Swing Kids

Let me begin by saying that I thought that this film was the most emotional of the four movies that I have watched. I had trouble digesting all of the information and heartbreak that occurred. I think this probably happened because I intend on teaching history, the subject I majored in in undergrad. As a result, I have learned more than most people will probably ever need to know about both of the World Wars. All of that information over a series of years tends to make a person a bit desensitized to the Nazi era. Since the ideas about the Holocaust and the horrors of the Nazi regime are mentioned in almost every class I have taken as either a point of discussion or a form of comparison, it is not something we view as shocking anymore.

            However, this movie was completely jaw dropping for me. In no other film have I really been shown people that seem to be close to my age actually having to deal with these issues. This movie was the only one of my four choices that did not take place in the United States as well, which may have made the truth harder to swallow. In any case the reason that I struggled so much after watching the film was because the evil and emotion in it actually disgusted me. However, this information and the stories in the film are very relevant. I am not exactly sure where to find the balance in the classroom between giving information that is desensitized to information that is so disturbing that it is inappropriate for students.

            This raises a moral and ethical dilemma for me as a teacher, because it raises the issue of censorship. There are very few scenes in this film that are particularly vulgar or graphic, and it might be okay to show to students who were juniors or seniors, but the level of emotional disturbance that might occur makes me leery. Therefore, I am now wondering whether or not it is actually my job to put on display for my students the evils that take place in the world. By not showing them the most horrifying things I would feel as though I am cheating them. However, by censoring material I may never really get them to grasp how important these things were, and they may become desensitized to death tolls and statistics as I have become at times. The balance is yet to be decided for me.

           

            There were several different themes in the movie that could closely be related to social mobility and circumstance. Therefore I chose to focus on the three types of people that actually had to physically interact with the Nazi regime. The three categories that most of the characters and probably most German people can fit into are as follows:

            - Those who cannot participate (shown in Arvid)

            - Those who choose too participate willingly (shown in Thomas)

            - Those who have seemingly no choice (Peter and his family)

            The most tragic story that we see in the film is through Arvid, the crippled young man who loves swing music so much, but will never really experience the ability to dance to it they way he wants to. Throughout the film we see his transformation from someone who was simply dealt a bad hand to someone who was completely defeated by society. We can parallel this with American classroom by becoming aware that certain students such as those who feel academically inadequate or perhaps especially ostracized (such as sexual minority youth) may eventually be left with no hope that anything will ever get better for them. It raises the question of crossing cultural lines, because we can wonder if Arvid had not killed himself and perhaps left alone by the regime chance would he have wanted to live in that type of society at all anyway? My own personal guess would probably be no.

            The second transformation we see is Peter and his family. Although they are all still deeply hurt by death of Peter’s father, the mother and eventually Peter devote themselves wholly to the Nazi party. It is clear through several quotes from both Peter and his mother though that neither of them really wants that path for themselves. When Peter eventually gives himself up at the Swing club it is his spirit that we remember as we understand what will soon happen to him and probably his brother. His story reminds us of the difficulty that we often face when asked to challenge our own passion and philosophies in the face of the need for survival. This story can be representative of both underprivileged students and teachers when they have to make tough choices that challenge their abstract beliefs of philosophies.

            Thomas shows us that he is the weakest of the three types of people, because he allows himself to be completely seduced by the propaganda of the Nazi party. He often discusses how easy and wise it is to accept your role in the dominant culture. His priorities are quite obviously based in his own selfishness, but even he has trouble with his decisions when his own ambition causes the arrest of his father and later on Peter at the night club. We can tie this into voluntary service in without being critical in the culture of dominance. I believe this is the same tactic people use when they are claiming to be “colorblind” in the classroom, because that stance eliminates the value that is on every culture except for the norm.

            In the most literal sense, everyone does have a choice for how they handle their position. However, I place a lot of value on effects of nurture and upbringing. Therefore, I think that circumstances highly influence the way that people chose to do things. There are always going to be upsides and downsides to one’s position. In the instance of this movie the “most noble” option that we can see comes from Peter, and look at the lot that left him in at the end of the film. This is not to say that I or others would not think his sacrifices were worth the effort, but there is always a major cost.

If You Don't Want To Die You Should Remember To Knock- Dangerous Minds

          Dangerous Minds could easily be considered a “white savior” film. However, I think this specific film goes far deeper than that.  A number of times in the film the teacher is challenged by the students and she does in fact fail in her mission to help the kids in several ways. I do feel like it was a bit cliched for her to attempt to leave and then be convinced to stay by the students, but everything else in the film gave a genuine sense of emotion. The idea of using praxis was very interesting in Dangerous Minds. The challenge of sticking to your own personal and abstract views about teaching when it seems nearly impossible was great to analyze. Also, the idea of positionality being a generational issue was a frequent theme in the film. I will focus on both of these ideas here.

            It is in the first half of the film that we really see the challenges that new teachers in any school will probably have to face. Ms. Johnson is thrown in with a group of students who may or may not have pushed their previous teacher towards a nervous breakdown. These students do not look like her, talk like her, or act like her. Even worse, the students do not acknowledge her presence for a noticeable amount of time, and when they do the harassment begins. This is something that was of particular interest with me. All of us are taught rules and procedures for when rules are broken or students are not fully engaged in the classroom. However, I do not know how I would handle a group of students who were completely ignoring me.

