Hard Hitting Films, And Their Effectiveness

We watched a video today. It was called For Angela.

Simply put, it was moving.

It made me feel all kinds of awful. Embarrassed. Ashamed. And just generally sad.

This was not the first time we watched such a video, we recently watched a video called "A Girl Like Me". Same idea.

While these videos moved myself and my classmates, I wonder how effective they would be in my classroom. Don't misunderstand, I find them to be incredibly moving, and extremely effective ways of teaching something as profound as racism.

But taking the side of Devil's Advocate for a minute, did I find "For Angela" effective because I could never see myself doing something like what those boys did? Was it moving to me because I would already be repulsed by somebody acting that way towards another person?

What if I showed that movie in class and a student laughed? What if a student found the jokes that were made funny? What if, even worse, he used those jokes himself later?

Do these videos have an impact on those of us who already tolerate such awful behaviour?

It's an interesting question, and not one that I have an answer for.

Tests and Their Limits (Time Limits, that is)

I had a midterm last night.

Cognitive Science 100. An introductory course, attempting to look at how it is that we use our minds.

Fascinating course. Two professors; one who is a computer scientist, one who is a psychologist.

Both professors are older gentlemen. I would venture to say late 50's early 60's. Both give the impression that they have been doing their jobs for a long time, and that they both wholeheartedly enjoy their jobs.

And these gentlemen managed to blow me away last night. I was downright shocked.

Before the exam started, a student put up their hand and said "we are starting a couple minutes after 7:00, so does that mean we will have until just past 8:00 as well, or just until 8:00"

They both looked at each other, puzzled. Then one of them said "I don't care how long you are here my dear. We booked the room for an extra hour and if you need that whole extra hour, I'll stay. This isn't a competition to see how fast you finish this exam, if it takes you longer to tell me all the information you know, you will absolutely not be punished for it"

Sometimes people just get it right.

Here we are. At one of the most prestigious universities that our country has to offer, and while we have been told our whole lives that "time limits prepare us for university", here is a pair of professors who get it right.

Its not a race. So why do we make it one?

I'm not just talking about extra time for a student with high needs. I write tests exceptionally quickly, but some people do not! Some people take their time, and I do not think I should be given better treatment because my brain does things differently. I think anyone who needs extra time should be given it.

Now the boundaries of this are an issue. What if a student needs until the next day? They can go home and look at their notes, and come back tomorrow? That hardly seems fair.

No, I think its about making tests that students such as myself would finish in half the alotted time, meaning students who take longer will finish right on time.

Thoughts?

Aboriginal Culture

Looking ahead, this week is about Aboriginal Students, and I'm a little concerned.

Living in Canada, growing up, in History class we often "learned" about the aboriginal peoples who were living on our great land before the European settlers came to colonize.

Words like "residential schools", "assimilation" and "reserves" were often used. We learned of the plight of the Metis people, and if some of us took law class, we may have learned of the Oka Crisis (the famous picture above).

But in reality. I didn't learn very much. Most of the information was taught in grades 7 and 8, and at that time, I was in extended french (because I wasn't strong enough in French for immersion, nor weak enough for core). The extended French curriculum at that time, taught the "social studies" in French. So much of this, I learned in a language I was not very strong in.

It was also at a junior high school level, so the true debates and conversations about the aboriginal issues in Canada were really never explored. We were just told the glossary version, memorized some definitions and moved on. The culture was never explored.

Briefly in the 11th grade, having attended a Catholic school, I took world religions (mandatory class), and the first unit was on Aboriginal Religions, but even then, it was the shortest unit in the whole course, and was barely tested on.

When I am an educator, especially if I manage to secure a job in my home country, I will inevitably have students of Aboriginal descent in my classroom, and I'm not equipped for it. I do not possess enough knowledge about the culture.

And quite frankly, that's not acceptable in a country where the Aboriginal Peoples are such a major contributor to our shared history.

SERT and Other Special Education Positions

Last week we were introduced to a former student of Prof. Sandhu, who is currently working as a SERT in the GTA. (ed. note: too many acronyms)

A SERT is a Special Education Resource Teacher, a teacher who both works with individual students with Exceptionalities, integrating them into mainstream classes, and also teaches a classroom full of students with exceptionalities.

She told us that she had her Spec-Ed I (which she said basically everyone needs these days) but that nothing prepared her for her current job more than her time EA-ing. She told us that her job had (and that of an EA) had an incredible turnover rate due to burnout.

Based on what she told us about her position, I'm not surprised.

During her classroom teaching, she has a class where every student has a specific IEP, and so she ends up doing a lesson plan for each student.

For. Each. Student.

That's a lot of time, and a ton of dedication. Her personality seemed to indicate she was more than game for it though, and I feel that fresh out of teacher's college, without many available jobs, and just wanting, begging to be able to do the thing we love, many of us will find ourselves in jobs similar to that of a SERT.

We will have the energy, the time, and the desire to make a difference, however, we will NOT have the experience.

I have a friend, whose mother was a teacher for over 30 years. She taught in the classroom in addition to working in student services, and in special education. In the last few years of her career, and for a few years after she worked exclusively in special education, using all of her years experience in teaching to give her students the best opportunity to succeed.

So, this begs the question, what is more effective, our youthful enthusiasm, or their years of experience?

Humour and Its Effects

Quite the interesting conversation the other day concerning racism, humour and when they are combined.

Talked about the infamous Russell Peters. All of us basically said that we thought that his stuff went to far, made us a little uncomfortable.

And yet, almost all of us, including Prof. Sandhu, laughed watching his stuff (or have in the past)

Is that ok?

Is that hypocritical?

We say that we don't agree with it, and yet we laugh.

