Oh dear.
I have neglected my blog and now a test on material that we never formally learned about will decide if I pass or fail history.
I supose this is the price to pay for becoming a bonafied slacker in my final semester of high school.
So I've decided to take this blog and turn it into a relfection of my last year here at School of the Future.
Its a surreal feeling knowing that these are the last times you'll be walking down these halls. You can't help but ponder about how you've changed, wondering what you might take with you as you venture out into the big bad world.
What am I going to remember as I slowly transform from a simple minded teenager to a tax paying member of society?
I can't help but want to slow down time, to hault all these resposibilities forcing its way into my adgenda.
I wish there were an age where you were only expected to stare at pretty things and talk amungst one another in peace (oh wait....). I remember a statement Andy once said mockingly about how work and labor is wasted on the young, when they should be enjoying themselves the most when their young and healthy. We work ourselves into the ground in order to guarentee a good pention so that whn we're old and shriveled up, we'll have a nice retirement home to die in.
Looking back, I can't help but wish I had made time for more things (like writing on this blog) since from here on out everything will be a reflection on who you are as an adult.
We seem to be going through a metamorphasis, one I don't quite feel prepared for. Nothings quite as simple as you thought it was going to be at this age. I have been counting down the days until the one that will be here next friday. I've envisioned in my head what it will be like. I suspect tears, genuine emotion (which is rare on a typical school day) and heartache. But its all an opportunity to leave what may have been supressing us this whole time BEHIND and find a new and better enviornment to grow.
And yet this is also our chance to really make what we want of our lives. We can now cut those parental strings that kept is in tight restrictions. We can now explore all there is to explore without having to ask for permission or wonder if we're deciving our masters trust. We can now persue an identity that doesn't include being underaged.
With all the endless possiblities, how on earth can you choose where to begin?
Before this year in history class, everything was a lot simpler. I knew that I had to fit in nicely to the mold set up for my by society. I would go to college, fit in as best as I could, party, study and try to be the conventional version of happy. Even though I've never quite felt like I fit in well with the "popular" crowd, I always did what I could to convince myself that if I tried hard enough, I could one of them.
This class has helped me realize how absolutely ignorant I was being in thinking that high school expectations was something to remotely care about. I have begun to see and question the things around me more then I have since going through puberty.
I do not accept things that I do not agree with as easily anymore. I feel inspired to speak up and protest.
And I feel that I have you to thank, Andy.
Keep doing what your doing.
:)
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Hw 57- How should kids be parented?
Parenting is quite a sensitive topic. Parents can be blamed for a lot of flaws in a child's behavior. A troubled kid can easily just be the result of an unsuitable uprising by unfit parents. But is it really all on mom and pops?
I think the culture and environment of an individual grows up in accounts a lot for the identities they might develop post adolescence, when they are no longer living at home. Then again, it is the responsibility of guardians to teach their kids good values that will make them care less about social trends and peer pressure, and focus more on who they are as an individual.
But where to begin? How can we help potential parents put their offspring on the right path to success and happiness?
It could possibly be linked to the relationship between mother and father. Its nice to think that a baby is the product of two people who are madly in love and want to procreate so that they can bring a person into the world who is a piece of both of them. The main component for any healthy relationship should be love and appreciation, because without it there is no reason to tolerate one another. Like we established during the school unit, when people express that they care for you it inspires you to WANT to do better. When people have faith in you, you want to prove to them that your worthy of that acknowledgment. And if a person decides to raise a child, they should embody qualities in which they are capable of showing affection to another person who would look to you for such comfort.
Individuals who become parents without planning can differ from those who do plan, although not in all cases. But it seems, that once a child becomes a burden to their parents life as an individual, its harder for them to receive the affirmation they need in order to build healthy relationships. Mother and child is the first relationship anyone ever experiences, because it is physical attachment. Sharing the same DNA automatically links those two people together. So that puts an enormous emphasis on the mothers role in the childs life. Not to say the fathers role isn't just as significant. The father is the first male relationship and child will ever know of, and he sets an example either a) for how a boy should act or b) for how a girl should interact with other male figures.
I don't think anyone can ever know the right way to parent until they start actually parenting. My mom once said that she thought she knew EXACTLY the kind of mother she was gana be. Easy going yet stern, loving yet embodying authority and demanding obedience. Her kids would eat all organic and never once touch MacDonalds. Of course that all changed once my sister and I arrived, and we would cry for french fries and keep playing with our toys when we were told it was nap time. You can't really know until your there.
Then again, this doesn't mean you should just wing it and improvise as you go along. Educating yourself and being as well informed as possible could never hurt. What works for one person may very well work for you, just don't depend on it considering all children are different.
One common misconception is to say that all siblings will act alike. My sister and I came from the same household, were raised by the same parents, and yet we turned out to be totally different people. Then again, she was adopted. And I wasn't. This can be considered an enormous difference and explanation as to why she acted up more and felt compelled to rebelling at an earlier age with shadier people.
I'm not so sure if an adolescence behavior directly reflects parenting tactics their parents used on them, but it does have some influence on who they are once they leave the nest. A parents example sets other examples for a child's relationship with other adults.
"Because I'm free from it all. I'm not gana change, unless I want to."
Diana Baumrind's different parenting styles were broken down into three categories; the permissive parent, the authoritarian parent and finally the authoritative parent.
Authoritative parenting was said to be the most efficient form of parenting due to the persons open-mindedness about realistic expectations for their child to meet. As opposed to authoritarian parents who set boundaries aside from acknowledging if their kid can abide by them, authoritative parents teach them how to be "competent individuals" who can follow direction but also think for themselves. These skills usually pertain to how stable the person is aside from how they are as a parent. Baumrind emphasizes that parents with strong social skills and good emotional stability can handle parenting better then those who are antisocial and self conscious.
Like Bowen was saying in his Theory about Relationships, those who are emotionally mature, or more highly differentiated, person had a greater amount of self with which to negotiate the problems of life, including those of relationships. What I get from this is that the more differentiated you are, the more accepting you can be, especially when it comes to your own family. "At lower levels of emotional maturity, on the other hand, people tend to seek comfort in relationships." People like that feel more pressure to raise the perfect child, and therefor enforce authority and harsh obedience, which could potentially their child against them.
I think the culture and environment of an individual grows up in accounts a lot for the identities they might develop post adolescence, when they are no longer living at home. Then again, it is the responsibility of guardians to teach their kids good values that will make them care less about social trends and peer pressure, and focus more on who they are as an individual.
But where to begin? How can we help potential parents put their offspring on the right path to success and happiness?
It could possibly be linked to the relationship between mother and father. Its nice to think that a baby is the product of two people who are madly in love and want to procreate so that they can bring a person into the world who is a piece of both of them. The main component for any healthy relationship should be love and appreciation, because without it there is no reason to tolerate one another. Like we established during the school unit, when people express that they care for you it inspires you to WANT to do better. When people have faith in you, you want to prove to them that your worthy of that acknowledgment. And if a person decides to raise a child, they should embody qualities in which they are capable of showing affection to another person who would look to you for such comfort.
Individuals who become parents without planning can differ from those who do plan, although not in all cases. But it seems, that once a child becomes a burden to their parents life as an individual, its harder for them to receive the affirmation they need in order to build healthy relationships. Mother and child is the first relationship anyone ever experiences, because it is physical attachment. Sharing the same DNA automatically links those two people together. So that puts an enormous emphasis on the mothers role in the childs life. Not to say the fathers role isn't just as significant. The father is the first male relationship and child will ever know of, and he sets an example either a) for how a boy should act or b) for how a girl should interact with other male figures.
I don't think anyone can ever know the right way to parent until they start actually parenting. My mom once said that she thought she knew EXACTLY the kind of mother she was gana be. Easy going yet stern, loving yet embodying authority and demanding obedience. Her kids would eat all organic and never once touch MacDonalds. Of course that all changed once my sister and I arrived, and we would cry for french fries and keep playing with our toys when we were told it was nap time. You can't really know until your there.
Then again, this doesn't mean you should just wing it and improvise as you go along. Educating yourself and being as well informed as possible could never hurt. What works for one person may very well work for you, just don't depend on it considering all children are different.
One common misconception is to say that all siblings will act alike. My sister and I came from the same household, were raised by the same parents, and yet we turned out to be totally different people. Then again, she was adopted. And I wasn't. This can be considered an enormous difference and explanation as to why she acted up more and felt compelled to rebelling at an earlier age with shadier people.
I'm not so sure if an adolescence behavior directly reflects parenting tactics their parents used on them, but it does have some influence on who they are once they leave the nest. A parents example sets other examples for a child's relationship with other adults.
"Because I'm free from it all. I'm not gana change, unless I want to."
Diana Baumrind's different parenting styles were broken down into three categories; the permissive parent, the authoritarian parent and finally the authoritative parent.
Authoritative parenting was said to be the most efficient form of parenting due to the persons open-mindedness about realistic expectations for their child to meet. As opposed to authoritarian parents who set boundaries aside from acknowledging if their kid can abide by them, authoritative parents teach them how to be "competent individuals" who can follow direction but also think for themselves. These skills usually pertain to how stable the person is aside from how they are as a parent. Baumrind emphasizes that parents with strong social skills and good emotional stability can handle parenting better then those who are antisocial and self conscious.
Like Bowen was saying in his Theory about Relationships, those who are emotionally mature, or more highly differentiated, person had a greater amount of self with which to negotiate the problems of life, including those of relationships. What I get from this is that the more differentiated you are, the more accepting you can be, especially when it comes to your own family. "At lower levels of emotional maturity, on the other hand, people tend to seek comfort in relationships." People like that feel more pressure to raise the perfect child, and therefor enforce authority and harsh obedience, which could potentially their child against them.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Hw 55: Independent Reaserch Topic
The relationship domain I have settled on would be intimate day to day relationships of a lover or person whom you would desire to live with.
Question: Is it true that an individual needs to accept themselves for who they are as a person before they are ready to have another person try to fall in love with them?
Triangle Partner Feedback:
Evan-
Hey Evan,
Thanks for the great feedback on my blog, it really helped think of my topic in a new perspective.
Sorry I'm so late with this comment.
Anyways, I think your questions are strong, and you have a good subject to work with. Our parents are one of the largest influences in our lives because its the first human relationship we encounter daily for 18 years.
I have a suggestion for a possible source, called Reviving Ophelia. I used it for my last research paper, but it mainly focuses on the female's perspective, which you may not be interested in.
Anyways, back to your questions. I still think they may be a little too broad. Perhaps you could say how the children carry the parental example through out their lives. Like "how might a stay at home mother affect a child's judgment on gender roles and how it may pertain to themselves." I'm not sure if that's exactly the direction you want to go in, but I think your on the right path so far.
Keep up the good work :)
Julie A.-
Wassup Julie?
I like the aspect or your question, its odd to think how much affirmation we seek from other people and the lack of personal acceptance we have for ourselves.
Perhaps your can dig deeper by saying "what is the source of all this need for acceptance that people feel they need from others? What may have happened in their lives that prevent them from just feeling content with themselves with out the affirmation of others?"
Regardless of if you use my suggestion or not, I think your off to a great start :D
- Alicia
Revised Question:
Do people really need to be content with themselves and their lives as an individual before they can have a healthy functioning relationship with another? If so, how do we know when we have truly accepted ourselves, and should we expect the same type of contentment from the person whom we desire to be in a relationship with?
Question: Is it true that an individual needs to accept themselves for who they are as a person before they are ready to have another person try to fall in love with them?
Triangle Partner Feedback:
Evan-
Hey Evan,
Thanks for the great feedback on my blog, it really helped think of my topic in a new perspective.
Sorry I'm so late with this comment.
Anyways, I think your questions are strong, and you have a good subject to work with. Our parents are one of the largest influences in our lives because its the first human relationship we encounter daily for 18 years.
I have a suggestion for a possible source, called Reviving Ophelia. I used it for my last research paper, but it mainly focuses on the female's perspective, which you may not be interested in.
Anyways, back to your questions. I still think they may be a little too broad. Perhaps you could say how the children carry the parental example through out their lives. Like "how might a stay at home mother affect a child's judgment on gender roles and how it may pertain to themselves." I'm not sure if that's exactly the direction you want to go in, but I think your on the right path so far.
Keep up the good work :)
Julie A.-
Wassup Julie?
I like the aspect or your question, its odd to think how much affirmation we seek from other people and the lack of personal acceptance we have for ourselves.
Perhaps your can dig deeper by saying "what is the source of all this need for acceptance that people feel they need from others? What may have happened in their lives that prevent them from just feeling content with themselves with out the affirmation of others?"
Regardless of if you use my suggestion or not, I think your off to a great start :D
- Alicia
Revised Question:
Do people really need to be content with themselves and their lives as an individual before they can have a healthy functioning relationship with another? If so, how do we know when we have truly accepted ourselves, and should we expect the same type of contentment from the person whom we desire to be in a relationship with?
Hw 54: Personality Tests
ENFP - "Journalist". Uncanny sense of the motivations of others. Life is an exciting drama. 8.1% of total population. |
Extroverted (E) 52.63% Introverted (I) 47.37%
Intuitive (N) 68.97% Sensing (S) 31.03%
Feeling (F) 71.88% Thinking (T) 28.13%
Perceiving (P) 63.89% Judging (J) 36.11%
I was extremely surprised at how many people got "Journalist" as the results for their personality tests. For me, I thought it was very accurate, considering I actually do want to go into Journalism and seem to enjoy documenting the stories of others experiences as opposed to my own. One of my closest friends, who I can definitely identify with on many levels, had this same outcome too. Even so, I was hoping I'd differ from my peers, especially from the ones I don't happen to get along with or feel similar to. When I looked at another close friends results, I knew it was right on point to identify her more flattering qualities. So now I am concerned and confused. Am I more like these people I feel so different from, since this test doesn't seem too bogus.
As for the percentages, I agree that I live my life mainly on my emotions, so it came to no surprise that my feeling had the highest of all the other qualities. I suppose it was appropriate that I'm about 53% extroverted, considering a lot of my friends way I'm a good listener.
As for the specifics to my results, I thought it was pretty accurate. I am an extraverted person who prefers being outgoing and interacting with others as opposed to keeping to myself. But then again, my moods vary, which is who I wasn't surpised to see the percentages were both pretty close to 50%. I've had moments where i've felt more energetic after talking to someone, which is an exraverted quality. But I also don't mind quiet to absorb the moment and relect on things to myself in my head, away from other people.
I would agree that I'm more of an intuitive kind of person then I am at being observant. I daydream a lot and can become lost in the beauty of simple things like nature and art work, what some may say is like having their head in the clouds. I also do tend to feel more then think, and act on impulse rather then come to logical decisions. People have said I fall my heart, and when I have an instinct about something I tend to go with it more then following the facts. Lastly, I without a doubt percieve and improvise more then I judge and follow the rules. I not usually one who likes to do things exactly according to the book, I think their always ways to mix things up and try something differently, which irks those who likes to keep order.
