Allan Johnson "What Can We Do? Becoming Part of the Solution"

Johnson's article from "Privilege, Power, and Difference" is basically about trying to eliminate exclusion, rejection, privilege, harrassment, discrimination, and violence. Johnson feels that "silence and invisibility allow trouble to continue" and in order for it to change poeple have to "do something". Johnson brings up skin privilege numerious times within this text and often repeats that people with power are the ones that dont know they have it, as we have previously discussed in other works we have read over the past few weeks. He also brings up a good point that "privilege exists when one group has something that is systematically denied to others not because of who they are or what theyve done, but because of the social category they belong to." This means that people arent given the opportunites that others are given just because of what class they belong to and how much privilege and power is associated with that class. It doesnt matter how great you are at different things, because you will be judged and placed in a category regardless. This next quote that stood out to me: "oppression also takes many forms, most notably avoidnce, exclusion, rejection, unequal access to resources and rewards, and violence". I think it stuck out to me because I knew before reading it in black and white that this was true, but actually reading them really resignated with me. A statistic that also kind of shocked me was when Johnson said "racial oppression has been a feature of human life for only a matter of centuries, and there is abundant evidence that male dominance has been around for only seven thousand years or so which isnt very long when you consider that human beings have been on the earth fr hundreds of thounsands of years". I didnt ever realize that there was any research about how long male dominance has been around for and it shocked me because I thought males were always the dominant sex between the two.
Overall I enjoyed reading Johnsons' piece and found it interesting and easy to read and understand. The only thing that was sort of annoying to me was that it seemed too wordy and drawn out and I felt he couldve put his ideas into a shorter version. That being said, I learned a lot from this piece and it was one of the only peices this semester that I didnt feel bored reading.

Christopher Kliewer "Citizenship in School: Reconceptualizing Down Syndome"

Kliewer's article "Citizenship in School: Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome" is about how students with disabilites should be viewed as equals in the school system and be able to participate and learn in a "normal" school environment instead of specialized schooling. Kliewer argues that putting kid's with down syndrome and other disabilites into special education classrooms with actually hold these students back academically more so than if they had been placed in a normal classroom. Kliewer feels that "success in lkife requires an ability to form relationships with others who make up the we of community. . .we must learn to work with others, and this holds true whether we ultimately are destined to lead a multinational computer software firm, inspire a civil rights movement, raise caring children, bag groceries, or chat and feed squirrels with an old man on a park bench." I feel this is true to his theory about disabled kids because regardless of whether they are in a sped program or not, once they are forced to enter the real world they will have to learn to form relationships and it would be a lot easier on them later in life if they learn social skills earlier rather than later. Douglas Biklin states, "society itself is hurt when schools act as cultural sorting machines and discriminate on the basis of ability, gender, ethnicity and race." To me, this quote is correct because it doesn't give students experiences that they will be abvle to relate to in the future if they are only put with kids like themselves. Diversity helps students learn about others as well as themselves, and forcing kids into a non-diverse environment will only hinder their ability to learn and grow. Also, the fact that "schools have traditionally taken a narrow position when defining and judging student intellect" seems very unfair. Just because someone is different or has a learning disability does not mean they are any more or less smart than the student who appears more "normal". some children just need more stimulation to get them motivated to learn or need different tools of teaching to succeed.

Overall this article was hard for me to read and did not keep me focused. I liked some of Kliewer's ideas and rationalizations, but the good stuff was sometimes overpowered by the boring stuff. The parts I liked most were the little stories he added. They made it a bit easier for me to read through and helped to make sense out of the information.

