Taking Over!!

Taking Over

The Public Theater

2 Hours

Danny Hoch's play about gentrification is much more than the complaints or whines that are usually heard about gentification. First of all, it was my definition of good art.  You did not have to, and it was unlikely that you did, agree with everythign he was saygin, or walk out feeling empowered and happy.  What this play did was make you think.  It was essentailly an existentialist journey through the white-washing of New York City.  Danny Hoch, a native New Yorker, is trying to come to terms with what he thinks New York is and what it is becoming, and the fact that one city can seem and exist as so many different and opposing things at the same time really bothers Danny, for if he defines himself by his home, that who is he?  Where does he live?  Where does he come from?  Furthermore, as his New York is quickly being covered up by the New New York, the hipster New York, the white, out-of-towner, disconnected new York, he feels as if his identity, his being, is disintegrating, becoming invisible.

While watching this play, I did not feel attacked.  I was not offended when Danny and the various characters that he played screamed at me, in more or less words and various accents, to go home, go back to where I came from.  First of all, I don't think I am really who he is yelling at.  I know my privilege, I know my skin color.  I know that I need to work and that paying rent is not easy, just like my Loisaida neighbors on Avenue C, but I also know that because of both my education and my skin color, the fact that my family immigrated here 150 and not 50 years ago, makes it so that I can march in to this neighborhood and do anything I want, and my biggest problem is not finding a place to work but decidding on a place to work.  I am not a trust fund hipster who thinks making industrial music in my Williamsburg loft is counterculture and against the man.  I know who I am.  I am an educator.  And I will probably have many of these confused, evaporating native New Yorkers in my classroom as long as they last, before they get priced out.  So I am trying to come to terms with the fact that as neighborhoods get "whiter" for the most part, they get somehow "better."  I am not trying to identify or agree with everything Danny is trying to say, but I am trying to listen.  I am trying to listen, because I do not want to be that crazy white girl who marches in to the local PS, talks about racism, and tries to "save" people.  I do not want to even fall in to the category that anyone or anything needs saving and that I am some sort of saver.  I just want to connect, try and see where people are coming from.  I cannot stop gentrification, or as I like to say, the Sex in the Cityfying of what is and what I think always will be a city of immigrants.  But at least I can think about what is going on, and try to think about how I fit in to it, and try to accept myself for who I am and what I have done.

Finally, I cannot help but think about times in the past when the older immigrants were hostile to the new immigrants.  The Irish swept the floors of the German's bakery, the Chinese do the Irish's laundry.  But what is messed up, I think, is that this balance of waiting your turn to rise up has been thrown off.  Somehow, as the new white immigration moves in, the older, more established, are not being pushed to the top, they, the Hispanic, the Black, are being swept under the rug. 

What we are left with is the questions why, and what, as educators, are we going to to about it.  What tools can we give our students and our children to fight back.

Amazing show, really confusing...

Lysistrata's Children

Event Sponsor/ Location: Theater for the New City

Event Time: Saturday, November 22, 2008

Reflection: I had the wonderful opportunity last week to both watch a play about children being change makers while being somewhat of a change maker myself. Last Saturday, I took a group of residents from the Broome Street Residential College (a dorm here on campus dedicated to service and educational enrichment), including the Community Development Educator and a Residential Assistant, to see Lysistrata’s Children. Based on an Ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes called Lysistrata, the play is a political piece advocating peace. Children withhold love from their parents in hopes that their parents will sign a peace treaty to end the war in Iraq.
The play had an all-child cast from Friendship Seminary, a local school. It originated as a series of skits created by the students, then grew into a larger play, which was put together by the director. The themes of the play tie closely to some of the themes of our class, and as I watched the play, I felt I was seeing the ideals of our class put to action.
The play began with an idea and question: the history of war in America and why do we allow war to continue on from generation to generation? Students sought answers to these questions and expressed concern for our nation and its persistent warfare. As the play continued, the children devised ways they could act on their concerns and end the war. They finally emerged with a solution: create a peace treaty for adults to sign to end the war and show no emotion—positive or negative—thus withholding affection toward their parents until the treaty is signed.
This play was multicultural education in action! Though the story itself was fictional, the fact that the students made a significant contribution to the script demonstrates their committed role in working toward the values of the play: those of peace and activism. The play aimed to encourage its adult audience to question injustice, and be open-minded to all people, regardless of age. Though it seemed a large task, I realized by the end of the play that simply by seeing the play, adults were engaging in activism to a small degree, so these young actors were accomplishing their goal by getting onstage every night in front of adults. I also realized that, though I often feel I am not as much of an activist as I would like to be, by taking residents to see this show, I took one step further in becoming a more active educator.
Following the performance, I elicited feedback from the residents and we had a short discussion on the play. Many residents who were more artistically critical of the show disliked it. However, everyone agreed that the objectives of the show were clear and important. Some residents even commented that they hoped more schools would offer similar social justice opportunities and incorporate current events into the curriculum.

Vincent Who?

Event Sponsor: The Center for Multicultural Education and Programs at NYU with Asian/Pacific/American Institute

Event Location: NYU, 19 University Place

Event Time: Friday, November 21, 2008

Reflection: Many racial/ethnic groups in America, and even around the world, tend to have an important figure or event that brings them closer together. For African Americans, stories of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., tighten and inspire their community. For Jews, memories of the Holocaust strengthen bonds between members of the same faith. And for Asian Americans, the story of Vincent Chin, has fostered solidarity amongst immigrants from diverse countries sharing the same continent of origin.
Vincent Chin was a young Chinese-American man who, in 1982, was brutally beaten to death by two Caucasian autoworkers. These workers noticed Chin in a Detroit bar, where he was celebrating his engagement and approaching wedding. They did not know him personally, yet began insulting him, calling him “Jap,” before chasing him outside and beating him with a baseball bat. This crime, mainly catalyzed by the two perpetrators’ agitation with the many lay-offs in the automotive industry, due to American-Japanese market share, was a blatant hate crime. However, neither man served any time in jail for what they committed.
This event made a tremendous impact on the Asian American community, really bringing a multitude of cultures together to shed light on racism between their communities and other American communities. It was one of the first events that inspired activism in the Asian American community, as well as encouraged Asian Americans to identify themselves under that umbrella term.
The film, “Vincent Who?,” was created to increase awareness of both the event and the Asian American Movement. The film both details the event and shows interviews with prominent Asian Americans regarding their perspectives of the event and its impact on Asian Americans today. According to the filmmaker, Curtis Chin, the two main goals for the film, in terms of its impact on its audience, were “realizing the similarities amongst cultures and forming coalitions/bonds.”
As audience members shared their feedback, and asked questions, it seems as if Curtis Chin is achieving these goals. One audience member asked how he plans on continuing to “get the word out.” That was an excellent question, and one that particularly interested me as an educator. The more students are exposed to films such as these, the more they become connected to the world outside the classroom walls. I am certain that some students come to school today feeling the way Vincent Chin did when the two men were making racist remarks to him. Children are becoming increasingly exposed to injustices in many forms, and oftentimes we hear hurtful language being used in the hallways, whether or not children understand what they are saying. By educating students that this type of language is wrong, and can even be fatal, we are increasing their awareness of how their actions now shape their future actions. If schools strive to teach through a social justice lens, they will create a more open and safe school environment as students take responsibility as advocates for a more just world.

Lysistratas Children

I attended a performance of Lysistratas Children at a theater between 10th and 11th street on first ave (New World Theater? They didn't have enough programs for everyone to get one), performed by young adolescents mostly attending Friends Seminary. This play was about one girl, who during a fourth of July parade, had an epiphany that most of the United States' history is based on wars and violence. Her idea was to protest war by withholding and encouraging friends to withhold love from their parents until every adult they knew signed a petition to stop war and 'talk it out.'
I was confused about the title until Jenn told me about the ancient myth of Lysistrata, who got her fellow women of two opposing villages to withhold sex from their husbands until they stopped fighting each other. With this knowledge, I found the title incredibly amusing.
Not only was this play adorable, and the perfect length of time for someone with adult ADD as severe as mine, I think it had a lot of great teaching points in the classroom. Because children are performing in it, I would be comfortable using this in as early as a fourth grade classroom. I think I would begin by talking about the play, summarizing it, and then delving into the topic of protest. Using that as a launch pad, I think I would educate about different times protest has been used in our country and for what, and what students think they would protest if they could.
The students in my student teaching placement are writing editorials now, and I think one topic could delve into another. I would definitely recommend this as a cheap and entertaining field trip if this show ever returns to the theater.

