Now that class is over, I have to really think about what I am taking away. When ever it comes to classes that shake up my foundation for thinking about core concepts, like identity, race, education, learning, and all the other things our class talked about, Im not aware of how much Ive changed. The realization normally comes when I talk with people about the subject and I realize I well versed and critical of other peoples ideas. To start, I might say that when I take classes like Cultures of Learning, my foundational experiences, which everything else are based on, are altered and shake up my further experience shaping.
Up to this class, I've been conscious of how an education's curriculum and pedagogy (even though I didn't know what the word meant) shape the individual involved. I had never thought about it, but my high school, middle school, and elementary school experiences dont significantly stand out. I remember that I didnt have to do homework because I would normally finish it in class. I also remember that I only remembered something when someone older than me liked something, in which case I followed suit and figured out why that person liked it. As a result of the insignificance of my pre-college education, I think I never seriously considered the importance of curriculum or pedagogy.
Considering this class and the wealth of readings we were able to read and discuss, there are a plethora dimensions of learning that I am now able to articulate. The obvious thing to me is also that there are still ideas I dont fully understand, mostly related to being able to articulate the relations of power between individuals and how/if any to improve the educational system. I feel like I am justified stating that improving schools to entrust students with the freedom to direct their education can have a positive effect. While its not so easy and also doesnt need to be as extreme as the Albany Free School, the importance for students to learn to learn is more important than knowing something factual and unimportant.
If I pick out some of my favorite readings, I dont know where I would start. The readings that stood out most, in memory and concept are those which I had to think about. I felt like I understand the ideas behind Vygotsky and his intended/unintended social learning. I enjoyed the readings doing a sociological/anthropological study of the low income schools. Maybe because it was very recent and fresher than Pierce, Freire, Ranciere and the others (it even took me a second to remember their names), I thought the ability to apply the theory we studied through existing studies helped me with my own means of studying my final project.
My favorite part of this class was the visits to the Farm School. Seeing the children in their prime, playing at lunch time, crawling under desks in the classroom, and drawing what ever comes to their mind. The Farm School classroom makes me feel like trusting people to explore their own learning, with the necessary guidance, can create an amazing generation of people. One thing that stood out was the fact that some kids would go to other schools for special education subjects. I don't know what these subjects were, but it reminds me that the Farm School develops the person, but still lacks some of the technical learning opportunities.
This brings me back to the topic of utilizing what Ive learned in this class to a math/science field. I already feel like the process of inquiry and collaboration is changed when people realize that they are learning for the sake of learning how to learn the concepts, rather then factual memorization.
This class is about the culture of learning. I feel like the culture that is most supportive of learning is that which recognizes a person humaness. It is a culture that, while recognizes a persons reality (environmental conditions, personal maturation, restrictions) continues to encourage a student to do more than they thought they were capable of. The culture of learning is found anywhere. A classroom, a dinner table, and workplace, and most likely in solitude.
Hmmm. More of a reflection than anything : )
Students at Sherman Institute, 1919. Courtesy Sherman Indian High School, Riverside CA.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Farm School notes.
Method: observing classroom activity at the FaRMSCHOL. Attending 2 hour segments to view the distiniguishing qualities of farm school
Look at connection with studets, dynamic between teachers/students/one another, and all differences in alotted time frames for class/ courses.
Interest. How class room is "different" from standard schooluing and also looking at the qualities that may already be established in other school sysmtems. Extensive observation on how students are learning.
M 1-3 Tu 1-3 Th 1-3
Bell ringing, gather, teacher, pick-up, student bring things ing (need bracelet), teacher sends out, students come back, kidep, "look at how much garbage", "big kids", "ancients, lunch box cart (2 wheel box with no hangle, teacher+luck & little kid, "it is hard", shows through example, flip over, T:"maybe he doesnt know how not to cary it, girls anged sides and heelp finish
Reading time-big kids with little kids, big kids read to younger, 1 book - 1 or 2 kids, pick your own place and book, set up together
research project, topic:gun, differences, gun control, hand gun, single shot, T: which question does that answwer for you", "what are you trying to figure out."
Reading little kids listen, little like stories, learning responsibility. Dialectic reading process-"question and answer" kids accept responsibility.
Insuring mehod: mutliple sources, gender awareness, "your expecting this person to be a man". vlolune set by teacher, social skills, organization, topic of study guns, title of sources:biliography
Books, finished, sit together, little kid gets new book, big kid: "not this again" Little kid:"its about a kid who makes an alphabet after z", little kids read with big kid, alphabet.
ResearchL teacher 1 on 1 time. Student assistent: observe and keep on task
compliment students method of organizing assisting when proximaey appropriate, irecting assignment tasks for home, learning continues at home.
Reading, students reading step and go back and for, reading and commenting. fun together. students have assigned partners
Research: topic guidelines, copying teacvhers document correting gramatical mistakes, s:"i got one more topi to think about", T:"Good job your really thinking about the homeowork." "Does your mom have any questions, I know your mom had questions about your topic." (engages parents), Responsibility and challenge.
Little kids: science: (vocabulary) ponder, measure, mass, gauge heavy
ancient, 1st year, second years, hand raise for asking. What what you know "parener?" "think about that question" (doesnt immediately give the student an answer, but engages the student to think about the question they are asking) "oh : ) ok", Big kids get a special project.
Little kid: kasper, talk about event, recall, different
Explains field trip: student talked about things brought on trip, water, packet, hat (description), (doesnt explain content) "How eoes that help understand micro/macro, hiking, spider, camp-out, preparation, squirrel/bunny, ", "good job" order, calling raised hand
pictures: picture, place recognition, remember place, slideshow, "I remember that" "thats my hand" "thats me" "can you guys please be more quiet" "what kind of rocks did you find" <litle kids I dont htink you dfound" "metamorphic" distinguishing/differentiating, "insignious" "sedementary rocks"
book behind board. "reads description of rock"
"why did you want to bring out this book"
"Pleanet earth is made of rocks." Micro/macro, 3 types of rock: igneous
embrace student example, melting, rock compressable, sound effect, good demonstration, show class, connecition to other, clau(peiting) I am making connections, getting clay and ice metamorphic, forming of insigneous, compression engough to minerals into new kind.
kids silent, Q:how does limited teacher interacting translate when it is only authority, student orriented some kids dont talk (Kids who talk a lot)
"You may not work with Tessa you two are getting in habit of alwats working together" ~meaning and prevention?
Teachers "that was a good discussion"
Hand bell ringing, everyone stops and listens, "will everyone quiet please down. Im sitting next to simone and I can barely hear"
Ms. Rachaels class, 1.raise your hand to talk, 2. sit correctly in your chair, 3.make good decisions, 4.keep hands and feet to yourself, 5.no phones, psp, ipod, 6. be respectful to all.