Now I was one who said, having heard Mr. Peters in interviews, I believe his intentions are the opposite of promoting racism. He believes that by laughing at the absurdity of stereotypes, maybe we can see that they truly are absurd, and that we can laugh at that.

But, does it matter what his intentions are?

What is the influence of intentions on racism? Having not been the victim of racism, its not a question I feel I'm equipped to answer. Someone who is unintentionally racist can't be held in the same light as somebody who is openly racist, can they?

The effect is the same... so, is the actual deed the same?

Very difficult question. I would say the safe answer is that, even unintentional racism should never be tolerated, and so where does humour, such as Mr. Peters' come into play.

Its a very murky issue.

I Love My Hair

What a simple message.

What struck me about yesterday's class was the frankness and the openness of the discussion. Racism is often a topic that is not openly discussed, because of fear of political correctness and for the uncomfortable nature of it.

But Professor Sandhu called us right out. Made us voice exactly what was so disgusting and openly racist about some of the examples she showed us.

It got me thinking. In a class of higher level, university students, all of whom are committed to being educators and (I assume) are committed to anti-racism education, that sort of frankness worked. But how well would it work in a highschool or elementary school setting? Will our students have the sort of maturity required to have that sort of debate?

The case in point for me is the Abercrombie shirt. I think our class had an incredible discussion about it, but what are the chances you get a student in your class that tries to get a laugh by telling everyone how funny he/she thinks it is? Does that derail the whole discussion?

I also wondered whether head on discussion, and head on attempts to combat racism are the best, or if sideways and subtle reinforcements are best.

Let me explain. Many of our own views and bias' come from subtle cues in media and popular culture. May combatting those things be done best in the same fashion?

Then I saw this video. It was a fluke really, one of my friends sent it to another friend on facebook because they thought it was a cute song. What are the chances I see it on the day we watch "A Girl Like Me"?

Sesame Street clearly has decided subtly is not for them. And for its young audience, this is probably best. I think we need more things like this being shown at an early age, because as "A Girl Like Me" shows, its never too early.

Students With Intolerant Families

Something that Prof. Sandhu said today hit me hard.

It was the story she told of a young student she had while on a practicum, who made some racist remarks (insinuating that all black people should be in jail), and whom she educated on why saying something such as that was completely inappropriate.

Satisfied with herself, she told her host teacher who stated that the students family would be very upset with her. That the students father was openly racist and was raising the child the same way.

Prof. Sandhu did the right thing, but the fact is, had this been an older student, a student the age I will be teaching, what will I be able to do in such a situation?

An older student would have much more deep seated beliefs instilled by their parents. Not only that, but many discipline options at a school require the cooperation of the students family to truly be effective, and if the family is intolerant, the required support will most likely not be forthcoming.

So then what? Try as you might to educate this student on the inappropriate nature of their comments, the chances of being successful are slim. This could give the student a feeling of invincibility, and that is not something that is conducive to a happy and safe classroom.

Its a dilemma for sure.

Grade 11 World Religions

Intolerance is bred from ignorance.

Or at least, that is what I believe. Many make fun of, or hold incorrect stereotypical views of, people that are different from them. Sometimes, it's more severe that.

In no place is this more evident than when it comes to people faiths, and their beliefs. Especially in a post 9/11 society, in North America, many view people of Islamic faith in a poor light. This is quite simply ridiculous.

Now I do not intend to get on my high horse and say that my education was in any ways better than that of anybody else. But I did have the experience of attending a Provincially funded Catholic school in Ontario.

Every year, we took a class on Religion. It was often viewed as an easier course, but enjoyable, and I learned some things about my faith.

But what I will forever thank the Catholic School system for, is the opportunity that I received in the 11th Grade. A MANDATORY class in World Religions.

Now I won't claim that I am by any means an expert in World Religions, but I would say that the course I took helped me to understand the differences and similarities between the various faiths in the world, and in some cases, I saw things that I thought were more appealing than that of my own faith. It was a higher aged course, so it was fairly in depth, and I came out of the class with a much greater understanding of the world. For that, it will always be looked upon as one of the best courses I ever took in high school.

I want to propose the idea here that this type of course should be mandatory for ALL high school students. It is not an overly difficult course, so it wouldn't hurt averages heading into University, and as a student who needed an obscene amount of prerequisite courses heading into University, it did not in any way interfere with my ability to take those classes.

And I'm a more knowledgeable, and I think better, person for it.

It was [his] first year of teaching

I was reading a section on AD/HD in Special Education in Ontario Schools and something hit me. Here is the section, it is about strategies for effective classroom management titled "Working hard is better than sitting around" and it's an interview with a student identified as behaviourally exceptional.

"Some teachers, they dont get much work ready

for us, cause they think we don't care about nothin' right?

And they think we don't notice. But how many crossword puzzles

do they think we gotta do before we figure it out, right?

Don't know why they do that. I mean, we're in school, so why not

give us school work? But that's not everybody, now. You take Mrs. P...

Now in her class do we ever have to put out. I mean, she's got work and

everything every day! Like there's always stuff on the board for us,

and then we get a lesson-thing. And then more work. And we got this huge

ton of notes!

What's cool is nobody messes around in Mrs. P's class. And like, it's not

just that she's mean--like--it's like you're really doin' something

in that class, man. It's--it's like you're learning something!"

Fergie S., aged 15, on audio tape.

Profound right? But what really touched me was in brackets right below the entry. It said,

"Mrs. P was in her first year of teaching"

Her first year of teaching.

It's what we all strive for, to be a difference. To take what we learn at the faculty, combine it with our natural love for teaching, and go out and make a difference. The fact that this lady, this Mrs. P, was able to make a difference for Fergie, and other kids with behavioural exceptionalities, in her first year gives me focus, inspiration, and excitement to go and do it myself.