tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80649783455860766602024-02-18T18:22:51.493-08:00Learning to Teach!Julie Bezansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18096416684540505245noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8064978345586076660.post-60534661216860485842014-04-28T18:57:00.003-07:002014-04-28T18:57:41.995-07:00Social Justice Event: Anna Cano Morales<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Well it’s the last week of the
semester and I realized I still haven’t done my even reflection post from
March…so here it is! </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">For my Social Justice event, I
attended a lecture on campus by </span><a href="http://www.golocalprov.com/news/anna-cano-morales-14-to-watch-in-rhode-island-in-2014/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Ana Cano Morales</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">,</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">an advocate for Latino youth
that spoke in March for the Dialogue on Diversity. Even though we were
discussing the readings by Rodriguez and Collier around the time of her
lecture, I still found many parts of her presentation to be surprising, and
made a lot of connections to our discussions in class. </span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.urifoundation.org/Portals/0/Uploads/Images/CanoMorales.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="http://www.urifoundation.org/Portals/0/Uploads/Images/CanoMorales.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Morales began by telling the
story of her experiences as a young Latina girl in school, and how it was for
her to grow up as part of the minority community and how it impacted her
education. Her story is not the only one, however. The number of Latino youth
struggling to do well in school is rapidly increasing. To show this, Morales transitioned
into a presentation of statistics to help us get an idea about where Latinos
stand in our community economically and demographically: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
Rhode Island, the population grew about 53% just last year, making it the
fastest growing population in the area. However, these people suffer from an
<a href="http://www.nea.org/home/17404.htm" target="_blank">ELL (English Language Learner) Crisis</a>, </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">which means that ELL students
are falling drastically behind in core subjects </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a significant <a href="http://nbclatino.com/2013/08/28/we-have-a-crisis-experts-discuss-rhode-islands-troubling-latino-achievement-gap/" target="_blank">achievement gap</a></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> between
white English-speaking students and ELL students. An average about 2 – 2.5
grade levels lower than white students in reading and math <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">While
the language barrier appears to be the main gap between these ethnic groups,
but there are actually many more issues that cause more trouble than just
language differences: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The majority of Latino families struggle economically,
and many have trouble maintaining a safe home environment and sending their
children to school regularly, which drastically affects their education. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Latinos
are also vastly underrepresented in administrative and professional positions,
making it difficult for youth to imagine successful futures for themselves. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
high level of first generation Latino students in schools makes it difficult
for children to learn English, since it is new to their family. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://collegeforlatinos.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/latino-school-children.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="http://collegeforlatinos.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/latino-school-children.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">While listening to her speak,
the readings from Rodriguez and Collier immediately came to mind. Morales’
story and statistics revealed many of the same issues that came up in these two
articles about educating bilingual children. She said in her lecture that in
order for Latino students to be fully successful in school, teachers must be
proficient or almost in fluent in world languages. This way, they are able to
respect the home culture of the students and incorporate their first language
into the classroom, like Collier talks about. They shouldn’t have to sacrifice
their home culture like Rodriguez was forced to in order for them to succeed in
school.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
was also able to connect this event to Christensen, who talks about imagining
possibilities for children in the media. She argues that if children cannot see
themselves as successful in the media, they will not be able to imagine those
possibilities for themselves in their careers. While Morales didn’t
specifically discuss the influence of the media, she did talk about the lack of
Latinos in positions of power, like teachers and administrators. This makes it
very difficult for children who come from these backgrounds to imagine
themselves as successful leaders in society and will be less motivated to do
well in school. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">While we didn’t read
this article until after I attended the event, I am now also finding
connections in Morales’ lecture to Kahne and Westheimer, since she spent the
second part of her lecture talking about what can be done to fix the problem.
She gave solutions like establishing community housing, creating social
services, and starting school earlier with Latino students that will make
drastic improvements for their education. These steps are not charity actions,
but actions in the system that Kahne and Westheimer would call permanent, effective
changes that make lasting improvements in society. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I enjoyed listening
to Ms. Morales speak about these issues, and found it helpful to my learning in
this class. The information that she presented made me even more aware of the
problems that exist and gave me ideas as to how to help fix them. I was going
to take French as my second language here at RIC, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but now after listening to her speak, I think
I might learn Spanish instead, so I can be of more help to the large percentage
of Spanish-speaking students in schools.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">¡</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Gracias!
</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span></i></span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></i></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><em>Pictures: </em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.urifoundation.org/Portals/0/Uploads/Images/CanoMorales.jpg"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.urifoundation.org/Portals/0/Uploads/Images/CanoMorales.jpg</span></a>; <span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://collegeforlatinos.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/latino-school-children.jpg"><span style="color: blue;">http://collegeforlatinos.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/latino-school-children.jpg</span></a></span></span></span></span></span></div>
Julie Bezansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18096416684540505245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8064978345586076660.post-68847458887329757012014-04-20T07:22:00.000-07:002014-04-20T07:24:45.064-07:00Shor: Empowering Education<h3>
Reflection/Connections</h3>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Reading “Empowering
Education: Education as Politics” by Ira Shor this week was pretty much a review
of the entire semester. The chapter had so many ideas that we’ve talked about
in this class that as I read, I could hear snippets of ideas from our class
discussions and from other authors about how schools should work and how
education should be. I decided to use this last post to connect it all together
and reflect on the class in general. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.studyabroadscout.com/uploads/kcFinder/images/Misscelaneous/empowerment-copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.studyabroadscout.com/uploads/kcFinder/images/Misscelaneous/empowerment-copy.jpg" height="400" width="380" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Shor’s main argument in this chapter is that
school is primarily a social experience for children. He uses the term
“<a href="http://anthro.palomar.edu/social/soc_1.htm" target="_blank">socialization</a>,”</span> <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">which he explains by quoting Piaget: “to
educate is to adopt the child to an adult social environment…the child is
called upon to receive from outside the already perfected products of adult
knowledge and morality” (12). This means that when children go to school, while
they might be there to learn about math or history, they are actually learning
the most about society and how they are each meant to functions in our world.
The current methods of teaching in American schools are making students less
and less curious about the world. Kids are also constantly being reminded about
the status quo, since their learning does not prepare them to be successful
critical thinkers of leaders; they are taught to submit to authority and work
under someone else, causing a huge lack of motivation for them to work hard and
learn in school. It’s not what they learn, but how they learn it that affects
whether they can submit to or challenge the culture of power. In Shor’s words,
“Curriculum is one place where dominant culture can either be supported or
challenged, depending on the way knowledge is presented and studied” (33). <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Looking at
what Shor has to say, I’m able to pick out the themes from the other reading’s
we’ve done. I noticed a huge connection to Finn in most of the article. Shor
talks about how education is only effective if the lessons build thinking
skills and creativity and relate to real life. Finn talks about this concept in
“Literacy With and Attitude,” telling us how differences in schooling between social
classes limits many students because only the children from elite families gain
critical thinking skills through actively participating in their education.
