I Just Wanted To Say...

Thank you to everyone in my FNED 346 class, especially Professor Lesley Bogad, for everything you taught me this semester. I have learned so much about the changes in society, the rules and codes of power, privileges of race and ethnicity in general, how to improve teaching habits, etc. I am very thankful for you opening up my eyes to what is occurring in today's societies world wide. Everywhere I go I can end up relating an issue that we learned in class to the outside world. It just amazes me as to how I was so oblivious to certain matters that were occurring around me that I would have never even acknowledge without the information that was provided to me from this class. You have influenced me in more ways then one which in the end has caused for me to be a better person in general. Thank you again for everything and I can officially say that this was my favorite class this semester!

Talking Points #10 on Johson in Chapter 9 "What Can We Do?"

MY LAST BLOG POSTING

Premise:
This article discusses...

• Recognizing the problems dealing with privilege and oppression.
• How to deal with privilege and oppression.
• Changes in societies views and the systems.
• Making a difference.

Author's Argument:
Johnson argues that one of the biggest challenges that people face in every day life is change. Change needs to happen in societies due to the fact that privilege and oppression are not being recognized like they should be. People need to know that change is entitled to occur and need to be well-aware of it in order to make it happen.

Evidence:

1. "The challenge we face is to change patterns of exclusion, rejection, privilege, harassment, discrimination, and violence that are everywhere in this society and have existed for hundreds (or, in case of gender, thousands) of years."
2. "The problem of privilege and oppression is deep and wide, and to work with it we have to be able to see it clearly so that we can talk about it in useful ways. To do that, we have to reclaim some difficult languages that names what's going on, language that has been so misused and maligned that it generates more heat than light. We can't just stop using words like racism, sexism, ableism, and privilege, however, because these are tools that focus our awareness on the problem and all the forms it takes. Once we can see and talk about what's going on, we can analyze how it works as a system. We can identify points of leverage, where change can begin."
3. "The more you pay attention to privilege and oppression, the more you'll see opportunities to do something about them. You don't have to mount and expedition to find opportunities; they're all over the place, beginning with you...As you become more aware, questions will arise about what goes on at work, in the media, in families, in communities, in religious institutions, in government, on the street, and at school-in short, just about everywhere...If you remind yourself that it isn't up to you to do it all, however, you can see plenty of situations in which you can make a difference, sometimes in surprisingly the simple ways. Consider the following possibilities...Make noise, be seen...Find little ways to withdraw support from paths of least resistance and people's choices to follow them, starting with yourself.. Dare to make people feel uncomfortable, beginning with yourself...Openly choose and model alternative paths...Actively promote change in how systems are organized around privilege...Support the right of women and men to love whomever they choose...Pay attention to how different forms of oppression interact with one another...Work with other people...Don't keep it to yourself...Don't let other people set the standard for you...As powerful as systems of privilege are, they cannot stand the strain of lots of people doing something about it, beginning with the simplest act of naming the system out loud."

Questions/Comments/Points to Share:
In order to make a difference people have to recognize change. To me, Johnson is one hundred percent right. Privilege and Oppression are very common in societies around the world, in fact they are so common that we as humans do not even realize they exist. Communities need to work together in order to make things happen. To create a difference is to overcome the impossible and recognize what can be accomplished with it. Overcoming obstacles is basically what life is about. People have to change themselves to fit the obstacles that are thrown at them throughout their lives whether by force or choice. If there was no such thing as change in today's world, then it would be one heck of a world to live in with so much more chaos and struggles then there already are with the struggle of power. Power, being one of the main controls of societies today, is always changing in different ways and it takes people in general to create these changes. By people being more recognizable and open to change, the world would be an easier place to live in. By reading this, it has opened up my eyes to the changes that are going on right now and the changes that need to occur in my life and the lives of others and it takes people to make a difference in this world, starting with me.

Talking Points #9 on Orenstein in "School Girls: Young Women, Self-Esteem, and the Confidence Gap"

Premise:
This article discusses...

• Building up the self-esteem in girls or different races.
• Hidden curriculum's.
• Recognizing how women are just as equal to men in most things.
• Demonstrating the thoughts that others have about the equality of women.
• Women silencing themselves from the world.
• The emerging of women into male dominated societies.
• Male dominance vs. Female dominance

Author's Argument:
Orenstein argues that women should be recognized more in today's societies. When introducing a women who has done many accomplishments in their lifetime to a classroom where students have been exposed to more male dominance then female dominance, it is very different for them (both males and females) to adjust to. Their experiences and ideas in the classroom then tend to change.