The solution comes when she realizes why the students are acting that way. The students in Ms. Johnson’s classroom view her thinly veiled position of authority as a complete joke. They have proven a few times before that they can “defeat” the teacher that is assigned to them. More importantly, they all have an understanding of why they are in that particular classroom. They have been tracked by a system that sees them as worthless. They are only there because the law requires them to be, and even that is not enough to keep some of them in the classroom.

            The judgments that have been placed on these students is wholly realized when there is a loud raucous coming from Ms. Johnson’s classroom, Mr. Griffith’s class stops because they hear all the noise as well. When Mr. Griffith is trying to get them to focus back towards his lesson he says “Come on now focus, you know how they are.” Not only do the teachers label the students but the entire student population at the high school understands that these students are below them. When that type of grand narrative effect is placed upon a group of people that are only exposed to each other, they will quite understandably have their own preconceived notions about the people coming in to “help them.” With this in mind I can see how it would seem almost impossible to stick to the dogmas of educated “the whole child” or creating a democratic classroom. These things are great to put into our own personal philosophy, but when we are faced with day after day of losing battles who of us can say that we will enact our philosophies exactly as we had imagined them?

            I think the answer is that there needs to be an ideal. The same way moral philosophers try to define the true moral good without the philosopher necessarily being a complete proponent of their own ideologies so too must we understand that our own philosophies are a goal that we must strive towards. This may mean straying from the specifics at times, but there needs to be a constant theme towards the goal no matter what.

           

            The idea of second generation segregation was particularly poignant in Dangerous Minds. Some students are fully aware of their positionality. Others tacitly accept what they think is simply their lot in life. The former type being exemplified in Emilio while the latter is displayed through Callie. When Ms. Johnson gives a speech about each new concept being another choice that the students can make, it really challenges what they have grown up understanding up to this point. No matter how aware of their position in society the students may be, they all have some form of intrinsic motivation when it is passed onto them in different language than what we are used to. The idea of cultural capital must translated into an idea that the students can really grasp.

            Often in the education curriculum we talk about the need for intrinsic motivation, but the idea of learning being its own reward seems to largely reflect the middle class value system when considering the context in which we most often discuss it. Becoming enlightened or highly analytical seems like a useless pipe dream to someone who is struggling just to have money for food. However, when the skills that knowledge can bring you are translated into choices that you can make in your own life than the concept might be easier to grasp for someone who does not come from a family where education is highly valued.

            I really appreciated that the film makers showed examples of Ms. Johnson not being able to win certain battles. Although a bit modified, this was a type of white savior film in which the authority figure was attempting to challenge the norms of the institution that he or she worked for while they were symbolically pushing against the society that created that institution. The story with the two brothers being pulled out of school and Emilio being killed despite her efforts to challenge the norms send the message that one teacher helping a few students is not enough. As I have discussed in other blogs, I do believe that school systems in any given area are a microcosm of the society that created them. Therefore, it is unrealistic to assume that fixing the representation of oppression will fix the gaps that led all of those students into Ms. Johnson’s classroom. The message that higher institutions and authority figures are attempting to tackle the problems in completely wrong ways is perfectly exemplified after the death of Emilio when Ms. Johnson states, “What should I tell them? That if they don’t want to die they should remember to knock?” The moment was obviously heavily charged with emotion and summed up the intent of the director to show us that a broken system will not be fixed in one year by one teacher.

Chapter 7- Power and Control at the State and National Level

            The main theme of Chapter 7 was the misuse of power using federal legislation. According to many critics of national education policies and the current trends towards education in general, the government is far exceeding its Constitutional limits in exercising so much power over students in local schools. According to Spring, the Constitution left this power to the states and only in the past two decades did the state boards of education do more than give vague regulations and accountability to the local schools boards. However, that has all changed since the push towards standardized tests as a way of creating accountability for teachers.

This may sound good when the theory is dressed up as some need that the schools have, but the real aim behind them is far from benevolent. The need for so much testing is actually an effort to fulfill a need to be competitive in the global market on paper. The test scores of other nations are now higher than those in America, and something needs to be done about this. This is a pretty easy see to give to most laymen, but when you talk to someone who is actually int he field of education you can get a different perspective. Also, it is important to remember that no is being critical of these “statistical facts.” How are the students in China being tested? What are their aims in educating their populations? Do we have different aims than they do? Apparently not. The goal seems to be wholly economic in that the U.S. needs superiority on every level even though the meaning of this superiority is never something that is actually translated.

Spring does an excellent job of showing how federal funding is now dictating local schools and education policies.This list includes things such as categorical aid, creating model programs, and forcing schools to comply with certain policies while holding the threat of pulling away fund if states do not follow regulations. However, the most striking example of the federal government using funds for power is that they only support select types of educational research. This point rang particularly true for me since I currently work with a high school marching band and indoor dance programs. The programs are heavily based in the arts with a focus on music and performing. Though the program I work for is far beyond phenomenal, it is entirely the result of fantastic parent involvement. The parents and students raise almost every dollar that the program uses. The program itself gets around $700 a year to education 300 students and they are expected to stay competitive with the area or face being cut. For some perspective, the away football games all 200 band students are required to attend costs us around $10,000 a year.

