From “No Way” to “Maybe" ( Reflection from last Sat )

Whoever read my blog might think, I might be irrational or wrong. However, I’d like to say what I could not say last Sat....

I think Thornbury used the term “window-dressing” as meaning the publishers are doing a kind of lip-service by saying they will include more controversial topics in coursebooks such as  feminism, landmines, etc. but they never include “homosexual” issues and even the use of “etc” is a way of hiding it. In addition, lip-service is paid to these issues because as long as they are just hinted at then it meets the requirements of curriculum makers.

I support Thornbury’s view that the issue of “homosexuality” is hardly ever mentioned in ESL or any other type of education. I think this must be changed and it must happen on many different levels for the issue of “homosexuality” to become mainstream. However, I am not saying we should force the issue. What I want to say is that at least  we could consider the followings ;

First, teachers, parents and the whole community need to have their awareness raised about homosexuality and how it is a natural part of some people’s lives and that it shouldn’t be viewed as negative or taboo. In my opinion, being taught at home is more important since this is where a child’s values will be first developed. As Thornbury mentions there are lots of gays and lesbians in ESL so why shouldn’t it be mentioned in ESL books.

Second, movies and media should change the way they portray gay men on screen from the “classic flaming gay” to a more mainstream type gay. There needs to be more positive image of gays and even having gays as the main character in movies. For ex, blacks were rarely cast as the main character but nowadays it is just a regular occurrence in movies.  I think categorizing the picture book “And Tango Makes Three” is in one of the banned books is too much.

People are always resistant to change in the beginning but eventually it becomes normal and accepted publicly. For ex, gay marriage has started to become law in many states in America even though it was strongly opposed in the beginning.

Another example is like mixed-blood kids in Korean society. At first, many years ago, people looked down on these kids and even parents didn’t want their kids to hang out with them but now it is happening less and less. Of course, this happens because people think it is abnormal but as time goes on, who knows it might become normal some day. The movie industry needs to focus on this issue not only for gays but for other minority groups that have “bit parts” in movies for ex, taxi drivers are always Indians, the convenience store owner is  always Korean, etc.

Third, even adoption by gay couples should not be considered just “Wrong” since even regular couple can become bad parents. We’d rather focus on thinking, wWhat are some alternative options for the abandoned babies? There is no guarantee the baby will be happy only when he/she is raised by a regular couple.

There is no right answer for anything. Gay parents can be as loving and kind (like “the wonderful gay parents in an American sitcom “Modern Family”) and raise a great kid equally as well as regular parents. 

Because I do believe ,

 “ From “No Way”  to “Maybe ”  is a huge change and gives  hope.”

Activity - Explaining the image & oppositional class

My reflection …

First, Explaining the image

In my opinion, this exercise had a “freshness” appeal because it is not something that is done on a regular basis. The exercise allowed each of us to have an opinion on the issue. It also promoted discussion among the three of us. I do wish we had more time so we could have done the ‘possible inferences’ and ‘explanation’.

Ex) when Homer was voting the machine kept saying, “McCain” and I inferred from that the election could be possibly manipulated to allow a different outcome as might have possibly happened in Florida when George Bush won the presidency in the 2000 election. A good thing about this type of activity is that it allows every student to have a say while maintaining a discussion type format.

This is especially important when the class is multicultural with different levels of English proficiency.

The format was nice because it guided the students and the sample prompts were very helpful too. However, a bad thing about this activity is that it could hinder ‘free thought’ since it provided sample prompts from the teacher. I think I would like to try this one day with my students.

Second,  Oppositional activity :

Two challenges among 6 are “ Irrelevant” and “ Teacher’s lack of Knowledge”

My advice for “irrelevant issue” was:

1. Use the students’ background information to learn about the students so the teacher has a better idea of the relevancy of certain issues to minimize the chances of having irrelevant topics.

2. Give students the option to choose among the topics.

3. Give the students freedom to suggest a list of topics.

Advice  I  received  from  Andy  about “teacher’s knowledge” was:

1. Teachers should be confident so students don’t think the teacher is lacking knowledge that way the teacher can instill trust in the student,

2. Teachers should be prepared and try to anticipate what will happen.

3. Teachers should develop themselves. (including further study & research..etc)

For me, the activity was innovative because I had never experience a lesson like that where a person can be an expert and express their opinion while the other person is just listens and asks clarifying questions. Overall, this activity would be good for ESL to develop  “listening and speaking skills”.

