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Blog Entry Compilation of Reading Reflections
EDCI 6605 Critical Studies in Multicultural Education, Spring 2010
Elizabeth Conn
Book 1: Nickel and Dimed On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara
Ehrenreich
Ehrenreich, Barbara. (2001)). Nickel and dimed. New York: Henry Holt and
Company, LLC.
Question 1: In the wake of the recent welfare reform measures, millions of
women entering the workforce can expect to face struggles like the ones
Ehrenreich confronted in Nickel and Dimed. Have you ever been homeless,
unemployed, without health insurance, or held down two jobs? What is the
lowest -paying job you ever held and what kind of help--if any--did you need
to improve your situation?
Wow! This book has resurrected so many childhood memories. I have
not personally gone through the struggles listed in the question, but I have
been a child of a single mom trying to feed three children on a Kmart salary.
I think the best way to connect my life to this book is to give a brief
biography of my mother.
My mother was 17 when she got pregnant with my sister. She was just a
few months away from graduating from high school. Instead of telling her
parents she was pregnant she dropped out of school and ran away. My mom
lived with different people and shelters. A year after my sister was born my
mom met my dad at church. They married when she was only 18 years old. My
mom and dad were very poor. Together they had two more children, my
other sister and me. They were both 21 years old with three daughters to
feed. Money problems made them fight all the time, so they called it quits
and got a divorce when I was two years old. My father was so poor that he
only had to pay $50.00 a month to my mom for child support. My dad tried
his best, but the main burden was on my mom.
My mom got a job at Kmart and she worked all of the time. I remember
crying every time she went to work, begging her to stay. Often times we did
not have a sitter and children services would be pounding at our door and my
sisters and I would have various hiding places in our very tiny apartment. My
favorite hiding place was this little nook behind the bed. We always had to
move from apartment to apartment, probably because of rent being due.
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I also remember my mom being so skinny. This is where I really
connected with the story when on p.96 Ehrenreich described Holly as being
only 92 lbs. and pale and undernourished on p. 98. As I was reading these
lines I saw a picture of my own mother. Tears came to my eyes, because I
saw my mother clearly for the first time in my life. I always thought she had
an anorexia disorder, because when I was younger she would always skip
meals. Her bones were bulging out of her skin and she was so terribly pale.
My sisters and I often ate mac and cheese with 1/2 cup of milk to drink. I
still only poor half a glass just out of habit, but this what my mom did in
order to meet our needs. She would limit us to 1/2 cup of milk, but she
herself would do without. I have so much more understanding and gratitude
towards her now. I used to call her a fighting Chihuahua. She was always so
weak looking, but I remember her fighting so clearly when I broke my arm.
She was yelling at the top of her lungs in the hospital demanding I get taken
care of even though we did not have health insurance. She must have made
enough noise, because I ended up having a very involved elbow surgery at
Cincinnati Children's Hospital. I realize now that she had to fight for
everything.
My childhood Christmases were spent at the Salvation Army where we
would get one present, food and a nice winter coat. One time I got a horse
head on a stick and I thought it was the most wonderful present. Clothes
were another issue. Often I would grow out of my clothes in height (not
weight) so my jeans would become capris and then eventually my mom would
turn them into shorts. I have so many school memories of other children
laughing at my clothes or rather my lack of clothes.
Eventually, my mom married a not-so-nice middle class man when I was
8 who promised she would not have to work and we would all live comfortably.
Well, that was a big fat lie, but she did start working as a payroll accountant.
My mother has successfully graduated 2 out of 3 of her children from both
high school and college. She herself has worked the same accounting job for
almost 20 years, and recently returned to college to earn her bachelor's
degree in ministry. She is a preacher now and promises me that the only
thing that got her through was her faith in God. I believe her, because I
can't imagine how anyone could fight all of those battles alone. My mom's
blood, sweat, backaches, and devotion to her children has given me a very
good life. I am so thankful for my mother and now for reading this book,
because I have a greater appreciation for what my mom had to do in order
to keep all of us breathing.
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I wanted to note a very interesting thing according to James P. Brynes,
the author of Cognitive Development and Learning in Instructional Contexts,
I should not have been a good reader, because my parents were not well
educated and we were poor. I guess all I can say is that thankfully statistics
can sometimes be wrong. :)
Question 2: Why do you think low-wage workers are reluctant to form labor
organizations as Ehrenreich discovered at Wal-Mart? How do you think
employees should lobby to improve working conditions?
