Should we privatize schools or have charter schools?

I went to an educational documentary that was a response to the educational documentary "Waiting for Superman." I discussed this documentary last fall on my blog so I wanted to now share a response from the other side.

The Blueberry Story

Explains why education is NOT a business. We cannot make such broad comparisons. It is like comparing apples and oranges. This also explains why we cannot make international comparisons in education.

It is s short story. Does not take long to read but totally worth your time:

The Blueberry Story

Educational Documentary: Welcome to Shelbyville

I went to the following program last month. I highly enjoyed it and wanted to share.


The College of Education is teaming up with Welcoming America and the Georgia chapter of the National Association for Multicultural Education (GA NAME) to screen “Welcome to Shelbyville,” a film about a small Southern town that grapples with a rising immigrant population.

The film tells the story of Shelbyville, Tenn., and how its residents face “rapid demographic change and issues of immigrant integration” during the 2008 presidential election, according to the film’s website.

The event, entitled Changing Landscapes: Immigration and Education, will begin at 5 p.m. today in the Georgia State University Speakers Auditorium (44 Courtland St., Atlanta) with a reception, and the film will begin at 6:15 p.m.

Following the screening, COE Clinical Assistant Professor Alyssa Hadley Dunn will moderate a panel discussion on the film. The panelists include Erica Dotson, Clayton State University assistant professor; Rachel Steinhardt, Welcoming America lead consultant; Carole Hahn, Emory University Candler Professor of Educational Studies; and Vera Stenhouse, president of GA NAME  and project director for GSU’s Community Opportunities that Motivate People and Enhance Learning and Service (COMPELS) Grant, among others.

Creating a Professional Dossier in Maymester "How to be a doctoral student" Course

Reflection that goes with assignment:

I am a full time student so I generally take more courses than part-time students. I started the program less than a year ago in August 2010 but will have thirty hours by this August. I wondered if this course would have been more beneficial at the very beginning or if it was better after two semesters of courses. I think I may have been overwhelmed if this was my very first course. However, I greatly enjoyed this course because it taught me how to develop the road map of guidance I will need for this program. It allowed me the freedom to choose my path but the doctoral documents helped me have the structure and planning support that I need. I often felt completely inadequate when designing the items that went into the professional dossier, but it ended up being a great source of motivation. I am now confident knowing what needs to be done and driven to improve these documents by overall enhancing myself throughout this program. In the 2011-2012 school year, I plan to complete my research and teaching internships with Dr. Feinberg and to complete my research coursework. I hope to take my comprehensive exams by the end of 2012. I plan to attend conferences in 2011 and present at conferences in 2012. I also hope to have at least two-three papers submitted for publication by this time. I am thankful I had the opportunity in this class to create the professional dossier that I will continue to update and use to evaluate my progress. I am also thankful for the guest speakers, the interviews I conducted, and the readings on mentoring. The wealth of knowledge I have gained in the short three weeks of Maymester is pretty amazing! I am eager to start my reading from my annotated reading list.

Let me know if you are interested in seeing the professional dossier and I can email you the word attachment.

New Month of May

April was a busy month with spring semester coming to a close and I did not have too many posts. I am hoping to deliver a new post once a week.

I wanted to share a list of education websites I have been putting together for educators. I am designing the list specifically for history educators but many of the websites apply to teachers within all fields. Please take the opportunity to go through the list and possibly visit some of the links. I encourage people to offer suggestions of worthy sites I do not already have on the list. I would like this list to grow and be continually updated. You can also see my contact information provided on the top so you have numerous ways to reach me. Check out my technology blog I created for a class this past spring where you can find course readings and reflections.

