So far in this English 101 class I have been doing decently. The one thing that i have been struggling with in this class is the due dates and definitely the time that the class starts. Lately I have been struggling with getting to class 2 minutes sooner than I have been. I have learned to be on top of my dates and get things posted on time. I realize that this might not be a good example of that. I have also learned that making a claim and having a thesis are two different things, formulating claims is a lot harder than i originally thought. I have definitely become better at reading and analyzing. My ability to think critically has increased and I have become much better at analyzing literature. In the next half of the course i hope to continue learning about Engfish. I think that the idea that people write for a grade instead of writing to analyze and think critically is very important because I myself was once a victim of Engfish. This course has given me the ability to stray away from Engfish and be more comfortable about it. I couldn't say that there is anything that I am looking forward to learning in this course. But i am excited to keep reading about the school and education subject matter that we have been into recently. I hope that i see more ted talks in the future because they are very informative and i love listening to lectures.
Overall I have had a great time in this course. I hope to continue having a good time and hope i can make it at 10:00 and not 10:02
Friday, January 27, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
IWA #2 (Presentation Week)
IWA #2
Due at 5pm
In Mary Pratt's essay, "Art of the Contact Zone" she makes the claim that, "Autoethnography, transculturation, critique, collaboration, bilingualism, mediation, parody, denunciation, imaginary dialogue, vernacular expression--these are some of the literate arts of the contact zone" (4). While the contact zone is a place where all of these are present, it brings to question, do all contact zones have the same things happening in them or are these just the characteristics of a "working" contact zone? Would there be distinct differences between a working contact zone and a contact zone full of chaos? If a contact zone is referred to as, "Social spaces where cultures meet, clash, and grapple with each other, often in contexts of highly asymmetrical relations of power, such as colonialism, slavery, or their aftermaths as they are lived out in many parts of the world today" (1). I do not think that the literal arts are present in certain situations because if a contact zone is a place where people are grappling and clashing then it doesn't seem as though mediation, dialogue, and collaboration. These seem as though they are important to the cohesiveness of a contact zone but if it directly contradicts what a contact zone is then how is it that we are supposed to believe that any contact zone is seem development. A better definition of contact zone is needed, a definition that leaves out the physical and verbal confrontational feel that it currently has. It needs to be clear that the people are not Physically grappling because that seems to be a contact zone that lacks any literate arts whatsoever. A working contact zone is one where the collaboration and dialogue leads to an end to a contact zone and somewhere along those lines there is a change from contact zone to cohesive zone. Whether the Cohesive zone was created because of assimilation, acculturation, or agreement it is no longer a zone that grapples its a zone that grasps. The zone grasps for the dialogue, collaboration and mediation that it needs to make itself better but it is definitely no longer a contact zone.
Due at 5pm
In Mary Pratt's essay, "Art of the Contact Zone" she makes the claim that, "Autoethnography, transculturation, critique, collaboration, bilingualism, mediation, parody, denunciation, imaginary dialogue, vernacular expression--these are some of the literate arts of the contact zone" (4). While the contact zone is a place where all of these are present, it brings to question, do all contact zones have the same things happening in them or are these just the characteristics of a "working" contact zone? Would there be distinct differences between a working contact zone and a contact zone full of chaos? If a contact zone is referred to as, "Social spaces where cultures meet, clash, and grapple with each other, often in contexts of highly asymmetrical relations of power, such as colonialism, slavery, or their aftermaths as they are lived out in many parts of the world today" (1). I do not think that the literal arts are present in certain situations because if a contact zone is a place where people are grappling and clashing then it doesn't seem as though mediation, dialogue, and collaboration. These seem as though they are important to the cohesiveness of a contact zone but if it directly contradicts what a contact zone is then how is it that we are supposed to believe that any contact zone is seem development. A better definition of contact zone is needed, a definition that leaves out the physical and verbal confrontational feel that it currently has. It needs to be clear that the people are not Physically grappling because that seems to be a contact zone that lacks any literate arts whatsoever. A working contact zone is one where the collaboration and dialogue leads to an end to a contact zone and somewhere along those lines there is a change from contact zone to cohesive zone. Whether the Cohesive zone was created because of assimilation, acculturation, or agreement it is no longer a zone that grapples its a zone that grasps. The zone grasps for the dialogue, collaboration and mediation that it needs to make itself better but it is definitely no longer a contact zone.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Reading Journal 3
In Pratt’s “Art of the Contact Zone” a lecture given to the Modern Language Association . it pushed teachers to find a more meaningful way to teach children by introducing everyone to the contact zone. The contact zone is a place where cultures collide and grapple with each other in asymmetrical power struggles. Prat uses the example of “The New Chronicle” and constructs a new picture of the world with Andean people and Not European peoples at the center of it. This shows how cultures coexist and shows exactly what is meant by “The Contact Zone”.
