Reading for this week

Greeting from sunny California!

So it seems that I do not have the Shor reading up in my electronic reserves... apologies for that!!! But fotunately, if you go into the RIC Library reserves and search for Professor AUGUST, you will see the article posted there.

It is by Ira Shor, and it is called Education is Politics.

Have a good weekend... if you celebrate Easter (or even if you don't), you might like this tasty, crafty snack to share with your friends and family. Sushi... made from rice crispy treats, fruit roll ups and PEEPS! (My sister and I made them last night)

Enjoy!

LB :)

Random and cool

Just want to share these amazing short films... all about how media representation and beauty culture influence how we think about ourselves and each other.

You can view them for free until the end of this month using the password: Body Typed.

Keeping Track

You have a lot of reading this week so plan carefully to manage your time...

First, read Patrick Finn, Literacy with an Attitude.
But you don't need to read the whole 35 pages that is on reserve. Instead, read the Preface, Chapter 1 and Chapter 2. You can skim chapter 13 and 14, though chapter 14 is when Finn talks about real teachers working to change the system of tracking and inequality so you might enjoy reading about some "solutions" since we spend so much time talking about the "problems" in this class!!

Then you are reading Jeannie Oakes' short piece about tracking. This is a good summary of the basic debates around tracking that will anchor the key concepts for you.

If this issue around social class and schooling interests you, there are so many cool resources to check out. PBS did a great project called People Like Us that you can watch or explore via their website. The Center for Working Class Studies in Ohio has a ton of resources to explore.



As always, make sure you have all of your articles with you in class. We will definitely be using the text in our activities next week.

Gender and Children's Culture

Some resources from class today...

Cinderella Ate My Daughter (2011)

Free to Be You and Me (1972)

Judith Butler, 'girling of the girl' (1990)


Ladies First!!

From today's news....

Given our topic this week -- Title IX -- thought I would share this article from today's news.

Powerful reminder that gender still matters in 2011...

Gender Play

We have talked a lot in class about how issues of race, language, ethnicity or sexuality impact the teaching and learning that goes on in classrooms.

What about gender?

For decades, researchers have documented how schools shortchange girls. Girls have been called on less often, rewarded for good behavior rather than good work, and discouraged from pursuing interests in math and science fields. This has happened both in the classroom, and on the playground as well where girls have had fewer opportunities to explore their athletic interests or be taken seriously as a formidable athlete. And what about the boys?

How do issues of gender impact schools today??

This week, I want you to go find the texts that we will discuss in class. Learn as much as you can about the history of gender differences in American schools and abut the current issues as they play out in 2011. You can search the web, the library, youtube, itunes, your SL classroom, etc to come up with some ideas about how and why gender matters. Some search terms to start with:

Title IX
Gender and education
Gender and schooling
Girls academic success
Boys and schooling
Gender differences in school
Single sex schooling
American Association of University Women (AAUW)
Sexual harassment and schools
Gender and dress codes
gender bias in education
Supreme court gender school
gender school policies

Post about some of these on your blog and bring at least one printed text with you to class on Tuesday.

Have a good weekend!

LB :)

"Readings" for March 29/31

The readings for this week are not exactly readings, but things to check out online. This week marks a shift in the syllabus. Up until this point, we have been reading about broad theories about diversity and difference including the Culture of Power and issues of White Privilege. Now we are going to start to look at historical moments where these topics came into view in our schools.

Our topic this week is about Brown vs. Board of Education (1954), the historical supreme court decision that made the segregation of public schools unconstitutional.


You have FOUR tasks for this week:

1) I want you to explore this website to give you some background on Brown v. Board of Education.

2) Then I want you to watch these two videos that highlight the work of Tim Wise, author of "Between Barack and a Hard Place." Take notes while you watch so that you can refer to specific quote in your blog post and in class.





4) Read this very short article from last week's New York Times.
How do the issues that Bob Herbert raises shape how you think about Brown v. Board of Education?

3) Now blog about it.
What is the relationship between the historical issues you see in the website on Brown v. Board of Education and the contemporary issues of race that Bob Herbert and Tim Wise raise here?

Leave comments if you have any questions...

LB :)