Many thanks to the people who read their narratives this week. They stimulated a lot of good discussion and nicely tie in with some of the topics in our reading. There were two narratives centred around immigration, the difficulties of adapting to the English-speaking classroom, and pressure to conform to Western dress. Another narrative focused on the difficulties of working in a family business, while another looked at the surprising opportunities behind a Miss B.C. Pageant. Yesterday we heard about the death of a young relative and re-evaluating one's own life, the disclosure of suicidal thoughts and abuse to an educator, and numerous forms of sexism in a culinary class. Also, one narrative looked at how hurtful labels in high school can lead to self-evaluation and change, and the last at loyalty, not only that of a pet to an owner but also the commitment of caring for a pet during an illness. Great work, everyone.
We also continued an interesting discussion around the short story, "What You Pawn I Will Redeem" (image of author, Sherman Alexie) from the blog back to our class.
Just a reminder, there will be no class on Tuesday. Please continue to do the reading for that day. Narratives for Tuesday will be read in the following class, Sept. 30.
Please post on this prompt for readings and class discussions from Thursday, Sept. 24 and the readings for next Tuesday, Sept. 28. Enjoy the weekend.
the narratives done in class all raised some interesting points for disucssion. The one narrative i engaged with was the one about a student who experienced sexism in culinary school. The discussion that developed through this narrative was about the traditional male/female roles in the workplace. Through much activism and strong individuals in the past, change has allowed women to move forward for the positive. Although we dont always physically see this type of segregation, it is still experienced by many women as we can see thorugh this narrative. Patriarcy still exists and there are still may obstacles for many females.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, i found that the narrative done by a student based on his cousins death because of a brain tumor really touched me. My own brother was born with a tumor in the middle of his brain and i was able to understand the hardships this student and him family went through. I remember when my dad came home with my brother from a doctor's appointment and they told us that the doctor told them he had a brain tumour.It was a super emotional time and my whole family came together to support eachother. However, during the next couple of months he was going through testing. Although it was a tough time we all tried really hard to stay strong for my brother. Finally all the testing was done and the best news possible was given to us, the brain tumor was not growing but he would have to be monitored. Just like the student i can realte to how difficult of a time this is. Due to this experience it has really changed my outlook on like and I try to live life to the fulluest because you never know when your time will come.
Even though I was not in class on Thursday evening, after reading the above comment and Sue's introduction, it sounds like the narratives very truly touching and it is unfortunate that I missed it. I would still like to add a few comments about sexism. It is truly unfortunate but I definitely believe that sexism still exists especially in the work place. It is obvious that we have come a long way in the last century when it comes to equality between men and women, at least in the western world. But like I mentioned above, in my experience I do believe that sexism still exists to some extend. There are many jobs out there that are only for 'men' or 'women' and one might be discouraged from doing a certain job just because he/she is not the 'right' gender.
ReplyDeleteThe next topic I will write about is multicultural education. We live in a country that is very multicultural; therefore, it is normal to have multicultural education. I believe that it is a great thing to learn about other cultures, and what the norms in that culture are.
See you in class tomorrow!
I shared similar feelings and experiences with many of the classmates in this class. Even though being in a diverse and multicultural society, prejudice, stereotypes and other discriminations still exists in schools and workplaces. Asians are always viewed as nerdy, cheap, and loud or can’t drive. Many of us have a good sense of humour, however, once these teasing and joking goes overboard it can hurt. Not everybody is the same, just because a minority of people who happened to be Asian fits the stereotype, we cannot generalize and label all. Also, labelling people is morally wrong. If your friend doesn’t mind being teased, we still have to consider other people who are not your friends.
ReplyDeleteAnother classmate mentioned gender discrimination last Thursday in class. I also experienced something similar when a friend came up and asked me what I want to be when I grow up. He said I looked like the type of person who would just marry a guy and have kids. I felt kind of insulted at first because not all women are or has to be housewives. It seems like he is looking down on me and questioning my ability to become a successful woman. He might not mean it that way but it still hurt at first. Now thinking back, if that is what others see in me, then maybe I should step up and make myself stronger. Regardless, I am not saying you should care of what others say, but reconsidering and try doing something different for a change could end up a surprise in a whole new different perspective.