Mass project, encourage weighing different objects, hypothesis and practice/action, constant notetaking, group working, measuring something round,
Q:are there any class rules"? Q:what is a succesful science session. Q:what kind of freedoms are students given?
a:ask question: what do you like/ B:describe reason.
Weigh using tools, balance and 1 newton scale. Rule: dont use weight. try and try again (experiment), Teacher and student first name basis.
s:"I might miss some jobs" T:"sometimes what you want to do and what your interest about is more improtant (managing time)
14 little kids, 6 boy/8girls
clean up time: bell-students everyone clean up finish your project and put on your shoes, put away balances.
science jobs : 1.casper wildlife discussion. 2.share what you noticed about the photos in white bin, 3.ponder how you night measure something roud. 4. Ancients: what is the mass of the heaviest rock in our collcetion, 5.look at the imagining earth display. think about what you see. 6, first and second years, find something that has the same mass as a white board eraser.
in-class- how does restrictions of daily schedules impede a students desire to learn something specific? *math during reading time)
moral education, reeactivce triggers (bell), freedom from teachers (time)
10/31/11
Halloween carnival, banananna aladin, scary mask, princess, transformer, storm trooper, soccer player, ninja, superwoman, skater, goblion, fish, cleopatra, death, skeleton rocker, pacman, aviator, race car driver, cat, tron, incredible, (16 custom, 28 total>)
student+parents costumes games, walk of goom, the squirter of terror, balls eye, air dodge, death labrinth, water baloon splash, 9 games, mini golf, water gun
line up, rules remind, walk,. star photo, game -bigkids, prize, little-bag, play, bell clean, review rule, clean up.
GOAL: "sandyu" 2-adult, carnival styles, shows insight, guests feel successful. --level of complication, effiveness, interesiong, creativity, dynamic adjustment, person to person gauge of talent, explaination, # of people cooperation
airport-complexity and preparation, balloons model landing, water balloon-limited resouces, carful explaination and flexible for individual participants, gold0-dynamic, prizes, labrynth-grid, cardboard, cup/ball-point system, prizes:point system. water squirt: changing game layout to be more "stream lined", move water container to front.
clean up: parents -watch/help, kids follow suit of others, takedown methododically and throw away/preserve accordingly.
11/15 and 11/10 oct 23/31, 11/17, 15m 14m 8m 3
teacher explains goal: student learn about self and function in societies respective frameworks.
conflict kids pull table, not moving table, teacher intervene, ask what is wrong, initiates reflection, applogize expressed: articulated clearly.
research initiated, multipage, reading steve jobs interview, focus on words "market share" "profit" - hot dog explaination,
brain robbing, self initiated learning, volcano explaination, explain eruption, lava reacts, chemical, past knowledge presented, baking soda vinegar lab, whoopie cushion, pressing down.
inside a rock experiement, mold analysis (safety precautions), observation and recording, thourough note taking.
conflict resolution:ball game, lier, foster and zander, 2 others, zand, teacher, "called me a lier, and hurt my feelings" came to teacher, talk and explain without disrupting each other, learn appologize with no 'but's, explain and share opinion on own
goaly both want, explain to each other, emotional attachment voice, rational articulation
crying ball throw, share greivance, teacher: encourage other pov, ask to resolve through talking, Bell, "time to clean up personal messes groups help clean up"
11/17 CCC:
objects that are continued and take out of class
time mamnagement, self reflection, value of importance, very directed learning: make stuents concious of their choice, "you chose to do thiat" "be thoughtful of what you do"
CCC-"challenge" to use shapes, to use strings, to make something you cant purchase that you appreciate, music stand, violin, pet rat, farm schoool, difficulty of coming up with idea, not able to make shapes, not sure how to use string
Lnguage arts: 1. group comes together and explains what to do. 2. Delicate work and collaborate. 3. teacher personally meet two students and talk about project. 4. Atlas, globe, maps.
kids able to individiaully take on talks, disiciple, time to wait, take out of acticity area, then talk/ ackknowledge reason (for teacher or student)
FLip through atlas working for countries, learning to read: help voicing out syllabus positive reinforcement.
Remembering, not telling, asking if they know, making them ask others if they need to.
11/22/11: wagon: research method: reading and pausing at certain ideas, "you have to figure that out wont you" -"why is it 20th century for 1900?"
explaining: tax- water botle example: Q:"what do the government do with those taxes", explain business incentives.
computer: do you know hwo to spell check. 'no' "f7" Diogital analog, context->continuity->i dont always agree its best.
teacher is in classroom, all tables directed toward teacher. students can speak and share ideas, teacher encourages silence, teacher asks questions and students respond. teacher rephrases vocally to ask students confirmation, then writes on the boards. provide catagories for student ideas to fit.
doesnt snap at students speaking/contrabuting ideas. "aden is speaking now", teacher encourages different points of view.
unknown words: "who knows what desimated is?" hands up "answer" em[atize "what would you do if you needed to survive on farming. classroom is too noisy, then raise voice to get attention and countinue lesson
inquiryL when was the last ice age, "you are not thinking about the years. slow down." 15,000 years. "i dont want this to be speculation, many of you did resaerch on this..."
asking directed questions to havet hem answer their resaerch in context. encourages using notes. "where are your notes from doing research." "dont speculate" encourages the specific question. "whites" "native americans", makes point/repeasts important point. ideas written on board. "you guys are really making me think hard" teacher identifies when point is rep;eated.
Book-afganisatn explain, act out story, "ask me if you havve anymore questions" dodge ball, reinactmemnt of scenes, carrying imaginary guns and saving friends from "enemy"
clean up routine, kkids know to put away, get trash, lock up toys, sit down
search/history: calling to attention, making student understand what happened, exchange, calling attnetion to individual moments, "aware of body" talk about together, paper towel sisue, ther eperson responsible? people talk about what they saw. person caused mess fixes problem, no longer necessary to talk about it.
unlocked doors, freedom to go in and out, 3 blassrooms, big kid, little kid, art room, asking for teachers attention, hand on shoulder,
using recorder, interview process, interviewer and interviewee, change in teacher behavior based on having a visitor?
write out question inverview, type out by teacher
brain robbing, taking away the opportunity for a student to figure out answer to thier own question, or explore the process of inquiry. adults telling them the "right " thing, allowing children to make their own conclusions.
big kids room, 12 (2 girls/10 boys)
doing two interviews and recording the 2nd time. Picture and ask about the contents. Teacher and zander, "IO dont like the way that makes me feel. Please dont do that to me."
teacher help, one at a time. explaining "king of the underworld" "death noodle" imagine: cloud pool.
reading steve jobs interview. Asking about meaning of word, meaining of setnece.