The reason that we face a complete lack of funding is that there is little to no support for the arts in school anymore even though common sense will tell the average American that exposure to the arts will ultimately improve a person’s perspective and ability to express their own thoughts. There is some education to prove this fact, but there are very rarely extensive studies proving this. This seems ludicrous since virtually every middle and high school has a music program. However, the federal government still refuses to give money to proliferate art programs. Furthermore, research proving what every performing arts teacher and student already knows is almost never funded.

While we are learning resilience and self-sufficiency, it is simply not fair to the kids that a required class for their schooling requires so much funding while Math and Science (grades equally weighted in their GPA) receive more than sufficient research support because they are tested on these subjects about every 10 days.

The authors spend a good amount of time talking about the negative effects of No Child Left Behind and the use of high stakes testing. The research that Spring represents in his article is mixed. We can debate about whether or not these methods are effective over and over again, but until we become policy makers the issue at hand is a bit different. Standardized testing is not going anywhere. Therefore, rather than continuing to be upset about the nature of this system, we as teachers have to find creative ways to make sure our EOC scores are acceptable while still being creative in the classroom. This may sound defeatist or complacent, but you would be hard pressed to find a profession that did not have certain aspects that most people in the profession were consistently upset about handling.

In the profession of teaching (as in life), there is little that we can actually control, but we can always control how we handle things within out own sphere. Most of the teachers that I have observed as well as my mentor use the standards as guides and then get creative from there. Having block schedule with 75 minute classes really does help this, because we have a lot of time to work with the students. Also, this gives an extra little advantage to history teachers, because if there is a time period or chapter that we or the students do not really catch on to, then we can default on the standards to show what is important. Along that same line things that the students actually do really appreciate can get a little bit more focus so that key things stick with the students. It is a bit unrealistic to assume (especially in a class like World History) that everything is going to be interactive and covered in depth. Therefore, using this is strike a balance between those two concepts would be the best way to handle standardized test pressure while maintaining our sanity.

Crash

Crash was a very complicated movie that I would imagine would be upsetting to everyone on some level. None of us like to be painted as the aggressor or the victim, and every ethnicity takes on each of these roles throughout the movie. The most interesting points in the film occur when power changes hands. The first place we see this take place is when the the Black detective is having an affair with the Hispanic detective. He makes generalizations about her culture even after he is corrected for suggesting that she was Mexican. It shows an unwillingness to accept that overgeneralizations are often wrong. It would be very easy to pass judgement on the Black detective until one remembers that his perspective is one of a man whose ethnicity has also been lumped together with many others. No one would expect him to say that his parents were from two different African nations, and he probably does not actually know his specific heritage. The manifestation of that lack of identity is that his specific heritage does not matter. In American society he will always be a Black man. All of the negative connotations and stereotypes in American will still weigh heavily on him regardless of whether or not he understands his own cultural roots. With such a lack of conviction about one’s own ancestry, it becomes blindingly obvious that he does not value the importance of anyone else ancestry. The same way that those facts and values have been taken from him so to does he disregard the importance of the Hispanic detective’s upbringing.

            This is the first instance where we see someone’s institutionalized subordination play itself out in their actions. Almost everyone in the world has some group of people or specific persons under them or below them within their family, job, school, or society. Therefore, when someone is subjected to an inferiority complex, they see it as only right that someone else feel similar effects with them being dominant.

            The development of an inferiority complex is worth fleshing out a little bit more. The constant subordination in regards to class, gender, or ethnicity creates a grand narrative in a person’s mind about who they are and what they should be. We see this quite a bit with the talkative gangster played by Ludacris. His demeanor and articulation suggest that he has taken an active role in trying to define the process by which he came to be in the position that he is in. However, it becomes clear throughout the movie that most of his sermons are his own justifications for committing crimes that he sees as necessary. This is not to devalue the way that he is acting. All of us make justifications for every action that we take, especially when we have an inkling that it might be selfish or wrong in some way.

 The grand narrative that one is assigned and continually reminded of also defines what kind of battles a person will be fighting and which ones they choose to be valiant in fighting. The less talkative black gangster (who turns out to be the detective’s brother) has clearly taken a much more passive approach to his position in life. By that I mean that he is far less abrasive than perhaps his partner in crime. This could possibly be attributed the fact that we see the family of this man that while broken, is still present in the film. The contrast with the lack of family from the other non-White characters suggests that these people have continually fought their battles on their own and perhaps have become far more aggressive because of that.

