| Welcome! | Tentative Schedule | Helpful Links | ||||
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Assignments & Grading | Film Suggestions |
Welcome!
I look forward to learning about you and your interests
in education. We will be working together this semester to examine and
apply the implications of culture and its relationship to teaching and
learning, schools and other pedagogical institutions, the lives of ourselves
and our students and colleagues, and the decisions we make as educators.
This course is designed to foster the creation of a community of colleagues who can help each other to comprehend the complexities of culture, race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, ability, and other categories of difference that people often use to analyze their professional work, and the context in which it takes place.
Here are five starting points that we will initially seek to understand, and then critically analyze for their own partial and misleading assumptions; please think about each one and the ways in which those with different ideological beliefs and personal backgrounds might seek dialogue across them:
--The educational experiences of students are directly influenced by the ways that educators consider and approach such factors as culture, race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, and (dis)ability.
--Students learn more of what educators want them to learn, and learn such stuff more efficiently, in environments that are sensitive to and appreciative of who they are and where they come from.
--Educational institutions and individual teachers structure learning experiences and outcomes for students in different ways depending partly on their own life experiences and partly on how they interpret differences because of these experiences.
--Effective and culturally responsive teaching (teaching that is creative, dynamic, reflective, refractive, and diffractive) requires a teacher to be willing and able to know her/his students, including their cultural experiences and the cultural communities of which they are part, as well as her/his self in similar ways.
To have strong voices as educators (something crucial to being able to support our own students' power to accomplish things) we need to focus on the implications of culture -- not so much to define "culture" or to learn how to "use culture," but to recognize the effects of cultural practices, and the ways that some other things might be mixed up with what we tend to label as culture. Macedo & Bartolomé write on page 135 of Dancing with Bigotry that culture is "the representation of lived experiences, material objects, and practices forged within the unequal and dialectical relations that different groups establish in a given society at a particular point in historical time." We'll be coming back to this... Another course I discovered in preparing for this semester defines culture a bit differently: "human intellectual activities at work, home, play" -- Wow, isn't that different? And what does it say about work, home, and play? It is important that you know I find Macedo and Bartolomé's approach more useful in my own work.
Anderson,
M.T. 2002. Feed. Candlewick Press. ISBN 0763617261.
Appelbaum,
Peter. 2002. Multicultural and Diversity Education: A reference handbook.
ISBN 1576072649.
Flake,
Sharon. 1998. The Skin I’m In. Hyperion. ISBN 0786813075.
Joseph, Pamela Bolotin, et al. 2001. Images of Schoolteachers in America. 2nd edition. Lawrence Erlbaum. ISBN 0805830871.
McIntyre, Ellen, et al. 2001. Classroom Diversity: Connecting curriculum to students’ lives. Heinemann. ISBN 0325003327.
There will be additional readings, media and web-based assignments throughout the semester. Some photocopies will be distributed in class. Other assignments are either listed in our schedule and work as internet links, or will be announced in class.
Participation and contributions. (20%)
Our collective assignment is to make sure that each one of us
is an active participant in a collaborative learning process. In this course,
we will all be teachers and learners throughout the entire semester.
Because of the nature of this course, which is designed to create a context
in which trust and honesty are possible, it is vital that each one of us is
here, intellectually as well as physically, during each class session, and that
you are on time, and plan to stay until at least 8:00 pm. Your participation
beyond the bare minimal expectation of attendance and punctuality are viewed
as a sign of respect for each and every other member of the course community;
it is one of the important criteria for building rapport and understanding among
all of us. Being late to more than one class or being absent more than once
will seriously affect your grade, as your absence means that others cannot learn
from your contributions.
But this is far from enough to make the course successful! Learners have different preferred modes of learning and interaction, and different expectations; there are likely to be times when it seems like the format of class is not what you had imagined. There may be times when it is uncomfortable for you, or when someone is saying something you cannot fathom. It is this very type of feeling that we must experience often this semester if we are to challenge ourselves to be prepared to enact pedagogy grounded in an understanding of cultural foundations. It is crucial that each one of us takes responsibility for creating a "safe space" -- a safe environment in which open and respectful dialogue can occur. Part of our goal this semester is to better understand how to actually do this.
By safe environment, I do not mean that we should not actively challenge each other on important issues. When done respectfully, challenging each other on ideas or issues is an important learning tool: we must quickly start feeling that when we come together we can discuss our differing beliefs without being judged as "naive" or "ignorant," or pigeon-holed into categories such as "racist," "p.c.," "homophobic," or "sexist." For this to happen, we will each need to work hard to remain respectfully tentative about others' opinions (and critically self-reflective on our own!). On top of this, we all need help in comprehending our own evolving beliefs and values: so it is essential that we contribute by asking others to further clarify their thoughts and examples. To ask questions of others in the class is an important sign of respect for our developing community of learners and teachers.