Blog #10

Jean Anyon's "Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work" is basically about how different classes are seperated into one of the following type of schools: working class, middle class, affluent professional, and executive elite. Anyon did research within each of these types of schools located in New Jersey and her findings were that each schools teaching methods differed upon what class the children's families came from. In the working class schools Anyon observed that teachers only gave one way to do different tasks and were not taught that there was many times more than one way to do things. She also observed that the manner in which the teachers spoke to students was often times sarcastic and also yelled often. It was basically the teachers way or no way at all. "teachers observed in working class schools attempted to control classroom time and space by making decisions without consulting the children and without explaining the basis for they decisions. The teacher's control thus often seemed capricious." This quote I think verifies that the pedagogy in the middle class school definetly does refer back to their class and what, more than likely, the skills they will need in their career later on in life. In middle class schools that Anyon did field work in she observed that the student were given some decision making within the classroom,but that it was still very strucutred and went by what the teacher and the faculty of the school said. "The style of conrtol of the three fifth grade teachers observed in this school varied from somewhat easygoing to strict, but in contrast t the working class schools, the teachers decisions were usually based on external rules and regulations".
In the affluent professional school the students do alot of independent work and appears to do a lot of hands on activites, which more than likely would be a good skill they will need to perfect in their future line of work. The teachers also appear to be much more enthusiastic and encouraging. Three children at the most at a time are allowed to leave the classroom at a time, showing some signs of trust within the classroom. This school 'class' stood out to me because as Anyon states "the products of work in this class are often highly valued by the children and the teacher". This showed the kids that what they did in class actually meant something beyond just the assignment itself and gave the kids purpose instead of a feeling of busy work.
The executive elite school seems to be very different from the other types of schools. The teachers never use sarcasm, are respectful to the children, teach numerous ways of doing things, and the kids seem to run the show on some levels. One example Anyon used that I thought really backed up her idea that the schools were ultimately preparing the kids for what they would be doing career wise is when the teacher said "when youre up there, you have authority and you have to use it. I'll back you up.'"
I really liked reading this article and found it really interesting at how differently privilege affects people, even at the elementary school level. If the kids in the working class schools just happened to be born to people in the executive elite school they would be starting life off with more going for them then if born to a lower class.

Blog #9

Charles Lawrence's "One More River to Cross" - Recognizing the Real Injury in Brown: A Prerequisite to Shaping New Remediess is basically stating that brown vs. the board of education did not really give blacks as many equal rights in the school system as some may believe. Personally I don't agree with this. I think it was a a stepping stone that needed to be taken in order to BEGIN to give blacks the same opportunities as whites. It would be too far fetched for one issue to change what had been going on for decades before. Lawrence goes on to talk about segregation in length and appears to think that it has not really gone away. However he quotes Professor Charles Black "it was actionable defamation in the South to call a white man a Negro, that placing of a white person in a Negro railroad car was actionable humiliation, and that a small portion of Negro blood put one in the inferior race for segregation purposes." I personally think that these ideas have changed dramatically and issues of race have diminished a lot since the time that segregation was around. I do agree with "to seperate engro children from others of similiar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community in ways unlikely ever to be undone" because I cant imagine being forced into a room seperate from others just because of my skin color. I think there would be a lot of resentment and frustration to say the least and those feelings would probobly not go away very easily, in fact they would probably go on and stay with you for life. Lawrence believes that the segregation in schools isn't the only problem and that fixing the school segregation won't fix life for blacks.

I really enjoyed reading "Whites Swim in Racial Preference" by Tim Wise. The opening paragraph about the fish and the water was a good analogy and caught my attention immediately. The article is basically about how racial preference is relevent today, however many white poeple can't see it because they are so used to it. "White families on average, have a net worth that is 11 times the net worth of black families, according to a recent study; and this gap remains substantial even wehn only comparing families of like size, composition, education, and income status." and "A full time black male worker in 2003 makes less in real dollar terms than similar white men were earning in 1967." These two quotes really proved to me, even if I dont necessarily want to believe its true in this day and age and that people are allowing this to happen, that some forms of segregation and black privelage do occur. Wise ends his article with "So long as those privilages remain firmly in the place and the preferential treatment that flows from those privileges continues to work to the benefit of whites, all talk of ending affirmative action is not only premature but a slap in the face to those who fought, and died, for equal opportunity." I believe this is very true and also eye opening because people talk so mcuh about equality and how things are so much better now, but in all actuality life is still really hard for minorities and they arent given the backpack filled with all the tools they need like white people are. No matter how mcuh poeple talk nothing is going to change without action to back up the words.

"Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community" Dennis Carlson

Calrson's argues in his text that gay people need to feel that they are welcomed into a community where, up to this time period, they have been shunned. He states that schools need to be more open to discussing "gayness" at a young age and that gay people also need to be comfortable enough within their community to come out without feeling that they are doing something wrong and without being anxious about their decision. One thing that Carlson points out is that "analysis needs to proceed through an account if the specific techniques and apparatuses of power that have been employed in the school to keep gayness 'in its place' as an invisible presence. Three techniques of normalization and (hence) marginalization have been of primay importance in this regard: 1 the erasure of gayness in the cirriculm, 2 the "closeting" and "witch hunting" of gay teachers, and 3 verbal and physical intimidationof gay teachers and students." After reading these 3 points that Carlson brings up I tried to think of myself in the position I would be in if I was gay. I realized that I would probably feel uncomfortable and never really be able to be myself and show the people around me who I really am without be self conscious of what others will say or even do. Carlson goes on to discuss famous writers who were gay and that this "cleansing of gayness from the literary canon is ofen defended as an effort to maintain the reputation or 'good name' of authors by not 'outing' them." This wording actually offended me a lot. I felt that why would the publishers be tarnishing their 'good name' when they were famous for being great writers, so why would anything in their personal lives affect how they are seen today? I almost feel that if this information was more widely known, they would become more famous because it seperates them from other writers. Another thing that really offended me in this work was when Calrson explained Willard Wallers' view that "nothing seems more certain than that homosexuality is contagious" and that "gay teachers were to be fired because they too were understood as contagious." I felt that this statement was appalling and not only that but completely rediculous.
All in all I really enjoyed reading Carlson's work. I liked the way he wrote and it wasn't boring for me at all. I liked how he brought in other's viewpoints and with him doing that it opened my eyes to how, for lack of a better word, insane people are. Its really appalling to me to think that there are people who talk about other human beings like they are carrying around the black plague just because they are different from themselves.

Rodriguez "Aria" and Collier "Teaching Miltilingual Children"

"Aria" is a story about Richard Rodriguez's childhood experience growing up in an assimilated classroom where he was forced to soley speak english. Rodriguez felt that this process stripped him of his family culture and tradition and ultimately caused his family to lose the closeness they had once shared due to the family converting to speaking english most of the time. At one point, Rodriguez describes the event of the teachers from his school going to his house and asking his parents if "it is possible for you and youre husband to encourage your children to practice their Engish when they are home?". This was the beginning of a process that was described as a game within the family when speaking English with eachother. They would sit at the dinner table and speak English, lauging when they couldn't say a word or understand what it means. Over time, however, Rodriguez seems to become bitter about not being able to speak his native language and begins to see that it is slowly tearing the family apart. He also states how awkward he sometimes felt speaking English because it didnt 'belong' to him. He had trouble determining what to call his parents. "mama and papa i couldnt use anymore . . . all those terms i felt were unsuitable, not really terms of address for my parents." He also describes an incident when he walks into the house and overhears his parents speaking to eachother in spanish and when they notice he is there they switch to English. Rodriguez got upset by this and was forced to leave the room.
Overall I thought this piece was interesting and easy to read. I understood that Rodriguez felt that he lost a part of himself when he was forced to speak English instead of Spanish and that this greatly affected his home life as well.

Collier's "Teaching Multilingual Children" is about the responsibility put upon teachers to both teach multilingual children correctly, but also to be aware of their culuture. Collier states that it is important to teach kids what they need to learn, but also respect their background. " The key is the true appreciation of the different linguistic and cultural values that students bring into the classroom." Collier also states that "1. be aware that children use first language aquisition strategies for learning or acquiring a second language." This statement is very true because when a child learns one thing it opens pathways to learning more, the same is true with languages. She also states that "3. dont teach a second language in any way that challanges of seeks to eliminate the first language." when reading this I thought that maybe if the teachers Rodriguez had had been told this, he would not have felt so out of place in his youth.
This piece was really hard for me to read. I found it boring and half the time after finishing a paragraph I'd have to go back and read it again. I agree with many of the topics Collier presented, however perhaps it could have been told in a more personable way in order to keep the readers attention.

one addition to school context..

Today at school I actually saw a really great relation to the kid's culture. The teacher was asking the kids math questions such as "is 999 more or less than 1000?". The kids looked really confused and bewildered and after asking different versions of this question and many of the kids answering incorrectly, she asked the same questions in spanish. Immediately the kids recognized what the quesiton was really asking and they got the answeres correct. Just thought I'd add that..it was interesting to see.