"Empowering Education" by Ira Shor

REFLECTION

I like how the reading started out with questions to start getting the reading thinking and questioning. This reading made me nervous at first because it said "Reading Is Politics" and I really dislike politics. I understand politics and how they work. I just think sometimes people get so caught up in politics that they forget the difference between what is right and wrong and all of a sudden it is what is hard and what is easy.

The beginning of the reading was making great points about students curiosity and engaging students. It talks about a curriculum that encourages student questioning. This reminded me of an experience I had in high school. I had a crazy science teacher my sophomore year and he would always ask questions that  --for lack of a better word-- would hurt my head! By not letting students question knowledge it shows them that the world is fixed and fine the way it is. It does not challenge them to pursue their questions which is not good.

Students are aware of when they are being taught and when they are just being given regurgitated information. Students always question why they are doing the things they are doing and how can they help the student. It is very important for the teacher to understand the student.

Comments: I thought this reading showed a good relation between education and politics. It gave many great examples of what schools should be doing to best educate their students and do not be afraid to challenge students knowledge and make them think

Hyperlink:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouudXr-csZg

"From Belly Dancers to Burqas: Media Representations of Muslim Women" by Afshan Jafar

Social Justice Event

I knew this would be a great conference to attend because I had never been truthfully informed about Muslim culture in general. Other than what many people speculate about Muslim Women, I had not had any other knowledge. I believe Afshan Jafar knew that most students in the room would be in the same position as me. That being said she chose a very wise way to start of the presentation. She handed out papers and pencils and had everyone write down 3 things they think of when they think of Muslim Women. Most of the results were very similar. The top 6 words people associated with Muslim Women were oppressed, conservative, respectful, controlled, religious and beautiful. Jafar said these are always the answers she receives before she gives her presentation.

The first example she brought up was a movie that many students have probably seen which was "Aladdin (1992)". She discussed the way Jasmine is portrayed in this movie. Jasmine's complexion is very light and more Caucasian than Muslim. Jasmine is also wearing a belly dancer outfit throughout
the entire movie. Muslim women do not spend their entire day in a belly dancers outfit. The villain's name in the movie is Jafar, which our speaker could really relate to.given the fact that her last name is Jafar. It's interesting that the movie gave the villain a Muslim name like Jafar. We also discussed the movie "Pocahontas", more specifically we discussed one of the songs from the movie. It was titled "Savages" and had line in it like "barely even human" and "they're not like you which means they must be evil". This song was portraying Muslims as something horrible and dangerous. Using such degrading terms like "red" for skin color. This movie is a children's movie and to think that children are being exposed to those kind of prejudice conceptions through media is unthinkable. This can all relate back to the reading "Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us" by Linda Christensen. In this article she states "research suggest, the stereotypes and worldview embedded in the stories become accepted knowledge." Children soak up the information and without even knowing it they base their views off of how they have been influenced. I think it is important for children to know what they are watching like Christansen says in the reading. If children could be aware of the stereotyping they may not be as influenced. I found another website that discusses the racism throughout Pocahontas. They state that the song savages lacks cultural sensitivity. They also discuss other racist aspects of the movie.

Jafar went on to discuss a specific issue of National Geographic from 1985. The title of the issue was "Haunted eyes of an Afgan Refugee's fears". The front page of the magazine portrayed and Afgan woman in slightly warn down attire. Her eyes are so intense and it's as if she is speaking
through her picture. We were asked to say what we thought the emotion on her face was expressing. I thought it mostly expressed anger, not fear. But I could see how some would interpret the picture in that way. Her face was a little dirty, which could mean that she was homeless at the time or was in poverty. The thing is, we really don't know because the photographer didn't bother to even ask her what her name is, let alone ask about her life. It wasn't until 2002 when the photographer was offered money to track down the girl in the picture, who by the time was an adult. He had nothing to go off of to help him find this woman. If it weren't for new facial recognition technology, he most likely would not have been able to find her. When he did he found out her name was, Sharbat Gula. She was going to be on the cover of National Geographic again, and I was shocked when I saw the picture they chose to put on the cover. She was completely covered from head to toe, not showing her face. She was holding a copy of the 1985 issue with her on the cover as a young girl. I think that this heavily relates to the "Silenced Dialogues" by Lisa Delpit. As a young girl, Sharbat Gula was silenced

without even knowing it. This man that took a picture of her and didn't bother to ask her anything had silenced her. What if she had a lot to say? We would never have known. After he found her 17 years later she did have something to say. This was on the inside of the National Geographic issue with her on the cover. She was very angry with the photographer for taking that photo because she had never been photographed before in her life. He was also a complete stranger. It turns out the next time she would be photographed was 17 years later for national geographic yet again. She was silenced for 17 years. People not knowing how she felt about the picture or if she even wanted it taken, which clearly she didn't. After learning that I thought, maybe she wanted to be covered up on the front cover this time. Maybe that was her way of showing she didn't want the picture taken the first time. There is i replica picture on the inside of the magazine of her making the same face she did as a girl. But maybe after all of this she wanted to send a message after she had been silenced for 17 years.