History-"work in groups, asking who will work along. Allowing students to discuss through the options. 3 some group, conflict with how to resolve. Resolved conflict:
"sometimes I keep ideas in my head."
Sharing: taking notes, sharing notes.
Elective Projects
The Farm School children constructed a full scale Halloween fair. The fair was a product of many individual students “games” which were an elective assignment for them to attempt. The assignment was for students to design a game that would have different levels of complexity for participants. The game was to be fitting for a carnival style setting in which guests could come away feeling successful. The students were judged based on the games were interesting, effective, creative, and able to dynamically adjust to the participant.
Not all students made a game, but for those who did created the concepts alone. The games, like the CCC projects, came in a range of complexity and size.
Look at connection with studets, dynamic between teachers/students/one another, and all differences in alotted time frames for class/ courses.
Interest. How class room is "different" from standard schooluing and also looking at the qualities that may already be established in other school sysmtems. Extensive observation on how students are learning.
M 1-3 Tu 1-3 Th 1-3
Bell ringing, gather, teacher, pick-up, student bring things ing (need bracelet), teacher sends out, students come back, kidep, "look at how much garbage", "big kids", "ancients, lunch box cart (2 wheel box with no hangle, teacher+luck & little kid, "it is hard", shows through example, flip over, T:"maybe he doesnt know how not to cary it, girls anged sides and heelp finish
Reading time-big kids with little kids, big kids read to younger, 1 book - 1 or 2 kids, pick your own place and book, set up together
research project, topic:gun, differences, gun control, hand gun, single shot, T: which question does that answwer for you", "what are you trying to figure out."
Reading little kids listen, little like stories, learning responsibility. Dialectic reading process-"question and answer" kids accept responsibility.
Insuring mehod: mutliple sources, gender awareness, "your expecting this person to be a man". vlolune set by teacher, social skills, organization, topic of study guns, title of sources:biliography
Books, finished, sit together, little kid gets new book, big kid: "not this again" Little kid:"its about a kid who makes an alphabet after z", little kids read with big kid, alphabet.
ResearchL teacher 1 on 1 time. Student assistent: observe and keep on task
compliment students method of organizing assisting when proximaey appropriate, irecting assignment tasks for home, learning continues at home.
Reading, students reading step and go back and for, reading and commenting. fun together. students have assigned partners
Research: topic guidelines, copying teacvhers document correting gramatical mistakes, s:"i got one more topi to think about", T:"Good job your really thinking about the homeowork." "Does your mom have any questions, I know your mom had questions about your topic." (engages parents), Responsibility and challenge.
Little kids: science: (vocabulary) ponder, measure, mass, gauge heavy
ancient, 1st year, second years, hand raise for asking. What what you know "parener?" "think about that question" (doesnt immediately give the student an answer, but engages the student to think about the question they are asking) "oh : ) ok", Big kids get a special project.
Little kid: kasper, talk about event, recall, different
Explains field trip: student talked about things brought on trip, water, packet, hat (description), (doesnt explain content) "How eoes that help understand micro/macro, hiking, spider, camp-out, preparation, squirrel/bunny, ", "good job" order, calling raised hand
pictures: picture, place recognition, remember place, slideshow, "I remember that" "thats my hand" "thats me" "can you guys please be more quiet" "what kind of rocks did you find" <litle kids I dont htink you dfound" "metamorphic" distinguishing/differentiating, "insignious" "sedementary rocks"
book behind board. "reads description of rock"
"why did you want to bring out this book"
"Pleanet earth is made of rocks." Micro/macro, 3 types of rock: igneous
embrace student example, melting, rock compressable, sound effect, good demonstration, show class, connecition to other, clau(peiting) I am making connections, getting clay and ice metamorphic, forming of insigneous, compression engough to minerals into new kind.
kids silent, Q:how does limited teacher interacting translate when it is only authority, student orriented some kids dont talk (Kids who talk a lot)
"You may not work with Tessa you two are getting in habit of alwats working together" ~meaning and prevention?
Teachers "that was a good discussion"
Hand bell ringing, everyone stops and listens, "will everyone quiet please down. Im sitting next to simone and I can barely hear"
Ms. Rachaels class, 1.raise your hand to talk, 2. sit correctly in your chair, 3.make good decisions, 4.keep hands and feet to yourself, 5.no phones, psp, ipod, 6. be respectful to all.
Mass project, encourage weighing different objects, hypothesis and practice/action, constant notetaking, group working, measuring something round,
Q:are there any class rules"? Q:what is a succesful science session. Q:what kind of freedoms are students given?
a:ask question: what do you like/ B:describe reason.
Weigh using tools, balance and 1 newton scale. Rule: dont use weight. try and try again (experiment), Teacher and student first name basis.
s:"I might miss some jobs" T:"sometimes what you want to do and what your interest about is more improtant (managing time)
14 little kids, 6 boy/8girls
clean up time: bell-students everyone clean up finish your project and put on your shoes, put away balances.
science jobs : 1.casper wildlife discussion. 2.share what you noticed about the photos in white bin, 3.ponder how you night measure something roud. 4. Ancients: what is the mass of the heaviest rock in our collcetion, 5.look at the imagining earth display. think about what you see. 6, first and second years, find something that has the same mass as a white board eraser.
in-class- how does restrictions of daily schedules impede a students desire to learn something specific? *math during reading time)
moral education, reeactivce triggers (bell), freedom from teachers (time)
10/31/11
Halloween carnival, banananna aladin, scary mask, princess, transformer, storm trooper, soccer player, ninja, superwoman, skater, goblion, fish, cleopatra, death, skeleton rocker, pacman, aviator, race car driver, cat, tron, incredible, (16 custom, 28 total>)
student+parents costumes games, walk of goom, the squirter of terror, balls eye, air dodge, death labrinth, water baloon splash, 9 games, mini golf, water gun
line up, rules remind, walk,. star photo, game -bigkids, prize, little-bag, play, bell clean, review rule, clean up.
GOAL: "sandyu" 2-adult, carnival styles, shows insight, guests feel successful. --level of complication, effiveness, interesiong, creativity, dynamic adjustment, person to person gauge of talent, explaination, # of people cooperation
airport-complexity and preparation, balloons model landing, water balloon-limited resouces, carful explaination and flexible for individual participants, gold0-dynamic, prizes, labrynth-grid, cardboard, cup/ball-point system, prizes:point system. water squirt: changing game layout to be more "stream lined", move water container to front.
clean up: parents -watch/help, kids follow suit of others, takedown methododically and throw away/preserve accordingly.
