Reflection 5            "Performed Ethnography"

     “Snakes and Ladders: A Performed Ethnography” by Tara Goldstein takes real, empirical data about
anti-homophobia education in Canadian high schools and presents it in such a way that the students who perform the play, are able to have a better understanding of the struggles that some students face just because they are gay. It also gives the students performing the play the opportunity to see the challenges that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered or questioning (or queer) (LGBTQ) youth face when there is little or no support from the staff and peers at their school through taking on a role that they cannot relate to. This forces them to adapt to a new persona and to feel and experience things they aren’t normally used to, which could ultimately broaden their horizons and change their opinions of people. I see Goldstein’s “performed ethnography” as an example of critical pedagogy at work, but also as an example of creative pedagogy. 

            

Blog Entry 4          Paddling as Punishment

     I came across an article that was written alongside a radio broadcast that discussed how in some rural areas of Florida, spanking or ‘paddling’ a student on the rear end with a wooden or fiber glass board,  is still used as a disciplinary method for when students misbehave. This begins in pre-school and continues all the way into high school. Needless to say, I was shocked when I saw that this still occurs in schools in the United States. I thought that paddling was a way of the past and no longer occurred. I was wrong; it turns out paddling students as a form of punishment is legal in 19 states in the U.S.A.The Center for Effective Discipline lists the top 10 worst states for paddling children, by percentage of children paddled, and Florida is number 10. The other nine states are all states in the deep south, which is what you would expect because of the stereotype most people have that southern people are ignorant folks who would use corporal punishment as a way of disciplining their children. The website also says that black students are paddled twice as often as white students, which also reinforced the stereotype the southern people can be racist.

Corporal punishment, which is exactly what this is, is not legal in prisons, hospitals, mental institutions or the military; schools are the only public institution where hitting is allowed and most likely encouraged for these schools. How can it be that the place that should be a safe community for children can allow the abuse of these children? In a sick twist of events, the children are forced to make their own torture devices. Because no place will sell paddles, the students must make their own in wood shop class.

Blog Entry 3          Freedom Writers Response

Last night I re-watched one of my favorite movies – “Freedom Writers” and it got me to thinking about George Dei’s idea that schooling must be community and also about the Afrocentric school debate we had in class. If you’ve never seen 

“Freedom Writers” it is about a white female teacher named Mrs. Gruwell who takes on a job teaching English to students at a high school in Long Beach, California in 1994. Her class is mostly students who are Black, Cambodian or Latino, with only one white student. The movie is about the struggles she faces while trying to get the students to care about their education when they face so many problems including gang violence, racism, abuse and homelessness outside of school. It is based on a true story and it so powerful and well worth watching.In his article "Schooling as Community" George Dei writes that in the early 90’s, the biggest issues concerning students were the low teacher expectations, lack of curricular sophistication and the absence of black faculty. These issues and more are addressed in the film, with the principle and other teachers at the school having no faith in the students and telling Mrs. Gruwell not to worry about actually teaching them because most just stop coming to class anyways.

Blog Entry 2    Blatant racism or misbehaving students?          

On February 28, 2012 the United States Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights released a study that found that Black and Latino students across the United States were much more likely to be suspended from school than white students (Click to Read). To sum up, the data concluded that 1 in 5 Black boys and 1 in 10 Black girls were suspended during the 2009-2010 school year, and that Black students are 3.5 times more likely to be suspended or expelled than their white peers. I found an opinion article inthe Wall Street Journal by Jason Riley that did not agree with the release of this study, insinuating that it was released just to cause some drama with the Obama administration and to offer alternative education for these students. This article provided more statistics however: of the 72,000 school that were involved in the study, black students made up only 18% of students enrolled, but yet accounted for 46% suspended and 39% of all school expulsions.

I was stunned when I read this; how could it be that students were still experiencing, what I consider to be racism, in the year 2012? A school is supposed to be a safe area, where racism is completely omitted, and yet in the United States, Black and Latino students were still being discriminated against.

Blog Entry 1                  $5 Detentions

     I recently came across a letter to the editor published in the Chicago Tribune that discussed charging students a $5 fee as punishment in addition to having detention when they receive four demerits in a 2 week cycle at a cluster of charter schools in Chicago that belong to the Noble Street Network. I was so stunned when I read this letter to the editor that I had to do some further research into the scandal surrounding the charging of a fee when a student receives a detention. After researching and finding out that these charter schools have earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past few years from these $5 “fees” I was so appalled. I don’t understand how schools are allowed to charge students a fee because they receive a detention; it seems so unethical to be able to profit from a student’s bad behavior. 

      I think the idea of making students literally ‘pay for their actions’ is absolutely atrocious! These charter schools were created to help people of low income families so that their students can get the best education possible, and yet they don’t mind taking the families money and even going to far as to set up payment plans for the parents of the students. That money adds up quickly, especially when the students are given demerits for the smallest infractions such as not having their shoelaces tied, bringing gum to school, failing to sit up or making eye contact, 

Reflection 4            Building the Ideal High School

        The activity we did in class on February 13 where we built our ideal high school was a refreshing way to see what people consider to be important in order for them to have a great high school experience. This activity was an example of critical pedagogy in that it forced us to think critically about the components that make up a school and how by altering those components, we can change our experience and reduce oppression. I wanted to have more clarity into critical pedagogy because I was still foggy with the idea of it, so I found a website that broke down some ideas and concepts regarding critical pedagogy. The generic definition provided by 'Critical Pedagogy on the web' refers to critical pedagogy as educational theory and teaching and learning practices that raise the learners' critical consciousness regarding oppressive social conditions (Critical Pedagogy on the web). The activity we did was exactly this; a teaching practice that raised our consciousness regarding the oppressive conditions that are seen in high schools currently. By creating our own high school, we were able to focus on what characteristics were important to us and which traditional aspects should be eliminated. 

Reflection 3    On the fence with Problem-Posing Education                               

     

        Paulo Freire’s ideas about the banking method versus the problem-posing method of education are very obvious from the chapter we read from his book “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” (Freire, 1970). Freire is against the banking method of education where the students minds are seen as empty ‘receptacles’ or ‘bank accounts’ that need to be filled and the teacher is the depositor who “deposits” this knowledge (1970, p. 72). The more full the teacher can make these accounts, the better they have done their job, regardless of whether or not the student actually learned the topic. Freire believes this is a major problem which causes creativity to be eliminated and students are unable to think and consider the reality in which they live, but rather, just accept it. Problem-posing education is what Freire sees as the answer to the banking method, which will liberate students through critical thought of the world around them and allow creative expression. Although Freire does make some very intriguing points about the downfall of the banking method, I am not sure I fully agree with all that he has to say about problem-posing education being the complete solution to the oppression that students are experiencing. There are statements that Freire makes in this chapter that I can agree with, but there are others that I am reluctant to side with, which, ironically, is exactly what Freire would have wanted - to be critically thinking about the information in front of me instead of simply accepting it.