Ambrosio
Discourses of truth interact with domains of practice to make objects of knowledge pertinent, valid, and socially accepted. (252)
Question: If students don't understand how to question the discourses of truth how till they know when things are moving or have moved in a direction they must and can change?
For Foucault, morality is not about conformity to prescriptive rules of conduct, but about our real behavior in relation to rules imposed on us, that is, the manner in which we obey or resist, respect or disregard, moral codes and values.(256)
I find this a little confusing. What if the rules imposed on us force us to behave in ways that harm others? Nazi soldiers who were working within the rules and moral codes of their time would now be considered amoral. Would Foucault consider morality our interpretation of the rules? How does the establishment of moral exist within a vacuum of prescribed beliefs and reasonings?
For Foucault, ethics is not concerned with abstract rules and universal principles, the discovery of virtues that enable a purposeful life, fostering certain self-conscious and habitual dispositions of character, or with relations of caring, but with the relation of the self to itself, with how we are constituted, and constitute ourselves, as ethical subjects in relation to systems of truth.(262)
Ironically I find that people who were raised in a moral bound religious home (mostly Jewish or Christians I know) decide that they don't want to "force" religion on their children. I understand the sentiment but I see so many of them lost in child raising because they cannot explain their reasoning and sometimes let their children act like unsocialized heathens and then lament why they aren't behaving! I can respect choices to do this but I wish they would think it through further than they do. Frankly I think that form of neglect is damaging as well as anger induced pankings.
BRE
Being labelled criminals, deviants, even "thugs" and "pests" as homeless people too often are, erases my humanity. (224)
I noted the use of pests here from the book I just read. Baker explained in many fashions that by calling something animalistic the implicit purpose is to erase the humanity.
Governments don't invite us to take part in discussion on issues that affect our lives (225)
This statement reminded me of British nobleman trying to understand the reason for the American Revolution. Their confused response was that most English citizens didn't have representation for their taxation either!
"criminalizing homeless people, rather than addressing root social and economic causes of homelessness, such as lack of affordable housing, availability of social service, and access to jobs with a living wage." (232)
Again I find it so interesting that facts of life we criminalize. Unfortunately I see the class warfare as well but I see that lately it's the actions and means and people who are wealthy that are being criminalized. If I hear again that the rich are complaining about tax increases I will scream. The poor can't complain about how much they pay in federal income taxes AS THEY DO NOT PAY A DIME. The discourse is so slanted to hate the wealthy and middle class who pay ALL THE TAXES that I think meaningful discourse will be shut down in this country.
"She suggests that "poor-bashing is when people who are poor are humiliated, stereotyped, discriminated against, shunned, despised, pitied, patronized, ignored, blamed and falsely accused of being lazy, drunk, stupid, uneducated, having large families, and not looking for work" (Swanson 200T: 2). (233)
This is horrible and should never be done. And can I say that my family would be appalled that having a large familky is a negative? LOL! We have rich and poor in my family and I have myself been both rich and poor and frankly I saw no shame and have no fear of having nothing again. I strongly attribute my 17 year marriage to the fact that my husband started with nothing. When you start with nothing and family is everything, stuff is just stuff.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Film Journal 11
Frontrunners
One of my initial realizations while watching the movie was not only the need to concern one's self with race in a political race such as shown but the cognizance of these students that it is in fact an issue to be dealt with.
I was also struck with the intense desire to compete. Especially on the part of the boy who lost the first round but seemed to want to "win" even when he wasn't that interested in the prize. It was when he started to notice the competition that he really took charge to compete. His partner however seemed more driven from the start. This boy seemed to take the process of one from a typical high school that turns into a popularity contest. These students however seemed very interested in what the candidate could actually achieve. It made me realize that the identification and understanding of one's audience is a skill better learned early in life.
The last think I was very interested in was the representation of space in the film. Public transportation and distances and time seem so very different in that urban setting than in the suburban setting I live in. I would never dream of letting my son travel alone for hours on public transporation at odd hours of the day! Additionally, I noticed that space was "claimed" in the movie by the candidates when they were campaigning. Even though the entrance right into the school was an obvious best choice no other candidate was willing to encroach upon that space.