Jean O’Keefe – twitter: jeanoke16 – jeanoneducation@bogger.com – jeanonteched@blogger.com – jeanoke@gmail.com – (312) 259-5576

http://www.khanacademy.org/ Learn the flipped classroom approach and access educational teaching videos

http://zinnedproject.org/ Howard Zinn: A People’s History - Resources, Activities, Lessons

http://docsteach.org/ : National archives of documents/primary sources with some with accompanying lessons

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/ : radio, television, podcast archive

http://www.choices.edu/ : history and current news for the classroom

http://www.icivics.org/ : The Democracy Lab

Lessons and interactive games (students can award the points they are in games to service learning projects who then get funded by organization)

http://www.antiprejudice.org/: Prejudice. Discrimination. Stereotypes.That’s what we fight.Students. Schools. Community.

www.donorschoose.org: award teachers money needed for classroom projects

www.rethinkingschool.org : organization with great publications and resources on how to reform schooling

www.prezi.com: create presentations similar to power point
http://www.evernote.com/: online note taking system

www.carbonite.com: backup everything online for a price per year

http://hootsuite.com/about organize all your social and professional networks here so you have one spot to view them all

http://www.zotero.org/ tool to help you collect, organize, site, and share you research sources

http://www.xtranormal.com/ if you can type you can make a movie with animated characters

http://www.socialstudies.org/cufa College and University Faculty Assembly

http://www.go2web20.net/ web 2.0 tools

http://education.washington.edu/cme/ Center for Multicultural Education (Seattle, Washington)

http://www.blogger.com/rearrange?blogID=253340431943588608 Summer Seminars: Professional Development NEH

http://www.neh.gov/projects/landmarks-school.html Workshops: Professional Development NEH

http://www.fpri.org/education/historyinstitutes.html Foreign Policy Research Institute: History Institute for Teachers

Status of Teachers

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/03/27/how-to-raise-the-status-of-teachers

This discussion needs to continue...

Loewen (2010) on Prezi

Teachers Deserve More Respect!

Darling-Hammond: U.S. vs highest-achieving nations in education

Reflection over recent educational documentaries

I watched these two films back in October and wrote this short piece. I decided to share since the films are becoming more accessible to educators.

How do we get happy, successful, creative people?

            One of the people interviewed in Vicki Abeles’s documentary, “Race to Nowhere: The Dark Side of America’s Achievement Culture” said that we need to think about how we can create happy, successful, and creative people. Davis Guggenheim’s, “Waiting for Superman” as well as other current literature and media have also caused people, even celebrities as popular as Oprah, to ask similar questions about children in America’s educational system today. 

            Both documentaries call for a change in America’s education system, because put simply, it’s failing our children and the nation.  However, they are delivering quite different messages to the public.  I hope to briefly describe what each documentary envisions as the problem and the solution.  Then I will share some points of consideration.

The Problem:

“Waiting for Superman” which is directed and narrated by Davis Guggenheim, most known for his “Inconvenient Truth,” blames an over large administration and bad teachers for failing students in public schools.  The documentary focuses on elementary age children that live in poverty and rely on the expertise of former teachers but mostly former superintendents.  The audience hears from the parents, but teacher perspective is severely lacking.  Evidence is provided in the form of numbers and statistics with the purpose to stir up fear.

“Race to Nowhere: The Dark Side of America’s Achievement Culture” claims that schools are failing students because they are lost in the craze of high stakes testing, which has been prevalent for decades but intensified since 2002 with the No Child Left Behind legislation.  The documentary focuses on mostly high school students and heavily relies on feedback from parents, and teachers across all grade levels including graduate professionals and medical professionals.  The documentary is dedicated to a deceased girl, who committed suicide due to school pressure at the age of thirteen.  The audience is told that children are unhealthy from school stress. 

The Solution

            “Waiting for Superman,” tells the audience that we cannot wait for superman or any other miracle and we must act now.  It is unclear how exactly we should act or help to alleviate the problem.  The documentary proposes that private and charter schools such as Kipp are successful and that is the direction we need to go towards.  The message follows the current national trend leaning towards private and charter schools.  It calls for an end of tenure for teachers and paints a very negative picture of their unions. 

The message in “Race to Nowhere” clearly outlined at the end of the documentary calls for students, parents, teachers, and administrators to work together to re-establish what the goals are for students.  It promotes discussion to truly evaluate if robbing our children of their youth and innocence will provide the outcome we desire.

Points of consideration (my opinion):

I tried to present this in an unbiased fashion, but being an educator myself, it is difficult to remove myself.  I thought each documentary had important elements but absolutely favored the latter to the former.  Both films should be viewed and discussion should be encouraged.  Here are just a few things I walked away with and will continue to analyze:

- Why do we continue to use international comparison statistics as scare tactics?  Why do we insist on comparing apples to oranges?  Do we need to scare people and make them sad and cry to get a response?