Intuitive (N) 68.97% Sensing (S) 31.03%
Feeling (F) 71.88% Thinking (T) 28.13%
Perceiving (P) 63.89% Judging (J) 36.11%
I was extremely surprised at how many people got "Journalist" as the results for their personality tests. For me, I thought it was very accurate, considering I actually do want to go into Journalism and seem to enjoy documenting the stories of others experiences as opposed to my own. One of my closest friends, who I can definitely identify with on many levels, had this same outcome too. Even so, I was hoping I'd differ from my peers, especially from the ones I don't happen to get along with or feel similar to. When I looked at another close friends results, I knew it was right on point to identify her more flattering qualities. So now I am concerned and confused. Am I more like these people I feel so different from, since this test doesn't seem too bogus.
As for the percentages, I agree that I live my life mainly on my emotions, so it came to no surprise that my feeling had the highest of all the other qualities. I suppose it was appropriate that I'm about 53% extroverted, considering a lot of my friends way I'm a good listener.
As for the specifics to my results, I thought it was pretty accurate. I am an extraverted person who prefers being outgoing and interacting with others as opposed to keeping to myself. But then again, my moods vary, which is who I wasn't surpised to see the percentages were both pretty close to 50%. I've had moments where i've felt more energetic after talking to someone, which is an exraverted quality. But I also don't mind quiet to absorb the moment and relect on things to myself in my head, away from other people.
I would agree that I'm more of an intuitive kind of person then I am at being observant. I daydream a lot and can become lost in the beauty of simple things like nature and art work, what some may say is like having their head in the clouds. I also do tend to feel more then think, and act on impulse rather then come to logical decisions. People have said I fall my heart, and when I have an instinct about something I tend to go with it more then following the facts. Lastly, I without a doubt percieve and improvise more then I judge and follow the rules. I not usually one who likes to do things exactly according to the book, I think their always ways to mix things up and try something differently, which irks those who likes to keep order.
Hw 53: Human Relationship Survey Analysis
The surveys, as we discussed in class, may now have been completely accurate due to some of the confounding factors like people's concern with what others would think, self ignorance and selection bias.
Being that this effects conclusion you could draw from the data collected, I'm not so sure how valuable it would be to analyze in such great depth the meaning of these results. It frustraits me to think that someone wouldn't answer a question honestly out of fear of what a peer or "friend" would think. How can we afford NOT to always act genuinely. We are given such limited time at this age, in this moment in time that it becomes astonishing to me to think that there a people who don't speak from the heart in every moment in time. The best relationships are the ones that develop from pure genuine expression and emotion. If a person were not being completely themselves, how would anyone manage to think that their connection was real. Its not worth trying to be something your not, life is too short.
Sometimes I wonder what if we didn't have any other responsibilities? What if we were able to JUST focus on our relationships with other people. It seems like thats the main concern on a majority of people's minds anyway. How might people's behavior change if you were told to just focus on finding a life partner? Would it be harder to do so without other components making you the person you are? Or would be feel more at ease since we wouldn't be burdened with any other tasks other then to make love and spark chemistry with another being. What if everyone could live in harmony and only have to worry about maintaining the peace? Would it only exist with the help of drugs like the hippies during the Vietnam war?
Being that this effects conclusion you could draw from the data collected, I'm not so sure how valuable it would be to analyze in such great depth the meaning of these results. It frustraits me to think that someone wouldn't answer a question honestly out of fear of what a peer or "friend" would think. How can we afford NOT to always act genuinely. We are given such limited time at this age, in this moment in time that it becomes astonishing to me to think that there a people who don't speak from the heart in every moment in time. The best relationships are the ones that develop from pure genuine expression and emotion. If a person were not being completely themselves, how would anyone manage to think that their connection was real. Its not worth trying to be something your not, life is too short.
Sometimes I wonder what if we didn't have any other responsibilities? What if we were able to JUST focus on our relationships with other people. It seems like thats the main concern on a majority of people's minds anyway. How might people's behavior change if you were told to just focus on finding a life partner? Would it be harder to do so without other components making you the person you are? Or would be feel more at ease since we wouldn't be burdened with any other tasks other then to make love and spark chemistry with another being. What if everyone could live in harmony and only have to worry about maintaining the peace? Would it only exist with the help of drugs like the hippies during the Vietnam war?
Monday, May 3, 2010
Hw 52: My initial Theory of Human Relationships
A line I've been pretty obsessed with and have brought up to many people during the past month is one from the play No exit, where one of the three characters states "hell is other people."
I think the reason that line has stuck with me so long is because its true; a bad expereince with another person can make life feel like hell. But I think that the only reason hell could be other people is becuse we need other people so much. At one point I said heaven could be other people too, but I beleive that less then the original statement. Other people have a great impact on us because without them we would become so lonely it would probably lead to depression. But I also think that its easier to make youself happy due to your own accomplishments rather then relying on another for happiness.
But then again, sometimes certain individuals just need to escape from other people. Like Christopher Johnson McCandless, the college graduate who hitchhiked to Alaska after abandoning his materialistic life for one "In the Wild". He was eventually found dead, but not before fulfulling his dream of living solely by his own will and free nature. He is considered to have the aspirations of a Transcendentalist, a topic we're covering in english class. Its covenient that a lot of our units coincide nicely with one another.
What I prefer is when people treat each other like equals. Without mutual respect, a disagreement is bound to break out. If individuals saw their peers more as their equals rather then superiors or inferior, then they would be less concerned with how they SHOULD interact with a person, and act more like their natural selves. But thinkgs like age, ethnicity and social background effects how a relationship can unfold. If someone is diffrent from ourselves, its harder to warm up to them because you have less in common. But then again, just because an outter appearance may look different doesn't mean the qualities in side the person would be the same.
Its awkward and at times tense to meet new people. One never knows how well they'll interact, and even if the first impression is good it may just be a front of acting on our best behavior. Relationships with other humans don't seem to really develop until a lot of time is spent with that same person.
I myself am prone to forming close and personal relationships with my friends, that intale late night phone calls, weekend hang outs and lots and lots of facebook albums together. But looking back, I sometimes think this may have been a mistake. For even though I am labled as a sincere and trustworthy, I sometimes resent the people who put so much emphasis on out friendship. Its hard to be there for another person when your trying to thin about yourself. Its different with a parent, because they choose to devote their lives to the child they are raising. But what exactly do friendships entail? How close is too close, and when is one friend asking for too much?
Although when it comes to lovers, the rules are different. When two people become intamite with each other, they begin to unravel themsevles and put down walls they may have had with the rest of the world. And yet when you break up witha boyfriend or girlfriend, it usually means no longer being in contact. Why must the two parties cease communication post breakup? Why is it harder for ex lovers to stay together when they were so close for so long? Isn't it possible to just merge into friendships, or is it too emotionally painful?
Relationships with strangers never seem to matter as much, even though the people who make up our surroundiungs may impact our lives more then we give them credit. Like the mail man, or the dry cleaner or the cleaning lady or the coffee
I think the reason that line has stuck with me so long is because its true; a bad expereince with another person can make life feel like hell. But I think that the only reason hell could be other people is becuse we need other people so much. At one point I said heaven could be other people too, but I beleive that less then the original statement. Other people have a great impact on us because without them we would become so lonely it would probably lead to depression. But I also think that its easier to make youself happy due to your own accomplishments rather then relying on another for happiness.
But then again, sometimes certain individuals just need to escape from other people. Like Christopher Johnson McCandless, the college graduate who hitchhiked to Alaska after abandoning his materialistic life for one "In the Wild". He was eventually found dead, but not before fulfulling his dream of living solely by his own will and free nature. He is considered to have the aspirations of a Transcendentalist, a topic we're covering in english class. Its covenient that a lot of our units coincide nicely with one another.
What I prefer is when people treat each other like equals. Without mutual respect, a disagreement is bound to break out. If individuals saw their peers more as their equals rather then superiors or inferior, then they would be less concerned with how they SHOULD interact with a person, and act more like their natural selves. But thinkgs like age, ethnicity and social background effects how a relationship can unfold. If someone is diffrent from ourselves, its harder to warm up to them because you have less in common. But then again, just because an outter appearance may look different doesn't mean the qualities in side the person would be the same.
Its awkward and at times tense to meet new people. One never knows how well they'll interact, and even if the first impression is good it may just be a front of acting on our best behavior. Relationships with other humans don't seem to really develop until a lot of time is spent with that same person.
I myself am prone to forming close and personal relationships with my friends, that intale late night phone calls, weekend hang outs and lots and lots of facebook albums together. But looking back, I sometimes think this may have been a mistake. For even though I am labled as a sincere and trustworthy, I sometimes resent the people who put so much emphasis on out friendship. Its hard to be there for another person when your trying to thin about yourself. Its different with a parent, because they choose to devote their lives to the child they are raising. But what exactly do friendships entail? How close is too close, and when is one friend asking for too much?
Although when it comes to lovers, the rules are different. When two people become intamite with each other, they begin to unravel themsevles and put down walls they may have had with the rest of the world. And yet when you break up witha boyfriend or girlfriend, it usually means no longer being in contact. Why must the two parties cease communication post breakup? Why is it harder for ex lovers to stay together when they were so close for so long? Isn't it possible to just merge into friendships, or is it too emotionally painful?
Relationships with strangers never seem to matter as much, even though the people who make up our surroundiungs may impact our lives more then we give them credit. Like the mail man, or the dry cleaner or the cleaning lady or the coffee
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Hw 51: Paper... A day in the Academic, Home and Social Life of a Teenage Girl
Adolescence is always looked upon as a difficult stage in any young persons life, because it is a period of rapid change. A loss of innocence and freedom puts kids in various crossroads when choosing what kind of identity they want to fulfill as young adults. They are given higher expectations and more responsibility, yet still instructed to obey to the orders instructed by authority figures. Its a confusing time, but especially complex for the female student.
Being a girl in the 21st century has its perks and disadvantages. The uprising of technology has made completing school assignments much easier. Transportation is more advanced, innovations in and outside of homes make thinks easier to use and niftier to play with. But all this digitization also makes escaping social standards difficult as well. It seems that the Internet and constant communication takes away from any person's time alone with just their own thoughts. People don't always take a quiet moment to reflect on things anymore, or to really THINK matters about the world through. Rather, we are calling, texting, IMing or chatting with others their age, always looking for a second opinion, always seeking an opportunity to converse.
It could be the persons desire to receive affirmation from another. Without being available, there would be no way to gain acknowledgement or acceptance. Your have to be seen to get noticed. Always ready. Anytime, anywhere. Even in school.
School has become a battleground for many growing girls. There is not only tremendous pressure to meet the academic expectations set by teachers and parents, but in hitting a certain age there is social expectations as well. Freud has a theory about a child's "Latency period" a stage where "during the latency period, children pour this repressed libidal energy into asexual pursuits such as school, athletics, and same-sex friendships." This comes right before puberty, and the confusion of hormones and sexual desires begin to confuse and distract the individual. In the prepubescent period, girls act more like their true selves without having deal with the burden of worrying to please anyone but themselves. "But soon puberty strikes, and the genitals once again become a central focus of libidal energy." In this stage, once girls begin to develop sexual feelings for the opposite (or same) sex, things like appearance and acceptance become more of the central concern.
Because girls are raised in a culture where the mass media promotes constant double standards and unrealistic portrays of beauty, these young gurls resport to mimicking the dangerous actions of the unstable role modles they see on T.V. and in fashion magazines. They are brainswashed to beleive they must use a certain product, have a certain style and look a certain way in order to fit in and overall, be happy with their lives. At school doesn't prompt them to believe anything else since they are told what to do there too.
Conforming becomes a scarpegoat from the constant badgering of keeping up in school, because its easier to gossip then write a 5 page paper. But if girls were encouraged to express themselves more and follow their passions, maybe they wouldn't need to seek affirmation from one another when they fall short with their parents at teachers.
Authority figures need to be more realistic with the boundreies they give their followers, because by pushing them too hard they might completely push them to unhealthy rebellion.
For girls this is especially hard due to their sensitivity and fragile ego's. Girls are told from a young age that their role in this society is to be the damsil in distress, to wait for a strong handsome man to save and marry them, and then to have their children. Men are encouraged to be successful, power hungry and beings that embody masculinity. Gender roles are a bit scewed and this effects the way girls look at themselves and their futures greatly.
Some girls become people pleasers, not really listening to themselves for guidance. They go to extreme measures to fit the social norms, which could potentially by harmful to their heath and overall wellness. Our girls are being raised in toxic enviornments, and that may be why some grow depressed and unstable.
Being a girl in the 21st century has its perks and disadvantages. The uprising of technology has made completing school assignments much easier. Transportation is more advanced, innovations in and outside of homes make thinks easier to use and niftier to play with. But all this digitization also makes escaping social standards difficult as well. It seems that the Internet and constant communication takes away from any person's time alone with just their own thoughts. People don't always take a quiet moment to reflect on things anymore, or to really THINK matters about the world through. Rather, we are calling, texting, IMing or chatting with others their age, always looking for a second opinion, always seeking an opportunity to converse.
It could be the persons desire to receive affirmation from another. Without being available, there would be no way to gain acknowledgement or acceptance. Your have to be seen to get noticed. Always ready. Anytime, anywhere. Even in school.
School has become a battleground for many growing girls. There is not only tremendous pressure to meet the academic expectations set by teachers and parents, but in hitting a certain age there is social expectations as well. Freud has a theory about a child's "Latency period" a stage where "during the latency period, children pour this repressed libidal energy into asexual pursuits such as school, athletics, and same-sex friendships." This comes right before puberty, and the confusion of hormones and sexual desires begin to confuse and distract the individual. In the prepubescent period, girls act more like their true selves without having deal with the burden of worrying to please anyone but themselves. "But soon puberty strikes, and the genitals once again become a central focus of libidal energy." In this stage, once girls begin to develop sexual feelings for the opposite (or same) sex, things like appearance and acceptance become more of the central concern.
Because girls are raised in a culture where the mass media promotes constant double standards and unrealistic portrays of beauty, these young gurls resport to mimicking the dangerous actions of the unstable role modles they see on T.V. and in fashion magazines. They are brainswashed to beleive they must use a certain product, have a certain style and look a certain way in order to fit in and overall, be happy with their lives. At school doesn't prompt them to believe anything else since they are told what to do there too.
Conforming becomes a scarpegoat from the constant badgering of keeping up in school, because its easier to gossip then write a 5 page paper. But if girls were encouraged to express themselves more and follow their passions, maybe they wouldn't need to seek affirmation from one another when they fall short with their parents at teachers.
Authority figures need to be more realistic with the boundreies they give their followers, because by pushing them too hard they might completely push them to unhealthy rebellion.
For girls this is especially hard due to their sensitivity and fragile ego's. Girls are told from a young age that their role in this society is to be the damsil in distress, to wait for a strong handsome man to save and marry them, and then to have their children. Men are encouraged to be successful, power hungry and beings that embody masculinity. Gender roles are a bit scewed and this effects the way girls look at themselves and their futures greatly.
