tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post878507219195581499..comments2024-03-29T02:41:52.718-07:00Comments on Seattle Schools Community Forum: Let's Have a Serious and Difficult DiscussionMelissa Westbrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comBlogger125125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-34825748317067219192014-05-05T22:26:40.536-07:002014-05-05T22:26:40.536-07:00I Mr .marsha goodman and the Chief Executive Offi...<br /><br />I Mr .marsha goodman and the Chief Executive Officer of Pure Money Lenders, On behalf of the entire company officials i do hereby announce to you that we are giving out a cheap loan at 3% interest rate available for local and international borrowers. We are well certified, trustworthy, reliable, efficient, Fast and dynamic and a co-operate financier for real Estate and any kinds of business finances, we give out long term loan for 1 to 20 years maximum. If you are interested to lend the loan kindly contact us now via fasterloanservice@gmail.com <br /><br /><br />Brothers/Sister's. Are you looking formarshahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11310013210517779890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-91472945330599794972010-11-28T13:43:37.773-08:002010-11-28T13:43:37.773-08:00Bird and Maureen summarized: They [the parents] di...Bird and Maureen summarized: <i>They [the parents] didn't check up on my homework. They sometimes told teachers I wouldn't be doing homework. They thought it was more important for kids to play outside of school. </i><br /><br />My parents too did next to nothing to support me in school. That never seemed problematic back then. It was normal. PTA meeting? Forget it! And certainly NO donations, or volunteering either. My parents specifically thought volunteering was almost undemocratic or unAmerican. Teachers were paid to work, and doing their work meant somebody wouldn't have a paid job. Maybe they would buy a pie at a bakesale or similar.<br /><br />The thing is... the world is a heck of a lot more competitive now than it was back then. Colleges are full to the brim. We've got a lot more high stakes standarization than we ever had before. And, we've got a job market that leaves out a lot of high school graduates. I think that most parents actually WANT lots of other people to fail, so that their kid can succeed demonstrably... and they are willing to go to great lengths to see that happen. EG. Vote for high standards, CORE 24, vote for NO income tax that might help other people, etc. Then push to make sure their own kid does meet those standards. That's really the difficult conversation.<br /><br />A Parent in SPSAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-30891413055340317772010-11-27T19:35:41.639-08:002010-11-27T19:35:41.639-08:00It happened all over the world<a href="http://sahilachangebringer.blogspot.com/2010/11/it-happened-all-over-world.html" rel="nofollow">It happened all over the world</a>Sahilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11610179287237833742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-11670594187827701172010-11-25T19:07:56.094-08:002010-11-25T19:07:56.094-08:00Bird, Maureen, I grew up much the same way, and am...Bird, Maureen, I grew up much the same way, and am trying to raise my kids with that same independence. I encourage them to do their homework on their own without help. That means that when they get assigned projects like building a bridge other kids present architectural master pieces (that their dads build for them), and mine present pretty basic structures (but were proud that they did them all by themselves). <br /><br />If they don't understand their homework, with few exceptions I tell them to go back to their teacher for clarification. Sometimes that means they lose points for not doing their homework, and that in in itself is a learning moment (if I don't understand something I better ask in class before I get home and can't do it).<br /><br />And, with few exceptions, if they have an issue with a teacher I don't get involved. They are teenagers, and should be learning how to work issues out for themselves, and also be learning how to deal with many different personality types.<br /><br />I do check the Source regularly to make sure they are on track, and when they aren't I talk with them about it. They know I am keeping an eye on them, but I won't interfere unless it is absolutely necessary.seattlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01231800476411684686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-62010657971914718772010-11-24T19:18:00.194-08:002010-11-24T19:18:00.194-08:00Emeraldkity: Wendy Koop said THAT! Well, I'l...Emeraldkity: Wendy Koop said THAT! Well, I'll be! I agree with it too (although if by "figure out what we are going to measure," she somehow means 'spend a fortune teaching to high stakes tests' -- then not so much). But in general, I love the idea of just stopping so much of the churn, the expensive coaches and consultants, the trying to herd every teacher and every course into some sort of lock step "all hail to she who orders from on high" orgy. It is so unnecessary, and so wasteful. If each school would (as part of its CSIP) just sit down and say -- all right -- here we are, at pick a school -- Hale, say. Here is the list of things we think we need to fix most -- here are the 2 from that list that we are really going to focus on, here is what our target is, here are the resources/whatever we will bring to the task that we think will work -- and GO! Just GO! Start! <br />I don't expect immediate