They learn real life skills, while the poor students get lectures learn how to
memorize facts and submit to authority. I also saw a bit of Delpit, who argues
that students always need to be taught the culture of power in order to
understand and function within it. Shor also uses this idea, which he calls the
“central bank of knowledge,” which according to him is society’s rules and
facts exclusive to those in power. He even states that in order to help all
students understand, teachers must “use students’ thought and speech as the
base for developing critical understanding” (33-34). Ideas from Collier and
Rodriguez made appearances here too, since they both argue that students’ first
languages and cultures but be honored and used to the classroom to help them
learn. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was also able to connect to Kahne
and Westheimer in this chapter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Overall,
Shor proves that we need a system that empowers the student rather than the
teacher, and doesn’t enforce the status quo and stereotypes in society. He has
learned through experience that the system everywhere needs to change. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.moreofmetolove.com/images/uploads/content_images/cache/June_6-400x300.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.moreofmetolove.com/images/uploads/content_images/cache/June_6-400x300.jpeg" height="240" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Kahne
and Westheimer also argue that we need to change our society’s system in order to
make a difference in the future. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I thought
that the Shor chapter really wrapped up the semester nicely. Because of
everything that we’ve read and talked about this semester, I read the article
feeling like I already knew about most of these issues. The chapter took so
many of the themes from our class and pieced them all together into one main
idea that the system has to change. To do this, teachers need to be taught how
to empower their students. Now that we’re all aware of these issues in schools,
as teachers, we will be able to help make that change in our schools and our
society as a whole. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Pictures:
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</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.studyabroadscout.com/uploads/kcFinder/images/Misscelaneous/empowerment-copy.jpg"><span style="color: blue; font-size: xx-small;">http://www.studyabroadscout.com/uploads/kcFinder/images/Misscelaneous/empowerment-copy.jpg</span></a>
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Julie Bezansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18096416684540505245noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8064978345586076660.post-42085671218252032682014-04-04T19:57:00.004-07:002014-04-04T20:12:38.794-07:00Our Culture of Segregation: Kliewer Response<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Quote Post <o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Christopher Kliewer’s “Citizenship
in School: Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome” uses a pretty big vocabulary,
especially in the beginning<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>of the
chapter. But as I made it through the rest and read all the fascinating stories
about a teacher and different children’s experiences with schooling and
disabilities, I found a few quotes that really struck me, so I decided I’d make
this another quote post. </span></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">"The framework of
utilitarianism maintains that democracy exists as a bureaucratic arrangement
apart from the general population and is charged with the "protection [of individuals]
from external threat and provision of the conditions for personal
aggrandizement" (Soltis,1993, P:151).Those who appear not to make use of
these conditions (supposedly open to all), or who appear to lack the potential
to accrue privileges, are systematically devalued as less than full citizens
-charged as they are with having the differences that matter (72).”</span></i></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLLvXx7dBzfKLVLtiQjDZopTib4y-a4IOXCOG8XpwAIyJXs4FuMarAOFvw5JKmGs-FMIBTGRat0STkoN5-24RuGfA-vg9vLDPD6fWQkMdZ6Fo3gHD8yasYL53NCKbeia2bYK6drlMxGVvY/s1600/175110474_f1667a20b5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLLvXx7dBzfKLVLtiQjDZopTib4y-a4IOXCOG8XpwAIyJXs4FuMarAOFvw5JKmGs-FMIBTGRat0STkoN5-24RuGfA-vg9vLDPD6fWQkMdZ6Fo3gHD8yasYL53NCKbeia2bYK6drlMxGVvY/s1600/175110474_f1667a20b5.jpg" height="130" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">At first,
all I could say was “…Translation, please?” This is some intelligent writing,
but it’s hard to understand that unless I simplify it a little first. What
Kliewer is saying here is that our society revolves around the usefulness and
abilities of individuals. The basic idea of this is that democracy exists as a
separate governing system apart from the general public, and its job is to
protect individuals from outside threats and provide people with opportunities
to better themselves. Those who don’t take advantage of these opportunities (which
are supposedly open to everyone) or who appear to lack the potential to gain
privileges are devalued in our society and seen as less than citizens because
of their differences. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This goes
back to the idea of SCWAAMP from the beginning of the semester, particularly
the idea that society values the able-bodied and able-minded. Anyone considered
not “normal” by those standards isn’t valued as a citizen simply because they
are different and denied help. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #351c75;">“Why do the higher
functions fail to develop in an abnormal child? Not because the defect directly
impedes them or makes their appearance impossible…The underdevelopment of the
higher functions is a secondary structure on top of the defect.
