The media and the perception of the Poor

Here is a look at the media's role in perpetuating the "blame the victim" mentality the reinforces societies stereotypes.

- It is quick and to the point

Invisable and Disposable

The “Sameness as fairness” mentality is only a mask worn to justify policies and decisions being made that undermine humankinds potential and make people comfortable blaming the victim. It is a mask used to cover-up the truths (the neoliberal, neoconservative agenda’s) that perpetuate institutional racism and sexism and limit us from living as a free and prosperous society.

“The “sameness as fairness” principle-the mandate for common curriculum and common culture-is taken up as a response to any form of difference that offends the growing monolingual and monocultural sensibility of the conservative right and its public”(Gutierrez, 120). The “Standard English only (one size fits all curricula), where” differences is seen as deviance has given rise to new discourse of surveillance and intolerance.”(117). Creating a backlash against difference, which only helps support the neoliberal, neoconservative agenda to privatize the public sphere. Creating what Gutierrez describes as,” market place reform” – “reform that brings business principals of efficiency, accountability, quality, and choice to establish the educational agenda”(109); which in turn objectifies us, turning humankind into a commodity. And once we are seen as a commodity, we then become disposable (Van Jones, 2010).

Once we see people as disposable and ultimately objects they can become invisible, removed from our consciousness, no longer beings with human emotions and feelings. And this is how we begin to understand the double standard of ones choices and the lack of responsibility taken for their actions.

When fairness becomes defined as invisibility we begin to understand what makes people say one thing and then act another way with no regard to the hypocrisy of their actions?

Fairness is the comfortable jacket we wear when we support anti-immigration reform and turn around higher illegal immigrants to mow our lawns.

Fairness is our ability to purchase drugs from young black men and then turn around and lock them up for selling them.

Fairness allows us to condemn abortion, but use birth control.

Fairness blames the war on drugs on Mexican drug lords instead of acknowledging the rampant drug use in America.

Fairness justifies our actions, which is ultimately is why the world does not change.

And in order to change, we have to acknowledge that sameness is NOT fairness. And as, Purcell-Gates perfectly states, “The “sameness as fairness” framework must be replaced with a race-, class-, and gender-conscious equity framework that will make such inequalities visible and a humanistic vision a reality”(121).

 

Van Jones: The economic injustice of plastic | Video on TED.com

I thought this was an interesting connection between the invisible student and the disposable society!

I would love to hear other people's thoughts.

Enjoy

Angela

LEARNING – for Business or Pleasure?

 

             I have the rare opportunity of encountering a wide variety of teenage students from around the entire county with different backgrounds, abilities, values and school cultures all in one classroom. If I were to categorize them I could say that I have every student from the Cheerleader, the Goth, the Gay Dram Queen to the Urban Princess, but what’s interesting is those labels no longer define them once they enter our school and my class. They get a free pass to start over and realize they are all at BOCES with a common interest, fashion design (the freedom to express your true self). That is what we do, what we talk about, what we create, and what we are. And what I have learned from this (past 4 years) is removing the label, looking past stereotypes, and seeing the individual student for whom they uniquely and complexly are allows them to succeed. You might be thinking, EXPLAIN. Well, this allows me to be flexible, give room to breath, allow extra time, accept different outcomes, etc, allowing students to be creative. I can give options and alternatives, As Luna suggest, “sketch pictures, build sculptures, create videos, write songs and musical scores, and make quilts and wall hangings… Stretch the seams of our disciplines to include different types of learners” (603). This allows students to be successful. This begins the question of, what is success? What is learning? What is understanding?

After reflecting on Carini and Luna’s readings I thought about what constitutes as learning in MY classroom? How do I define it? And, How do I assess it? And, what I realized is what I define as success is when EVERY, I mean EVERY student participates and completes an assignment. When do I see that? I see that when AUTHENTIC learning is taking place and the students are motivated beyond just a letter grade, because the assignment has VALUE to them. Then, how do I give a grade to something that has more value to them then the grade? I grade on standards, our classes personal standards that we have created in the classroom. I grade on self-reflection in which students share their learning process with me. I grade on reflection of student and personal growth over long periods of time (I have students for two-years). Doing as Carini suggest, focusing on progression not snap shots. As I reflect, I realize that the times I don’t have success in the classroom are the times in which narrow standards are put in place that restrict students true learning potential. This is when you see the greatest gap in class between the students with cultural capital that know how to, “do school”, and the students who don’t fit into the culture of power usually just don’t finish, partially complete, don’t turn in, or even participate because the flexibility is not in place for them to succeed. Either side that you look; the students is being limited. They are not learning – they are either disengaging from the process, or they are just going through the motions. As, Ken Robinson suggest in Killing Creativity, we have compartmentalized schooling down to one side of the brain and de-valued all other aspects of the human body to be able to contribute or have value in education. We are limiting students potential to learn? “There is that in learning and educating which is immeasurable,” Carini persists, “When you or I or anyone else applies rulers, or their equivalent, to the immeasurable, we have to change what is immeasurable to fit the measuring stick”. Which makes the issue of schooling confusing because I grew up thinking that school was a place for learning, but what we are really seeing is it is a place for accountability. Carini views assessment in two ways, “the first purposes has to do with evaluation, which has the ostensible aim of benefiting the learner. The second has to do with accountability and the regulation of schools and public education”. How can we steer evaluation in a direction to benefit the learner and away from educational accountability?