11/15 and 11/10 oct 23/31, 11/17, 15m 14m 8m 3
teacher explains goal: student learn about self and function in societies respective frameworks.
conflict kids pull table, not moving table, teacher intervene, ask what is wrong, initiates reflection, applogize expressed: articulated clearly.
research initiated, multipage, reading steve jobs interview, focus on words "market share" "profit" - hot dog explaination,
brain robbing, self initiated learning, volcano explaination, explain eruption, lava reacts, chemical, past knowledge presented, baking soda vinegar lab, whoopie cushion, pressing down.
inside a rock experiement, mold analysis (safety precautions), observation and recording, thourough note taking.
conflict resolution:ball game, lier, foster and zander, 2 others, zand, teacher, "called me a lier, and hurt my feelings" came to teacher, talk and explain without disrupting each other, learn appologize with no 'but's, explain and share opinion on own
goaly both want, explain to each other, emotional attachment voice, rational articulation
crying ball throw, share greivance, teacher: encourage other pov, ask to resolve through talking, Bell, "time to clean up personal messes groups help clean up"
11/17 CCC:
objects that are continued and take out of class
time mamnagement, self reflection, value of importance, very directed learning: make stuents concious of their choice, "you chose to do thiat" "be thoughtful of what you do"
CCC-"challenge" to use shapes, to use strings, to make something you cant purchase that you appreciate, music stand, violin, pet rat, farm schoool, difficulty of coming up with idea, not able to make shapes, not sure how to use string
Lnguage arts: 1. group comes together and explains what to do. 2. Delicate work and collaborate. 3. teacher personally meet two students and talk about project. 4. Atlas, globe, maps.
kids able to individiaully take on talks, disiciple, time to wait, take out of acticity area, then talk/ ackknowledge reason (for teacher or student)
FLip through atlas working for countries, learning to read: help voicing out syllabus positive reinforcement.
Remembering, not telling, asking if they know, making them ask others if they need to.
11/22/11: wagon: research method: reading and pausing at certain ideas, "you have to figure that out wont you" -"why is it 20th century for 1900?"
explaining: tax- water botle example: Q:"what do the government do with those taxes", explain business incentives.
computer: do you know hwo to spell check. 'no' "f7" Diogital analog, context->continuity->i dont always agree its best.
teacher is in classroom, all tables directed toward teacher. students can speak and share ideas, teacher encourages silence, teacher asks questions and students respond. teacher rephrases vocally to ask students confirmation, then writes on the boards. provide catagories for student ideas to fit.
doesnt snap at students speaking/contrabuting ideas. "aden is speaking now", teacher encourages different points of view.
unknown words: "who knows what desimated is?" hands up "answer" em[atize "what would you do if you needed to survive on farming. classroom is too noisy, then raise voice to get attention and countinue lesson
inquiryL when was the last ice age, "you are not thinking about the years. slow down." 15,000 years. "i dont want this to be speculation, many of you did resaerch on this..."
asking directed questions to havet hem answer their resaerch in context. encourages using notes. "where are your notes from doing research." "dont speculate" encourages the specific question. "whites" "native americans", makes point/repeasts important point. ideas written on board. "you guys are really making me think hard" teacher identifies when point is rep;eated.
Book-afganisatn explain, act out story, "ask me if you havve anymore questions" dodge ball, reinactmemnt of scenes, carrying imaginary guns and saving friends from "enemy"
clean up routine, kkids know to put away, get trash, lock up toys, sit down
search/history: calling to attention, making student understand what happened, exchange, calling attnetion to individual moments, "aware of body" talk about together, paper towel sisue, ther eperson responsible? people talk about what they saw. person caused mess fixes problem, no longer necessary to talk about it.
unlocked doors, freedom to go in and out, 3 blassrooms, big kid, little kid, art room, asking for teachers attention, hand on shoulder,
using recorder, interview process, interviewer and interviewee, change in teacher behavior based on having a visitor?
write out question inverview, type out by teacher
brain robbing, taking away the opportunity for a student to figure out answer to thier own question, or explore the process of inquiry. adults telling them the "right " thing, allowing children to make their own conclusions.
big kids room, 12 (2 girls/10 boys)
doing two interviews and recording the 2nd time. Picture and ask about the contents. Teacher and zander, "IO dont like the way that makes me feel. Please dont do that to me."
teacher help, one at a time. explaining "king of the underworld" "death noodle" imagine: cloud pool.
reading steve jobs interview. Asking about meaning of word, meaining of setnece.
History-"work in groups, asking who will work along. Allowing students to discuss through the options. 3 some group, conflict with how to resolve. Resolved conflict:
"sometimes I keep ideas in my head."
Sharing: taking notes, sharing notes.
Elective Projects
The Farm School children constructed a full scale Halloween fair. The fair was a product of many individual students “games” which were an elective assignment for them to attempt. The assignment was for students to design a game that would have different levels of complexity for participants. The game was to be fitting for a carnival style setting in which guests could come away feeling successful. The students were judged based on the games were interesting, effective, creative, and able to dynamically adjust to the participant.
Not all students made a game, but for those who did created the concepts alone. The games, like the CCC projects, came in a range of complexity and size.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Would you dig into China’s nuclear tunnels?
I came across an article about a few Georgetown undergrads who have through research been able to come up with study on the extensiveness of China's arms. What I found significant about this was not the topic but the means by which they were able to collect data, the dedication of the students and the fact that now their study is being circulated among US military top officials because these students have found information which indicated China's nuclear technology is significantly greater that experts had previously estimated.
I thought about the Culture of Learning community as I was skimping through this article because of the whole undergrad and researching like crazy aspect. Here's a link to the interesting read: http://news.yahoo.com/digging-china-nuclear-tunnels-013008319.html
I thought about the Culture of Learning community as I was skimping through this article because of the whole undergrad and researching like crazy aspect. Here's a link to the interesting read: http://news.yahoo.com/digging-china-nuclear-tunnels-013008319.html
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Notes from Archive - Southeast Asian
Notes on Documents
Image 1744 – 1745 Indochinese Refugee Education Guides – Scheduling and Organization
• This document comes in preparation for an influx of thousands of Vietnamese and Cambodian children into the schools.
