Blog 4; "Speaking the unspeakable in forbidden places: addressing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality in the primary school"-Alexandra Allana, Elizabeth Atkinsonb, Elizabeth Braceb, Rene ́e DePalmab* and Judy Hemingwayc
‘Since social relations are inevitably and everywhere imbued with power and meaning and symbolism, this view of the spatial is as an ever-shifting social geometry of power and signification’ (1994, 3).
"As Brickell’s (2000) research suggests, this is not an unfounded fear – for the idea that lesbian, gay and bisexual people ‘flaunt’ and ‘promote’ their sexuality, and as such force their ideas onto other people, invading their private thoughts and spaces, is a dominant one that is regularly rehearsed in the media."
"Paechter argues: ‘Because schooling is obsessed with the exclusion of the body, its explicit introduction is highly threatening’ (2004b, 317)."
Reflection;
This article was one that really stood out to me. I think that the reason it is so difficult for teachers/ parents/ students/ communities to talk about is because of the generation differences. Older people aren't used to gays/lesbians being accepted in society. As time is passing more and more people are accepting and becoming ok with people being able to love who they love no matter the sex or gender.
In my opinion it is a great idea to educate students on this topic. It is important for students to know the proper words behind things they are hearing and seeing. They need to know that is is something that needs to be accepted in todays world.
Im glad we are becoming a society where people are free to love whoever they want.
Blog 3; Hunger of Memory; Rodriguez
This is an autobiography by Richard Rogridgez, a boy who came to the united states at the age of three who’s only prior language was spanish. As Richard grows mentally and developmentally his horizon of language changes. It stars out by only speaking spanish at home. In the article Richard can remember the first time his name was said in english at school. He talks about bilingual education. “It is a program to permit non-English speaking children, many from lower class homes, to use their family language as the language of the school.” I think this is interesting and a wonderful thing that was done in the past. This was a start of bringing together many cultures into school systems.
I must admit, I can image how Rodrigues feels when he admits to being “socially disadvantaged” It must of been difficult for him to go into a place with other children who already knew the english language since their day of birth.
By the end of this article, Richard could barley feel comfortable speaking spanish anymore. It’s kind of sad to read this because I feel as though the whole part of bilingual education, the point is to know both languages. The result was that he ended up knowing more english rather than the language he was originally taught.
The reason I found this article so interesting was because I felt as though my family has somewhat a connection to this. My grandfather, my dad and his brothers were all from England. Although the language was not much different, they very well came over having different accents than most americans. By the time they grew up my dad and his brothers lost their accents, however my grandfathers stayed with him throughout the years.
I wanted to connect this to my life expedience because I thought It was interesting to how time and developments in life can change things. Just like Rodrigues lost comfort in using the spanish language, many of my family members lost their accents.
It goes to show that even though their are many things being done and tough about culture, people loose their roots due to what they are commonly around.
BLOG 2 Delpit, "The Silenced Dialogue"
In this blog I would like to mainly discuss my opinion of this article. I do not agree with the article which made it difficult for me to agree with the main points. I feel as though this article was somewhat offensive to white people. “White folks are going to do what they want anyway?” I wasn’t exactly sure what this point was trying to get at. I feel as though this issue is not due to white people, rather it is depending on a persons personality no matter what the race is. Anyone can be “headstong” not just white people. Another quote that really had me questioning this article was “My kid knows how to be black, you all teach them how to be successful in the white mans world” I think that this is the main problem with the race issues going on. It shouldn’t be thought or even stated that their is such thing as a “white mans world.” Everyone lives in the same world, and any race can be just as successful as another if they wanted to be. Also what does it mean to “know how to be black?” This statement angered me because It makes me feel as though some people are outcasting themselves due to the thought that people are judging them due to color. Another part of this article that stuck out was “ the white teacher and black teacher did not agree.” I feel as though it didn’t have anything to do with the matter of them being of different races. It is part of life and human nature that some people just don’t get along.
In conclusion, This article really got to me in a negitave way. This may be from my past experinces but I think that many teachers try to incorperate culture in their education process. Many of my classmates may or may not agree I feel as though people are just deciding to look at themselves as different or more powerful due to race rather than the world as a whole.
I would like to connect this to the “white power” article because after reading that I felt as though people have a need to feel power. From reading this I still agree people need power, but i would like to add that people no matter what race, get the feeling of being placed under another.
BLOG 1: (September 22, 2014)
“White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” By Peggy McIntosh
This author argues that white people were born into power. McIntosh argues that even though some white people who don’t act mean or hatred to african americans, just the fact of being white gives them an advantage. “As a whole, white people still aren’t willing to let go of the power that we’ve been born in to, in order to make for a truly equal society. We accept the power that we’re given, not earned, with no questions asked because we are the people with the power and we aren’t negatively affected by it” This is a strong quote I got out of the reading which made me realize that as a white woman, I did not choose to be a person with power over another, it was something chosen by society.
Being white, I agreed with many of the twenty six points McIntosh made in her article. One that really stuck out to me was “Whether I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of my financial reliability.” The author was implying that just because a person is white people think that they are financially stable. This being said it is implyed that race goes alone with the topic of finances. If an african goes into a store to buy something most people would guess that they are financially unstable due to their skin color. In reality, skin color and finances should not even be comparable.
I think dominance takes up a big part in this reading. “For this reason, the word ”privilege” now seems to be misleading. We usually think of privilege as being a favored state, whether earned or conferred by birth or luck. Yet some of the conditions I have described here work to systematically over empower certain groups. Such privilege simply confers dominance because of one’s race or sex.” In society it is implyed that whites are dominate over blacks and Men are dominant over woman. The reason for this has to do with the way our world was in the past. People need to let go and accept the fact that in todays world it is a free country and everyone should be, and feel as though they are equal to one another.
While searching on youtube, I found this video “Bill O'Reilly and Megan Kelly Argue About 'White Privilege'
This video is giving statistics blacks vs. whites. I feel as though this is connected to McIntosh’s article when “Bill O’Riley states that “nothing in this society will get fixed until culture changes.” Once society puts aside that one person is dominant over another, I think society will be less harsh on the “ non-dominants”
Hi, i'm Nicole.
I am a sophomore at Rhode Island College. I currently switched my major from nursing to elementary education. I am very excited to start my journey of becoming a teacher! So far, I enjoy all of my classes along with my professors.
When i'm not in school I usually spend my free time working (as a CNA) or with my family. I also have a puppy names Benji, who I absolutely adore.