One of my initial realizations while watching the movie was not only the need to concern one's self with race in a political race such as shown but the cognizance of these students that it is in fact an issue to be dealt with.
I was also struck with the intense desire to compete. Especially on the part of the boy who lost the first round but seemed to want to "win" even when he wasn't that interested in the prize. It was when he started to notice the competition that he really took charge to compete. His partner however seemed more driven from the start. This boy seemed to take the process of one from a typical high school that turns into a popularity contest. These students however seemed very interested in what the candidate could actually achieve. It made me realize that the identification and understanding of one's audience is a skill better learned early in life.
The last think I was very interested in was the representation of space in the film. Public transportation and distances and time seem so very different in that urban setting than in the suburban setting I live in. I would never dream of letting my son travel alone for hours on public transporation at odd hours of the day! Additionally, I noticed that space was "claimed" in the movie by the candidates when they were campaigning. Even though the entrance right into the school was an obvious best choice no other candidate was willing to encroach upon that space.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Reading 10
Morgan
Schooling always involves power relationships and the privileging of certain forms of knowledge. (274)
Critical pedagogy involves recognising how existing curriculum, resources, and approaches to teaching offer students a perspective on the world that serves to marginalise certain voices and ways of life. (274)
The point here is that there is a whole set of social relationships (linked to capital, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and nationality) that structure people's experience of involvement in the production of space. (279)
One of the lessons that children learn from an early age is that space is both enabling and constraining. (281)
I love the concept of critical pedagogy. Not only for questioning that which are social constructs for today but ALSO to analyze the changes that occurred based on past shifting social constructs. While I fully agree with the concept of questioning and analyzing situations from a variety of perspectives I don't think that people fully explore the ramifications of changes in social constructs. "Children have learned that space is both enabling and constraining," but they do so without really evaluating how and why places are enabling and constraining.
How do the implications of space with genders formulated early in life affect a student's interests in specific disciplines?
Inside is often the domain of boys while inside is the domain of girls. Similarly boys spend a lot of time hanging upside down and climbing and experiencing natural phenomenon that make math and science intuitive by the time they enter the classroom. I spent most of my childhood outside with a male cousin near my age and I often wonder if those experiencesw fostered understanding and interest in math and science for me.
How can students interpret space as a social text at different ages?
I remember at a young aget that this same cousin I played with was allowed to do things I was not because I was a girl. One of these was playing baseball. Baseball was the domain of boys even though I was better than Fred at most of the skills required. I believe that this is why I hate baseball even to this day :)
How do the experiences of youth in social situations affect them later in life?
Schooling always involves power relationships and the privileging of certain forms of knowledge. (274)
Critical pedagogy involves recognising how existing curriculum, resources, and approaches to teaching offer students a perspective on the world that serves to marginalise certain voices and ways of life. (274)
The point here is that there is a whole set of social relationships (linked to capital, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and nationality) that structure people's experience of involvement in the production of space. (279)
One of the lessons that children learn from an early age is that space is both enabling and constraining. (281)
I love the concept of critical pedagogy. Not only for questioning that which are social constructs for today but ALSO to analyze the changes that occurred based on past shifting social constructs. While I fully agree with the concept of questioning and analyzing situations from a variety of perspectives I don't think that people fully explore the ramifications of changes in social constructs. "Children have learned that space is both enabling and constraining," but they do so without really evaluating how and why places are enabling and constraining.
How do the implications of space with genders formulated early in life affect a student's interests in specific disciplines?
Inside is often the domain of boys while inside is the domain of girls. Similarly boys spend a lot of time hanging upside down and climbing and experiencing natural phenomenon that make math and science intuitive by the time they enter the classroom. I spent most of my childhood outside with a male cousin near my age and I often wonder if those experiencesw fostered understanding and interest in math and science for me.
How can students interpret space as a social text at different ages?
I remember at a young aget that this same cousin I played with was allowed to do things I was not because I was a girl. One of these was playing baseball. Baseball was the domain of boys even though I was better than Fred at most of the skills required. I believe that this is why I hate baseball even to this day :)
How do the experiences of youth in social situations affect them later in life?
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