Race and internet fame...

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/05/07/charles_ramsey_amanda_berry_rescuer_becomes_internet_meme_video.html

I know class is over and the gender unit was forever ago, but...

I love Jackson Katz.   He was the first male gender studies major at UMass Amherst, and he's a badass feminist who travels the country talking about gender-based violence. I've seen him speak at BC twice about gender violence and just found his TED talk. So if you are looking to procrastinate during finals, he has a really cool talk that incorporates gender violence, dominance, linguistics and a whole bunch of other cool stuff.

Group 5 Questions

(I don't know if we had to post questions this week, but here they are, just in case)


As this class comes to an end, we are asked to think about our "endgame". As educators, what is our objective, what is our responsibility to our students? As I was working on my final project, this question presented itself multiple times, and despite all the research and hours of thought, I have found no easy answer. The article by James Baldwin (1962) discusses many of the inequalities in our educational system. He points out that our society moves along a predetermined path where we are expected to pass certain stages in order to succeed. This "formula for success" is unfortunately only accessible to a small percentage of our society. Statistics show it. People form minority groups and from a low SES perform more poorly in school and in standardized assessments. Yet another problem, that I also analyzed in my final project, is that our current education undeniably favors certain intelligences over others. A selection of fortunate students possess the favored intelligences, but others' are neglected and undervalued. The latter's case creates an even wider divide between the student body. The question we as educators have to face is, therefore, two-fold:

1). What can we do to decrease the gap between the students who possess the tools for success and those who are deprived of them? How much can we do?

2). Should our endgame be to ease students' path through the "formula for success" and perpetuate the current educational system, or should we find a way to challenge this system that consistently pushes a significant percentage of students out of the race for success?

In the second question, our goodwill leans us towards the second option. But now we must ask ourselves how we can challenge a system so ingrained in our society. What tools do we need to change our social contexts and build a successful pathway towards social l justice?

Group 2 E-Handout (Gender)

This American Life

27 students at Harper High School were shot in one year.  Do you think it is possible to focus on seemingly "trivial" things like math, science and reading when survival is a real every day issue?  This reminds me of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.  If physiological needs aren't first met it is impossible to get to the top of the pyramid where higher level and more privileged thinking takes place.  Do you think it is possible to educate kids living in such violent areas?

There is a lot of discussion about why schools are failing students, especially schools like Harper High School in Chicago.  However, do you think that it is really the fault of the school that students are struggling?  If not, where is the problem?  On the street?  In the family?  In the government?  Laws? In people's views and perceptions and stereotypes?  I listen to this episode of This American Life and I hear a lot of good things that are being done inside Harper High School.  So, do you think it is an education issue or a problem on a larger scale?

"Do you know what it's like to carry weight?" was a question that was asked in episode one.  A lot of these students are carrying baggage that weighs on their lives, minds and mental and physical health.  I teach in a private high school and I wonder if a lot of the kids in my school know what it is like to carry weight when they complain about going to bed late because of too much homework or their mom packed the wrong lunch.  I wonder what the right amount of weight to carry is.  Is there a balance and why is it that some kids, like the ones at Harper, seem to be carrying so much more than kids in other places?

-Tim Broderick

WBC Documentaries

I meant to post these last week, but then Friday happened, and I was glued to the TV.

My roommate is really into watching documentaries, and she and I curled up to watch these two documentaries on the "Westboro Baptist Church." Most of us have probably heard of this "religious group" that preaches hatred in America.  What strikes me most about these documentaries is the attitudes that shift between the first and second documentaries when some younger members leave the family church.  Check out their completely changed opinions and their families' attitudes toward them.

This popped into my head because they recently tweeted/published a great deal of information about the Boston Marathon Bombings as "God's punishment for gay marriage."

Very offensive language, FYI.

1. Most Hated Family in America Documentary

2. Most Hated Family in America in Crisis

When I was complaining about this cult to my younger brother, his response was, "Maggie, you know they have every legal right to do this, don't you?" DO THEY? Nonphysical violence is okay? Offensive language and slurs and praising acts of terrorism is okay? Thoughts?

-Maggie

If "heterophobia" were real...

I came across this video last night, and I sat down and watched the whole thing. It's pretty upsetting at many points, but it sheds light on a topic we discussed recently in a new way.

Article:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/aaronporchia/if-heterophobia-was-real-93w2

Youtube video:
"All you need is love?"