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Leslie
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The
following is part of an assignment for students in my sections of
ED 381
The Phantom Curriculum -
Connecting teachers, schools and
learning to the real world
It has long been a general
premise that teachers should help prepare students to live in the real world. Also longstanding is the
assumption that schools be safe places, where, to an extent,
children are guarded and shielded from some of the tumult, conflict, and chaos that
is so very pervasive in these times. Today many educators are
confronted with the task of balancing exposure to information and media
with selective educational experiences and deciding what is appropriate
for inclusion in schools and what is not.
In this light it is doubly
important for teachers to be aware of what is going on in the world at
political, social, and economic levels so they can make informed
decisions as to what to bring into the classroom and what to leave
outside. Public concern for physical safety of children, as well as
concerns for their developing minds and psyches, does not mean that
schools should be impermeable fortresses removed from the influences of
the real world. In an Information Age this would be impossible anyway,
and so there is no immunity for teachers "not to know." There continues
to be a
strong public expectation that educators be knowledgeable and aware
about what is happening. This expectation also holds true on
exposure to different types of media.
Media and its uses have become important issues
in schools. Exposure
to different types of media often provides illustrative contexts for class discussions, relevant examples, and
common icons and metaphors that make learning and content more
meaningful to the real lives and interests of today's students. In an
Information Age media has become a very strong type of curricula over
which teachers and parents have little or no control. This type of learning has a name and definition.
It is called the phantom curricula.
It can be defined as - "The messages prevalent in and
through exposure to any type of media. These components and messages
play a major part in
enculturation and socializing students into the
predominant meta-culture, or in
acculturating students into
narrower or generational
subcultures."
Assignment Specifics -
Because you too are exposed to massive
amounts of media, I devised this particular choice assignment to
connect you with broader issues -- political, economic, social -- that
will affect you and your students in times to come. I believe that teachers are "keepers of the
future", and as such should stay attuned to, and informed about what is going on in the
world. Like never before, through e-access and e-commerce, our world is connected in many
different and unusual
ways. It is like an uneven cloth interwoven with many irregular threads. This semester I would like to
have you explore the warp and weft of the "phantom curriculum," to see where it leads you
in thinking analytically, critically, practically, and creatively about
some of the big issues of our times.
Your primary discussions
forum conversations will be informal. You reflections handed into to me
though will be formal. Over the course of the semester you
all will allocated time to strategize and decide either singly or as
pairs or in small groups what you want to investigate. Your discussions
should be based on an agreed upon common agenda or topic, through a shared experience,
possibly an examination of an event, or triggered by something read in the news. It may
be a whole group investigation, or something divided and done in pairs or
triads, or it may be a collection of individual pursuits tied together
through emerging themes and your online discussions.
As the semester progresses your investigations
should involve at least 3
phantom sources
and their related issues.
It is an opportunity to connect with a broader world and others through
sharing ideas, thoughts, impressions, and opinions. Your investigations
should revolve around things that are significant and important to the
larger world. You will find some suggestions below.
While I will
allocate time in class for discussions, it is my expectations that these be
focused and reflective, not hyperbole or prevarication. To that
extent your peers will rate you on preparedness. You can discuss your reactions to observations, readings, and investigations and share the
questions and activities you develop to explore creative,
analytical/critical, and practical thinking. In your groups discuss your findings,
resources, and opinions. You will hand in both a collective discussion form
indicating what transpired and your individual forms. If you
collective viewed a movie together with no more than 4 others, then
you can hand in one group personal reflection and a collective
summary. (see the Forum
Form) Use the Forum Form
for some structure in developing a coherent group and/or individual summaries.
Please feel free to add additional ideas or thoughts.
When selecting topics and
materials, please remember that the primary intent of this exercise
is to push awareness and then bring it back to the future and schools and
learning issues. On those films based on true stories, seek to find
information that may corroborate or refute the ideas presented in
the film.
**You are not limited to my suggestions below, as they
are simply places of where you might begin, but please let me know which
films you will be substituting.
Alternative ideas should be pertinent to the assignment.
Places to start:
-
See online issues of publications like
EDUTOPIA
(George Lucas Foundation -- online subscriptions and hard print versions
are free! Or, The Washington Post as it frequently has feature stories
about education. See sample and links on the hot topic of
"charter schools."