It was really interesting to hear other people's narratives, because I truly felt touched by some of the stories, especially the story about the brain tumor. I have never lost someone close to me in my life nor being in a funeral, so I have no idea how it feels and I cannot even imagine if I actually have to face that kind of tragedy. One big insight from this will be treasuring every breathing moment and spreading some love and appreciation. I guess death is inevitable, but how we handle the situation makes a big difference. I have a friend whose mother passed away when he was in grade 12. Although he thought he was mentally prepared for that since her mother had been suffering from cancer for almost two years, he still struggled and could not move on. He got stuck and kept thinking he was the unluckiest person in the world. He stopped coming to school and basically locked himself in the room every single day. He did not show up for the provincial exams or applying for any colleges. I guess if his mother were still alive, she would be devastated.
ReplyDeleteThe narratives I hear were very touchy. I still cant believe people can be so honest about there personal life.
ReplyDeleteMy narrative will not be a very personal narrative because even if things make an impact on me I forget them in one or two days.
I was touched by the cancer and dog story. I did not know 12 year old can get cancer. My sympathy to the families. I went home and I was thinking about the fact that so young and cancer. I realised life can just end any moment. I google for a day about cancer. I guess life is not fair.
Some credos I believe in teaching diversity groups.
ReplyDeleteI want to become my students’ friends, their partner and their family. I want to be able to guide them and to grow with them together. I want my students to be ready and be prepared for the world that they will enter when they grow up. I want them to learn freely and imbibe the knowledge or beliefs of their tribe. I believe that in order for students to learn effectively, they should be able to approach me and talk to me about anything so I can work along the side and try to find a solution with them.
I want to be a role model for my students. I want them to be able to learn not just through the materials that are available for them at school, but to learn through their interaction with me and through our relationship.
I believe that the way a child is raised in early childhood can create a great impact on the child’s later life. If school life can make a child feel that he or she belongs here and that he/she is being loved and cared by people around him/her, then the learning experience will usually be positive and inspiring.
I believe that as an educator, it is part of my job to continue learning and to be able to respond to the students’ questions with honest and creative answers. I need to make sure that the way I react to their questions and the answer I provided can allow them to apply it to situations outside the classroom.
In my opinion, the purpose of education is to benefit the future of mankind and the teacher should always respect the students’ own views and perspectives and can only offer guidelines and resources for the student to build ideas / values / beliefs and construct meaning for their lives.
The readings for this week were very interesting, learning about the different models of development. What really sprung out to me was as a student was Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligence; which is constructed of eight different intellectual types, linguistic, musical, logical-mathematical, spatial intelligence, bodily kinaesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist.
ReplyDeleteThinking back as far back as I can remember I have always been told by educators that there is only two types of intelligence in the world book smart and street smart. You are either one or the other and sometimes both if you’re lucky. And both intelligence can be acquired through experience and hard work. Gardner’s theory has a lot of useful information that should be accessible and taught to all the educators, in order to change and broaden their knowledge on the definition of types of intelligence. This will help teachers approach towards the students as well as vary the ways they teach in order to accommodate the different types of learners in the class.
Thursday Sept 23 2010
I really enjoyed listening to everyone’s narrative’s, hearing about people different experience they have acquired in the journey of life. I was touched by some of the narratives that were about personal tragedies and struggles, and how they had overcome these personal challenges, inspired me to write my narrative about my own challenge, one I was faced with at a young age.
The narratives from last week invoked a lot of emotions. In particular the narrative on the loss of a very close friend. I was particularly inspired by the desire of the narrator to live the best life he could in order to honour his friend's memory.The dog owner's emotions were equally raw as she spoke of her beloved pet. The closeness of a loving animal is hard to quantify, and is often not appreciated by those who have never experienced this bond. The only positive to these stories is that the strength gained by passing through such terrible times enables us to help and comfort others through similar experiences.