Learning is the process of investigation and exploration that pushes a student past their comfort zone and their personal realm of understanding of a subject. Learning questions one’s current perceptions and broadens their horizons. It challenges, frustrates and rewards them. Learning is hard work that engages the learner to keep going forward despite challenges, and when the end goal is accomplished the learner feels proud, and has grown on multiple levels. This is learning, not regurgitating what a teacher reads to you and you memorize over and over to pass a test. Learning engages and excites the soul of a being.

I did a fashion closet makeover of assessment- out with old in with the new:

-Enjoy

THROW AWAY:

Stop categorizing students,  “I use the term learning disabilities to refer to the socially constructed category indicating mismatches between diverse learners’ abilities and specific academic demands” (Luna,597).

Let go of the miss-match and as Luna suggest, “shift the blame of failure off of the students’ bodies, and their families, and onto the miss-match itself”.

Dispose of the current hierarchy values pyramid of school: English and Math, Science and humanity, art and music (Ken Robinson, “Killing Creativity”).

Destroy assessment for accountability, Rockefeller foundation findings (Regents review panel report, 2001) stop lowering standards and playing with numbers in order to meet AYP. Fordham Foundation found, only five states have test that are in “solid” alignment with the state standards.

Eliminate test bias

Replace rigidity and the standardization of schooling.

Stop educating students out of creativity (Ken Robinson, “Killing Creativity”).

Discontinue scaring students out of being wrong (Ken Robinson, “Killing Creativity”).

NEW ADDITIONS:

Consider Individuality: We cannot assume or interpret ourselves onto a student.

Value reflection: create student constructed rubrics, student reflections, and student goals

Stretch the boundaries…. Grading with flexibility towards students weakness’ and highlight students strengths.

Create a two-way conversation- listen to your students especially LD learners.

Be accommodating

Embrace creativity to be as important as literacy, (Ken Robinson, “Killing Creativity”).

Value the class as a whole: Learning in a group – we all perceive things different- expand horizons through group discussion. Student and teacher are equal as educator and learner.

Remember to observe the process and progress not just the outcome.

Try harder to understand than to explain (Carini, 169).

Embrace the idea of ‘Manyness’, (Carini).

Aligning class curriculum with student interest.

There is no one size fits all (as we know not to be true with t-shirts too!)

Why Seeing (the Unexpected) Is Often Not Believing: NPR

http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=137086464&m=137292304

Jun 20, 2011 ... Boston police officer Kenneth Conley was convicted of perjury and ... claimed not to have seen a brutal police beating as he chased a murder suspect. The conviction was later overturned, but a new study re-examines his claim. .... Their results were published this month in the journal i-Perception. ...

This is an interesting story about the idea of perception and I thought it crossed over nicely with some of Carini's concepts.

Some of you may have heard it on NPR the other morning.

Enjoy-

Angela

Student Writing Sample

This year's theme for our annual fashion show was "My Voice". Students were asked to write a piece about how fashion represents their voice in the world (a theme we came up together as a class). This happens to be by a GED student who was aligned and under-appreciated in her home high school, but when given a chance in the alternative setting has been nothing short of impressive.

 My Exaggerated Life

My voice—loud, important, and exaggerated—captures the attention of all. My voice is the “pop” of a gun, the “flash” of the paparazzi, and the “spark” of a firework. My vision starts with a beat and ends with an anthem. My voice speaks fashion. We are conducted through fashion. Fashion is full of life and life is full of fashion. Fashion is every nation, every nationality, and every person. Fashion is not ignored. Fashion is alive.

President Obama's Weekly Address: Partnering with the Private Sector

Kind of Ironic?

