Blog Assignment #6: LB Ch. 3 and Pedagogy of the Oppressed

   
    The banking-concept is the traditional form of education that Rose had experienced especially in his years in the vocational track. College Prep and Father Albertson begin to trek into the ideals of the libertarian model. With Father Albertson, Rose was able to have the academic language opened up to him. I too had a similar experience with the language of academia. For me, my grandmother was the one who took the time to explain some of the language and whys I asked.

     The idea of academia was to teach the elite to properly govern their lands and servants, but in a society no longer based on servitude, is this best course to take? This reading also connected back with the breakdown of education and class that Anyon talks about. Because when you really look at it, Rose was being taught by the ‘elite’ of old: the monks and priests of the Catholic Church. It is this very ‘elite’ who will eventually help him to gain entrance into the world of Academia. According to Freire, “In the banking concept of education, knowledge is a gift bestowed by those who consider themselves knowledgeable upon those whom they consider to know nothing.” Within this statement, you can argue that this is precisely what has happened to Rose. The teachers and mentors that have influenced Mike Rose have inadvertently piggy-banked him. His understanding maybe greater than others, but it would be due the extent of his ability to retain such knowledge. What we know of Rose is what he tells us. For me it is difficult to know how well he influenced his instructors. Did he manage to teach them? If so, that would start to show the more liberating way of thinking that Freire addresses.

     Freire seems to be insistent that everyone is oppressed and should be liberated. But if all education is a power struggle, than how can you liberate? If one person has an understanding of an apple and the other an understanding an orange, but neither discuss with the other what their type of fruit they have, are they not placing themselves in power over the other person? If the answer is yes they both hold power over the other, then once again how do you liberate that knowledge? Freire states: "Those truly committed to liberation must reject the banking concept in its entirety, adopting instead a concept of women and men as conscious beings, and consciousness as consciousness intent upon the world. They must abandon the educational goal of deposit-making and replace it with the posing of the problems of human beings in their relations with the world."

     Therefore, my next question is how do you teach without depositing knowledge? Even the idea of questioning and analyzing must involve the intake of information. Consequently, it would seem almost impossible to not deposit some type of information in some way. The idea seems to be to see education as a right versus a gift, but in truth isn’t it both? Some people have to fight for that right and privilege. It seems that we may have forgotten that it is not just a right but a gift to become educated. But for some, it is a costly gift due to student loans and bad economies, but would Freire argue that this was really our cost for liberation? I would say honestly it is hard to say. But being that liberation of knowledge has been being discussed since the Greeks, it is my belief that this topic will not be decided or overly changed by my blog.

Blog Assignment 5: “The Hidden Curriculum of Work” by Anyon

     When reading Rose’s narrative of being placed in the Vocation Education and then later moved on to the College Prep, I began to question why the Vocational track is easier than College Prep. The goal of both tracks is to have education and a career, so why are they different? The answer to this question became clearer after reading Anyon’s research on teaching methods used in different economic statuses. In her research we find that the working class students are primarily told this is the ‘right’ way to do X. They are then taught not to question that ‘right’ way. It comes down to constant rote memorization and rule following. According to Anyon’s research, “Most of the rules regarding work are designations of what the children are to do; the rules are steps to follow… Work is often not evaluated according to whether it is right or wrong but according to whether the children followed the right steps.”


     In the educational system examined by Anyon, we can continue to see the differences in class that Rose eventually had to try and overcome. Anyon explains that in research done by Bowles and Gintis shows “students in different social-class backgrounds are re- warded for classroom behaviors that correspond to personality traits allegedly rewarded in the different occupational strata-the working classes for docility and obedience, the managerial classes for initiative and personal assertiveness.” Therefore, a student who is praised for ‘rule following’ will in turn be taught how to be ‘working’ to ‘middle’ class with the ‘affluent’ and ‘elite’ being rewarded for forward thinking.

     For Rose, it appears this is what happened to him and his fellow students. Rose’s own assessment is that “Students will float to the mark you set…Vocational education has aimed at increasing the economic opportunities of students who do not do well in our schools.” He goes on to say how some manage to succeed, but more often than not, “The vocational track, however, is most often a place for those who are just not making it, a dumping ground for the disaffected.” This statement still brings causes me to ask why? Why should the Vocational track be so easy? Wouldn’t it be better to teach critical thinking skills to ‘worker bees’? Learning how to see small problems and fixing it would allow work to be completed more efficiently.

