students to give to their community in any form rather than truly investigating and working toward making changes to lives of these needy individuals. Even though I think both charity and change are important, there must be a strong balance of both in order to truly gain from service learning.

3."In a written evaluation, the students said that they had imagined 'horrifying children running around on a dirty campus.' They had expected them to be 'rude, tough, noisy, and very unfriendly.'...One of the students wrote, 'I was scared because my mom told me it was a bad neighborhood and to be careful" (Kahne and Westheimer, 7)

This quote refers to an example of a service learning project where students from a upper-middle class school were asked to visit a lower-class school. The preconceived thoughts that the students had before entering this lower-class school were absolutely awful. Considering none of these students had been to this school prior to their assignment, all of these expectations were based on hear-say; some of these ideas even originated from the mouths of their parents. After completing this particular service learning assignment, many of the students viewed this school, and many schools alike, very differently. They realized that the students were friendly, polite, and well behaved and that the school was not a scary place after all. I think this is a perfect example of how helpful service learning projects can be to students and how these experiences can show the students things that they could not learn in a classroom setting.

This article was fairly hard to read. The style that the authors used was hard to get into. I found the article easier to read once I was four or five pages in and the authors began providing examples of particular service learning projects. This article definitely related to other articles that we have read in the past. Like I had mentioned before, Johnson as well as Christensen would agree with the purposes of service learning that were highlighted in this article.

I found myself drawn to the examples that were provided about the experiences that people have had with service learning. The example where the upper-middle class students were asked to go to a lower-class school reminded me a lot of my service learning project. I, too, had awful expectations of the providence public school system due to a variety of things that I have heard in the past. On the first day working in Edmund W. Flynn Elementary School, I was absolutely blown away by how wrong my expectations were. The children are awesome and the school was like any other ordinary school. I understand the problem that deals with overemphasizing charity and not emphasizing change enough. I think both change and charity are important to service learning, but that people learn from the experience the most when both are equally balanced. Below is a video which captures just a few of the ways that service learning can be successful.

Talking Point #4

Linda Christensen, Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us

1. "I've discovered that I need to keep my mouth shut for a while. If I'm the one pointing out the stereotypes, it's the kiss of death to the exercise. Besides, students are quick to find the usual stereotypes on their own." (Christensen 130)

Christensen proves a good point to teachers with this quote. She shows how important it is to allow children to learn things for themselves; that experiencing things for yourself is much more effective than having it lectured to you. Watching the movies and seeing the stereotypes places a visual in their minds that the students can relate back to in future situations. This quote also goes on to show that students can easily surpass expectations. It is important for teachers to remember that children are often smarter than what they are expected to be and it is always better to provide them with too much opportunity to learn than not enough.

2. "For some students the cartoon unit exposes the wizardry that enters our dreams and desires, but others shrug their shoulders at this. 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. 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." (Christensen 133)

I find this quote to be extremely important to this article. This proves that the media has such a strong impact on us, starting from the time that we are babies, that the stereotypes and false advertising that is blatantly posted daily is generally accepted. That for some people, the stereotypes can be pointed out time and time again and they will say that it is the way things are; that these stereotypes truly do portray the way the world works. Some people do end up believing that the only hope for change is a fairy tale. This quote also shows how Christensen was able to learn from her own students. The reactions of these students made her think differently about the topic and possibly aided her to make changes to the lesson in order to help the students who have been molded so strongly by the media.