Underdevelopment springs from what we might call the isolation of an abnormal
child from his collective (83).”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></b></div>
<br />
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<a href="http://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Down-syndrome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Down-syndrome.jpg" height="143" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This part
jumped out at me for a couple reasons. First, I was surprised to learn that
children with mental disabilities are able to get to the same level as children
without disabilities just by integrating them with their peers. I guess I had held
the general misconception that all disabled children are unable to learn, so
this opened my eyes to the reality that they can learn and gain skills like any
other child. This also connected in my mind to the articles we read last week
by Oakes and Finn about how separating schools by ability actually does more
harm and causes the so-called “less-able” students to fall further behind in
their education. By separating the students with disabilities, the schools
actually limit their education even more. This is the real cause of the skill
gap for students with disabilities. If only schools would integrate them into
classrooms with the rest of their peers, they would learn so much more. Not
only that, but as Kliewer’s research revealed, if the other students could see
how these children’s minds work, they would also be able to gain new skills and
ways of thinking, like how Isaac taught his peers to “dance to a book”. It
works both ways.</span></span></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #351c75;">“I have Down syndrome,
but I am not handicapped” (93).</span> </span></span></i></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This statement
that Kliewer included from a student with Down syndrome was so inspiring. In
just a few words, this student, Christine, separates the ideas of a
mental/physical condition and the ability to learn. She may have been born
differently than most others, but that does not mean she is any less capable of
learning or anything else.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I came
across this video of another student with Down syndrome that speaks about her
abilities. It’s a pretty eye-opening speech, and it’s spot-on with Kliewer’s
argument. I'll let this inspirational girl take it from here.</span></span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/YOwDfnoek6E?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Pictures: </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLLvXx7dBzfKLVLtiQjDZopTib4y-a4IOXCOG8XpwAIyJXs4FuMarAOFvw5JKmGs-FMIBTGRat0STkoN5-24RuGfA-vg9vLDPD6fWQkMdZ6Fo3gHD8yasYL53NCKbeia2bYK6drlMxGVvY/s1600/175110474_f1667a20b5.jpg"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLLvXx7dBzfKLVLtiQjDZopTib4y-a4IOXCOG8XpwAIyJXs4FuMarAOFvw5JKmGs-FMIBTGRat0STkoN5-24RuGfA-vg9vLDPD6fWQkMdZ6Fo3gHD8yasYL53NCKbeia2bYK6drlMxGVvY/s1600/175110474_f1667a20b5.jpg</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
</span><a href="http://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Down-syndrome.jpg"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Down-syndrome.jpg</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Julie Bezansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18096416684540505245noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8064978345586076660.post-31211127262843422592014-03-30T21:48:00.003-07:002014-03-30T21:48:49.800-07:00Literacy with an Attitude<h3>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Argument</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The excerpts from Patrick
Finn’s book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Literacy with an Attitude</i>,
were a bit of a challenge to read this week – not just because of the huge
amount of information we’re given at once, but because Finn covers so much
information about literacy in American schools, it was difficult to sort through
it all to find his main argument. </span></span></div>
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<a href="http://dmlcentral.net/sites/dmlcentral/files/imagecache/blog_image/blog_images/wordcloudnew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="http://dmlcentral.net/sites/dmlcentral/files/imagecache/blog_image/blog_images/wordcloudnew.jpg" height="216" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">In
some ways, I think Finn’s argument is a combination of the arguments of a few
other authors that we’ve read this year. When I started reading, I found strong
connections to other articles pretty quickly. I first noticed a connection to
Lisa Delpit’s work beginning on the second page, and her themes echo throughout
the rest of the excerpt. The quote that caught my eye was in the preface:</span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The discourse (ways
of communication and the beliefs, attitudes, values, habits, and behaviors that
underlie them – especially attitudes related to authority, conformity, and
power) of working class communities is at odds with the discourse of the
schools. This makes acquisition of school discourse and powerful literacy difficult
for working-class children.”</span></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This immediately made me think of
Delpit and her argument about the rules and codes of the culture of power. In
her argument, she states that the reason that some students (particularly
students of color) don’t learn or perform well in school is that they don’t
understand the language – or “discourse” and Finn words it – of the culture of
power. Since these children cannot communicate with the culture of power, they cannot
be successful within it. Not just in school, but in society. This theme pops up
many times in Finn’s work when he discusses literacy – if lower-class students
cannot learn to be successful on their own in school, they cannot learn to be
successful in society or in the workforce. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I also began to notice similar themes
from the Brown vs. Board of Education readings come up here. In his preface, Finn
explains that literacy and education for the working class is considered “dangerous”
by the affluent, literate elite: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.otterbein.edu/resources/library/information_literacy/images/infolit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="http://www.otterbein.edu/resources/library/information_literacy/images/infolit.jpg" height="209" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: purple;">“The fear was that literacy would make the rabble aware of the injustice they
suffered, and they would attempt to overthrow the ruling class violently and
take its place.”</span> </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The
same is true regarding racial segregation of schools, like we read about in the
Brown vs. Board case. Schools weren’t just segregated because of uneasiness
toward race, but also because of an ulterior motive: the U.S. elite wanted to
keep African Americans in a second-class citizenship. If they weren’t educated as
well as white Americans, then they would be forced to become working-class
adults. This is also true in Finn’s argument. He spends a lot of time showing
how education affects the outcome of one’s life as an adult. If you are
educated to be ignorant and lower-class, then that’s the kind of adult you will
become. As Finn explains, “these children were developing a relationship to the
economy, authority, and work that is appropriate preparation for wage labor”(12).
The same (well, I guess the opposite) goes for upper-class students: “The
executive elite children? They were learning to be masters of the universe”
(26). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Lastly, I saw many connections to the
Kahne and Westhiemier piece, “In the Service of What?” in this excerpt. As I
read through Chapter 13 of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Literacy with
and Attitude, </i>I noticed the idea of change in service learning come back
into the picture. Finn talks about </span><a href="http://www.freire.org/paulo-freire/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Paulo Freire</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> and his work in educating poor
adults with literacy campaigns. Reading about his work, I noticed similar ideas
from Kahne and Westheimer’s argument about charity vs. change and the
discussion we had in class. Freire was working toward a world where the culture
gap between the rich and poor would close “not only in terms of wealth and
income but in terms of quality of life.” Raising money for the poor communities
alone would not fix the problem of illiteracy that these communities face. But
as Finn explains,<span style="color: purple;"> “</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: purple;">Freire’s vision was
one of class struggle. It was about empowering the powerless <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">as a class </i>so they can stand up for
themselves. This is what made him a transforming intellectual”</span> </b>(172).<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>If Kahne and Westheimer were to look
at this situation, I think they would definitely call Freire’s work a change rather
than a charity. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Putting all of these arguments
together, I think each one is a piece of Finn’s overall argument, which includes
the ideas of the culture of power, economic inequality, and change that can be
made to fix the system. This quote from Finn sums it up pretty nicely: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: purple;">“I’d like to hope that a child’s
expectations are not determined on the day she or he enters kindergarten, but
it would be foolish to entertain such a hope unless there are some drastic
changes to be made”</span></b> (25).</span> </span></span></div>
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</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.otterbein.edu/resources/library/information_literacy/images/infolit.jpg"><span style="color: blue; font-size: xx-small;">http://www.otterbein.edu/resources/library/information_literacy/images/infolit.jpg</span></a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://dmlcentral.net/sites/dmlcentral/files/imagecache/blog_image/blog_images/wordcloudnew.jpg">http://dmlcentral.net/sites/dmlcentral/files/imagecache/blog_image/blog_images/wordcloudnew.jpg</a></span></span></span></div>
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Julie Bezansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18096416684540505245noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8064978345586076660.post-45295522068304603352014-03-23T20:42:00.001-07:002014-03-23T20:46:11.606-07:00“Changing laws does not always change minds”<h3>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Reflection/Connections</span></h3>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This week’s reading involved a LOT of information regarding
race and the Brown vs. Board of Education dispute from a few different sources.