Some girls become people pleasers, not really listening to themselves for guidance. They go to extreme measures to fit the social norms, which could potentially by harmful to their heath and overall wellness. Our girls are being raised in toxic enviornments, and that may be why some grow depressed and unstable.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Hw 50: Reading Responses
Andy Snyder: "we need others to help us become ourselves."
Gatto's The 6 Lessons School Teacher:
The first passage I read was one of the Gatto articles about the 6 lessons. I wasn't sure at first if he was being sarcastic or if he actually enforced such ridiculous standards at school. And yet, his article spoke a lot of (blunt) truth about the institution of school and how it is constructed to keep proper order and obedience in order for the students to complete an adequate education. Even though we (as students) are constantly reminded how lucky we are to have opportunities to go to school and make something of ourselves, we never really get a say in whether we agree with the techniques teachers use to teach us. It seems somewhat unfair that its its mandatory to attend school when in fact school many not be for everyone. It appears that Gatto was trying to expose in a humorous manner how school is labeled to serve one purpose and in retrospect completes a totally different one.
In his very first lesson, Gatto explains how he's not just hired to teach a subject, rather to somehow hypnotise kids into following the rules that come with going to school. "My job is to make the kids like it -- being locked in together...You come to know your place." Its as if he's saying that he wants to convince them that they WANT to be there, as if somehow it was their free will to sit in a classroom all day because they're working towards a bigger more enriched goal of being a great student. Doing well in school usually equals out to being a good citizen, good future spouse and parent. Its hard to go against these standards because we're so easily influenced by it. And yet, by enforcing these rules it takes away a persons free will to choose what they want, to be independent and a "free thinker" (like that Keaton was trying to teach in the Dead Poets society). From an early age, if a child disagrees with a teacher, they are labeled disobedient and troubled. But is that really an accurate assumption anymore? Not all children can agree with one teacher.
This was a bit hard to endure: "I never lie outright, but I've come to see that truth and [school]teaching are incompatible."
I've come to realize that teachers must uphold this superior image to their students at all time because if they are taken off the pedestal that their students have them on, then they won't have as much influence to get away with whatever they teach. Not many students at an early age have the audacity to question a teacher, or just plain go against what they say. This makes it easier to teach a lesson, but it also creates a generation of people who are a slave to authority figures, who might not be able to think for themselves as much. If the aim is always to please others, then how will that student ever achieve personal happiness? Like Gatto said, schools "whose hidden curriculum prevents effective personality development."
When he discusses about the absurdities of school, he really pinpoints how each class that differs in topic and curriculum happens to be given the same intervals of time, as if expected to be taught identically even though they serve completely unique purposes to the student. How can you compress all sorts of classes into the same time periods? Why do students so easily accept it? Is it because the consequences for go against the person who holds the outcome of your (academic) fate lies in their hands, and so you must tip tow around their demands?
This was quite an informative piece and it makes me see school in a completely different light. Although I really do adore all of my teachers this year, its funny for they all differ in teaching techniques and how I preform differently in each subject. Although my favorite classes are English and History, I feel more pressure to do better in Science and Math because the consequences of falling behind are greater thanks to the authority of those teachers. Even so, I get more out of the classes that don't demand homework completion by the next day, and have much more insightful conversations with my peers because I'm given the freedom to do so. It seems that when I was given to freedom to choose if I want to do well, I felt more empowered when I actually did.
The paragraphs to follow the 6 Lesson descriptions were the most telling because Gatto really identified the dangers of schools run like this, and how the only way to avoid such corruption is home schooling, or small de-institutionalized schools, which I think you could describe SOF as one of them. But unfortunately, low income families can't afford to home school their kids and a lot of them will resort to institutions that categorize and label their students by their backgrounds, leaving them with fewer opportunities to excel beyond the lifestyle their parents had. Its all pretty discouraging and sad.
I blame this culture. I strongly believe that due to the toxic values out culture produces, kids are going to end up leading the same meaningless lives they see characters on TV leading. School's subconscious lessons teach kids to not become good listeners who take direction well and don't question the things their told. In the workplace, they will be expected to encompass these same qualities, never really accomplishing anything for themselves. Because students are so drained from a long day of they're minds being pushed and pulled by different dictators, they go home and partake in pop culture garbage by watching trashy t.v. shows, listening to degrading music and buying conformist outfits in order to be perfect little raunchy culture cloans. Its as if we aren't given many other alternatives since hardly anyone tells students to think for themselves. We just do what we're told because there isn't any other way to survive in this society.
John Gatto: Teacher of the Year Acceptance Speech
This next article from Gatto confirmed the last point I made about his 6 Lessons article; that our culture is flawed in many respects. Something is wrong, due to the fact that there are so many teenage suicides (like the 3 at Cornell last month) and why 50% of marriages are prone to fail. Something must be off with the decisions people make, with their relationships and with their lack of faith in humanity and life. What can be done to make Americans more optimistic about learning, loving and life? Does it really all start with the schools?
Most memorable quotes from this text-
"Using school as a sorting mechanism we appear to be on the way to creating a caste system, complete with untouchables who wander through subway trains begging and sleep on the streets."
At my old school we had gifted and non gifted classes. I was in the gifted from 4th grade on. Even though Binta an exceptional student, she was in the non gifted all of her years at our elementary school. And Charles was too. A majority of the students in the non gifted were caucasian and oriental, with some exceptions
"The truth is that schools don’t really teach anything except how to obey orders." Gatto repeatedly makes this point throughout all of the articles I've read. From the very beginning, the very first day we enter elementary school we are expected to follow the instructions of the teacher who are put in charge of us. This doesn't seem too uncommon since we had been taking orders from our parents all the days leading up to schooling. But when is the age when we are too old to keep taking orders, when we are fully developed enough to think for ourselves? It seems like the government decides that age is 18, where you don't need the consent of a legal guardian, when you are officially considered an adult. But must our rights really be scarcely seen before then? Are we doomed for any individuality until our 18th birthdays?
"The homeschooling movement has quietly grown to a size where one and a half million young people are being educated entirely by their own parents, last month the education press reported the amazing news that children schooled at home seem to be five or even 10 years ahead of their formally trained peers in their ability to think."
"Schools are intended to produce through the application of formulae, formulaic human beings whose behaviour can be predicted and controlled."
"It is absurd and anti-life to be part of a system that compels you to sit in confinement with people of exactly the same age and social class. "
"-lives devoted to buying things, accumulation as a philosophy, all of them are additions of dependent personalities and that is what our brand of schooling must inevitably produce."
Interview with Tim Manley:
Mr. Manly, my English teacher, came in to discuss his experience with schools and his transition from being the student to becoming a teacher. He didn't seems to have the traditional story that most other teachers have. He didn't always want to work in education, rather he just kind of fell into it. But overall he says its a very rewarding job that he feel fortunate to have especially since he engages in such insightful conversations with such smart people.
I thought he was being a bit too modest when he refereed to his position here as a great one, but then when he discussed the comparison of SOF to another school he taught at, I realized how much the students here differ from those at other schools. Our learning environment is quite complex, which may be why most students from SOF go on to liberal arts colleges.
Mr. Manley told us a story about teaching at some science school were he was hired at as a grammar teacher, that entailed solely teaching grammar strategies. He described it as being sheer agony to go to work everyday and just talk about grammar. He also informed us that his superiors instructed him to never get personal with his students. To not give any leeway into his outside of school life, and never ask them about theirs. This being pretty abnormal since Manley usually has a story to tell from his childhood in our English class, and on very special occasions has a viewing of a video he made when he was in high school.
It seem unfortunate that students at that school aren't allowed to think of their teachers as cool people, rather just as informative robots whose role is just as the person who has the power to give them a good grade or not. They are missing out on so much, and yet Manly said they were so "well behaved." It seemed like because they were so concerned with doing well, they never actually had the option of being themselves.
The one advantage Manley admitted to having by teaching at the other school was having all his students hand in their assignments, which is not as common at SOF. This got me wondering about whether the freedom to still learn without doing homework is better then achieving that good grade which may help an individual get into a better college, which could amount to a better future.
Which is better, current happiness or working towards future happiness? Living in the moment verse working for the future?
In conclusion, Manley said he values the opportunities he has to really get to know his students on a deep and person level. He says it makes waking up every morning to teach four classes a lot easier because he himself enjoys what he's doing, and feels his students enjoys themselves too.
Gatto's The 6 Lessons School Teacher:
The first passage I read was one of the Gatto articles about the 6 lessons. I wasn't sure at first if he was being sarcastic or if he actually enforced such ridiculous standards at school. And yet, his article spoke a lot of (blunt) truth about the institution of school and how it is constructed to keep proper order and obedience in order for the students to complete an adequate education. Even though we (as students) are constantly reminded how lucky we are to have opportunities to go to school and make something of ourselves, we never really get a say in whether we agree with the techniques teachers use to teach us. It seems somewhat unfair that its its mandatory to attend school when in fact school many not be for everyone. It appears that Gatto was trying to expose in a humorous manner how school is labeled to serve one purpose and in retrospect completes a totally different one.
In his very first lesson, Gatto explains how he's not just hired to teach a subject, rather to somehow hypnotise kids into following the rules that come with going to school. "My job is to make the kids like it -- being locked in together...You come to know your place." Its as if he's saying that he wants to convince them that they WANT to be there, as if somehow it was their free will to sit in a classroom all day because they're working towards a bigger more enriched goal of being a great student. Doing well in school usually equals out to being a good citizen, good future spouse and parent. Its hard to go against these standards because we're so easily influenced by it. And yet, by enforcing these rules it takes away a persons free will to choose what they want, to be independent and a "free thinker" (like that Keaton was trying to teach in the Dead Poets society). From an early age, if a child disagrees with a teacher, they are labeled disobedient and troubled. But is that really an accurate assumption anymore? Not all children can agree with one teacher.
This was a bit hard to endure: "I never lie outright, but I've come to see that truth and [school]teaching are incompatible."
I've come to realize that teachers must uphold this superior image to their students at all time because if they are taken off the pedestal that their students have them on, then they won't have as much influence to get away with whatever they teach. Not many students at an early age have the audacity to question a teacher, or just plain go against what they say. This makes it easier to teach a lesson, but it also creates a generation of people who are a slave to authority figures, who might not be able to think for themselves as much. If the aim is always to please others, then how will that student ever achieve personal happiness? Like Gatto said, schools "whose hidden curriculum prevents effective personality development."
When he discusses about the absurdities of school, he really pinpoints how each class that differs in topic and curriculum happens to be given the same intervals of time, as if expected to be taught identically even though they serve completely unique purposes to the student. How can you compress all sorts of classes into the same time periods? Why do students so easily accept it? Is it because the consequences for go against the person who holds the outcome of your (academic) fate lies in their hands, and so you must tip tow around their demands?
This was quite an informative piece and it makes me see school in a completely different light. Although I really do adore all of my teachers this year, its funny for they all differ in teaching techniques and how I preform differently in each subject. Although my favorite classes are English and History, I feel more pressure to do better in Science and Math because the consequences of falling behind are greater thanks to the authority of those teachers. Even so, I get more out of the classes that don't demand homework completion by the next day, and have much more insightful conversations with my peers because I'm given the freedom to do so. It seems that when I was given to freedom to choose if I want to do well, I felt more empowered when I actually did.
The paragraphs to follow the 6 Lesson descriptions were the most telling because Gatto really identified the dangers of schools run like this, and how the only way to avoid such corruption is home schooling, or small de-institutionalized schools, which I think you could describe SOF as one of them. But unfortunately, low income families can't afford to home school their kids and a lot of them will resort to institutions that categorize and label their students by their backgrounds, leaving them with fewer opportunities to excel beyond the lifestyle their parents had. Its all pretty discouraging and sad.
I blame this culture. I strongly believe that due to the toxic values out culture produces, kids are going to end up leading the same meaningless lives they see characters on TV leading. School's subconscious lessons teach kids to not become good listeners who take direction well and don't question the things their told. In the workplace, they will be expected to encompass these same qualities, never really accomplishing anything for themselves. Because students are so drained from a long day of they're minds being pushed and pulled by different dictators, they go home and partake in pop culture garbage by watching trashy t.v. shows, listening to degrading music and buying conformist outfits in order to be perfect little raunchy culture cloans. Its as if we aren't given many other alternatives since hardly anyone tells students to think for themselves. We just do what we're told because there isn't any other way to survive in this society.
John Gatto: Teacher of the Year Acceptance Speech
This next article from Gatto confirmed the last point I made about his 6 Lessons article; that our culture is flawed in many respects. Something is wrong, due to the fact that there are so many teenage suicides (like the 3 at Cornell last month) and why 50% of marriages are prone to fail. Something must be off with the decisions people make, with their relationships and with their lack of faith in humanity and life. What can be done to make Americans more optimistic about learning, loving and life? Does it really all start with the schools?
Most memorable quotes from this text-
"Using school as a sorting mechanism we appear to be on the way to creating a caste system, complete with untouchables who wander through subway trains begging and sleep on the streets."
At my old school we had gifted and non gifted classes. I was in the gifted from 4th grade on. Even though Binta an exceptional student, she was in the non gifted all of her years at our elementary school. And Charles was too. A majority of the students in the non gifted were caucasian and oriental, with some exceptions
"The truth is that schools don’t really teach anything except how to obey orders." Gatto repeatedly makes this point throughout all of the articles I've read. From the very beginning, the very first day we enter elementary school we are expected to follow the instructions of the teacher who are put in charge of us. This doesn't seem too uncommon since we had been taking orders from our parents all the days leading up to schooling. But when is the age when we are too old to keep taking orders, when we are fully developed enough to think for ourselves? It seems like the government decides that age is 18, where you don't need the consent of a legal guardian, when you are officially considered an adult. But must our rights really be scarcely seen before then? Are we doomed for any individuality until our 18th birthdays?
"The homeschooling movement has quietly grown to a size where one and a half million young people are being educated entirely by their own parents, last month the education press reported the amazing news that children schooled at home seem to be five or even 10 years ahead of their formally trained peers in their ability to think."
"Schools are intended to produce through the application of formulae, formulaic human beings whose behaviour can be predicted and controlled."
"It is absurd and anti-life to be part of a system that compels you to sit in confinement with people of exactly the same age and social class. "
"-lives devoted to buying things, accumulation as a philosophy, all of them are additions of dependent personalities and that is what our brand of schooling must inevitably produce."
Interview with Tim Manley:
Mr. Manly, my English teacher, came in to discuss his experience with schools and his transition from being the student to becoming a teacher. He didn't seems to have the traditional story that most other teachers have. He didn't always want to work in education, rather he just kind of fell into it. But overall he says its a very rewarding job that he feel fortunate to have especially since he engages in such insightful conversations with such smart people.
I thought he was being a bit too modest when he refereed to his position here as a great one, but then when he discussed the comparison of SOF to another school he taught at, I realized how much the students here differ from those at other schools. Our learning environment is quite complex, which may be why most students from SOF go on to liberal arts colleges.