Positionality is important when discussing the dynamics between class lines. Class lines and affluence give people the power to be racist. We see such an example with the politician’s wife who is very hostile towards the minorities surrounding her who have “proven her right” along the way. However, her eventual realization is that her other friends in power do not actually care about her even when she is hurt. Her locks are being replaced by an honest man who happens to be Mexican, and her Hispanic maid is the one who helps her when she needs it the most. Her constant anger shows us the banality of racism and how hollow the realization of utilizing one’s power in a negative way can truly be. The racist white cop has a similar reaction when he sees the result of his racism (a terrified and sobbing black woman). Encountering the physical and emotional manifestation of demeaning actions and words is not something one usually encounters, but here he got to see it and probably came away from it feeling different about his own justifications for his own behavior.

The ending of the movie shows us that these realizations really are not enough to eliminate racism from the world. I think the final message in the film is that all anyone can really do is practice a little more self evaluation when we are trying to justify prejudicial and judgemental behavior or thoughts, because the butterfly effect will ultimately take place for every choice we make. To be sure, every positive and negative message in this movie depended on the actors making choices, not just being the victims of circumstance in one way or another. The message being that we are all products of a society, a class, a gender, and a heritage, but how much value we place on this happenstance is paramount to how we live our lives.

When working with students from a lower SES, I have found that it is very easy to justify any action with the idea that what needs to be done simply needs to be done. As long as people are living in order to survive, the view of differences amongst others are immediately seen as a threat. We try to eliminate the importance of these issues at the door, but I would be doing my students a disservice if I did not utilize the experiences that they already have in order to shape their current experience. This is definitely something that I want to work more towards in the classroom.

In the Fall I will be working with a largely White suburban population that is similar to my own SES background. Therefore, the stereotypes in Crash are bound to come up, but even if they do not, teaching tolerance (or acceptance) will be an important point to discuss preemptively so that when issues do arise, a tacit development of culturalist attitudes are not allowed to continually develop in my classroom.

Chapter 6- Local Control, Choice, Charter Schools, Home Schooling, and Commercialism

          This chapter deals with the complicated issues that result from parents not wanting to simply succumb to the endless litany of problems that plague today’s public school system. There are several options now available to parents especially since No Child Left Behind changed the way that voucher systems work. The advent of charter schools is also a point to be discussed, although research has shown that they are no more effective than regular public schools. I have a slight problem with this last statement, but that will be covered further down.

            First I would like to discuss the issue of choosing private schools. While I attended my public high school from 2003-2007, I saw many things that people would consider issues. We went through metal detectors upon entering the building, soft lock downs were a weekly occurrence, and as a safety precaution no student was allowed to carry a backpack. Although there was some fighting and gang affiliation, the school was not a bad place. Most of the student population accepted the rules and got along just fine. A whole host of AP and honors classes were still available to me, and my education did prepare me for college.

            In contrast to my experiences, my best friend attended the private Catholic high school that was only one mile from my own school. She encountered a very different kind of socialization. Instead of obeying a series of strict rules dressed up as safety precautions, her school had almost exclusively elite students surrounding her at all times. However, when uniforms “eliminate class lines” girls in particular find their own form of hierarchy. Constant pressure to have the best shows, purses, and hair styles kept the students competitive, and the constant reminder of who was more entitled to the private school education plagued her. We had and have had since that time several discussions about which trade off was more worth the cost. We both ended up at major universities being very successful, but the types of pressure and interactions that we were faced with made our high school educations far from ideal.

            The reason I being up this point is because the book spends a long time discussing parents wanting to get vouchers to send their students to private schools. There is an assumption made in the text that this will somehow be better for the students. I think it would be a bit more far for the authors to address the fact that even if the private schools are mechanically run more efficiently or have less violence, that does not mean that the students will not encounter a whole new set of problems.

           

            I found the discussion about charter schools especially interesting, because they are not something that I had really had much exposure to before this. I find it interesting that the research suggests they are not performing at the same level as regular public schools and in fact they are sometimes performing lower. Many critics blame this on their lack of accountability and financial irresponsibility as well as their exemption from some pretty important regulations such as hiring very qualified teachers. The only thing I wonder about is whether there have really been adjustments made for similar populations. The drop out rate for charters schools is not very high and to my understanding they typically educate children that would normally be attending very low performing schools where their risk of failure through the fault of the institution would be much higher. If these students who would normally be attending very dangerous schools end up only slightly below regularly performing public school would that not mean that the gap was being closed at least slightly? The book is not entirely clear on this issue, because it does not explain what it means when the statistics are adjusted for “similar types of students.”

            The individualized philosophies behind most charter schools is to use innovation methods of instruction to try and better educate children. I find it upsetting that many teacher’s unions and critics are so harsh on these schools. Of course every type of experiment and innovation is not going to work out, but I do not think that means that we should not always be pushing the envelope when it comes to techniques. I do believe that it is important to be innovative in your own classroom. Therefore, it would be hypocritical of me to criticize a school wide use of innovation and experimentation whose main aim is to help children. Again these might not always work out the way we planned, but many public schools are also not working out the way critics think they should. I would rather send my own students to a school where they were actually trying to adjust the educational philosophies and techniques rather than passively accepting all of the inadequacies of out school system.

