Hinchliffe- Blog #6 Service Learning

"In the Service of What? The Politics of Service Learning." 
By: Joseph Kahne and Joel Westhiemer


Argument:

     The author argues that service learning projects are most often primarily based on charity but lack the opportunity for students to make caring relationships. In most cases the service learning project gives but does not promote ideas of how to change things for improvement. Educators require the act of giving but often forget to have their students observe the environment in which they are giving back to. If the students do not observe the environment or make caring relationships are they not just learning that there is a status quo?

A service learning project should be a combination of both charity and critical analysis. This pushes students to think critically how things may need to change to improve the situation of the group or area they providing service to. It also pushes students to step out of their comfort zones and engage in new experiences.




Link:
--> https://www.estrellamountain.edu/students/service-learning/service-learning-ideas
This website gives different ideas for service learning projects and could be useful for those looking at different service learning projects.

Talking Points:

1. Would a service learning project be worth it without the critical analysis portion?
2. I wonder if there has ever been a service learning project that developed real change in the world.  

Hinchliffe- Blog #5- August

What is a safe space?

Definition: a place or environment in which a person or category of people can feel confident that they will not be exposed to discrimination, criticism, harassment, or any other emotional or physical harm.

     In this blog I will be talking about some quotes I took from the reading "Safe Spaces" by August. 

Quote 1: 

     "Classrooms lay the foundations for an inclusive and safe society: a just community where common interest and individual differences coexist. To the extent that teachers, school administrators, and college professors create an atmosphere in which difference is not only tolerated but expected, explored, and embraced, students will be more likely to develop perspectives that result in respectful behaviors" (August pg 83). 

Response: I chose this quote because I think it sets up a clear view of what this reading brings up. Most of our growing up lives in spent in a school and in a classroom. Not only that but for most of us we spend kindergarten through 12th grade with the same people. Schools are supposed to feel safe for everyone. But often times our image in school is set at a young age and you're depicted that way until you graduate. It is not to often you see someone go from unpopular to popular. Teachers must create an environment where everyone feels that they can be comfortable with who they are. Its important to make a space where students can chose to be themselves an environment that is inclusive and safe.

Quote 2:

     "As youth proceed through the system of American schooling, they might see negative representation of the LGBT community in the health or biology classroom, where they learn about HIV/AIDS as a gay-related disease" (August pg85). 

Response: This quote was under the part about curriculum. Not many of us think about how the LGBT community is almost completely left out of the curriculum. Maybe if we were taught more about the LGBT community in elementary school and so on there would not be so many bad perspectives on their community. If people started learning about how people can be different in these ways at a younger age and we were made more aware of it maybe there would be less judgement. Maybe we would learn at a younger age that being different is okay and its normal. Then, that could eventually lead to LGBT individuals to feel more comfortable being themselves and not hiding their true selves. Everything we do in life is learned we learn from school and we learn from our parents, friends, environment. So why are schools not teaching acceptance and inclusion. 

Quote 3:

     "Language is a tool. As such, we believe that speech is performative-- it does things. Words invite or exclude, recognize or erase, empower or intimidate, examine or assume" (August pg95). 

Response: How we talk about things and view words is so important. A child should be able to use the word "gay" if he or she is using it in the right way. As a teacher or educator you could use this to teach children, explain what gay is, explain that it is a normal word and it is not bad. Then, explain what makes it bad. How not to use the word. But, do not simply punish a child for using the word without understanding the context and how the word was being used. Teach children that its normal for someone to be gay, lesbian, or transgender, teach children that these words do not describe something bad that these words do not need to be hushed or shut down. 

Talking Points:

1. Why are children punished for using words like gay instead of taught that it is okay?

2. Why is it that LGBT is not taught within the curriculum? 

3. How would parents feel if their children were learning about the LGBTQ community in school and more about what it means to be gay, lesbian, transgender. 

https://www.ted.com/talks/lb_hannahs_what_it_s_like_to_be_a_transgender_dad?language=en#t-201849

    This was a Ted Talk done by a transgender parent and I think its really great to listen to!

Hinchliffe - Blog #4: Christensen

"Unlearning the Myths that Blind Us" 

By: Christensen 

Children's Books: Good or Bad? (Talking point 1)

     Have we ever stopped to think what we are actually reading when we read these fairytale stories to children? Has anyone ever stopped and asked if it was creating a false reality for children? Cinderella needs the fancy dress and glass slippers to get the prince, Ariel needs legs to get the prince and so on. These fairytale stories favor one set of people over the other in most cases. The females are, in most cases, young, pretty, thin, and trying to achieve the goal of getting the prince. The princes are tall, handsome, and strong. What idea does this put into a young girls mind? She must be pretty and she must maintain her figure and stay thin. If theres one thing that makes me question my reality it would be just that. I feel the need to constantly work out, exercise, eat healthy. I get insecure when I gain a single pound, never mind three. Where did I get this idea that I must look a certain way? I never believed my mom when she would tell me I'm skinny enough, I don't need to lose any more weight. In fact, when she brought it up I would get kind of annoyed and tell her she only said it because she's my mom and she has to. Did I get this idea of how I need to look from watching cartoons and princess movies growing up? 

Let's consider: Humpty Dumpty

     Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,

All the King's horses

And all the King's men

Cannot put Humpy together again

Well, Humpty Dumpty was a cannon and not an egg to start off. The cannon was shot off, "fell off a wall" and could not be fixed. The true meaning of Humpty Dumpty is not a cute story about an egg and if anything is actually sad. So why do we read these fairy tales to children?

Christensen writes, "After studying cartoons and cluldren's llrerature, my student Omar wrote: "When we read children's books, we aren't just reading cute little stories, we are discovering ihe tools with which a young society is manipulated."" Children grow up with an idea of what society is supposed to be like due to these fairytales and then are disappointed when they learn that life is not a fairytale.

Cartoons & Media: Are you influenced? 

    Are you aware of the way cartoons, media, tv shows, etc. have influenced you? Do you recognize the way you act due to the things you grew up watching or seeing? Do you follow the latest trends or wear the most popular brands? Have you ever asked yourself why you wear certain clothes or certain shoes? 

    Many of us are unaware of the role media has played in outlives. I'll be the first to admit that I always buy name brand clothes and shoes. I won't say that it is not my style because I do like my style and what I wear but I do not think I would have decided to dress this way or wear the shoes I wear without the affects of media. I follow the latest trends and brands and that may be because I unconsciously want to "fit in" or simply because it is the style I enjoy wearing. Media affects the way we act within our everyday lives. If you're a child watching a cartoon and the "cool kids" act a certain way, a child that wants to "fit in" is going to try acting that way. Christensen writes, "Many students don't want to believe that they have been manipulated by children's media or advertising" (pg 128). 

Stereotypes: Whose better? Who has power? Whose dominant? 

    One quote read, '"A Black Cinderella! Give Me a Break." She wrote: "Have you ever seen a black person, an Asian, a Hispanic in a cartoon! Did they have a leading role or were they a servant? What do you think this is doing to your child's

mind?" She ended her piece: "Women who aren't white begin to feel left OUt and ugly because they never get to play the princess."' (Christensen pg 131).  These movies teach children what the dominant role in society is. If we are being honest with ourselves then we know and can admit that the dominant roles are, white, straight, male. In the case of women it is the white women. Who decided these societal roles of power though? I challenge you to consider yourself and the role you play in society and reevaluate why you behave the way you behave.