The Whiteness Project

After going through and listening to every persons' point of view within The Whiteness Project page, I realize now that I too have never thought of my race as a factor in my every day life. I have never been denied something and thought that maybe the reason was because of my race, I have always thought of other factors in place of that. Dow states in an interview about the Project,  "I think it would be interesting for people to look at it and examine why perhaps some of those things that they may even agree with or wrestle with, why it makes them so uncomfortable,"  As a white woman who has grown up in a suburb of a small state where white people took up the majority of the population, I never  thought about my race, or anyone around me for that matter, being able to adversely affect someone's everyday life. After reading the whole interview and seeing that there were people talking about how they lost job opportunities because the "minorities filled em'" even though they were highly qualified for the position, it makes me wonder how many white people actually blame people of different ethnic backgrounds for things that are completely out of their control. There was one woman who I did agree with a statement she made, she said that, as a tattooed woman, she gets looked down upon just as black people do when they walk into a store; neither of them are greeted, they are just looked at as if they are already suspects of shoplifting. I have had that happen a few times when I am in stores with my brothers or my father, we are all tattooed, mine are just hidden and whenever people see my dad who is covered in tattoos, or my brother, with a name tattooed across his chest, people stare and employees in stores have actually followed them around because they appear to be "bad people" just because they have tattoos. One of my closest lifelong friends, Roxy, a beautiful, extremely tall, very dark colored woman once told me that when we were at a store one day, while I was trying something on, a worker came over to her and just stood there watching her without saying a word until I walked out and started talking to her about the outfit. When we were walking away, Roxy had looked back at the employee and she said that the girl had her jaw to the floor, as if she had never seen a black woman and a white woman who were friends before. It is truly saddening to see that people to this day still believe that they are entitled to anything just based on the color of their skin or their physical attributes. My philosophy on life is that if you want something, you have to earn it; nothing should EVER be just handed to you if you are fully capable of achieving it all on your own. Although yes, there were a few people within the stories that made some good points, I still do not believe that someone's race or anything about them physically should be a deciding factor when deciding where they belong in their own lives.  

Secret Education in the Media

Christiansen's article "Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us", in my mind stands as a rude awakening to those of us who think that children (and even adults) are immune to take the things we read about and see within the media to heart. As future educators, I feel as though it is our job to find ways of educating our students without allowing the media to affect their ways of learning negatively. Within any children's story, there is always stereotyping and minute details that could promote negative feelings towards any specific race, gender, sexual orientation, or religion that may be overlooked by young readers. After reading Christiansen's article, I feel that educators need to take closer looks at the readings they provide their students with, and think more about what details the students will get out of them, whether it be positive or negative.

I feel that the "secret education" within the media has become not-so-secret anymore considering all of the violence and hate towards certain cultures and sexual orientations that is seemingly always on the news. I feel as though children are like sponges, everything that is said or done within earshot of them will be subconsciously absorbed into their memory and will eventually start to shine through. Although there can be some very positive things that may come out of reading and learning about the current society, I think that there are some things that should be left unsaid around children. I also feel as though there needs to be WAY more books about children of different races and family backgrounds, etc. because children that don"t feel as though they fit into society's "norm" tend to have lower self confidence levels and it isn't fair to them to only see the stereotypical "Christian, white, blonde haired, blue eyed" characters within every show on T.V. and all throughout their books. Recently, thankfully, there have been more children's shows and books with main characters of color or different religions and so on. As society becomes more accepting of people that don't fit the "norm", I feel that there won't be as much fuss about the "secret education" anymore.

No Outsiders

Within the "Speaking the unspeakable in forbidden places: addressing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality in the primary school" reading, there is so much going on at one time, but all of the information from all the different authors seems to blend perfectly to explain the project. The No Outsiders project seems to have made a huge impact on the lives of not only the students, but also the staff that are helping to run the project.

Two summers ago, I worked at a residential Girl Scout Camp where we had many staff from a group called "Camp America". The people from this group were from different countries, but the majority of them were from the UK. One of the girls that was in this program became a close friend of mine and she told me all about the No Outsiders project. The way that she explained it was that it was to create a safer and more comfortable environment for those who were a part of the LGBT community along with their families and friends. According to my friend Beth, although the project was effective in most schools, there were some schools that had awful backlashes from the project and some parents didn't want their kids to go to school because they didn't feel comfortable with the curriculum. Although the project seems to have a good impact on the majority of the schools and the children seem to take very nicely to the idea that being part of the LGBT community is okay, the small group of people that aren't okay with it are going to become the demise of the project.

