In The Service Of What?
The Politics of Service Learning
By:Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer
In this article both of the authors argue that when it comes to service learning projects in school the teacher or whom ever is assigning the project need to be explicit and precise about what they are looking for. So that the people being assigned know the vision of the assignment they are about to encounter.
1.""After they returned, the students' perspectives of these elementary school children had changed."
-----This reminds me of what many people say to me when I mention volunteering in an inner city school. I always hear O well that is going to change your idea of thinking....and they are right it did, I know can not wait to have my own classroom and help these children. But people have a set idea of how children from schools like that act, they automatically think o well they are bad, impolite and rude children, when in fact they are just as polite if not better then children from suburban schools. They are all children and no one has the right to make judgments before meeting them.
2. "Service learning makes students active participants in service projects that aim to respond to the needs of the community while furthering the academic goals of students."
---- I like this quote because it not only reflects directly from the text and the arguments made by the authors but it reflects what we are doing OUR own Service Learning Projects. In doing a SL project you are directly responding to the needs of a specific community, one that is in the need of help in a specific area. In our case helping out with these children who are academically behind. Not only are we just doing this because it is a requirement it is a wonder learning tool for the future, gives students a feel for their own future. The points made in this article can clearly been seen through our own projects in the classroom.
3, "In the intellectual domain , a service learning curriculum can further a number of goals."
-----In working with the community it brings people aware of their surrondings, and ususally of the surrondings that need help. In my project I have defenitly seen things around me that make me want to change them, simple things like the children being behind in reading. It made me set my goals for these children higher, I am determined that these children will learn what they need to. I am willing to try new things and help in anyways, because the project has made me aware and directly related to these problems. My goals, and I am sure many goals of others in the class have changed from this. SL is a great tool to use in classroom settings.
I liked this article and found it easy and interesting to read because we are directly involved in the assignment. It helps bring a better understand of what exactly we are doing, and got me thinking about how much it can help children. It would be a great tool to use in my own classroom one day, because it brings with it many learning oppurtunities. I think they bring up good points and logical points that I agree, and most people that are involved or were involved in a SL project would agree with.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Talking Point 4
"Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us"
By: Linda Christensen
In this article written by Christensen, she argues that we all need to live out lives how WE want to and not how the media says we should. Society and everything around us tries to tell us how we need to live our life to be "accepted" in this world. We need to learn and teach others that it does not matter your waist size, or what you do for a job, that does not define us as a person.
--"Many students don't want to believe that they have been manipulated by children's media or advertising."
-----------> Whether you want to admit it or not your life is influenced by the media. In both the way you act to the way you dress. Children especially, when watching some of the "children" shows the way the child act you can see straight from the show. Even in adults, you see adults not eating because a size two is not good enough, need to get down the the 00. And the money some people spend on the "hip" clothes is ridiculous, all because someone famous or cooler then you is wearing it. I babysit a young girl and young boy who are not allowed to watch t.v. until Sunday, because it is a privilege in that house. And despite this you can still see effects of other children in what they say. It is amazing how much the media effects today's world.
--"We look at the roles women, men, people of color, and poor people play in the cartoons."
-----------> Although these stereotypes were more noticeable in early America, it is still apparent in today's world. People of color still do not feel safe everywhere they go, and still have the sense of being judge through every door they enter. Poor people are treated like they are not good, and should not be living. If you are not in a well paying job, making the big bucks, then you did not succeed at life, is what this world tells you. In order survive in todays world you need to be in a high paying job. Although women are not stereotyped as much today as they use to be, but I still hear jokes about women all the time. This world is built around sterotypes.
--"Both of these takes leave young women with two myths: Hapiness means getting a man, and transformation from wretched conditions can be achieved through consumption- in their case, through new clothes and new hairstyle."
----------->The media teaches all of its viewers that inorder to be happy you need to to a b and c, when in reality you do not need any of those things to be happy. In reality it seems that the people who are just getting by with bills and such tend to be more happy then those who are rolling in money. Which just proves that you do not need to be rich to be happy.
--->The media strongly influneces what goes on in thsi country, and I believe they need to step up and change how they are protrying "life", and they have started to. But there are still people convinced that being a size 2 is to big and they need to lose weight. I myself struggle with that, I struggle with my body and often thing that I weigh to much. My doctor has even said to me that I if I gain a pound, ONE POUND, I will be overweight. And I struggle with this more because often people tell me how much they think I weigh, but when I hear what they say it is often 15 to 20 pounds less then my actual weight, and it makes me think that is where i need to be. I know that I get all of this from the world around me telling me that being me, is not good enough. When in fact being me is all I need to be!!! :)
In this article written by Christensen, she argues that we all need to live out lives how WE want to and not how the media says we should. Society and everything around us tries to tell us how we need to live our life to be "accepted" in this world. We need to learn and teach others that it does not matter your waist size, or what you do for a job, that does not define us as a person.
--"Many students don't want to believe that they have been manipulated by children's media or advertising."
