Point of Interest

Just saw an interesting article/video, thought I'd share
Link

In the Service of What?

I chose to do extended comments on Jessica Tenerella’s Blog (who did extended comments on Erika Lincoln's blog). Like her and Erika, I also had similar misconceptions and fears going into my school, and also a rewarding outcome.
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I really liked Jessica’s comment that as future educators especially, Service Learning is one of the most important experiences we can gain for our future careers. While I think volunteering can be beneficial to every high school or middle school student, I think that often they are just doing it because they have to, not to gain anything from it. I know this was the case with many students completing the community service hours at my high school. As we take more courses discussing diversity and analyzing the field of education, we begin to see more clearly the value of these experiences, and go into them looking to learn as much as we can. As Kahne and Westheimer state in the article, without a critical thinking and reflective component, students often won’t gain any deeper understanding of the people they are working with. But on the flip side, just learning on paper about those they are working with doesn’t provide them any real experiences to relate it to. One component is ineffective without the other. Often schools don’t have a service learning project that addresses both of these aspects completely however, so the potential is never achieved.

As with Erika and Jessica, I was also worried about the condition of the school, student behavior, and the area the schools are in. Since reading Kozol, you begin to picture all poor communities in the way he so vividly described. I had never been to the area my school was in, so not knowing what to expect, I expected the worst and went in with expectant images painted by Kozol, which did not accurately display my school or its community at all. Also like them, I was pleasantly surprised. The outside of the school doesn’t look rundown, although the inside is a little worn around the edges. It far exceeds my poor expectations of it. The students and faculty are great- warm and welcoming, eager to learn and help. They anticipate the days that I go in as much as I do, and are excited to work with me. Same as every kid they fool around, but that’s the thing- they are like every other kid; not disrespectful or any of the other qualities students in the article, or we for that matter expected. It was a great experience to be out of my comfort zone, and then to have my fears and worries turn out to be unfounded.

I LOVE Jessica’s final point- that teachers are in the most opportune place to follow Delpit’s lead and teach the culture of power.  We are the ones who are going to be responsible for shaping these little people, and giving them the tools they need to be successful, it is important for us to fully understand our own biases and ability to either make a positive or negative impact.  

Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us: Reflection

I really enjoyed this article, I’ve always been interested in how media portrayal influences how we perceive beauty and mostly how these messages affect children. The gender and personal image aspects always interested me more than the racial aspects for some reason. As a child born in the Disney era, looking at these stereotypes within Disney fascinates me. In my high school, we had to do a huge project called exhibition in order to graduate. The basics of it is that you pick a topic you're interested in, research this topic using valid sources, and you put together a project on how to get information about this problem exposed and try to solve it. You then have to present your project and plan for change to a panel of judges who grade your efforts and success. A lot of work for a project that most kids didn’t care about beyond as a graduation requirement, but definitely a learning experience. I did mine on Eating Disorders, and my project evolved to become how the media was a major factor in causing eating disorders. One of the reasons I chose to research eating disorders for my exhibition is that one of my best friends really struggled with anorexia, and I wanted to learn more; what could cause someone to hate their body and how to help her. The information I found was astounding, and in a way I did what these students did, but on a smaller scale- beginning to look at how the media presents perfection and how dramatically it influences our opinions. Instead of publishing a magazine article, I worked with one of the health teachers in the high school to create a better Eating Disorder and body image unit. A high point in the body image issue is Dove's Real Beauty Campaign in which they vow to use real women in all of their ads, with no photoshopping.
 

 The lines dotted in on the woman signify where her body would need to be changed in order to attain the figure of Barbie

I grew up in a family who always stressed that the models on tv weren’t realistic, that heroes and rich princes were unlikely to schwoop in and marry me, and that I was capable of doing more than sweeping the floor and cooking dinner, so even though I love these fairy tales, and I’m sure I didn’t completely avoid the ideals they instill, I think my family tried to also give me a firm footing in reality. Recently there has been a lot of stir over the newer Disney movies like Brave and Frozen because they are beginning to break through some of the Disney stereotypes.