            I was also interested in the discussion about the commercialization of schools. My own high school was a “Pepsi school” where all of the vending machines only sold Pepsi products. Their signs and advertisements were all over the school, and there was even a scholarship program that most students were encouraged to apply for if they had the need and credentials. Although the book thinks this is a very negative thing, I do not think it harmed our school environment to have these vending machines in place. Every school has several different vending machines, ours were just consistent and came along with a few posters. Although Spring thinks this is very dangerous, I think it is a far cry from a “world where there are no borders between education, business, and consumption.” In fact, most schools that I see now have vending machines that only have diet beverages available for purchase during the day. While this is definitely not ideal for children, it is still a reality that the commercial companies are still willing to at least take their business philosophies in a slightly more moral direction.

Chapter 5- Multicultural and Multilingual Education

          I chose to write about this chapter and not the previous one, because I think that Chapters 4 and 5 dealt with a lot of the same concepts. To be honest, I am not very familiar with ESL education or school settings that contain mostly Hispanic children. However, the insights in the book were very helpful when the discussion of different mindsets came up. Bilingual education is a heated debate no matter where you go, but discussion bicultural education is a completely different issue. It is in this context that we must understand the way that different cultures operate in terms of authority and their particular values on the educational system. For the purpose of connecting the topics in this chapter to my own experiences, I will stay fairly close to a this theme.

            The most powerful part of the multicultural discussion occurred for me as a reader when Spring cited a research project about the strongly different ways that Asian and Western students view the world. I had always known that the cultural mindsets were different, but I also put them into dichotomies that already fit my existing schema. I now understand a little bit more about how inappropriate that actually is.

            Last summer I traveled to Beijing, China for about three weeks with another American friend of mine to visit her parents who were working for a large corporation that had many offices in China. Her parents were living and working there, but we went on a vacation type of setting. This was especially exciting for me as a history major, because I wanted to soak in all of the culture and experiences that I could so that I could reference my travels later on in classroom and see if the things I had learned about in some of my classes were actually true. Throughout my time there my friend and I came to the rather ignorant conclusion that no one could simply make a decision on their own. We often saw three or four people doing the job that we assumed would only take one person to do in America. Furthermore, service industry jobs were always collective and tips were not part of the custom. Both of these things seemed strange to us.

We originally thought that perhaps this was a cultural manifestation of the communist government’s mindset on the population. However, now that I have learned more in my education classes about the way other mindsets and cultures operate, I feel terrible about making assumptions about the Chinese culture. The information in the chapter states that Confucian based mindsets are far more holistic than the typical Western mindset. That is to say that there is a far heavier emphasis placed on environment and interaction. This was evidences by a study that showed American children and Chinese children pictures of a pond where there was one focal fish. Americans later on described and remembered the main fish while Chinese students described the environment in much more detail.

With this information in mind, the interaction with others and with society is obviously far more important to Asian cultures. What to us had seemed like a completely indecisive nature was actually the way that they interact in order to comprehend their own self worth. The same way the Americans typically push for the more impressive or innovative form of individualism, Confucian based societies typically have more emotional ties to their families and peers and understand the importance of being part of a whole. When I look at the perspective and culture from this positive perspective my viewpoints wholly change.

This type of information led me to agree most with Spring when he recommended a cultural hybridization in schools. While bilingual and bicultural methods are certainly valid, this approach seems to make the most sense for diverse students. Since the students are coming from different backgrounds and different mindsets their individual needs do all need to be taken into account. However, it is equally important that we take into account that our job is to prepare these children for the real world by promoting civic competence and the necessary skills to be successful in America. Therefore, an approach that attempts to eradicate culture or wholly value countless different cultures in either extreme form would most definitely be detrimental to the child one way or the other. Cultural hybridization that would involve teaching children the importance of code-switching in their speech and an appreciation for their own diversity as well as others can only help them. I think that when this positive approach is taken instead of trying to “Americanize” students from first or second generation immigrant homes every benefits more from the process.

          As previously stated, I do not have extensive experience with students from Mexican or Native American populations. However, I have learned to understand that a student’s ethnicity or heritage is not nearly as important as the balance that the teacher strikes between valuing that heritage and teaching them the importance of learning the skills they will need to be successful in the type of school system that they are currently trying to navigate 

Tortilla Soup

          When looking at the movie Tortilla Soup from an educational standpoint, so many things beyond the basic plot line came up. Of particular interest was the fact that very rarely was the issue of being an Mexican-American family addressed. There were a few times when the culture was specifically referenced, but not enough to be the actual focus of the dialogue amongst the characters. It became far more prevalent and powerful that way I think. This way the audience understands that this is not something that the family sees as a negative thing. Instead, the differences that they experience coming from a Mexican heritage make them more independent and proud even if there are still drawbacks. Three parts of the movie were of particular interest to me when considering the positionality of the characters.