I wish I had the time to go through every point in each source, but unfortunately
I don’t, so I’m going to focus on a few points that had strong connections to
other articles that we’ve read in class. </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/images/spring-2004-school-headline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/images/spring-2004-school-headline.jpg" height="130" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">While reading through the <a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/index.html" target="_blank">website</a>
on the history of the Brown vs. Board of Education, not only did I learn much
more detail about the court case than I had learned before, but I also found
many places where themes from other authors came into play. Obviously, the case
revolves around race and society, so I found many connections to articles that focused
on problems dealing with race in society, but I connected it mostly to Peggy
McIntosh’s piece on White Privilege. A sentence that stuck out to me on the website
in the section about educated students was “</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Segregated education was designed to confine these children
to a subservient role in society and second-class citizenship.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<a href="http://www.sitemason.com/files/lxUEla/lunchkids.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.sitemason.com/files/lxUEla/lunchkids.JPG" height="158" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">When I read
this, it shaped the way that I began thinking about the rest of the case:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>whether white Americans realize it or not,
the main reason that they oppose integration in schools is because of their
dominance in society: white privilege. Including African American children into
the all-white schools would mean that they would have a chance at surpassing
whites in supremacy, so they opposed it in order to keep black Americans in a
second-class status in society. This reminded me of a quote that I mentioned in
a previous post from McIntosh: </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">“Most talk by whites about equal opportunity
seems to me now to be about equal opportunity to try to get into a position of
dominance while denying that systems of dominance exist.” Throughout the Brown
vs. Board of Education case, whites constantly deny that this dominance exists
by stating that the schools, while separate, are still equal and provide equal
opportunity. This statement is 100% false, yet they still continued to use it
to support their argument and their white privilege. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The video interviews with Tim Wise also made me think about other
articles that we’ve read in class, particularly Allan Johnson’s “Privilege,
Power, and Difference” as well as McIntosh on white privilege. When Wise talks
about Obama’s presidency and racism, he brings up many issues that these two
authors discuss in their articles. Something that stood out to me was the
concept of “Racism 2.0” as Wise describes it: the idea of “enlightened exceptionalism,”
or that President Obama, even though he is a person of color, he transcends the
racial stereotype because he is an outstanding individual. Our society has a
very strong double standard for people of color. As Wise states, “</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“I
don’t think we want to have a society where in order to be a successful person
of color, you have to bring it the way Obama brings it, ‘cause we all know that
there’s never been an acceptable limiting archetype for acceptable whiteness.” Basically,
if you are not white, you must be absolutely exceptional in order to be
considered successful, while whites are allowed room for mediocrity. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This discussion reminded me of Allan Johnson, specifically
his list of white privilege versus the challenges that people of color deal
with: in particular, “It is easier for a ‘good, but not great’ white player
[athlete] to make a professional team than it is for a similar black; “whites
are more likely than comparable blacks to…be given poor information or the
runaround during the application process”; and “whites can succeed without
other people’s being surprised.” This is similar to what Wise talks about when
he says that Obama and other successful black Americans are only those who rise
above the standard of excellence for whites and then some. This comes into play
in the issue of integrating schools, because whites tend to see African
Americans as less intelligent or less skilled unless they can prove themselves
as outstanding. Since they are seen this way, whites argued in the Brown vs.
Board of Education case that black students could not compete with white students;
therefore, integrating schools would make it unfair to them. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://img.timeinc.net/time/daily/2010/1010/360_school_intergration_1027.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img.timeinc.net/time/daily/2010/1010/360_school_intergration_1027.jpg" height="130" width="200" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><br />
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lastly, the article on segregation by Bob Herbert discusses
the problems in education that stem from schools with high poverty rates. Since
most of these schools are the majority black and Hispanic students, they are
still considered to be segregated. He argues that students perform much better
when moved to affluent schools with middle and upper-class peers. He also says that
“</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The election of Barack
Obama has not made true integration any more palatable to millions of
Americans.”<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> While
Herbert doesn’t mention it directly, </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">this concept made me
wonder about Lisa Delpit’s idea of the culture of power in a classroom. The Brown
vs. Board of Education website mentions that the schools for black children
upheld the cultural values of African Americans. So, if black children go to
school in an environment where that culture is valued and dominant, shouldn’t
it help the education of those children? The same question popped into my mind
here. I’m wondering how this culture influences these schools. But even so,
that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t integrate our schools – all children
deserve an equal education. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Pictures:
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<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://img.timeinc.net/time/daily/2010/1010/360_school_intergration_1027.jpg"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;">http://img.timeinc.net/time/daily/2010/1010/360_school_intergration_1027.jpg</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;">
</span><a href="http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/images/spring-2004-school-headline.jpg"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;">http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/images/spring-2004-school-headline.jpg</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.sitemason.com/files/lxUEla/lunchkids.JPG"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;">http://www.sitemason.com/files/lxUEla/lunchkids.JPG</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</span> </span><br /></div>
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Julie Bezansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18096416684540505245noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8064978345586076660.post-79412367642936403992014-03-16T11:09:00.004-07:002014-03-16T11:09:45.505-07:00In the Service of What? - Extended Comments<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.calvin.edu/news/stories/service-learning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://www.calvin.edu/news/stories/service-learning.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This week’s reading was about
service learning, a project that we’re required to do for this class. While I
was reading <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In the Service of What?</i>
by Kahne and Westheimer, I found it inspiring to learn how widely spread service
learning is in our educational systems in America. Keeping this in mind, I
became curious about how everyone else’s service learning projects are going,
what other kinds of these projects exist, and what everyone was learning from
the various experiences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I read
everyone’s blogs to see if anyone answered my questions, and I thought that </span><a href="http://jaclynpringle7.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Jaclyn’s Blog</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> had a really thoughtful
post this week</span>!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<a href="http://www.utsa.edu/today/images/graphics/servicelearning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.utsa.edu/today/images/graphics/servicelearning.jpg" height="192" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">What I
really liked about her post is when she talks about the concept of “diminishing
otherness”; when you think of people as “others” and different instead of
someone similar to you. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jaclyn talks about
her experiences in two different service learning cases: a time when she
donated canned goods to a homeless shelter, and her current project, tutoring
for FNED. She talks about her experiences with both, and the differences and
similarities between the two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She explains
that when doing community projects in middle school and high school, she didn’t
feel a connection to the project, and just thought of it as “something nice
that the school did.” But while teaching kids this semester, there’s something
more to it than just a good deed. She really feels connected to the kids she is
helping and feels accomplished. After thinking about it in relation to the
article, Jaclyn comes to the conclusion that it’s the diminishing otherness
that creates the difference between the two experiences for her. When she
doesn’t work directly with the people she helps, she doesn’t establish a
connection with them and doesn’t feel that that she is learning anything about
her community other than how to donate cans. But in her service learning for
FNED, she is able to connect with the children she works with and, in turn,
learns about the world and moves past the “otherness” that divides her from the
rest of society. She says in her post, </span></span><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Maybe that's why I feel my
service learning project is different this time. Yes, actually I believe it is.