Vincent Who?!

I viewed Who Killed Vincent Chin (Vincent Who?), a documentary made my Curtis Chin about the murder of Vincent Chin in the 80's. At the time, Japanese Americans were being scapegoated for various economic problems, and Vincent Chin (a Chinese man), was murdered by two disgruntled employees in Detroit.
This film struck a chord with me because this hate crime was set in the Midwest; and I too hail from that area. I am not surprised that none of the people in the beginning recognized the name of Vincent Chin, but I almost felt guilty for not recognizing it coming from the Midwest. I also really appreciated the parallels that Curtis Chin drew between the Vincent Chin murder and hate crimes that were committed against South Asians right after 9/11. My family and I, even though living in Minnesota at the time, were victims of everything from racial profiling to 'sand nigger' being written on our house and on my locker at school.
I think this film would be very useful in the classroom, but I would probably use it with an older demographic. The film itself can be used to educate about the Vincent Chin crime and the situation in Detroit in the 80's, but it can also be used to address questions higher on Bloom's Taxonomy. We can challenge students and ask, why did this happen? What ethnic group is at a disadvantage now? What other hate crimes throughout history parallel this? Can we compare this crime to crimes against African Americans post Jim Crow? It could even lead to historical research. I found this film incredibly provocative and will probably YouTube it in the future just to watch it. On a side note, Curtis Chin was incredibly amicable in the Q&A session after; and I was interested to know he financed this film by himself.

IndyKids

Event: creating the current IndyKids issue

Location: Indypendent Media Office W.43^rd st

Amount of hours: 3- 2 hour meetings (6 hours altogether)

Reflection:Creating the current IndyKids issue was a very thought provoking group of events to attend. There was three meetings all together, the first was a brainstorm, where we came up with the ideas for what was going to be included in the current issue, the second meetings was to edit the articles that were created for the issue, and then the final meeting was to copy edit the pages of the new issue. I was also able to connect and implement much of what I learned and discussed in the meetings, into my lessons and unit plan that I am currently doing.

During the first meeting, we met with the editors and coordinator for the paper in the Indypendent Media Office (the Indypendent is the newspaper for adult readers, that the IndyKids was based off of), we started off just talking about what issues we thought should be included in this issue. We talked a lot about how to include the economic crisis and presidential race into the paper. Since the paper was going to be coming out a few weeks after the presidential race, we talked about whether a larger of a portion should be dedicated to the presidential race, which would be old news or the economic crisis, which is a somewhat difficult and a less engaging topic. Ultimately we decided that there should be a larger emphasis on the economy, since it would most likely be more relevant to the current situations, when the paper actually came out. We also brainstormed other topics for the newspaper, for example, we talked about Haiti and the hurricanes, street vendors in DR, Bangladesh Farmers, Banned Books Week, A book review of the Young People’s History of the US, along with an interview with Howard Zinn, Kid’s opinions on Standardized Testing to correspond with an article on how the state was to institute standardized testing in Kindergarten.

 This meeting was very interesting, because I am doing a current events unit in my student teaching classroom, and part of my plan was to have the students make a class newspaper at the end of the semester, so seeing this brainstorming process made me aware of that face that my students needed more knowledge of what is actually going on in the world before I ask them what they think should be in the newspaper. I also realized that I am not as informed of current social injustices that are going on in the world today. Although, I did feel like I could contribute, due to the fact that I am working with my students on current events, I felt like I had a better understanding of what my students are interested in, and what they understand about newspaper articles and what they do not.

Another part of this meeting was delegating who was going to write the articles for the paper. I was able to volunteer to write the book review of the Young People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn, the recipe for the back page, and I also was able to take on the opinion section and letters to the editor, so that I could include my students as well. My students were SO excited to be included in the paper. I worked with a small group of students from my class, and we did a few lessons on what standardized testing is, and I had them brainstorm pros and cons. From there they wrote their opinions, revised them, and then typed them up. I also had the students select and article from the paper that they could respond to and ask a question about. The whole process took about two weeks to complete, but they came out really great, and they were so proud of their work.

During the second meeting we edited all the articles that were written for the paper, and planned how to put it all together. It was really interesting to see everything that we talked about in the previous meeting, actually come together. However, in the third meeting we were really able to see it all set up on the pages with the pictures and other graphics. This meeting was particularly interesting, because we were putting together the teacher’s guide for the current issue. It was fun to think of activities to correspond with the articles, especially since I had use the previous IndyKids issue and taught many lessons off of it. I also felt like I was able to tap into many of the activities and lessons we talked about in class, and connect those to the articles.

Overall, the experience of creating the newspaper was very rewarding, and fun! My students are also very excited about their contributions to the newspaper. I was able to get a class set for both the 4/5 classes, and when I passed it out they were so excited that they got their own copy, since before we were just looking at the one I got in class. The students’ thought it was so cool that their classmates were in the newspaper, that they were all begging me to be included in the next issue. The students’ that had been featured in the newspaper were running around showing every teacher in the school, singing, “we’re famous!” as they went down the hall. It was really nice to see the students get so excited about writing in a newspaper.

Lysistrata's Children

Name of event: Lysistrata's Children
Where: Theater for the New City
Time & Date: 11/23/08, 3:00-4:00

I personally loved Lysistrata's Children and thought the concept was so clever. The play is a derivative of the Greek comedy by Aristophanes. The original play is about Lysistrata's effort to enforce peace and end the Peloponnesian War. In order to do this, she gathers all the women in the town and they brainstorm how they could influence their husbands enough to stop fighting. They decide to withhold sex from their husbands when they return from each battle until they agree to stop fighting. Eventually, all the men give in and end the violence.

Lysistrata's Children was put on by students in 6th to 12th grade from the Friends Seminary. They took part in the entire process of creating this play from helping write the scenes to putting together a mini band to play accompanying music. The premise of the play is quite similar to Lysistrata, but instead of a group of women coming together to end the fighting, a group of children led by one particularly passionate child, Lindsay, bands together to influence the adults to sign an oath of Victory over Violence. They brainstormed a plethora of funny ways to influence their parents, but eventually, decided that the best option would be to withhold love and affection from their parents- to take away everything that made parenthood joyful.

I was blown away by the students' performances and their passion for the material. I thought it was a great way to have the students spread a message in a completely peaceful manner and also to get students really involved. By having the students take part in every aspect of putting on the play, it gave students who might have extreme stage fright or little passion for acting a chance to help out as well. It's a great way to show that you don't need to be in the limelight in order to be making a difference, and often it's the people doing the unseen work are making everything possible. The play gave these children a venue to speak out, and I find that children's voices can actually be really influential. I think putting on a play with a theme for social justice is definitely possible in 5th grade and up, and it's a wonderful way to tie in all the subject areas under one essential understanding.

Hope and Help For The Challenging Child

Name of the event: How to develop positive behavioral support
Organizer: Regional Center For Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Place: Hunter College.

On November 15, I attend a two session conference on children with Autism Spectrum Disorder with V Mark Durand as guest speaker. The theme was for parents and teachers to learn and understand how to deal with behavioral issues and how to create a sleeping pattern for autistic children. The topics discussed were very important for both parents and teachers because by learning how to deal with these issues will help teachers to have better communication with children with special needs. Knowing how to handle an autistic child in the classroom when an incident arises, is vital for teachers to know. Mr. Durand discussed that his clinical study proved how positive behavior could lesson the stress of both parents and teacher. He talked about reason that may cause the behavioral issues and ways to address these issues. He also stress how important to optimistic about the child and not be pessimistic. Instead of looking at the child as being disabled, be open to teaching the child the things to make him/her more independent.

As an educator, it was very informative for me because I feel more knowledgeable on the issue of positive behavior. In addition I feel that I would able to somehow help parents with their children challenging behavior.

IMAGIME

Name of event: Imagine
Oganizer: Others Are Us
Place: Fordam University.

I attended an exhibit on Thurday November 20th at Fordam University. The exhibit was a selection of artwork by students from eight countries around the world. The dates of artwork exhibited range from as long as 2002 to this present year. Each theme that was display has been color-coded repesenting the lives of young people involved. The artwork exhibits the personal expression of children's hopes and fears. the name and colors of each exhibits are as follows: Attitudes and misconcepts about other-orange, we're all students together-light blue, Best friends froever-green, Family-dark blue, Fashion rocks!-purple, I dreamed a dream-yellow, Gender-red, Other Are Us-building hope, preventing conflict-black.