I think low-wage workers are reluctant to form labor organizations for
several reasons (please remember these are just some theories):
Afraid of losing job-- Barbara Ehrenreich mentions throughout Nickel and
Dimed that workers were afraid to miss work for even a severe injury,
because it would mean they would not be able to buy groceries. Ehrenreich
also noted how the employees of Wal-mart who sued for overtime had
gotten fired for minor offenses such as being caught cussing. Employees
knew if they made any noise they would lose their jobs, which meant their
families would go hungry. Ultimately, they felt like they had no choice, but to
suffer through mistreatment and pain.
Lack of power--I got the impression that maybe the people she wrote
about felt powerless. If no one felt like they could make a difference even in
large numbers, then they did not have an advocate. If Ehreneich stayed an
provided awareness and historic examples, I bet some people would have
marched with her. I still think so many workers would have not tried due to
fear and the feeling of being powerless.
Union wages--In another part of the book, Ehreneich mentioned how Walmart denounced unions. Also, people were afraid of having to pay the union
wages. Again, low-wage workers are left feeling powerless and stuck.
I believe it is possible low-wage workers to fight back. They could
organize, because their numbers definitely outnumber those who pay them.
Also, I think it is going to take some already powerful people opening their
eyes to the pain and suffering they are causing the low-wage workers and
their families, and then doing something about it. If low-wage workers
want to march I will be right there with them in support. :)
Question 3: After reading Nickel and Dimed, do you think that having a job - any job -- is better than no job at all? Did this book make you feel angry?
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Better informed? Relieved that someone has finally described your
experience? Galvanized to do something?
Prior to reading this book, I did think having a job any job was more
respectful than not. I have always looked at Welfare negatively, because I
was surrounded by people who lived on it. Throughout my childhood I heard
family members arguing that people who were on Welfare were just lazy and
lacked initiative. The negative views that I overheard about Welfare made
me think that people could do better with themselves if they would just try
to work. My sister has 3 children (had 4, but her son died of SIDS when he
was 3 months old), and I have always been kind of embarrassed that she was
on Welfare. I would always try to talk her into getting a job or going back to
school. Honestly, I thought she was just being lazy. After reading this book
and the blogs of our classmates, I see that she was probably making the
better choice. Should she be gone from her children all day scrubbing floors
and/or toilets just to break down her body and still hardly be able to feed
her children? By no means do I think she should be rewarded for not
working, but I am just saying can I blame her?
This book has made me feel angry towards myself for being so
ungrateful for all of the things my mother did for me and for being so
materialistic. My husband and I are trying to live on my teaching salary alone
and we have had to cut a lot of stuff out. Being stingy with our money has
made us both crabby, because we can't just buy what we want. Nickel and
Dimed stopped me in my tracks and made me think about a lot of things. The
major thing is that I get to teach, which I love, and still make enough money
to keep food in our babies' bellies. Yes, I am angry at myself for
misunderstanding poverty even after I lived through poverty as a child. I am
also angry at our government. How can their surveys be so blind sided that
they do not see what is going on? People who work are starving without any
sick days, insurance, and etc…This is just wrong.
I feel so much more informed about the poverty issue and I have
so much more empathy for people like my sister. I wish I could take back
some of the things I have thought about her. This reading has really led me
to investigate more about my students. I recently learned that one of my
students does not have a bedroom and he has to sleep on the floor. Another
student told me that he hears people arguing outside his window at night in
the apartment building where he lives. He said he is so afraid that they
might get him that he sets up a fort around his bed each night (He is pretty
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imaginative, so I don't know if this is true or not). During my class meeting
we talked about when I was a child and being poor. My reading class has only
17 children who mostly come from divorced homes and low income families.
They were bursting with info and so many of them had their own sad stories
to tell.
What am I going to do about it? Well, I started by sharing this book
with a co-worker. I'm not sure what I am going to do, but I really want to do
something. Maybe just being aware of the poverty issues can help me reach
my little first graders and make in turn make me a better teacher.