-----------> Whether you want to admit it or not your life is influenced by the media. In both the way you act to the way you dress. Children especially, when watching some of the "children" shows the way the child act you can see straight from the show. Even in adults, you see adults not eating because a size two is not good enough, need to get down the the 00. And the money some people spend on the "hip" clothes is ridiculous, all because someone famous or cooler then you is wearing it. I babysit a young girl and young boy who are not allowed to watch t.v. until Sunday, because it is a privilege in that house. And despite this you can still see effects of other children in what they say. It is amazing how much the media effects today's world.
--"We look at the roles women, men, people of color, and poor people play in the cartoons."
-----------> Although these stereotypes were more noticeable in early America, it is still apparent in today's world. People of color still do not feel safe everywhere they go, and still have the sense of being judge through every door they enter. Poor people are treated like they are not good, and should not be living. If you are not in a well paying job, making the big bucks, then you did not succeed at life, is what this world tells you. In order survive in todays world you need to be in a high paying job. Although women are not stereotyped as much today as they use to be, but I still hear jokes about women all the time. This world is built around sterotypes.
--"Both of these takes leave young women with two myths: Hapiness means getting a man, and transformation from wretched conditions can be achieved through consumption- in their case, through new clothes and new hairstyle."
----------->The media teaches all of its viewers that inorder to be happy you need to to a b and c, when in reality you do not need any of those things to be happy. In reality it seems that the people who are just getting by with bills and such tend to be more happy then those who are rolling in money. Which just proves that you do not need to be rich to be happy.
--->The media strongly influneces what goes on in thsi country, and I believe they need to step up and change how they are protrying "life", and they have started to. But there are still people convinced that being a size 2 is to big and they need to lose weight. I myself struggle with that, I struggle with my body and often thing that I weigh to much. My doctor has even said to me that I if I gain a pound, ONE POUND, I will be overweight. And I struggle with this more because often people tell me how much they think I weigh, but when I hear what they say it is often 15 to 20 pounds less then my actual weight, and it makes me think that is where i need to be. I know that I get all of this from the world around me telling me that being me, is not good enough. When in fact being me is all I need to be!!! :)
Monday, February 23, 2009
Talking Point Number 3
Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community,Dennis Carlson
Carlson states on the first page what he is going to argue," ...more importantly I want to argue that these practices are increasingly hard to sustain." He believes that schools and communities need to teach about "gayness", so that it does not seem abnormal to everybody. If it is being taught then it will not seem so 'weird' for people rather a part of life. He also says that if teachers use words like, "lesbians" and "homosexual" in their everyday language it will not seem awkward to children and even adults.
"One way that a normalizing curriculum or text works is by presenting students with a "selective tradition""
--- This quote really got me thinking, about how true this is. We talked about this a little in class, about not telling kids about something because it might not be "age appropriate", but there are definitely ways to make things more age ready. Like the true Thanksgiving lesson that Dr. Bogad did with her class. In order to make something more "normal" lesson planners, book publishers, etc. just take out the awkward material, material that might cause controversy, or even something that is not in the "norm" .
"One thing we can conclude about the emerging shape of community in America is that because it is more fragmented, it is becoming more difficult to construct a "public" curriculum that has broad-based support."
---- I believe it is hard to come up with a curriculum for public schools due to the cultural, and sexual orientated growth in communities. And now a days everything has to be politically correct, and if it is not you are in trouble. I do not think there is ever going to be a time where you can get an entire community to agree on something, there is always going to be someone or a group of people that disagree. Like teaching "gayness", or bringing it into a classroom will definitely upset religious people, and keeping it out upsets LGBT groups. It is a lose-lose situation.
This article was hard for me to read, one because of the style, and two because I do not believe in Homosexuality. Although I do not hate anybody because of it, and am friends with gays and lesbians I do not support it, and would find it hard to teach in a my classroom one day, or even speak upon it because it goes against everything I stand for. I am a sunday school teacher, and teach the total opposite to my children that marriage is between a man and woman, so it would be really hard for me, and I probably could not do it, to teach it in my classroom.
Carlson states on the first page what he is going to argue," ...more importantly I want to argue that these practices are increasingly hard to sustain." He believes that schools and communities need to teach about "gayness", so that it does not seem abnormal to everybody. If it is being taught then it will not seem so 'weird' for people rather a part of life. He also says that if teachers use words like, "lesbians" and "homosexual" in their everyday language it will not seem awkward to children and even adults.
"One way that a normalizing curriculum or text works is by presenting students with a "selective tradition""
--- This quote really got me thinking, about how true this is. We talked about this a little in class, about not telling kids about something because it might not be "age appropriate", but there are definitely ways to make things more age ready. Like the true Thanksgiving lesson that Dr. Bogad did with her class. In order to make something more "normal" lesson planners, book publishers, etc. just take out the awkward material, material that might cause controversy, or even something that is not in the "norm" .
"One thing we can conclude about the emerging shape of community in America is that because it is more fragmented, it is becoming more difficult to construct a "public" curriculum that has broad-based support."
---- I believe it is hard to come up with a curriculum for public schools due to the cultural, and sexual orientated growth in communities. And now a days everything has to be politically correct, and if it is not you are in trouble. I do not think there is ever going to be a time where you can get an entire community to agree on something, there is always going to be someone or a group of people that disagree. Like teaching "gayness", or bringing it into a classroom will definitely upset religious people, and keeping it out upsets LGBT groups. It is a lose-lose situation.