By attending this exhibit, I realized that children every where have similar dreams and hopes. It also made me realize that what is happening in any country has a great impact on children all around the world. As an educator, this is one activity that would be nice to get my student involved with. It's a way that people get to hear what children have to say.

Lysistrata’s Children

Play: Lysistrata’s Children

Time: 3:00pm-4:00pm, 12/23

Place: Theater for the New City

The play Lysistrata’s Children is telling the story of a group of children persuades their parents to sign an oath of "Victory over violence." They start with a parade of showing the important things happened in American history. The little girl finds that this country has been celebrating violence and war for a long time. She thinks that she has the responsibility to do something to change this country. So she brings her friends together to brainstorm good ideas that will make this world more peaceful. These children came up with a lot of wonderful and funny ideas. However many of them agree to make the first step by influencing their parents to sign an oath of “Victory over violence.” However according to Philip Suraci, the director, he was inspired by Aristophanes that Athenian wives denied their husbands sex in order to persuade them to make peace. Therefore, in this play, as a bargaining chip, children ask parents to sign the oath for making the world a peaceful place. Finally children’s action gets more and more parents’ supports, and even the whole society hears their voice through media.

I think this play is very powerful in a way that we should believe everyone can make a change. I have always been thinking that war is a heavy topic for young children. But after seeing how children could form their own opinion on a tough topic, like war, I feel more confident of teaching them. Although this play is designed for adult to see, I definitely think it is also suitable for elementary school students because its language, idea and action are all very easy to understand. As a future teacher, we could use this play as part of a unit plan to have the children learn about the real world which is not always peaceful and pretty. I want them to be critical, but also at the same time to have the faith that they can make a change. This play is providing a good example for children to know one of the actions that they could actually use.

However, in the play, the transition from the parade of American history to the little girl’s critical thinking is not very smooth which makes me feel a little too sudden. Overall I think this play is very nice and educational.

Vincent Who?

Name Of Event: Vincent Who?
Organization: Asian/Pacific/American Institute and The Center for Multicultural Education & Progress at NYU.
Duration: 2hrs

I was very intrigued to see this movie. I think that the title was very appropriate with the purpose of making and screening the movie; which was, from my understanding, to put the word, the story of Vincent Chin, out and the effects of what could be considered as a historical event. So who is Vincent Chin?

Vincent Chin as a victim of a hate crime; he was beaten to death with a bat by two white men. His death is considered has the start of the Asian American movement for social justice as the two men were cleared of second degree murder charges, and instead got 3 years probation and a $3,000 fine.

At the beginning of the movie, they asked many Asian American if they knew about Vincent Chin. Many of them, if not all, had no clue who is was. What I found interesting about this is how the film showed how the tragedy of Vincent Chin brought the whole Asian American community together to fight for justice, but although many people from the community did not know about it. I just think it was a interesting contrast.

Another thing that I also found interesting was the idea that there is a lack of Asian-American that are involved in social justice movement. While I can't say if it is accurate or not, a point one of the speakers made in the movie that I thought made a lot of sense was the idea that this lack is due, partly, to the fact that this particular community doesn't have a Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson, like the Black community has. This really got me thinking. Social justice movement and the fight for civil rights can get very intense and hard to accomplish and to start from scratch sure is not easy. However the movie clearly showed that it did not stop people from fighting for justice, especially the younger community. I think that it really shows that the fight for social justice is a true commitment and even if it starts out small, when more and more people come together it is bound to make great changes.

What was great about Vincent Who? was how people got really passionate about social justice just by hearing and researching his story; and most of them got involved in some type of social justice organization. Which got me thinking. There are plenty of Vincent Chins all around the US. but just like Vincent Chin, not many of us know. So perhaps a great way to start social justice movement is to put all of the different Vincent Chin's out the all sorts of audience and get them as passionate about doing something. But I just might be thinking way over my head.

I'm glad I went to see this movie. Again, as I mentioned before, it really puts all these things that we talk about in class in action. But it also shows how the fight for social justice can, actually is very difficult. However, it is possible and that is a refreshing thought to have.

Imagine

Name of event: IMAGINE

Organizer: Others Are Us 

Location: Fordham University 

This event was an exhibition of student artwork from around the world. All of the artwork fell under several categories including gender, family, friendship, and peace. The students sent their pieces to students in other countries expressing their ideas and themselves.  Through this type of activity, stereotypes were not only addressed and discussed, but truly thought about in a critical manner.  Differences between cultures were shown, but more importantly similarities across cultures were seen giving students (and even adults) the opportunity to celebrate and accept the idea of diversity. 

This would be a great organization to get involved with once becoming an educator (even before!). Having the opportunity to work with children on the ideas of peaceful conflict resolution and cooperative action through art and communication with children from countries around the world is a fantastic way to spread empathy and understanding. 

I leave you with a poem written by one of the students that sums up what the event was truly all about: 

"World Peace" 

When a big animal 

Will be next to a small animal

They will not fight 

And clothes will grow on trees 

    

Vincent Who?

Vincent Who?
Asian-Pacific American Institute and The Center for Multicultural Education
November 21, 2008 6-8pm

This was a film screening of the documentary "Vincent Who?" It explored the 1982 beating and murder of Vincent Chin, a Chinese American and the impact it had on the Asian American community. Vincent Chin was killed by two caucasian men who were un-employed and blamed immigrants for taking their jobs. Because Asian Americans didn't have much political power, they were let off only having to pay a $3000 fine.

The film opens up with college students being asked if they knew who Vincent Chin was. All of them said they didn't. The Vincent Chin incident is one to remember because it did have a large impact on the Asian American community. Generally as a population, Asian Americans were more in the background. The Vincent Chin case however pulled together Asian Americans to create a pan Asian response. Despite of background, Asians rallied together and began to give themselves a voice.

I thought this documentary was interesting yet relevant. The evening was opened by parallelling this incident with the killing of an Ecuadorian man on Long Island. This shows that hate crimes run across cultural communities and are still issues which we face today. As a future teacher, it is important to make students aware that these things do still happen although we'd like to think we're a more tolerant society. It is important to teach students about other cultural communities as well as teaching them about immigration. Raising awarenessa bout other cultures would hopefully teach students not only tolerance but acceptance as well.

African Underground: Democracy in Dakar

Event: African Underground: Democracy in Dekar
Organizer: The Center For Multicultural Education and Social Justice
November 22, 2008 7-9:30

This event examined the influence of Hip Hop on the 2007 elections in Dakar, Senegal. It opened up with a Senagalese Hip Hop artist giving a brief overview of what the night would consist of and then performing a few of his raps. One of them discussed the difficulties of living in the ghetto and the other talking about one of his friends immigrating to the United States and being so excited and passionate about America yet fearing that he would be deported because he had come illegally.

We then watched a documentary exploring Hip Hop and how the Senagalese youth used it as a way to communicate with the population to raise awareness about what the country needed. In 2000, after 40 years of socialist rule, a new leader was elected symbolizing that change would come. However, conditions in the nation didn't get better and many suffered. In 2007, the new elections were held. Hip Hop artists used their music to promote change. They rapped about how life was difficult and that the only way to better the conditions was to take action and not re-elect the leader that they have had. Hip hop artists were targeted by the government however they continued to use their music as a way to be active and advocate for what they believed in. Unfortunately, however, the leader that had been in place for 7 years was re-elected. It was a shock for the entire country because it was the first time that a person was elected with more than 50% of the vote.

I found this event to be really interesting. Although the outcome was not what I expected it to be, it still sends the message that one needs to be the change that they want to see. It was interesting to see that Hip Hop was the way that the youth tried to get their message across. I feel that in the US, Hip Hop has more of a negative reputation. However, it goes to show what kinds of things that people could use to promote change. As a future teacher, maybe hip hop could be incorporated in to lessons as a form of expression. This may be an interest to some students. Aside from this, I think that the general message that the event sent out was important. The general message is that if you want change and if there is something that you want, you need to be active. It's important to teach our students to take action and stand for what they believe in.

Lysistrata's Children: A Comedy about War & Peace

Name of event: Lysistrata's Children
Organizer: Theater for the New City
Time/Date: Sunday. November 24, 3pm-4pm
Hours: 1

I saw Lysistrata's Children today with Ashely, Mariel, and April, and I'll skip the synopsis since so many people have posted one. I thought it was a powerful play to show students what is possible if a few people speak out against an injustice. After all, the play began with one girl saying that she wanted to end war, and her friends doubting her ability to do so.

