We are defining intelligence and the initial studies of intelligence. I find the most interesting topic to be multiple intelligences.  However, this raises valid questions.  What is stupid and where did the term come from? Can someone be stupid?

Over the past few days, I have been thinking about Adam’s American Dream.  I have tried to research if who his dream included or excluded.  I tried to question my own principles as it relates to the American Dream and challenged the norms of mainstream society based on how I fit in and how I am cast out.  This is what I have concluded:

Adam’s American Dream has a obvious exclusion, women.  It took me a few days to catch this, he specifically states “…life should be better and richer, and fuller for every man.  Even though the dream has been changed to add specific details, the dream still excludes in  2008 by creating barriers not only for women.    

There is a time and place for everything.  My mission as a teacher is not to strip any student of their experiences, their community, or themselves.  My mission is to teach students to be themselves but be mindful of their surroundings.  I do it everyday.  The students will thank you!

“All this is simply to say that all life is interrelated. We are caught in an unescapable network of mutuality; tied in a single garment of destiny.  Strangely enough, I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be.  You can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be.  This is the way the world is made.  I didn’t make it that way, but this the interrelated structure of reality.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  

Today, our class toured the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia.  As I walked slowly through the exhibits taking in every detail, I filled with gratefulness and a sense of priviledge.  I left the King Center with an understanding that I must be an active particpant and stand up for something, someone, for me and for you.  I can’t sleep through the revolution!  This quote was in the first exhibit and it meant the most to me because it was what King was fighting for, we are one community and we need one another to succeed in order to be successful as a whole.  If one person is failing, then so will another.  

The effort to understand the concept of social classism and how it is linked to education, it is important to understand the American Dream.  There are many personal definitions of the American Dream, but only one true definition.  The American Dream was introduced in the 1930s by James Truslow Adams, author of The Epic of America.    Adams defined it”… that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement…. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of a social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.”  My interpretation of the American Dream is that living in America will afford every person the opportunity to reach their full potential based solely on his/her skills, abilities and achievements.  However, Adam clearly states that there is a defined social order or hierarchy.  In this order a person cannot be placed in any specific ranking by birth.  A person is ranked in the hiearchy only by their skills, abilities and achievements.   There appears to be no definite barriers beyond trial and error.  So, I pose the following questions:

Who determines what full potential is?

Considering the time that Adams created this dream, was this including every person regardless of race or color? Does it exclude anyone?

If things are beyond my control, can I still achieve the American dream? 

I tried to hint on this is class, but I was not quite sure how to make it fit.  When we watched Blue Eyed by Jane Elliot I understood that the “blue eyed” came into the room believing one thing and then changed to live down to the expectation.  I wrote my thoughts and formed many, many questions. We look immediately at what this race is doing to the other race, but what about inside the race.  I did a little research and found that this is called intraracism.  Elliot stated, “The way to get ahead in this country is to act as white as you can.”  You may not suspect that children are aware of this but they are.  Children are just being children, but they are aware of race, gender, class, and sexuality just like adults.  To hear phrases like ”You are too black,” “Your lips are too big,” and “You have good hair,” concerns me because the same type of oppressing behavior exist.  How do you address this issue within the classroom when the children are the same race?   

During the discussion on The Ethnic Myth: Race, Ethnicity, and Class in America by Stephen Steinberg many peers agreed, based on personal educational experiences, that when teachers inform students of history they “sugar-coat” controversial topics and events, leave out and give false information, and share their opinions.  By creating these partial truths and illusions then we are oppressing the children.  They are not being presented with the facts which means that they are not thinking for themselves.  This style of teaching only delays discussing and facing serious topics.  We are therefore, as teachers and as participants in society, achieving nothing. 

Prior to reading and discussing The Ethnic Myth, my intentions were to teach history based on the races in my class to increase self worth and promote awareness of people that look like the students.  As the professors posed questions to think about, I began to also ask myself questions.   I did not have an answer for all questions.  However, these are the questions that I was able to answer:

How do I teach history and not be biased? Using facts and statistics, I will present information about all ethnic groups and share stories that focus on emotion, intentions, achievements and failures.

How would I handle sensitive topics and still teach truth?  After presenting the facts, I ask questions that would allow students to think about the topic and share with one another their feelings and interpretations.  As a homework assignment, students are required to discuss the topic with their parents and write a paragraph about what they talked about.  This will promote the parent and teacher cooperation  in shaping an active child that is aware of the world around him/her.  

A great aspect of this assignment was that I realized that partially achieving goal is not an accomplishment.  Teachers must teach so that children can make connections to the world, to the community, to one another.

A history in which every particular incident may be true may on the whole be false.  Thomas Babington Macaulay

Our identity boxes represented how we perceived ourselves and the things that push us forward.  Each of us are unique, however it was surprising to see the similarities.  I put a Money magazine and my mission statement in my box.  There were two other individuals who added one of these items to their box.  Even though we have different experiences we have similar goals and perceptions of ourselves.  As we continue the journey with together, I wonder if my identity box will change.  

It must be remembered that the purpose of education is not to fill the minds of students with facts… it is to teach them to think if that is possible, and always to think for themselves. Robert Hutchins, American educator

A great deal of the day was spent creating guidelines for how the students of the Culturally Responsive Pedagogy would interact and react when sensitive topics are discussed. These are all topics that affect us everyday, however, entering into a profession where we are more conscious of these topics we must learn how to interact, react, and challenge others.

It was not until after lunch that I realized how effective this exercise was and how affective it would be. The professors were challenging us to be a community. As a community, we don’t have to think as one, but we do have to live together. If I govern myself by following the rules and you govern yourself by doing the same what will we benefit? Idealistically, we can live in harmony, but truthfully this creates accountablity. A-C-C-O-U-N-T-A-B-I-L-T-Y!

Everyone reflected on what they needed from one another in order to achieve the benefits of the class. Here are the existing draft guidelines:

1. Speak your truth with logic

2. Respect your classmates

3. Be nonjudgmental and open minded

4. Practice active listening

5. Be prepared

6. Practice empathy

7. Embrace challenges and opportunities for growth

8. Don’t speak in absolute

9. Be helpful and positive

10. Be a professional member of the community

As I copied these guidelines from the board, it occured to me that as a member of any community, I should be living these guidelines everyday. So, you ask, “Can we follow these guidelines?” Of course, we created them so we can follow them. As educated adults with different experiences and backgrounds, we struggled to create the guidelines. I can only imagine how children would react to the same task. Would each child understand accountability? The importance of being an active participant in the community? What it means to have a voice?