"Privilege, Power and Difference" by Johnson

Johnson argues that the structure of societies are not set in and stone and that they need to reshape their ways of viewing change and oppression in order to deter the patterns of “exclusion, rejection, privilege, harassment, discrimination, and violence.” He believes that not only is speaking the words is necessary; people must be courageous and be willing to step outside their comfort zone in order to implement change. Johnson stresses the fact that while one person might not be able to make a large impact, one person may act as a catalyst, instigating others to follow his or her passive, non-discriminatory ways.

Passages of interest

· Johnson notes, “…we have to be willing to travels without knowing where we’re going.” He tries to reassure the reader that although sometimes walking blindly, not quite sure of one’s path or direction might be scary and intimidation, we have to have faith that we are doing what is right. We have to be able to counter the established system, not necessarily breaking it, but questioning, and ultimately weakening it. · Johnson states, “When we dare ask core questions about who we are and how the world works, things happen that we can’t forsee. But they don’t happen unless we move, if only in our minds.” Here Johnson is explaining how true change will come about if people expand their way of thinking and viewing the world. We need to move to change.· He states, “Social systems are also fluid…Because a system happens only as people participate in it, it cant help being a dynamic process of creation and re-creation from one moment to the next.” He is describing how despite the popular notion that is it fruitless to try to change a society’s ideals, societies, just like people, are subject to change. They shift based on the current and that current is influenced by the will of the people.

Comments

I thought Johnson’s article to be truly inspirational and empowering and called for action to be taken against the oppression of inferior social groups to the ‘culture of power.’ Johnson engaged me and showed me that by changing little aspects of my life such as not laughing at a homosexual joke can be a good step in the right direction as to squelching privilege. The article was a smooth read and highly enjoyable because of the writing style and the messages that he defined throughout.

"Citizenship in School: Reconceptualizing Down Snydrome" by Kliewer

Kliewer argues that students with down syndrome should be given the equal opportunity of learning the same way that students without down syndrome do. They should be integrated in the same classrooms as non-disabled students, provided with the same learning materials, they should be given the chance to learn in a mainstream learning environment. By providing these opportunities to students with disabilities every student would be able to grow, develop, and learn from one another.

Passages of interest

• "It's not like they come here to be labeled, or to believe the label. We're all here, kids, teachers, parents, whoever, it's all about us working together."
• "If you came into the room and were told there was a retarded child in the class, I don't think you'd pick Lee out. The kids agree that he's as capable as they are. Intellectually the same."
• "Culture of segregation surrounding people with disabilities actually teaches underdevelopment of thinking through the isolation of children from socially valued opportunities...Altering the culture of disability requires that a child be recognized as an active learner, a thinker, and a problem solver."

Comments

First off I want to say I like the story about Issac in this piece. The fact that the teacher took the initiative to find a way to conform the student with a disability within the classroom setting with a lesson plan that let ALL the students actively learn was a major role there. Not only that, but the fact that she recognized Issac as a human child, not a disabled child and let him learn on a level that showed he was grasping the lessons being taught.

I related this article to when we read Johnson and related to SCWAAMP...he said that able bodied individuals were privileged while those with disabilities were silenced. Incorporating the children into the classroom will not only allow them to achieve greater academically then if they were in a special education classroom, but it will also give the other children the chance to look at the others with disabilities as one of them and not a special education child. I believe getting support from the community and being accepted into that community is a wonderful thing.

"Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work" by Anyon

Anyon discusses the differences in the school curriculum of fifth graders between working class, middle class, affluent professional, and executive elite schools. The differences between them based on the same subjects studied within each school, the schoolwork, and the interactions between teacher and student. Anyon's hidden curriculum is that students are being taught the skills and their levels of education that they would need to possess to enter into society.....to keep the same social class and jobs as their parents....otherwise predetermined career opportunities.

Passage of interest

• "Simple punctuation is all they'll ever use."

Okay this is disturbing...how can you be a teacher and make this type of comment?? Where's the passion in teaching?? There is no constructive communication between teachers and students....and no creativity....I really cannot believe that this type of teaching exists. Instead of giving the students a quality education, it sounds more like a glorified baby sitting job. The teachers decide everything, the students have no idea when the next period begins or ends...what's the deal with the clocks?? Why no clocks??

• "I want to make sure you understand what you are doing - so you get it right."