ReplyDeleteAs the semester progresses, I feel like the narratives are getting more and more personal. It's great that everyone feels so comfortable sharing such emotional stories. Two of our presenters' presentations in particular were based on extremely sensitive topics, one being based on the loss of a cousin and the other of the illness of a pet. The loss of a family member is an absolutely devastating ordeal to go through, but equally as heartbreaking is the loss of a pet. People who have never owned a pet can easily say that it is easier to deal with the loss of a pet, but that is not true for everyone. As our presenter said, a pet is your most loyal friend--someone who's always there to listen, doesn't hold a grudge, and treats you with respect no matter what. I have not owned a dog before, but I have had a very strong attachment to my godparents' dog who I grew up with. As soon as she got ill, the entire family was by the dog/s side, ready to help with whatever we could just like we would help a family member. On the other hand, our other narrator's loss was described in such heartfelt detail that it was hard not to shed a tear. Fortunately, I have never lost someone so close to me. When the time comes, I hope I will be able to deal with it in such an optimistic way as our narrator did. By looking at the situation in a positive light, the grieving process can be made easier.
ReplyDeleteThe things that have been recycling in my thoughts this past week have been peoples’ stories. Growing up in rural eastern Canada my experience has been radically different then many of the stories told about immigration, cultural and language barriers. I had a fairly sheltered upbringing. I now walk past a high school almost daily and overheard one boy say the other say “oh, but that is part of your culture.” They were a group of males and it looked as though they just finished making food. They were discussing food and culture and the cultural awareness and openness really shocked me. I remember how mean teenagers can be but just from my instinctual assessment I was delighted to have overhead this situation after hearing a few not ideal stories in class. My guess is that if you grew up in East Vancouver currently your cultural sensitivity and knowledge would be really acute.
ReplyDeleteIn my other course we are also talking about narratives, storytelling and their roles. Someone asked something to the effect “what are the common narratives? And who and why should we tell them?” So I have been reflecting upon hearing narratives that have been very far removed from my reality growing up from where and how I did. I have gained great insight into immigrants’ reality. I has generated a larger amount of empathy for what it could mean to not speak your native language in class or to not have the ability to express your customs without feeling alienated. So this week’s blog entry is to simple express gratitude for the deeply personal stories many people have shared.
In terms of reading, I would like to comment about the equal treatment of gender issue. The book says the curriculum and education system should not create stereotypes of male and female. I agree to this concept, but I have one concern for the textbook concept. I felt this equal treatment concept discard the basic human brain concept of male and female. It is wrong that we say all male should be certain type and all female should be certain type. However, if teachers adhere equality and discard fundamental “good” features for male and female, I do not think it is correct equal treatment. It is not necessarily being “same” for both male and female. My personal opinion regarding equal treatment is if boys and girls have really good features for its typical stereotype, teachers should foster it. If they do not, like boys who are good at cooking and girls who are good at math, teachers also should foster it. I think taking care of students to improve their feature without disturbing their possibility by discrimination is the true concept of equality.
ReplyDeleteAlso in the reading, some educational issues regarding student violence, drug abuse, sexual orientation, and so on. It is important for teachers to have wide view to see each student, but it is also the hardest thing because teachers are also humans. Even though it is teachers’ responsibility to take care of students in the class, there are 30 or so students in the class. To facilitate for teachers to solve these issues, I think the most important thing is the strong relationship between teachers and students. If there is a good relationship which students feel free to talk to teachers, they tell their personal issues to teachers relatively easily. This connection is constructed based on daily treatment by teachers. Even if it is regular basic conversation, teachers should show students that teachers are taking care of them. Constructing reliability is one of the hardest things for communication. If a lot of teachers can construct good relationship between students, occurrence of such issues will decline gradually.