            The first time that really struck me was when the father was speaking with someone that he was close friends with at the restaurant. Since the father abhors the use of Spanish and English together, he constantly insists that one language be spoken throughout an interaction with someone. On this particular occasion, the two men were conversing about their families in Spanish. The conversation was about family, and seemed very emotional, especially for the father. The version of the film that I watched did not include subtitles,. and I do not speak Spanish. I thought about attempting to find a translation of this part of the film, but during that process I realized that the specific things the men were saying did not actually matter. I do not think it was an accident that this was the first time we see both of the male characters in this film get very emotional and this was the first time that Spanish was predominantly used in the dialogue. The director wanted us to see that emotion ties in very closely into culture, and this family seems to value their Mexican heritage far more than their American life style. There is an ethnocentric attitude about their interactions, but it is never really done from a negative perspective. Instead, the strong ties to culture are brought out during the most emotional moments. When thinking about how to apply this concept to actual practices, it would be important to understand that sometimes the parts of our brain most closely tied to strong emotions and connections are the ones that are rooted deepest in our own identities.

            The second scene that was slightly more light hearted while being of particular interest was when Maribel and Andy are in Andy’s loft. Andy says that he knows how to speak four languages and the two joke that they do not really know what to call someone who does have that skill. They continue on by saying someone who knows two languages is bilingual and someone who only knows one language is an American. The joke is light hearted and funny, but it does show us that Maribel, the youngest daughter does see herself as an outsider in many ways. The effect that positionality has had on her comes out even when she is joking about the presence of culture. On that same line of thought, the constant value that is placed on cultures that are not mainstream American systematically devalue American culture when they are identified. To be sure, this is not to say that this is a bad thing one way or the other, but it is undeniable that some kind of dichotomy has to exist. One cannot hold two separate cultures to be completely equal in all aspects, and that is certainly true from this movie. Clearly the characters value cultural aspects such as family loyalty, the importance of excellent food, and versatile language skills more than the typical American family does. This is important for us during praxis, because we need to walk a fine line between valuing the cultures of others while still holding onto the American values that we hold in high regard.

            The third point of interest is tied in with the second. Andy’s views about being able to experience life without school or a solid career are contrary to the way that Maribel has been raised. She has two sisters with firm careers that they appear to enjoy and thrive in, and her father’s dedication to his particular craft is impressive to say the least. However, these values are questioned when Andy makes the idea of living as a semi-nomad sound very appealing. I am a firm believer that you cannot really understand or believe in your own value system until it is confronted with the opposite approach. That is why this interaction was so interesting for me. Maribel comes from a family where specific values have been outlined. However, when she sees someone who rejects the values of those in the status quo even more than her own family she begins to wonder how far the line can really be pushed with her already rebellious spirit.

 The cultural viewpoints addressed here are interesting, because Maribel still considers herself and American while Andy presumably does not. Their mindsets are different even when it comes to minor things such as the tidiness of the house. This is important for us to understand not only as teachers but as people interacting with other people. The level of assimilation to the American mindset is very important when understanding a student’s specific value system. It is paramount that teachers acknowledge what is important to specific cultures or families so that we can utilize these perspectives in the classroom.

I really did enjoy Tortilla Soup as a film. Looking at it from the standpoint of someone trying to gauge the importance of culture and the grand narrative of specific students made it even better, and it showed me a level of depth in culture specific films that I had not previously understood.

Chapter 3- Equality of Educational Opportunity

        This has been the most insightful chapter of the book thus far for me. The socially constructed view of race has been eye opening. All other concepts in education that make the most sense to me as a history major have a logical progression in the form of a series of events leading up to a particular ending or goal. For most of my college career have have understood that race has been a social issue that was created out of the unfounded myth that there was something inherently inferior about people who were not “white.” However, I never understood how the definition of white was actually the catalyst for how we actually view other people. Often times in history we discuss the importance of an “other” in order to create a valid sense of self. The path for whites to remain dominant in American society is similar to struggles elsewhere. For instance, when one considers the Holocaust the first thing that most students, teachers, or citizens think of is the Nazi extermination of the Jews. looking deeper into this issue one can find that the reason the Final Solution was so successful and practical (while grotesquely horrific) was that anti-Semitism already existed in Germany for a long period of time. The cultural context was ripe for Hitler and other Nazi leaders to exploit anti-Jewish sentiment in order to create a made up enemy. The end result of this strategy was not in fact complete extermination of the Jews. The real goal of this process was to create a sense of German identity and patriotism by creating a dichotomy between what was Aryan and what was not.

            Though the elite American path towards white dominance did not result in the concentrated genocide of the Jews, the example serves as a striking parallel to the Nazi propaganda campaign. All legislation determining what white really meant was in fact a veiled effort to show what white was not. During the beginning of the struggle the government said that light-skinned meant white because that made it very easy to exclude the main threat to white dominance- free black people. After this was challenged by lighter skinned minorities from non-black cultures, a cultural and linguistic side of argument came about. This was again challenged so that the definition became Caucasian. When this definition “accidentally” included those of Middle Eastern decent, Americans made the definition of white something that the common man believed was white. So there became an incredibly vague definition for something that very specifically affects many people’s daily lives.

