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Peanut
Mar 9, 2010, 1:49:45 PM3/9/10
to 1301: Negotiating Curriculum
There are many key emphasis made in these articles. Some I am
in agreement with and others I see a sociopolitical agenda to
influence our minds as students. I will try to focus only on the ideas
that I am in agreement with and try not to focus on the sociopolitical
trend that I am not in agreement with. First, I notice that the
discussion on the “hidden” and “null” curriculum relates to the
discussion in “Letting the Sun: Native Youth Transform their School
with Murals”. Both articles discuss the notion diverse cultures being
assimilated into the dominant culture. In the discussion in the first
article there was mention of a student who went back to his primitive
country of Colombia and felt like a tourist as he interacted with the
local community. Similarly, Lopez and Hall ascribe to schools in this
day and age, a dominant role in the deculturalization of Native
children, even if in the past, their means of achieving this were much
less subtle. Schools may play a role in the deculturalization of its
populace but it is not illogical that public schools will do this.
We must look at the fact that this country contains a
diverse variety of cultures and the majority of its citizens have
background in another country. Hence you will find many Americans,
after living here most of their lives feeling like strangers when they
go back to their native countries. America has become home for them
so technically they can be considered tourist when they go back their
native country. I sympathize, nonetheless with the Native Americans
because they did not leave their home to come to America. On the
contrary, they were thrown out of their home by the foreigners we call
the Founding Fathers. They were stripped of their culture and had a
foreign culture imposed upon them. This is not the case with many of
us and our parents who chose to become Americans for whatever reason.
This idea of deculturalization must be taken in perspective. There are
many factors that are responsible for this including parents who
believe that their children should abandon their native heritage.
Teachers do play an important role in teaching parents to value their
culture along with the dominant culture in which they live.
in agreement with and others I see a sociopolitical agenda to
influence our minds as students. I will try to focus only on the ideas
that I am in agreement with and try not to focus on the sociopolitical
trend that I am not in agreement with. First, I notice that the
discussion on the “hidden” and “null” curriculum relates to the
discussion in “Letting the Sun: Native Youth Transform their School
with Murals”. Both articles discuss the notion diverse cultures being
assimilated into the dominant culture. In the discussion in the first
article there was mention of a student who went back to his primitive
country of Colombia and felt like a tourist as he interacted with the
local community. Similarly, Lopez and Hall ascribe to schools in this
day and age, a dominant role in the deculturalization of Native
children, even if in the past, their means of achieving this were much
less subtle. Schools may play a role in the deculturalization of its
populace but it is not illogical that public schools will do this.
We must look at the fact that this country contains a
diverse variety of cultures and the majority of its citizens have
background in another country. Hence you will find many Americans,
after living here most of their lives feeling like strangers when they
go back to their native countries. America has become home for them
so technically they can be considered tourist when they go back their
native country. I sympathize, nonetheless with the Native Americans
because they did not leave their home to come to America. On the
contrary, they were thrown out of their home by the foreigners we call
the Founding Fathers. They were stripped of their culture and had a
foreign culture imposed upon them. This is not the case with many of
us and our parents who chose to become Americans for whatever reason.
This idea of deculturalization must be taken in perspective. There are
many factors that are responsible for this including parents who
believe that their children should abandon their native heritage.
Teachers do play an important role in teaching parents to value their
culture along with the dominant culture in which they live.
GRISEL MARQUEZ
Mar 9, 2010, 11:36:20 PM3/9/10
to 1301: Negotiating Curriculum
In agree with your response Gary, and I quote you, "Schools may play a
role in the deculturalization of its populace but it is not illogical
that public schools will do this." Paola Piloneita went to Colombia
and felt like a tourist after a 10 year absence from her home country
and came to find that her current education did not teach her about
the richness of her culture and history outside of 1492. Is it the
school's responsibility to teach her this? I am inferring from her
information that her parents wanted her to assimilate into American
culture by enrolling her in the IB magnet school where she would learn
about European and American culture and history. Would Paola be
disappointed if the roles were switched and she was American born, but
for some reason forced to move to Colombia. Would she be upset about
the teacher in Colombia faintly covering the American Revolution and
never really discussing Paul Revere and other important events that
culminated to the revolution. This is comparable to the Russian
student Anna Syrquing in asserts, "That there was an implicit message
to the sudents that only Russian Literature is worth studying,
dimishing the importance of evrythig else." In this case and given
the politcal climate of Russia it makes sense that that is all they
were allowed to read, they were trying to instill patriotism in the
students. Is this called null curriculum or trying to escape the fate
of Pavlik Morozov? My point here is that education in the United
States and in certain cities that have a wide ethnic population it is
hard to bring to light and investigate the history of others, not to
say that it shouldn't be done. With all the pressure of standardized
testing and at the same time trying to maintain or instill a sense of
cultural literacy among students with so many differences, the task of
fighting against null or hidden curriculum can be very daunting.