• The entire refugee education guide from the National Indochinese Clearinghouse – Center for Applied Linguistics, uses Teaching English as a Second Language written by Muriel Saville-Troike
• The guide takes into consideration many cultural factors, differences in values and customs, and the first language of the student. The cultural components listed all deal with the relations of power one must confront when in a new social environment. (bottom of IMG 1744)
Image 1746-1749 Indochinese Refugee…Teaching Pronunciation and Grammer
• The guide then gives specific methodology as to how to schedule and organize and language learning program.
o Should be daily and cumulative, use objects within the classroom to enhance vocabulary, learning from peers therefore encouraging English communication with English-speaking students, allotting specific time and lessons for a specific group for instance – Vietnamese speaking students.
o The guide says children can’t really “catch” a language through exposure and that it is harder to learn a second language than the first. (Challenges the Free Schools) If many of these children spent 4 years in one language environment and then are placed in a kindergarten where they are expected to have had 4 years in an English environment it is harder for them. (IMG 1746). Since it’s harder, it’s more important to have efficiency and it lays out specific guidelines:
Language is habit (habitualized), different levels of experience and interest, graded, contrastive style to child’s first language, opportunities for mistakes should be minimized. There are further guidelines IMG 1747-1749. Taking into consideration the language of the students and certain lessons that help them
Image 1750-1754 Indochinese Refugee.. – Testing
• Testing strategies – keep it simple (testing only the problems), keep it short (just the basic things that need to be known), keep it pleasant (interesting and attractive pictures, relaxed and happy classroom environment)
• Testing is used for evaluation nad to monitor growth as well as what needs to be worked on.
Image 1753 – 1755 Indochinese refugee… Vietnamese History, Literature, and Folklore
• This guide provides cultural and literary material about Vietnam
• A lot of books are about Vietnamese history and the country itself, and America’s involvement with Vietnam but from an American perspective
• Or they are telling stories/folklore from an outside perspective or about travelling to the US
Image 1756-1760 Indochinese Refugee ….-Language and Concept Development
• Naming objects and people and remembering them
• Following direction to make things or movement. Giving direction to each other as well. (Foucault – discipline)
• Describgin motion, describing postion,
• Riddles, making comparison and inferring why things are different, grouping and why things are in groups, telling stories and suggesting endings
• Basically this is all to get the student to start thinking about more than what he just sees and trying to use the second language to express these things
Meeting the Education Needs of Hmong in Wisconsin IMG1761 – 1764
• This report is a result of the Hmong Educational Needs Assessment Project
• It says that “Hmong citizens prefer hands-on learning in a traditional classroom setting with well-trained, enthusiastic, culturally-sensitive teachers, preferably from the Hmong community.”
• Language barriers and intergenerational issues were the dominant concerns affecting Hmong life in Wisconsin
• Hmogn were used as US allies during the Vietnam War. Displaced Hmong who were in Thai Refugee began immigrating to N. America
• Cultural Challenges
o Language barriers among family and with US – education, health care, transportation, child care and housing
o Intergenerational issues – older generation have more conservative views on gender roles while younger generation marry later, want careers, and share family responsibilities.
There is a lack of respect from intergenerations expressed. Many older Hmong cant speak English while many younger cant speak ‘native’ language.
Caught between two cultures – identity crisis
• Other issues
o Racism and discrimination, leadership abilities (want facilitation and negotiation skills within Hmong Community and with other Hmong clans. Are there issues?),
o Older Hmong having identity issues or loss of identity when they see younger generation lack respect, when they are confused about US social and Political systems, cultural and language barriers, plus worries about personal safety and health (link to the story in the document from the newsletter)
o General issues about this country such as business, child care, health care and elderly issues are conflicts for Hmong
o This document ends by stating that each Hmong community is different so each would have to be evaluated to understand their needs.
Hmong Early Childhood Education Needs Asssesment IMG 1765 – 1797
• Study done in 2005 by Ready4K – non profit focused ensuring that children are prepared to succeed when they enter kindergarten. (this is strange. Is schooling a game? Why should there be such things as success and failure in schools?)
• Over half of the Hmong population in US has less than 9th grade education
• Only 27% have completed high school degree
• Hmong are one of the least proficient in English immigrants in Minnesota
• This assessment tries to provide the issues of how Hmong parent are preparing their children pre-kindergarten for schooling (early-childhood education) and the issues thye face in doing so
• Methodology of study
o Using non-profits to announce the study as well as a local flea market where a booth was set up to conduct and announce the study
o 304 adults volunteered to participate (sample characteristics on IMG 1775
• Findings
o Who cares for Hmong children during the day?
60% of interviewees were unemployed so 50% reported that they stay home and watch children
As far as putting kids in formal child-care settings, Hmong are not that different from othe Minnestoa Parents
Those who stayed at home were more likely to have less than a high school education and therefore unemployed. (the socialization and ability to get a job that society mandates from schools)
Child day care facilities were mainly not used for cost purposes even among those who had a college degree and were employed
o Do Hmong parents take advantage of parent education classes?
Only a quarter of participants enrolled in these classes offered by agencies in community
• Parents under age 36 and lived in us for more than 16 years were more likely to take these courses compared to their opposite
o How Do Hmong parents perceive early childhood education?
Most parents felt their children should go into school with a certain exposure to the environment, and the ability to identify basic letters, numbers, shapes, take care of oneself, converse in simple English, social skills such as obeying parents and directions, cooperating with other students
o How do Hmong parents know if their child is ready for kindergarten?
The majority, 46%, said when they could identify basic letters, shapes, colors, speak some English
6% said when their children are curious, motivated, not afraid to learn, their children are ready. (hmmm. Isn’t this what free schools try to do. Vygotsky and BandL would say that we are always learning though and the idea to be ready to learn is elusive to the learning that we are always doing.)
o What do parents need to do to prepare their children for kindergarten?
Participants felt spending more time with children so they could teach them some basic alphabets, colors, count up to ten, and be independent and have self care. This was the majority
Second priority was to teach some basic English
Some parents were reluctant to get involved in early childhood education because they felt that pre-k children are too young to learn. (again the theories of learning come into play when we realize that we are constantly learning from the time we exit the womb)
o To what extent are Hmong parents involved in their children’s early learning and literacy?
The study says that Hmong usually use stories to teach their children moral lessons but only 27% reported telling stories more than 3 times a week. (cultural change within parents, stories lack context and relation to a different social environment in US?)
The longer a parent has been in US and the more proficient in English they are the more involved they are in their children’s education (obvious?)
o What challenges do Hmong parents face when preparing their children for kindergarten?
Many Hmong received government assistance, are unemployed, or have less than a high school education and of course the language barriers
This document suggests that the Hmong people need more assistance which is good but also implies that they need to change in order to fit into and succeed in school. There is no analysis that the school system is designed for them to fail and therefore be unemployed and dependent on the government. Why do they need to have someone else, some agency to tell them how to raise their children. Why can’t they have their own schools where they won’t lose their parent’s language and they can also learn English in a way that is right for a group of students who don’t speak English at home?