From a Social Justice Education standpoint, the play also gave some great ideas for how to spread the word as a student. They discussed blogs, chatrooms, and email as viable options to reach others. I thought this part was great; by keeping it current with some realistic ways to be active in a digital society, the play seemed very possible to me. Not to mention the political satire and pop culture references, which also gave it that "these are things teenagers would actually say" feel.

Another one of my favorite parts was when the students decided the stage a protest against their parents, denying them love until they signed the petition. It was very well done and hilarious, but I wasn't sure if I liked it going with the theme of the play. The point was to talk things out and end violence, and then the students had a calculated, semi-cruel protest against their parents, many of whom would not sign for thought-out reasons (fear of government, against their beliefs). I felt that this part was promoting something negative: attack others and force them to sign your petition to get things done. Just because someone signs the petition does not mean you've changed their way of thinking. This may have been lost in the quick ending and happiness at the closing.

Vincent Who? Documentary Screening

Name of Event: Vincent Who? – Documentary Film Screening
Organizer & Location: A/P/A Institute and CMEP at NYU | 19 University Place
Hours: 6-8pm
Reflection:
This documentary examines the impact of the death of Vincent Chin on the Asian American community back in 1982. Autoworkers Ronald Ebens and stepson Michael Nitz were out of work due to the rising Japanese auto industry. Upset by this, the kill Chin with a baseball bat after mistakenly calling him “Jap.” The purpose of this documentary was to remind this new generation of Asian Americans the importance of remembering Vincent Chin. The producers and director wanted this film to serve as a catalyst for young people to talk and do something about issues such as hate crime. The film gave a brief history on the case of Vicent Chin and featured past and current activists like Helen Zia. The screening was followed by a Q&A session with the producer of the film, Curtis Chin.

To be honest, I was like many of the young people at the beginning of the documentary who had never heard of the Vincent Chin case. Oddly enough, this semester I have been exposed to many social injustices, both global and local issues. And because of this exposure, I’ve been feeling this sense of guilt for never being aware of what was happening in this world I live in. This documentary just reminded me again of how much happens everyday and how important it is to be aware and to be active. As a future teacher, I want my students to also realize the importance of standing up and fight for what they believe is just.

What’s great about this film is that although it is focused on the Asian American community, it brings up so many issues that can be discussed amongst any community. Hate crimes, unfortunately, still happen today. And it’s important to educate our students and help them to see it requires activism and our involvement. Towards the end of the evening, Curtis Chin was talking about what makes you an activist. He was saying how when he asks groups of people this question, very few raise their hands. He would then explain that even an act such as recycling or forwarding an email makes you an activist. You don’t have to do a lot to be an activist, but you do have to do SOMETHING. And that’s something I want my students to know. They’re not too young to take action.

Lysistrata's Children: A Comedy about War & Peace

Name of event: Lysistrata's Children 

Organizer & location of event: Theater for the New City

Lysistrata's Children begins with a 4th of July parade in which the history of the United States as seen through war - WWI, WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War, and the War on Terror - is presented.  The main character notices this overwhelming theme and shares her concerns with her friends. They begin to question the meaning of war and whether it is truly necessary. After coming to the conclusion that it is not, they begin to explore ways to end it. The youth eventually decide that asking their parents to sign an "Oath of Victory Over Violence," which states that peaceful action and dialogue be the response to differences rather than violence, is the solution. In denying their parents any form of excitement and love, the youth are successful.  

One of the most powerful scenes consisted of the children role-playing acts of violence/war.  The loud drums and the repetitive nature of the acts of violence expressed just how choreographed and strategic war really is. While seeing the youth act this out, I was reminded that there are children in other countries who fight and kill daily.  Sharing this kind of information and/or going to see such a production as this is such a great tool. Discussing such issues and really delving into them is key for students. As an educator, I want desperately for my students to become critical thinkers and mindful citizens of the world. Although at times it may prove difficult, denying them such knowledge as seen in this production is detrimental to their growth as such individuals; it is so important that they be exposed to, that they critically think about, and question such acts and issues. 

Brecht Forum November 18

Countering Mayoral Control of Public Schools:
Building a Movement for a New and Just Educational System

This event took place at the Brecht Forum on November 18. A panel discussed mayoral control in public schools and the panel members were either members of progressive education and/or human rights groups.

Each member of the panel had a chance to address the audience about how mayoral control affected the public education and they also spoke about their views of public education as it pertains to their organization.
A few highlights of the problems with mayoral control include the amount of testing that is required of students in the public school system. Not only are they required to undergo a lot of testing, some of these tests are "exclusionary" to certain groups of people, which creates an unfair advantage for some and systematic disadvantages for others.

I walked away from this event with multiple questions concerning the role of teachers in the society. Teachers not only give their students access to information and resources but they also inform them about issues that are affecting them and their community. The city is trying to keep the achievement levels of students up, but are students really learning anything of substance or are they merely learning how to pass tests?
It would be nice if teachers were not to be concerned with test scores but with actual learning. Testing is a restrictive form of evaluating students and doesn't do anything to highlight individual characteristics as a student and a learner.

I think as a teacher it will be hard for me to avoid the issue of testing in the school but I do hope to in some way still make quality education available for my students with adequate and in-depth analysis and reflection of the work they are doing and what they are learning.

Tests might not be the answer but it is an easy way for the city to "keep track". If it is working to the detriment of many student's education.....I think it is. But as future teachers it is important to not be the kinds of teachers that are only adamant about passing tests rather they should be focused on actual learning and growing.

ANTI-RACIST AND SOCIAL JUSTICE ACTIVISTS

Name of Event: NOVEMBER 21 POTLUCK FOR ANTI-RACIST AND SOCIAL JUSTICE ACTIVISTS
Organizer and Location: The Community Church of New York – Community House Gallery
28 E. 35th Street, NYC (between Madison and Park Aves.)
Amount of Hours at the Event: 5:30-9:00
Reflection:
On Friday night, I attended a discussion on anti-racist alliance organized for people advocating for justice. The author, Dr. Jeffrey B. Perry, who wrote a book on Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883-1918, gave us a speech on black liberation movement and the anti-white supremacy. He is now retired, but he was once a union activist who worked in post office, an advocate for equality and justice and anti-white supremacist. He gave a speech on Hubert Harrison, who wanted to find true democracy and equality of all class and race. Harrison arrived in New York in 1900. During that time, he was devastated by white supremacy’s cruel treatment toward Blacks. He heard about a lynching of four unidentifiable African American and decided that there should be a change. In order to create equality, he created a first organization called the New Negro Movement in 1916. This was a movement which focused on equality, justice, liberty, economic class, anti-white supremacy, etc. He stated that those people who were suppressed were poor, working class, Black, Caribbean, and Foreign Born. He also stated that racism is innate and unlearned. He said the European American benefitted from racism. He was the first African American to publish the articles in New York Times.
It was interesting to hear from an author who is an advocate for anti-racist and social justice. He talked to us about his feelings toward anti-white supremacist back in 1960s, because back then there were probably more Whites advocating for the white supremacist. Throughout my years of learning African American leaders, I only knew famous Black leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Marcus Garvey, Booker T. Washington, and Dubois. After hearing about Hubert Harrison, it made me to realize that there were other leaders who fought hard for the Blacks’ freedom.
As a future teacher, an anti-racist action is an issue that is still going around in countries and that racism still exists in this world. Therefore, it is a critical issue to teach about how racism impacted our history and affected the lives of people. It’s also important to mention to students about how this is the reality and that this is also a struggle to face for everyone. I would definitely incorporate anti-racism in the core curriculums.
This connects with social justice education. Everyone has the equal right and opportunity, but there are still many people who believe in inequality and injustice. However, there are people who want the change. People are always conscious about racism and to meet people who support for anti-racist was powerful to hear about their opinions on advocating the justice.

Vincent Who

Documentary Film Screening: Vincent Who? and Q&A with Producer Curtis Chin
Organized by: Asian/Pacific/American Institute and CMEP
Friday November 21, 2008
6-8pm
NYU 19 University Place
Room 102

The screening began with a few words from Richard Chavolla, the director of CMEP at NYU. He talked about the fact that hate crimes because of race or ethnicity are still something that exists today. He mentioned the killing of MarceloLucero, an Ecuadorean immigrant who died as a result of a group of high schoolers taunting him with racial slurs and ended up stabbing him. This event is eerily similar to the one that occured to Vincent Chin.

Vincent Chin was killed in 1982 at a bar while he was celebrating his upcoming wedding. He was taunted because of his race and was accused of "stealing" jobs from Americans. Vincent was beaten to death with a baseball bat and the two men responsible never served any time in jail for the crime.