I am finally looking past the “otherness” and have full faith in these
students”.</span> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.wit.edu/clp/photos/Service%20Learning/Service_Learning_infographic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.wit.edu/clp/photos/Service%20Learning/Service_Learning_infographic.jpg" height="175" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I thought
Jaclyn’s take on the concept of service learning was really interesting, and it
made me think about my own experiences with volunteering and my own concept of
otherness and what it means to serve the community. Jaclyn mentioned the
scenario in the article about the middle class students volunteering in a poor
neighborhood, who were surprised to discover that the people there were
welcoming and friendly. Reading about her experience, I found that mine were similar
because I also experienced the effects of otherness in my project. Providence
is often stigmatized as a “bad neighborhood,” where many families are poor,
giving most people the impression that crime rate is high. There is also a fear
that stems from race, and I was fed these fears from society before I began
volunteering, and had the misconception that I would be unsafe. Now in my
service learning project, I am seeing that the students I work with aren’t at
all like the negative stereotype. They are all very smart and friendly, and I
love working with them each week. It was only this “otherness” that gave me
false expectations, and I only proved them wrong through experience. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">What I loved
most about Jaclyn’s post was the quote she included from the article: <span style="background-color: white; color: purple;">“Maybe
this [community service] is what citizenship is all about, acting in a decent
way towards people who live where we live”(8). </span>I think this does a fantastic
job of summing everything up into something we can all take away from service
learning.</span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">By serving our community, we have the
opportunity to learn from the people we meet, learn to respect them, and
overall, become a better citizen.</span> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Thanks
Jaclyn for an awesome post! </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Pictures: </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">h<span><a href="https://www.calvin.edu/news/stories/service-learning.jpg"><span style="color: blue;">ttps://www.calvin.edu/news/stories/service-learning.jpg</span></a>;
</span><span><a href="http://www.wit.edu/clp/photos/Service%20Learning/Service_Learning_infographic.jpg"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.wit.edu/clp/photos/Service%20Learning/Service_Learning_infographic.jpg</span></a>;
</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.utsa.edu/today/images/graphics/servicelearning.jpg"><span style="color: blue; font-size: xx-small;">http://www.utsa.edu/today/images/graphics/servicelearning.jpg</span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Julie Bezansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18096416684540505245noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8064978345586076660.post-80570115977852837962014-03-02T13:08:00.004-08:002014-03-02T15:54:32.960-08:00"Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us" <h3>
[Reflection]</h3>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This week’s reading, “Unlearning the Myths the Bind Us” by Linda Christensen
got me really interested – on the mention of “Disney” I was instantly hooked.
Being a huge fan of animated Disney movies, I could go on for pages and pages
about the animation, songs, musical scores…ok, getting back to focus here: </span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Christensen focuses her article on children’s movies and entertainment,
and the messages about society that they send to young children. She argues
that the messages subtly portrayed in children’s movies surrounding race,
ethnicity, gender, body type, and social class have a huge influence over how
children perceive society. For example, when a child watches something like Cinderella,
they are sent false messages about female gender roles, marriage, and beauty.
As Christensen states: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“these tales leave young women with
two myths: Happiness means getting a man, and transformation from wretched
conditions can be achieved through consumption - in their case, through new
clothes and a new hairstyle. I am uncomfortable with those messages. I don't
want students to believe that change can be bought at the mall, nor do I want
them thinking that the pinnacle of a woman's life is an "I do" that
supposedly leads them to a "happily ever after." I don't want my
female students to see their “sisters” as competition for that scarce and
wonderful commodity – men” (133).</span> </span></div>
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</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><a href="http://lahaiseslair.com/alexiso/files/2014/02/disney-princess-stereotypes2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://lahaiseslair.com/alexiso/files/2014/02/disney-princess-stereotypes2.jpg" height="330" width="400" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As much as I love Disney fairy
tale movies, I have to agree with Christensen in her argument. Through watching
them, I’ve noticed that far too many of the stories display and emphasize unrealistic
representations of different people and cultures. We shouldn’t teach our
children through media that all women have to be a size zero, and have
perfectly flowing hair, waiting around for a fairy godmother to show up and bring
her a man to marry within the week and immediately make her life perfect. This
only reinforces the gender stereotypes of girls, and now they feel like they
have to change themselves because they feel pressured to be skinny, pretty, and
feminine. They also fail to accurately represent human sexuality because these
movies have only ever portrayed “true love” as an attraction between a
handsome, muscular man and an unreasonably attractive, hyper-feminine girl. Nowhere
does it portray love as a romantic attraction between two people of the same
sex. It also associates youthfulness with beauty and kindness, since the
protagonists are always very young, usually under the age of 20. The older
characters tend to be portrayed as stereotypically ugly and evil. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwrehgthk81qmffl3o1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwrehgthk81qmffl3o1_500.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a>I’ve noticed that cultures are
also portrayed falsely in cartoons. While it’s true that most cartoon
characters are white, some cartoons and movies are set in locations/eras of
different cultures and feature people of color. But often times, these attempts
at representing these cultures use false assumptions about these cultures that
are ingrained in the perceptions of white Americans. For example, as
Christensen states, the cartoon <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pop-eye</i>
portrays most Arabs as peasants or thieves with turbins and swords. The same
could be argued in Disney’s Aladdin, where the Arab stereotype is associated
with evil. </span></div>
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</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ve noticed many similar
cultural stereotypes while watching films like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Peter Pan</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pocahontas</i>,
Native Americans are portrayed as the stereotypical “red” Indians with feather
headdresses. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Princess and the Frog</i>, a
recent Disney film set in New Orleans, attempts to highlight the culture and
African American population in the area, but in doing so, waters down a complex
cultural identity and reinforces racial stereotypes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvdz3aKhbX1qkfkhh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvdz3aKhbX1qkfkhh.jpg" height="208" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span>But while reading this article, I
started thinking to myself, “Hold on a second - what about movies like Mulan?
