In the Service of What?
The Politics of Service Learning
by: Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer
Authors Argument:
In this article the authors argue that service learning helps ideas come to life and expand. It helps everything and everyone who are involved in whatever the issue may be. Students benefit from the ideas and so do the surroundings they are in.
Quotes:
1) "For Thanksgiving this year my stepmother and I helped serve the seniors their Thanksgiving dinner. This was a very rewarding experience helping others in need. It seemed that the dinner was something special to them; it was a chance for them to get together with their peers. Many don't have families in the area and are all alone for the holidays." This quote shows that a little help can go a long. Doing something so small for people and the outcome putting a smile on some ones face is worth it to me. This quote also proves to me that majoring in education was the right choice for me. I want to teach children and make a difference in their lives and see them happy when they understand things.
2) "The experimental and interpersonal components of service learning activities can achieve the first crucial step toward diminishing the sense of "otherness" that often separates students--particularly privileged students--from those in need." I believe this statement to be true. I feel as if I am in the position of those of the privileged. I speak the social language and am white and I am comfortable in class and out of class. Most of the time the otherness is shown In the class room, but that’s not the case in many classes I have been in.
3) "Service learning makes students active participants in service projects that aim to respond to the needs of the community while furthering the academic goals of students."
This quote proves that service learning can only help the students in a positive way. Students will learn from the service learning and help better their future.
Questions/Comments:
This reading was an ok kind of reading for me . This piece just really broaden my knowledge to the importance of service learning in the community and to the students. It ends up helping a lot of people in the long run. I just thought that this reading was very interesting and also the statistics it shown with students and there progression was interesting.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Talking points #4
"Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us"
By: Linda Christensen
Linda Christenson argues that we have to go live our lives the way we want to and not the way we are “supposed” to according to society’s rules. There is no right or wrong way to live your life. Linda Christensen wants us to pick apart all of the cartoons that we see on TV and what we see in the movies that kids watch to find out where the discrimination, sexism, racism, and the jesters towards the rich and poor.
1 - "We look at the roles women, men, people of color, and poor people play in cartoons." In the cartoons from way back in the day, there are not a lot of women movie stats or even roles for women. When women were first introduced to movies and films, they would be all dolled up. Looking beautiful, better than the average. All young girls and even women looked up to the female characters on TV and in movies. This is when stereotyping was born. This was the jester that told all women what the ideal character looks like to attract men and to get whatever they want in life.
2 - “When we read children’s books we aren’t just reading cute little stories, we are discovering the tools with which a young society is manipulated”. Little kids don’t really pay too much attention to the messages in the stories or the morals at the end of the stories; they just pick up on things they are interested in. When I used to work at a day camp one of my kids, Joey, knew how to read a Thomas the Train book all by himself. He was only 3. He would even hold the book upside down, but once he flipped that page and recognized the picture he knew exactly what words went with it. Today I watch cartoons and movies and I see a lot of hidden messages I have never seen before. Some or very sexual messages and some or even suicidal messages, like in the Wizard of OZ, one of the guys who auditioned to be one of the characters didn’t get the part, and in the back of a scene he hangs himself. I do not believe that this is right for kids to be seeing.
3 - “I’m not taking my kids to see any Walt Disney movies until they have a black woman playing the leading role”. It’s so hard to explain to a child why there aren’t any black women with leading roles. It’s just like telling a child why there aren’t too many black dolls to play with. My little cousin Joia, is half African American and Italian, as she was growing up we always tried to give a mix selection of colored dolls. One day she asked why there were whiter baby dolls then black baby dolls. All I could say to her was that the new black baby dolls haven’t arrived yet. I don’t see why film producers don’t take into consideration that this is a multicultural society and a multiracial world, and that it’s ok to mix race in characters.
I liked reading this article. It made me see that not everyone does see or except that we are a multiracial and multicultural society. Children are not exposed to diversity very much in the media. They always see the same thing. A white doll, or a white movie star, and we wonder why children aren’t familiar with different races and cultures it’s because society does not allow them to be familiar with such things.
"Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us"
By: Linda Christensen
Linda Christenson argues that we have to go live our lives the way we want to and not the way we are “supposed” to according to society’s rules. There is no right or wrong way to live your life. Linda Christensen wants us to pick apart all of the cartoons that we see on TV and what we see in the movies that kids watch to find out where the discrimination, sexism, racism, and the jesters towards the rich and poor.
1 - "We look at the roles women, men, people of color, and poor people play in cartoons." In the cartoons from way back in the day, there are not a lot of women movie stats or even roles for women. When women were first introduced to movies and films, they would be all dolled up. Looking beautiful, better than the average. All young girls and even women looked up to the female characters on TV and in movies. This is when stereotyping was born. This was the jester that told all women what the ideal character looks like to attract men and to get whatever they want in life.
2 - “When we read children’s books we aren’t just reading cute little stories, we are discovering the tools with which a young society is manipulated”. Little kids don’t really pay too much attention to the messages in the stories or the morals at the end of the stories; they just pick up on things they are interested in. When I used to work at a day camp one of my kids, Joey, knew how to read a Thomas the Train book all by himself. He was only 3. He would even hold the book upside down, but once he flipped that page and recognized the picture he knew exactly what words went with it. Today I watch cartoons and movies and I see a lot of hidden messages I have never seen before. Some or very sexual messages and some or even suicidal messages, like in the Wizard of OZ, one of the guys who auditioned to be one of the characters didn’t get the part, and in the back of a scene he hangs himself. I do not believe that this is right for kids to be seeing.