The Documentary begins with a series of snapshots of students on college campuses who were asked if they knew who Vincent Chin was. The majority had no idea considering the crime had occured a few years before any of them were even born. The film quickly went into the cultural implications that Vincent's death had on the Asian American community. Solidarity was exhibited from all Asian Americans and was described as Pan-Asian Unity.
There is one particular section in which the film discussed the fact that the court had to consider whether or not Vincent was a citizen before even considering handling his case in the court of law. This brings up so many questions concerning the civil rights debate and the fact that someone from another racial and ethnic background was looked as someone who didn't deserve the same rights as another human being.
Vincent was taunted for taking jobs from Americans and so was Marcelo (the man who was recently stabbed in Long Island). As a teacher this brings to the light the importance of teaching social justice to students one may have in the classroom. Issues concerning immigration, civil rights, and racial and ethnic identity are important to the education of individuals who will have an impact on the society as they grow older. Hate crimes are almost seen as a past time considering the frequency in which they occur. It is important to understand the racism that is still very present in today's society and outline ways that students can overcome it rather than fall victim to it.
The film showed the tremendous unity that arose from the fact that Vincent died because of who he was and who he represented. The united front is not only one that shows humanity but also one that shows the pride one has in being who they are and representing where they are from and their cultures.

Event: Film Screening and Discussion: Vincent Who?

Time: 6:00-8:00pm, Friday, 11/21

Organization: A/P/A institute and The Center for The Multicultural Education &Programs

The film starts by randomly asking students on the campus of UCLA if they heard of Vincent Chin. Almost all of them have no idea about who this person is. The film explores what happened to Vincent Chin in 1982, and the impact of this incident to Asian American community. Vincent Chin Incident happened in Detroit in 1982. After attending his bachelor party with his friends at a bar, he was attacked by an Autoworkers Ronald Ebens and his stepson, Michael Nitz because they thought that Vincent was a Japanese. Ronald and Michael beat Vincent with a baseball bat, and brutally killed him. While beating Vincent, Michael and Ronald kept calling Vincent a “Jap.” The last words that Vincent said to his friend before his death were “It is not fair.” However, Wayne County Judge Charles Kaufman just sentenced Ebens and Nitz three years probation, and a $3,000 fine. This unjust sentence to Vincent’s death caused Asian Americans to realize the systematic discrimination that the society had toward them. All of them got the message from this case that an Asian American’s life is worthless to this country. The protests had been held simultaneously by Asian Americans in many cities in the country. This incident became a turning point that all Asian American for the first time stood together to fight for the justice and equality in the history of Asian American. However, just after twenty five years of Vincent’s death, people forget who Vincent was and what happened to him. Most people never learn about this, or even they learn in their textbooks it is only about three sentences. As the producer Curtis Chin introduced, his main purpose of making this documentary film is to “bring Vincent’s name back”, “to learn the past and move forward.” The second of his goal is that “we have some national leaders that we can turn to when something bad happen to our community.”

I think this film deeply affected me, I am very happy that I was able to attend this event. It makes me realize how fast people, even in many Asian American communities, are forgetting their own history. As we all know that people are making changes through learning their own history, but now we are losing the important historical events they can all learn from. I think this is the most crucial piece that I learn from this film. It not only reminds Asian Americans to stand together as a whole community to against the discrimination toward them, but also provide a foundation that all Americans can build upon. Richard Chavolla, a director from The Center for Multicultural Education and Programs, drew the parallel at the opening speech between Vincent case and Marcello Lucero’s death happened last month. Marcello Lucero, an Ecuadorian, was brutally stabbed to death by a group of white teenagers in Long Islands because he was thought to be a “Mexican.” Similarly, both Vincent and Marcello were killed during an economic downturn. Back in early 1980s, many automobile workers lost their job because Japanese automobile companies took their orders. If Vincent were not an Asian, if Macello did not look like “Mexican,” they would not be killed. But this is not the whole point. Nobody in our society has the right to take other people’s lives because of the country where they originally come from or their skin color. I think as a future teacher we could definitely use this film in teaching about the multicultural education. It is very important that we do not forget our history, but most importantly we are able to make connections between the history with current events. Let our students learn what they could do to fight for the current social injustice.

JNJT

Name of Event: Special Meeting/Workshop with Justice-Not-Just-Tests on the functioning and ideology of the UFT
Organizer & Location: Justice-Not-Just-Tests @ CUNY Grad Center, Rm 5414
Hours: 5:30-7:30
Reflection:

The purpose of this special meeting was to educate those interested about the UFT. Norm, a member of JNJT, gave a tutorial and spoke on the basic history of UFT/AFT/NEA, how power is actually distributed throughout the union, how Unity (the majority caucus within UFT) operates, the ideology that drives the current leadership, and what change would look like.

I walked into the room knowing nothing about the UFT. To be honest, I wasn’t even 100% sure what UFT stood for. This made the whole 2-hour tutorial workshop really interesting to me. I think this workshop would have been very beneficial to everyone because it definitely relates to us directly. I was made aware of all the politics that happens within the UFT. I was shocked. This tutorial helped me to realize how one-sided things are within the UFT. Mostly everything is run according to what the president of UFT, Randi Weingarten, believes and says. It’s not really supposed to be like that, but that’s just how it is. If I recall correctly, Norm or some other member was saying how AFT/UFT are one of the last few political machines still around. The UFT, after making a strong statement opposing excessive testing, then decided to endorse merit pay and rating teachers according to student test scores. And unless teachers and other workers decide to join together to fight what UFT is been doing or hasn’t been doing enough, things will never change.

Being aware of what actually goes on affects me in many ways as a teacher, especially if I want to be teacher of change. If I want change to happen, I can’t just wait around for it. We all have a responsibility to be active and push for what we believe is right. I’m sure many teacher have no idea what actually goes on. To them, the UFT is simply a way for them to guarantee their health benefits and such. They probably don’t really know how much of a influence they could have on the education system if they were more active about it. In our course, we’ve talked a lot about social justice issues. Being aware and a part of the UFT gives teachers an opportunity to make real changes happen not just in the classroom but in classrooms all over the city.

Countering Mayoral Control of Public Schools: Building a Movement for a New and Just Education System

Name of Event: Countering Mayoral Control of Public Schools: Building a Movement for a New and Just Education System.
Organizer: Bretch Forum
Amount of Hours: 2hrs

It was very interesting to be part of this event. I got a lot of information on the work of the panel that presented; it was clear to me that they were pretty passionate about reforming education. While the different speakers presented their associations and talked on different aspect of how they were working on the education reform, they all had the same purpose.

As the name of the event "Countering Mayoral Control of Public Schools: Building a Movement for a New and Just Education System" made it pretty obvious what the purpose of these association was; I felt that the speakers were authentic and truly concerned about education providing the best one to the children in NYC. However, I got the impression that they wanted to, somewhat, privatize education. I guess I was confused on how they would go about this reform movement. By countering mayoral control of public school, who exactly is to be in charge? Would it be a group of people, or a specific person, or a mix of both? I just got really confuse on that part.

Besides that I think that it was very refreshing to know that there are more then one group out there fighting for what education is about. The notion of education becoming a business can be very frightening and sad. Therefore having groups like NYCORE, Time Out from Testing, Center for Immigrants Families, and ICOPE, really showed me as a future teacher the fight for justice in education, and in any other things for that matter, is possible. It is really a matter of coming together and standing up for what we believe in.

Vincent WHO?

On Friday 11/21, I attended the 2 hour event hosted by the A/P/A Institute. At this event, Curtis Chin screened his documentary, "Vincent Who?", which was about Vincent Chin, a Chinese boy who was murdered in Detroit in the 1980's. I have to admit (and I'm embarrassed to do so) that before this, I knew very little about this incident. I had heard of his name before, and knew that some injustice had been served, but this wasn't enough for me to take personal action to do research and find out what had really happened. It turns out that Vincent was the victim of a horrible hate crime committed by a white man and his stepson. Ronald Ebens worked in the auto industry, and had been laid off due to the rising Japanese auto market. He was at a bar with his stepson Michael Nitz when they saw Vincent Chin, and assuming that he was Japanese, beat him to death with a baseball bat. The worst part of it was the incredibly lenient verdict- they served absolutely NO jail time. They were given three years probation and were fined $3,000 plus court costs.

