Sarah Kennedy's FNED 246 Blog

  In How Structural Racism Works Tricia Rose argues that research alone is not going to fix structural racism. She says that because there is so much research on this topic if research was a one-time fix-all, it would have happened already. I want to take this a step further and say that she is arguing that not enough people pay attention to the research that has been done. In this class, we’re actively learning about social justice issues and the different experiences they come with. But what about the average person? They probably know about issues like racism, sexism, and classism, but it isn’t always an active thought in their mind. As Rose says in her video, there has been so much research done on social justice issues. But how many people are actually reading and understanding that research?      I fully believe that we as a society are capable of taking steps to fix these issues. By watching videos, and reading articles we’re becoming more educated. We are exposing ourselves

     The videos about intersectionality defined it as multiple identities that intersect. The oppressions and privileges that overlap to make up an individual. I noticed that this related to Alan Johnson’s reading about privilege and power. Johnson talks about how everyone is involved in social justice issues, and our positions in that involvement depend on our privilege. I think these two, Johnson and the videos, go hand in hand. While the videos work to define and help people understand what intersectionality is, Johnson goes the next step and talks about how we can use intersectionality to understand social justice issues.       Kimberlé Crenshaw, the speaker in the TED Talk, says that social dynamics come together in individuals to create unique challenges and experiences. She also says that the more specific a problem is, the less likely it is to be seen and taken seriously. This is because people don’t take intersectionality into account. Johnson does consider intersectionality a

     My first quote came from Kohn, it was the category that stood out the most to me. He says that a good sign in a classroom is, a “Room overflowing with good books, art supplies, animals and plants, science apparatus; ‘sense of purposeful clutter.’” I fully agree with Kohn on this point. I love it when classrooms are decorated and full of books and resources. It makes the room feel more inviting and like a space where you can successfully learn. Something common in my high school was painting ceiling tiles. In an English class, you might see classic book covers painted on the ceiling, or in a science class you would see the stages of mitosis. It gave us something to look at, but it also showed us that previous students have learned and enjoyed their time in that classroom.      The next quote I chose comes from the Culturally Relevant Pedagogy video. One of the speakers in the video explained that “Culturally responsive teaching then says that rather than always insisting that the s

     In Amazing Grace , Jonathan Kozol visits Mott Haven in the South Bronx. Which is said to be home to the poorest people in New York. Kozol interviewed many residents to better understand what they go through on a daily basis. I also believe that he wanted to make more people aware of the situations these residents live in. One of the first people he interviewed was Cliffe, who was seven years old. While they were walking around the neighborhood, it became more and more apparent that this was no a safe place for the children living there. Cliffe acted like the average young boy, saying hi to people he knew, eating cookies, and telling stories about his community. But then he'd say something that made me pause while reading. "I saw a boy shot in the head right over there," "They're burning bodies there ... The bodies of people!" "The day is coming when the world will be destroyed." In a different situation maybe this could be passed off as a kids

In The Silenced Dialogue , Delpit explains the five parts of “the culture of power”. She then argues that people from different cultures perceive power and authority differently. Delpit observed the difference between white and black educators. White teachers were more likely to use veiled commands, they would ask their students a question instead of telling them to do something. This leads to children not understanding how to interpret the teacher’s instructions. They genuinely thought the teacher was giving them a choice of what they wanted to do. And because the students didn’t understand power in the same way the teacher did, there was a disconnect. Alternatively, Delpit gave examples of how black teachers would explicitly tell their students exactly what they needed to do. They gave the students structure and clear directions. There was no disconnect because the students knew the teacher was telling them rather than asking them to do something. I think Delpit wanted to bring awa