- Why do we insist on using mundane testing as accountability?  Does this not go against the grain of how every person learns?  Testing really is not measuring intelligence or preparing students with the skills needed for the current job market or even college course work in the slightest.

- Are we losing focus all together?  Does anyone else feel overwhelmed in a sea of mess? Is there hope?

* More to come as I reflect further…

Links for additional information:

http://www.racetonowhere.com/

http://www.waitingforsuperman.com/action/?gclid=CJ-F2o2c5aQCFYft7QodcxwW0w

http://www.kipp.org/

Appropriate Use of Technology in Education?

I think this is amazing! Check it out...

Ted Talk: Kahn Academy - Using Technology to Humanize and Globalize classrooms

The shorter version:

News on Khan Acadmey

Follow up on Flipping the Classroom Method:

http://blendedclassroom.blogspot.com/

iPad 2: I am not completely sold on this yet. I will probably get one for classroom use but do not think that school systems should be purchasing them. I would rather schools purchase more lap tops for students.

Teacher lists 5 resons why iPad 2 is good for classroom

A good read...

New Technology and Digital Worlds: Analyzing Evidence of Equity in Access, Use, and Outcomes
Mark Warschauer and Tina Matuchniak
REVIEW OF RESEARCH IN EDUCATION 2010 34: 179

This article incorporates so many things that I am passionate about...improving technological incorporation, advocating student-centered learning, involving students in community to gain agency, etc...

Basic argument:

Today the digital divide resides in differential ability to use new media to critically evaluate information, analyze, and interpret data, attack complex problems, test innovative solutions, manage multifaceted projects, collaborate with others in knowl- edge production, and communicate effectively to diverse audiences—in essence, to carry out the kinds of expert thinking and complex communication that are at the heart of the new economy (Levy & Murnane, 2004). p. 213

Good suggestions for improvements discussed within article to reach these goals...

Why are teachers so angry?

Ravitch-Teachers-Wisconsin

Ravitch Follow Up

Diane Ravitch writes a response to the many responses she received from the first article she wrote.

Diane Ravitch with Jon Stewart

Kids do not come to school for test prep...

What does your PLN look like?

All the possibilities...

Maureen Downey: ‘Every child counts’ | ajc.com

Maureen Downey: ‘Every child counts’ | ajc.com

Congress is about to delve into a rewrite of the controversial No Child Left Behind law that was the signature legislation of the Bush White House.

NCLB: Change Needed

Dr. Terrie Epstein

I am very excited that I will have the opportunity to interview Dr. Terrie Epsteinin the near future. I thought I would share a review I wrote of her book Interpreting National History: Race, Identity, and Pedagogy in Classrooms and Communities.

Symposium Book Report

Jean O’Keefe

            Terrie Epstein’s Interpreting National History: Race, Identity, and Pedagogy in Classrooms and Communities advocates teaching United States History from a social justice perspective.  This paper seeks to explain the evidence and argument that Epstein presents by clearly stating the major generalizations while providing specific illustrations, discussing the persuasiveness of these arguments by looking at the validity of the evidence, and finally providing a critical assessment of the empirical findings using theoretical perspectives.

What does the author say?

The Study = The Evidence

            This book discusses the study that Epstein conducted in the 1990s of 5^th, 8^th, and 11^th, grade students, their teachers, their parents, and a working class community in Michigan that had about twenty thousand people.  Epstein sought to discover how these participants interpreted national history and how that affected their racial identities.  Epstein notes, “But history is more than just an academic subject; it is the reference point - an aspect of identity - from which people derive a sense of themselves, their communities and their place in the world” (xvii).  The author wanted to determine how history classes were developing students’ sense of themselves in their community and the world.

            Epstein retrieved this information by having students take surveys upon entrance and exit of the course.  She surveyed two fifth, two eighth, and two eleventh grade classes with a total of about sixty children all together.  She also interviewed many of these students, their parents, and their teachers, as well as people from the community.  All throughout the study, Epstein observed these classes and took part in community events.  She had a team of doctoral students that helped her collect the data.