And Tango Makes Three(Banned book)

It's a story that kinda kicks the cinderblocks out from under the rusty ol' car that is "gays ain't natcherl." Tango Makes Three is the true story of Roy and Silo, two male penguins who've been in a committed, monogamous relationship for nearly six years, who try their darnedest to hatch a rock. When sympathetic zookeepers realize what the couple's trying to do, the get an abandoned egg from a female penguin, which Roy and Silo promptly adopt. And hatch. And raise as their own. That'd be Tango, I guess. Anyway, while it turns out there are gay penguins everywhere, this particular gay penguin family lives in the Central Park Zoo. The book is written by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson and illustrated with pages and pages of cutey cute penguins by Henry Cole.

Reflection

I would like to start by saying Catherine and Major Gee’s presentations made me think a lot. I thought the advertisement was typical of an airline since it used an attractive woman and a powerful man and how it created such a long discussion with so many diverse points from discrimination to social class and even the analogy to our classroom. I thought it was interesting how some thought it was sexist and racist. From my point of view, I don’t think it was too racist because it was Cathay Pacific Airlines which is a Hong Kong Airline so it is natural that the flight attendant be an Asian woman. I think if it were an American Airlines commercial the flight attendant might have been either a ‘white’ woman or guy. So, in that regard, I don’t think it is racist. We all know sex sells in advertisement especially in certain industries such as airline, alcohol, automobiles and cell phones. I do think it was a little sexist since it had the ‘powerful’ man in a dominant position and the woman was obviously subservient. But then again, sex sells and I think most woman want to be an object of desire that is why so many get plastic surgery or try to look beautiful.

Here’s a really sexist airline advertisement from Virgin Atlantic Airlines:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hbib-A6NpW8&NR=1&feature=fvwp

Literacy and the Literacy Myth from Plato to Freire

“Literacy seemed to many people to be what distinguishes one kind of person from another kind of person.”

This quote made me think about Korea before Hangul was created. At that time, only the ‘yangban’, the elite, could read and write Chinese. They were the ruling class. The peasant class was illiterate because they were busy working but instead it seems as though they didn’t have access. Eventually Hangul was created that was simple to learn and after some time, most everyone was literate. But this still did not break down the social hierarchy. It only allowed some to gain wealth as they utilized their new literacy to do business, creating a wealthy merchant class but still beneath the ‘yangban’ class. At least though, it gave some people hope when they had none before.

On another note, it is true text can be read on many levels and we have to find the "hidden meaning" behind the words. Recently this issue has come up with the interpretation of the United States 14^th Amendment which gives citizenship to anyone born in America. This doesn’t affect Koreans too much except for mothers going on ‘tourism birth’ trips. However, it does affect millions of Hispanics and others who were born in America to illegal immigrants. The group wanting to repeal the 14^th Amendment, or make changes to it, suggest that the original purpose of the amendment has been misinterpreted. But what is the real purpose?  It didn’t seem like a big problem for over 100 years so why now?

I think, the problem is that American government and state governments are having budget problems and they think one way to solve that problem is to reduce the number of people that need their services. Not just illegal immigrants are being targeted to solve budget problems but the elderly too as they face Medicaid and Medicare cuts.

I think the US government should focus on reducing the $14,000,000,000,000 debt and give this money to the states instead of targeting minority groups and the elderly.

Reflection after my presentation

This question came from my real concern/experiences :

While I was preparing this, I really wondered if what I prepared was the banking method or not. I think using a ppt might lean toward a banking method and I wanted to avoid that. So, I was wondering how to do this so it is critical pedagogy and not banking. Also, what is the best way to handle a situation when the audience is quiet and not participative? How long should the presenter wait before speaking?

My little thoughts about Chapter 2:

I think a critical pedagogy of problem-posing really matches my personality so well. I never enjoyed all the memorization of facts and having to be tested on them for a grade that truly didn’t measure our ability. I think many students think much of the information is useless and never really serves us in our life. I’m sure many students have thought like, “When will I ever use this when I grow up?” Or, “How does this relate to my life?” But, unfortunately most of my education was this way. However, every now and then there would be a course that was different, that really made me think. The course would make me question things all the time as well as make me question my role in it all. Education should be that way, making us question things to develop our critical thinking skills. The enjoyment and true learning from a critical discourse method can never be met by the traditional banking method. I think once a person has experienced this method then accepting the traditional method becomes very difficult. Fortunately for me, I have been able to participate in a few of these types of courses during this TESOL masters program.

However, here are my questions for this whole chapter ;

1.     It which grade should critical pedagogy be started? From kindergarden?

2.     Is critical pedagogy suitable for every subject? For example, once we understand the concept of multiplying/dividing and the need for it in our life, isn’t just easier to memorize it so we can quickly recall the information when needed? I mean, we can understand the concept but never master the process. What is the goal then, to understand the concept or to master it?