Mr. Manley told us a story about teaching at some science school were he was hired at as a grammar teacher, that entailed solely teaching grammar strategies. He described it as being sheer agony to go to work everyday and just talk about grammar. He also informed us that his superiors instructed him to never get personal with his students. To not give any leeway into his outside of school life, and never ask them about theirs. This being pretty abnormal since Manley usually has a story to tell from his childhood in our English class, and on very special occasions has a viewing of a video he made when he was in high school.
It seem unfortunate that students at that school aren't allowed to think of their teachers as cool people, rather just as informative robots whose role is just as the person who has the power to give them a good grade or not. They are missing out on so much, and yet Manly said they were so "well behaved." It seemed like because they were so concerned with doing well, they never actually had the option of being themselves.
The one advantage Manley admitted to having by teaching at the other school was having all his students hand in their assignments, which is not as common at SOF. This got me wondering about whether the freedom to still learn without doing homework is better then achieving that good grade which may help an individual get into a better college, which could amount to a better future.
Which is better, current happiness or working towards future happiness? Living in the moment verse working for the future?
In conclusion, Manley said he values the opportunities he has to really get to know his students on a deep and person level. He says it makes waking up every morning to teach four classes a lot easier because he himself enjoys what he's doing, and feels his students enjoys themselves too.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Hw 49: Savior/Teacher film Reflection
My class had the pleasure of having Gavin and Esther as our director and film maker, so of course our video came out really well. A mix of Gavin's script and Ester's nearly professional edits helped our film encompass everything we were aiming to achieve. With Will as the highly distressed teacher who just "snaps" one day, and Aja as the observant student, the storyline became a plot that told the tale of how not all teachers can be saviors like they fantasize about.
In the video, I was one of many disobedient students in the class who helped instigate altercations between the teachers and the rebellious student, played by Evan and his lil brat pack of followers. Like many schools, there are the students who wish to excel by being the apple of the teachers eye, and those who couldn't care less about anything. Like we've been reading from Gatto's 6 Lessons, its the teachers job to get the kids to like, or at least endure, being stuck in the classroom. He's expected to enforce authority over a classroom of various differing personalities and somehow have them all act the same by being engaged in his lectures.
I think our film shows that this is a rather unrealistic expectation that not every teacher can fulfill. What makes our film different, though, is that rather then the teacher letting his personal life affect his teaching tactics like displayed in most other movies, this teacher gives into impulse.
He no longer sees his classroom as a place of learning, rather he turns it into his own personal domain. He lets his true colors show and doesn't put on a fake fascad, since clearly no student was doing such for him.
He indulges in a drink while his class is in session, and takes the time to give his most difficult students a piece of his mind. He goes off about where he really sees them going with their lives, I think in order to give them a dose of reality. I really enjoyed Will's performance in this part of the film, he did a great job of being a hard ass who meant every word he was saying to Evan's character. I also think the lines were brilliant, because its true that most kids care too much about meaningless crap rather then trying to appreciate the education they're being offered.
In this culture, in order to get by you have to follow the orders your given or else you'll be seen as a trouble maker. Not to say that this is the only way to succeed, or that its right, but never the less without obedience nothing will get done. I think you have to somehow be apart of the system in order to truly fight the system. But the kids in our film just flat out resisted the system, rather then using it to their advantage to get by, but was pretty ignorant of them. Will's character was right to share how he saw them in their futures, because thats whats can happen for most of the students who don't put any thought into their school work.
It seems the teacher just wanted to get through to his students, to share some knowledge with them that might help them become more then the superficial robots they currently were. By only being engaged in their digital devices all the time rather then engaging in something intellectual or meaningful, they were passing up an opportunity to have good careers and fulfilling lives.
In the end, the teacher kind of just gave up on his students, which I think made him a bad teacher. Like we've been learning, when a teacher cares the students to better. But when a teacher gives in and shuts down, whats left for the student to do but believe that they can make any adult go crazy. The teacher is supposed to set an example for the students who rely on him for guidance. All he taught them now was that when the going gets tough, the though gets drinking.
The moral of the film, to me, was that you must want to learn in order to truly learn. Your can't force change onto anyone who doesn't want it. But when enough people express how little they care, it can ruin the hope for others. By the students not caring the teacher just lost faith and all hope in them, which is a quality a teacher should NEVER have.
There can only be salvation if all parties want it.
Wills character seemed like the villain in one sense, and human in another.
In the video, I was one of many disobedient students in the class who helped instigate altercations between the teachers and the rebellious student, played by Evan and his lil brat pack of followers. Like many schools, there are the students who wish to excel by being the apple of the teachers eye, and those who couldn't care less about anything. Like we've been reading from Gatto's 6 Lessons, its the teachers job to get the kids to like, or at least endure, being stuck in the classroom. He's expected to enforce authority over a classroom of various differing personalities and somehow have them all act the same by being engaged in his lectures.
I think our film shows that this is a rather unrealistic expectation that not every teacher can fulfill. What makes our film different, though, is that rather then the teacher letting his personal life affect his teaching tactics like displayed in most other movies, this teacher gives into impulse.
He no longer sees his classroom as a place of learning, rather he turns it into his own personal domain. He lets his true colors show and doesn't put on a fake fascad, since clearly no student was doing such for him.
He indulges in a drink while his class is in session, and takes the time to give his most difficult students a piece of his mind. He goes off about where he really sees them going with their lives, I think in order to give them a dose of reality. I really enjoyed Will's performance in this part of the film, he did a great job of being a hard ass who meant every word he was saying to Evan's character. I also think the lines were brilliant, because its true that most kids care too much about meaningless crap rather then trying to appreciate the education they're being offered.
In this culture, in order to get by you have to follow the orders your given or else you'll be seen as a trouble maker. Not to say that this is the only way to succeed, or that its right, but never the less without obedience nothing will get done. I think you have to somehow be apart of the system in order to truly fight the system. But the kids in our film just flat out resisted the system, rather then using it to their advantage to get by, but was pretty ignorant of them. Will's character was right to share how he saw them in their futures, because thats whats can happen for most of the students who don't put any thought into their school work.
It seems the teacher just wanted to get through to his students, to share some knowledge with them that might help them become more then the superficial robots they currently were. By only being engaged in their digital devices all the time rather then engaging in something intellectual or meaningful, they were passing up an opportunity to have good careers and fulfilling lives.
In the end, the teacher kind of just gave up on his students, which I think made him a bad teacher. Like we've been learning, when a teacher cares the students to better. But when a teacher gives in and shuts down, whats left for the student to do but believe that they can make any adult go crazy. The teacher is supposed to set an example for the students who rely on him for guidance. All he taught them now was that when the going gets tough, the though gets drinking.
The moral of the film, to me, was that you must want to learn in order to truly learn. Your can't force change onto anyone who doesn't want it. But when enough people express how little they care, it can ruin the hope for others. By the students not caring the teacher just lost faith and all hope in them, which is a quality a teacher should NEVER have.
There can only be salvation if all parties want it.
Wills character seemed like the villain in one sense, and human in another.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Hw 48- Treatment for Savior/ Teacher Movie
"Sean (teacher) held his eyes closed, trying to listen to the tranquil voice of the man coming from his portable CD player that he kept on a chair next to his desk.
He was sitting in front of the window on the far left of his classroom, a yoga mat underneath him while he tried to tone out the noises from he crowded hallway. He heard a bird chirp and opened his right eye to peer out the window, closing in as the bird flew from a blossoming tree branch. He smiled.
He peeked at the clock from his peripherals, even though he knew it was any moment that his 16 and 17 year old students would come bursting in, breaking the almost silence.
As Chad passed, he could smell the strong scent of liquor on his breath as he screamed out a prejudice joke to the small Jewish boy in front of him. An instant flash back to his own adolescent days came rushing back to Sean, as he tried to take a moment and keep his cool.
He was sitting in front of the window on the far left of his classroom, a yoga mat underneath him while he tried to tone out the noises from he crowded hallway. He heard a bird chirp and opened his right eye to peer out the window, closing in as the bird flew from a blossoming tree branch. He smiled.
He peeked at the clock from his peripherals, even though he knew it was any moment that his 16 and 17 year old students would come bursting in, breaking the almost silence.
As Chad passed, he could smell the strong scent of liquor on his breath as he screamed out a prejudice joke to the small Jewish boy in front of him. An instant flash back to his own adolescent days came rushing back to Sean, as he tried to take a moment and keep his cool.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Hw 47: Class film Prep 1
My colorful list includes:
My first idea would be to address the pattern of underage drinking thats reccently been occurring on school grounds, or rather, why kids can't seem to avoid getting caught. Its abundantly clear thanks to pop culture and main stream media that under aged drinking does occur at social gatherings on weekends, but why all of a sudden has it become so common for students to get drunk in a place where there would be the most consequences?
Perhaps the teacher can be a recovering alcoholic, taunted with the idea that his own students are abusing the bottle in the same ways he once did. Then have him preech to them.
Try and propose the question: Is school such agony that the only way to get through the day is by being intoxicated?
What must teachers and authority figures say to not make students want to resort to alcohol?
Why do students take the rick rather then just waiting for school to be over?
Is it that they really have a craving the beverage, or is it more of a sumbolic pose that makes them seem rebellious and therefore cooler?
Why has the trend reached such young conformists? Whose next?
-
My first idea would be to address the pattern of underage drinking thats reccently been occurring on school grounds, or rather, why kids can't seem to avoid getting caught. Its abundantly clear thanks to pop culture and main stream media that under aged drinking does occur at social gatherings on weekends, but why all of a sudden has it become so common for students to get drunk in a place where there would be the most consequences?
Perhaps the teacher can be a recovering alcoholic, taunted with the idea that his own students are abusing the bottle in the same ways he once did. Then have him preech to them.
Try and propose the question: Is school such agony that the only way to get through the day is by being intoxicated?
What must teachers and authority figures say to not make students want to resort to alcohol?
Why do students take the rick rather then just waiting for school to be over?
Is it that they really have a craving the beverage, or is it more of a sumbolic pose that makes them seem rebellious and therefore cooler?
Why has the trend reached such young conformists? Whose next?
-
Hw 46: Research & Writing; READ ME!!!
Reviving Ophelia; Saving the Selves of Adolesent Gils
By Mary Pipher P.H.D.
My angle for this post was to discuss the experienc eof school through a female's perspective. Being a girl myself, I only know of my time at school through the eyes of a white middle class girl. But through reading Reviving Ophelia I've realized that my situation isn't so different from the ones of others girls, in different places at different times.
We all know students don't go to school JUST to learn about American History and Algebra. There are many componenets thats add up to the experience of going to school as a WHOLE.
For instance, networking. At school, you have to interact with all sorts of people in order to get through the day. When entering in the morning, your greeted by secutirty, a symbol for your safety. Walking up to stairs, your passed by your peers; signifying that your not the only soul seeking an education. Entering the classroom your welcomed by the teacher; the authority figure, the source of knowledge you are expected to absorb. And finally, if your unlucky, you'll be graced with the pressance of one of the acceptions. Seeing a principal, guidance conslor or the nurse for and such reason.
All these people have titles and jobs that make up the school as a whole. Although, this list doesn't include the people who you don't see that make a big difference to the school if they were absent. Like the janitors, lunch people or office staff.
None of this actually directly related to Reviving Ohelia, I'm just making the point that in order to function well, communication is crucial. But we don't always communicate to the people who may deserve it the most.
Anyways, back to the book.
By Mary Pipher P.H.D.
My angle for this post was to discuss the experienc eof school through a female's perspective. Being a girl myself, I only know of my time at school through the eyes of a white middle class girl. But through reading Reviving Ophelia I've realized that my situation isn't so different from the ones of others girls, in different places at different times.
We all know students don't go to school JUST to learn about American History and Algebra. There are many componenets thats add up to the experience of going to school as a WHOLE.
For instance, networking. At school, you have to interact with all sorts of people in order to get through the day. When entering in the morning, your greeted by secutirty, a symbol for your safety. Walking up to stairs, your passed by your peers; signifying that your not the only soul seeking an education. Entering the classroom your welcomed by the teacher; the authority figure, the source of knowledge you are expected to absorb. And finally, if your unlucky, you'll be graced with the pressance of one of the acceptions. Seeing a principal, guidance conslor or the nurse for and such reason.
All these people have titles and jobs that make up the school as a whole. Although, this list doesn't include the people who you don't see that make a big difference to the school if they were absent. Like the janitors, lunch people or office staff.
None of this actually directly related to Reviving Ohelia, I'm just making the point that in order to function well, communication is crucial. But we don't always communicate to the people who may deserve it the most.
Anyways, back to the book.
hw 45: more BIG thoughts on school
Comparisons between E.D. Hirsch & Ted Sizer.
Hirsch and Sizer had very conflicting perspectives on education. While Hirsch beleived in cultral literacy,
Hirsh argues that in order to do well in the school system, students must know the fudemental historical facts
Hirsch and Sizer had very conflicting perspectives on education. While Hirsch beleived in cultral literacy,
Hirsh argues that in order to do well in the school system, students must know the fudemental historical facts
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Hw: 44 Big expectations for school.
Pertaining to my personal experience in school, I have come to realize that school puts an enormous amount of strain and stress on students lives, where they choose to relieve through digital distractions and social outings. With each passing year, students become more exposed to alternative choices, and it becomes increasingly more hard to please their parents and teachers when they also want to entertain themselves.
I am of course referring to the weekend lifestyle that at times clashes with the responsibility to do well i school. I don't have statistics to support my argument, but I've come to notice that those individuals with highly enjoyable social lives don't score as high on their report cards as students whose parents keep them inside on Friday and Saturday nights.
Those same individuals also have a duty to keep up their party going reputations by having nice bodies, trendy wardrobes and attractive demeanor. That means more time shopping or at the gym and less time studying.
There seems to be some kind of correlation between socializing and academic performance. The more one dedicates to networking and social climbing the less likely that they do well in school. The more one spends studying and getting good grades, the less likely they have a popular social circle and attend exclusive binge drinking fests.
Looking back on my report cards over the years, I realized I did the best in school when I was in 6th grade. This may be because we didn't yet have to take a language, or because I really had a non existent social life. 6th grade was misery for me, yet I excelled more then I have since because I had more time to dedicate to homework rather then being on the phone for countless hours or hanging around outside. It was just me and my television that year.
But everything changed when I met my best friend in 7th grade. Then I talked more during class, was late from goofing off in the hallways and was on AIM every night for three hours straight, talking about bullshit. All because I had people who wanted to talk to me. I spent more time planning out what I was going to say on my xanga then I did writing an assignment. I left most work to morning advisory and put hardly any thought or effort into it, especially when there was an asian kid I could easily copy from.
I realize now that when I was sad or lonely I'd turn to work. but otherwise, if it didn't make me look cooler, I wouldn't be caught focusing on school work, even when my mother would beg me to do better.
Unless I got something out of it, I didn't bother trying hard when it came to middle school.
This trend followed me though my first two years of high school. Until I had a wake up call that colleges weren't looking for students who just got by, I was a bonafied slacker.
I know this post is more of a rant then a analysis of the institution of school, but there are so many contradictions that its hard to think straight or make a formal opinion.
