STEP OUTSIDE THE BOX: Issues of multiple literacies and gender norms

          “Step outside the Box” This seems to be the sentiment of all the readings this week from multiplicity of literacy, to the ‘New Economy’, to gender equality. As educators we have to be able to step outside of the rigid box that has defined, what, how and who gets educated. We are doing injustice by staying in the old box and not allowing for the new transformations; from fighting technology to reinforcing pedagogies that enforce the ‘culture of power’. Throughout the wide range of topics we read you hear over and over the same message for the need to CHANGE. The OLD system is not working for the NEW world. In the worlds of the great Yvon Chouinard ,“We cannot keep trying to fix a broken system, sometimes all you really need to do is turn around 180 degrees and take one step forward” (Yvon Chouinard, 180 Degrees South).

Over and over we see the need to fight back on the demands of the educational system and say this is enough. We have to see teachers as, “Transformative intellectuals”(Maher, 273), who are respected and given freedom to do their individual work within the classroom. With a pedagogy that matches their students’ values, and lives and does not create continuous miss-matches that time and time again excludes the same students. Stereotypes are created by unfair “Opportunities to Learn” states Gee, “If two children are being assessed on something that they have not had equivalent opportunities to learn, the assessment is unjust…. If one cannot prove that the children being tested have had equal opportunity to learn than the assessment is, “invalid and unethical”(28). And when we see the failure of the same stereotyped students are being enforced and perpetuated in the school system we have to begin to ask questions.

It (good or bad) happen in the classroom,” In spite of today’s barriers and obstacles, of racism and elitism as well as sexism, it is in the classrooms of individual teachers, helped by allies in their schools and communities, that our best hopes lie for resolving “gender turf battles” and building democracy”(Maher, 274). You have to ask yourself are you creating a match or a miss-match? Weather we are talking about school literature choice that are embedded with message of inequality or the fight against technology or the acceptance of multiple literacies; what we are really talking about is inclusion or exclusion, and unfortunately the system with this narrow box only allows for a small amount to be included, but for most to be left looking in trying to learn (assimilate to the culture of power) how to be included. Williams make this argument concerning literature for young readers (both action and violence novels and young romance literature), remove the hysteria of concern around these issues most boys aren’t killers and most girls aren’t sexual victims; although the odds of sexual abuse are higher for girls than violence for men- either way no one wins. “ When such rigid expectations result in institutionally unimaginative or personally inflexible responses, no student benefits”(Williams 302).

What we must do is use these reading as a teachable moment to reflect on the complexities and the culturally constructed expectations that limit us all. There has to be VALUE and VISION, we have to push and stretch our student’s minds. Whether we are challenging technology tolerance or the modern identity paradigm we have to push boundaries. “To transgress the boundaries, valued so strongly by society, is to begin to undo violence and oppression and the regulation and control of these identities. These transgressions are a “step out side the box,” and therefore an attack on the power held by those who conform and police identity boundaries”(Hill, 31). A student sums it up so well, “In school, writing is about handing something in. Here (on-line) it is about having something to say”(Kajder, p.215). We have to ask ourselves what are students are writing for? Which result are we striving for accountability or value?

The world is changing and a new economy is evolving and you have to wonder if by staying in the old box are we preparing students for a world that does not thrive on ‘basic skills’, As Gee discusses,“ the old industrial capitalism was about mass producing standardized products for heavily controlled mass markets. In the new global, hypercompetitive, science-and-technology-driven capitalism, products and services are created, perfected, and changed at ever faster rates”(Gee, 414). You are your project. You are your own portfolio (Gee). The new world is flat world and these are the new skills needed: (Burke, 153).

-Collaborators and orchestrators

-synthesizers

-explainers

-adapters

-green people

-personalizers

-localizers

How do we produce learners for this new world? “We create an “active learning” environment, “experiencing the world in NEW ways, forming NEW affiliations in preparation for NEW future learning “(Gee, 32).  WE STEP OUTSIDE THE BOX!

And, sometimes we can’t always so boldly take the 180 degree turn that we will like to be able to do, but hopefully what we can do as Williams suggest,“ teach our students how to recognize the challenges of the river; how to navigate it to get to where they want to go; and, when necessary, how to turn the boat around and –slowly with great effort-move upstream against the current”(Williams,302).

Romance Novels to Advertisments

Sexist language and images are everywhere you look from reading choices, clothes shopping, television adds and more... YOU CAN'T ESCAPE IT!!

From such a young age,  we (women and girls) are inundated with how women should be, act, behave, LOOK, and most important how the prince charming is coming to rescue us.

Time for concern?

If your not familiar with Jean Kilbourne's Killing Us Softley video's, they are wonderfully insightful. Everyone should have a chance to watch them.
Please share with as many people as you can.

Gil Scott-Heron: We Beg Your Pardon

This video says it all!

Samness as Fairness?

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!)