Although the documentary was educative and is a great way to spread information on this issue, what I enjoyed the most about the film was its message. It focused on how, for the first time ever, this hate crime influenced the entire Asian American population to rally together in protest. The people interviewed in the documentary stated that most of the social justice issues that are brought up in school regarding history and racism are focused on Black/White relations, when there are so many other forms of discrimination and social injustices that we aren't taught about. As the model minority, Asians are stereotypically quiet and conservative; they keep to themselves and as a race, they try to blend in, assimilate, and appease everyone. The message of this film was for Asian Americans to take a stand, speak out, and make a difference.

After the film was over, Curtis had a chance to talk to us about the project and explain some of his motivations and thoughts. He said that as he toured the country, a question he often asked was, "Who here considers themselves a political activist?". Usually, only a few people would raise their hands. Then he would ask if there were any people who ever recycled, or donated money, and other small things that people normally wouldn't consider political activism. He enforced that all of these little things were acts of social justice and political activism; ways to make our world a better place. I think it's a really great message, and it ties in well with what we're learning about social justice education as well. Sometimes I think it can be overwhelming to learn about everything that's wrong in the world, and it's easy to start feeling like change is impossible. It's a great message to send to students that every little action counts.

Others Are Us Presents "IMAGINE", an Exhibition of Art Exchanged by Young People to Help Prevent Future Conflict

Name of event: "IMAGINE", an Exhibition of Art Exchanged by Young People to Help Prevent Future Conflict
Organizer: Others Are US
Location & Time: W60th street, Fordham University, 6:30-8:30 pm, November 20

I attended Imagine at Fordham, which was a display of children's art addressing themes of bias, world peace, gender, family, friendship, and interests. The students sent art to other students in schools around the world (Yemen, Egypt, Palestine, and the United States were some of the countries represented). Many of the students wrote poems, drew representations of themselves, and compared their ideas of the Middle East with Middle Eastern students' views of the United States.

I felt that the comparison was the best part of the whole project. By having students compare stereotypes and then actually learn what the Middle East/U.S. is like by talking to someone from there, sharing art, and sending photographs, is a great cultural experience. We talk so much about multiculturalism as teaching about another culture, rather than just celebrating the preconceived notions of it that many people hold (festive dress, interesting food, fun dance music), and by having a culture-share, students are becoming aware of other peoples. Most importantly, they are learning that the students thousands of miles away have many of the same interests and hobbies as them, a great way to build acceptance and celebration of diversity as a part of everyday life.

I would love to do something like this in my classroom if possible, because the final product, the art exhibition, was fantastic, with rich children's art that displayed a deeper message, a lesson that the children learned through this project without even realizing it. Just because we look or act differently doesn't mean we can't get along.

Vincent Who?

Last Night I went to the screening of Vincent Who?, a documentary film produced by Curtis Chin. It was shown at NYU and hosted by the Asian/Pacific/American Institute and the Center for Multicultural Education & Programs. The event consisted of a brief introduction, a screening of the film, and a Q&A session all of which took about two hours. 

This documentary was about a young man, Vincent Chin, who was killed in the early 80's as a result of a hate crime. Two White men were at a bar disgruntled by their poor working situation and scapegoating the influx of Japanese immigrants for their troubles. As a result, they decided to brutally beat Vincent Chin, a Chinese American, with a bat to soothe their anxieties. These two men, after a couple of trials, found themselves doing just dandy with all charges dropped and not spending A SINGLE DAY IN JAIL! Vincent Chin's last words are believed to be "It's not fair." and he could not have been more right.

This incident was one of the first among the Asian American community to incite such a riot. In fact it was the first time Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, Korean Americans, & Indian Americans among others banded together under the title ASIANS AMERICANS. No longer was the Asian population sitting back and trying to assimilate. They were enraged and took to the streets showing America that they too had a voice and were going to use it!

Another theme of the film was the idea that race relations in the US are a black/white issue. From seeing this film I now know that it is so much deeper than that. Especially in the light of Prop 8, I can se how certain groups have a much louder voice and get much more attention from the public. One person in the film acknowledged that communities such as the Black community, the Gay and Lesbian Community and to a growing extent the Latino COmmunity have been much more vocal at the injustices seen in their communities. Too often, it is argued, does the Asian population sit back and take it trying to appease the America that is rejecting them. 

I found this point to be so eye opening. It reminded me of the Model Minority article we read. The Asians in our class can often become looked over because they sit quietly and do their work and too often does the teacher assume that they are doing ok. This is something we need to be ever aware of as an educator. Our students need to learn they have a voice and they can use it in our class. However, I find this difficult when their home culture may teach them otherwise. It is a paradox that teachers must acknowledge. We can not push our Asian American students to be vocal if their family culture tells them otherwise, but we need to find other ways to access their emotions and know what's going on with them. 

response to angelica's experience at the play on gentrification

I found your response to this play to be very interesting. The experience that you shared really made me think a lot about gentrification in a new light. So often I feel like I am surrounded by people who see the gentrification process as a positive thing, when in reality it has a downside. Recently people have been talking a lot about how Harlem has become much safer of the years and "cleaned up." While I do believe that it is important to create a safe community it should also be important to keep the culture and identity.
I'm glad that this play took the opportunity to expose the other side of gentrification. Hopefully as teachers we can advocate for our students community along with them if they face this situation.

Countering Mayoral Control of Public Schools: Building a Movement for a New and Just Educational System

Event Sponsor: The Brecht Forum- The Right to the City Forum Series

Reflection: With the rapid changes in our city/state/country's economy and the push for privatization of education in New York City and state by the Bloomberg-Kline team, a coalition has formed to fight for a student-centered education system, countering the business model that the system has taken on. On Tuesday night, I had the wonderful opportunity to hear members of this coalition speak to this issue. The coalition included: Martha Foote from Time Out from Testing, Perla Placencia from the Center for Immigrant Families, Edwin Mayorgra from NYCORE, and Sam Anderson, from the Independent Commission on Public Education and Black New Yorkers for Educational Excellence.
Each speaker provided details of his/her organization, and then discussed the goals of the coalition from the perspective of his/her organization. Foote- the first speaker- talked about high-stakes and excessive testing. She explained that state testing has had a strong effect on students of color, recent immigrants, and students of low socioeconomic status. Because these tests, particularly the Regents, determine students’ success and progress outside of the K-12 public education system, and have a great impact on college and job opportunities in the future, it is crucial that we act on this blatant bias. Not only are these at-risk populations hurting as a result of excessive testing, so too is the rest of the K-12 population. As teachers are becoming more pressured to “teach to the test,” student engagement, contribution, and the student-teaching relationship are being prevented. According to Foote, it should be our goal to “return to a more complex, in-depth, humanizing look at testing.” We should look at student work—tests, papers, and reports—and ask, ‘what is work? What is assessment?’ to solidify what our expectations are of both students and the education system. It is also critical that we professionalize teachers again, as education is not a business model, but rather a place where teachers use creativity, sensitivity, and philosophical and curricular knowledge to differentiate for, and engage students.
Perla Placencia, along with one of her colleagues from the Center for Immigrant Families, was the second speaker. They spoke extensively about the constant denial of public education with which many immigrant families are faced. In response to this growing problem, the Center for Immigrant Families was created in order to unite these families to become “agents of change.” Bringing these families together means telling migration stories and recognizing common themes, as well as bringing to light the “systematic denial of access of their community to public education” and working to document these cases for a community report. It is every child’s right to high-quality public education, which draws from its community to incorporate outside learning experiences into its curriculum.
Our professor, Edwin Mayorga, was the third speaker, representing NYCORE. He discussed the initiatives of NYCORE, including the demilitarization in public schools, NYQueer, and Justice, not Just Tests. He stressed the importance of the teacher’s role as a community worker, explaining, “School does not end when the bell rings.” He encouraged teacher activism, making note that some people become comfortable with what they hear in regards to the changing education system. When Bloom Kline decide to add more testing, people are reluctant to think, “Oh that makes sense, that’s how schools should be,” rather than challenge the system. It should be our goal as educators to work for social change in equality in education, creating an anti-oppressing model. It is critical that education plays a transformative role in the lives of students.
The final speaker was Sam Anderson, from the Independent Commission on Public Education and Black New Yorkers for Educational Excellence. He spoke of the disappearance of teachers of color in the educational system, explaining that in a system with 85% students of color, 80% of the staff is white. He also talked about the goal of the Independent Commission on Public Education in terms of rethinking the entire educational system and catering the system toward the students in the city. As educators, we should look at the history of early struggles in education, and teach to these struggles to demonstrate that education is a human right. We should elicit student input and feedback on their education system, looking at both problems and solutions.
This dialogue was inspirational and educational. As a future educator, I have a clearer picture of what my role is as a change-maker and community worker, and what opportunities I have to voice my concerns and engage in transforming schools to meet the needs of all students. I have a more concrete understanding of the politics in our education systems, and what effect they have on me as a future educator. Rather than sit back and allow unjust changes to be made to our educational system, it is my goal to enlist community effort and action to challenge mayoral control. As I have seen through media (Fair Trade Chocolate Unit and “Fear and Learning at Hoover Elementary”) and read in articles (‘Write the Truth’) in this class, my voice, though small, is an important one. A single individual can make an impact, building alliances, questioning injustices, and catalyzing transformations.