3. "Instead of leaving students full of bile, standing around with their hands on their hips, shaking their heads about how bad the world is, I provided them the opportunity to make a difference." (Christensen 137)

This is a huge accomplishment for Christensen as a teacher. There are tons of massive problems that are going on in the world and it can be very difficult to teach about these things without leaving students feeling hopeless and depressed. I think it is very important to learn about things that are going on in the world and ways that we are being mislead by the media, politics etc. However, if you are left feeling useless from learning about these new and depressing ideas, it can sometimes leave you to feel as if you were better off not knowing about it at all. For example, I was enrolled in a class in high school that was strictly about genocide. Even though most of the topics were focused upon situations of genocide in history that had already ended, we spent a few weeks at the end of the year learning about Darfur. Learning about Darfur did leave me feeling helpless. The project that Christensen assigned to her students was a really awesome way to get her students involved in the issue and leave the class feeling like there are steps that can be taken to make a change. Like Johnson would have wanted, Christensen is allowing her children to take their education to the next level and be the change.

I thought this was overall a great article. It was very easy to read and Christensen did a good job incorporating the ideas of her students by adding in some of their thoughts. I like how the article was organized; she did a good job walking the reader through the entire process of her lesson. She explained along the way some of the things that worked and some parts that really made her think as a teacher. This lesson also shows how successful is can be educationally for students to really feel connected and affected by the lesson. She went out of her way to get every student involved and to allow them to work through their own thoughts and come to their own conclusions.

Even though the article brought a lot of good thoughts to the table, I think there were a few things that should have also been highlighted. I do agree that there are many problems surrounding the media and that stereotypes are boldly presented in movies, cartoons, magazines, etc. However, I do think the issues have come a long way over the years. For example, most of the Disney movies that were mentioned in the article for portraying such horrible stereotypes, such as Cinderella and Snow White, were made in the mid 1900's. Unfortunately, many of the ideas seen in these movies were extremely dominant during this time period. I do understand though, that our future generations of kids are watching these films which are passing on the bulk of bad stereotypes. Over the past few years, cartoons and other movies have shown to be much more accepting of people that do not fit SCWAAMP. For example, Dora the Explorer includes a lot of the Spanish culture. Also, the movie The Incredibles, though continues to show the main character as a white and male superhero, also portrays the strength of women through his wife as well as African Americans with Mr. Freeze. I am not saying that these movies and shows have mastered equality. They do, though, show that these issues are starting to receive recognition.

Talking Point #3

Dennis Carlson, Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community

1. "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." (Carlson 237)

This quote really made me think; I can't believe that I have never noticed this before. I grew up in a family that really pushed me to be accepting of other people so I feel like I was more aware of homosexuality than other students in my classes. However, I totally understand how people would categorize homosexuality as a negative thing if they only place that they learned about it was in the same place that they learned about health related issues. This is extremely unfair to people in the gay and lesbian community. I think many children come from families that shy away from talking about things such as homosexuality, which is why I agree with Carlson that it is imperative that teachers recognize homosexuality in school.

2. "'In my sociology class we were talking about AIDS. One guy said, 'I think gay guys are just sick. How could they do that? It's wrong!' ...Well, everyone looks over to Miss L., our teacher, for what she thinks. She says, 'I'm going to keep my opinion to myself.'". (Carlson 238)

This quote completely reminded me of Johnson. This is a perfect example of a teacher who chose to silence an issue rather than talking about it and helping to make a change. I think it is the responsibility of teachers to protect the rights of all students. While I believe they are responsible to protect the ideas of the student who made claims against gay men, they must also stand up for the rest of the students who are opposed to his ideas. Being open to discussion about these issues is a very successful way for teachers to embrace difficult situations and help students feel welcome and comfortable in their learning environment. By avoiding the conversation, nothing is being accomplished.

3. "...gay culture has been overwhelmingly 'white' and this makes it difficult for many young black gay people to affirm both their gayness and their blackness." (Carlson 248)

I think this quote is extremely important because it relates to different kinds of privilege. Because African Americans are denied the right to racial privilege, it is understandable that it would be harder for them to give up their straight privilege as well. Giving up the right to privilege has a huge impact on the easiness of a person;s life. I could only imagine that someone who is already denied particular privilege would have a strong understanding of the difficulties they are faced with as a result. Therefore, it must be harder to them, knowing what they will be faced with, to give up another privilege.

