Equality For All!

 

     

   There is no real way to tell why someone can react negatively to homosexuality. I have often heard religion is the cause, but that isn’t always the case. Perhaps the biggest reason is due to the lack of knowledge people have about it. Just think about the 1960s and 1970s, when AIDS research started to become more prominent in the media. People were freaking out because they thought homosexuality was a disease and many people in the LGBTQ community were shunned and ignored by society in fear of turning others homosexual. Lack of knowledge and understanding has led to many issues in society and unfortunately that continues to be the case with homosexuality today. No Outsiders attempts to educate not only educators, but also parents, in how to approach the notion of homosexuality to students. Their website, which can be found at http://www.esrc.ac.uk/my-esrc/grants/RES-062-23-0095/read, explains the project in more details and includes full reports and summaries compiled by the research teams.

      Though You Should Know wrote an article about a school system that was planning on teaching homosexuality in sex education classes (http://www.tysknews.com/Depts/Educate/Homosexuality_in_Schools.htm). One quote really stood out, a parent, who said "I am furious and outraged that tax dollars are being spent to promote a lifestyle that if embraced will cut our son's life in half”. In the articles I have read, it often seems that the parents are the ones more concerned about their children learning about sex and homosexuality than the students are. (This could partly be due to the age group, seeing as some articles were concerning elementary students.) AVERT submitted an article (http://www.avert.org/gay-school.htm) that spoke about homosexuality in British school. The overall opinion for helping students become more aware and comfortable with it however seems to lie in simply educating the students who were homosexual in having safe sexual relationships. Why they aren’t trying to educate the entire student body is beyond me. A South Carolina college banned homosexuality after two profiles of out gay volleyball players was released to the public. (http://www.edgeboston.com/news/news//172641/sc_school_bans_homosexuality,_gay_athlete_speaks_out) The fact that a school thinks they can ban something like this is outrageous. Being a part of the LGBTQ community is not a lifestyle that one can choose. People are born this way and you can’t ask someone to try to change themselves.

       While it is nice to see that some people who support the LGBTQ community are trying to educate about homosexuality, it seems that not as much education is aimed towards society as a whole but rather those that are part of the LBGTQ community. On the other hand, there are people who refuse to accept the LBGTQ community and instead try to change it, make it ‘normal’, and make it conform to their beliefs.

       However there is a ray of hope for the future. Religious Tolerance has an article that suggest positive ways to discuss homosexuality in school (http://www.religioustolerance.org/homteach.htm) such as positions held by various religious groups in order to understand not only their positions on the matter but for students to better understand treatment the LGBTQ community can face from these groups. HaierUp on YouTube submitted a video in which being ‘Gay’ was the norm and being ‘Straight was not’. ***I highly suggest watching the video because it gives an interesting insight, putting you in the shoes of the treatment someone from the LGBTQ can face from society, especially at school (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnOJgDW0gPI). **** How does watching this video make you feel? Do you think you will treat someone from the LGBTQ community any differently now than you did before after watching the video?

       TheFineBros uploaded another video I highly suggest watching (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TJxnYgP6D8). In this video, children are shown videos that display same-sex couple and we get to see their reactions. Some children are initially shocked because they are not expecting it to be a couple that does not fit the usual “boy/girl” relationship, but they are able to quickly move past that and accept the couples and their actions. This specific video makes me excited for the future because more and more children are accepting of homosexuality and since children are our future, hopefully our future will be more tolerant of others.  

"Why Can't She Remember That?"

    Upon reading Meier’s article “Why Can’t She Remember That?” I was surprised to discover that children are a lot smarter than we give them credit for. It can even be argued that, even at such a young age, they are smart enough to know how to manipulate themselves into and out of different situations. For example, Meier tells us the story about little Marisa, who changed the tone of her voice to get out of trouble, or Lindsey, who quoted from a story her mother read to her in order to get what she wanted. I think adults often underestimate how intellectual children can be as children try to navigate their way through the world. While they do go to school to learn or have parents to teach them, children are attempting to understand their environment in a way different from adults. I can't help but wonder how we, as adults, can help children understand it a little better, if its even possible.