Countering Mayoral Control of Public Schools: Building a Movement for a New and Just Educational System

This event, held on November 18th at the Brecht Forum, was extremely informative and eye opening. Mayoral control was something that I was acutely aware of but didn't fully understand the impact it has on our public schools. 

The event was structured as follows: representatives from five different organizations spoke about their organization and how Mayoral Control has impacted their work, then the floor was open to questions from the audience.  

The five organizations that contributed were the Independent Commission on Public Education and Black New Yorkers for Educational Excellence represented by Sam Anderson, Time Out From Testing represented by Martha Foote, New York Collective of Radical Educators represented by Edwin Mayorga (WOOOO!), and the Center for Immigrant Families represented by Perla Placencia (and some other lady who's name was unfortunately not on the program and whose I didn't catch during the event). 

Basically each of these organizations find problems, BIG problems, with Mayoral control. Martha Foote noted how the amount of testing being pushed upon the classroom from the governement is ridiculous and inhibiting true learning from occurring. Perla Placencia and her colleague were outraged by the "mechanisms of exclusion" that occur under this current educational system preventing certain populations from the full benefits and rights of public education. Edwin Mayora put forth the injustices of the current system posing the questions "What is the City? What is the purpose of school? & Who are we accountable to?". Sam Anderson observed how Black educators are disappearing from the classroom and that, through many systems, the rich history and knowledge of the Black community is being shunned from the classroom while the number of Black students is increasing. 

All of these presentations took a look at Mayoral Control through many different lenses. But any way you cut it, one thing was perfectly clear: MAYORAL CONTROL MUST END!

As a future teacher, I couldn't help but start to envision what a classroom would look like when not under Mayoral Control. One of Edwin's questions resounded in me. Who are we accountable to? Clearly the students in our room, their parents and the larger community. Hopefully we all have come to that realization by this point in our education. However, does this mean that there will be no accountability on a federal level? Ideally, yes it would mean that. We would teach to our students and their particular needs, parents would be involved and pleased with the work we are doing and we would set forth our students to better their community. 

But in a world where corruption seems rampant, is this realistic? I couldn't help but think of the current economic crisis. In this case, the government let the capitalists loose in a free market. No government oversight, no accountability. And look where we are. The privileged few got themselves ahead and made millions at the expense of the American public and now we're paying for it. What if the same thing happened in education? What if the government held us up to no standard, that we as teachers should know our students and do what's best for them and that is that. Well, we may end up in the same crisis we find ourselves in economically. 

This is all speculation and questions from someone who clearly doesn't have as much experience in the field, but it seems to me that we do need to be held to some sort of standard across the nation ensuring that ALL populations are receiving the education they deserve. While standardized tests are clearly not the answer, I think we need to devise a system that is much more inclusive and thought provoking than administering standardized tests. 

Gentrification in Williamsburg

Event: Taking Over
Venue: The Public Theater
Hours: 1.5 hours

Tonight I had the opportunity to experience the incredible talent of Danny Hoch, the writer and solo performer, in Taking Over. In this performance, Mr. Hoch takes on the persona of over a half dozen groups of people who are affected by this gentrification movement in New York City.

The show kicks off at the Williamsburg, Brooklyn Community Day where he is speaking to the crowd and talking about a variety of cultures and countries. He mentions the projects (which I found interesting since I went to a talk about public housing last week) and then he poses the question: “Who can stay in the neighborhood?” which he follows up with “Did it ever occur to you to ask who lives here?” That’s what got me thinking. There are so many movements to build luxury lofts (an issue discussed as another character) and improve the looks of the city, make accommodations for the wealthy, but what happens to those who cannot afford those lavish things, or better yet—what happens to those who get kicked out because their homes aren’t respected enough?

As he takes on one character, he is in the street talking to someone shooting an independent film. He is surprised that someone is actually shooting something other than people in this neighborhood because that is all that used to happen. He points to a “window” and says his mother is inside; she has been afraid to go outside since the 1980s. When another character is working out and talking to his personal assistant they acknowledge the idea that people do not feel safe when they hear someone playing Caribbean drums outside…why not?! Why do people still have these stereotypical negative feelings towards others? He goes on to say that in 20 years, there will only be rich people living in this neighborhood—the ghettos will have been moved out of the city and into the suburbs.

I was again struck when he played the part of a Gallatin graduate who was selling things on the street and speaking to a passerby. The Gallatin graduate was dating a Dominican man and when she spent time with him and in his neighborhood, she told the passerby that she felt like she was in another country even though she was still within the city. She said that, as a white woman, it is weird feeling like a minority because, “Hi, we’re in America!” and she used her relationship with a Dominican as her connection to another culture and another people and it made me wonder how valid that really is. Finally, in the second to last scene, Mr. Hoch played himself and spoke of the sense of entitlement people feel and express towards others—entitlement.

While Mr. Hoch absolutely brought up an assortment of issues and groups of people, and used derogatory language and stereotypical terms to describe people, he was able to pull it off and insert humor when possible (he even made some jokes about NYU). The audience was entertained and able to walk away appreciating the fact that someone is actually willing to speak up and speak out!

In connecting this to myself as a teacher, I think it is important to look at who my students are and who my students may be in the future. Where are they coming from? What is their social and cultural context? I again was able to recognize the importance in my being an advocate for my students and a source of support for them. As someone who wants to teach in areas where students may be experiencing the negativity of gentrification, it made me more aware of multiple perspectives and the sensitivity I must have, the awareness I must exhibit, and how much I have to continually educate myself and become an integrated and involved community member.

"Public Housing and Public Schools"- Response to Angelica

I wish I could have attended this breakfast because I am currently student teaching at P.S. 34 and many of the students in my class, as well as the school, live in the housing projects that are right near the school. Looking at what was hypothesized, most of it is true of P.S. 34. Almost all of the students are minorities, mainly Hispanic or Black, and qualify for free or reduced lunch yet there is a very good student to teacher ratio. In my class there are only 14 students! However, in terms of the teachers being less educated and experienced, I have found this to be not true in most cases. Many of the teachers in the school are graduates from NYU and are great teachers from my experience. There are many wonderful things going on at P.S. 34, such as Dan and Neil’s whole fair trade chocolate unit last year. I definitely would like to see some sort of community center and/or extra curricular activities created because that is one area that I believe the school is seriously lacking in. I’m not sure about the achievement gap but I would be curious to find out about that. I think it is a serious problem and is one that we need to address in the nation as a whole. I am sure there are many other schools with children that come from public housing that aren’t doing so well and in that case I think building charter schools there might be a good idea, however, I think we need to look more closely at our public schools and see exactly what the problems are and how we can fix them because these students more than any others need a good education.

Mayoral Control: Whose School Is It?

Name: Whose School Is It? (2 hours)
Organizer: WESPA: NYU's Wagner Education Policy Studies Association & NYU's Institute for Education and Social Policy
Location: Puck Building, 295 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10012
Summary: Going into this I wasn't sure what to expect. There was a panel of 4 people, Lesley Esters Redwine, Richard Kessler, Leonie Haimson, and Fatima Shama. Lesley was an advocate for charter schools. Everything she said spoke about how successful charter schools have been after the changes made 6 years ago. She stated how because of the mayoral control, more student-centered decisions are being made. And because of this, more charter schools are being opened, students are learning, and schools are getting results. When they would like future mayors to addresses a specific issue she didn’t want anything to change. She suggested that if any changes were going to be made, that charter schools should be kept in mind and the effect these changes would have on charter schools. She also stated how more charter schools should be supported and more failing schools should be closed.