Re-Envision and Imagine: A classroom with no Boundaries

 

OBSERVE and INFORM

          We (teachers', students', families', and communities') are constantly subjected to “the voices” (news, media and politicians) undermining the value of the classroom teacher and the belief that education is a “black hole” of wasted taxpayer money. Sending the neoliberal message that, “ what is private is necessarily good and what is public is necessarily bad… and any money spent on schools that is not directly related to economic goals is suspect”(Apple, 2001). Education is being marketed to the public to be for simply making our economy more productive- “education for employment”. Education is presented to be in a “crisis” and the NCLB act is here to save it by creating a high stakes testing environment which demands unrealistic goals be placed on schools - setting the perfect stage for schools to fail. Leaving “no other choice” than for private corporations to step in and “Save Us” – the perfect neoliberal storm. Taking advantage of “people’s common sense can be shifted in conservative directions during a time of economic and ideological crisis”(Apple, 2001). Theses neoliberal policies in practice, “reproduce traditional hierarchies of class, race, and gender; these proposals should give us serious pause”(Apple, 2001). Yes, serious pause…….

REFLECT

A pause to reflect on what is it that as an educator I strive to accomplish? I want to close the social gap? Teaching for social justice, teaching compassion and empathy, find students passion and use emotion and creativity to inspire them. I want to create an environment in which students want to learn and do for themselves, creating intrinsic motivation in which grades are unattached to the drive for the outcome of a project. I want to teach project-based learning that has real life implication, group projects with community connections. Projects that inspire students to live their dreams and which guide them in the realistic steps that it takes to live those dreams. Experiential learning that changes who students are and how they see themselves in the world. I want to open the window for all students and show those that the poor and racially disempowered are capable of more than the expectations of service work that has been placed on them. I want to teach students who and what they can become, I want to teach humanity for all, and I want to show the world that students, when given the chance want more than points to win a pizza party. I want to show students a different way, a different world, one in which breaks the mold. 

ENVISION

            So How….How do we break the mold? What can we as educators envision? I envision a busy classroom with lots of noise, busy students, using multimedia and multitasking, highly energized and productive. I want a classroom that reflects a 21^st century innovative business model. A classroom connected to real life learning. A classroom that allows and utilizes technology! Students listening to music, searching YouTube video’s, blogging about experiences, students with individual laptops in which students can instant message each other and send email links etc. A classroom that respects students whose Native language is digital (Alvermann, 2007), as well as supports trilingual, bilingual and home languages within the classroom walls. A classroom that is not responsible for teaching just one content area, an intergraded classroom that is based on multiple disciples with intergraded academics in which students strive for larger goals than passing regents test. Goals such as creating roof top gardens and solving hunger within their community. I want education that allows for ‘choices’ that help students to find their passion and direction to make real life connections, and to experience their future. I want to teach students, 21^st century skills: digital age literacy, inventive thinking, effective communication, and high productivity, (Beers, 2007) which is “preparing students to live productively”. I want Keene’s dimensions of understanding to become my classroom ethos, “ develop areas of passionate interest, dwell on ideas, struggle for insight, explore complex ideas, discuss ideas in different aspects, create models, and feel…” (2007).  I want to tap into the potential of every student, and foster there growth until it is bigger and brighter than anyone ever thought possible.

INSPIRE

As educators lets begin to challenge deep social injustice, discrimination and inequality that exist inside and outside our classroom walls. We can’t give up on public education, and support the massive trend of the “white-flight” (Apple, 2001) away from our public schools. We must ask the question are we acting in our own best interest or everyone’s best interest? There is an advertisement on the local radio station for the private Mountain Laurel school that states, ”where teachers care”, – implying that public school teachers don’t care? We (as educators) know this not to be true. Lets put practice into motion and fight back this constant rhetoric.  In Kylene Beers (2001) words, “… believe that in teaching all students, we must first teach each student, and that each student is a promise of a better tomorrow…. what you do and what you say to the students in your classroom make an incredible difference…. believe in a promise for a better tomorrow begins, in part, with the practices you offer them today”. We need teachers more than anything right now, we need them to fight back, educate the populous and show big business that were not failing and that we will not stand for the privatization of the education system. Public education is created for ALL and must remain for ALL. The education system cannot become like the health care industry, “the best insurance money can buy.”  Enough of the haves and have-nots, as the Beatles once said, “lets start a revolution,” demanding that we ALL have; whereas, no one has to be a spectator watching from the sideline – left to only “consume the image”(Apple, 2001)!! Lets make America what it should be- free and fair for EVERYONE.

Lost In Translation

This is a story from The Moth Radio by Alan Rabinowitz titled “Man & Beast”.

It speaks miles to the notion of language and the misconception that ones language is a direct reflection of ones knowledge and understanding. Enjoy the story and I would love to hear some other people’s reactions.