 The issue of citizenship and the ideas of whiteness are necessarily as important as what they represent. If we go along with the idea that racism is prejudice with power then it seems impossible for one to not understand the oppression of minorities without understanding that the need to oppress was based on the need to create a more inferior “other” out of the minorities. Out of these unfounded beliefs about race came separation. The best analogy I know to understand this concept was told to me a few years ago: Imagine that there are ten strangers trapped in a cave for a month with only each other to depend upon. The people will develop a close bond with one another over that course of time. Even after being rescued, there will be a firm connection for the rest of their lives as a direct result of sharing this experience with one another. They may have inside jokes, nicknames, or specific struggles that they can only express to one another. This is the same way that culture emerges in different ethic groups that are currently living in the U.S. When a group of people (large or small) is excluded from outside influence or their needs are not being met, they bond with one another and find a way to be proud of what they have in common. Currently attached to this idea is now a stigma that the culture came before the exclusion and the ethnic groups have now begun excluding themselves. To the layman this seems perfectly logical and well thought out. However, if we examine race as something that we are born into as opposed to something that is innate within our biology and look at the history of how these uniquely Americanized ethnic cultures have developed, we can understand the perspective of those in minority groups.

Since we can see this as something that comes at us instead of something coming out at us, it is easy to understand how children as young as two and three develop ethnic identities that are often times very negative. The following video shows a great example of this practice:

            This clip shows us how early on the grand narrative comes into play during a child’s life. Aside from teaching students to be conscious of what they have or have not been given, this discussion should make us aware of “otherness” on a larger scale. When asked what the normal type of student was at the high school I work at I responded “White and poor.” The outcasts at this school are the handful of minority students as well as the wealthier white children. Students who dress well and are perceived as having white collar parents often have trouble making social connections to others since they believe they are not like the other students. This is only one example of how we should constantly be aware of otherness in the classroom. There is always a process that leads us the perspective that we have, and to correct the problem there must be a digestion of information and synthesis of ideas in order to make a difference.

Prezi On Lies My Teacher Told Me

Lies My Teacher Told Me on Prezi

American Education Chapter 2- Education and Equality of Opportunity

          The beginning section of Chapter 2 focused a lot on the implications that democratic ideals have in the classroom and on education as it stands in our country. The authors try to break up each different interpretation of these philosophies into the common-school model, the sorting model, and the high-stakes testing model. In my experience as a student and as someone with observations as a teacher and coach, I think that it would be far more reasonable to assume that almost all schools in the U.S. are now using a mix of these three models. The most commonly used mix of these models would be the common school model along side the sorting machine model. The current push in most of our teacher education is to give students the most equal chance at success by giving everyone the same opportunities. In order to achieve this goal, most of us recognize that different learning styles and ability levels must be taken into account in order for most students to learn and develop to their most full capacity. Therefore, we are differentiating instruction in order to give students the best chance possible at succeeding.

            The problem comes when we recognize that most of this process is an ongoing evolution that we cannot simply take from a dogmatic standpoint. If we were to follow one model to the letter then the process would not necessarily be the most moral or good system, but the practicing behind developing that model as a social norm would certainly be easier. However, we do not live in a world where that is currently an option for us as teachers. Therefore, there has been (and will continue to be) a great deal of trial and error involved in the development of policy. In order to develop consistent philosophies and strategies for implementing those philosophies, people have had to make certain rules and choices. All of these decisions are influenced by people’s experiences and biases that cannot possibly be completely eliminated. People are a product of their societies, and since this creates a certain form of positionality even amongst the decision makers, the process (no matter how noble the end desired end result) will have its drawbacks and downsides. It is through this process that we understand how equality does not necessarily mean equity.

            Understanding how society’s accepted norms and value systems eventually breed inequality in our classrooms is paramount to understanding how we can use our classrooms in order to combat this process. However, this does make me wonder. If schools (and therefore classrooms) are a microcosm of society and how people interact with one another then will changing the microcosm really change society? As teachers we can at least hope that by addressing and correcting the problems that we can fix we are at least taking a step in the right directions towards social change.

            There are several statistics in Chapter 2 that address problems that almost everyone already perceives as true. Income and education are correlated, and minorities in American are typically given less opportunity and to achieve the most that they are capable of achieving. This is nothing new to those studying education or for anyone living in America to be honest. As a prospective teacher I do hope to address the inequalities that take place within the classroom as far as race and culture are concerned.Becoming “colorblind” is one option some teachers adopt. Others choose to recognize culture to an extreme level so that students can use their backgrounds to contribute to the classroom community. I think taking a dogmatic approach with either of these methods is dangerous. As with most others issues that we address, the middle ground is usually the best option. This implies that a case-by-case basis must be taken for almost every problem that we will encounter. The downside to this again is that choice and bias enter the equation. The most we can hope to do is to become educated about these issues and educate our students as well so that they understand the world that we are living in and how we are using to schools to try and rectify inequalities. It will be equally important to emphasize that this is a process that has never fully attained its goals. However, to be making decisions that we would consider morally good, we must continue in the direction of said goals.