results. But honestly, MGJ has been at this for over 3 years now, and claims she isn't accountable yet -- because she is just getting things started. That is one entire high school career for kids, while she revved her engines. Middle school came and went for a whole batch of kids. <br />I don't think it is easy. I think it is hard work. But we are wasting, just throwing away, time, money, and a quarter to a half of the educations of kids (we are 3+ years into a 6 year contract of a superintendent who is producing NO results, to me, that is a quarter to a half) -- while the central office dismantles programs that have worked, fails to replace or start new ones that work (exceptions being Jane Addams and -- jury is out, but maybe Cleveland). AArRRGH! Let my people GO!Jannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-55009806703756465652010-11-24T15:43:01.462-08:002010-11-24T15:43:01.462-08:00Bird, I was raised almost exactly the same way (e...<b>Bird,</b> I was raised almost exactly the same way (except I can't imagine my parents ever even telling a teacher I wouldn't be doing my homework--they would leave that to me.) And, like you, I actually don't think I really had much homework-until High School at least. <br /><br />That said, if any of the seven of us ever came home complaining about a teacher, it was made very clear to us that it was our job to figure out what the teacher wanted and give it to them. We got no sympathy whatsoever. The teacher deserved our respect and obedience. Period. I'm not saying this was always ideal for me, but it made me take responsibility for my own learning in a way I don't see much now. Maybe many other kids were left behind by that system?<br /><br />I wonder if that attitude is less prevalent today because so many parents see teachers, as a group, as being different than them--either too elitest or not elite enough. I have seen parents at both ends of the socioeconomic scale distrust teachers and pass that attitude on to their kids.Maureenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18444916440000921599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-86222716525866486762010-11-24T15:26:05.409-08:002010-11-24T15:26:05.409-08:00hey simply sent me to school, and I got a decent e...<i>hey simply sent me to school, and I got a decent education. I did fine, went on to college, and got a good job</i><br /><br />and some poor kids with absentee parents have the same experience-& some poor kids with involved parents. THey received a good education, went to college & and working- or didn't go to college, but learned a trade- same difference.<br /><br />but some middle class kids whose parents aren't involved dropped out of school and never made it back- some middle class kids whose parents <i>were</i> involved , have had similar experiences- perhaps the not dropping out of high school, but not going to/or doing well in college or being successful because they never acquired the skills needed to do so and it is pretty difficult to learn what you needed to learn in K-12, as an adult.<br /><br />Being involved is not being a SUPER parent- it is part of being a parent. Period. It is part of the commitment you took on when you decided to have a child.Jet City momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14804841958585043967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-57632225166457331242010-11-24T15:09:47.584-08:002010-11-24T15:09:47.584-08:00...we need to have some very serious discussions a...<i>...we need to have some very serious discussions about parenting for educational success and how that is viewed (or not) within different communities.... Believing that all you have to do to help your child academically is to send him/her to school and just remind them to do their homework (rather than making sure it gets done). And believing that if your child fails, then it's the teacher's fault or the school's....</i><br /><br />Ok, I'm going to go against the current and say, you know, just sending me to school was all my parents did. They didn't check up on my homework. They sometimes told teachers I wouldn't be doing homework. They thought it was more important for kids to play outside of school. On the whole, I rarely had homework. <br /><br />They didn't sign me up for tutoring. They didn't quiz me on academic subjects. They didn't check up on the curriculum of our schools. My parents were middle class, but back then that didn't mean that we had a lot of enriched activities. We mainly just were left to our own devices outside of school.<br /><br />They simply sent me to school, and I got a decent education. I did fine, went on to college, and got a good job.<br /><br />I understand that family background matters, but it probably matters more in the areas of disruption, depression and genuine desperation that poor kids face rather than this disparity of "parenting for educational success".<br /><br />I also worry when folks say that the schools can't work unless parents are driven to carefully watch over their child's education. I worry not only for kids who don't have parents that can do that. I worry for my kids.<br /><br />I'm here now to do the watching and the tending, but 18 years is a long time, and, I think there are no guarantees that I'll be ready and able to keep watch that whole time. Things happen to people. They die, they get disabled, they get depressed, they lose their jobs, they get divorced. I'm hoping none of that happens in our family, but I do think it is a reasonable aspiration to expect the educational system to work for my kids even if I am derailed from the "super parent" track.Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16540428343439198125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-67390279590957355812010-11-24T14:59:21.442-08:002010-11-24T14:59:21.442-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16540428343439198125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-61100107251021688382010-11-24T11:39:49.877-08:002010-11-24T11:39:49.877-08:00I would like to see us step away from focusing on ...I would like to see us step away from focusing on socioeconomic things too- Ironically- one thing that TFA has said that I agree with was <br /><br /><br />Wendy Koop-<i>I also had this revelation that we were no longer going to go through all this development of strategic plans.<br /> We would go through this massive process of creating these endless strategic plans and reviewing them. <br />And I don’t know how many years we did that until I said: “Forget it. We don’t even need to do this anymore. <br />Let’s figure out our priorities and how we are going to measure our success. And then we’re going to let people run after those goals.” <br />And that just freed up all the energy.</i><br /><br />When the district keeps changing what & how they are measuring work in the classroom- that confusion is reflected in the children.Jet City momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14804841958585043967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-35791021622079310342010-11-24T10:13:26.479-08:002010-11-24T10:13:26.479-08:00Going back to Mel's initital post:
...we need ...Going back to <b>Mel's</b> initital post:<br /><i>...we need to have some very serious discussions about parenting for educational success and how that is viewed (or not) within different communities.... Believing that all you have to do to help your child academically is to send him/her to school and just remind them to do their homework (rather than making sure it gets done). And believing that if your child fails, then it's the teacher's fault or the school's....</i><br /><br />I don't see this as a race based or, nowadays, even a class based issue. We have been focusing in the discussion here on the racial achievement gap in part, I think because we get hit over the head with that all of the time. But I think there is another related issue that Mellissa points out here and it is that many parents, of all races and classes, do not respect teachers or education and as their children absorb this worldview, they achieve less and less in school. This lack of achievement becomes a self enforcing downward spiral.<br /><br />I'm not saying that parents should mutely accept bad/racist/destructive teachers. But I think they don't do their kids any favors by blaming a kid's lack of academic success soley on the teachers and the school. I think, like with any sort of work, accepting responsibilty for your own success and failure is key to moving forward.<br /><br />I think this is a really important issue and I would like us to take a small step away from race and ethnic culture part of it and see if there is a way we can address it.Maureenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18444916440000921599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-50595029222335255502010-11-23T18:22:24.150-08:002010-11-23T18:22:24.150-08:00Some of you might like to read this Truthout piece...Some of you might like to read this Truthout piece by Henry Giroux, which references the need to provide education "in context" appropriate to students...<br /><br /><a href="http://www.truth-out.org/lessons-be-learned-from-paulo-freire-education-is-being-taken-over-mega-rich65363" rel="nofollow">Lessons to Be Learned From Paulo Freire as Education Is Being Taken Over by the Mega Rich</a>...<br /><br /><i>"our current knowledge is contingent on particular historical contexts and political forces. For example, each classroom will be affected by the different experiences students bring to the class, the resources made available for classroom use, the relations of governance bearing down on teacher-student relations, the authority exercised by administrations regarding the boundaries of teacher autonomy and the theoretical and political discourses used by teachers to read and frame their responses to the diverse historical, economic and cultural forces informing classroom dialogue. Any understanding of the project and practices that inform critical pedagogy has to begin with recognizing the forces at work in such contexts, and which must be confronted by educators and schools everyday....<br /><br />...Consequently, culture - as a crucial educational force influencing larger social structures as well as in the most intimate spheres of identity formation - could be viewed as nothing less than an ongoing site of struggle and power in contemporary society."</i>Sahilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11610179287237833742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-87288238998990976872010-11-23T17:29:08.669-08:002010-11-23T17:29:08.669-08:00We live on a globe. English is becoming the lingua...We live on a globe. English is becoming the lingua franca. Math and science are formulaic in any language. History is certainly interpretative but it's also "truth," when done right. I believe most public school teachers try to teach these things because they want students to be prepared to participate in the global culture: Economic, certainly, but also participatory and a sharing of various cultural assets.