Image 1744 – 1745 Indochinese Refugee Education Guides – Scheduling and Organization
• This document comes in preparation for an influx of thousands of Vietnamese and Cambodian children into the schools.
• The entire refugee education guide from the National Indochinese Clearinghouse – Center for Applied Linguistics, uses Teaching English as a Second Language written by Muriel Saville-Troike
• The guide takes into consideration many cultural factors, differences in values and customs, and the first language of the student. The cultural components listed all deal with the relations of power one must confront when in a new social environment. (bottom of IMG 1744)
Image 1746-1749 Indochinese Refugee…Teaching Pronunciation and Grammer
• The guide then gives specific methodology as to how to schedule and organize and language learning program.
o Should be daily and cumulative, use objects within the classroom to enhance vocabulary, learning from peers therefore encouraging English communication with English-speaking students, allotting specific time and lessons for a specific group for instance – Vietnamese speaking students.
o The guide says children can’t really “catch” a language through exposure and that it is harder to learn a second language than the first. (Challenges the Free Schools) If many of these children spent 4 years in one language environment and then are placed in a kindergarten where they are expected to have had 4 years in an English environment it is harder for them. (IMG 1746). Since it’s harder, it’s more important to have efficiency and it lays out specific guidelines:
Language is habit (habitualized), different levels of experience and interest, graded, contrastive style to child’s first language, opportunities for mistakes should be minimized. There are further guidelines IMG 1747-1749. Taking into consideration the language of the students and certain lessons that help them
Image 1750-1754 Indochinese Refugee.. – Testing
• Testing strategies – keep it simple (testing only the problems), keep it short (just the basic things that need to be known), keep it pleasant (interesting and attractive pictures, relaxed and happy classroom environment)
• Testing is used for evaluation nad to monitor growth as well as what needs to be worked on.
Image 1753 – 1755 Indochinese refugee… Vietnamese History, Literature, and Folklore
• This guide provides cultural and literary material about Vietnam
• A lot of books are about Vietnamese history and the country itself, and America’s involvement with Vietnam but from an American perspective
• Or they are telling stories/folklore from an outside perspective or about travelling to the US
Image 1756-1760 Indochinese Refugee ….-Language and Concept Development
• Naming objects and people and remembering them
• Following direction to make things or movement. Giving direction to each other as well. (Foucault – discipline)
• Describgin motion, describing postion,
• Riddles, making comparison and inferring why things are different, grouping and why things are in groups, telling stories and suggesting endings
• Basically this is all to get the student to start thinking about more than what he just sees and trying to use the second language to express these things
Meeting the Education Needs of Hmong in Wisconsin IMG1761 – 1764
• This report is a result of the Hmong Educational Needs Assessment Project
• It says that “Hmong citizens prefer hands-on learning in a traditional classroom setting with well-trained, enthusiastic, culturally-sensitive teachers, preferably from the Hmong community.”
• Language barriers and intergenerational issues were the dominant concerns affecting Hmong life in Wisconsin
• Hmogn were used as US allies during the Vietnam War. Displaced Hmong who were in Thai Refugee began immigrating to N. America
• Cultural Challenges
o Language barriers among family and with US – education, health care, transportation, child care and housing
o Intergenerational issues – older generation have more conservative views on gender roles while younger generation marry later, want careers, and share family responsibilities.
There is a lack of respect from intergenerations expressed. Many older Hmong cant speak English while many younger cant speak ‘native’ language.
Caught between two cultures – identity crisis
• Other issues
o Racism and discrimination, leadership abilities (want facilitation and negotiation skills within Hmong Community and with other Hmong clans. Are there issues?),
o Older Hmong having identity issues or loss of identity when they see younger generation lack respect, when they are confused about US social and Political systems, cultural and language barriers, plus worries about personal safety and health (link to the story in the document from the newsletter)
o General issues about this country such as business, child care, health care and elderly issues are conflicts for Hmong
o This document ends by stating that each Hmong community is different so each would have to be evaluated to understand their needs.
Hmong Early Childhood Education Needs Asssesment IMG 1765 – 1797
• Study done in 2005 by Ready4K – non profit focused ensuring that children are prepared to succeed when they enter kindergarten. (this is strange. Is schooling a game? Why should there be such things as success and failure in schools?)
• Over half of the Hmong population in US has less than 9th grade education
• Only 27% have completed high school degree
• Hmong are one of the least proficient in English immigrants in Minnesota
• This assessment tries to provide the issues of how Hmong parent are preparing their children pre-kindergarten for schooling (early-childhood education) and the issues thye face in doing so
• Methodology of study
o Using non-profits to announce the study as well as a local flea market where a booth was set up to conduct and announce the study
o 304 adults volunteered to participate (sample characteristics on IMG 1775
• Findings
o Who cares for Hmong children during the day?
60% of interviewees were unemployed so 50% reported that they stay home and watch children
As far as putting kids in formal child-care settings, Hmong are not that different from othe Minnestoa Parents
Those who stayed at home were more likely to have less than a high school education and therefore unemployed. (the socialization and ability to get a job that society mandates from schools)
Child day care facilities were mainly not used for cost purposes even among those who had a college degree and were employed
o Do Hmong parents take advantage of parent education classes?
Only a quarter of participants enrolled in these classes offered by agencies in community
• Parents under age 36 and lived in us for more than 16 years were more likely to take these courses compared to their opposite
o How Do Hmong parents perceive early childhood education?
Most parents felt their children should go into school with a certain exposure to the environment, and the ability to identify basic letters, numbers, shapes, take care of oneself, converse in simple English, social skills such as obeying parents and directions, cooperating with other students
o How do Hmong parents know if their child is ready for kindergarten?
The majority, 46%, said when they could identify basic letters, shapes, colors, speak some English
6% said when their children are curious, motivated, not afraid to learn, their children are ready. (hmmm. Isn’t this what free schools try to do. Vygotsky and BandL would say that we are always learning though and the idea to be ready to learn is elusive to the learning that we are always doing.)
o What do parents need to do to prepare their children for kindergarten?
Participants felt spending more time with children so they could teach them some basic alphabets, colors, count up to ten, and be independent and have self care. This was the majority
Second priority was to teach some basic English
Some parents were reluctant to get involved in early childhood education because they felt that pre-k children are too young to learn. (again the theories of learning come into play when we realize that we are constantly learning from the time we exit the womb)
o To what extent are Hmong parents involved in their children’s early learning and literacy?