The thing that stood out to me the most or became my main flash point was her first example or anecdote about the child collecting baseball cards. I did not ever think that all of those things could be learned from baseball but clearly they can be. This reminded me of how I learned in elementary school I loved learning hands on things so I always loved blocks. Yet I collected cards to and I never felt like I learned any of the things that Pratt describes. However this brings to question my Idea of learning in different ways, it makes me question further whether or not there is a set way to learn or do we as students learn more creatively and effectively if we relate to the material?
The second flash point was related to Teacher and Pupil language and how most of the time we only see the side from the teachers point of view and not the pupils’. I Think more and more of student choice and the idea of independent study, I also continue to think that what might be wrong with our schooling today is that teachers are making all of the decisions for us and that students aren’t taking the initiative to learn, they are just arriving to absorb the information and pass tests. This is no way to learn. Both of these flashpoints relate to my essay #1 topic and I plan on incorporating them as soon as I edit.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Essay Number 1
Are there other ways to learn that might be more effective than compulsory education?
Children afraid to raise there hand in class and the chirping of crickets as a teacher stares at the students, which are supposed to be learning from them. This is an all to common sight in today’s day and age. Students afraid to learn from the wrong because they are taught at such a young age to be correct, and being correct is the only way to succeed. In John Gatto’s “Against School” he argues that, “Children learn things not because they are doing something wrong but because they are doing something correct.” Does our current compulsory school system teach students that you cannot learn if you are wrong? Are we doing things correct by teaching out children that being wrong is bad? From a young age every child has heard that you learn from your mistakes, is it true? In school it seems as though we are punished for our mistakes with bad grades and there is no opportunity to redeem yourself even if you are learning from your mistakes. Gatto also argues that there are many people who have been successful that have not participated in what we would consider a “traditional” schooling. In fact some of the greatest minds in history have been people who don’t seem to fit into the traditional system of school. This raises the question, are there other ways to learn that would be more effective than the compulsory education we have in place today? There has to be other ways for people to learn, homeschooling, private school, alternative and vocational schools, consider even a self-paced learning environment where the tools and materials are provided and you teach yourself. A stretch maybe but we will see that people have been successful with independent study many times before. Whatever it is there should be alternatives in place for people who wish to learn different ways.
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Many people have seen there way through America’s education system and pushed on to receive their degrees from universities across the country but are they educated? Gatto gives an example of people who have been wildly successful without a compulsory education, Ben Franklin, Thomas Edison, Abraham Lincoln, John Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie. These men by all standards have been successful but they did not receive the education that we are forced to put ourselves through. Had any of us opted out of school at a young age, we would be faced with constant opposition, family and friends would only be disappointed and employers would say that we are undereducated and unable to perform daily tasks. Where did this shift occur? There was no strict education system in America until the early 1900’s, how were people successful before then? It would be ignorant to say that the people of America’s history, who did not have a chance to receive the education of today, are uneducated. It is possible that they learned in just different ways and we have moved away from that style of learning but clearly something besides our 12 years of primary and secondary school works. Is there any reason we should not consider a different style of learning like the greats of the past had? Benjamin Franklin, was not only a founding father of our country but he was also a skilled printer, author, political theorist, postmaster, scientist and inventor. However he would be what considers today a dropout. The self-paced study that Benjamin Franklin put himself through would challenge most students with a heavier than average load at Yale. But self-paced instruction is not an option. Is it wrong to learn things on your own, clearly the only way to learn cannot be the rote style of learning we receive in our classrooms today.
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Is the Traditional system of learning working? In the sense that it is turning out individuals to the next level of education, yes it is working. But are the individuals that make it through the schooling system educated? This isn’t the first time that we have seen a compulsory system of education, Prussia had one and this raises concern for the future of our “educated” people. The goal of the Old Prussian system was to, “deny students appreciable leadership skills and to ensure docile and incomplete citizens- all in order to render the population manageable.” If this really is the aim of our public schools, it would be no question as to why we have not realized it, simply because we are being taught not to recognize the pending social problems associated with the constant turn out of individuals form a school system like this. If the population is being rendered manageable, what are we be made manageable for? Are the people of our nation being made manageable, Gatto makes mention of schools raising a horde of consumers and isn’t that we are taught to do? We consume from the same industry we are trained to work in. The reason we are made manageable is so that our work force is constant and that there is no change, because as manageable people we have no drive to become better. While our schooling system may not be exactly the same as the Prussian system of the past our school system definitely has similar flaws, an added flaw may be that the students are divided at young ages and separated into certain groups. What groups are we divided into? I’m sure that we have all seem it through gifted class in elementary school and honors classes in the upper divisions of our schooling. This brings to mind the phrase, “The world needs ditch diggers too.” This is no way for us to teach our children, instead we should be teaching our children to achieve, it is the job of the older generation to give the children and students the tools and motivation to be great. The world doesn’t need ditch diggers, the world needs free thinking individuals who can create and dream individually to advance and enhance the lives of all people
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If you want authenticity you have to initiate it. Its our job to lead and adventure, according to Gatto we should also think critically and independently, we should also push ourselves toward the “grown up” material to really learn. This is the true way to learn and we can see that from the successful people in our past. There are many styles of learning and there should be more than one option. Ken of “Ted Talks” says we are killing the creativity of students in schools and he could not be more correct. We need to inspire the youth to make the changes to their own education, no longer should we as students be able to say this is boring, if its boring then you aren’t pushing yourself because no one can cure boredom but you and our current schooling system is not pushing us to be involved because there is one right answer. We know that we can learn from wrong and that independent self paced study has been successful in the past but are there more options? Could we let students pursue their own course of study and direct themselves into a profession with which they feel naturally inclined to. Would it be a viable option to let students run free in a building full of the educational material and their peers and learn from each other, with just support from “teachers” rather than direction. Would students still be motivated to learn on their own? There are other options to consider as well, such as keeping the current system and changing our children are evaluated and divided.
