Ideology and Politics

My experiences with the selected information:

Green school – I visited a green school in South Carolina. The money that the school saves on energy the district gives directly back to them to spend how they would like. I work in a very old building. The one thing that the district did for us was in install light sensors. After 10-15 minutes of no movement in the room the light will automatically shut off. I would love to see a comparison of electric bills before and after. I would think that it paid for itself quickly.

Value added – What an idea, and Tennessee was the first to implement in the 90’s. My Principal is big at looking at data and he looks at value added. He sets goals for all students to be brought up. He is the only person I have worked for that pays a lot of attention to the middle students. He wants to bring them up to advanced.

Katrina families – We had one student from Katrina and she was only with us for one school year. Her mother would have had no choice in the school that she attended she stayed with a family member in our school zone that could take her in. I would like to see statistics on families misplaced by Katrina. How many would be in a situation to choose a school.

Child Farmworkers – Stolen childhoods! Laws passed in 1938! Only 55% finish high school! I do not teach in an area of agriculture but I have many Hispanic students that can not go to college because of their illegal status. Many of them drop out to work with their families in landscaping or construction. The laws should be changed. Things are different today than they were in 1938.

Cultural Pluralism

A compilation of points from all of the reading that made me think:

• Children will become adults who cooperate and sustain one another only if the school-based culture they gain makes them feel that they belong to a larger society
• Ethnicity defines identity does not define social and temperamental determinants
• Cosmopolitanism - citizen of the world
• Everyone wants a good education for children
• Clear knowledge goals for each grade of elementary schools - core content
• 1) It encourages knowledge of and sympathy towards the diverse cultures of the world. 2) It fosters respect for every child's home culture as well as for the cosmopolitan school- based culture. 3) It gives all children competence in the current system of language and allusion that is dominant in the nation's economic and intellectual discourse.
• Remeber the #1 task - good education
• Invites all children to become active, effective members of a larger cosmopolis

When thinking about social control in school I think it is needed at the high school level to a certain extent. With curriculum, I think teachers can put their own spin on things in their classroom and some use cultural pluralism and some do not. Other things that we do to incorporate cultural pluralism is "Cultural Explosion" a day to learn about all the cultures in our school. There are policies to prevent some displays of culture; flags in certain situations, gang colors. We do not want any type of celebrations of one culture to degrade or be insensitive to another culture.

#3 Nationalism & Multiculturalism

When I look at where our country once was and where we are today considering diversity, I am somewhat surprised that there are citizens that would prefer a Pacific Northwest for whites like the one described in Pithissippi Burning. However, I think the fact that our citizens elected a multiracial President speaks volumes for the progress we have made.

When I look at history and what I was taught in school I realize how clueless I was. I like the fact Houghton Mifflin has an inclusive history book. I agree that the voyage does not make children Americans but I do think they should know what makes our country unique and attractive to people from all over the world.

Lastly, is multiculturalism wrong? I think it is wrong if the wrong people make the decisions and they are making them to be politically correct. Assumptions should not be made about a groups language, race, religion, or any part of their culture. We should learn about cultures from people from those cultures. We need to learn a lesson from the Netherlands on what not to do. I am greatful that I work for a Principal that develped our motto, "our diversity is our strength" because of the multi cultures in our school. We do not want to make assumptions on their race, language, religion, beliefs, etc. This year we developed another area of our Student Government, the United Nations. Students applied and we tried to have one or two students from our 42 countries that are represented in our school. These are students that at one time stayed in the background because they felt like foriegners, they are now leaders. I have learned so much about other countries from our students. I hope the other students in my school have received the education that I have without going to a class.

Religion & Education #2

In comparing the two readings, Religion and Schools: The Debate Heats up 2009 and Library of Congress Artifact, I feel that one ruled against religion and one ruled in favor of religion. The ruling against the moment of silence ruled against religion. I am in favor of the moment of silence and I am glad that my school begins the day that way. We always say that you can choose to pray, reflect, or just sit for a moment of silence. When in the classroom I used the time to pray and if someone talked or did not observe the moment of silence I always asked them to "please do not interrupt my prayer". I'm sure the critics would say that I was incorporating religion into public education.

In Library of Congress Artifact the ruling in favor of freedom of speech over respect for a national symbol ruled in favor of religion. I think the students should not have had to go against their religion and salute but in my opinion standing without saying the pledge or saluting would not be idoltry. In my school we do require that everyone stand for the pledge, many choose not to participate.

Innovators and Makers

When reading, I was more interested in the informaion on the innovators. As I read through each innovator I found myself relating their theories to topics/ideas that I have witnessed or experienced in my 15 years as an educator. I had a hard time choosing one innovator but I decided on John Dewey. His no drill-and-recitation theory is so relevant to my current job and the SLC initiative in high schools today. We are encouraging projects, presentations, and group work; more real-world relevance for students not drill and recite.

The maker that I chose was Henry Ford. He is notorious for his assembly line but he donated money to education and he created the Ford Foundation that continues to provide money and research to schools today. While I disagree with the policy declaration that was introduced in the 1960's that encouraged due process before disciplining children, I think the Foundation still had and has positive impacts on education. The main reason that I chose Henry Ford is the work that the Foundation is doing today. http://www.fordpas.org/ Metro Nashville Public Schools has partnered with Ford for years and we continue to increase the use of their Ford PAS curriculum. The curriculum is academic interdisciplinary in areas such as business, economics, engineering and technology. It is inquiry and project based.

My thoughts on innovators and makers are simple. Innovators influenced education because education was their purpose (desegregation, bilingual, educating women). The makers influenced education even though it was not their intent or purpose (steel, oil, assembly line).

First Time

I am in my 15th year at Glencliff High School in Metro Nashville. I spent 13 years teaching Business Education. I have been out of the classroom for two years serving as the SLC (small learning communities) Site Coach.

Wow! It is amazing how out of touch with technology I feel after only two years out of the classroom. I am so excited to be blogging and I am thankful that I had to do this for class.