 Jafar discussed that it's not the clothing of Muslim women that makes them seem oppressed. It is what our culture thinks of as looking oppressed. That statement really opened my eyes. The clothing isn't saying anything, it's what we think that type of clothing means. We might also say that tribes that live naked are "inappropriate", but to them that's completely normal, and it should be because that is their cultures morals and beliefs. So, before we go judging other cultures on what they wear, we should respect their culture and understand just because they are covered up doesn't mean they are

controlled and oppressed. And just because they are naked, does not mean their culture revolves around sex. This can relate back to the article "White Privilege" by Peggy McIntosh. Not being aware of how your views have been influenced by your own culture. With white privilege, one may not even realize how their views have been influenced and shaped. The picture that I posted is a great example of this. It shows that other cultures may have views on our culture that we don't "agree" with or see ourselves, but this picture makes perfect sense. Wearing minimal clothes may show that we are trying to appease men by showing off our bodies. I watched a great video on a Muslim Women that talked about HER opinions and choices. One example is that many think that Muslim women are forced to wear a Hijab and that is not true, they can chose to wear a Hijab with their own free will. The Hijab is meant to protect and honor women and the women want to honor that law wear the Hijab. Another video I found argues who is more oppressed, Muslim women or western society women. It's a great video that directly relates to the photo I posted. This was a great conference and a great learning experience.

Outside Sources:
Pocahontas Racism - http://disneyandmovies.pbworks.com/w/page/17905676/1%20Pocahontas
Sharbat Gula - http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2002/04/afghan-girl/index-text
Hijab - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w-1MP_IAj0
Who is Oppressed?- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTI0HOQceqM

"Citizenship in School: Reconseptualizing Down Syndrome" by Christopher Kiliewer

QUOTES

Overall, this was a very powerful reading, especially coming from the view of a girl who had actually experienced being segregated from the so-called "General Education" classroom. This has been my favorite reading so far. Out of all of the readings we have done so far in the semester we have discussed a lot about race, but we have not really touched about disabilities. This is a very important topic and just like race, disabilities also play a role in SCWAMP. I could relate most to this reading becausse this semester I have had the opportunity to work in an inclusion classroom and I really loved the experience. This article confirms the way I feel about inclusion classrooms and why I think they are great for all students with disabilities.

The first quote that I would like to discuss is "Success in life requires the ability to form relationships with others who make up the web of community" As stated in the reading it is important to learn to work with others. Too often children with disabilities are placed in a self-contained classroom where they do not get the same interactions that they would get in a general education classroom. If there is a self-contained classroom with 7 students in it and most of those students have difficulties with social interaction, it will be more difficult for them to learn how to interact with others. In an inclusion classroom, they would have the opportunity to work on their social skills by interacting with other students in the general education classroom.

The second quote that I chose from the reading was "Such acceptance is the aim when children with Down Syndrome join their non-disabled peers in classrooms." This made me think of my experience in the inclusion room. The more children are exposed to their disabled peers, the more comfortable they become. They get used to it and all of a sudden the students treat them like they are no different. I was luck enough to see this in action. Although the classroom I was working in had no physically disabled students they had students with disabilities. The general education students are so good at including the other children during recess and they even help them with assignments. They don't treat them differently at all! Children with down syndrome should be given that chance to thrive in a classroom with their non-disabled peers.

The last quote I chose to write about was "School citizenship requires that students not be categorized and separated based on presumed defect." Just because a student has Down Syndrome does not mean that they are not capable of functioning in a general classroom. People assume the characteristics in Down Syndrome mean that they can't break that mold. That should never be an assumption of people with disabilities. just because they may have difficulties with communicating or other skills does not mean anything. They are just as capable as non-disabled people and we have to be sure to treat them with respect knowing that.

Comments: This reading was amazing and shows plenty of examples of how segregation isn't necessarily the best placement for students with Down Syndrome or disabilities. This reading is very eye opening to the direction we should be moving with inclusion of students with disabilities.

Hyperlink:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UzCn2WCUE8
Starting about half way through the teachers talk about stradegies to support students with down syndrome in the classroom.

This is a great example of trial and error. In 7 or 8 years it will be too late for the students that could have benefited from inclusion. We should be doing what the bottom cartoon shows. Trying it out and learning from the experience to make improvements in the future.

