Blog # 7

Given Krishnamurti's argument in "The Function of Education," how were "fear" and "ambition" (as Krishnamurti defines them) affecting Rose's experiences and questionings in graduate school? Can you relate to these feelings in your own experiences?

I feel that the fear that Krishnamurti describes in his work affected Rose because he was unsure of his own intellectual needs as a person. Here is Rose, who is intelligent, but has had difficulty his own interests. While in graduate school, Rose decides that he wants to go on to this psychology tangent, in pursuit of something that he thinks is more interesting,only to find out that it is not. He thinks about taking a job as a professor at the community college level because he is fearful of not having the comfort of steady work pace, income whatever it may be. But he does have this fear.
I can relate to this as well. Not unlike many other college students, I have changed my major. I am a special education major who started out as a Biology major. I was a Biology major with a desire to attend medical school. I wanted to do this because all of my other friends were Biology majors that were going into the health field too. All of my life, I had thought of being a teacher, but the year before I started college, I wanted to be like my friends. I put my needs aside in order to gain acceptance from my peers. After my first year, I realized that I hated what I was doing and that there was no way I was going to make it through college as a Biology major. I switched my major to special education and I am now confident that I am in a field that I want to be in. I enjoy my classes and am excited to learn all that I can about my field.

Blog #6

"Nothing is more exclusive than the academic club: its language is highbrow, it has fancy badges, and it worships tradition," Rose writes in chapter 3, "It limits itself to a few participants who prefer to talk to each other" (58). He then acknowledges Father Albertson - along with other teacher/mentors at Loyola - for opening this formidable club to him. How do Rose's experiences with his teacher/mentors reflect Freire's portrait of education (the banking-concept education he criticizes and/or the libertarian model he advocates for)?

In chapter 3, Rose discusses the relationship between himself and one of his professors, Mr.Johnson. Mr. Johnson was not a user of the "banking system" that Freire referred to in his writing. Mr. Johnson created a world of comfort for Rose who was a struggling learner at the time. Rose enjoyed being in Mr. Johnson's class because Mr. Johnson was not only giving him information, but was teaching him ways to learn and re-use what was being taught in class. On page 49 of LB Rose says, " He (Mr. Johnson) did for me what Mr. MacFarland had done for literary history: he gave me a directory of key names and notions." I feel like Rose became more comfortable with his learning in his philosophy class because of his instructor's ability to start his learning process at a low level, then increase the intensity of the instruction in small intervals. This is not a model of the banking process that Freire discusses. Students are taught in Mr. Johnson's model that it is okay to start small, just so long as you learn what you learn well. Where as the banking model perpetuates fact-learning and memorization.

Anyon

What connections, similarities, or disparities do you see in Rose's narrative of being placed in Voc. Ed. and then moving to College Prep and Anyon's research on the types of learning and teaching in schools of differing economic status? (Remember to use specific passages or quotations in your discussion.)

I have seen specific instances of students being moved from a vocational education-like setting, then being moved into college prep courses. The state of Mississippi uses the Occupational Diploma program for some students to gain work experience before being ushered into the post-secondary era of their life. Prior to recent legislation and new state education mandates, these students were exposed only to business math, (money strategies such as counting, using a bank account, etc.)life skills English (in this class students may create a mock resume) and life skills sciences ( students are taught how to make healthy decisions regarding what to eat, how a woman's body carries a baby, etc.). You can check out this link to see exactly what entails the Mississippi Occupational Diploma Program. (http://www.parentsunitedtogether.com/page10.html) Recent legislation has now required the same students who have been enrolled in these MOD programs to now take the subject area tests, which are derived from college prep classes in the general education setting. These subjects are English II, Biology I, American History and Algebra I. When talking to the students who are now enrolled in these college prep classes, they feel frustrated, scared, and angry. They felt like they were violently shoved into this situation and now have very little motivation to even attend school, let alone attempt to prepare for the state test exams. I feel like these students are in a very similar situation that Rose was in. His ideal about vocational education is summed up in the following quote "Myself and the others in the vocational education classes were floating in pretty shallow water. Vocational education has aimed at increasing the economic opportunities of students who do not do well in our schools. Some programs succeed in doing that.....The vocational track however is most often a place for those who are just not making it, a dumping ground for the disaffected." Rose alluded throughout his narrative that students who are enrolled in vocational education programs are traditionally from low socioeconomic status households. Similarly, Anyon refers to working class schools as a place where teachers only teach "what the students will use in real life". In the eyes of these two writers, vocational education seems to be reserved to "second best students". From what I have experienced in the classroom, it seems that the students feel this way as well.