At time I think we're not mature enough to really value education. In the book I'm reading entitled Reviving Ophelia, the author repeatedly states how difficult it is for adolescence to be their "true selves" when their so busy tweaking their "false selves" in order to please their peers.
At the same time its odd to me that so many authority figures keep drilling into our heads that in order to lead successful fulfilling lives, we must do as best we can in school. But as I see it, school brings kids great unhappiness.
Like George Vidal said in his article Drugs: case for Legalizing Marijuana; "Nevertheless, forbidding people things they like or think they might enjoy only makes them want those things all the more."
Of course, he was referring to the governments need to prohibit people from using drugs rather then legalizing them and allowing people to choose for themselves whether its worth experimenting.
But I believe that enforcing an form of institution on people who don't enjoy it many also make them resist it more. That's why college so many high school students look forward to college, because its a school experience where they get to choose what they want to learn rather then being forced to sit through a class they hate.
Like the author from the op- ed Liberal Arts Education: why it still matters,
This reminds me a lot of what Andy was getting at in Friday's (19th, so yes this post is OD late) class about how is we put more effort into the work we're assigned in class, many them we would make more enriched decisions later in life. But I think this works better in an enviornment were the student is given a choice to be there or not.
We all want an education so that we can go farther in life, but it matter what you do with that education in order to truly turn it into success. If a kid doesn't put their all into their work, then it may be like the lesson was for nothing. I concur that some students may take the education they feel they are "entitled to" and that what other kids would kill for in less fortunate countries. But why waste time in classes we can't stand?
I love English and History class, and greatly look forward to them, especially when I'm sitting in math class drooling with frustration and boredom. I take an English college class at Baruch where I feel excited to learn and its not such a big hassle doing the homework because I actually like what I'm writing about. If I had that same attitude for every class I took in High School, I may be taking straight A's. But I'm not.
What I have realize, though, and this applies to what Andy has been emphasizing in the many movies we're watched, was that when a teacher gets excited about the subject their teaching, he students do as well. I know this thanks to Mr. Z, who not only loves what he does but also shows much respect and admiration when his students get his lessons. He is patient when a formula is hard to understand, yet assertive in tolerating those who give up too easily, encouraging them to try again.
Although he doesn't take all the credit, its clear he cares about us kids and that makes us want to make him all the more proud.
I also have to give Andy and Mr. Manley a little credit for their teaching tactics. I like that they hardly stand behind their desks in, or give lectures to the class. They set up wide open circles and usually teach lessons through a group conversation where they encourage comments and questions rather them demanding obedience. It makes me feel like more of their equal rather then someone who MUST listen to them. Although it may make it harder to quiet down a class, it also makes it easier to open up and answer questions honestly and without hesitation.
I enjoyed the article from Pennlive.com because it rephrases many of the reasons why I want to attend a liberal arts college, on aspect in particular because they encourage studying abroad
Beatrice and I were agreeing with the point brought up in class that most schools attract a certain demographic of people and breed out clones of their parents. For instance, a kid whose father works on wall street would naturally attend a prestigious private school in order to make a high income to enjoy the luxurious lifestyle he has in is youth in his adulthood as well.
At the same time, a kid whose father works two blue collar jobs may attend a violent public school, where he just gets by in order to get his high school diploma and go to a community college, leading him back to the same neighborhood he grew up with less opportunity to make it in any environment.
There's not much room to try things out.
I am of course referring to the weekend lifestyle that at times clashes with the responsibility to do well i school. I don't have statistics to support my argument, but I've come to notice that those individuals with highly enjoyable social lives don't score as high on their report cards as students whose parents keep them inside on Friday and Saturday nights.
Those same individuals also have a duty to keep up their party going reputations by having nice bodies, trendy wardrobes and attractive demeanor. That means more time shopping or at the gym and less time studying.
There seems to be some kind of correlation between socializing and academic performance. The more one dedicates to networking and social climbing the less likely that they do well in school. The more one spends studying and getting good grades, the less likely they have a popular social circle and attend exclusive binge drinking fests.
Looking back on my report cards over the years, I realized I did the best in school when I was in 6th grade. This may be because we didn't yet have to take a language, or because I really had a non existent social life. 6th grade was misery for me, yet I excelled more then I have since because I had more time to dedicate to homework rather then being on the phone for countless hours or hanging around outside. It was just me and my television that year.
But everything changed when I met my best friend in 7th grade. Then I talked more during class, was late from goofing off in the hallways and was on AIM every night for three hours straight, talking about bullshit. All because I had people who wanted to talk to me. I spent more time planning out what I was going to say on my xanga then I did writing an assignment. I left most work to morning advisory and put hardly any thought or effort into it, especially when there was an asian kid I could easily copy from.
I realize now that when I was sad or lonely I'd turn to work. but otherwise, if it didn't make me look cooler, I wouldn't be caught focusing on school work, even when my mother would beg me to do better.
Unless I got something out of it, I didn't bother trying hard when it came to middle school.
This trend followed me though my first two years of high school. Until I had a wake up call that colleges weren't looking for students who just got by, I was a bonafied slacker.
I know this post is more of a rant then a analysis of the institution of school, but there are so many contradictions that its hard to think straight or make a formal opinion.
At time I think we're not mature enough to really value education. In the book I'm reading entitled Reviving Ophelia, the author repeatedly states how difficult it is for adolescence to be their "true selves" when their so busy tweaking their "false selves" in order to please their peers.
At the same time its odd to me that so many authority figures keep drilling into our heads that in order to lead successful fulfilling lives, we must do as best we can in school. But as I see it, school brings kids great unhappiness.
Like George Vidal said in his article Drugs: case for Legalizing Marijuana; "Nevertheless, forbidding people things they like or think they might enjoy only makes them want those things all the more."
Of course, he was referring to the governments need to prohibit people from using drugs rather then legalizing them and allowing people to choose for themselves whether its worth experimenting.
But I believe that enforcing an form of institution on people who don't enjoy it many also make them resist it more. That's why college so many high school students look forward to college, because its a school experience where they get to choose what they want to learn rather then being forced to sit through a class they hate.
Like the author from the op- ed Liberal Arts Education: why it still matters,
"Studying the arts nurtures an appreciation for the richness and endless diversity of human imagination.
"The point is that it is not so much the specific content of our courses that is at the core of the liberal arts experience, rather the value is in a way of learning" This reminds me a lot of what Andy was getting at in Friday's (19th, so yes this post is OD late) class about how is we put more effort into the work we're assigned in class, many them we would make more enriched decisions later in life. But I think this works better in an enviornment were the student is given a choice to be there or not.
We all want an education so that we can go farther in life, but it matter what you do with that education in order to truly turn it into success. If a kid doesn't put their all into their work, then it may be like the lesson was for nothing. I concur that some students may take the education they feel they are "entitled to" and that what other kids would kill for in less fortunate countries. But why waste time in classes we can't stand?
I love English and History class, and greatly look forward to them, especially when I'm sitting in math class drooling with frustration and boredom. I take an English college class at Baruch where I feel excited to learn and its not such a big hassle doing the homework because I actually like what I'm writing about. If I had that same attitude for every class I took in High School, I may be taking straight A's. But I'm not.
What I have realize, though, and this applies to what Andy has been emphasizing in the many movies we're watched, was that when a teacher gets excited about the subject their teaching, he students do as well. I know this thanks to Mr. Z, who not only loves what he does but also shows much respect and admiration when his students get his lessons. He is patient when a formula is hard to understand, yet assertive in tolerating those who give up too easily, encouraging them to try again.
Although he doesn't take all the credit, its clear he cares about us kids and that makes us want to make him all the more proud.
I also have to give Andy and Mr. Manley a little credit for their teaching tactics. I like that they hardly stand behind their desks in, or give lectures to the class. They set up wide open circles and usually teach lessons through a group conversation where they encourage comments and questions rather them demanding obedience. It makes me feel like more of their equal rather then someone who MUST listen to them. Although it may make it harder to quiet down a class, it also makes it easier to open up and answer questions honestly and without hesitation.
I enjoyed the article from Pennlive.com because it rephrases many of the reasons why I want to attend a liberal arts college, on aspect in particular because they encourage studying abroad
"Many Gettysburg students spend a semester or more abroad in a cultural context different from their own. These kinds of experiences cultivate the humility, open mindedness, dedication to dialogue and respect for multiple perspectives that support meaningful engagement with the world and enhance our graduates' ability to have an impact on their professions and on their communities."
Perhaps if more teenage New Yorkers saw the hardship other communities endured, even in their own city, they would value their education all the more, and for reasons other then in attempts to make big bucks like the hot shot they see on Wall Street. Why is education strictly seen as a source of power rather then being a good person? Do we need to have lush living in order to be happy? Beatrice and I were agreeing with the point brought up in class that most schools attract a certain demographic of people and breed out clones of their parents. For instance, a kid whose father works on wall street would naturally attend a prestigious private school in order to make a high income to enjoy the luxurious lifestyle he has in is youth in his adulthood as well.
At the same time, a kid whose father works two blue collar jobs may attend a violent public school, where he just gets by in order to get his high school diploma and go to a community college, leading him back to the same neighborhood he grew up with less opportunity to make it in any environment.
There's not much room to try things out.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Hw 42: Book Research and further thinking
In the book Reviving Ophilia, the author Mary Pipher brings up a valid issue that effects the behaviors of teenage girls; puberty.
According to Freud, there is a phase called the Latency period where girls are confronted with the issue of sexuality, but not yet burdened with the hormonal effects the hit after their prepubescent years. In this time, children tend to put all that repressed energy into asexual activities like sports, music and same sex friendships. According to the research David B. Stevenson did on Freud's theory, untitled Freud's Psycho-sexual Stages of Development:
The resolution of the phallic stage leads to the latency period, which is not a psychosexual stage of development, but a period in which the sexual drive lies dormant. Freud saw latency as a period of unparalleled repression of sexual desires and erogenous impulses.
So when those hormones start raging, their confusion and need for a sexual identity dominate their mind body and spirits, turning them into different people. Freud called this the genital stage; "As the child's energy once again focuses on his genitals, interest turns to heterosexual relationships. The less energy the child has left invested in unresolved psychosexual developments, the greater his capacity will be to develop normal relationships with the opposite sex."
Their curiosity is curved from books and nature to the opposite sex (or rather desired sex) and physicality. If they do not meet the definition of what society defines as "desierable" they obsess to meet such social norms. Girls slave away hours at the gym just to be the right pants size, spend hundreds of dollars on products and puts an enormous amount of effort into pleasing people who are just as desperate as they are. They begin to care more about social norms and sexual expectations rather then intellectual ambitions. Their attitudes change towards their parents and siblings as they transform into rude, confused and frustrated teenagers.
This plays into their performance in school, because what they once found intriguing and interesting no longer appeals or is significant to their other priorities; sex. It becomes significantly more difficult from then on to keep motivations in school and extra curricular since they have the burden of trying to keep up a social life on top of that. Of course this doesn't apply to all teenagers, but has been a reoccurring pattern in the age group.
In Full Frontal Feminism, Jessica Valenti focuses a nice portion of her book to how crucial it is for girls to receive a proper education, especially in countries that refuse schooling for girls.
Another book that has been fervently pushing the importance of education in order to have less oppression and better opportunities was Half the Sky, written by a New York Times columnist.
Valentti also highlights the constant double standard that exists in comparing girls to boys. Boys are naturally destined to go farther, make more money and run all the major corporations that make up American consumerism. Even though women have made tremendous progress in the professional frield, we still only make 77 cents to every dollar a man makes.
A lot of her arguments play into the attitudes people have against girls in school. Girls who have reformed style, square attitudes and a respectable demeanor would naturally have good grades and a bright future, whereas those who are more in touch with their sexuality and freedomn of expression (or rebellion) are seen as disobedient and mischievous, with bad grades. This striked a thought for where personal expression can fit into the structured lessons in school. What if a student doens't agree with the tactics of a project of the facts in a history presentation. Why must we be forced to participate in subjects we don't relate to and topics that don't interest us. Why is sex always associated with our value? If girls aren't ashamed of their sexuality, their trouble makers. If they're prude, their more obedient and therefore better to control. Why aren't guys seperated to these sex classes as well?
According to Freud, there is a phase called the Latency period where girls are confronted with the issue of sexuality, but not yet burdened with the hormonal effects the hit after their prepubescent years. In this time, children tend to put all that repressed energy into asexual activities like sports, music and same sex friendships. According to the research David B. Stevenson did on Freud's theory, untitled Freud's Psycho-sexual Stages of Development:
The resolution of the phallic stage leads to the latency period, which is not a psychosexual stage of development, but a period in which the sexual drive lies dormant. Freud saw latency as a period of unparalleled repression of sexual desires and erogenous impulses.
So when those hormones start raging, their confusion and need for a sexual identity dominate their mind body and spirits, turning them into different people. Freud called this the genital stage; "As the child's energy once again focuses on his genitals, interest turns to heterosexual relationships. The less energy the child has left invested in unresolved psychosexual developments, the greater his capacity will be to develop normal relationships with the opposite sex."
Their curiosity is curved from books and nature to the opposite sex (or rather desired sex) and physicality. If they do not meet the definition of what society defines as "desierable" they obsess to meet such social norms. Girls slave away hours at the gym just to be the right pants size, spend hundreds of dollars on products and puts an enormous amount of effort into pleasing people who are just as desperate as they are. They begin to care more about social norms and sexual expectations rather then intellectual ambitions. Their attitudes change towards their parents and siblings as they transform into rude, confused and frustrated teenagers.
This plays into their performance in school, because what they once found intriguing and interesting no longer appeals or is significant to their other priorities; sex. It becomes significantly more difficult from then on to keep motivations in school and extra curricular since they have the burden of trying to keep up a social life on top of that. Of course this doesn't apply to all teenagers, but has been a reoccurring pattern in the age group.
In Full Frontal Feminism, Jessica Valenti focuses a nice portion of her book to how crucial it is for girls to receive a proper education, especially in countries that refuse schooling for girls.
Another book that has been fervently pushing the importance of education in order to have less oppression and better opportunities was Half the Sky, written by a New York Times columnist.
Valentti also highlights the constant double standard that exists in comparing girls to boys. Boys are naturally destined to go farther, make more money and run all the major corporations that make up American consumerism. Even though women have made tremendous progress in the professional frield, we still only make 77 cents to every dollar a man makes.
A lot of her arguments play into the attitudes people have against girls in school. Girls who have reformed style, square attitudes and a respectable demeanor would naturally have good grades and a bright future, whereas those who are more in touch with their sexuality and freedomn of expression (or rebellion) are seen as disobedient and mischievous, with bad grades. This striked a thought for where personal expression can fit into the structured lessons in school. What if a student doens't agree with the tactics of a project of the facts in a history presentation. Why must we be forced to participate in subjects we don't relate to and topics that don't interest us. Why is sex always associated with our value? If girls aren't ashamed of their sexuality, their trouble makers. If they're prude, their more obedient and therefore better to control. Why aren't guys seperated to these sex classes as well?