            Epstein calls the survey she conducted a nation narration task, which is described in detail in Appendix C.  She designed this research task to elicit students “interpretive frames.”  The author did this by giving students an assortment of picture cards with captions of historical actors and events.  She asked the students to select and explain the most important.  Then she had students review this information and discuss what had and had not changed over the course.  The actors and events that were selected for the task included traditional nation building actors and events as well as African American experiences.  Lists of these actors and events can be found in Appendix A and B.  It is important to understand the students at the schools within the study that Epstein conducted were pretty evenly mixed between white and black children.  The author notes in the first chapter that she uses the term white to describe European Americans, and the term black to describe African Americans.  She uses ‘white’ and ‘black’ because they are shorter and because this is how participants most frequently referred to themselves and others.  Further elaboration of the research task and data collection can be found on p.18-19.           

            The findings from this study were quite riveting because the data revealed a racial divide.  Overall, white students perceived whites to be nation builders and perceived blacks as intermittent victims of unnamed forces.  They recognized racial inequality but not racial violence.  They believed rights are progressively inclusive and unifying.  In summary, whites identified with the nation.  Epstein found that white parents perceived national history in the same manner as their children.  They were satisfied with their children’s education and only requested that teachers add more content about the government into instruction.  On the other hand, black students perceived whites as nation builders like white students, but they also perceived them as oppressors.  They perceived blacks in history as subjects and victims.  They recognized racial inequality as well as racial violence.  These perceptions caused black children to identify with a racial identity but not a national identity.  Black parents thought the black history was limited and misrepresented in the schools and many enrolled their children in extracurricular programs in order to attain this missing cultural history.  In conclusion, whites interpreted the nation as progressively inclusive of racial diversity and rights while blacks interpreted the nation as perennially exclusive by maintaining white privilege and violence.

            The results also had implications on how racial groups perceived citizenship.  Whites took a much more individualistic approach and believed that they needed to vote and improve themselves so they could support their own families.  Blacks had a much more collective approach and desired to improve the community and society by improving themselves.  Epstein includes quotes from the children that serve as touching evidence of these perceptions. 

So how does one conceptualize all of this data?  The study is excellently and concisely summarized in the series editor’s introduction by Lee Anne Bell:

Epstein finds that students bring to the classroom an interpretive frame, developed in their families and communities, about racial groups, race relations and rights that leads them to reject information that doesn’t fit.  According to Epstein, white teachers who develop neither a critical perspective on history nor an in-depth understanding of the role race and racism have played in U.S. history tend to teach history from a perspective that generally aligns with the interpretive frame of white students but conflicts with that held by black students.  Thus, white students believe their teachers teach “everybody’s history” while black students criticize them for teaching only “white history.”

One of the surprising things to note is that students did have more information about the topics at the end of the course in June than they did in the beginning of the course in September, yet it really did not change their perceptions.  In other words, the course had little effect on their overall interpretations of U.S. history.  They learned some more content but this did not influence their interpretive frame.  This especially held true for black students that were more influenced by lessons from their families and the community.  More importantly, the absence of race and racism within the classroom and the limited and often misrepresented historical teachings about black history are problematic whether they are intended or not.  It has consequences for all students because it does not teach them how to go about eradicating inequalities that persist today.  Even teachers that had good intentions to teach from a more multicultural perspective were still teaching views of U.S. history and contemporary society that are aligned with most national and state policies and teacher pedagogies of a “democratic state which has progressively extended rights to all and racism and other forms of inequality have been overcome” (12).  Epstein talks about this in the second chapter, which is appropriately, titled “Mixed Messages and Missed Opportunities: Teachers’ Perspectives and Pedagogies on Race and Rights in U.S. History.”

The Argument = Teaching for Social Justice

            Epstein states the purpose in writing this book is to help teachers improve their educational practice by exposing positive as well as harmful ways teachers talk about race including approaches for teaching national history in ways which promote social justice.  What exactly does it mean to teach for social justice?  According to the author, teachers need to: acknowledge the role of racism in history and contemporary society throughout the curriculum, teach students to critique historical and contemporary texts, and be able to manage classroom discussions and activities about racial and other forms of privilege and oppression (4-5).  She caveats the racial discussions are challenging since this enterprise is personal and emotional.