The study says that Hmong usually use stories to teach their children moral lessons but only 27% reported telling stories more than 3 times a week. (cultural change within parents, stories lack context and relation to a different social environment in US?)
The longer a parent has been in US and the more proficient in English they are the more involved they are in their children’s education (obvious?)
o What challenges do Hmong parents face when preparing their children for kindergarten?
Many Hmong received government assistance, are unemployed, or have less than a high school education and of course the language barriers
This document suggests that the Hmong people need more assistance which is good but also implies that they need to change in order to fit into and succeed in school. There is no analysis that the school system is designed for them to fail and therefore be unemployed and dependent on the government. Why do they need to have someone else, some agency to tell them how to raise their children. Why can’t they have their own schools where they won’t lose their parent’s language and they can also learn English in a way that is right for a group of students who don’t speak English at home?
Monday, November 21, 2011
Cultural Goals
A School of Their Own was an interesting interjection into the educational difficulties of Nepal. This is one of the few times we have been taken out of the American context in examining education and the only time during this seminar that we have moved away from the Western world. This really struck me as significant because we are forced to confront the struggles of education completely immersed in the political and economic context, and not just from a theoretical point of view where the influence was insidious. There were many interesting political and social dynamics that the move focused on, but I think it raises three important question about the situation of education in Nepal. How do thousands of years of history of institutionalized class and gender inequality affect attempts to make education progressive? Is the Riverside school overwhelmed with authoritative perspectives from outside cultures who are trying to impose different standards on this foreign culture? And one that was the most interesting to me: What is so culturally different about Nepal that children who are growing up in such extremes of poverty can still create such big dreams and set huge goals for themselves?
I feel like the first two questions are inextricably interconnected. The reason why it might seem like the Dutch man, Mr. Ingo, has an ethnocentric perspective is because his culture and cultural value are fundamentally different from that of the Nepalese Hindu culture. In Hinduism, women are second-class citizens and are systematically oppressed, but does that mean that Mr. Ingo goes about bringing them into the classroom in a socially acceptable way? His chivalry in saving the girls from the brothel and making it mandatory that his classrooms have a 50 percent population of woman is challenging these historical locks on gender inequality. Do his Western ideas of gender equality serve the community in a beneficial way that takes into account the holistic nature of their culture? Also, in dealing with violence in the classroom, I think the fact that these teachers are not allowed to discipline the children with physical violence could be seen as a Western intervention into classroom discipline, however, most people would agree that if physical violence is involved then the cultural background of these rules does not matter. I personally do not think that he consciously attempts to impose a Western dogma on the school environment, but naturally some of the rules would reflect his own cultural point of view. I ultimately do not think that his intervention into Riverside school has any negative cultural effects. Even though I am raised with a lot of the same Western social constructions that he is raised with, I think his perspective has a positive effect on the school environment.
What is most striking to me, as I said before, is the question of the dreams that these children set? Why in America are we faced with apathy as the biggest problem in education? What about our culture prevents American children from setting dreams as big as the ones that Nepalese children set, even though we seemingly have opportunities laid out in front of us?
Friday, November 18, 2011
The film we watched for class presented the conflicts associated with environmental challenges in establishing a school. the children in the Nepallese school are living in homes making anywhere around 250$ a year. The school was very interesting to see, because we have been critquing and following urban innercity schools i the United States. As a result we have been making criticism regarding 'running' away from the problems by starting progressive schools and looking down upon the banking methods.
This school seeks a pedogogy based on emphasized non-violence. While I dont have the cultural context to understand the significance of the schools rule to not discriminate or abuse. The school values a 'full-rounded' person based on the way students feel and think. The teachers are forced to affect these modes of teaching in a place with nearly no resources.
This schools conflict with the Maoist politcal demonstrations must be looked at through the culturak context, but the government/school relations can be related to the unite
ons
This school seeks a pedogogy based on emphasized non-violence. While I dont have the cultural context to understand the significance of the schools rule to not discriminate or abuse. The school values a 'full-rounded' person based on the way students feel and think. The teachers are forced to affect these modes of teaching in a place with nearly no resources.
This schools conflict with the Maoist politcal demonstrations must be looked at through the culturak context, but the government/school relations can be related to the unite
ons
education - americanization
A School of Their Own is a documentary about the Riverside School and its poor, low-caste children. Even though the film mainly portrays the children’s struggle to learn it alluded over and over again to Nepal’s struggle for democracy. My thoughts about the movie are two-sided. The white immigrant built a school based on progressive education that was born in the West. It promotes values such as equality and democracy. In Western eyes however, Nepal’s society and education is outdated and full of inequities, totally neglecting cultural relativism and hundreds of years of history. As a result, the white principle establishes certain rules (50% of the students have to be female and teachers in the school are not allowed to refer to a child’s caste) to enforce what is ‘right’ in eyes of an outsider from the West. Education becomes ‘Westernization’ or ‘Americanization. ’
So far, we discussed different pedagogies such as critical and progressive education in a Western context. But what is good for the American society is not necessarily good for very poor countries and the rest of the world, even in terms of education. Considering cultural relativism, is it even possible to find a universal pedagogy that can be implemented internationally?
A school of their own
The Story of A School of Our Own begins with a tourist/child sponsor’s trip to Nepal where she is thrust by her interactions into an investigation of the children and their education within a country tied down by tradition and fraught with poverty and political turmoil. There is a factor in the Nepali society very similar and yet very different from the race and underclass issue here in the United States. Nepali society is run under an informal but powerful contract of designated power structure called the caste system. The Caste system comes from the Hindu religion, which has survived in Nepal for thousands of years, providing the primary mold for self-understanding and ones position within society. One’s caste designates and inherent inferiority or superiority that stays with him/her throughout ones’ life. So no matter how successful one is as a lower caste, they do not belong there. The Peace Corps teacher was keen to understand that oppressed voices are harder to access. Behaviorally too, it is a challenge, I have met amazingly kind Brahmin people who believe in the caste system strongly. Just some ethnographic notes that Silverman reminded me of in regards to the observers’ access to the inside of the space she/he is studying.
The narrator discovers that public school is failing Nepali children due to lack of funding, while private schools are only available to the few people who have the money to send their children there. The impoverished lives of many parents demands the use of children in labor to even survive, so sending a child to school is a huge commitment, much larger than we (who have had the privilege to attend school) cannot imagine. And from this condition emerged the Maoists mobilizing the majority “have-nots” against the “haves” and the elitist government. And like many radical social movements, things went wrong: They became militant and inhumane, forcing people to participate in their strikes and movement under duress and violently attacking private schools. Children six and over were forced to join with the threat, “join our ranks if you want a future.” There is a great depth to the forces that shape the lives and learning of these Nepali children that overlap upon each in myriad of ways and cant be reduced to what is right and what is wrong.