Book 2: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman
Fadiman, Anne. (1997). The spirit catches you and you fall down. Farrar,
Canada: Douglas and McIntrye Ltd.
Question 1: Were you surprised at the quality of care and the love and
affection given to Lia by her foster parents? How did Lia's foster parents
feel about Lia's biological parents? Was foster care ultimately to Lia' s
benefit or detriment?
First of all I was appalled that Lia was removed from her parents
without trying a different method, such as an HMO. I can see that Dr. Ernst
did not understand her parent, nor did he try. He was just focused on Lia's
illness. Whatever the cause Lia ended up with Dee and Tom Korda. Dee had
to be a very dedicated mother and foster mother. I cannot believe that she
had an 9 month-old infant of her own and was pregnant when Lia came to live
with them. I was shocked that she nursed Lia along side her own child. I
nursed my two children and it was a very special thing, but I can't imagine
nursing a child who was not mine. If I were a foster mother I would try very
hard to make the child happy, but I could not have done that. Nursing is also
exhausting, so I cannot wrap my mind around that she had several children
of her own, nursing two children, and being pregnant, while taking care of
the families needs and Lia's regimented medicine schedule.
I wish I could know what Dee was thinking we she enrolled to be a foster
parent. Dee really seemed to be there for the children she fostered. She
kept a book of photos for each child. From the reading, I pictured Dee as a
strong woman who wanted Lia to be happy and healthy. She tried to do
things the way Foua did including carrying Lia on her back. I think Dee's
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willingness to try to do things like Foua created a bond between the two
mothers. I'm glad that the Lee's actually had Dee on their side. I think that
the foster care was unnecessary. Ultimately, I feel that Dee did such a good
job keeping the medicine in Lia like she was supposed to that Lia's body
probably went through withdraw when Nao and Foua did not administer the
drugs during the week long stay. I can only speculate that if Lia had never
had the medicine like she was supposed to then she would not have
experienced this withdraw, which may have caused the major seizures. I
think the best option would have been a home health care nurse stay with
the family as well as a Hmong translator. The nurse could have taught the
family how to administer the meds, and then be to make sure they did it
correctly. The inabilities to cross the cultural beliefs really lead to Lia's
detriment. This story is exhausting and excruciating to read. I keep asking
myself "what would I have done?" It is a very trying topic. I can't wait to
finish the book.
Question 2: Dr. Roger Fife is liked by the Hmong because, in their words, he
"doesn't cut" (p. 76). He is not highly regarded by some of the other
doctors, however. One resident went so far as to say, "He's a little thick."
What do you think of Dr. Fife? What are his strengths and weaknesses? The
author also speaks of other doctors who were able to communicate with the
Hmong. How were they able to do so? What might be learned from this?
I think Dr. Fife was right on the ball. The other doctors did not like
him, because his practices were different than their own. Dr. Fife's
strengths were that he did not judge and he tried to do what the patient
would prefer. Dr. Fife did not question why the Hmong requested the
placenta, he felt that it was theirs and they can do what they want with it.
I'm paraphrasing but he said something like “its their body they can do what
they want with it..." I think Dr. Fife's ability to let the patient have some
control really helped the Hmong people like him. Hmong are definitely a
people who want to be in control of their lives. I'm sure Dr. Fife did have
some weaknesses like all humans do, but I did not get anything from the
reading that made me think he was not a good doctor, besides the other
doctors call him "thick".
Fidaman mentions some other people who were able to communicate
with the Hmong. I think one charatistic trait that these people had in
common was their willingless to try reach the Hmong people by learning parts
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of the Hmong beliefs and culture. Just like the Dwight Conquergood,
ethnographer for Ban Vinai, put on a parade in order to get dogs vaccinated.
He linked what needed to be done with something the Hmong people already
did in their culture.
I think we all can learn to take a closer look at the world around us.
We all need to realize that we may share the world, but it is a huge place
and so many different things can and do happen that affects how people
develop. As educators we need to find out not only where are children are
coming from, but also about their parents. We need to know our students
evening routines, so we can reach them. We need to connect with their
beliefs, so that we can do what Conquergood did and put on a parade or
whatever to help our students! I also believe we need to be less judgmental
on all people, because we don't know what they have gone through.
