The video on White Privilege amazes me. Tim Wise who is a White male and assumably middle class is calling himself and his peers out. I feel that because of those factors, this makes the video that much more effective. If the person lecturing was a female minority, would people just roll their eyes and dismiss the message they were trying to portray? They would probably think they were just "another one" complaining about inequality.
Initially, I wonder why Tim Wise has decided to invest so much time into this topic given the fact that he is his a "privileged White male." I commend him and believe he must genuinely care about straight facts and strong morals. His main focus is the inequalities between Whites and Blacks in the U.S.A. When Wise addresses the beginning of White Privilege, he discusses the White elite giving the poorer White class some land to control them and at the same time convinces them to create slaves out of Black people. The wealthy White people used the sparkly image of power to control people. As soon as someone got a taste of power, they wanted in on the deal no matter what it took. So someone had to suffer and it was going to be the slaves who weren't White.
Money, power, and greed has controlled everything historically and presently. White men were the first ones to get their hands on those controlling factors and they have not let them go since. The facts about Katrina were new to me and the White families receiving the privilege of being able to pass down their homes and land strictly to their relatives only was their way of controlling where Black people can or cannot live is disturbing. I was recently in New Orleans and I could literally feel the tension between White and Black people in most areas. I know the south has always had a lot of racial tension, but since Katrina a lot of the unresolved have resurfaced.
The video is very intense and Tim Wise brings up a lot of interesting points, most of which I believe are true. Is the battle between races ever going to change for the better? I'm not saying there has been zero progress, but I still believe there is still a very long way to go and who knows if there will ever be an end, ever.
“Until the philosophy which hold one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned...
Everything is war. Me say war.
That until the're no longer 1st class and 2nd class citizens of any nation...
Until the color of a man's skin is of
no more significance than the color of his eyes, me say war. That until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race me say war!”
-Bob Marley
Link to video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2mjvFNOwmc
Monday, February 27, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Culture and the Classroom
Each year a teacher anticipates the introduction of new students. Teachers have to get to know their students individually, as a whole, and make adjustments time and time again in the classroom. Those adjustment periods can be frequent or not depending on classroom organization. There are many aspects to organization with the obvious being time management and the layout of the room, but organization culturally is sometimes forgotten.
I believe in the future I will incorporate a lot of group work in my classroom. My wish for my students is to make connections with each other through art, discussions, and working collaboratively together on a project. Having five different minds with varying backgrounds create something has the potential to be very interesting and exciting. I would like to see my student's art create controversy, enlightenment, and open doors for others. It is like going into an ice cream parlor and having 32 flavors all being vanilla versus going into an ice cream parlor and having 32 flavors all being different.
I am also interested in having my students exhibit who they are as individuals. I want them to showcase where they come from and teach me something new about their political views, home life, family, holidays, traditions, fashion, etc. It is important to make students feel unique as an individual and not only identify with the groups in class.
I would like my class to be held as a democracy and vote on what works for our class and what does not. I want my students voices to be heard as a whole and individually. I will do my best in accommodating and understanding my students needs and various cultural backgrounds when teaching my lessons or showing them art. I recently read a story about a teacher taking her students to an art gallery where there was a picture of a dead baby wrapped in cloth. The group consisted of ESL students from South America, Asia, and Mexico. The teacher was worried about how culturally this image might negatively affect her students, but their reaction was the opposite. The group who was normally shy with using their English was drawn to the image and began asking questions and opening up more than the teacher has ever seen. I will push boundaries and ask my students to push boundaries with their art. All if not most art carries some form of cultural relevance and my classroom shall be a place that caters to that idea.
"Art lives to let us have different versions of vision and imagination, different versions of who we are, where we come from, where we are going, and what we might be."
-Rayna Green
Rothstein-Fisch, Trumbull. (2008). Managing diverse classrooms. (pp. 1-47). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Cahan, Kocur. (1996). Contemporary art and multiculturalism education. (pp. 39-45). New York, NY: The New Museum of Contemporary Art.
I believe in the future I will incorporate a lot of group work in my classroom. My wish for my students is to make connections with each other through art, discussions, and working collaboratively together on a project. Having five different minds with varying backgrounds create something has the potential to be very interesting and exciting. I would like to see my student's art create controversy, enlightenment, and open doors for others. It is like going into an ice cream parlor and having 32 flavors all being vanilla versus going into an ice cream parlor and having 32 flavors all being different.
I am also interested in having my students exhibit who they are as individuals. I want them to showcase where they come from and teach me something new about their political views, home life, family, holidays, traditions, fashion, etc. It is important to make students feel unique as an individual and not only identify with the groups in class.