    The increased efficiency, in theory, would give more time to the CEO and other management for creating new ideas and company expansion. Then again, if workers could think for themselves, then the fear may be that the CEO is not needed. As humans, we seem to like to know where we are in the pecking order. Maybe our educational system is set up to keep the pecking order and peace? Even so, should Vocational Tech be the dumping ground of the mediocre? To me, all tracks in education should have the same basic goals: to educate, to think critically, to peaceably solve problems, and to provide for an economically secure future.

Blog Assignment #3: Simple Framing

Lakoff’s explanation of framing can easily relate to the concepts discussed in previous class discussions.  According to Lakoff, “Frame development takes time and work.” Lakoff also discusses how the conservative think tank has been practicing positive framing for over 40 years. He brakes this down by discussing how framing a discussion on ‘Tax Cuts’ can immediately conjure up an image of the increase of bot money and jobs as said through the conservative rhetoric. During the discussion on the normalization of privilege a large focus was used on the word racism.  When most people here the word racist their minds immediately turn to items such as the KKK, White Power, white vs. black, and other issues most highlighted during the civil rights movement. What they don’t usually think about is discrimination of Latinos, Native Americans, etc. Normalization of privilege is can simply be but as a group of people coming together and deciding what is their ‘normal’. Once the ‘normal’ is defined for the group, the group begins giving ‘privileges’ to the ‘norm’ as more people agree and meet the criteria of the ‘norm’ the group grows. This growing group can be everything from a small club formed by children to the creation of a new town.

Rhetorical analysis helps us understand the discursive construction of consent, the normalization of privilege, and framing by helping to give a deeper level of understanding not only to their definition but the understanding and abstract thought required to comprehend their true meaning. Through rhetorical analysis a reader can draw out what the article is truly saying versus the spin the author either intentionally or unintentionally has written in. A good example is listening to a song. When someone hears a new song their brains start to process beat, rhythm, voice, arrangement, and so on to determine whether or not they like the song. Some people go one step further. They listen to the actual lyrics of the song. By paying attention to the lyrics, the listener can truly determine if the song is worth listening to again. For example, on the family friendly TV show “American Idol”, Katy Perry performed her new song with Kanya West entitled E.T. (extraterrestrial) Here is a sampling of the lyrics for Kanya West’s part:

I got a dirty mind
I got filthy ways
I'm tryna Bath my Ape in your Milky Way
I'm a legend, I'm irreverent
I be reverand
I be so fa-a-ar up, we don't give a f-f-f-f-ck
Welcome to the danger zone
Step into the fantasy
You are not invited to the otherside of sanity
They calling me an alien
A big headed astronaut
Maybe it's because your boy Yeezy get ass a lot

I know a bar out in Mars
Where they driving spaceships instead of cars
Cop a Prada spacesuit about the stars
Getting stupid ass straight out the jar
Pockets on Shrek, Rockets on deck
Tell me what's next, alien sex
I'ma disrobe you, than I'mma probe you
See I abducted you, so I tell ya what to do
I tell ya what to do, what to do, what to do

The lyrics do not leave much to the imagination to the subject matter that is being talked to. So if you like the lyrics more than likely you will like the song, thus in the ‘norm’ of people who like it. I’m outside the norm, because I do not like the song nor do I believe it was appropriate for a family friendly show.

Advance Comp Blog Assignment #2: Making Systems of Privilege Visable

     Making Systems of Privilege Visible was an interesting piece on privilege and what the author likes to call “ism”. Her main focus of “ism” was predominately racism though she did touch upon sexism in the article. According to this article, the relationship between education and privilege is that education is a privilege that is granted to teach privilege. If you use the classic example of white males, it is assumed that if you are a white male you will go to school and that depending on your economic status you will either go into a trade or on to college to pursue a higher career such as a doctor, lawyer, or even an architect. In current society this ideal seems to still hold true, but the reality can be quite different. I remember a sociology paper I wrote a few years back that dealt with reality and aspirations. Growing up my life seemed to mimic the TV show Roseanne, but my ideal family that I wanted to grow up in was The Cosby’s. Since we are discussing race and privilege, I think it is fair to say that I am white, the Roseanne show was white, and my ideal was a The Cosby’s who were a black family. (On a side note: I do understand that the politically correct term is African-American, but unless you came from Africa and immigrate to America and became a citizen, than my personal belief is that you are a black/brown American and not African-American because there are white Africans.) The ideals set for my by The Cosby’s show has helped me to shape the type of life I one day hope to have and how I would like to raise my children.