Question 3: How did the EMT's and the doctors respond to what Neil
referred to as Lia 's "big one"? Do you think they performed as well as they
could have under the circumstances?
First of all I would like to account for the 20 minutes lost, because
the Lee's decided to have an ambulance come get Lia instead of taking her
the three blocks themselves. I understand their reasoning that the hospital
was quicker to respond when a patient came in an ambulance. The EMT who
was trying to help Lia was "in over his head" and by trying to help her
himself lost 14 minutes of critical time. I can't help thinking some of what
happened could have been prevented if they would have just ran like crazy
and got her to the hospital. I think the EMT should have loaded Lia up and
got her to the hospital as fast as possible. My personal opinion of the
doctors is both positive and negative. I think they did what they could to
help Lia. I am shocked that the doctors did not insist on a temperature
reading after the seizures subsided. In the book Anne Fadiman tells how
Lia's seizures were almost always fever induced, so why didn't the doctors
make sure she did not have a fever? I am aware of how wild that emergency
room had to have been and how the procedure of taking a patient's
temperature could be overlooked, but her vitals should have been checked
after the seizures stopped. I have also been questioning why they did not
try to find out what caused the seizures this time? Was Dr. Neil
preoccupied with his trip or had he just become so disassociated that he did
not care? The Lee's blame the doctors in Fresno for her "losing her soul",
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but I think the doctors at Freson were very thorough with finding the cause
of her ailments. I wonder if Lia's life would have been different if the Lee's
had moved to Fresno instead of Merced. My opinion is YES!
Question 4: What did you learn from this book? Would you assign blame for
Lia 's tragedy? If so, to whom? What do you think Anne Fadiman feels about
this question?
First of all, I have learned so much about the Hmong people and their
culture. I am embarrassed to say that I was completely unaware of these
people and their struggles. I generally say that I live in a bubble, because I
am so focused on my family and teaching. I guess I really am in a bubble and
I need to be more aware of the world around me. This book has also really
corroborated everything that Shawnee State Teacher Ed tried to instill in
me about BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE. A person who has to help and work
with other people such as educators, doctors, social workers, and etc. should
get to know the people they are working with and where those people are
coming from.
Lia's story is very tragic and it is hard to assign blame to one
particular side. Each decision made by the doctors could have been thought
through more if they were being sensitive to the Lee's beliefs and wishes,
but at the same time the Lee's noncompliance with the medicine also
complicated things. Ultimately, both parties made some good choices and
also some poor choices. I do believe Lia could have had a different outcome
if the doctors and the Lee's were able to communicate more efficiently. The
Lee's never trusted the doctors and the doctors never trusted the Lee's.
The lack of trust and the lack of trying to find respect for the other party
caused by the cultural differences is the culprit of Lia's tragedy.
I inferred during the reading that Anne Fadiman believes the cultural
boundaries and the lack of trying to reach one another is the true reason for
Lia's demise. Her questions at the end gave me a lot of answers. I was
shocked to hear that Jeanine Hilt ended up having the same condition as Lia
after her asthma attack. Also, the opinion of Dr. Hutchinson raises even
more questions. Fadiman said she thinks Lia would have died in infancy if
they were still in Laos, but I am not so certain. The Lee's seem to have an
endearing love for their children and maybe they would have been able to
help Lia using their medicines. Who knows? This was a very interesting story
and I have mixed emotions about it. I am glad that I read this book, because
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I have learned a lot. I am sadden by the struggles of the Hmong people and
how Americans have and still are treating them. I am extremely heartsick
for the Lee family and all those who helped care for Lia. I guess Lia did meet
her family's expectations. She did turn out to help other Hmong people,
maybe she is not a txiv neeb but her life story has provided many valuable
lessons. Hopefully, all readers will learn and change from this book.
Book 3:White Teacher by Vivian Gussin Paley
Vivian Gussin Paley. (1989). 2nd ed. White teacher. Cambridge: Harvard
University Press
Question 1: How was Mrs. Albright's teaching ethics different from Mrs.
Paley's? Why did Mrs. Albright chose not to work in a school where the
classes were mixed rather than filled with black children?
Mrs. Albright was not afraid of a child's ethnicity, so she did not
ignore differences. Mrs. Albright embraced each child for who he/she was.