Monday, February 22, 2010
Hw 41: Initial Internet Research on Schooling
Recently I've become very interested in feminism and have started reading books on women's oppression is today's media and society. Throughout most of history women generally have had fewer legal rights and career opportunities than men. Although women have come a long way in fighting for equality, there is still great inequality that exists in the work place and even at home. I've become fervent about shaking the vulgar stereotypes women are labeled with and desire to exterminate the constant double standards that hurt and degrade women.
I was reading an Article by Jessica Valenti that was in the Washington post that discussed how women's oppression still very must exists today, emphasising in the amount of violence that is targeted towards women.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/19/AR2010021902049.html
Although this doesn't directly have to do with women's experience with education in past history, I feel it is significant to highlight the overall struggle women still face in a male dominant world, even after everything they've overcome. Girls in third world countries are not even given the option to schooling, let alone the opportunities available in America. Historically women have been considered not only physically inferior to men but also intelectually.
Keeping that in mind, there is still a long ways journey for womens equality to go. I beleive that a women's work must begin in the classroom, that in order to truly go anywere in this scoeity we must first have a strong foundation of education behind us, because naturally one of the main components of school is to teach students how to communicate well.
And thats what we need, to communicate and advocate that women should no longer be seen as weaker then men in any setting prodominately
But even so, women who are highly successful don't quite meet the bar the men are set on. Valenti was mentioning in her article "The distressing statistics don't stop with violence: Women hold 17 percent of the seats in Congress; abortion is legal, but more than 85 percent of counties in the United States have no provider; women work outside the home, but they make about 76 cents to a man's dollar and make up the majority of Americans living in poverty."
I begin to wonder when women will legitamitely be in the same lauge as men, and how we could have let it be so unbalanced all this time.
Because in fact, more women are going to college over ment these days.
Of course, an important place to focus on is the opportunites of education. Formal education for girls historically has been secondary to that for boys. From the get-go, women have had to fight for their right to be given a proper education. Men were seen as superiors, the bread winners and source of income, whereas women were expected to look after the home and comfort their men when they came home from a long days work, in addition to bearing and raising children.
Although it didn't start out that way, by the end of the 19th century the nuber of female students had increased greatly from just the standard dame school that only taught girls how to read and write. More boys went on to higher education instead of girls because it was expected for girls to just carry out their womenly duties in the home, which didn't require advanced learning.
Obviously the tables have turned today, and women have grown to be more independent and less reliable on a mans paycheck.
Source 1: http://www.pdhre.org/rights/women_and_education.html
But even so, just gaining constitutional rights wasn't enough to stop prejudice from men.
It wasn't until the the 1940s, when so many men were in military service, that women got the chance to demonstrate that they could do "men's" jobs as well as the men could. A lot of the wives and mothers had to step into male dominated jobs when their husbands and fathers were off fighting in war, and many realized that they could do just as well, if not better. From then on the fight against oppression in the workplace began.
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/22/gender-trade-offs/?emc=eta1
Women's struggle has made them more prone to work harder for what they don't have. More girls go to college then boys.
I was reading an Article by Jessica Valenti that was in the Washington post that discussed how women's oppression still very must exists today, emphasising in the amount of violence that is targeted towards women.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/19/AR2010021902049.html
Although this doesn't directly have to do with women's experience with education in past history, I feel it is significant to highlight the overall struggle women still face in a male dominant world, even after everything they've overcome. Girls in third world countries are not even given the option to schooling, let alone the opportunities available in America. Historically women have been considered not only physically inferior to men but also intelectually.
Keeping that in mind, there is still a long ways journey for womens equality to go. I beleive that a women's work must begin in the classroom, that in order to truly go anywere in this scoeity we must first have a strong foundation of education behind us, because naturally one of the main components of school is to teach students how to communicate well.
And thats what we need, to communicate and advocate that women should no longer be seen as weaker then men in any setting prodominately
But even so, women who are highly successful don't quite meet the bar the men are set on. Valenti was mentioning in her article "The distressing statistics don't stop with violence: Women hold 17 percent of the seats in Congress; abortion is legal, but more than 85 percent of counties in the United States have no provider; women work outside the home, but they make about 76 cents to a man's dollar and make up the majority of Americans living in poverty."
I begin to wonder when women will legitamitely be in the same lauge as men, and how we could have let it be so unbalanced all this time.
Because in fact, more women are going to college over ment these days.
Of course, an important place to focus on is the opportunites of education. Formal education for girls historically has been secondary to that for boys. From the get-go, women have had to fight for their right to be given a proper education. Men were seen as superiors, the bread winners and source of income, whereas women were expected to look after the home and comfort their men when they came home from a long days work, in addition to bearing and raising children.
Although it didn't start out that way, by the end of the 19th century the nuber of female students had increased greatly from just the standard dame school that only taught girls how to read and write. More boys went on to higher education instead of girls because it was expected for girls to just carry out their womenly duties in the home, which didn't require advanced learning.
Obviously the tables have turned today, and women have grown to be more independent and less reliable on a mans paycheck.
Source 1: http://www.pdhre.org/rights/women_and_education.html
But even so, just gaining constitutional rights wasn't enough to stop prejudice from men.
It wasn't until the the 1940s, when so many men were in military service, that women got the chance to demonstrate that they could do "men's" jobs as well as the men could. A lot of the wives and mothers had to step into male dominated jobs when their husbands and fathers were off fighting in war, and many realized that they could do just as well, if not better. From then on the fight against oppression in the workplace began.
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/22/gender-trade-offs/?emc=eta1
Women's struggle has made them more prone to work harder for what they don't have. More girls go to college then boys.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Hw 40: Interviews on School
My fortune cookie for the day: Faithless is he who quits when the road darkens.
Part A
Family Interview:
Robert Proto (54)- A high school and college graduate with a Bachelors degree in Business Administration from Baruch. He's lived in New York's LES all his life, attended a Parochial private High School, but transferred to public school for his in his sophomore year because he didn't like strict atmosphere of private school and he felt out of place and too immature there. He was apprehensive to go to public school at first because it had a reputation of being dangerous in those days, but at the time he was glad he transferred because it was easier.
Q: Do you regret transferring?
"In a lot of ways I regret it now because I feel like a quitter, I think I would have amounted out to more if I stuck it out and rose to the challenge."
Q: What do you think about your kids going to public school?
"The public School system today is considered safer, and since its not cheap to go to private school, I found a good public high schools for my daughters. I feel guilty some days for not giving them the very best, considering it may have been easier for them to get into the colleges they want if they came from a well known school."
Q: What did you want to get out of the education you pursued?
"One of the things I planned when I went to public HS was to take business courses, resorting to that because I didn't know what else to do with my life. I thought I'd be good at book keeping, the first step to accounting. I went to Baruch with intentions of studying to become an accountant. I got my first accounting course the second semester of my second year and got an A. When I got to my third year, I took the next step where my teacher said 'this is the class where we separate the men from the boys' and unfortunately I didn't do well. So the second term of my third year, instead of dropping accounting, I took the next course hoping I would improve; but I didn't. After I dropped accounting, I decided to pursue a field of computers. In my first semester of my 4Th year, but I didn't do very well but tried to continue in my second semester of my 4Th year. After the first or second week I felt lost, so I figure the best thing to do was drop out of college and just look for a job since I was making it at Baruch."
Q: How did it feel to be a college drop out?
"I felt very depressed and unsure of myself for dropping out, even though I felt out of place and lost being there. I was really concerned about how my mother would feel about me dropping out, and that made me hesitant. What finally put me at ease was a conversation with my younger brother.He told me he had talked to her about it, and that she had she said she knew I gave it a lot of thought and understood my decision.That gave me more courage to not be apprehensive about my instincts and just do what felt right."
One day Bob officially dropped out, and started looking for a job. His father made arrangements for interviews, and got hired as a senior clerk; a low level entry position in NYC health and Hospitals co.
"And that's where I met my wife who convinced me to get my bachelors because she said she wouldn't date anyone without a college degree. So a year after I left Baruch, I went back at night and finished me remaining courses. but I didn't attend my ceremony because I was embarrassed. I'm grateful to my wife for influencing me to go back."
Q- Would you ever go back to school?
"No. I don't have the motivation to put in the effort to go back to school to get another degree. I realize now how valuable education is, and I regret I never looked at it as a beneficial tool . It was only a burden and an unhappy experience. I'm sure If I had the chance to start over, I'd approach it more maturely. But I don't feel I want to pursue another degree because its no longer important or crucial for me in this time in my life. My wife always values education and rises to the challenge of education. I unfortunately don't rise to the challenge.
I always look at school as a negative experience in my life. I guess when I was a little child, I didn't want to be there and every year prior I felt upset because I wasn't very smart. I wasn't an ambitious individual and always wanted the easy way of life, not the challenge."
Q: What do you tell your kids about education, in respect to your experience?
I always wanted my wife to be the biggest influence on my kids to help them realize how crucial a good education is in life. Knowledge is power, and today I realize how true that is. Its power that can't be taken away from you. I hope that when my kids are in college, they realize how important it is to accomplish their goals. They talk about the "college experience" but I think that will only bring temporary happiness. I want my daughters to learn from my mistakes, and realize that its important to be the best person you can me . Sometimes its not always the person you wanted to become, but if you try to achieve what you want you can feel satisfied that you gave it your best. The only thing you should feel bad about in life is if you wanted something but didn't put in all the effort and regret it. But if you did put in your all, you would always know you gave tried. It doesn't mean your not successful, it just may mean that wasn't the right path for you and that you should look elsewhere."
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Jessica Proto (17)
Q:What has your experience with school been like?
Good, when I was in elementary school. I didn't have o do much, and life was easier. When I switched to a private Jewish reformed school in 4th grade, it was ok. The commuting was annoying but I liked being on the basketball team and being a part of something. Then I went to SOF for two years, which was ok at first but then got bad so I just stopped going. Then my parents forced me into a special private school called Robert Luis Stevenson. It was ok, I liked it but after a year I stopped going because it got stupid. Then my parents sent me away to boarding school which I hated at first but eventually got to liking because they has horse back riding and snow boarding and I made some friends. But these days I hate it because they treat people unfairly and look down on their students as delinquents and problem children.
Q:Whats your overall view of School?
"I don't really like school that much, I don't do homework or study for tests. Its stressful, I prefer doing projects because your given more time to do them then an assignment due the next day.
"My parents are influencing me to get my GED, but I'm not even sure if thats what I want. They expect me to be something I'm not. I don't always care about living up to their standards because I have my own. When I wanted to get my permit I got one...
I do want to go to college, but one my own terms and on my own time.
I want to be a social and child care worker when I grow up, so that I can help troubled people the way my social worker looks out for me."
Q: Whats the purpose of school?
To get an education, to learn new things in life. Its important to help you go somewhere i life, and without it you'll go nowhere.
Q:What have you leaned about yourself thanks to school?
Thanks to school, I've learned that I can be a fuck up. But that its important to do well and recognize when you need to make a change.
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Gail Proto (50) A Newtown High School and Baruch college graduate with a BBA in marketing and an MBA in business administration, she has worked for NYC Health and Hospitals Co for 32 years. Gail wasan only child born and raised in Jackson Hights Queens and aspired to be a clown as a child because she wanted to make people laugh.
Q: What is your greatest memory from High School?
"I was really good in this drama class, I surprised myself for having a little bit of talent. I had some wonderful friendships and it was fun getting to date a little bit. I remember being on the debate team and paper which was cool. It was an overall good experience, but I remember hating myself for not being cool enough by my own standards. I didn't find myself attractive until I was 18, so before then I was insecure especially due to my stutter."
Q: How was college?
"It was wonderful because I was away from home, making friends and was a growth experience. But it was helpful in a way that I was at a sleep away school for my first two years at Hofstra and then was forced to come home due to family problems where I then transfered to city school at Baruch. I was devistated having to leave, but then I realiozed how fun working was and even night school. People were much more interesting because they were actually in the business world. I had done book keeping work during the summers, so my first job wasn't so bad. My parents couldn't afford to send me away anymore, but making my own money felt so good that I didn't mind coming home so much."
Q: What are the motiviations of school?
"Its a wonderful educational and socializing experience. Theres emotional growith, there's intelectual growth and you learn to be part of a community. It teaches you how to deal with different tyoes of people. Whaen your in the working enviornemtn you have to deal with all different types of personalities, some being your bosses. I just love school. I love to grow and learn. I love it how when I learn one thing, all through out the day whovever I talk to, I can relate back to that thing. I find leanring fun, and RESEARCH is the most fun."
Q: Would you want to go back to school?
"I'm in school now! I'm taking a certificate program in Public Policy at the Murphy School of Professional Studies whick is a part of CUNY. Its exciting being back in school; enlightening because I feel like i'm growing again (at my age). And I'm planning on persuing a PHD next in... well i'm not sure yet, maybe public policy."
Q: What do you hope your kids will get out of School?
"I want them to get a good education. I hope they find a passion for something other then boys."
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Ahivah Ellner (57)- Went to Hunter College for nursing.
Q: When do you know you wanted to be a nurse?
"When I was 8 years old I was watching dr. Kildare, a show on T.V. and ever since I wanted to be a nurse."
Q: What was high school like for you?
"My parents moved from Manhatten to West chester which was a tramatic period in my life, I was a senior in High School. Initially, I didn't adjust well. But I eventually made friends with people who has similiar backgrounds as myself. I moved to a place of middle class to a place of higher class and could only relate to those more like myself. The students there lived in gated communities, the girls wore cahsmere sweaters. They all drove cars, and I came from the city to the subuors. I realized then that I was a true a city girl at heart, so I went to hunter colege in the city because it had a very good nursing program.
Q: What to you is the purpose of school?
I think basically what school does is give u a very basic foundation and requirements to get a degree. There aren't as many trade classes as there are profession classes. Trade classes are more done with your hands, but in this day and age its all about working at an office. White collar has better status then those who work with their hands and are blue collar. You don't need as much book knowledge as you may need for a business. But there plenty of people who are wildly successful who never went to college, like Bill gates.
Q: Would you ever go back to school?
"I would absolutely want to go back to school. I never went for my masters because getting my bachelors was so difficult. I regret it now, and therefore I will be looking into continuing education; even at my age. I have no ideas in what yet, perhaps for teaching purposes."
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Rebeca Vallejo (34)- Professional organizer/ musician (singer)
Q: What was School like in Spain?
"I was born and raised in Madrid, Spain. It was very different and the school system was really tough in Spain. You had so much to study and you had on entire year after high school and one year preparation for college entry exam According to the score on you exam, you are limited in choosing you field of study. In my own ranking I has an average score, I was really good in subjects and horrible in others. In the things I liked I put a lot of emphasis, and for the others I didn't care. But I wasn't required to take it because i was planning on going to college in Great Britain."
Q: What was the transition to college in another Country like?
"It was craziness to adapt at 19 to a different school system in a new country with a different language. Being on your own for the first time was tough, even by choice. Being away from your parents.
I went back to Spain for my masters when I was 22, for year and a half until I came to America. I wanted to pursue my dream of being a jazz singer, because where jazz was born. I worked and started my music career, started writing music and recorded my first album. About 5 years into moving here, I decided to go to city college for jazz studies."