The middle class school lets the students figure out for themselves the right answers and communication between teacher and student is constructive. I can see that there is more emphasis on choice and making their own decisions than that of the working class schools. This to me is a better learning environment..."doing well is important because there are thought to be other likely rewards: a good job or college." Why can't the working class students have the same benefits as the middle class?? Each student deserves the best education possible...and teachers who want to teach, not slackers....

• "Then I have something else for you to do that's really fun."

Okay why can't everyone have fun?? Without fun and creativity we can lose our students and the drop out rate will continue to rise...we don't want to turn them away from school...I feel that helping students connect to each other and the classroom teaching style will help them learn better. It's all about opportunities.....every student should have the same opportunities no matter what their social class is......

Comments/questions

I believe the system needs work...students in low income areas deserve the same as honor students. They deserve not to have teachers who are overwhelmed. They deserve enriching extracurricular options and should be able to have all of this throughout their education. Most of all, they deserve a chance.....which by the way has been denied because the country has already written their destinies in stone. America would be a much better place if our education system was equitable and our racial and social class issues would not be soooo tense.....isnt' that reason enough???

"One More River to Cross" by Charles Lawrence

Lawrence argues that "the Brown decision fostered a way of thinking about segregation that has allowed both the judiciary and society at large to deny the reality of race in America, that the recognition of that reality is critical to the framing of any meaningful remedy-judicial or political - and that Brown may ultimately be labeled a success only insofar as we are able to make it stand for what it should have stood for in 1954."

Passage of interest

• "the Supreme Court's reasoning in striking down an interdistrict desegregation order in Detroit was flawed in that it misunderstood the true nature of the institution of segregation", and the "failure to recognize and articulate the true nature of racial segregation was more the product of an intentional, knowledgeable decision than the result of any inability to comprehend."

This is what we discussed in class, without recognizing and speaking the words, things will just continue on without any changes. It reminds me of the "bandaid on the broken leg" that you use in class....the court did not acknowledge the true "nature" of segregation; not because they were not able to understand it but the way they chose to admit to it. Segregation means the
policy or practice of separating people of different races, classes, or ethnic groups, as in schools, housing, and public or commercial facilities, especially as a form of discrimination.

• "Segregation's only purpose is to label or define blacks as inferior and thus exclude them from full and equal participation in society."

I believe this entire article orbits around this statement. The concept of segregation is to keep blacks in this state of inadequacy making it really hard to ascend to a higher level and really to remain in a lower level. The true nature of the institution of segregation is what Charles Lawrence argues about in this article in relation to Brown vs. court decisions.

• "Segregation is organic and self-perpetuating. Once established it will not be eliminated by mere removal of public sanction but must be affirmatively destroyed."

"organic and self-perpetuation"...to me these terms describe the institution. It brings a visual pic to mind; a large tree with deep roots that when you try to remove it, it becomes very difficult. "Self-perpetuation"...according to the dictionary is, having the power to renew or perpetuate oneself or itself for an indefinite length of time. I also think that it is something that is rooted within people's nature at a very early stage if they are able to unlearn it and at the point of unlearning, the nature of segregation does not have to mean that anything will be done about it. Affirmatively destroy?? How can that be done??

Comments/questions

I believe Lawrence is viewing Brown as a bandaid that was placed on a really bad broken leg. Lawrence believes that the society needs to work to normalize the connections between whites and black in the effort to guarantee desegregation and anti-discrimination. Still today the problem remains.....how can we affirmatively destroy??? Any suggestions???

"Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community" by Dennis Carlson

Carlson argues that public schools in a democratic society need to have teachers educate students to have tolerance for homosexuals as they do for heterosexuals, and this is a fundamental step in accepting race, gender, and sexual preferences. In other words, educate on the issues rather than silence them.

Passage of interest

• While public schools have long been viewed by progressive educators as embryonic communities that should engage young people in building a democratic community of mutual support and respect, gay people have for the most part been made absent, invisible, and silent within this community and at the same time represented as the deviant and pathological "Other". (233)

To me this clearly states there is a definite silence and lack of knowlege towards gay students in the system, and that homosexuals are being seen as totally morally wrong.....

• Public schools in particular have often promoted such "normalizing" conceptualizations of community that are based on defining a cultural center or "norm" and positioning class, gender, race, and sexual Others at the margins." (234)

The arguement here is that the teachers are forced to educate an impossible image of the "norm" to students. What happens if a child is not considered to be "normal"??? Do we let them drop by the wayside and forget about it?? For instance, what if that child were to be homosexual and then this way of teaching makes him feel like he doesn't belong and uncapable of being like everyone else....I've seen it too many times growing up....kids slip through the cracks just barely getting through their daily lives....