This was a very powerful article. I could hardly get through it without stopping to blog about it because I feel like there were so many points made that shocked me or left me wondering. I think Carlson and Johnson would get along well. There were many examples provided in Carlson's piece that strongly reminded me of Johnson. Carlson's article focuses largely upon silencing homosexuality in classroom settings. As Johnson also mentioned in his article, silencing something is the worst way to produce change. Carlson's article goes on to prove this statement as he provides examples of how gay men and lesbian women are slowly starting to feel acceptance as popular culture has begun to address these issues and show people that it is aright to talk about them.

I think incorporating homosexuality into the classroom is much more difficult than other topics due to religion. As Carlson mentions in this article, many believers of the Catholic religion have strongly opposed ideas such as bringing in books and allowing lessons which talk about homosexuality inside the classroom. I think this makes homosexuality extremely hard to talk about in mixed crowds, like schools, but is clearly something that needs to be addressed. The statistics prove that silencing homosexuality is having horrific contributions to teen suicide, drug use, etc., and the easiest way to help change these rates is by welcoming their differences and encouraging them to be open about their feelings.

Talking Point #2

Richard Rodriguez, Aria

1. "...I also needed my teachers to keep my attention from straying in class by calling out, Rich-heard- their English voices slowly prying loose my ties to my other name, its three notes, RI-car-do." (Rodriguez 35)

This quote reminded me a lot of a few discussions that we have had in class in regards to our service learning projects. I have always been really bad at learning names. When I started to teach dance classes a few years ago, I would often avoid using names because I was afraid that I would mess them up. The discussion that we had in class started to open my eyes to the importance of learning the names of students; not only what the names are but pronouncing them correctly as well. This author of this article also helped me to look at the importance of names differently. I have come to realize in the past that learning a person's name is an important form of respect and recognition. However, I now understand that the meaning of a person's name can be even deeper than respect to the individual; that taking the time to pronounce that person's name correctly can show respect to their culture as well. Rodriguez helped me to understand that loosing the culture behind a person's name is just one way that traditions are slowly lost throughout various groups and generations.

2. "I turned quickly and left the room. But I had no place to escape to with Spanish. (The Spell was broken.)" (Rodriguez 35-36)

This quote shows how difficult it was for Richard to transition from living in what seemed to be two completely separate lives to only one. Richard's home was a place for him to escape, and with that came speaking Spanish. Once his parents decided to speak English in the house in order to help Richard and his siblings learn English faster, he lost that escape. Not only did Richard loose half of this divided life, he lost the half that he was most comfortable with and drawn to. Everyone needs to have some kind of escape, especially during times of change, stress, and loss. I can not even imagine how hard it must have been to have to go through such a change while in the process of losing the one thing that helps along the way.

3. "...as we children learned more and more English, we shared fewer and fewer words with our parents." (Rodriguez 37)

This quote exemplifies the worst aspect to this article. As a result to Richard and his siblings learning English, his relationship with his parents suffered from the language barrier. This represents how important their language is to their culture as well as the closeness of their family. This also shows how much this family was forced to give up in order to assimilate to American culture. I think it is extremely sad that learning English caused the Rodriguez family to drift apart. Not only were these children faced with changes at school, they were forced to change their lives at home and give up relationships with their family in order to receive an American education.

This article was very easy to read. I really enjoyed that, like Kozol, Rodriguez wrote his article in the form of a story. It was very engaging and easy to relate to. I found this article very useful for future teachers to read in order to have a better understanding of how hard the transition is for ESL students. I think it is very important for teachers to be open and accepting of people from other cultures and help students to feel welcomed into learning English rather than afraid. Also, I feel as though it is equally important, if not more, for teachers to help students to feel as though they can learn things from the American culture, such as the English language, without having to give up the traditions of their own culture.