"Literacy With an Attitude" by Patrick J. Finn

CONNECTIONS

This reading by Finn and the reading by Oake's share many of the same great points when discussing the education system. I really liked the fact that the readings were told from a different perspective, yet they both had the same conclusion of the education system and how it's not really working the way it needs to. Oake's gave the general outlook on how the system is currently working as a whole and although her article was very effective, I think that Finn's perspective gave more of an insight from within the schools.

Since Finn was a teacher himself, he was able to give us the details of how the classes were split up by level and how it didn't really work out. He shared with the readers, his own methods that he kind of admitted were ineffective. It was more like he was just giving them work to keep them busy and quiet. And his administrators seemed to admire him for that. I think both of these readings can also relate back to the Silenced Dialogue's. The students are just being given orders, not really being taught. If the classroom is always quiet, how are students supposed to ask questions? How are they supposed to learn? I think it's great that Finn started to realize what he was doing wasn't working so he put his time and effort into something that is very important. Now he reads, writes and teaches about literacy and language. The material that the more middle class schools were learning did not seem to be up to par with the level of material that the higher level schools were earning. Some teachers even say that the material is too difficult for the students so they give them something easier. This connects right back to Freedom Writers when Mrs. G wanted to give the students books that they should be reading as sophomores in high school and the English department head said that those books were "too hard" for the students. That assumption should not be made, maybe if the teachers gave them the opportunity and showed the students that they believed in them they would be surprised how much all students can learn.

When teachers were asked why they have their students mindlessly copy notes. Their responses were less than impressive. On  teacher said "They're lazy. I hate to categorize them, but they're lazy." This teacher is a a great example of how we can fail our children. Students are in school to get an education and too often that education is replaced with obedience. Teachers just do whatever they need to keep their students quiet and copying stuff down. Instead of being creative and thinking of ways to interact with the students and make their education enjoyable! Finn's way of connecting pictures with history and literacy makes it much more engaging for the students. It is also imperative to try to let students connect what they are learning in school to their own life experiences. If they can make a connection it makes the information easier to learn and more enjoyable!

Both Finn and Oake made great points about having different levels in schools for example my high school had B level, A level, Honors and AP. Most students would be in A level or honors and there would be about 50 students in both B and AP. The B level was the so-called "lowest level" the school offered and AP was the "highest level". There was a great difference in the material that B level and AP students would worked on. They tend to measure students capability by tests, so in that sense I believe that there are students in B classes that are more than capable of doing AP work. The way a students intelligence is measured does not match up to what they can be capable of!

Comments: I really enjoyed this reading and I enjoyed the background that Finn gave the readers. It makes the reading a lot easier when you know a little bit about the writer! It was great that we watched Freedom Writers in class last week because that can really connect to both of these readings.

Hyperlink: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKIu9yen5nc
Big creators like Bill Gates and Mark Zucherberg talk about how they started out with simple things and just kept building off of it to create what they did! Based on technology and how now literacy and writing has taken a back seat

Just because a student doesn't have strength in the testing area does not mean they are not capable of being in high classes doing harder work. This cartoon shows that not everyone has the same ability in certain areas.

"Becoming Something Different" by Fairbanks, Crooks and Ariail

REFLECTIONS

This article has a great message behind it. I think Esme is a great example of what children are capable of if they set goals and have support to help them achieve their dreams. This reading shares many similarities with the movie Freedom Writers. I was a freshman in high school the first time I saw Freedom Writers and to this day it is one of my favorite movies. Esme reminds me of the Freedom Writers in the sense that she has dreams and aspirations but they seemed to be silenced.

This also can connect back to our reading of the Silenced Dialogues. The article starts to talk about how students become identified in particular ways and that they sometimes resist that identity that they have been labeled with. I think no matter what you can't label a student just because of what you see in their personality in school. If you don't know about their home life and what happens to them outside of the school you do not have the right to make assumptions.

When Esme decided to attend Cooper High with her friends it reminded me of the girl in Freedom Writers that decides to switch from the AP class to the lower level class. Now in her case it was a little different because she was doing the opposite as Esme and instead of challenging herself she moved to a lower class because she felt like an out-liar in the AP class. The teacher would always use her as the "African American" example. But in both cases the girls were using there Academic writes as a student. To be able to choose what they think works best for them.

Comments

I think it's great when the readings that we do make connections to other readings, videos or even our own personal experiences. I think that Esme is a great role model to all students. To show that she can make her own choices when it comes to her education is very empowering and inspiring to all students. Especially to the students that may feel silenced it shows them that they too, have a voice and a choice.