role in the deculturalization of its populace but it is not illogical
and felt like a tourist after a 10 year absence from her home country
and came to find that her current education did not teach her about
the richness of her culture and history outside of 1492. Is it the
school's responsibility to teach her this? I am inferring from her
information that her parents wanted her to assimilate into American
culture by enrolling her in the IB magnet school where she would learn
about European and American culture and history. Would Paola be
disappointed if the roles were switched and she was American born, but
for some reason forced to move to Colombia. Would she be upset about
the teacher in Colombia faintly covering the American Revolution and
never really discussing Paul Revere and other important events that
culminated to the revolution. This is comparable to the Russian
student Anna Syrquing in asserts, "That there was an implicit message
to the sudents that only Russian Literature is worth studying,
dimishing the importance of evrythig else." In this case and given
the politcal climate of Russia it makes sense that that is all they
were allowed to read, they were trying to instill patriotism in the
students. Is this called null curriculum or trying to escape the fate
of Pavlik Morozov? My point here is that education in the United
States and in certain cities that have a wide ethnic population it is
hard to bring to light and investigate the history of others, not to
say that it shouldn't be done. With all the pressure of standardized
testing and at the same time trying to maintain or instill a sense of
cultural literacy among students with so many differences, the task of
fighting against null or hidden curriculum can be very daunting.
suzette cross
Mar 15, 2010, 11:01:59 PM3/15/10
to 1301-negotiat...@googlegroups.com
Grisel, You pointed out that in light of the many obstacles we face with standardized testing and now trying to negotiate the hidden and null curriculum as it pertains to teaching culture and even history in our classrooms, that it is daunting. Indeed it is!
But, does that mean we shouldn't? I am not saying that's what you're saying, but lets look further as to why we have to accept the challenge. The key word here is process. Nothing of subtance occurrs overnight, and as teachers we are called always to go beyond the subscribed duties. That's one of the major reasons why our job is so difficult, because of the many hidden but understood curriculums we are faced with as educators.
As I prepared to become a teacher in college, and before I embarked on my first year of teaching, I constantly heard, "Your first year will be very difficult and don't forget it is a experimentaly year." Yes, it was very difficult, but I also believe that all years are experimental because each year we have a whole new batch of students with their pecularities among other things. Additionally, we even have more red tape to deal with from our Administrators and Mayor etc. etc.
Heath's research was fostered by her curiosity with how ELL's acquired language as well as how they were treated by the state. She points out that back then all ELL's were unfairly called Special Education Students. This unjust treatment bourne a desire to study the socioeconomic elements that affected learning and in so doing she closely followed three groups of people, and how they acquired literacy based on their specific lifestyle and culture. She concluded that there is a complexity in language learning and in understanding the social context of developing and using language.
Heath took on a monsterous task and after years of assimilating into communities as an anthropoligist getting first hand information and using it to teach others, she concluded that one's social context is a huge factor in acquring, developing, and using a new language. So too is the task of teaching students about things their parents may not, or that the curriculum may not provide for. Do we just stick to what we are told to do and so ignore the many teachable moments that our students' interest, curiosity, questions, etc. stimulate? Or do we try to find answers with them and get them involved in the investigative process all the while still teaching the how to prepare for that Standardize Test that determine who they are, promotion or no promotion, etc. No, we push on and we push them to gain information and ideas outside of just the norm.
Our jobs won't ever be easy, and will definitely continue to be daunting as we step up to the plate and continue going beyond the call of duty.
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