<br /><br />It's my belief that a teacher can't teach to every child's unique mixture of ethnic, racial, or other cultures, but teachers CAN be open to them, and attempt to serve an interpretative function for students: "You say this, and I think it means much the same as this, so your answer, in its context is (right, wrong, malleable, in need of exploration...)"<br /><br />Unfortunately, in a highly regimented school system, with standardization (and yes, the tests are NOT subject to interpretation, they are often designed with a very limited viewpoint in mind), then teachers lose their ability to serve as mediators between various "cultures" and the "dominant culture" (which isn't necessarily "white" at this particular time, but is certainly market-oriented, capitalistic etc).<br /><br />I mean, students have to know English: It's one of the "languages of power." That doesn't mean they have to give up anything else. And yes, to live in the world today there are instances where one has to participate in the dominant culture, even give up some things...Washing clothes regularly is usually a good idea in today's job market, even if it wastes water.<br /><br />Someone said once that life is about learning to live with our own hypocrisy - we TRY to live our beliefs, but we can't always do that: So we're hypocrites, do as I say, not as I do. But that's just life. It's possible to live in the world, keep one's "cultures," and try to change things.<br /><br />I know that some might say that that is easy for ME to say, a white male...I understand the concept of "white priviledge" and don't deny it, but the world is what is, I look white, I'm wealthier than about 90% of the world...so what am I supposed to do, throw up my hands and grieve? I can only hope, and work toward more equity, but the world I live in is the world I live in.seattle citizenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16724175257161649500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-19647582597547941732010-11-23T16:31:16.494-08:002010-11-23T16:31:16.494-08:00I would agree. We still have immigrants who come ...I would agree. We still have immigrants who come from many lands but most people here are American. I think most of them embrace American culture (for good or bad). <br /><br />I think you need to know and speak English in order to succeed in this country and in the classroom. I say this as someone who grew up on the Arizona/Mexico border and had many kids in class who didn't speak English well. My husband came to this country not speaking a word of English. In fact, I think we keep kids in ELL maybe too long because, again for better or worse, English is the lingua franca for this country and certainly for much of business/technology in the world. <br /><br />There absolutely has to be cultural sensitivity. We have to do better than previous generations but the idea that you come to a country because you want to be there is not a bad idea. <br /><br />I don't think I'm being racist or insensitive. But we do have an American culture which most people in this country get. We are slowly losing the idea that you need to be educated to get ahead, do well by your children and be a good citizen. We have to get that back.Melissa Westbrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12588239576000641336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-42062673071316073972010-11-23T15:30:08.249-08:002010-11-23T15:30:08.249-08:00you dont even stop to consider that all other race...<i>you dont even stop to consider that all other races and cultures are equal and ought to have an equal place in this country </i><br /><br />I don't agree with this- but it seems to be Sahilas main point- as she keeps coming back to it.<br /><br />Should we be electing David Duke president?<br />How about Louis Farrakhan?<br />How do you feel about genital mutilation of children?<br />After all it may be part of their "culture".<br />Some cultures don't want females tp be educated, or males when they are big enough to fire a weapon.<br />Are those cultures "sympatico" with the goals of a free society?<br /><br />We do not live in "everyman for himself" land.Jet City momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14804841958585043967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-54016009374026727002010-11-23T15:04:31.126-08:002010-11-23T15:04:31.126-08:00"BUT DONT ASK THEM TO LEAVE BEHIND, ABANDON T..."BUT DONT ASK THEM TO LEAVE BEHIND, ABANDON THEIR NATIVE CULTURE,"<br /><br />It is within ones family that your native culture is learned and practiced, and passed down from generation to generation. It is within ones home that you speak your native language, or vernacular. That you celebrate Christmas, or Hanukkah, or Kwanza. It is within ones home that you pray, learn family values, and form traditions.<br /><br />That is not the schools job or responsibility. Nor should it be.seattlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01231800476411684686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-47276397043936110302010-11-23T13:54:50.229-08:002010-11-23T13:54:50.229-08:00it is racist of us and the education system to ign...it is racist of us and the education system to ignore that and expect children from other cultures to perform and conform to white expectations..."<br /><br />Not "white" expectations Sahila. AMERICAN expectations. <br /><br />America is a melting pot - all the more need for a standard way of teaching....everyone.