It features a woman who challenges the female princess stereotype by fighting
in the army, which shows a strength in women, right?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span>But unfortunately, while a
children’s movie about a woman cross-dressing presents a less feminine side to
women, it only focuses attention on gender stereotypes of the men. Most of
humor in this movie comes Mulan’s struggle to act masculine; for example, her
remark about male habits when she tries to present herself as a man: “You know
how it is when you get those…”manly urges”…when you just gotta punch something,
fix things…cook outdoors…” While it’s funny and we get a good laugh out of it,
it still stereotypes men. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvozmhqLkq1qmffl3o1_400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvozmhqLkq1qmffl3o1_400.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a>This really opened my eyes to the
subliminal messages that I’ve been sent through the movies that I’ve always
loved as a little kid and still love now – how has this affected how I see the
world? I suppose that when watching these as a child, these movies shaped my
views about the world in ways that I didn’t even realize, since the messages in
these stories are so ingrained into our dominant ideology that we don’t even
recognize them. Of course I can see the flaws now that I know to look for them,
but to a 3-year old, as Christensen states, these flaws can have a major impact
on how that child perceives gender roles, body image, sexuality, and
race/ethnicity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">While generations of children
have been fed stereotypes through fairy tales, we may be moving towards a more
progressive era of children’s films with more diverse casts of characters. I
came across this article the other day about the new Disney film, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Frozen</i>, and thoughts from another blogger
about the elements that hint at a change in the stereotypes set in place by
past films. While its far from diverse, it’s <a href="http://www.policymic.com/articles/79455/7-moments-that-made-frozen-the-most-progressive-disney-movie-ever" target="_blank">a step in the right direction</a>
(especially #5 – “Hey, did you notice the gay character?”) Hopefully we’ll see
movies throw away more stereotypes in the future. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">P.S. Sorry this
post was so long…I tend to ramble about movies. Thanks for taking the time to
read it <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Image credit:
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<a href="http://lahaiseslair.com/alexiso/files/2014/02/disney-princess-stereotypes2.jpg"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;">http://lahaiseslair.com/alexiso/files/2014/02/disney-princess-stereotypes2.jpg</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span></div>
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<a href="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvdz3aKhbX1qkfkhh.jpg"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;">http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvdz3aKhbX1qkfkhh.jpg</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span></div>
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<a href="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwrehgthk81qmffl3o1_500.jpg"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;">http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwrehgthk81qmffl3o1_500.jpg</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span><a href="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvozmhqLkq1qmffl3o1_400.jpg"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;">http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvozmhqLkq1qmffl3o1_400.jpg</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span>Julie Bezansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18096416684540505245noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8064978345586076660.post-52134598438379609182014-02-23T12:12:00.000-08:002014-02-24T19:42:50.691-08:00Safe Spaces<br />
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
[Hyperlinks]<o:p></o:p></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This week’s reading, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Safe Spaces</i> by Annemarie Vaccaro, Gerri August, and Megan S.
Kennedy, deals with LGBT issues in schools. Compared to issues dealing with
race or ethnicity, this topic is a bit different; while we can usually determine race
by simply looking at a person, we can’t tell someone’s sexual orientation just
by looking at them. But even so, students that identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual,
or transgender are facing more and more discrimination and harassment in
schools today, especially since more and more are “coming out” and openly identifying
as LGBT. Vaccaro, August, and Kennedy address the issue of discrimination of
LGBT youth in schools today by giving us ways to present the issue in classrooms.
They suggest including representation of LGBT identities and families in their curriculum
just as often as heterosexual identities and families, so that students learn
to accept both identities as part of the social norm and respect them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<a href="http://johnlewis.house.gov/sites/johnlewis.house.gov/files/styles/section_front_boilerplate/public/lgbt.jpg?itok=s1lPGK99" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://johnlewis.house.gov/sites/johnlewis.house.gov/files/styles/section_front_boilerplate/public/lgbt.jpg?itok=s1lPGK99" height="200" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, as the
article explains, teachers are often teaching and reinforcing that identifying
as LGBT is not OK – like the teacher that sent a student to the principal for
using the word “gay” in class. While he was using it in a harmless way to
describe his own family, as the authors state, “the teacher saw this for what
it was: a teachable moment. But what did she teach? The message to Marcus and
his classmates was that Marcus’ family was shameful, something to be hushed.” The
teacher has even stated in the report that “this kind of discussion is not acceptable
in my room. I feel that parents should explain things of this nature to their
own children in their own way” (95). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">While I was reading this article, it reminded me of a
video that one of my friends showed me last year that shows the kinds of
discrimination and violence that a homosexual person faces in school on a daily
basis, but with a twist. The story is told through the eyes of a heterosexual girl
living in a world where everyone else is homosexual and her experiences of
identifying as a “different” sexuality at school. This video not only gives us
insight into the daily experience of a homosexual in our world, but allows
heterosexuals to relate to the main character and feel the struggle of having their
own sexual identity alienated. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This short film is extremely powerful, and I’ll warn
you now – it’s pretty graphic. But even though it’s so heavy emotionally, it’s exceptionally
informative and well-written. Ever since I did, it’s helped me to understand
the struggles of LGBT kids in school. As future teachers, I really hope you’ll all
take the time to watch it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<o:p><br />
</o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/3ROXTFfkcfo?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">…Pretty powerful, right? All I can do is just say, “Wow, Is this really
reality for LGBT kids at school?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
</span></span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately,
the answer is yes. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It really puts the experience of having your own
sexuality discriminated against into perspective for heterosexuals. What else
amazes me about this is how little support Ashley has at school and at home.
Almost everyone discriminates her: her friends, her teachers, even her parents!