      

      Meier draws on language for her argument about children having different linguistic understandings based on different cultural experiences. Similar to other articles we have read, this article is teaching readers how they can engage all children, regardless of their background. One idea is to choose books that relate to the children’s lives. This same rule is very similar to an art education class I previously took in which I learned that its easier to reach children and get them involved in art if the teacher understands their background, where they come from and allow their environment to influence their art in some way, shape or form. Diversity Digest gives another article to help educators understand how they can engage multicultural classrooms, as well as Penn State,  (http://www.diversityweb.org/digest/f97/curriculum.html) (http://www.personal.psu.edu/scs15/idweb/multicultural.htm).

      

       

Silent Dialogue

      Lisa Delpit’s The Silent Dialogue discusses culture conflict in the classroom, concerning communication blocks between parties that believe they have the same aim. While reading this article, several statements Delpit wrote stood out to me.

      

      The first statement is “success in institutions – schools, workplaces, and so on – is predicted upon acquisition of the culture of those who are in power”. Delpit uses an example that middle-class children tend to do better than children who are not middle-class, simply because the culture of the school is based on that of the upper and middle-classes. The Guardian, a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, claims middle-class students do better because parents and schools put more effort into their education. Parents are more likely to push their child to do better, which can have an influence on the school’s effort. "The parents' background also increases the school's effort, which increases the school achievement. Why schools work harder where parents are from a more privileged background we do not know. It might be because middle-class parents are more vocal in demanding that the school work hard. Influencing parental effort is certainly something that is much easier than modifying their social background." (http://www.theguardian.com/education/2010/oct/29/middle-class-children-better-school) I firmly believe that students have the ability to push themselves to do their best, but they will ultimately be more successful if they have support from their school and family. I’m not saying students who are not in the middle-class don’t get support, but I can’t help but wonder how this support may or may not differ from the middle-class.

       Another statement that stood out to me was the suggestion that “each classroom incorporate strategies appropriate for all the children in its confines”. When teaching a class of 23 children, one needs to present information and knowledge to them in a way everyone can understand. This relates to my father, a former elementary music teacher. When teaching a new concept, he would present something to the students in three different ways, ensuring that everyone understood.

       A third statement that stood out was “to deny students their own expert knowledge is to disempower them”. Similar to the Lake reading, teachers need to accept the different experiences each student goes through. By doing so, teachers can even turn to the students to teach through their own knowledge. One never knows what a student can bring to the class until they are able to express their own culture.

       Teaching will never be an easy job, but as long as students are able to embrace where they come from and get support for it, then the job can be an experience unlike any other. 

White Privilege.......

McIntosh's "White Privilege" talks about how many white individuals who may come across as oppressive often do so unconsciously. From an early age, whites are “taught” not to recognize white privilege while at the same time benefitting from such a notion. McIntosh calls it an “invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools, and blank checks”. In listing areas McIntosh notices she is privileged in brings up points one probably does not think much about.

      Number 4 and 10 on McIntosh’s list mentions not having the fear of being followed or harassed while out in public or not having to worry so much about financial reliability. A friend of mine often jokes about not having good enough credit to buy a new car or asking who will walk him to his car from school in fear of being jumped. He’s 6’2” and could bench press me if he wanted to and yet he jokes about things like being jumped. Whether or not he is truly joking is unknown but it will definitely make me think twice about saying he’ll be fine because I really don’t know whether or not something like that could happen. I don’t have to worry about that as much and I haven’t faced situations of that nature because of my white privilege. BuzzFeed posted an article highlighting 17 Deplorable Acts of White Privilege. (http://www.buzzfeed.com/michaelblackmon/17-harrowing-examples-of-white-privilege-9hu9#.jq8K8GaNp)

      Something I can’t help but wonder after reading this article is if teaching white children about white privilege is beneficial for them or not. White privilege can be like a protective blanket for whites, blocking them from the harshness of the world. But is it worth hiding them from the truth about their privilege or should they be well aware from the beginning how and why they are/can be treated differently than someone who isn’t white. Its something, as a future educator, to think about.