            The part of Chapter 2 that was personally taxing for me was the issue of gender inequality in the schools systems based on future income levels. The authors state in a negative way that there are is an income disparity that has consistently existed in which men make more money over a lifetime than women do. The implication is that there is something that needst o be done in order to fix this problem. I think that this brings us back to the issue of the classroom being a microcosm of society. Americans typically value women as a strong part of society who can do anything that men can do based on a legal definition. However, allowing for this opportunity does not change the fact that women typically have a different role in society than men do. It seems odd to me that this grievance would be so greatly harped on without the understanding that women often play into this specified gender role. The majority of women still choose to engage in relationships where there are certain role. Women choose to be care takers and focus more on the emotional side of intelligence then men do in personal relationships. I am a true believer that how we do anything is how we do everything (from a psychological standpoint). Therefore, it would only make sense that these same gender roles would influence one’s perspective and positionality. To simply state that income disparity is a major issue seems a bit like coming into a movie during the final scene. We are discussing the problem without understanding the societal setup that we all knowingly participate in.

            To be sure, I am not suggesting that these are not problems that need to be fixed. However, it is easier for me to understand this specific inequality than it is for me to understand the complexities of racial inequality since I am a white woman. Racism and sexism are two powerful forces in our society that have been fully exposed through studies of education. The question of how to handle them should therefore involve a careful examination of the exact root of that problem instead of making short term solutions and assumptions about blame.

American Education Chapter 1- The Goals of Public Schooling

          Joel Spring does an excellent job of giving a foundation for why education in America has developed the way that it has. He begins his discussion of the education system by showing that the core curriculum, the thing that affects us teachers most directly in the classroom, is determined by governors and business leaders who decide how much education they really want their potential workers to have. It was very interesting to  me that almost all employers only needed their entry level positions filled by those who had a ninth grade education. After all, that is the point where most students have a firm grasp on some level of articulation and reading ability. Most of the major skills involved in hands on jobs are learned while in the first few months of that job. That does not make one very optimistic about future prospects for the job market, but I think this could easily be turned into a positive. If a student will be satisfied with an entry level job at a certain company, then perhaps this is the path to choose. However, if one really does strive to become a doctor or engineer, then we certainly need to aim for higher education. It also strikes me as true that quality of life is important.
               One may be able to get a job quickly doing low level work, but that does not guarantee an ultimate good. Thousands of hours of our lives are spent doing the work that we choose. Therefore, if it is not rewarding and we are not satisfied with our understanding of the world and how we work in it, then what is the point of getting a job straight away? Spring seems to have a problem with the fact that business leaders choose our curriculum, and so do I. The reason is (as hinted at above) that economic gain should not be the underlying goal for the individual or the nation at large, since this inevitably leads to moral decay and social ineptitude.
              Learning the historical, political, social, and economic goals of education throughout our short history was also very informative. As someone who is in Secondary Social Studies, the history of education particularly resonated with me. I knew that there was a heavy emphasis on making the good students better when the education program was initially created (mainly through privately funded schools and universities). I do not believe that Spring showed enough of the obvious correlation that exists between the evolution of our philosophies towards education with regard to the intensity of the United States’ role on the global stage. During post-Revolutionary times, the U.S.’s role was quite small so a limited number of politicians and diplomats were all that was needed in a largely still agrarian society. However, as diplomacy, trade, and interaction with other countries continued to develop, more and more people wanted to become part of the elite educated class. This process of making education more and more universal continued to develop until the middle of the twentieth century when worries about the Cold War and Civil Rights pushed the government to put the most emphasis on education that it had ever had. I appreciated that we were given a timeline, but I think the government agenda was not always acutely spelled out in Spring’s philosophy.
     The political and social goals of education were particularly striking. It is very interesting to consider things like the pledge, the national anthem, school diets, and exercise programs to be part of some grand narrative. I suppose it strikes me so much, because as teachers we are used to being the ones in the room who know what is going on. We create the lesson plans and the activities for our own specific purposes. We create the environment that displays our beliefs about teaching as well as pushes our own agenda in our subject area, whether we want it to or not. The students are assumed to be the ones who often do not wholly understand exactly what we are doing much of the time. This is not to say that plain instructions and attentive students are not the majority int he classroom. However, there is an obvious gap in intentions between teachers and students much of the time. That is why it is almost upsetting to me to put the way we focus education now into a historical perspective. When I consider where huge football programs or the constant use of the pledge originated, it makes me want to question almost everything else that is done in schools. I must admit that I am a little conflicted on this point, because I do believe in American ideals and a push towards the use of patriotism in the classroom. However, I do not think that these tools should be sued to coerce students into satisfying our own unique agendas.
The classroom is ideally a place where students come to learn, and we are often told that we should be pushing intrinsic motivation and not focusing all of our efforts on grades or rewards. However, there is a break in the logic when we discover that the entire school system is sometimes being used to form a patriotic base for a nationalistic society that may or may not be founded on ideas that the teachers, the nexus of this choice, fully support. This plays into the idea of creating a classroom community, which Spring also discusses at great length. I do not think it is possible for any classroom to completely fall under the categories of individualistic, social constructivist, or democratic because each model does have major downsides. Instead, the community the teacher creates should be a mix of the three where structure is present but students still feel free to share their own ideas and thoughts with one another comfortably as a means towards their own individual goals. It will certainly be a challenge to create the perfect balance, but as long as there is an evolution towards this goal, then the teacher is doing their job.