<br /><br />You've yet to explain how we could accomplish your ridiculous idea of teaching every nationality, color, and culture, differently? <br /><br />Think about all of the different cultures in one single classroom. How could we teach them all differently? And wouldn't that mean separating, or segregating, everyone by their race, color, or culture? Are you OK with that type of segregation? <br /><br />Or would you keep all of the students in one classroom and expect every teacher to be able to teach every child in that child's cultural style, native language, vernacular, form? Equally absurd.<br /><br />Do explain?seattlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01231800476411684686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-2180981586819527092010-11-23T13:47:49.523-08:002010-11-23T13:47:49.523-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.seattlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01231800476411684686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-60770379334780341092010-11-23T13:40:43.251-08:002010-11-23T13:40:43.251-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.seattlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01231800476411684686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-7243251296032664842010-11-23T12:44:18.338-08:002010-11-23T12:44:18.338-08:00@ Dorothy -
I know what it is like to go to scho...@ Dorothy - <br /><br />I know what it is like to go to school and not be able to speak english... <br /><br />and to be thought of as less than because of that... <br /><br />and having to work hard at school because I wanted to be accepted and to meet the family push to use education to get out of poverty/climb the social ladder/achieve acceptance, and at the same time, underachieving (I was quite 'bright') to avoid more of the limelight...<br /><br />and having a name that no one could pronounce... <br /><br />and having cultural slurs hurled at me - ones I didnt understand... <br /><br />and not having my origins or culture valued, recognised even...<br /><br />and not feeling at home in my native culture, not knowing my history because not enough of it got transmitted/maintained in the process of meeting the demands of assimilation...<br /><br />I understand this issue because really, I'm not dutch, I'm not a kiwi, I'm not an australian, I'm not an american...<br /><br />I think too much like a dutch person to be called/recognised/accepted as a kiwi, and too much like a kiwi to be accepted as dutch...<br /><br />My dutch relatives recognise my dutch blood but I dont fit into the culture and our conversation cant reach really deep levels because although I "feel" what they are talking about (its in my blood/DNA and comes out in how I dress/decorate my house/approach problems etc), I dont have enough personal experience within the culture to contribute meaningfully ... <br /><br />my kiwi friends say I sound too much like an australian, my aussie friends say I sound too much like a kiwi and my american friends think I am british...<br /><br />I like that I have had this diversity in my life - its given me many opportunities and experiences and understandings I might not have had, but there is a rootedness missing...what the children in trans-racial adoption families talk about...<br /><br />Many other immigrant children I have talked too have exactly the same experience... and it doesnt change as you become an adult...<br /><br />For some - when they go back to their native country, they feel like they have come home; for others, they feel even more alienated...<br /><br />Yes - kids are wired to learn every language and that's great and teach them languages etc... <br /><br />BUT DONT ASK THEM TO LEAVE BEHIND, ABANDON THEIR NATIVE CULTURE, dont teach them within a racist, standardised framework...Sahilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11610179287237833742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-22705092850681940772010-11-23T12:38:56.289-08:002010-11-23T12:38:56.289-08:00Again...my original question...
If as Sahila attes...Again...my original question...<br />If as Sahila attests we should be teaching cultural groups differently (and I'm not saying I agree; I have no idea if this is really the best idea), how do we do this economically and equitably without segregating?<br /><br />Her approach is, I believe, what keeps a lot of middle-class families of all races who want what Sahila refers to as the "white" or "Euro" style of education from choosing RBHS and other SE schools with high AA populations has much more to do with the style and expectations of teaching that the staffs at those schools are using—because they believe it to be the best approach for their current populations—than because we don't want our children in classrooms with children of color and/or poverty. <br /><br />We need to look at what we can do realistically and what will actually work at helping all children achieve a level of success where they can put food on the table, a roof over their heads and secure health insurance—whatever that may be. I myself, am not expecting my child to be a doctor or engineer—she's an artist—but I do want her to have enough education that she can have a decent day job while she pursues her art.SolvayGirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12709893209963350066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-66551453212898754752010-11-23T12:32:22.573-08:002010-11-23T12:32:22.573-08:00One of the flaws in all of these arguments is the ...One of the flaws in all of these arguments is the assumption that all African Americans come fromone background and all "European" whites come from the same background. They don't. The groups are much more mixed up genetically than we can even imagine. So basing an argument that