            The last chapter of the book highlights teachers that have been successful with the social justice approach.  These examples are promising and uplifting and definitely worth reviewing.  They supply further evidence to support Epstein’s argument on the postive benefits of this approach.  The conclusion of the book that is less than two pages long is the most compelling argument to promote social justice and outlines the direction that teaching history needs to follow:

More honest discussions about racial oppression and struggle may lead students to construct more realistic views of national history and identity.  Teaching history in ways that promote the examination of the failings of the nation’s past, as well as its virtues, may better equip young people to acknowledge and understand the roots of contemporary racism and inequality, to learn about the existence and effectiveness of cross-racial alliances, and to imagine themselves and act as citizens capable of change in contemporary society.

This is truly a beneficial way to equip students to become active citizens, which has always been one of the primary goals behind teaching social studies in general.  Epstein further emphasizes that we need to move beyond state sanctioned interpretations that alienate children and move towards methods that promote more critical and participatory democratic goals (137).

How well does the author say it?

Supportive evidence?

            Epstein is continuously referring to studies throughout the book to support her arguments.  The reference section is lengthy and includes many famous education specialists that are popularly read in the social studies field such as Michael Apple, James Banks, Walter C. Parker, and Samuel Wineburg to name just a few.  The author appears very well read and knowledgeable in the field of multicultural education as well.  The first chapter of the book outlines critical background information from former studies.  She succeeds in presenting the larger political and cultural contexts, which shape the teaching and learning of history and society in and out of schools.

Aesthetics

            This book is very well organized with the appropriate use of subtitles throughout the chapters to easily guide the reader.  Each chapter connects to the last making a well developed flow, yet each can stand alone offering insight to the reader about a particular component of the study.  The layout and design are exceptional. 

Coherent and Interesting Story?

            This book is an short and easy read.  It is appropriate for an extensive audience.  It is quite the page-turner keeping the reader captivated and desiring to know more.  The research is innovative and therefore eye-opening.  While Epstein does refer to other similar studies, she claims that this is book is the first in many arenas.  First, she claims it is among the first to address parents’ beliefs about the purposes and creditability of school history.  Next, it is among the first to examine how adolescents engage in and interpret history beyond the classroom door (xi-xvii).  The stories she tells in chapter four about blacks’ participation in the community are also heart warming and worth review. Epstein hopes that researchers will continue to explore how communities outside of school influence students’ historical interpretations since there is not much research in existence on this subject.

            Unfortunately, book reviews are scare most likely because the book was recently published in 2009.  The only review I found in my research is within the Teacher’s Record that requires payment for access.

What evidence is presented in the book?

Implications & Significance

            Epstein offered these pieces of advice for teachers when she lectured at Georgia State University: First, one must recognize and respect young people’s historical interpretations.  In her conclusion, she recommends that teachers use the nation narration task that she used in her study with their own students to achieve these ends.  It would also serve as a refection tool if teachers used it at the end of their courses.  Second, teachers must recognize their own sociopolitical identities on their own interpretations of history.  She recommends that teachers perform the nation narration task themselves to become aware of their own interpretations.  Third, she recommends that teachers show differences in textbook explanations of historical actors/events across time as well as in contemporary textbooks.  Finally, teachers need to challenge students’ interpretations by introducing and discussing multiple and alternative explanations of history.  A good way to do this is to incorporate primary resource documents into study.  The author explains that teachers should not fear multiculturalism and encourages teachers to be honest with students and practice open-mindedness.

            As noted earlier, this book is significant in the fact that it reveals new research that is comparable in only a few other studies.  Epstein says that cognitive studies have not taken into account how culture has shaped young people’s historical thinking.  She explains, “Socio-cultural studies have broadened our understanding of how cultural identities like nationality, race-ethnicity or religion influence people’s interpretations of the past.”  And she concludes that these studies as well as the research in this book “demonstrate that teaching and learning history is much more than the cognitive or academic exercise about argumentation or evidence; teaching and learning are cultural and political acts in which schools promote state sanctioned knowledge and silence alternative interpretations of history and society” (6).  She hopes further socio-cultural studies will be attempted to study this further.