Mrs. Albright used what the children were thinking and went with it to
create a comfortable environment where everyone could be different but
still accepted. I love the way that Albright helped Paley understand how
even though she was trying to be compassionate for black children that she
was still creating prejudices, because Paley was too afraid to really accept
them. This book has really helped me, because in a way I relate with Mrs.
Paley. There have been a lot of issues that I have wanted to talk about with
my students but have been terrified to do so. Mrs. Albright kind of let me
know that it is okay to talk about things that we may be uncomfortable with.
For example, I have a student who chooses not to talk at school. At first I
would not let the students talk about her selected mutism. I have really
tried everything to relate with this child. Finally, I tried to just ignore her
and thought that she would want my attention and try to get it. Well, that
didn't work, so I did little things to try to make her more comfortable.
First, during class meeting we came up with a list of things we can do so that
we all feel more comfortable. Then I started having our group out in the hall.
I close my eyes and cover my ears while she whispers to another student
who dictates for her after she tapped my knee so I could uncover my eyes
and ears. By working with her and seeing her for who she is, I have been able
to create a relationship with her. Before, I was trying to do things my way,
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but as Mrs. Albright and Mrs. Paley have figured out it should be the child's
way! The most important thing I take away from this book is...do recognize
and draw attention to differences, because that is what makes us who we
are! We all want to fit in (somewhere), but at the same time be noticed. I
want for my students to notice each other and for me to do the same.
Question 2: How does being Jewish affect Mrs. Paley in her opinions and
reactions to her students? Does her comparison of growing up a Jewish child
to growing up a black child a fair comparison? Explain.
I think that Mrs. Paley does have some experience with being
different from the majority, which has helped guide her teaching. I think
that she recognizes that she has always tried to hide being different and
ultimately her own experience has helped her deal with her students'
differences. Mrs. Paley did feel different, but she didn't look different. At
a point in the book, she states that later in life she found out half of her
classmates in grade school were Jewish. The teachers and students did not
talk about it, so nobody knew the differences. I do not think it is an entirely
fair comparison, because being Jewish could be easily overlooked by a
teacher or peers. However, a black person cannot simply choose not to
mention the fact that he/she is black, because their difference is their skin
not religion. In our earlier reading Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehenreich
she described a time at a gas station where people would stare at her and
look at her disrespectufully, because she was wearing the brightly colored
maid shirt. Ehenreich compared how others' made her feel by saying now she
knows how a black person felt. Ehenreich was being judged just by the shirt
she was wearing...just like black people are judged by their skin color. Mrs.
Paley had a valuable experience growing up Jewish with "gentiles" for
teachers, because I believe through this she has learned compassion for
those who felt different. During the reading, I felt like Mrs. Paley put some
blame of her childhood experiences on her parents. They always put down
non-Jewish people and they never talked with her about how she felt. Her
parents saw her school life as a pleasant time, where Paley did well. Paley
saw it as a place where she was different and had to be perfect so she would
not stand out. In my opinion if Paley's parents had been more open and tried
to make her feel more comfortable with her feelings she would have been
able to talk about being different with her students easier. Years of
wondering and thinking I should have....could have been avoided and she
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would have been meeting the needs of her students sooner. Do you think it
was a fair comparison?
Book 4:The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in
America
Kozol, Jonathan (2005). The shame of the nation: The restoration of
apartheid schooling in america. New York, NY: Crown Publishing Group
Question 1: Pineapple, a third grade student, asks Kozol what it is like.. over
there…where other people are (pp156). What do you think she meant?
What does it make you think?
Honestly, when I first read this line I thought of The Wizard of Oz.
I'm not sure why, but it seemed to me like Pineapple thought over there was
some magical place like "somewhere over the rainbow". Pineapple was curious
about an element of life that she was aware of, but did not know about. She
believed that things were different for white people from "over there". I
have really just thought about so many things. For example, I am now think
about what it is like for the people over there. However, I am thinking about
how life is for children who go to the minority segregated schools. I really
did not realize or even think about how education was so different across
the nation. I have been in complete shocked while reading and learning about
the various conditions these children, parents, and teachers have to fight
through. My eyes are definitely more open and I have been trying to be more
aware of how I see and treat people. Last week, I was in Columbus for the
eTech Ohio Conference. My family went with me and one evening we went to
the mall. My sons have always been around black people, because my sister's
children are half black. Well, we were at the mall in the playzone area. There
was one other child who was probably around 7 and he was black. His mom
was watching him. We sat near each other. We both said hi and were
watching our children. My 3 year old kept going up to the boy and asking him
if he wanted to play. The boy would not look or talk to Brendan. Brendan
came to me and asked if the boy was shy. I didn't know how to answer, so I
told Brendan to just play with my other son. Just a few minutes later I
overheard the boy ask his mom if he was allowed to play with Brendan. His
mom shook her head "yes". After that the boy did not go play with Brendan.
