Blog – Reading #2

Blog – Reading #2

  The author this week is Lisa Delpit and the article is called “Other People’s Children – Cultural Conflict in the Classroom.  I will be discussing three quotes I’ve taken from the text.

  Quote 1 - taken from page 21:   “they think they know what’s best for everybody, for everybody’s children”.  She is describing how white teachers think they know what the correct way or what the right answer is for every culture and for everyone’s belief.  She tells of how black teachers just nod their head as if they are agreeing with what the white teacher is saying even though the black teacher knows it is wrong.

  Quote 2 – taken from page 25:  “I have come to conclude that members from any culture transmit information implicitly to co-members”.  This goes back to the first quote in a way.  She explains that not knowing how a culture of people function makes things a whole lot difficult for a person from outside the culture to come in to that culture and function as they do.  She talks about how someone helped her prepare for her time with a Native Alaskan community, helping her made the transition a positive one.

  Quote 3 – taken from page 40:  “we must push and agitate from the top down”.  Delpit is telling us the only real way for change to ever happen isn’t from starting at the bottom but from starting with the people who are in power.

  I’d like to talk about how I agree with the third quote I’ve taken from the reading.  I have seen many times when trying to make change from the bottom fails.  A great example is how our government functions.  Many regular people “the bottom” have many great ideas for change but unless they can get the people in power with power “the top” to make the change a law, etc., the change never happens.

  I am including a link to an article where Dana Goldstein interviews Lisa Delpit on her writing “Other People’s Children”.  I was interested in seeing who Lisa Delpit is so here is a photo of her taken from the C-Span website.

  

Blog – Reading #1

Blog – Reading #1

This author named Peggy Mcintosh argues her views in the article she wrote called White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.  She believes whites always benefit from an unearned privilege.  She also believes all men have an unwillingness to be over privileged and all woman are at a disadvantage to men.  She basically thinks men pretend to work towards improving the status of women in society.  She claims men gain from any disadvantages women may have.  She writes things like she can always find people of her race to be with, she can count on her neighbors being nice to her because she chooses to live in a nice neighborhood.  She expects when she goes shopping for music she’s sure she can find music by people of her ethnicity and race.  She also thinks her skin color won’t work against her with financial responsibilities.  She also argues that not talking about and denying privilege are key political tools for politicians and alike.  She thinks democratic equality is a myth that will take decades to change.  The point I want to share is that this article is of her statements and her personal opinions and I do not agree with her views. 

Post 2

While reading the Hill and Johnston article, "In the Future, Diverse Approaches to Schooling" I ended up visiting different websites which tied in locally.  If anyone is interested in reading about the charter schools we have in RI or about the first virtual school in RI click on the correct link below.  There is also a link regarding the laws and regulations for virtual learning in Rhode Island.

RI charter schools

RI's first virtual school for grades 9 and up

Rules and Regulations for Virtual Learning in RI

Post 1

Hello!  My name is Tony, I was introduced to you by Donnie and I'm in the section five FNED 346 class.  This is the first time I've setup and posted on a blog, it was pretty straight forward.  I found our first class enjoyable and after reading the syllabus it sounds quite interesting.  I look forward to learning about the different topics, many of which are new to me.  I also plan on reading the book Dr. Stevos wrote regarding our Constitution.

The one thing I wanted to mention regarding our first class was the way Dr. Stevos had us introduce ourselves to our classmate and them having to introduce us to the class.  I liked how we did that because now I know someone from class and his name.  I found it a great way to "break the ice" and an easy way to remember someone new.  To me, I'd rather remember the one name instead of no names.

Have a good day (or night)!