Of these children, a select few fortunate ones have ended up in Ingo’s Shauli Bazaar School. Separated from the forces that act upon other Nepali children with an unforgiving weight, the students at Shauli Bazaar seem genuinely happy to be there. The rules at the school are simple yet profound. They are: one, no class/caste/or tribes are recognized, two, no one is allowed to insult the intelligence of anyone else, and three, there is absolutely no physical abuse. The children do not wear uniforms and feel no negative pressure from teachers. Ingo’s goal is to separate these children from their immediate economic pressures and unhappiness, and ultimately free them of the traditional power structures that oppress them into their position to create democratically inclined individuals. We have spoken of very specific factors of schooling such as standardized tests, but this movie takes our narrow view and expands its borders so that we can see that this kind of discussion is too narrow for the long term needs of Nepali children. They struggle to believe they need an education and convince their parents they need it, and then there is money that is needed for school fees. Leave pedagogy, all the obstacles to even reach the point of going to school are large enough to stop many Nepali children. And yet, there is the same belief that education is to create a “full person, a thinking, a feeling person,” rather than just a skilled person who fits in a compartment of society to reminiscent of the cog-in-the-machine in Foucault’s Crime and Punish. Then again, this school fits the accusations that Kozol made against Summerhill. This whole time, the school is a sanctuary, an island where students are free of social forces and then as the Maoists approach, Ingo moves his children to a safer location so they will not be caught up in the mess that Nepal is becoming. I understood that the children realized how fortunate they were to be at Shauli Bazaar, but I wondered to what extent can these “free” minds act within their greater society once outside of the premises of Ingo’s school.
Nepal
“What’s going on here?” In order to answer Silverman’s question, I need to recall everything we learned in this course. Everything is happening in this country, Nepal—children, women, low-caste are oppressed, not receiving enough opportunity not only in educational aspect but also in other aspects in life. There is a girl who once went to school by the age of 6, but was forced to quit and work for family due to extreme poverty. She, her mother and brother can only make 3 dollars per day…how can three people make living out of 3 dollars? Some children who go to Riverside school talked about their dreams as “I want to be a pilot”, “I want to be a social worker”, “I want to be a nurse”…but they are special, they are fortunate to have dreams. Children who engaged in child labor, who live in street, cannot have such dreams.
Distance really does change things...
I must say the first thing that I noticed from the film was that the filmmaker/narrator and the founder of the school were both white and from the west, outsiders to Nepal. Thinking of the discussion in class over traditional and organic intellectuals, sympathy and empathy, and Mr. Coats and Ms. Bernie, I couldn’t help but think that the filmmaker and Ingo were sympathetic intellectuals pursuing to better the world, while perhaps doing the opposite. On the other hand, if we look at the current situation the organic intellectuals could be identified as the Maoists which the filmmaker presents from a western point of view. In this instance, I could admit that a polarity exists in my expression and interpretation of the traditional and organic intellectual. Assuming the filmmaker is from the US, why doesn’t she sponsor a black child living in urban poverty right in her own backyard? Where do the rest of the students the Riverside school get their funding or sponsorship? Is the filmmaker and the founder exercising their ‘exotic’ perceptions of Nepal that Silverman discusses, distinguishing the ‘exotic’ from that which is considered ‘familiar’.
Is there a theoretical framework at work here? Or is the filmmaker taking a naturalistic approach, trying to tell it like it is. What is going on here? The camera and the white filmmaker, the lady who sponsors children is asking these young people questions, questions about the school and their future. Does this interaction immediately produce a different response from the young people? I believe it would. Take this school and put it in the context of the US. Imagine taking impoverished students from throughout the country and placing them in some rural school. This takes away some of that exoticism of what we view in this film? Would this work? I don’t know.
Is there a theoretical framework at work here? Or is the filmmaker taking a naturalistic approach, trying to tell it like it is. What is going on here? The camera and the white filmmaker, the lady who sponsors children is asking these young people questions, questions about the school and their future. Does this interaction immediately produce a different response from the young people? I believe it would. Take this school and put it in the context of the US. Imagine taking impoverished students from throughout the country and placing them in some rural school. This takes away some of that exoticism of what we view in this film? Would this work? I don’t know.
Constructing Democracy
What does “A School of their Own” encapsulate? For, or to, whom does it belong? The Riverside school is comprised of Nepali students with Nepali teachers. It is directed towards children from lower castes, and acknowledging the gender disparity in most schools in Nepal, reserves at least 50% of its space for girls. The Riverside School, from what we can see from the film, is “a school for the people and by the people,” which attempts to institutionalize the humanism and democracy otherwise missing in the larger Nepali society. The school directs this humanism and democracy existing in the micro level at the school, towards an extension into the macro society by engaging with the principle that “[setting] them free and their minds get free.”
The school attempts to set “them” free in a variety of ways. The teachers themselves are set free. The school’s decision to hire exclusively Nepali teachers, transforms the site of the school into a place of redemption that extends into the past as well as the present (and future). Ingo, the school’s director, was conscious of the fact that most students in Nepal experience abuse at the hands of their teachers, and as the teacher who attended CAL arts commented, that experience of abuse in one’s youth cycles through and provides the impetus for a violent youth movement. One of the three explicitly laid out rules of the school, was that teachers were not allowed to abuse their students either physically or verbally (calling them stupid, or making reference to their caste). Ingo mentions that the teachers were eager and happy to teach in this environment. This provides them with the opportunity to engage with, and change the history and tones of their own lives, to alter the narrative of what it could mean to grow up in Nepal.
One of the other three rules of the school was that students do not have to wear uniforms. This could be read as a setting free of “the body” from the forces which otherwise attempt to “discipline” it. (Foucault)
The third overt rule of the school was that at any time, should a child feel as though they have been abused by a teacher, that their rights have been infringed upon, then they have the right to “overthrow” that teacher. This policy rings of Locke’s political pedagogy, the same principle that was written into the U.S. Declaration of Independence.
It is evident that the policies of the school attempt to enact a pedagogy that would cultivate a society within the school and a consciousness within the student that would in turn mirror a political movement instigating a democratic shift. If the school is inevitably a construction site for structures of power, than perhaps what the Riverside School is trying to build, is the foundation for a peaceful democratic movement in Nepal.
While we do not see most of the daily workings of the school—the documentary focuses on the schools relationship with the political tides of Nepal—I think the three rules laid out by Ingo, provide enough evidence to point to this type of conscious power construction.
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