black kids learn one way because of their DNA is deeply flawed. There is little diference in the DNA between African Americans and Caucasion Americans, especially those whose family history goes back hundreds of years in North America. <br /><br />However, I do think that <b>people</b> learn differently, and that American schools must provide culturally compentent instruction. But culturally compentent instruction means not sterotyping based on skin color. A black kid from Mississipi whose family has been in the US for generations may or may not have the same learning needs or style as an 2nd generation Ethiopian or Carribean immigrant, who under our current classifiction system would also be considered "African American."Erinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-36412879890732476412010-11-23T12:03:48.785-08:002010-11-23T12:03:48.785-08:00Sahila, I think you're really contradicting yo...Sahila, I think you're really contradicting yourself here. Didn't you write a while back<br /><br />"languages...<br />all babies are wired to be able to speak every language on the planet... if they are exposed only by their 'mother tongue' the neurons giving this capacity are pruned back, until over time they no longer have that facility, or it is severely curtailed...<br /><br />"Many of us have seen families where the children are bi or even trilingual...<br /><br />"I myself spoke Dutch at home until I went to school, where I learned to speak English - had to, matter of survival... my family switched to English only when I was around 11, apparently to make it easier for my sister and I and to make our friends feel more welcome... I regret that decision now. My mother tongue is now very rusty - I'm better at speaking French and Latin than I am at speaking Dutch, though I can still understand and read it - and I have been unable to teach it to my own children who have Dutch nationality...<br /><br />"It seems to me that if we see a value in/want children to be successful at learning other languages, then they should be exposed to other languages from kindergarten... and if we want true fluency/facility, they should be full immersion classes... "<br /><br />Why on earth should the same thing not be true of standard academic English, math, etc.? Learn them young, and you have more flexibility later on. I don't see why you're suddenly arguing for such limitations in children's abilities to adapt.<br /><br />Helen Schinskehschinskehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10316478950862562594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-82485779772577918342010-11-23T11:52:42.702-08:002010-11-23T11:52:42.702-08:00I dont know how many of you have actually ever had...I dont know how many of you have actually ever had the opportunity to look at your world with new eyes..<br /><br />I came here for the first time in August of 2002 and stayed for three months... in the north end, spent a lot of time in the U-District and down town in the CBD...<br /><br />and even there, walking the streets seeing new sights every day, I was struck how down trodden even well dressed african american people looked... they appeared to be participating in society - nice clothes and shoes, on their way to or from an office or whatever, but they all - without exception - walked with their heads down, not willing/wanting to make eye contact... there was absolutely no pride in their stride...<br /><br />I was shocked... this is what I expected (as an outsider) to find in the south of the US 50 years ago, 100 years ago - not in Seattle in 2002... and from what I cant tell, nothing has changed 9 years later...<br /><br />So where does this shame and humiliation carried in the body language come from?<br /><br />Could it at all, even a tiny little bit, have anything to do with having to turn one's back on one's origins, roots, culture and "act white" to get a foothold in this society? <br /><br />Could it have anything to do with being expected to abandon one's own heritage and conform to and perform in an "alien" environment?<br /><br />I wish that some of you here could participate in the "blue eye-brown eye" experiment, carried out by Jane Elliott in 1968...<br /><br /><a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/" rel="nofollow">Jane Elliott - A Class Divided</a>Sahilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11610179287237833742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-44688347845354121962010-11-23T11:52:12.394-08:002010-11-23T11:52:12.394-08:00"@Dorothy...back to giving examples of being ..."@Dorothy...back to giving examples of being a doctor or engineer markers of being "successful" in life...<br /><br />white middle class, racist, elitist thinking... being pushed onto other people as the (most valid) way to be in the world...<br /><br />I am surprised and saddened by the number of "well educated" people on this blog who dont see this..."<br /><br />Well, totally flog me now. I am full of white guilt, ashamed at the very idea that I could have thought that black people might aspire to be engineers and doctors. How wrong I am! So the fact that fewer black people on average become doctors and engineers has nothing to do with white privilege or the achievement gap, but simply because the native culture of Black Americans is different and that's not what they aspire to be. My bad, I see the light now and will be forever in your debt for this painful and very valuable lesson in self understanding of my racist nature.Dorothy Nevillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17108759281089768738noreply@blogger.com