            Epstein specifically claims that the “findings (of her study) are significant because teachers who understand how students’ racial identities shape their historical thinking can begin to challenge the limits of students’ knowledge and beliefs and do so in ways which might be more effective than those employed by teachers in the study” (xvii).  Although I cannot even begin to express how immensely important I think Epstein’s information will be in my future classes, I know only certain people will agree with its value.            

Early in the book (12-15), Epstein writes about the various perspectives of social studies education in which she explains purposes and rationales in teaching history.  These can be linked to the broader purposes and rationales or theories that exist about what schools should teach and why.  The author defines the nationalist perspective, the disciplinary perspective, the participatory perspective, and the critical perspective.  She notes, “The various approaches to social studies education have different implications for the teaching of history and promotion of citizenship, and the latter two promote teaching for social justice” (15).  The nationalistic perspective serves a functionalist theory promoted by people that are satisfied with society and desire to maintain the status quo.  This is the dominant way of teaching history today appropriated by state and national policies that teachers are often hesitant to be critical about because of the fear of job security.  The participatory perspective as well as the critical are linked to critical race theory.  In laymen’s terms, if you do not buy into the camp of critical theory and believe that education should promote change, then you most likely will not buy into Epstein’s teaching history for social justice.  I argue along the lines with Epstein that teaching for social justice is necessary in our multicultural democracy:

If national history in the twenty-first century is to have a positive and educative effect on all of the nation’s young, history teachers, policy makers and researchers need to address more directly and deeply the relationships among young people’s social identities, the roles of racism and inequality in national history and life, and contemporary aims of citizenship education in a multicultural society. 

On a personal note, this book has deeply inspired me as a teacher and researcher. 

I can only hope that I may contribute to this body of research and will always strive to teach for social justice.

Epstein, T. (2009).  Interpreting National History: Race, Identity, and Pedagogy in

Classrooms and Communities.  New York: Routledge.

Problem with Education

Short speech with pictures that is absolutely worth your time to get you thinking...Ted Talk 

A radical and dated suggestion that has promise with revision:

Boggs "Education:The Great Obession"

Favorite Quotes

"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives." -Jackie Robinson

"You might be locked into a world not of your own making, but you still have a claim on how it is shaped. You still have responsibilities." -Barack Obama

"Now, instead of education for social criticism and independent thinking, it is education for socialization, social control, and creation of human capital." -Ronald W. Evans

"But history is more than just an academic subject; it is the reference point-an aspect of identity-from which people derive a sense of themselves, their communities, and their place in the world." -Terrie Epstein

Student Success = 25% IQ + 25% Opportunity and Experience + 50% Self Esteem

"Education must keep broad ideals before it, and never forget that it is dealing with Souls and not with Dollars"
- W. E. B. Du Bois

"Our national safety lies in the general intelligence of our citizens."
- Boyd H. Bode

 “Knowing and seeing what is happening in the world today, I don’t think that there is much of anything that one can do about it. But there is one little thing, it seems to me, that a man owes to himself. He can look bravely at this horrible totalitarian reptile and, while doing so, discipline his dread, his fear, and study it coolly, observe every slither and convolution of its sensuous movements and note down with calmness the pertinent facts. In the face of the totalitarian danger, these facts can help a man to save himself; and he may then be able to call the attention of others around him to the presence and meaning of this reptile and its multitudinous writhings.” 

- Richard Wright, “The Outsider,” p. 367

"A human being, young or old, is not a warehouse of information or skills, and an education system which treats children like warehouses is not only depriving them of education but crippling their natural capacity to learn. Particularly in a world of rapidly changing information and skills, learning how to learn is more important than learning specific skills and facts."
- Grace Lee Boggs, "Education: The Great Obsession," p. 70 (1969)

"Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation for your country, and a finer world to live in."
- Martin Luther King Jr. 