     As the author alluded to the idea of privilege and race seem to go along because of societal support. She stated on page 109, “First calling someone a racist individualize the behavior and veils the fact that racism can occur only where it is culturally, socially, and legally supported. It lays the blame on the individual rather than the systemic forces that have shaped that individual and his or her society.” To my understanding, she appears to be saying that as a society we need to recognize that the privilege of one color skin versus the other should be mute, but despite change it is still a criterion that we use just like we use gender and sexual orientation. She stated on page 111 that “The privileged characteristic is the norm; those who stand outside are the aberrant or ‘alternative.’” I can relate this to neither my race nor gender but to my weight. Having been heavy all of my life has caused me to be outside of the norm. The teasing, lack of friends, and inability to do some of the same activities as my peers because I would become too winded, forced me to become introverted and it has taken several years to become more extroverted. Insecurities still linger despite best efforts to except myself and body image. I will never be a supermodel.

     It is funny how we take for granted certain privileges when white, but then again aren’t there certain privileges that other races can take for granted? I found that the author seemed to lose focus that other races can be just as racist? Who knows maybe one day I will be the one who is sitting in the back of the bus and having signs saying No Whites allowed. For me personally, I agree with a friend of mine who said, “I belong to the Human race. Which race do you belong to?”

Final Thoughts

For now, this will be my last post. IT469 has been my favorite class this semester. There wasn't ever an assignment or day I was truly dreading do or come to. I have enjoyed almost every minute of Dr. Yuen's class.

I have learned about many different multimedia applications that could help not only in a classroom setting but in other fields of work such as advertising, business, even music/art. I have met many different people in this class. I have made at least one good friend because of the experience.

I have even talked to my boss at work about a couple of the programs that maybe useful to them. I appreciate that Dr. Yuen found and taught programs that were free to use. On a tight budget, this comes in extremely handy. During the current economical state anything free that an employee can use to help their employer, whether it be in education or business, is usually always welcomed.

Its hard to pick a favorite assignment but I would have to say that it would have to be Animoto. It looked so professionally created. The finished product looked like it may have taken hours to complete, when in all actuality it took probably 30 minutes from upload to their completion of the information. My friends and family were extremely impressed by how simple it was to use and the results of it. I believe upgrading to the paid subscription would be well worth the money.

Audacity

As I was looking at my blog I have realized I missed sharing one of my experiences with you. Audacity is an audio recording program. It is a free program where you can overlay prerecorded audio and created audio. You can add fade ins and fade outs. You can even add a door bell sound. I found it extremely fun to use. It could be useful in adding personnally created audio for videos. I could see this being used in a high school setting to teach how to mix tracks, create their own songs, or even to recreate audio for a video if the video recording didn't come out correctly.

One reason I had really enjoyed it was that it had me achieve a goal of mine. My dad really likes Star Trek, so I have always wanted to take the different themes of the show and blend them in some fashion to create a soundtrack for him to play. With this program, I was able to create this soundtrack. Now for those Trekies out there who may happen to read this:

1. It is in show publication order.
2. It does not have the last show Enterprise on it because its particular theme was a Rod Stewart song and really didn't fit well with the others.

I loved the way it came out and hope you like it too.

Windows Movie Maker

This assignment was to create a movie with Windows movie maker. The irony in this assignment was that I created my YouTube video with the program and when I went to refine that particular video, I just couldn't make it work. Therefore, I created a different video. It is of only pictures, but I still enjoyed making it. I found movie maker easier to use than some programs like Pixorial.

I could see using this program in a production type format for high school students and others who would like to create their own home videos that look more professional. It could even be used to capture still life and mix video for use in reception videos or even wedding videos to capture memories. \

The piece I created was from my trip to Anaheim, CA in June of last year. I used the song "Bitter Sweet Symphony" by the Verve as a back ground music. It just seemed appropriate. I hope you enjoy it.


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