Hyperlink: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUnpSYMNEhY
In this Ted talk Till talks about his life and his academic choice


Students want to be creative, they are often silence by higher powers like teachers. Even though this is an employee and boss, it still mimics student and teacher.

"Between Barack and a Hard Place" by Tim Wise

CONNECTION

This was an amazing video and Tim Wise did a great job of getting his point across. Before I go into my connections between white privilege and the points made in this video I would like to share my first thought before I even watched the video. I saw that the speakers name was Tim Wise and I thought "huh that's interesting, it will be really ironic if he has some wise points to share." I didn't even get 5 minutes into the video before I thought how ironic it was that his last name was wise and he was making such "wise" points! Just thought that it was a bit ironic and cool! But anyways, back to the connections and points that wise made in his speech. There are plenty of people out there that give speeches on racism and white privilege and many other related topics, and yes some have personal experiences with those topics. But for some reason his logic and own personal life experiences seemed to make him so aware and educated. In the beginning when he is talking about the difference between friends and acquaintances it made me think about the people that I call my "friends".

I come from a mostly white community, so when I went to high school I had no black friends. There were about a total of 8 black kids in the entire school. Since I started college that changed a lot. Even though my school is still predominantly white there is also a high number of Latino and African American students. My best friend here at college is black and I could tell you her life story along with her address, phone number and much more. So, I know for a fact she is a "friend" but I thought I had a lot of other black "friends" until looking at it from Wise's point of view. When it gets down to the super details about their lives I probably couldn't tell you everything. Now I still look at them as my friends because we hangout almost everyday, but it's interesting after watching this video to look at our friendship in a different perspective. In a way not realizing these kind of things could relate back to white privilege. Wise also gives great examples of his own life experience where teachers would treat him differently when it cam to punishments. If his black friends got in trouble for the same thing he did they would have harsher consequences. He also gave amazing statistics. One of them being that African Americans are a lot more likely to get pulled over, but whites are a lot more likely to have something illegal.

Comments: I think that Wise's easy going personality made the video very engaging. He knew the right times to make a joke and the right times to be very serious. Overall I think he delivered his message in a very strong passionate demeanor!

Hyperlink: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INNCxVpGpyU
This is Macklemore's song "White Privilege". This isn't his first time addressing SCWAMP in his song. He has another song called "Same Love" that addresses marriage equality. Very strong messages in his lyrics.

"In the Service of What?" by Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer

REFLECTION

I think that Service Learning is very important and I am pleased that there are so many advocates of Service Learning. In the beginning of the article a very important statement is made and that is the statement about the true goal of Service Learning. It talks about the goals to find a common ground between Democratic and Republican parties. The main point of Service Learning is to get people involved in the community and more aware of their surroundings and what they can do to help! My favorite quote was when Mr. Johnson said "...learning while using the community as a classroom". That is such a great way to look at it and that is how it should be looked at. If children work with others that are less fortunate than they are, it opens their eyes to the world and shows them that not everyone has the same privileges that they have!

I made a connection to Ms. Adams story right away. In one of my other classes we talk about children in poverty and we recently watched a documentary on America's homeless children. Watching that documentary made me want to reach out to the homeless, so reading about what Ms. Adams and her class did made me very happy. As the article says the project stresses the importance of compassion. As I was reading this part of the article I kept thinking back to the documentary I watched and if those families had the community reach out to them it could have helped them a great deal! Especially the children of these families, they were born into that life, they are helpless in the situation of homelessness, so I feel that it would be very important to reach out to those homeless children. 

When it comes to the difference between Mr. Johnson and Ms. Adams approach to Service Learning, I personally like Ms. Adams approach a little bit more. I think it is very smart for the students to get educated. By the students gaining all of this background information on homelessness I think it makes it a lot easier for them to empathize and understand the Service Learning! I think if children are given the opportunity to do Service Learning they will be more likely to volunteer and help in their community! I think by having children participate in Service Learning we are improving our schools, students and communities.

Comments: I think that schools should require Service Learning for students. When I was in high school I volunteered in a soup kitchen for community service. My friend that had done it before told me that the people were very mean, so at first I was a little nervous for it. But when I did it the people didn't seem mean at all. Some of them kept to themselves, but that didn't mean they were mean. I think if my friend had a background on homelessness she might have known some homeless don't like having to get food at shelters, so they may come off as abrasive or unappreciative when in reality they are very appreciative.

Hyperlink: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK4PvcVAbes

About a family that was facing getting split up, started living in a van and now live in a motel. People should be educated and aware that this happens to people and families everyday. 

I chose this cartoon to give a glimpse of some of the ignorance today's children face. They are growing up in such a disconnect world with so much technology and distractions I feel that it is extra important to get them into Service Learning and connected to the community!