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Going about changing the current schooling system would not be easy and of course face opposition. No one other than the students themselves should dictate how people educate themselves. The compulsory education system in place now has no doubt turned out many individuals who have gone on to great things but is that a result of the education they received or a result of their personal conviction and work ethic? And If that is the case then what is to say that the individuals would not have been as successful in another learning atmosphere. As students, what we can do is strive to be better, this means go beyond the minimum, don’t be afraid to challenge ideas or question. It is our job to have ideas and our job to continue learning at all times and most of all; we all have to start being wrong. That is when the learning will really occur.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Against School
Reading Journal #1
Gatto makes large claims but terrific points in his argument against the "Compulsory" education of America's forever children. He raises many questions, the first being:
Are there different ways to learn?
Well yes in fact, Gatto dives deep into examples of successful people whom have received little to no education and been successful. Men like Carnegie and Rockefeller, industrial titans and by todays standards, highly undereducated. What about Ben Franklin? Was he undereducated because he did not go to a compulsory twelve years of school. Maybe, but what if his self schooling had been more sucessful than any other schooling that we ourselves have received. Does twelve years of education push children to learn and develop or does it push them through being okay with mediocre and only finding the right answer and not learning from the wrong.
Are our public schools keeping us from growing?
In todays society, all educated people are consumers. But are all educated people adults? The school system tends to teach people to "Get" the right answer and not search for it. Technology has given society great things but also a disability, we can't think for ourselves. Isn't that where the most learning occurs? The six functions of public schools seem to assimilate all children into a population of people who are not free thinking and are born and bred to be workers in a society controlled by industry.
With all of the negativity towards compulsory education that Gatto shares, it is hard to believe that words within his essay Against School would inspire me more to learn. Yet he says that boredom is no ones fault but your own and that we must all push ourselves to lead and adventure. Not only that, but think critically and independently and don't avoid the grown up material, strive to be better and you will never get bored. Words of wisdom.
Looking back on it, reading this essay was more inspiring than anything i feel i ever "Learned" in elementary school.
Gatto makes large claims but terrific points in his argument against the "Compulsory" education of America's forever children. He raises many questions, the first being:
Are there different ways to learn?
Well yes in fact, Gatto dives deep into examples of successful people whom have received little to no education and been successful. Men like Carnegie and Rockefeller, industrial titans and by todays standards, highly undereducated. What about Ben Franklin? Was he undereducated because he did not go to a compulsory twelve years of school. Maybe, but what if his self schooling had been more sucessful than any other schooling that we ourselves have received. Does twelve years of education push children to learn and develop or does it push them through being okay with mediocre and only finding the right answer and not learning from the wrong.
Are our public schools keeping us from growing?
In todays society, all educated people are consumers. But are all educated people adults? The school system tends to teach people to "Get" the right answer and not search for it. Technology has given society great things but also a disability, we can't think for ourselves. Isn't that where the most learning occurs? The six functions of public schools seem to assimilate all children into a population of people who are not free thinking and are born and bred to be workers in a society controlled by industry.
With all of the negativity towards compulsory education that Gatto shares, it is hard to believe that words within his essay Against School would inspire me more to learn. Yet he says that boredom is no ones fault but your own and that we must all push ourselves to lead and adventure. Not only that, but think critically and independently and don't avoid the grown up material, strive to be better and you will never get bored. Words of wisdom.
Looking back on it, reading this essay was more inspiring than anything i feel i ever "Learned" in elementary school.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Word Vandals Intro
Hey everyone my name is Brendan Young! This is my first year at western and also my first english class. Im from Kent, WA where I lifeguard. I love to swim and play water polo, reading and writing have not always been my favorite but i would say that i definitely favor reading. Some of my favorites are "Waiting for Godot", "The Perks of Being a Wallflower", "The curious incident of the dog in the night time", "The Great Gatsby", and "House of Leaves". I would feverishly recommend any of these to anyone who has not read them. I hope you learned a little about me! Feel free to say hello!
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