Critical engagement with the readings
It is paramount that you have completed all assigned readings listed in our schedule before each class meeting. You are required to integrate readings into our class discussions and projects. Your willingness to interact with these texts and your ability to engage seriously with them will be reflected in your grade. Please note that being critical does not mean disagreeing! ... unless you have thought through things and have decided that you do actually disagree. You are required to challenge yourself to consistently find ways to apply the ideas of the readings to your professional and personal experiences (even if you do disagree!).
Pursuit of resources
This is an intense semester which moves twice as fast as a regular graduate course. There's hardly time to breath, yet we need to open ourselves up to the issues and allow them to influence the way we think and understand. To work for a balance, find ways to the best of your ability to make the pursuit of materials that help you think about cultural foundations a part of your everyday life: Rent a video on the weekend from the list at the end of our syllabus (and talk about it with friends/family); when you watch TV, record it on the VCR in case there's a short moment that you think we could view as a class (ads, news stories, two characters arguing for a minute...); think about the ways that culture is or is not a part of the discussion of schooling that is on the radio or in the news, and bring that back to our class discussions; think about the music you listen to, when and where, and how music is a representation of cultural forces in your life.
Cultural Inquiry Project (40%)
Click
here for Specifications Sheet
Choose one of the following options. This is a semester-long
project with several checkpoint assignments along the way to enable
communication about your grade and your progress in the course. This is the main
assignment for the course. Because the summer session is so compact, you must
begin working on this immediately and then consistently between every class
session. Each option requires you to routinely write reaction logs on the course
readings, and to use these reactions to guide you in your inquiry. Each also
requires you to consistently write down detailed analyses of what you have seen,
thought about, or participated in, so that you can use these narratives to amass
data to be synthesized and interpreted. See our tentative schedule for due dates
for the four components of this project. Make three copies of your
assignments: one to share with
me, and two to trade with others.
a. Autoethnography. Many people who work in professional development of educators believe that we must examine ourselves as the product of cultural forces. We are all constantly in the process of becoming as we enact those facets of ourselves that represent the multiplicity of communities of which we are members. For this assignment, you generate as many short, detailed and specific narratives about experiences in your life (past, present, future...) that come to mind as you are moving through the course. You then look for themes and patterns in the "data" of your introspective inquiry in order to understand the complexities of cultural institutions, relationships, ethics, and issues of equity and power, and how they can inform you as an educator.
b. Youth Culture Geography. This option enables you to develop skills of learning from youth about their lives (in order to use that understanding to eventually figure out how you want to structure school experiences with youth). You hang out with 1-7 young people multiple times over the course of the semester (average more than twice per week), and use this time to work as a cultural geographer, understanding what is cool in their lives in order to produce a collection of reflective, thick descriptions of the ways that cultural forces are enacted in youth's experiences. You look for themes and patterns in the "data" of your inquiry in order to understand the complexities of cultural institutions, relationships, ethics, and issues of equity and power, and how they inform the ways that these youth make meaning in their lives.
c. Classroom/School Constellation Study. You investigate your own educational environment using the concepts of this course. By working as a "participant observer," you get into a rhythm of routinely recording specific details and then trying to interpret what these detailed observations mean. You look for themes and patterns in the "data" of your inquiry in order to understand the complexities of cultural geography as they play out in the culture of your organization -- how do globalization, power, categories of difference, etc., influence the ways that people make sense of what is happening in this environment?
d. Popular Culture Interrogation. You explore media/entertainment representations of culture and its impact on teaching and learning. Possibilities: i) View at least five films about cultural, racial, class, etc., interaction with a small group of friendly assistants and write reaction narratives (I have suggestions); you may need to view each more than once (average more than two films per week). ii) You play a popular video game so much that you get good enough to be reasonable competition for an adolescent and can understand the ways that this game both represents cultural forces and provides a framework for interpreting the less virtual aspects of your life. iii) You research the music that informs your life or the life of somebody else, enough to burn a CD that documents the range of cultural forces that are represented in what is included and what is not. You then look for themes and patterns in the "data" of your inquiry in order to understand the complexities of cultural institutions, relationships, ethics, and issues of equity and power, and how they can inform you as an educator.
Literature Circle Participation. (20%) Twice during the semester you will be take on a role in preparation for small group discussion of a young adult novel. You will be evaluated on how well you: i) prepare ideas and questions for your group; ii) participate in the class discussion; iii) facilitate other group members' engagement with the ideas and issues of the novel; and iv) search for ways to apply the issues of the novel to teaching and learning in school settings. Our tentative schedule lists when we will be discussing The Skin I'm In, by Sharon Flake, and Feed, by M.T. Anderson.
Curriculum Redesign Application. (20%) We will be examining a range of approaches to curriculum and educational environments based on multicultural and diversity education goals and opportunities. You are challenged to put these ideas into practice by considering a particular lesson, unit, or other educational plan, and redesigning it by applying our course concepts and skills. Briefly describe a recent lesson, unit or other educational encounter that you have taught yourself, experienced, or observed. Then create an "after" lesson, unit or other educational plan that illustrates ways that this existing example of curriculum and instruction can be changed to better implement the approaches described in our course. Write up an additional 1-2 page "why the changes" orientation to your new plan. See our tentative schedule for due dates for the Story of the Curriculum Idea and the Curriculum Redesign Application. Make three copies of your assignments: one to share with me, and two to trade with others.