The narratives that were shared in class this week were all very emotional and I felt priviledged to have been there to hear these stories.
ReplyDeleteThe narrative of losing a cousin and a close friend is heart breaking. The passing of a close friend is always hard to deal with and the loss of someone who was so young is even more devastating. As the narrative was being said, I started to become upset just thinking about the emotions that the family must have been going through. It was inspiring to hear that he was going to live for himself and for his cousin. Hearing him be optimistic encouraged me to forget about the silly drama I had in my life and to step back and look at what was really important in my life.
I am always taken back when I hear stories of people not being accepted due to their cultural or religious dress. I was shocked at the narrative of the twins who were both bullied in high school. It is one thing to joke around with friends and a little teasing between classmates but when teachers are asked to step in and nothing is done is sickening. Being from North Vancouver myself, I thought that we lived in a diverse and accepting community but the stories they told of bullying are unacceptable behaviour. I never saw any bullying like this, only superficial catty little dramatic episodes between friends. Hearing their stories and the stories of others, I hope that I was not ignorant of bullying and that I was simply lucky that it was not going on around me.
I’m shocked that people are being discriminated against, not to mention, children are being targeted here in a place like Vancouver as was discussed in one of the narratives we heard. I was born and raised here and certainly have had the experience of feeling like an outsider as a child, as i’m sure every child does at some point along the way. However, I cannot ever recall a time where anyone was singled out based on there ethnicity or religious beliefs. In fact, these sorts of things were of absolutely no consequence to me as a child in a very multicultural classroom. I was blind to the cultural differences between us and I believe that to be the feeling of my classmates growing up as well. This is why i’m shocked to hear of the mistreatment of children here in Vancouver, just across the water from where I grew up.
ReplyDeleteI hope this problem wether it was at that particular school, or area, has been addressed and is no longer affecting the children who are attending school in that same area today.
Part I: I was fascinated George S. Counts quote on page 169. He postures: “If schools are really to be effective, they must become centers for the building and not the contemplation, of our civilization.” I pondered this: Many people believe schools should not try and build new social orders. Whether one likes this or not schools are complementary structures of the greater social order. This is a difficult and controversial question because primary and secondary educations have to provide the instructional basics so each student can best fit into their greater environment. Yet how does one prepare instruction without instilling certain mores that come naturally with the acquisition of new or old ideas? All aspects of public education socialize the ends of the state. Counts ideas were grounded in early 20th century American conservatism. State sponsored education does not emphasize critical thinking skills to the same extent as university. Whether Mr. Counts liked it or not his notion of education would have fit the demands of his environment. He was in fact a petrified xenophobe of the 1930’s who did not want the undesired customs of new immigrants or communists entering New York State education. It is undeniable that his environment contained a ‘status quo social order’. His nativist reaction to new elements wanted to conserve what he perceived as an unchanging American culture by not incorporating undesirable elements of predominately Eastern and Southern European stock in 1930’s New York.