And to make things worse, the boy that she likes won’t even stand up for her
out of his own fear of being alienated. She has so little support that she
resorts to suicide as the only answer, a choice that far too many LGBT teens
have made. </span></div>
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Sexual_orientation_-_4_symbols.png/300px-Sexual_orientation_-_4_symbols.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Sexual_orientation_-_4_symbols.png/300px-Sexual_orientation_-_4_symbols.png" height="153" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">But what if that teacher that intervened while Ashley was
being bullied had taught in his class that being LGBT was OK? Or if her
parents had allowed her to be exposed to heterosexuality by letting her walk
past the couple down the street? Or if the drama teacher had seen her wishes
and decided to cast “Julio” as “Juliet” to fairly
represent heterosexuals in society?</span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In our society,
we need to teach that LGBT identities are the normality for many teens, aren’t
something to be hidden or ashamed of, and that these students need to be
treated with respect. I think the authors of this article would agree with me
when I say that if the other students had seen positive representations of her
sexuality in school, maybe Ashley wouldn’t have felt forced to take her own
life. The same might be true for LGBT kids in our society today if we create
safe spaces for them in our schools.</span> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Pictures: <span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://johnlewis.house.gov/sites/johnlewis.house.gov/files/styles/section_front_boilerplate/public/lgbt.jpg?itok=s1lPGK99"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;">http://johnlewis.house.gov/sites/johnlewis.house.gov/files/styles/section_front_boilerplate/public/lgbt.jpg?itok=s1lPGK99</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Sexual_orientation_-_4_symbols.png/300px-Sexual_orientation_-_4_symbols.png"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;">http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Sexual_orientation_-_4_symbols.png/300px-Sexual_orientation_-_4_symbols.png</span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></span></span></span><br /></div>
Julie Bezansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18096416684540505245noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8064978345586076660.post-91832240016827495252014-02-16T20:40:00.005-08:002014-02-16T20:41:42.829-08:00The American Language <h3>
[Connections in "Aria" by Richard Rodriguez] </h3>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I’ve always enjoyed learning about languages other than my
own, so this week’s reading was really interesting for me. I found “Aria” by
Richard Rodriguez to be especially eye-opening since it approached the issue of
multilingual classrooms from the point of view of a Spanish-speaking student in
a predominately English-speaking community. I’ve always been curious about the
experiences of those who learn English as a second language in America, and
Rodriguez does an excellent job of explaining how his Hispanic background
impacted and changed his experiences in school, and how his schooling impacted
his experiences at home. I felt that this piece was also pretty heavy
emotionally, particularly hearing about how even though learning English helped
Rodriguez to be part of the English-speaking American community, his family
life suffered and he lost the connection with his parents. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIOougGErmDix0HZGi8A8vBXA5EJVJkXtPq3DwDT8l7Y0gFXBcL9dNX-CnbmSyO8vMzodeteH8tCiVtiyZ1ls2gfe8O6GxxcN59GG2mqCxQ_eqj7qNsXQRFF_ALET2dSjM9HOGI0IAy1N2/s1600/do+you+speak+english.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIOougGErmDix0HZGi8A8vBXA5EJVJkXtPq3DwDT8l7Y0gFXBcL9dNX-CnbmSyO8vMzodeteH8tCiVtiyZ1ls2gfe8O6GxxcN59GG2mqCxQ_eqj7qNsXQRFF_ALET2dSjM9HOGI0IAy1N2/s1600/do+you+speak+english.jpg" height="203" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">While reading “Aria,” I found myself making connections to
other articles that we’ve read and discussed in class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It first reminded me of the article we read
last week, Lisa Delpit’s “The Silenced Dialogue.” Delpit presented a very
similar issue to that of Rodriguez’s article – the communication barrier in
schools. She wrote about the cultural differences in American classrooms, and
the divide in communications between students and teachers of different
cultural backgrounds. While she mainly addresses the difference in race, the
linguistic differences that Rodriguez talks about also impact communication in
schools just as much, if not more than race. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What connects these two articles the most for
me is the idea of cultural identity – in this case, who someone is based on the
way they speak. In Delpit’s article, she talked about “heritage languages” and
different ways of speaking that define an individual and allow them to express
themselves, and that “each child has the right to their own language, their own
culture” (Delpit 37). The same is true in Rodriguez’s story; just because his
language is not the majority in his school, he does not have the right to speak
the way that he knows how to. When he is stripped of his right to speak Spanish
at home and at school, in some ways, he loses his Hispanic identity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<a href="http://rookienotes.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/english.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://rookienotes.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/english.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Rodriguez’s article also reminded me of Allan Johnson’s
article, “Privilege, Power, and Difference.” Johnson gives a main overview of
the problems that we face today in American society dealing with race, gender, and
sexual orientation, and the privileges associated with being part of the dominant
ideology (straight, white male). Even though Johnson doesn’t focus on the issue
of language differences in America, the idea of privilege still applies in
Rodriguez’s case. For example, English-speaking people are also privileged in the
same way that whiteness, straightness, and maleness are. Johnson says that if you
are “different” than a straight, white male, you can be stigmatized in some
way; similarly, according to Rodriguez, speaking another language other than
English is cause for a stigma, and is a disadvantage in English-speaking America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just like Johnson explains that you have to be
a straight white male to be considered “American” by most of society, Rodriguez
proves that language is another factor – he even states that it was only when
he was finally fluent in English that he “was an American citizen” (Rodriguez
36). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought looking at “Aria”
through the lens of Delpit and Johnson to be helpful, since it really got me
wondering: How can students that speak other languages be free to use their own
languages in school? And how are English-speaking people privileged in our
society? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also began to wonder how many
people in Providence and in my hometown spoke languages other than English. I
found this helpful link on the <a href="http://www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/language/data/language_map.html" target="_blank">United States Census Bureau</a> website that lets
you see where other languages are spoken in the US. It really amazes me that
English is still considered the main language of the United States, even when
so many other languages are spoken here. What does this mean for uses of other
languages in schools? </span></div>
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</div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Pictures:</span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.moveoneinc.com/blog/relocations/endo-speak-english/">http://www.moveoneinc.com/blog/relocations/endo-speak-english/</a></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;">
, </span><a href="http://rookienotes.wordpress.com/2014/02/09/speak-english-or-get-out/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;">http://rookienotes.wordpress.com/2014/02/09/speak-english-or-get-out/</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />Julie Bezansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18096416684540505245noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8064978345586076660.post-51413409117064593782014-02-09T18:24:00.002-08:002014-02-13T12:22:39.296-08:00Hearing the “Silenced Dialogue” – Lisa Delpit<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">[Argument Post]</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">What is the best way to educate students of color? If you
had asked me that question last week I would have said, “What do you mean?
Teaching students of color vs. white students should be the same, shouldn’t it?