Language Diversity

           The power of language, and the power of the teacher; Are they mutually exclusive? Who has more power the language that one holds or the teacher that shows us how to use it, silence it, control it or change it. We all have language as pointed out in Baggs’ video so clearly regardless of the sound that it makes, the way that it gets communicated or the way it looks and feels. We investigated the myth of the primitive language and discovered there is no primitive language, “and that all languages and dialects are vastly complex structural systems” (Stubbs, 71). We all obtain an equal and fair voice, but what happens to that voice is a different story depending on the socioeconomic and cultural context in which you are born into and brought up around. Do you hide your true voice, did someone squash it, is it unacceptable by societies standards, which taught you your voice, and does it reflect you or has it been manipulated to suit other interest? It all depends on the life you have walked and the people that have helped and hurt along the way.

         In Chapter five, The Skin that We Speak, Chael Stubbs brings to light the devastating effects of deeming a students language as “wrong”. As I read through this entire chapter I was rushed back in time and remembered the pain of being a student who was deemed a bad writer, and often criticized for improper word usage by many teachers and adults in my life. I was constantly corrected by everyone- at least it felt like it. To the point that I withdrew from reading and writing and stopped believing in my dream of writing and illustrating my own children’s book one day.  I still have small scars from those days that are often re-opened when my co-worker (an English teacher) comes in my room and often corrects something on my white board in away that belittles me and makes me feel as though I have no knowledge or right to be a teacher. With that being said I can only imagine the devastating effects and the magnitude in which these attitudes hurt the self-esteem of a minority student or ELL learner going through the same educational system. I have been scared, and I am a middle class white American student- so imagine the consequences on or ethnically and economically “disadvantaged” student (I use this term with frustration of referring to students of color disadvantaged as if something is wrong with them). Hence, the cartoon Stubbs reference’s by the famous cartoonist Jules Feiffer (79) Stubbs speaks about that what is often deemed as, “educational failure is actually linguistically failure”, and asks the question can one be “linguistically inadequate” Does that make sense”(65)? When we use the word deficient shouldn’t we be just referring to different? It is amazing what a subtle sounding difference between two words can have such profound effects. Stubbs leaves us with a powerful statement, “is the disadvantage in the child’s language or is it from people’s attitudes to language differences” (79)?

Stubbs sets the stage for how critical our awareness of the power structures that exist within our classroom are, and that implementing many of the other concepts covered this week, such as trilingualism, bi-culturalism, and multiple literacies practices within in your classroom is crucial to the success of all students. We can choose to empower or silence our students.

Baker’s concept of trilingualism about investigating the different languages that we use in our lives, and using this concept to empower students to further there understanding of language is modern and can easily be implemented into any classroom setting. Haneda’s speaks of multiple literacy’s and connecting community and school literacy practices. She stresses the importance for ELL’s to have a, “wide range of literacy practices- across context, in different languages, and for various purpose”(338) as an essential understanding for the success of ELL’s. She asks educators to change their views of literacy and to question their classroom practices that are often misevaluate students lack of decoding skills or poor vocabulary and grammar skills with their ability to be critical thinkers. And, in Lomawaima and McCarty’s research they discover how important it is to have a bilingual/bicultural education in a classroom with native speakers in which both English and the Native language is used to educate the Native speaker. As well as respect and preserve there culture and use it as an educational tool that all students can learn from, versus creating immersion programs that often alginate students and leave them in the dust to “sink or swim”. They researched numerous accounts showing the use of the Native language along with English to help students make leaps and bounds in both languages. Lomawaima and McCarty speak of changing school and community that, “ historically are agents of Anglo American oppression, to become and instrument of community empowerment”(128) through bi-cultural education.

All three of these literacy concepts, trilingualism, bi-culturalism, and multiple literacies, are different from one another and should be used in different learning environments and circumstances. Although, what is the same is that they all fight to change the notion of a right and wrong way of communicating. And to fight to change the notion that there is only room for “formal” English in today’s educational system. Our current educational system is set up to blame the victims! The silencing of a certain cultures brings tears to my eyes. We still continue to do this in our classroom but we justify it through institutional practices and standards that have been implemented that help us justify our practices because we believe them to be in the best interest of the students.

Again, I find myself asking whose interest is it really in?

“….if you believe that linguistic disadvantages arise largely from people intolerance and prejudice towards language differences, then you will probably try to change people’s attitude to language”(Stubbs,79).

Take the challenge, change perceptions!!

The Power of Home Language

This is a powerful piece from a student run poetry group, Read Nex Poetry Club, Kingston High School. Two of my students participated in the video and I believe it shows the power of the home language. These students have so much to say yet I know first hand that one of my students in the group is failing her English 12 class at home school. It makes you think about what Micheal Stubb's has to say about the hierarchy of language that many of my students have unfortunately become victims of.

I hope you enjoy the video as much as I do.