ReplyDeletePart II:This reminds me of today’s great debate in Canadian media: Was multiculturalism a success since its advent? I feel Mr. Counts might be a bit of a bigot and an ideologue, but at the same time he made me think: How many people in class even know that Pierre Trudeau was responsible for much of the 'new' foreign immigration to Canada? How many are even aware that there are others in the country debating multiculturalism? They are questioning inclusion of new elements in this so called ‘Canadian society’ and how it offers a chance at building new social orders in schools or workplaces. Many not as established/ permanent Canadians have in many cases carried Canadian passports and spent half the year in their home countries. This has led to further questioning; many new Canadians do not even embrace to their new home. Further enlivening this debate many believe such immigrants have escaped economic and sometimes political repression only to ridicule Canadians for not having the same survival instincts as they which are often used for economic benefit and are prized as a tool to trump the not so perfect Canadian Government who have arguably encouraged immigration to create a cheaper labor market. It is also in question because many, who return to their former countries, profit and return with the proceeds much to the chagrin of their former homes. Some argue this has potential to bring Canada into a conflict with immigrant nation- states and put all Canadians, whether new or old, at risk of insurgency. Part of the debate involves that many new ‘Canadians’ return from former homes and import foreign criminal and fascist perversions of religions they were supposed to leave behind for the respect of others in their adopted home. I cannot speak for Mr. Counts writing earlier in the 20th century but many of the same problems faced NYC at this time. Was this why he did not agree with school sponsoring the construction of new social orders? The bit of research I did with regards to him suggests this was part of the reason he did not want school building new social orders. Like it or not Mr. Counts, schools are major structures that function formally and informally as their birthplaces. I can only hope that new Canadians who undoubtedly will struggle here just like every human being on this planet try their utmost to dwell on the positive aspects of their school/ culture shock when they come from wherever because no matter where you go there is negative. Nothing is worse than asserting identity as a tool justifying negative treatment. I was born and raised here and due to my ethnic identity, despite being what some might think, a white Canadian I too had to struggle all my life with silent and in your face xenophobia. The thousands of years of persecution my community faced made me better disposed to deal with these sometimes bloody conflicts that only made me into harder hitting linebacker- the Football field was where I channeled my frustration. I only hope that new Diasporas entering Canada can do the same and try to turn the other cheek or pretty soon we will all have to join the army to consolidate our identities; these are ideas that some major influences here are pondering as a strategy of building a new social order for the purposes of job creation, national security, and identity consolidation.
ReplyDeletePart II: This reminds me of today’s great debate in Canadian media: Was multiculturalism a success since its advent? I feel Mr. Counts might be a bit of a bigot and an ideologue, but at the same time he made me think: How many people in class even know that Pierre Trudeau was responsible for much of the 'new' foreign immigration to Canada? How many are even aware that there are others in the country debating multiculturalism? They are questioning inclusion of new elements in this so called ‘Canadian society’ and how it offers a chance at building new social orders in schools or workplaces. Many not as established/ permanent Canadians have in many cases carried Canadian passports and spent half the year in their home countries. This has led to further questioning; many new Canadians do not even embrace to their new home. Further enlivening this debate many believe such immigrants have escaped economic and sometimes political repression only to ridicule Canadians for not having the same survival instincts as they which are often used for economic benefit and are prized as a tool to trump the not so perfect Canadian Government who have arguably encouraged immigration to create a cheaper labor market. It is also in question because many, who return to their former countries, profit and return with the proceeds much to the chagrin of their former homes. Some argue this has potential to bring Canada into a conflict with immigrant nation- states and put all Canadians, whether new or old, at risk of insurgency. Part of the debate involves that many new ‘Canadians’ return from former homes and import foreign criminal and fascist perversions of religions they were supposed to leave behind for the respect of others in their adopted home. I cannot speak for Mr. Counts writing earlier in the 20th century but many of the same problems faced NYC at this time. Was this why he did not agree with school sponsoring the construction of new social orders? The bit of research I did with regards to him suggests this was part of the reason he did not want school building new social orders. Like it or not Mr. Counts, schools are major structures that function formally and informally as their birthplaces. I can only hope that new Canadians who undoubtedly will struggle here just like every human being on this planet try their utmost to dwell on the positive aspects of their school/ culture shock when they come from wherever because no matter where you go there is negative. Nothing is worse than asserting identity as a tool justifying negative treatment. I was born and raised here and due to my ethnic identity, despite being what some might think, a white Canadian I too had to struggle all my life with silent and in your face xenophobia. The thousands of years of persecution my community faced made me better disposed to deal with these sometimes bloody conflicts that only made me into harder hitting linebacker- the Football field was where I channeled my frustration. I only hope that new Diasporas entering Canada can do the same and try to turn the other cheek or pretty soon we will all have to join the army to consolidate our identities; these are ideas that some major influences here are pondering as a strategy of building a new social order for the purposes of job creation, national security, and identity consolidation.
ReplyDelete