Evidence:

1. There is no single magic formula that will help girls retain their self-esteem. Scores of educators around the country are working to develop gender-fair curricula in all subjects and reexamining traditional assumptions about how children best learn. Some educators are developing strategies to break down gender and race hierarchies in cooperative learning groups. Others are experimenting with the ways that computers, is used to their best advantage, can enhance equity in math and science courses. Individually, teachers find that calling on students equitably, or simply waiting for a moment rather than recognizing the first child who raises his hand, encourages girls to participate more readily in class. On a national level, the Gender Equity in Education Act, which should be implemented in 1995 includes provisions for improved data gathering, for the development of teacher training programs, for programs to encourage girls in math and science, and for programs to better meet the needs of girls of color.
2. ...Mrs. Logan told me that the first year she introduced this project she assigned only one monologue, but she noticed that while girls opted to take on either male or female personae, the boys chose only men. "It disturbed me that although girls were willing to see men as heroes, none of the boys would see women that way," she said...Ms. Logan decided to adde her own hidden curriculum to the assignment. She began requiring two reports, one from the perspective of a man and one presented as a woman. To ask a group of boys, most of whom are with, to take on the personae-to actually become-black women forces an unprecedented shift in their mind-set. Yet Ms. Logan found they accepted the assignment without question.
3. As the girls talk, I recall what a teacher at Weston once told me, that "boys perceive equality as a loss." Apparently, girls are uneasy with it, too. Even these girls, whose parents have placed them in this class in part because of Ms. Logan's sensitivity to gender issues, have already become used to taking up less space, to feeling less worthy of attention than boys.

Questions/Comments/Points to Share:
I think that bringing females more into the picture of a so called "male dominated society" is a great thing. This article made me realize how much we are not used to being taught about females who have done many accomplishments throughout history or their lifetimes that are just as equal to the obstacles males have overcome. Females are not known to have as much acknowledgments as males do in societies. There are so many male dominant influences in today's communities that people are just used to things being that way and males being the main focus over females. By showing students that females do play a large role in history and also in today's societies, I believe that it can have a large impact on the way some people think about male dominance and female dominance in today's social environments.

Talking Points #8 on Kliewer in "Citizenship in School: Reconceptualizing Down Syndome"

Premise:
This article is about...

• The equal treatment of students with down syndrome with other students.
• Building the interaction of students with down syndrome with their other peers and teachers.
• How teachers should be able to accommodate their teaching skills for the students with down syndrome and the other students.
• Recognizing the needs of students with down syndrome in the classroom.
• Recognizing the individuality of the students.

Author's Argument:
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, taught the same academics, and taught the same and equal way as teachers would normally teach their students. By providing these opportunities to students with disabilities such as down syndrome, it gives them an equal chance at becoming better learners and become more socialized with their other peers.

Evidence:

1. The movement to merge the education of children with and without disabilities is based on the belief that to enter the dialogue of citizenship does not require spoken, or indeed outspoken, language. Rather, communication is built on one's ability to listen deeply to others.
2. Success in life requires and ability to form relationships with others who make up the web of community.
3. In establishing a representation of citizenship for all, Shayne recognized the transactional relationship of human reciprocity: Community acceptance requires opportunity for individual participation n the group, but opportunity cannot exist outside of community acceptance.

Questions/Comments/Points to Share:
I completely agree with Kliewer on the idea that students with disabilities like down syndrome should not be segregated from their other peers. They should have to same opportunity as any other student to learn the same academics and receive the same type of educational treatment as their other peers. By integrating them, they also become better socialized and learn how to react to students of non-disabilities. The same goes for the other students, they can get used to how students with disabilities act and look a little bit differently then what they do. It is a great interaction process for children alike and not alike. By segregating them from the other students and the academics and treatments that are in the other classrooms, they are not receiving the right privileges they should be getting. They are also not being exposed to the social life that they should be receiving by interacting with other student of non-disabilities and by keeping them segregated they are only being exposed to students like them. They need that diversity to become more successful in the real world.