Richard was an advocate from the Center for Arts education. He emphasized the importance of arts in education and how arts were becoming a more integral part of education because of the mayoral control. He, like Lesley, thought highly of all the changes made to the school system since the education reform in 2002. His major emphasis was on funding, creating transparencies, and an effective system of checks and balances. He believed that the mayor’s best interest was in the schools because of all the funds he put in the schools; and his main point in this was that would the large amounts of money be put in the schools if it not had been in mayoral control? When he was asked about changes he would like to address he stated how all students deserve a well rounded education. He also believe that the input of educators and parents should be heard, because many times, these people are unsure of where or whom to turn to.

Fatima was very supportive of the changes made to the education system in 2002. One of th3e major topics discussed was class size, and in her opinion, class size doesn’t matter. She believes that things probably can be done better, but they are working toward that now. She doesn’t believe that students should be deprived of services, and made it a priority to state that 42% of students in the education system were either immigrants or children of immigrants. One thing that she stated, that I found very interesting, was that before 2002 a lot of the parental programs that are now in place didn’t exist. When asked what she wanted addressed, she stated that great work has taken place within the last 6 years. All these changes were made possible through legislation that makes schools better and makes good leadership decisions. She mentioned how the power of the legislation is questions, it will be taken away; and if we change anything, everything will be challenged.

Finally, my favorite of the 4 panelist was Leonie, who was speaking from a parent’s perspective. Unlike the other 3 panelist, she was the only one that resented the changes done to the schools system; and I’m not sure as to why, but her evidence and knowledge of statistics captured me the most. She stated how the school system is run like a business. In 2006, $90 million was put into schools to help reduce class size, and only 1.3% of this money was actually used towards this purpose and the rest of the funds were misused. The following spring 2007 more money was put into the same purpose, to reduce class sizes, and again a large amount of these funds were misused. She stated how there is no parental input in the school system and there is no way for them to complain. She commented on how the surveys created for parents, students and staff was a good idea, but all the questions the parents wanted in the survey were censored. She commented on charter schools and how their hearings are horrible. Also, on how charter schools are controversial because they are placed in schools that are already overcrowded, taking away classrooms from the schools and causing more oversized classrooms. She mentioned how all the systems that have been put in place have done nothing for the education gap in our society. And the most important thing I believe Leonie said was the there is a decrease in admission or children of color and minorities into gifted and talented schools and charter schools, so they are attending schools with oversized classrooms that lack one-on-one attention. When asked the issues she wanted addressed she said that they should listen to educators, which are not happy. The legislation should be subject to state and city law, because they currently are not. There should be an inspector general separate the mayor as a way of people to get their voice heard.

I found this session really interesting. I seemed to learn the most and be most interested in what Leonie had to say. Not saying that the rest of the panelist didn’t shed some knowledge on me. I learned a lot about charter schools, but to me they seems to idealistic. Fatima just seemed extremely rude and uptight about the whole conversation. She seemed easily aggravated by what people had to say. And Robert, he was just there. (LoL) As a future teacher, I felt the biggest connection to what Leonie had to say because the schools she was talking about are the schools I want to teach in. Hearing the acceptance ratio of minority students is decreasing to these specialized schools, I could help but to this about this course and wonder why? Is because of the parents or just the way society is? Are all the best options and resources given to non-minorities because of the way society is, or are they smarter or performing better on entrance exams? This to me was very impacting because why should learning only take place in charter schools? Why can’t the minorities in our zone schools receive the same luxuries and resources as students in charter schools?

As a future educator, I know this is a challenge that I have to take. But at the end of that hard journey, it’ll all pay off, because I will be the teacher they remember and inspires them to better themselves. They will look back on their education and remember that someone believed in them and what they were capable of doing. And who knows, maybe that memory will inspire them to go to college, even be educators, or become someone that inspires change and success.

The Breakfast of Champions

Ed Policy Breakfast Series

NYU Steinhardt, Lipton Hall

So, there was a really interesting connection between this event and the last event I attended, but this one was by far better.  First of all, the breakfast was much fancier!  I also recognized a few faces, such as deans and professors and other well-know people in the field, such as the head of the Children's Aid Society (I worked there).  

The first event I attended was run by educational/public policy researchers, and spoke about the statistics of public housing student performance.  This breakfast gave some context and provided opportunities, from both a phycological and pedagogical standpoint, to understand these statistics.

The first speaker was a new professor in the applied phycology department.  He was great.  He presented his research that focused on the stressed levels that many students already come to school with (like NYCHA students!!) as compared to the optimal level of stimulation of learning.  We learned that this is a balance, and we must make our classrooms as calm but intellectually stimulating as possible, all done with sensitivity to our population.

While both breakfasts called for changes of policy that relate to our schools, there were clear, distinctly different messages.  While the last called for the need to be open-minded to privatization, this one called for learning how to be more effective for less money, but still keeping it in the public sphere.

I think the main divide here come from really thinking about who trusts teachers.  The policy makers, the policy ponderers...they seem to want to teacher-proof, and in doing so, they wash their hands from any responsibility.  Yet the policy do-ers, the teachers, they seem to understand the need and are longing to make changes.  They are just struggling to find out how, are begging to be given opportunities.  Instead of passing on the passion and responsibilities of educators on to business people, we should be providing educators with what they need to make the changes themselves.

Also, just wanna put this out there.  I love President-Elect Obama and I could not be happier.  However, I am very tired of people thinking everything will be ok now and putting all the responsibility on him to solve all our problems, just by his presence.  This is not true.  If I ever got one clear message from Obama it is that we ALL need to work together, do all that we can, to help each other and make changes, not depend on him.   He can support, provide the right climate, but we need to be the real change makers.  

NYCHA kids and public schools

Public Housing and Public Schools: How do Students Living in NYC  Public Housing Fare in School?

NYU's Furman Center and IESP, Furman Hall

1.5 Hours

At this event, I was first impressed that we got breakfast, there was a coat check, and we all got name tags.  I felt very professional and I was glad I dressed up.  It felt very empowering to be sitting in a room with professionals, and I was nice to see that other professionals take my profession seriously, even if it is not their own.

I think Angelica took care of the the facts that we learned, and it really did relate to a lot of topics we have discussed in class. Essentially, students living in NYCHA public housing are not doing as well as their peers.  They are less likely to go on to college.

But I also learned that public housing was not always meant to be what it has become today.  Many people, such as Joel Klein, grew up in NYCHA.  It was just supposed to be a way for people to afford housing in New York.  But I am speculating that in the 80s, when the disparity between the rich and poor in New York really began to grow again with Wall Street executives and elites and such, public housing began to really fall in to its  current stigma.  From this comes issues such as opportunity, privilege, racism, etc that we have talked about in class.

However, what really bugged me about this event was that it was not run by educators.  Educational researchers, perhaps, but no one who was really in the classrooms, teaching these children.  The only person who had any insight was an after-school program organizer.  One attendee asked if any of the data collected came from actual students, and she was mostly dismissed.

The overarching theme I got from this event was that privatization was the answer.  More money needed to come in from outside sources because it was not coming from the inside.  I really resist the idea of the privatization of public institutions, and from this event, I am not swayed in this direction, rather, I am now beginning to understand the need to reform where are students come from as well as our own classrooms, and that is their right, not a business venture. 

Policy Breakfast: Closing the Achievement Gap

Event: Education Policy Breakfast (Part 1 of 3): Closing the Achievement Gap

Date: Nov. 14, 2008

Time: 2 hours

This post is late.. I know. But anyway, this event was a breakfast featuring two interesting speakers: Michael Rebell (TC) and Clancy Blair (NYU). Both speakers focused on different aspects of the ever-present question: What challenges do students bring with them into the classroom and what needs to be done to ensure that all students are ready for school when they first enter the classroom? 

Clancy Blair is a professor in the applied psychology department at NYU - to me, he was the most interesting and thought-provoking. He brought in his research focusing on the stress levels that students come to school with and how this affects them in many different ways. As teachers, we must remember that our students are often entering the classroom with a whole set of experiences and expectations that we know nothing about. It would be extremely harmful to our students if we expected all of them to come to school as "blank slates". We should know very well by now from all of our student teaching placements, NYU classes, and just life in general that people - kids and adults - have baggage. It is very important that this is not seen as a negative thing that we as teachers have to "deal with", because it is actually quite neat! All students enter our classrooms with tons of unique experiences - some good, some bad - that influence who they are as individuals! We get to be exposed to these different experiences, see how children cope with and digest them, and then figure out how to help that child improve as an individual versus another child who has a whole different set of experiences. 

This breakfast really made me think about this issue: the fact that students enter the classroom with different stress levels due in part to their different experiences. By thinking about it, I realized how exciting and challenging this really is!