• "These abuses get tolerated because gay teachers and students operate in an environment where they feel afraid to stand up for themselves, and because any discussion of gay people continues to be absent in the curriculum so that homophobia is not interrogated" (239).

This case in point shows that this type of homophobia is somewhat accepted because gay teachers and students are fearfull to protect themselves. I was not brought up to make fun at anyone or tease anyone because of race, gender, color, or sexual orientation....It is morally and humanlly wrong....we are all human, we all have a heart, we all breath the same air....its important to remember that we all have feelings too....

Comments/questions

At times I found myself re-reading this article over and over....it was more intense than the other articles we have read. I did however like the fact that Carlson uses specific examples of ignorance toward homosexuals...like pop culture...here homosexuality is on the whole "invisible". I do agree with Carlson when he states that all sexual preferences should be equally accepted and by the same token, not one particular preference should be classified more "normal" than the other.

"Teaching Multilingual Children" by Virginia Collier

Collier argues that there is a unique set of educational and cultural issues that must be addressed when teaching multilingual children but that if done with care, and properly handled multilingual children can succeed in the classroom.

Passage of interest

• The key is the true appreciation of the different linguistic and cultural values that students bring into the classroom.

I truly believe this statement....Collier understands how teaching a second language can be beneficial to both student and teacher. We learn new things everyday, even adults...so why not incorportate the many cultural differences our students have into our every day life??? We must learn to "appreciate" the different languages and values of each student.

• The critical distinction to maintain is between how children acquire the capacity to converse casually in a second language, and how they learn to become proficient students using second language. These are two entirely different processes.
• Teachers are responsible for facilitating academic language development. Academic language does not come to kids automatically, just because they are in a dominant English-speaking locale.

These two statements are just the icing on the cake. Collier lists seven guidelines to support her arguement...with the best supporting evidence to back them. Collier's approach to me seemed real matter of fact and very clear. I thought it was very interesting that one point she mentions that it is easier for language learners to have short simpler sentences, and in fact this in deed was exactly the sort of text used in her article. I believe that she wrote this peice with ELL students in mind; if they were to come across this peice of writing, it would be straightforward for them.

"Aria" by Richard Rodriguez

Richard Rodriguez's essay shows the reader a part of his life that few people have experienced. He points out the childhood struggles he had trying to adopt the English language. Rodriguez believes by speaking English he will fit better in society. During this time Rodriguez gives up on his native language of Spanish, both at home and school, to become a better English speaking student.

Passage of interest

• We remained a loving family, but one greatly changed. No longer so close; no longer bound tight by the pleasing and troubling knowledge of our public separateness. Neither my brother nor sister rushed home after school anymore. Nor did I.

As a child Rodriguez found comfort at home speaking Spanish; the family surrounded him with this comfort and love which was conveyed by using the Spanish language. In attempts to become a better student, he gives up on his native language, it becomes a forbidden language at home which leads him to feel a sense of isolation with his parents. A "new silence" has been born and Rodriguez feels the strain. Teaching ESL to students is wonderful, but to give up their native language is totally wrong. Let their culture live on with them...we must embrace those students with a second language, encouraging them to learn but not to forget where it is they came from.

• I also needed my teachers to keep my attention from straying in class by calling out, Rich-heard - their English voices slowly prying loose my ties to my other name, its three notes, Ri-car-do.

To me it seems the names have two different meanings. Richard was a scared boy who needed to find his place in the Americanized world. How was he to fit in society when all he spoke was Spanish? Ricardo was a boy who came from a loving home, who was comfortable with speaking Spanish to his parents. But Richard soon took over and pushed Ricardo out, he was learning that his family life was changing because of his need to learn English. Why can't children be bilingual? Who are we to tell them to stop using their language at home? In today's society being bilingual is very marketable....employers will pay extra $$ for those who speak two languages.....I wish I had the opportunity to learn Spanish in high school, I envy those who can..

No one culture is better than any other....I do think that Rodriguez could have kept part of his culture and still become Americanized. I think the main point of this essay was that Rodriguez feels it is necessary for people living in a culture that is not native to them to conform to that particular culture. I feel Rodriguez's writing was really well written....would you agree???