In my personal opinion, I think the No Outsiders project is a wonderful thing because it brings to life the fact that everyone has a different orientation and no matter what that is, you should judge them for it. I also really appreciate the fact that one of the writers brought up the fact that schools have become "desexualized" and that students are beginning to think that their teachers are basically inhuman, that they don't have lives outside of being their teachers. I really enjoyed reading about this and I hope that they create a similar project for the students in the USA but within all grades so that the students never forget the importance.

Why Can't She Remember That?

When I was reading Meier's article "Why Can't She Remember That?", I found many insightful pieces of information within it. 

One of the quotes that I took from Meier's writing to talk about was on page 243, "Each of these preschoolers, socialized in very different linguistic and cultural communities, demonstrates the ability to use language in powerful ways to negotiate relationships with other people and to accomplish his or her social purposes." To me, this quote shows that just because a child is raised or socialized into a certain culture, doesn't mean that they have to be set to just that specific culture. Children are like sponges, they just absorb all the information that you throw at them. Even though some of them don't respond as quickly as the standard warrants, it doesn't mean that the child isn't learning. 

The second quote that I found rather interesting was on page 245. "They call out. They talk to the children sitting next to them. They raise their hands to answer questions and then make comments, which may only be tangentially related to the question that was asked or to the book." When I read this, I found it hard to believe that a teacher was surprised that a preschooler was calling out and goofing around. Every teacher I have ever spoken to has said that there is at least one child who acts out, no matter what age the kids are.  Although yes, most students learn that calling out and talking out of turn is wrong, there are still kids who feel that what they have to say is very important and can’t wait. In most circumstances, I can understand why a teacher would become frustrated with students constantly calling out and misbehaving but the kids are at such a young age that they don’t know any better.

Although there were many meaningful and informative quotes in Meier’s writings, these were the two that stood out the most to me. 

The Silenced Dialogue

In reading "The Silenced Dialogue" by Lisa Delpit, I found that our current school system tends to favor white, middle-class students rather than all students of different social standings and cultures. I found that since there are many different ways of educating ALL students instead of just favoring a certain type of student, we should, as educators, be well versed in all sorts of ways to teach the various types of students that may cross our paths throughout our careers as educators. Delpit seems to lean more towards the "skills" approach, but does not necessarily favor that approach within her writings. The "process" approach, however seems as though it may only work well within groups of students that are all from the same social group, versus the "skills" approach which will enable all children to learn the materials needed in todays society without making them feel forced to conform to a specific social group. From reading this excerpt, I found that the type of educator that i would lean towards being is a "skills" educator so that I may allow my students to express their works and feelings towards what we are learning freely instead of feeling forced into believing a certain thing is true.

Amazing Grace

After reading just a single chapter within the book "Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation" by Jonathan Kozol, I have found that there are so many things that are pushed to the back of people's minds within this society. While reading this chapter, I have realized that people need to become more conscious of not only their own surroundings, but also the situations in this present society that affect the lives of those around us. Seeing that there are places within America that are at the same (or worse) social standing as places within the slums of countries with much less wealth than what we have in America truly brings to life the fact that we as a society pay no attention to the things that matter most, such as the well being of every American citizen. After reading this single chapter, I feel the need to purchase this entire book so that I can learn more in depth about the people within our country and the things that they go through on a daily basis rather than just being oblivious to the things that are really going on within our present society.

All About Me.

               Hello there and welcome to my blog! My name is Auburn Lynn Barnett, I am 18 years young and I am a freshman or a "first year" at Rhode Island College. Some quick fun facts about me are that I am the youngest of three children, but I am the only child blood related to both of my parents. I am a Lifeguard and Swim coach/instructor for the Kent County YMCA, this is my second year working there and I am also a lifeguard for the pool at the Rec Center on the RIC campus. In my free time, when I'm not in class or working, I enjoy riding my bike, going running, swimming, playing tennis, listening to and creating music, hanging out with my friends, shopping, and playing with my two puppies and kitten.

               So far, this semester seems to be going fairly well, I get along with everyone in my classes and all of my teachers seem pretty great. Although this is my second semester at RIC, it is still a very nerve wracking experience to have all new classes with all new teachers and classmates. The classes I am taking this semester are almost all gen-ed classes that are mandatory for my major, so I'm glad to be doing them now when I have time to make them up if I needed to. The workload so far has been very easy, but I shouldn't jinx myself in saying that, so I'll just hope for the best and expect the worst.

               Thank you for taking the time to read this, have a wonderful evening!