3 - “I’m not taking my kids to see any Walt Disney movies until they have a black woman playing the leading role”. It’s so hard to explain to a child why there aren’t any black women with leading roles. It’s just like telling a child why there aren’t too many black dolls to play with. My little cousin Joia, is half African American and Italian, as she was growing up we always tried to give a mix selection of colored dolls. One day she asked why there were whiter baby dolls then black baby dolls. All I could say to her was that the new black baby dolls haven’t arrived yet. I don’t see why film producers don’t take into consideration that this is a multicultural society and a multiracial world, and that it’s ok to mix race in characters.
I liked reading this article. It made me see that not everyone does see or except that we are a multiracial and multicultural society. Children are not exposed to diversity very much in the media. They always see the same thing. A white doll, or a white movie star, and we wonder why children aren’t familiar with different races and cultures it’s because society does not allow them to be familiar with such things.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community
By: Dennis Carlson
Authors Argument:
Denis Carlson seems to be arguing that schools along with the communities should consider teaching the people to realize that everyone is normal. categorizing people, normal, and abnormal do not exist we are all just regular people. Carlson also says that it is the job of the head leaders and teachers to set the example and to use the words "homosexual", "lesbian", "gay", and any other words people are afraid to say, because it isn't something to be ashamed of, it is just another aspect of life different from the norm.
Quotes:
1 - "The objective of classroom discourse is thus not so much to achieve consensus on "truth" or "objective" depiction of reality, but rather to clarify differences and agreements, work toward coalition-building across difference when possible, and build relationships based on caring and equity." I chose this quote because this shows our future and what we should be expecting. It shows future jobs, and shows what the future teachers need to strive for in order to make a difference. This quote made me realize that I do really want to be a teacher and i do actually want to make a difference in children lives and help them achieve a good education.
2) - "Gay people have for the most part been made absent, invisible, and silent within this community and at the same time represented as the deviant and pathological other." I chose this quote because I don’t think that way. I don’t believe in the hole “normal” theory. There is no such thing. What is normal to one person can be foreign to many others. I don’t think that people should ignore the fact that there are gay people in the world. They should look at all people similarly and not like they are from another planet or invisible.
3) - "(Black, working class, female, homosexual..)are disempowered and represented as deviant, sick, neurotic, criminal, lazy, lacking in intelligence, and in other ways abnormal." I do not like this quote at all. Because of someone's gender, sexual likings, or color of their skin, they are considered and looked upon to have a lack of intelligence or considered to be lazy or sick. I felt disgusted when I read this. I don’t even know where someone gets ideas like this. People are people. Just because they are a little different then you might be, does not mean they have any disadvantages.
Questions/Comments:
I didn’t like reading this article to much. I don't know if it was the language or just simply because it frustrated me. I think this is good that we are learning about gender and all its forms and I think it is great that we are learning techniques to include words like "homosexual", "lesbian", "gay", because teaching that to the students will let them know that it is ok to be gay or friends with gays, and also that it is ok to address the fact that there are gay people in the world and that its ok to except that.
By: Dennis Carlson
Authors Argument:
Denis Carlson seems to be arguing that schools along with the communities should consider teaching the people to realize that everyone is normal. categorizing people, normal, and abnormal do not exist we are all just regular people. Carlson also says that it is the job of the head leaders and teachers to set the example and to use the words "homosexual", "lesbian", "gay", and any other words people are afraid to say, because it isn't something to be ashamed of, it is just another aspect of life different from the norm.
Quotes:
1 - "The objective of classroom discourse is thus not so much to achieve consensus on "truth" or "objective" depiction of reality, but rather to clarify differences and agreements, work toward coalition-building across difference when possible, and build relationships based on caring and equity." I chose this quote because this shows our future and what we should be expecting. It shows future jobs, and shows what the future teachers need to strive for in order to make a difference. This quote made me realize that I do really want to be a teacher and i do actually want to make a difference in children lives and help them achieve a good education.
2) - "Gay people have for the most part been made absent, invisible, and silent within this community and at the same time represented as the deviant and pathological other." I chose this quote because I don’t think that way. I don’t believe in the hole “normal” theory. There is no such thing. What is normal to one person can be foreign to many others. I don’t think that people should ignore the fact that there are gay people in the world. They should look at all people similarly and not like they are from another planet or invisible.
3) - "(Black, working class, female, homosexual..)are disempowered and represented as deviant, sick, neurotic, criminal, lazy, lacking in intelligence, and in other ways abnormal." I do not like this quote at all. Because of someone's gender, sexual likings, or color of their skin, they are considered and looked upon to have a lack of intelligence or considered to be lazy or sick. I felt disgusted when I read this. I don’t even know where someone gets ideas like this. People are people. Just because they are a little different then you might be, does not mean they have any disadvantages.
Questions/Comments:
I didn’t like reading this article to much. I don't know if it was the language or just simply because it frustrated me. I think this is good that we are learning about gender and all its forms and I think it is great that we are learning techniques to include words like "homosexual", "lesbian", "gay", because teaching that to the students will let them know that it is ok to be gay or friends with gays, and also that it is ok to address the fact that there are gay people in the world and that its ok to except that.
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