Blog #4

Which of the metaphor systems Lakoff describes (moral accounting, moral strength vs. moral nurturance, family-based morality, etc.) do you see/hear most in social or political discourse around you? We've talked a good bit about the importance of region/place in culture; which metaphors seem to be strongest in Mississippi/southern discourse?
Remember to use specific examples and quotes from the text.

I feel like the family based morality model or "strict father model" as it is referred to in the text is the one concept in this writing that resonates completely through Southern culture. In Mississippi, shame is felt for exhibiting one's sexual desires because the "strict father model" has an ideal that inner sexual desires are viewed as evil and should not be acted upon in our society. I feel like some of Mississippi's difficulties such as low socio-economic status and high teen pregnancy are attributed to this ideal. If the parents in our state could some how wrap their head around the idea that sex by teenagers is inevitable then students could be exposed to safe sex practices in the sex education classes in our schools. This would lower our teen pregnancy and drop out rates. Much of Southerner's beliefs are steeped in the "father model" that the text discussed and some of them are great ideas, such as being a hard worker and protecting one's family, but other ideals are not fair to hold on to and are stifling the advancement of our state.

Blog # 3

We've talked, so far, about the discursive construction of consent and the normalization of privilege (via a vocabulary that masks privilege); how does Lakoff's explanation of framing relate to those concepts? (Remember to refer to specific quotes or passages in constructing your response.) How can rhetorical analysis help us understand the discursive construction of consent, the normalization of privilege, and framing? Also: what did you find surprising, offensive, or affirming about Lakoff's article?


"We all conceptualize well-being as wealth>" I don't think that I have ever seen a quote that I have disagreed with more ever. I feel like well-being is one's own healthiness, happiness and level of contentment. Some of those aspects of a person's life are affected by their level of wealth, but not all of them. One can be content with their family, their love or their job. Even if the job does not pay a lot. I can relate to this being an education major. I know that I will not make a lot of money, but I will be satisfied knowing that I am making a difference in the world. I do not conceptualize well being as wealth. Maybe I am misunderstanding the quote. I am not sure.
I did like Lakoff's rundown of qualities that we define as "well being" attributes.


healthy rather than sick,
rich rather than poor,
strong rather than weak,
free rather than imprisoned,
cared for rather than uncared for,
happy rather than sad, disgusted or in pain,
whole rather than lacking,
clean rather than filthy,
beautiful rather than ugly

I felt like this is something that I have not paid very much attention to in our society, and it was refreshing to see someone point this out.

Making Systems of Privilege Visible Blog # 2

Respond to the readings using direct quotations and examples from each. What is the relationship between education and privilege? Could you relate to the experiences described in either article? How does privilege shape our discourse and our expectations?

Privilege and education go hand in hand. Those who are privileged in our society are granted more opportunity than those who are less privileged. Education is more easily attainable when those who seek it come from families who are educated themselves. Educated parents tend to encourage their children to stay in school and to excel while there. Students who come from families that are less educated may not have as strong of a support group as others. When less privileged students are faced with an obstacle during their pursuit of education, they do not have as vast of an access to support systems as more privileged students do, and they may feel overwhelmed and be more tempted to withdraw from school. It is easy for me to relate to this, being that I am the first person in my family to attend college and I have the responsibility of funding it on my own. I work full time to pay my way as well as take out loans to finish my education. Several times, I have felt frustration so intense that I just want to give up and withdraw from school at least a hundred times. I thought that the quote "language veils the existence of systems of privilege," is very true, though unnoticed. The author referred to a form of racism that our society has not really assigned vocabulary to. This type of racism is the kind that underlines our job market, sense of humor, and goals in life. It is difficult to discuss this type of racism because it is very widely accepted.

Blog # 1

Respond to the reading using direct quotations and examples from the chapter. What did you find surprising, offensive, affirming, helpful, etc.? What kinds of cultural capital do you bring to writing and to your educational experiences

I felt that the writer of this book has a strong knowledge of how our society works. It is obvious from the vernacular used in this work that the writer is British. The writer uses odd terminology such as the word "hegemony." I am glad that we discussed this word in class because I was unclear on its meaning within the text. I found the fact that this writer is so aware of the class systems within our society to be surprising. Even though the writer is British, the writer manages to draw many parallels between British society and American society, as exhibited on the chart on page 32. Personally, I do not pay that much attention to the class system within our society, probably just because I am not as aware of others around me. However, this article and our class discussion following it has me becoming more aware of the actions of others.