Q: What was it like going back to school?
It was very very weird going back to school. There was a large variety of ages in my jazz program, all with the same goals as me. Sometimes int was strange learning in a classroom with people 10 years younger then me. It was a shocker, and I struggled a lot because I had to work a pay for school myself before I got a student loan. This was a very advanced program, so i had to catch up. It was very challenging.
But thank god I graduated with my degree, but my degree doesn't apply with anything I do now.
I have three degrees today, and thanks to my composition skills being stronger I got more confidence in my position, but now I am a professional organizer and I didn't really need any school for that.
It was an accident becoming an organizer. I realized I really liked space organizing,I have a mind for it. I started doing little jobs then by luck I was flipping through a magazine that spoke of space organizer. National Association of Professional Organizers, and it all kind of snowballed from there. That's also had its ups and downs, it was a bit slow in the beginning and hard in this economy.
My organizing profession kind of compliments my job as a Singer."
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Part B
People who are currently still in school greatly varry in answers to my questions then those who are done. The adults who I interviewed also varried in who was planning on going for another degree and the one who had no intentions on going back.
I got some really interesting insights, especially from my pops. He really kind of spooked me into beleiving that a life without the passion to learn is a life not worth living. Education is really the key to success, and although some may say ignorance is bliss, I've learning from my dad that knowledge has the power to make you happy. But having the patience and motivation to learn is hard work when your a teenager. Kids in American don't always appreciate what they've got unless their parents remind them of how lucky they got it. My parents had pretty comfortable lives themselves, so they have no need to lecture me on appreciation. But when I think of kids in 3rd world countries who are not so well off, I begin to feel selfish for not taking full advantage of the opportunities I am given so easily.
Another thing my dad brought up that no one else had was not feeling right for school. He had failed at the career he originally sought out and was ashamed for it. But he was more embarrassed with what his family, particularly his mother would think of him. I think in our society, school is considered so crucial for a fulfilling life that those who don't go are looked down upon, especially those who give up half way through. In my fathers case, he was just shy of graduating before he dropped out, something you rarely hear. But I see him as being brave, doing what he thought was right for him rather then right for fitting the mold of a twenty-something while blood American boy.
Its so imperative for students to be honest with themselves about what hey want and what their capable of so that they don't waste time pursuing a life they just THINK they want.
My dads response really sparked a lot of thought like that, which is why I liked his interview the best!
It seemed that for the younger subject (my older sis), she was more optimistic about the future. I mean Jessica and I have out whole lives ahead of us with an entire world to see and anything they can dream at their finger tips. Yet, according to the older prospects, all they need to succeed is to be driven and hard working.
Is it possible that having dreams just isn't enough to put it into action? I always thought having a goal at all was a huge first step, but when do we really learn the skills to make out dreams into a reality?
Are we given all the tools in High School to get into the right college that will help us the get the best job we can?
I'm beginning to believe its not always so easy, and even if your a braniac in school it doesn't necessarily mean your going to excel at what ever you do. Don't get m wrong, I'm sure it helps. But there are a lot of major components that add up to achievements. And this generation of teenagers usually learn this too late in the game.
I can't get out of my mind what Ben from East High said a couple weeks ago on the topic of the purpose of school:
"School is means to help students make choices and figure out how to put those choices in effect for the future." - Or something along those lines.
This got me thinking about the meaning of life and our unit of cool and all that fun stuff. We are sent out into society, given a system to follow then expected to know what to do once we hit the age or 22 and have already graduated college. I've been pampered, pressed and processed by my parents, teachers and bosses all to be molded into a good citizen of the united states. But has School really made me into the best person I can be?
Is it really all on us to make a good life for ourselvles, or should we hold some of these superiors responsible? And how can any of us ever know if the choices we're making are right? Isn't it all just trial and error? Then shouldn't we have more trials?
For the past hour, I haven't only been thinking about this institution of school but also how religious schools come into play. For instance sunday school, hebrew school, greek school? They are all additional suppliers of knowledge except its for a specific network of people belonging to that religion. I myself had to go to hebrew school from the age of 6 up until was 13. I couldn't have been more thrilled when I didn't have to go anymore. To me, those hebrew classes were agony. I didn't give a rats ass what the history of the Torah was. I realize now that all I was taught was valuable information about my culture, but at the time I was just bored out of my mind and counting down the minutes until I could be safe in my own household again.
When I look back, I wonder why my mother made me go all those years. I didn't get why she wanted me to be jewish so badly. She married me father and he wasn't jewish. Heck he isn't even religious at all. So why was she forcing traditions I loathed and ceremonies I didn't follow down my throat?
She said she wanted me to be a part of something bigger then myself, a way of having a closer relationship to god. But I didn't even know if I beleived in the guy, so it didn't really make a difference making an appearance at the synogouge every monday and wednesday. Evenetually I relaized it was all leading up to the big sacred honor; my batmitzvah.
According to wikipedia, a batmitzvah: "One of the most important events to take place during Jewish Education (LOL) is the celebration of the Bar or Batmitzvah... According to jewish law, a boy enters a adulthood at the age of 13, while a girl enters adulthood at the age of 12. The bar or bat mitzvah celebrates this coming of age and significes ones passage into adulthood."
Huh, I wonder how they landed on those ages. Because from person expereicne, my most immature ages probably ranged from 11 through 15.
My whole life I've had this aspect that religious is important shoved down my throat. I feel kind of cheated not because I was never really given an option of what to beleive. I was born into a family that wanted my to beleive one thing, and for a while I was convinced thats what I actually beleived. But when I realize I could have just as easily been born the daughter of a muslim women, I begin to think that religion is just a form a brainwashing so that there are more followers to that specific movement of beliefe.
I've not saying the whole institution of religion is full of crap, but perhaps more of it is mythology rather then FACT.
I myself beleive in the study of science. If there is evidence to prove it, then I'll beleive it. But at times you have to realize that media can be just as brainwashing as religion, along with every other source of informatiomn.
We never know if what we're being told is the truth. All we can do is choose to listen or not. I'm beginning to wonder if we're all just better off being taught by our parents.
I liked that one of my interviews was with a women from another country. Hearing about how different the school system is there helped me to realize that different cultures really have varying ways of doing things. The process of getting into college and finding a major in America is completely different then the process in Spain. I was blown away that Rebecca had the courage to go to another country for college, when I can hardly bare the thought of going to a school more then a few hours away from home.
I wonder if we're too babied in school, and if it may a better option to get as far away from out parents as possible in order to have the true feeling of independence.
Ahuvah Ellner braught up a good point about how Billgates got success without a college degree. Although many advisors and teachers recomend continuing education beyond high school, there are so many other neglected options that I feel are looked over because they are not of as high of a status as a while collar job.
Why is trade school not as talked about as graduate school and why aren't we taught more hands on courses?
More and more I've come to the conclusion that enviornment really shapes who you are. If you are born in the city, chances are you are more likely to me exposed to drugs sex and rock & roll far sooner then a kid in the suborbs too busy looking at cars and getting their learners permit. The values of a community greatly influences the institutions amung it, including school.
So how are we to really know what we really want or believe unless we experience all different aspects?
Travel across America, talk to a different person in a different town in a different state all across the country. Get the real story and they real opinions. School is just a stepping stone between growing up and becoming the person your destined to me.
School may give us a push, but its us that chooses the direction we take.
Sometimes I wish I had gone to a bigger High School in an area in the city farther from my house. But then again, I wouldn't be the girl I am today had I not gone to SOF.
I suppose I don't regret my mistakes, I only wish I had made them sooner.
Part A
Family Interview:
Robert Proto (54)- A high school and college graduate with a Bachelors degree in Business Administration from Baruch. He's lived in New York's LES all his life, attended a Parochial private High School, but transferred to public school for his in his sophomore year because he didn't like strict atmosphere of private school and he felt out of place and too immature there. He was apprehensive to go to public school at first because it had a reputation of being dangerous in those days, but at the time he was glad he transferred because it was easier.
Q: Do you regret transferring?
"In a lot of ways I regret it now because I feel like a quitter, I think I would have amounted out to more if I stuck it out and rose to the challenge."
Q: What do you think about your kids going to public school?
"The public School system today is considered safer, and since its not cheap to go to private school, I found a good public high schools for my daughters. I feel guilty some days for not giving them the very best, considering it may have been easier for them to get into the colleges they want if they came from a well known school."
Q: What did you want to get out of the education you pursued?
"One of the things I planned when I went to public HS was to take business courses, resorting to that because I didn't know what else to do with my life. I thought I'd be good at book keeping, the first step to accounting. I went to Baruch with intentions of studying to become an accountant. I got my first accounting course the second semester of my second year and got an A. When I got to my third year, I took the next step where my teacher said 'this is the class where we separate the men from the boys' and unfortunately I didn't do well. So the second term of my third year, instead of dropping accounting, I took the next course hoping I would improve; but I didn't. After I dropped accounting, I decided to pursue a field of computers. In my first semester of my 4Th year, but I didn't do very well but tried to continue in my second semester of my 4Th year. After the first or second week I felt lost, so I figure the best thing to do was drop out of college and just look for a job since I was making it at Baruch."
Q: How did it feel to be a college drop out?
"I felt very depressed and unsure of myself for dropping out, even though I felt out of place and lost being there. I was really concerned about how my mother would feel about me dropping out, and that made me hesitant. What finally put me at ease was a conversation with my younger brother.He told me he had talked to her about it, and that she had she said she knew I gave it a lot of thought and understood my decision.That gave me more courage to not be apprehensive about my instincts and just do what felt right."
One day Bob officially dropped out, and started looking for a job. His father made arrangements for interviews, and got hired as a senior clerk; a low level entry position in NYC health and Hospitals co.
"And that's where I met my wife who convinced me to get my bachelors because she said she wouldn't date anyone without a college degree. So a year after I left Baruch, I went back at night and finished me remaining courses. but I didn't attend my ceremony because I was embarrassed. I'm grateful to my wife for influencing me to go back."
Q- Would you ever go back to school?
"No. I don't have the motivation to put in the effort to go back to school to get another degree. I realize now how valuable education is, and I regret I never looked at it as a beneficial tool . It was only a burden and an unhappy experience. I'm sure If I had the chance to start over, I'd approach it more maturely. But I don't feel I want to pursue another degree because its no longer important or crucial for me in this time in my life. My wife always values education and rises to the challenge of education. I unfortunately don't rise to the challenge.
I always look at school as a negative experience in my life. I guess when I was a little child, I didn't want to be there and every year prior I felt upset because I wasn't very smart. I wasn't an ambitious individual and always wanted the easy way of life, not the challenge."
Q: What do you tell your kids about education, in respect to your experience?
I always wanted my wife to be the biggest influence on my kids to help them realize how crucial a good education is in life. Knowledge is power, and today I realize how true that is. Its power that can't be taken away from you. I hope that when my kids are in college, they realize how important it is to accomplish their goals. They talk about the "college experience" but I think that will only bring temporary happiness. I want my daughters to learn from my mistakes, and realize that its important to be the best person you can me . Sometimes its not always the person you wanted to become, but if you try to achieve what you want you can feel satisfied that you gave it your best. The only thing you should feel bad about in life is if you wanted something but didn't put in all the effort and regret it. But if you did put in your all, you would always know you gave tried. It doesn't mean your not successful, it just may mean that wasn't the right path for you and that you should look elsewhere."
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Jessica Proto (17)
Q:What has your experience with school been like?
Good, when I was in elementary school. I didn't have o do much, and life was easier. When I switched to a private Jewish reformed school in 4th grade, it was ok. The commuting was annoying but I liked being on the basketball team and being a part of something. Then I went to SOF for two years, which was ok at first but then got bad so I just stopped going. Then my parents forced me into a special private school called Robert Luis Stevenson. It was ok, I liked it but after a year I stopped going because it got stupid. Then my parents sent me away to boarding school which I hated at first but eventually got to liking because they has horse back riding and snow boarding and I made some friends. But these days I hate it because they treat people unfairly and look down on their students as delinquents and problem children.
Q:Whats your overall view of School?
"I don't really like school that much, I don't do homework or study for tests. Its stressful, I prefer doing projects because your given more time to do them then an assignment due the next day.
"My parents are influencing me to get my GED, but I'm not even sure if thats what I want. They expect me to be something I'm not. I don't always care about living up to their standards because I have my own. When I wanted to get my permit I got one...
I do want to go to college, but one my own terms and on my own time.
I want to be a social and child care worker when I grow up, so that I can help troubled people the way my social worker looks out for me."
Q: Whats the purpose of school?
To get an education, to learn new things in life. Its important to help you go somewhere i life, and without it you'll go nowhere.
Q:What have you leaned about yourself thanks to school?
Thanks to school, I've learned that I can be a fuck up. But that its important to do well and recognize when you need to make a change.
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Gail Proto (50) A Newtown High School and Baruch college graduate with a BBA in marketing and an MBA in business administration, she has worked for NYC Health and Hospitals Co for 32 years. Gail wasan only child born and raised in Jackson Hights Queens and aspired to be a clown as a child because she wanted to make people laugh.
Q: What is your greatest memory from High School?
"I was really good in this drama class, I surprised myself for having a little bit of talent. I had some wonderful friendships and it was fun getting to date a little bit. I remember being on the debate team and paper which was cool. It was an overall good experience, but I remember hating myself for not being cool enough by my own standards. I didn't find myself attractive until I was 18, so before then I was insecure especially due to my stutter."
Q: How was college?
"It was wonderful because I was away from home, making friends and was a growth experience. But it was helpful in a way that I was at a sleep away school for my first two years at Hofstra and then was forced to come home due to family problems where I then transfered to city school at Baruch. I was devistated having to leave, but then I realiozed how fun working was and even night school. People were much more interesting because they were actually in the business world. I had done book keeping work during the summers, so my first job wasn't so bad. My parents couldn't afford to send me away anymore, but making my own money felt so good that I didn't mind coming home so much."
Q: What are the motiviations of school?
"Its a wonderful educational and socializing experience. Theres emotional growith, there's intelectual growth and you learn to be part of a community. It teaches you how to deal with different tyoes of people. Whaen your in the working enviornemtn you have to deal with all different types of personalities, some being your bosses. I just love school. I love to grow and learn. I love it how when I learn one thing, all through out the day whovever I talk to, I can relate back to that thing. I find leanring fun, and RESEARCH is the most fun."
Q: Would you want to go back to school?
"I'm in school now! I'm taking a certificate program in Public Policy at the Murphy School of Professional Studies whick is a part of CUNY. Its exciting being back in school; enlightening because I feel like i'm growing again (at my age). And I'm planning on persuing a PHD next in... well i'm not sure yet, maybe public policy."
Q: What do you hope your kids will get out of School?
"I want them to get a good education. I hope they find a passion for something other then boys."
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Ahivah Ellner (57)- Went to Hunter College for nursing.
Q: When do you know you wanted to be a nurse?