Brendan went up to him several more times, but was disappointed when he
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would not answer him. I got the feeling that the boy may have been
uncomfortable because Brendan was white...maybe I am just looking too
much into things. Anyway, I felt like there was some kind of barrier. Overall,
I am saddened by the reading and I feel like our government is really letting
so many people down. :(
Question 2: Reflect on the "industry-embedded" approach to education in
the schools where majority of students are from poor or racial minority
backgrounds, as observed by Kozol in Chapter 4.
I think Kozol was very saddened by the "industry-embedded"
approach in education. Kozol described a kindergarten poster found in one of
these schools on pp. 89-90. The posters said things like "Do you want a
manager's job? What job do you want? How will you do the manager's job?"
The poster is setting kindergartners up for jobs without even offering them
a choice. Kindergarten is a time for discovery and learning about oneself.
These schools are taking away discovery and telling children that they can't
strive to be whatever they want. Adding to this degradation the schools also
put logos of different department stores around the school. These very
young students are not given hope for change or the knowledge that things
can change for them. I remember when I was entering college and during my
first meeting with my advisor. I knew that I wanted to be a teacher, but
when I told my advisor this she opened my file and read over it for a
moment. She looked at me and told me that I did not have the ora to be a
teacher and that I should go into the medical field. I was devastated. My
whole plan for my future was in a upheaval. I truly believed that this one
person could see that I was not meant to teach even though I knew I was
supposed to be a teacher. I tried different majors in the medical field and
was not happy with any of them. Finally, I went back to my advisor and told
her how I felt. I changed my major and I haven't looked back since. My
personal story relates to this subject, because I was an adult who had
graduated from high school and earned a full ride to college based on my
GPA, and one person's opinion of me had me confused about who I was and
who I wanted to be. Can you imagine how powerful these "industryembedded" schools' messages can be to these young people starting at
kindergarten? If you were told at 5 years-old you were going to be a
manager and that was the only choice you were given knowledge about. How
would your life today be different? Personally, I was so affected by my
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teacher's opinions that I would be sitting at a cash register day in and day
out instead of getting the privilege to be a teacher.
Questions 3 &4: These blog entries were during week seven, which was my
leadership group week. I was exempted from these blogs. :)
Question 5: 1. What do you think is Kozol's motivation for writing this book?
Was the point of the book to share an opinion, explain a topic, tell about a
personal journey, or something else? Did the author do it well?
I believe Jonathan Kozol wrote this book in order to explain the topic
of resegregation in our schools and to motivate people to do something about
it. Personally, I was unaware of schools being so segregated. I knew that my
school was not very diverse, but I thought it was just the area. I did not
realize that schools around the nation were so segregated and that the
quality of education and buildings were not equal. After reading this book, I
feel like I was very ignorant for not realizing there was a problem. However,
I am not taking all of the blame, because our government has not made it an
issue. Through this book, Kozol brought to my attention the Harvard study
Civil Rights Projecy lead by Professor Gary Orfield. One part of their study
reports "In the two largest educational innovations of the past two decadesstandards-based reform and school choice--the one issue of racial
segregation and its consequences has been ignored." (p.19-20) I think Kozol
realized that the government was not going to make an issue of the
apartheid schools and so he took it upon himself to do so. The book seems to
encapsulate Kozol's personal journey as a way to tell the story of these
children who are being oppressed. Black children and Hispanic children are
his focus, but this book has made me look our schools in general. Schools are
not equal in our area, either. I think that Justice Thurgood Marshall got it
right with Brown v. Board of Education and it is truly a "shame" that we are
not fulfilling the details of this ruling. Kozol was very clever and chose the
perfect title for this book.