I would like my class to be held as a democracy and vote on what works for our class and what does not. I want my students voices to be heard as a whole and individually. I will do my best in accommodating and understanding my students needs and various cultural backgrounds when teaching my lessons or showing them art. I recently read a story about a teacher taking her students to an art gallery where there was a picture of a dead baby wrapped in cloth. The group consisted of ESL students from South America, Asia, and Mexico. The teacher was worried about how culturally this image might negatively affect her students, but their reaction was the opposite. The group who was normally shy with using their English was drawn to the image and began asking questions and opening up more than the teacher has ever seen. I will push boundaries and ask my students to push boundaries with their art. All if not most art carries some form of cultural relevance and my classroom shall be a place that caters to that idea.
"Art lives to let us have different versions of vision and imagination, different versions of who we are, where we come from, where we are going, and what we might be."
-Rayna Green
Rothstein-Fisch, Trumbull. (2008). Managing diverse classrooms. (pp. 1-47). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Cahan, Kocur. (1996). Contemporary art and multiculturalism education. (pp. 39-45). New York, NY: The New Museum of Contemporary Art.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Identity
Identity is who we are. It is what we stand for. It is what we know. It makes us belong or pushes us away. Being forced not to acknowledge innate aspects of oneself because it makes others uncomfortable is preposterous. People are afraid of "other" identities. How unfortunate is it that people to this day still hold others down for being who they are physically and culturally? The fear in identity is something that needs to be mended and part of that starts within the schools.
Education in school has been one of the most influential tools that has manipulated, held back, created forward thinking, encouraged, weakened, and strengthened students of diverse backgrounds. The education system has the ability to mold students individually or as a whole. Recognizing that differences exist and that we should embrace them and not isolate them is crucial for student's development.
We as individuals are all very different from one another and can never completely understand what it is like to be in another person's shoes. That does not mean if we all came from the same background and looked exactly alike that society would be easier to understand and relate to. If we were all alike in experience and looks then people would still find something to segregate or be fearful of. Culture has so many sub categories because it is not just about race, but one's entire identity. People's culture/identity encapsulate their family, socioeconomic status, politics, hobbies, religion, age, gender, and relationships.
As a future art educator, I want to make sure that multiculturalism is apparent and welcome in my classroom and encourage my students to create art based off their background. I feel as if culture and art go hand in hand. A work of art can show other students visually where a person comes from. Self-expression through art can be therapeutic for feelings of anger, confusion, happiness, pride, and curiosity. There are hundreds of emotions that are internalized by students when dealing with cultural differences in society. Art can help bring those feelings out and display cultural significances in a positive light. In turn students can educate me, themselves, and one another.
“I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a living will be one with no thought to their separateness as Negroes, Jews, Italians or any other distinctions. This will be the day when we bring into full realization the American dream — a dream yet unfulfilled. A dream of equality of opportunity, of privilege and property widely distributed; a dream of a land where men will not take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few; a dream of a land where men will not argue that the color of a man’s skin determines the content of his character; a dream of a nation where all our gifts and resources are held not for ourselves alone, but as instruments of service for the rest of humanity; the dream of a country where every man will respect the dignity and worth of the human personality.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Noel, J. (2012). Multicultural education. (third ed.). New York: Mcgraw-Hill.
Congdon, Stewart, White. (2000). Mapping identity for curriculum work. 109-117.
Education in school has been one of the most influential tools that has manipulated, held back, created forward thinking, encouraged, weakened, and strengthened students of diverse backgrounds. The education system has the ability to mold students individually or as a whole. Recognizing that differences exist and that we should embrace them and not isolate them is crucial for student's development.
We as individuals are all very different from one another and can never completely understand what it is like to be in another person's shoes. That does not mean if we all came from the same background and looked exactly alike that society would be easier to understand and relate to. If we were all alike in experience and looks then people would still find something to segregate or be fearful of. Culture has so many sub categories because it is not just about race, but one's entire identity. People's culture/identity encapsulate their family, socioeconomic status, politics, hobbies, religion, age, gender, and relationships.
As a future art educator, I want to make sure that multiculturalism is apparent and welcome in my classroom and encourage my students to create art based off their background. I feel as if culture and art go hand in hand. A work of art can show other students visually where a person comes from. Self-expression through art can be therapeutic for feelings of anger, confusion, happiness, pride, and curiosity. There are hundreds of emotions that are internalized by students when dealing with cultural differences in society. Art can help bring those feelings out and display cultural significances in a positive light. In turn students can educate me, themselves, and one another.
“I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a living will be one with no thought to their separateness as Negroes, Jews, Italians or any other distinctions. This will be the day when we bring into full realization the American dream — a dream yet unfulfilled. A dream of equality of opportunity, of privilege and property widely distributed; a dream of a land where men will not take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few; a dream of a land where men will not argue that the color of a man’s skin determines the content of his character; a dream of a nation where all our gifts and resources are held not for ourselves alone, but as instruments of service for the rest of humanity; the dream of a country where every man will respect the dignity and worth of the human personality.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Noel, J. (2012). Multicultural education. (third ed.). New York: Mcgraw-Hill.
Congdon, Stewart, White. (2000). Mapping identity for curriculum work. 109-117.
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