"When I was 8 years old I was watching dr. Kildare, a show on T.V. and ever since I wanted to be a nurse."
Q: What was high school like for you?
"My parents moved from Manhatten to West chester which was a tramatic period in my life, I was a senior in High School. Initially, I didn't adjust well. But I eventually made friends with people who has similiar backgrounds as myself. I moved to a place of middle class to a place of higher class and could only relate to those more like myself. The students there lived in gated communities, the girls wore cahsmere sweaters. They all drove cars, and I came from the city to the subuors. I realized then that I was a true a city girl at heart, so I went to hunter colege in the city because it had a very good nursing program.
Q: What to you is the purpose of school?
I think basically what school does is give u a very basic foundation and requirements to get a degree. There aren't as many trade classes as there are profession classes. Trade classes are more done with your hands, but in this day and age its all about working at an office. White collar has better status then those who work with their hands and are blue collar. You don't need as much book knowledge as you may need for a business. But there plenty of people who are wildly successful who never went to college, like Bill gates.
Q: Would you ever go back to school?
"I would absolutely want to go back to school. I never went for my masters because getting my bachelors was so difficult. I regret it now, and therefore I will be looking into continuing education; even at my age. I have no ideas in what yet, perhaps for teaching purposes."
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Rebeca Vallejo (34)- Professional organizer/ musician (singer)
Q: What was School like in Spain?
"I was born and raised in Madrid, Spain. It was very different and the school system was really tough in Spain. You had so much to study and you had on entire year after high school and one year preparation for college entry exam According to the score on you exam, you are limited in choosing you field of study. In my own ranking I has an average score, I was really good in subjects and horrible in others. In the things I liked I put a lot of emphasis, and for the others I didn't care. But I wasn't required to take it because i was planning on going to college in Great Britain."
Q: What was the transition to college in another Country like?
"It was craziness to adapt at 19 to a different school system in a new country with a different language. Being on your own for the first time was tough, even by choice. Being away from your parents.
I went back to Spain for my masters when I was 22, for year and a half until I came to America. I wanted to pursue my dream of being a jazz singer, because where jazz was born. I worked and started my music career, started writing music and recorded my first album. About 5 years into moving here, I decided to go to city college for jazz studies."
Q: What was it like going back to school?
It was very very weird going back to school. There was a large variety of ages in my jazz program, all with the same goals as me. Sometimes int was strange learning in a classroom with people 10 years younger then me. It was a shocker, and I struggled a lot because I had to work a pay for school myself before I got a student loan. This was a very advanced program, so i had to catch up. It was very challenging.
But thank god I graduated with my degree, but my degree doesn't apply with anything I do now.
I have three degrees today, and thanks to my composition skills being stronger I got more confidence in my position, but now I am a professional organizer and I didn't really need any school for that.
It was an accident becoming an organizer. I realized I really liked space organizing,I have a mind for it. I started doing little jobs then by luck I was flipping through a magazine that spoke of space organizer. National Association of Professional Organizers, and it all kind of snowballed from there. That's also had its ups and downs, it was a bit slow in the beginning and hard in this economy.
My organizing profession kind of compliments my job as a Singer."
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Part B
People who are currently still in school greatly varry in answers to my questions then those who are done. The adults who I interviewed also varried in who was planning on going for another degree and the one who had no intentions on going back.
I got some really interesting insights, especially from my pops. He really kind of spooked me into beleiving that a life without the passion to learn is a life not worth living. Education is really the key to success, and although some may say ignorance is bliss, I've learning from my dad that knowledge has the power to make you happy. But having the patience and motivation to learn is hard work when your a teenager. Kids in American don't always appreciate what they've got unless their parents remind them of how lucky they got it. My parents had pretty comfortable lives themselves, so they have no need to lecture me on appreciation. But when I think of kids in 3rd world countries who are not so well off, I begin to feel selfish for not taking full advantage of the opportunities I am given so easily.
Another thing my dad brought up that no one else had was not feeling right for school. He had failed at the career he originally sought out and was ashamed for it. But he was more embarrassed with what his family, particularly his mother would think of him. I think in our society, school is considered so crucial for a fulfilling life that those who don't go are looked down upon, especially those who give up half way through. In my fathers case, he was just shy of graduating before he dropped out, something you rarely hear. But I see him as being brave, doing what he thought was right for him rather then right for fitting the mold of a twenty-something while blood American boy.
Its so imperative for students to be honest with themselves about what hey want and what their capable of so that they don't waste time pursuing a life they just THINK they want.
My dads response really sparked a lot of thought like that, which is why I liked his interview the best!
It seemed that for the younger subject (my older sis), she was more optimistic about the future. I mean Jessica and I have out whole lives ahead of us with an entire world to see and anything they can dream at their finger tips. Yet, according to the older prospects, all they need to succeed is to be driven and hard working.
Is it possible that having dreams just isn't enough to put it into action? I always thought having a goal at all was a huge first step, but when do we really learn the skills to make out dreams into a reality?
Are we given all the tools in High School to get into the right college that will help us the get the best job we can?
I'm beginning to believe its not always so easy, and even if your a braniac in school it doesn't necessarily mean your going to excel at what ever you do. Don't get m wrong, I'm sure it helps. But there are a lot of major components that add up to achievements. And this generation of teenagers usually learn this too late in the game.
I can't get out of my mind what Ben from East High said a couple weeks ago on the topic of the purpose of school:
"School is means to help students make choices and figure out how to put those choices in effect for the future." - Or something along those lines.
This got me thinking about the meaning of life and our unit of cool and all that fun stuff. We are sent out into society, given a system to follow then expected to know what to do once we hit the age or 22 and have already graduated college. I've been pampered, pressed and processed by my parents, teachers and bosses all to be molded into a good citizen of the united states. But has School really made me into the best person I can be?
Is it really all on us to make a good life for ourselvles, or should we hold some of these superiors responsible? And how can any of us ever know if the choices we're making are right? Isn't it all just trial and error? Then shouldn't we have more trials?
For the past hour, I haven't only been thinking about this institution of school but also how religious schools come into play. For instance sunday school, hebrew school, greek school? They are all additional suppliers of knowledge except its for a specific network of people belonging to that religion. I myself had to go to hebrew school from the age of 6 up until was 13. I couldn't have been more thrilled when I didn't have to go anymore. To me, those hebrew classes were agony. I didn't give a rats ass what the history of the Torah was. I realize now that all I was taught was valuable information about my culture, but at the time I was just bored out of my mind and counting down the minutes until I could be safe in my own household again.
When I look back, I wonder why my mother made me go all those years. I didn't get why she wanted me to be jewish so badly. She married me father and he wasn't jewish. Heck he isn't even religious at all. So why was she forcing traditions I loathed and ceremonies I didn't follow down my throat?
She said she wanted me to be a part of something bigger then myself, a way of having a closer relationship to god. But I didn't even know if I beleived in the guy, so it didn't really make a difference making an appearance at the synogouge every monday and wednesday. Evenetually I relaized it was all leading up to the big sacred honor; my batmitzvah.
According to wikipedia, a batmitzvah: "One of the most important events to take place during Jewish Education (LOL) is the celebration of the Bar or Batmitzvah... According to jewish law, a boy enters a adulthood at the age of 13, while a girl enters adulthood at the age of 12. The bar or bat mitzvah celebrates this coming of age and significes ones passage into adulthood."
Huh, I wonder how they landed on those ages. Because from person expereicne, my most immature ages probably ranged from 11 through 15.
My whole life I've had this aspect that religious is important shoved down my throat. I feel kind of cheated not because I was never really given an option of what to beleive. I was born into a family that wanted my to beleive one thing, and for a while I was convinced thats what I actually beleived. But when I realize I could have just as easily been born the daughter of a muslim women, I begin to think that religion is just a form a brainwashing so that there are more followers to that specific movement of beliefe.
I've not saying the whole institution of religion is full of crap, but perhaps more of it is mythology rather then FACT.
I myself beleive in the study of science. If there is evidence to prove it, then I'll beleive it. But at times you have to realize that media can be just as brainwashing as religion, along with every other source of informatiomn.
We never know if what we're being told is the truth. All we can do is choose to listen or not. I'm beginning to wonder if we're all just better off being taught by our parents.
I liked that one of my interviews was with a women from another country. Hearing about how different the school system is there helped me to realize that different cultures really have varying ways of doing things. The process of getting into college and finding a major in America is completely different then the process in Spain. I was blown away that Rebecca had the courage to go to another country for college, when I can hardly bare the thought of going to a school more then a few hours away from home.
I wonder if we're too babied in school, and if it may a better option to get as far away from out parents as possible in order to have the true feeling of independence.
Ahuvah Ellner braught up a good point about how Billgates got success without a college degree. Although many advisors and teachers recomend continuing education beyond high school, there are so many other neglected options that I feel are looked over because they are not of as high of a status as a while collar job.
Why is trade school not as talked about as graduate school and why aren't we taught more hands on courses?
More and more I've come to the conclusion that enviornment really shapes who you are. If you are born in the city, chances are you are more likely to me exposed to drugs sex and rock & roll far sooner then a kid in the suborbs too busy looking at cars and getting their learners permit. The values of a community greatly influences the institutions amung it, including school.
So how are we to really know what we really want or believe unless we experience all different aspects?
Travel across America, talk to a different person in a different town in a different state all across the country. Get the real story and they real opinions. School is just a stepping stone between growing up and becoming the person your destined to me.
School may give us a push, but its us that chooses the direction we take.
Sometimes I wish I had gone to a bigger High School in an area in the city farther from my house. But then again, I wouldn't be the girl I am today had I not gone to SOF.
I suppose I don't regret my mistakes, I only wish I had made them sooner.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Hw # 39: 1st School Assignment yurrr
Part A: Major Components of School
Students- School differ in student size, diversity and level of intelligence.
Do students take their education for granted compared to children in 3rd world countries who don't have the same opportunities?
How might people and society be different if children were home schooled and parents were left to teach them?
Whats the history of school and why has it evolved to what it is today? How can we improve it for the future?
Teacher Student relationships-
Part B: Going to school is a right of passage for all children. When you hit that glorious age of 5 years old, its time to buy presentable clothing, fill up an oversize backpack with fun new utensils and venture into the educational unknown.
I can imagine that the first day of school is quite frightening to little ones, either for pre-school of kindergarten. As for me, I was lucky enough to have my big sister in the same grade as me so I wasn't going through anything alone. Regardless, the separation between a child and their comfy nurturing homes are difficult .
School is a different experience for all children of all different ages. With each passing year, we grow a little more in height and in intelligence. Its odd to think the power and influence teachers have over children who look to then for guidance in education.
All through elementary school teacher's are looked upon as the experts of the world. Adults who are brilliant and have already memorized all there is a need to know about everything. At least that's what I thought until I realized my 7th grade science teacher was a moron. But regardless, teachers hold an enormous amount of power over youngsters who seek insight into the future from them.
The fellow from East High who visited yesterday said "School helps you make choices for the future and prepares you for the choices you'll have to make in the future."
Well, if that's so then I'd expect some exceptional superiors prepping me for the unknown.
Sometimes I really hate the politics of school. For instance, I hate that private schools are considered more prestigious because they attract elite enrollment unless your a braniac with a scholarship. I hate that all the best teachers go to them. It'd be easy for my to blame my lack of motivation and interest in certain subjects on the teachers who are supposed to keep my engaged and encourage me. But the truth of the matter is that no kids will learn unless their willing to, unless they really want to.
We're so selfish, complaining about the heavy work load or annoyance with an assignment, when children in third world countries would do anything to have the opportunities we have. Kids in china work their asses off all so they can be in the top ranking of their class, go on to a good college and escape the poverty they've grown up with. Education is their golden ticket out, while for the pot head while male living on the upper west side its a time killer between the next orgy beer fest.
Its sickening how much this society takes its education for granted.
Sometimes I wonder how might we be different if we left our parents to teach us at home.
Ali Jo is one of the smartest people I've ever met, the smartest from my generation and she was home schooled until the age of 9 (if I remember correctly). Maybe we'd all be better off just continuing with the knowledge our parents have. How might our society be different then? Would parents do more for their kids, brush up on more math, spend more time getting to know them? Or would we just be ignorant mini- clones of people who already exist?
Wasn't there a time, though, before we had the institution of school. Where it was just a privilege, an HONOR for girls?
Why does socializing continue to be more important then studying and how can we get the next generation to not be so goddamn superficial?
Students- School differ in student size, diversity and level of intelligence.
Do students take their education for granted compared to children in 3rd world countries who don't have the same opportunities?
How might people and society be different if children were home schooled and parents were left to teach them?
Whats the history of school and why has it evolved to what it is today? How can we improve it for the future?
Teacher Student relationships-
Part B: Going to school is a right of passage for all children. When you hit that glorious age of 5 years old, its time to buy presentable clothing, fill up an oversize backpack with fun new utensils and venture into the educational unknown.
I can imagine that the first day of school is quite frightening to little ones, either for pre-school of kindergarten. As for me, I was lucky enough to have my big sister in the same grade as me so I wasn't going through anything alone. Regardless, the separation between a child and their comfy nurturing homes are difficult .
School is a different experience for all children of all different ages. With each passing year, we grow a little more in height and in intelligence. Its odd to think the power and influence teachers have over children who look to then for guidance in education.
All through elementary school teacher's are looked upon as the experts of the world. Adults who are brilliant and have already memorized all there is a need to know about everything. At least that's what I thought until I realized my 7th grade science teacher was a moron. But regardless, teachers hold an enormous amount of power over youngsters who seek insight into the future from them.
The fellow from East High who visited yesterday said "School helps you make choices for the future and prepares you for the choices you'll have to make in the future."
Well, if that's so then I'd expect some exceptional superiors prepping me for the unknown.
Sometimes I really hate the politics of school. For instance, I hate that private schools are considered more prestigious because they attract elite enrollment unless your a braniac with a scholarship. I hate that all the best teachers go to them. It'd be easy for my to blame my lack of motivation and interest in certain subjects on the teachers who are supposed to keep my engaged and encourage me. But the truth of the matter is that no kids will learn unless their willing to, unless they really want to.
We're so selfish, complaining about the heavy work load or annoyance with an assignment, when children in third world countries would do anything to have the opportunities we have. Kids in china work their asses off all so they can be in the top ranking of their class, go on to a good college and escape the poverty they've grown up with. Education is their golden ticket out, while for the pot head while male living on the upper west side its a time killer between the next orgy beer fest.
Its sickening how much this society takes its education for granted.
Sometimes I wonder how might we be different if we left our parents to teach us at home.
Ali Jo is one of the smartest people I've ever met, the smartest from my generation and she was home schooled until the age of 9 (if I remember correctly). Maybe we'd all be better off just continuing with the knowledge our parents have. How might our society be different then? Would parents do more for their kids, brush up on more math, spend more time getting to know them? Or would we just be ignorant mini- clones of people who already exist?
Wasn't there a time, though, before we had the institution of school. Where it was just a privilege, an HONOR for girls?
Why does socializing continue to be more important then studying and how can we get the next generation to not be so goddamn superficial?
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