Methods of teaching shouldn’t depend on the student’s race, right?” <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Lisa Delpit explores this question in her article, “The
Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People's Children” (This
definitely wasn’t an easy read – it took a lot of thinking and rereading to
take all 26 pages of thoughts, examples, and ideas and piece it all together
into one clear main idea– but I think I managed to find her central argument <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span>
).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Delpit argues that students should be educated in a way that
allows them to express their own culture through language, but also teaches
them how to be successful in today’s American workforce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As she explains, American society has one
major “culture of power,” or one culture that dominates over all others (in this
case, a white, middle-class background). Even though the children in the school
system come from all different ethnic, racial, social, and religious backgrounds,
they are all taught to conform to the culture of power when they are in school;
that is, the same way of thinking, behaving, and speaking that is common in the
white middle-class culture. However, Delpit argues that the goal of education
should not be to erase all other backgrounds, but to allow each child to
develop their own culture, while also learning how to function and succeed
within the dominant American society as a whole. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://sonyawoodman.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/classroom-diversity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="http://sonyawoodman.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/classroom-diversity.jpg" height="198" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">An article by Tim Walker, </span><a href="http://www.nea.org/home/43098.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“Closing the Culture Gap”</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"> </span><span style="color: #0b5394;">
also explains the role of cultural diversity in the school system, and the
steps that teachers are taking to realize the impact of this diversity on
children’s education. One teacher, Devon Alexander, shares many of the same
arguments as Delpit: he says, <span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">“First
and foremost, let your students know that their lived experiences are valid and
valued. They have every right to hold on to who they are, what they know, and
what they live, even if sometimes they have to stop and work through
differences, but you also have to show them how to navigate our school culture
so they can succeed.”</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<a href="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2544/3809460658_93f977c3f6_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2544/3809460658_93f977c3f6_o.jpg" height="185" width="200" /></span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Even though as first, I thought all children should be
educated in the same way (after all, we’re eventually striving for equality in
society here), I’m realizing that there are reasons that all children actually
should be taught differently based on the culture that they come from. The
story that Delpit shares about the Native Alaskan class learning two different
kinds of English – “Heritage Language” and “Standard English” - really struck
me as inspiring. Reading that taught me that it is possible for us to learn how
to express ourselves in our own way while also being able to speak and write in
a way that everyone can understand. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a musician, I
think of it like music – everyone learns how to speak their own language, but
everyone, regardless of the language you speak, can learn to interpret music,
the “international language.” As Delpit puts it, "Children have the right
to their own language, their own culture. …It is not they, the children, who must
change, but the schools. To push children to do anything else is repressive and
reactionary” (37).</span> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Picture sources: <span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://sonyawoodman.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/classroom-diversity.jpg"><span style="color: blue;">http://sonyawoodman.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/classroom-diversity.jpg</span></a><span style="color: black;">, <span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2544/3809460658_93f977c3f6_o.jpg"><span style="color: blue;">http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2544/3809460658_93f977c3f6_o.jpg</span></a>
</span>
</span></span></span></span></span></div>
Julie Bezansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18096416684540505245noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8064978345586076660.post-2401658041267271262014-02-02T20:29:00.002-08:002014-02-13T12:23:09.109-08:00What is White Privilege? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://milambc.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/white-privilege.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://milambc.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/white-privilege.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://www.racefiles.com/2014/01/23/on-asian-american-privilege/"><span class="ircho"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">www.racefiles.com</span></span></span></a><span class="rl"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<h3>
Quotes from Peggy McIntosh (Quote Post)</h3>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Reading Peggy McIntosh’s article, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack</i> truly opened my
eyes to the undeserved privilege that white Americans are treated with on a
daily basis. Being white myself, I had never thought about what it meant to be “privileged”
because of the color of my complexion, and have taken this freedom for granted
in my own life, not realizing the extent of my own unearned privileges. While
reading, I came across a few passages in particular that struck me as important
because even though they are simple and present in our everyday lives, they carry
so much importance in the issue of racism in our society. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #741b47;">“Many, perhaps most,
of our white students in the United States think that racism doesn’t affect
them because they are not people of color; they do not see “whiteness” as a
racial identity.”(5)<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Growing up in a mostly white community, I grew up with the
perspective that being white was considered “normal,” and any other color of skin
immediately stood out as different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
we talked about race in school, we only learned the terms “Black,” or “African
American”; “Indian” or “Native American”; “Asian,” etc…But<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>never “white.” To us students, we didn’t identify
as really having a race. As McIntosh explains, this becomes problematic because
white people begin to set themselves higher up on the social ladder, causing
whites people in America to think that the term “racism” cannot apply to them
because they do not identify as having a race. This false sense of invincibility
leads to white dominance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #741b47;">“When I am told about
how our national heritage or about “civilization,” I am shown that people of my
color made it was it is.” (2)<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">McIntosh includes this statement in a list of unearned advantages
given to the white American population. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the reasons that whiteness is valued in
our dominant ideology is because the founding fathers of our nation were all
white. While all Americans can recognize this, what we fail to realize is the
lack of representation of successes of other races leads to the assumption that
whites are the most powerful and most capable of leading, and therefore, “better.”
We actually <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">learn</i> that whites are
more important in schools. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I found an interesting article about teaching racism indirectly
here: </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicholas-ferroni/teaching-education-discrimination_b_1826113.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicholas-ferroni/teaching-education-discrimination_b_1826113.html</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: #741b47;">“Most talk by whites
about equal opportunity seems to me now to be about equal opportunity to try to
get into a position of dominance while denying that systems of dominance exist.”
(6)<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I had to reread this statement a few times before I
understood what McIntosh meant by this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How I interpreted her view her here is that while white people are
attempting to recognize the problems with racial inequality, they try to get
rid of the problem using logic that is actually a hypocritical paradox – they
talk about “equal opportunity” for people of all colors, trying to reject or play
down the power of white privilege by elevating the status of all other races.
But, they use this strategy to protect their privileges while making them seem like less
of an oppressor to society. If this is the case, it’s not actually getting rid
of the problem, is it? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I hope we can discuss this last quote in class in more
detail – I’m interested in learning what you think about it. How white people
can handle their privileges in a democratic way and strive towards finding
equality between races? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Julie Bezansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18096416684540505245noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8064978345586076660.post-79061793114332018372014-02-02T16:46:00.002-08:002014-02-09T18:35:53.457-08:00Hello fellow bloggers! <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Hi everyone! I’m Julie and I'm a Music Education student at Rhode
Island College. I grew up in a small, rural town in Connecticut. While it’s a friendly
community and I’ve made lots of close friends there, I’m excited to explore
life away from the cows and cornfields and experience college life while living
on campus in Providence. Ever since I started playing the flute in 5<sup>th</sup>
grade, I’ve had a passion for music and all things creative, so having the
chance to take my dedication for the arts and turn it into a full-time
career is sort of a dream come true for me. When I’m not in class, rushing to
class, or doing homework for class, I’m practicing my flute, singing or humming along with
my favorite songs (or film scores!) or watching my favorite movies or musicals
(anything Disney is fantastic!). If I have time, I also love sewing, dancing,
and baking cookies with my sister.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
started this blog for my class, FNED 346 - Schooling in a Democratic Society. I’m
excited for this class and can’t wait to see what we will discover about
teaching and while tutoring in the elementary schools this semester. I’m
looking forward to blogging along with all of you! <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">-Julie <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span>
<o:p></o:p></span>Julie Bezansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18096416684540505245noreply@blogger.com0