Blog 4 "Relation to the culture of Power"

I have had some life expieience with the way Deplit describes the "culture of power." I come from a middle-class family but grew up in an urban community with a number of classmates and friends from all different cultures. Central Falls was made up of mostly Latino's when I was growing up and a number of my friends were a different color. I attended Catholic schools until I arrived at college and always felt that teachers had power over the students without predjudice. My father was personnel director for two different cities and always was surrounded by politicians. During his working years there were many functions and holidays that I spent with many of these people where I saw them in action. Delpit describes one of the rules as " a reflection of the rules of the culture of those who have power," during my encounters with these powerful people I (unknowingly) learned of this culture power that Delpit writes about and it probably has something to do with my attaining middle class level as an adult. Perhaps my expieriences with such powerful people allowed me to learn the culture of power and gain an edge on some of my friends from Central Falls who came from lower class families. Dr. Bogad we talked about having culture as far as job interviews and being able to secure good jobs, I think my parents taught me most of this knowlegde from the relationships they formed with politicians. Delpit raises an interesting argument because most of my friends were unable to secure middle class jobs and I was! Perhaps the "Culture of Power" is more prevalent than I first thought.

Blog on Lisa Delpit

Blog number 3 was based on a writing by Lisa Delpit titled Other People's Children. From reading the Depit article it is clear to me that she has a serious issue with the way most classrooms are run in our country. Delpit argues that "mandates" in education curriculum and concentrating solely on how high test scores should be is a major flaw in schooling today. Delpit also touches on the issue of race and how some teachers, perhaps ones who have white children, are not using explicit teaching methods when research shows lower class and kids of color benefit from this teaching style. Here are a few passages I found helped me in understanding the article: In the introduction I found this line really insightful: "We in education have allowed politicians to push us to act as if the most important goal of our work is to raise test scores." This quote makes me feel like we are all under the control of a twisted bureaucratic society that wants us to educate are youth like robots. I think Delpit is saying we have to buck the trend and teach kids the importance of being a good member of society first so a child test scores can come second. Delpit is not minimizing education in this article, she is just saying being a good human being should take precedent. I agree with her 100 percent. This next passage is one I am not sure I understand but I am very interested in the subject matter: "I believe that the actual practice of good teachers of all colors typically incorporates a range of pedagogical orientations." This statement is right before Delpit explains her "culture of power" aspects. In my opinion this quote is saying that if teachers collaborated in their teaching experiences and shared success stories from whatever race they were teaching, it could benefit a child becoming educated in our society. Encouraging teachers of all races to share resources would allow a child a more complete educational experience as opposed to some federal mandated test score. This last quote was on page 29 and I picked it because it reminded me of the Johnson article. "Several black teachers have said to me recently that as much as they'd like to believe otherwise, they cannot help but conclude that many of the progressive educational strategies imposed by liberals upon black and poor children could only be based on a desire to ensure that the liberals' children get sole access to the dwindling pool of American jobs." Delpit includes this article maybe to raise the argument that the middle-class is more white dominant. I am not a teacher but I don't believe that we, as a society, are fixing the school system in are subconscious to bullet proof the middle class from blacks and minorities. I believe social problems have more to do with a lack of education than a conspiracy by white liberals does. I think some blacks would agree that a majority of black kids who do not make it from the lower class have come from broken homes and have had no proper caring or nurturing. Delpit raises a great argument on how to educate all people. The way a person perceives power was also very intriguing and made sense for most of the reading. I agree with Delpit in the fact educating should be a hell of a lot more than a test score. On the issue of power, I believe that if you want to succeed in life get a solid education and have good manners and you will never have a problem. It has worked for me!!!!!!

Johnson and S.C.W.A.A.M.P. Blog

The name of the author was Allan G. Johnson for the piece titled Privilege, Power and Difference. In this piece Johnson argues that we, as a society, are responsible for all the injustice that happens to the lower class in our country. Johnson goes on to say that with scientific research and theory we could potentially close the gap between classes and distribute privilege and power on a more equal basis if we follow a "framework" based on his theory. Here are a few quotes from Johnson's article that I will reflect on: Chapter 2 Page 10 "We live in a society that attaches privilege to being white and male and heterosexual regardless of your social class." This quote is really difficult for me to process. Johnson basically has pigeon holed a white, heterosexual male as having power and privilege in our country. He obviously has not visited the trailer parks in Alabama. This part of the article showed me that Johnson is speaking of his experiences and maybe speaking of his own personal feelings. In my opinion a poor white heterosexual male will have to work and educate himself in order to reach a level of privilege in this day and age. If you are born poor I believe all races and genders have the same amount of opportunities to become successful. Quote 2: "The mere fact that something is new or strange isn't enough to make us afraid of it." I thought this was a good line in trying to show the reader that no matter who you come in contact with, you cannot pass judgement on a person until a person gives you a specific reason. I also think Johnson is trying to convince the reader to not be pre-determined in judging others. Quote 3: Chapter 2 page 13 "The bottom line is that a trouble we can't talk about is a trouble we can't do anything about." This quote helped me understand the author's position for the entire article. If we as a society could discuss issues of racism, sexism and classism it could help, in the authors opinion, society lose some of these destructive behaviors. A few last comments about Johnson's article, in my opinon I think he wrote a very pessimistic account of how this society works in our time. I will give one example but there were many in this article. In chapter 2 on page 8 he speaks of a colored colleague that "can't go for a walk alone at night without thinking about her safety" Johnson is saying this of a black woman and I feel he may have put words in her mouth. Is he a mindreader? If a man lived in a dangerous neighborhood he would also think about safety quite a bit. I think he tries to potray a larger disparity in races and gender than what there really is. Dr. Bogad discussed SCWAAMP and in my opinion the people tapping on the glass have at least cracked it and maybe even shattered it in some of the categories.

Who am I ?

My name is Timothy Joyce and I am currerntly studying PE/Health at RIC. I am a firefighter in Central Falls which takes up a lot of my time. This is my first blog of many from glancing at the syllabus. I enjoy working out(basketball, bike riding) and occasionally drinking tequilla :) My parents own property at Little Compton beach which is a nice place for margaritas so I go there quite a bit. Ba bye