"They may torture my body, break my bones, even kill me. Then they will have my dead body, but not my obedience."
— Mahatma Gandhi

"When an individual is no longer a true participant, when he no longer feels a sense of responsibility to his society, the content of democracy is emptied. When the culture is degraded and vulgarity enthroned, when the social system does not build security but induces peril, inexorably the individual is impelled to pull away from a soulless society. This process produces alienation – perhaps the most pervasive and insidious development in contemporary society." 
- King, 1986a, p. 644 

"Creativity is the antidote for violence and destruction. Art is our most human expression, our voice to communicate our stories, to challenge injustice and the misrepresentations of mainstream media, to expose harsh realities and engender even more powerful hope, a force to bring diverse people together, a tool to rebuild our communities, and a weapon to win this struggle for universal liberation.
- Alixa and Naima of Climbing Poetree and former Blackout Arts Collective members

 

Special Events at Georgia State Worth Sharing

Today I attended the 28th MLK Convocation program at Georgia State University. The theme for this year's Convocation was "Carrying the Dream...A Call to Action." This is a significant message that asks us to extend service to others as King did for so many. The keynote speaker was Shirley Sherrod, and her message was inspirational. She noted that racism is still an issue today, but explained that we must move past it. It is up to us to get to know each other, to begin to trust each other, and to work together towards improving society. One of my favorite famous quotes from Dr. King also calls for action: "Everybody can be great, because anybody can serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love." So get out there and pay it forward. Work towards something that you find unjust. Start a dialogue with your neighbor and your community.

On a side note, I picked up a copy of the Atlanta Now magazine that has a calendar of events around Atlanta for January and February. I would recommend this as a great source for keeping up with the happenings around town for the arts and museums especially.

Some of you may have already seen my post on Face Book about when Ela Gandhi came to speak at Georgia State this past October, but I thought I would also include it here for those who did not see it and may find it of interest. I thought it was appropriate since MLK was an admirer of Mahatma Gandhi.


I start with an embarrassing and perplexing confession.  Mahatma Gandhi was in the seventh grade standards I was to teach, and I had never heard of him.  I had received a Masters degree and was certified to teach secondary Social Studies and had never heard of this world-renowned peacemaker.  After years of teaching about him, I quote him extensively and immensely admire him.  Today I had the honor of hearing his granddaughter, Ela Gandhi speak.  It was a humbling experience that greatly anguished the anxiety I felt earlier in the day over the street robbery of my iPhone.  Here I would like to share some of the remarkable knowledge she shared with the audience at Georgia State University in no particular order or priority.

Speaking about growing up in the Phoenix camp: You should only take what you need.  The minute you take more than that, you are depriving someone else.

Speaking about apartheid system in South Africa: It was a nasty environment.  Black included everyone that was not white including the whites that opposed the system.  However, this system provided us with the spirit needed for resistance.  The system took away self-respect.  We had to unite together and build our own self-respect.

Speaking of the meaning of non-violence: It has a broader meaning.  It is a philosophy that can take an entire lifetime to truly understand.  But the premise behind it that was later used by Dr. Martin Luther King was based on love.  It is the practice of understanding and loving all people, even those that have wronged you.  It should not be confused with passive resistance.  There is nothing passive about it.  It is very active.

Speaking about goals: Ask for only what is achievable.  You need little victories to keep the spirit going.

Speaking about the relevance of Mahatma Gandhi today: Gandhi’s message is more important today than ever.  The fact that people are trillionaires while others are dying because of a lack of clean drinking water is wrong.

Speaking of youth: Young people are the future of tomorrow.  They must find constructive ways to deal with the scarcity of resources and energy investment.  She spoke of young people who visited eighty-eight temples in Japan and acquired eleven million signatures.  In total, they achieved twenty million signatures that they handed over to the secretary of the United Nations this past Monday.  They asked that governments decrease defense spending by ten percent to give to helping those in need.

This is by no means a complete list.  There are many other worthwhile points.  But I think the overall point is clear.

So I guess the question that remains is…can you be the change you want to see in the world?

A few recommendations

One individual interviewed in Vicki Abeles’s documentary, “Race to Nowhere: The Dark Side of America’s Achievement Culture,” said we need to think about how we can create happy, successful, and creative people. Davis Guggenheim’s “Waiting for Superman” documentary as well as other current literature and media have invited people from all ranks of society, even celebrities as popular as Oprah, to ask similar questions about children in today’s American educational system. 