This article was hard for me to read, one because of the style, and two because I do not believe in Homosexuality. Although I do not hate anybody because of it, and am friends with gays and lesbians I do not support it, and would find it hard to teach in a my classroom one day, or even speak upon it because it goes against everything I stand for. I am a sunday school teacher, and teach the total opposite to my children that marriage is between a man and woman, so it would be really hard for me, and I probably could not do it, to teach it in my classroom.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Talking Point Number 2
In Aria by Richard Rodriguez, he seems at the beginning to be talking about his hatred for learning the English Language in School. And about how much pride he took in speaking Spanish at home with his family. He speaks about how close speaking Spanish at home made his family, how excited they were to go home and speak their language. He then goes into how being forced to speak English both at home and school, drove his family apart.
-"With out question it would have pleased me to hear my teachers address me in Spanish when I entered the classroom."
-" Because I wrongly imagined that English was intrinsically a public language and Spanish an intrinsically private one, I easily noted the difference between classroom language and the language of of home."
--------Both of these quotes helped to realize that children hold something special to their culture, and to take it away from them by force can cause more harm then good. In this case the drive to make him speak English drove his family apart. All he wanted was to be greeted with some Spanish. How different would the situation have been if he was not noted at difficult? Or tried to make a point to learn some of his culture and background before dragging it out of him. Even to hear a simple HOLA RICHARD, how hard would that have been.
-"With out question it would have pleased me to hear my teachers address me in Spanish when I entered the classroom."
-" Because I wrongly imagined that English was intrinsically a public language and Spanish an intrinsically private one, I easily noted the difference between classroom language and the language of of home."
--------Both of these quotes helped to realize that children hold something special to their culture, and to take it away from them by force can cause more harm then good. In this case the drive to make him speak English drove his family apart. All he wanted was to be greeted with some Spanish. How different would the situation have been if he was not noted at difficult? Or tried to make a point to learn some of his culture and background before dragging it out of him. Even to hear a simple HOLA RICHARD, how hard would that have been.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Talking Point Number 1
In McIntosh's article "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" she compares the privilege difference in color and sex. She talks about how white men have more power and privilege then other race or sex. She also touches upon the fact that white woman have more privilege then both men and woman of other races. Whites hold the most privilege out of any race, men more then anyone, but women in second over men of other races. She believes that people are born into their power and privilege level just by their skin color. I think it is interesting how she talks about whites growing up not to see their race as privileged. “Whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege”.I think that is interesting and really have never thought of it like that before. She makes good points, but I do not think there is anything that can be done about it. It is so hard to change many years of damage. And as long there is somebody that still thinks a certain way you can never get rid of it. Then there are the stubborn people who think that nothing is wrong and nothing needs to be changed, when it is clear that something needs to be done.
In the article “Data show racial bias persists in America” by Salim Muwakkil, I think the major focus was one employment and how bias employers on, even before they see or met the person. What I really liked about the article is all the facts that were used. Statics are shocking when layed out like they are here, " Applicants with white names were 50 percent more likely to get called for an initial interview than applicants with black names...White applicants with prison records were still more likely to be hired than black men without them" Both of those statics really shocked me. After reading those I was just amazed, I never even thought that white males with criminal records would get hired over someone who has a clean record. I just do not understand how a country that is suppose to be equal and free can have so much inequalities and unfair chances and life. For a country who is suppose to offer liberty and justice to all, this article really makes you realize how unjust and unequal it really is. Shocking. I thought that we had some law to make sure that everyone was getting an equal chance at employment and freedom and life in general, this makes it seem like no law exist. And that is how people in this country live.
In the article “Data show racial bias persists in America” by Salim Muwakkil, I think the major focus was one employment and how bias employers on, even before they see or met the person. What I really liked about the article is all the facts that were used. Statics are shocking when layed out like they are here, " Applicants with white names were 50 percent more likely to get called for an initial interview than applicants with black names...White applicants with prison records were still more likely to be hired than black men without them" Both of those statics really shocked me. After reading those I was just amazed, I never even thought that white males with criminal records would get hired over someone who has a clean record. I just do not understand how a country that is suppose to be equal and free can have so much inequalities and unfair chances and life. For a country who is suppose to offer liberty and justice to all, this article really makes you realize how unjust and unequal it really is. Shocking. I thought that we had some law to make sure that everyone was getting an equal chance at employment and freedom and life in general, this makes it seem like no law exist. And that is how people in this country live.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
A Little About Me
Hello my name is Rebecca Ferry(call me Becca),I am an Early Education, Special Ed major. This is my first year at RIC. So far I love it. First semester went great, it flew by. When I am not in class, I am usually working, I work at the school on Campus, as well as many babysitting jobs. I live on campus and love it. I am from Mass, not to far away. I am not a fan of the cold weather, winter is not my favorite season, but I do not mind the snow all that much. I am from a big family, of 7, I am the middle child, and the first out of my family to go to college.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