Contact Information & Office Hours
Peter Appelbaum
Taylor 312 A
Mondays & Wednesdays 2:00 - 3:30, and by appointment after class or on
another day.
215-572-4476
appelbaum@arcadia.edu
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Welcome |
Buy those textbooks! Bookstore in the Kuch Center, or: http://alibris.com, http://half.com, http://abebooks.com, http://www.bookfinder.com LINKS FROM CLASS:
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Setting the Stage: What are Our Issues? Identity, Ideology, Hybridity, and Cultural Representation |
Kohl, "I Won't Learn From You" Macedo & Bartolomé, "Beyond the Methods Fetish" Males, "Myth: Today's Youth are America's Worst Generation Ever" Massey, "Spatial Construction of Youth Cultures" |
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NO CLASS -- Memorial Day Holiday |
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What is a Good (Enough) Teacher? How does a good teacher use what s/he knows about race, gender, class, ethnicity, and other categories of difference? What is the culture of teaching that we inherit? |
Flake, The Skin I'm In Joseph & Burnaford, Ch 1-3 (assigned in class)
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Literature Circle role preparation |
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Metaphors as Cultural Artifacts: Examining the cultural meaning of "teacher;" teaching as a cultural practice |
Joseph & Burnaford, CH 4-6 |
Initial Questions & Plans for Your Inquiry |
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Responding to Cultural Expectations for Teachers |
Joseph & Burnaford, Ch 8-12 (3 assigned in class) |
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Teachers Responding to Culture |
McIntyre, et al. Ch 1-3 Appelbaum, CH 1 |
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Multicultural and Diversity Education, part I |
Appelbaum Ch 2-4 |
Working Portfolio |
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Multicultural and Diversity Education, part II |
McIntyre, et al., finish book |
Curriculum Story/ Idea |
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Politics of Culture |
Appelbaum, Ch 5-6 Joseph & Burnaford, Ch 13 |
Performance of Your Work Assignment |
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Technoculture & Consumption: Applying what we have learned to a specific topic |
Anderson, Feed |
Literature Circle role preparation; Curriculum Redesign Project (specifications) |
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To be designed by the class |
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Archaeology of Your Inquiry; Guests for our "event;" Your rehearsed or packaged "performance" |
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What will you be reading over the rest of the summer?? |
Plan a reunion with others from the course |
Autoethnography: Prewriting exercises http://www.humboldt.edu/~tdd2/AutoethnographyPW.htm
Autoethnography example on the web: http://www.cmp.ucr.edu/students/glasshouses/
Autoethnography: Journeys of the Self http://www.haussite.net/haus.0/SCRIPT/txt2001/01/russel.HTML
Susan Bennet suggestions on writing autoethnography, found helpful by Betsy: http://www.humboldt.edu/~cpf/BENNETTonAUTOETHNOGRAPHY.htm
Gregory Jay, on Teaching about Whiteness http://www.uwm.edu/~gjay/Whiteness/Teachwhiteness.html
NAME National Association for Multicultural Education http://www.nameorg.org/Teaching for Change http://www.teachingforchange.org/
Campaign for Meaningful Student Involvement http://freechild.org/CMSI/home.htm
GLSEN Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network http://www.glsen.org/templates/index.html
Pedagogy and Theater of the Oppressed http://www.unomaha.edu/~pto/
The Multicultural Pavilion http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/
The Multicultural Skyscraper http://www.multicultural.net/
EMME Electronic Magazine of Multicultural Education http://www.eastern.edu/publications/emme/
BUENO Center for Multicultural Education http://www.colorado.edu/education/BUENO/
Philadelphia Schools Framework # 102 http://www.philsch.k12.pa.us/boe/BPolicy/multiracial.html
PAME Pennsylvania Association for Multicultural Education http://www.clarion.edu/edu-humn/multicultural.htm
Pennsylvania Department of Education http://www.pde.state.pa.us/
These films each center on issues of culture, cultural interaction, identity, equity, power, and learning. They have little else in common. While they raise the issues, they do not necessarily respond well to them. When a video is hard to find, consider http://www.tlavideo.com (7630 Germantown Ave., 215-248-4448) or, in Philly, (thanks to Tirdad Derakhshani), this list of AREA VIDEO STORES <scroll down>.
Kazoku Gemu (The Family Game) Taxi zum Klo Boys Don't Cry My Beautiful Launderette Angelo, My Love American Me Bend It Like Beckham Undercover Brother Born in East L.A. Mississippi Masala The Wedding Banquet Monsoon Wedding Lagaan Matewan Do the Right Thing Brother from Another Planet Dim Sum: A little bit of heart Tampopo The Matrix X-MenHigher Learning Barbershop Nowhere in Africa L'Ecole Buissonniere (Passion for Life) Earth Girls are Easy Oranges are not the Only FruitY Tu Mamá TambiénBaby BoyGhost WorldSlamDark DaysKikujiroGirls Town