More now than ever, the nation is gravely concerned about the American educational system within an increasingly globalized economy. International comparisons are used as scare tactics and many Americans are seeking reform. This past semester, I took a course titled Sociology of Education in which I explored a variety of literature and media in education.  I wish that everyone interested in education could take such a course to explore relevant materials and hold discussions that would improve education.  However, I realize that many people do not have time to devote to such study.  In this brief, I intend to highlight the most important works from this course and give a short explanation of the benefits they provide. I recommend the following:

Books

1.     Kathleen Benett deMarrias and Margaret D. LeCompte’s The Way Schools Work: A Sociological Analysis of Education (1999)

2.     Terrie Epstein’s Interpreting National History: Race, Identity, and Pedagogy in Classrooms and Communities (2009)

The Way Schools Work is a great introductory piece for anyone unfamiliar with social educational issues, but is also a very insightful piece for experienced educators. It can be used as a textbook to any social foundations course. It explores theories behind education that are critical for people to understand. This book marvelously illustrates all the forces that are at work when it comes to schooling. I would recommend beginning with this book as it reveals all the vertebras that make up the spine of education.

Interpreting National History advocates teaching United States History from a social justice perspective. This book discusses the empirical research study that Terrie Epstein conducted in the 1990s of 5^th, 8^th, and 11^th grade students, their teachers, their parents, and a working class community in Michigan. Epstein sought to discover how these participants interpreted national history and how that affected their racial identities. Whites interpreted the nation as progressively inclusive of racial diversity and rights while blacks interpreted the nation as perennially exclusive by maintaining white privilege and violence. It is important to reveal how history education can impact identity construction.

Articles

1.     James D. Anderson’s “The Historical Context for Understanding the Test Score Gap” (2009)

2.     “Race and Our Biocentric Belief System: An Interview with Sylvia Wynter” Appendix B-2 of Black Education: A Transformative Research and Action Agenda for the New Century edited by Joyce E. King (2005)

3.     Jessica Gordon Nembarhd’s “On the Road to Democratic Participation: Educating African American Youth in the Post-Industrial Global Economy” also found in Black Education: A Transformative Research and Action Agenda for the New Century edited by Joyce E. King (2005)

Anderson’s article is an inspiring piece that helps us truly understand alarming statistics often published in the news. It is inspirational in the fact that the author reveals the remarkable record of the history of African American education in which they have overcome one achievement gap over the next.  This piece is important as it illustrates positive trends rather than only portraying the negative.

The article interviewing Sylvia Wynter is an integral one that we kept referring back to throughout our course of study.  She explains that we need to “come into full conscious of the fact that it is we who are the agents and authors of ourselves and that we do it according to rules” (2005, p. 365).  These rules she refers to are how we make ourselves human through words, meanings, and institutions.  This can be a complicated read, yet a very powerful one.

Gordon Nembhard strongly recommends, “We must consider that one of the things we should be educating our youth for is to transform the economic system - humanize and democratize it – so that is serves everyone well” (2005, p. 239). The teaching approaches advocated would encourage democratic and economic participation. The author believes to inspire students towards attaining academic achievement in school and beyond we need to focus on problem solving skills, flexibility, and collaboration to compete in a global economy.  We need to promote critical thinking skills and focus on teaching students the ability to learn.  

Videos

1.     The Lemon Grove Incident

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=48191243

2.     Culture and Language Academy of Success, Los Angeles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3AbBFzIokg

“The Lemon Grove Incident” is a film that is critical to watch because it demonstrates the effectiveness of agency. The viewer learns the importance of community organizing and how to stand together against injustice as they watch a Mexican community oppose segregation of schools in their community.  Sadly, I think communities are largely lacking agency today.

               The short video highlighting the work of the Culture and Language Academy of Success in Los Angeles is an uplifting piece.  This is a good antidote to current films such as “2 Million Minutes” and “Waiting for Superman” that portray American education negatively.  The school in this film was designed to be culturally responsive to students whose needs were not being met in the traditional setting. They focus on students’ culture throughout learning and teach them there are many different languages that are appropriate in different settings. This would be an exemplar school for many to emulate. 

              I hope you review the selected pieces and they inspire you as they have me to improve education in the United States. I believe it is critical for Americans to have a greater understanding of education based on scholarly work and research before they start comparing apples to oranges in international comparisons or suggesting that bad teachers and unions are the major problem in schooling.