This article corresponds to many of the themes that have been discussed from prior articles. Delpit's idea of the "culture of power" relates very closely to this article. The overwhelming use and expectations surrounding the American culture made Richard's transition period very scary and difficult. If the culture of power was less prominent in school settings, it might have been much easier for Richard to open up to the changes. This article can also be related to McIntosh's article. Both articles show that change is not an easy process; that people tend to fight change and have a difficult process when it is actually gone through with.

Talking Point #1

Jonathan Kozol's Amazing Grace

1. "...the place is known as 'Children's Park.' Volunteers arrive here twice a week to give out condoms and clean needles to addicted men and women, some of whom bring their children with them. The children play near the bears or on the jungle gym while their mothers wait for needles." (Kozol 12)

Children's Park stands as a strong representation of how unbelievably traumatic the living situations are for the children of the South Bronx. This shows how the innocence of the children are completely demolished from as far back as they can remember. It is incredible that these people have reached the point of taking their children with them to get supplies to continue their, most often, fatal habits; that the children become so accustomed to watching people, even the people they look up to most, do drugs as well as many other harmful things.

2. " ...Lincoln and Bronx-Lebanon are generally considered better than another nearby institution, Harlem Hospital, which the minister of Harlem's leading church refers to as a 'cesspool' and which has also lost accreditation several times....A nurse who works there, according to one press account, carries a card in her wallet with the message 'Do Not Take Me To Harlem Hospital in an Emergency." (Kozol 15-16)

The fact that one of Harlem Hospital's own nurses refuses to be seen as a patient there proves how unsafe it must be. Nurses get to experience most things that go on inside a hospital. This particular hospital must be unbearable if she would choose no hospital at all over the option to be taken to Harlem Hospital; that they would do more harm to her than if she was not taken to a hospital at all.

3. "I believe that what the rich have done to the 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." (Kozol 23)

This quote exemplifies Johnson's idea of taking the blame and being the change. This is the exact reason why we are being faced with problems of privilege; those who have the privilege are unwilling to give it up or even acknowledge that they have it in order to help those without the privilege. It is much easier for the rich to segregate the poor and live in oblivion than to have to face the hardships that the poor are faced with on an everyday basis and accept that their privilege is what put them there.

This is one of the most powerful articles I have ever read in my life. I believe every adult in the world should read this. It truly opened my eyes about how privilege, or lack there of, can set a basis for a person's life. There is no doubt in my mind that a child born in the South Bronx is provided less opportunities than a child born in a prominently wealthy location. This, therefore, makes Americans unequal. Whether we like it or not, privilege can predetermine the hardships that a people will face in their lives. It may makes things easier or harder, but either way it definitely has some kind of impact.

This article stands out in my mind much more clearly than any other piece of writing that I have read. The reading was easy to follow and the narrative approach that Kozol used really pulled me in as the audience. The realness of the article was overwhelming. The lack of innocence in the children, the amount of illness, the lack of care, and most of all the people who continued to fight on through horrific times had a lasting impact on me. I have heard stories of people in poverty before. However, Kozol created an entire scenario of each aspect of the South Bronx. The details were intense, the stories were real, and the facts were mind boggling. Reading Johnson's piece was very fundamental and important to read when understanding the idea of privilege. This article, though, took the idea a step further and truly helped me to understand how exactly the lack of privilege affects people.

Hi everyone! My name is Brittany and I am a sophomore at RIC. I live in New Hall, which is an incredible upgrade from thorp!! (even though I miss having two showers) I am an elementary/middle school education major with a math concentration and I am planning on going onto earn a masters in administration. I have been a dancer for my whole life. When I'm not in class, I am typically working as a waitress or a dance teacher. I am extremely close with my friends and family; I have a three and a half year old nephew and a niece on the way! This semester is going well so far...I can't believe the summer is already over though. The bright side is that this is my last semester of gen. eds. and I will (hopefully) be in the Feinstein School of ed in the spring :)