And the best thing is they have a downloadable video library about hot
topics in education See
EDUTOPIA Videos.
Movies, Video,
and Projects that Make Us Think About the World in Broader Strokes
-
American History X - Fictional
and frightening as Edward Norton is extremely convincing as a
Neo-Nazi skinhead. This piece offers insights into the depth and
intensity of hate crimes and how successive generations are
adversely affected by intense violence and bigotry.
-
Blood Diamond -
While fictionalized, the movie is based on the very real politics of
Western Africa and the diamond trade used to support civil war,
violence, slavery, and illicit activities.
-
Born Into Brothels
- Oscar winning, sensitive and hopeful documentary about children in
Calcutta's red light district and how they see their world. Offers many
insights into the power of one person to change the lives of
others.
-
The City of God
-
Extreme poverty among
extreme wealth - subtitles.
-
The Constant Gardner
-
Academy award winning performances in this powerful movie about
how corporations actively manipulate social or political issues
for profit.
-
Crash
- Oscar winner for best picture, this is a circuitous
story about the many faces and shapes of bigotry.
-
Door to
Door - A TNT
movie based on the real life of a top salesman, Bill Porter, who
suffered with cerebral palsy. Wonderful story with a great
caste.
-
Finding
Forrester - Poverty - Young basketball star from
the inner city develops a relationship with a reclusive writer
who helps him improve his writing.
-
Freedom Writers
- English teachers teaches inner city kids how to connect to
broader issues through personal journals - based on a true story
-
Glory Road - Bigotry -
Texas Western coach Don Haskins led the first all-black starting line-up for
a college basketball team to the NCAA championship.
If this appeals you might want to also watch
another classic sports' movie based on a true story about bigotry and
the human spirit
Remember the Titians.
-
Good Night and Good Luck
- McCarthy was a real Senator
from Wisconsin who spearheaded a wave of suspicion and oppression. Major
themes deal with the loss
of constitutional freedoms in a democracy.
-
Hotel Rwanda -
This movie based on the real life of
Paul Rusesabagina,
a Hutu who managed a hotel in Kigali.
Centered around the true events in Rwanda in 1994 as the Hutu and Tutsi
ethnic groups clashed during the genocidal conflict. A brutal and
potent reminder of how hate and prejudice propels humans to do
horrible things to one another, and how the power of individuals can
make a difference.
-
Hustle and Flow - Poverty mixed with dreams.
This is a raw and powerful film about poverty and the attitudes
and dreams it breeds.
-
Mad Hot Ballroom
- How can ballroom dancing help children in
schools. This is a movie about a program started by Pierre Dulaine in
NYC. The adult version is Take the Lead. T the L has a after piece that
is important to watch as is about Dulaine and his program. Mad Hot
Ballroom as of 2007 has become part of the Milwaukee Public School
curriculum. Watch either or both of these to see why. What does ballroom
dancing teach kids? Or, the Hollywood fictional version
Take the Lead.
-
-
Murderball - Documentary about what handicapped
athletes can really do for themselves when they are motivated.
-
.
-
October Sky - Based on the true story
of Homer Hickham, a kid from West Virginia who with his friends
tries to escape the poverty of a coal mining community through
building a rocket and winning a science fair. Gives watchers
insights into the space race, pervasive during the late
1950s, and how they affected students and schools.
-
Radio
-
Bigotry - Another true story about tolerance and the resilience of
the human spirit in the face of vicious bigotry.
-
Syriana-
Corporations manipulating social
or political issues for gain and profit.
-
The
Inconvenient Truth -
Academy Award wining documentary about
global
warming. While this topic may not excite, it is an extremely
engaging film, and ask yourself after all - Where else to we
have to go?
-
Water
- Beautifully told, filmed, and acted, this film follows the
life of an 8 year old girl as she is placed in a home for
widows. This movie reveals the shame of the treatment of women
in a social structure where they are grossly undervalued.
Available in both English or Hindi (subtitled).
.
.
Media that matters
- A series of short films
devoted to strong views world and social issues. The following selection
numbers are simply recommended
for viewing. You may watch those that you want. Make sure your volume is
adjusted before you begin. As you scroll over selections descriptions
will pop up. Please note that
when you bring up each film
there will be a series of hot links under the play window for additional
or contradictory information. Several of my graduate students
(practicing teachers) are now using these shorts in their classrooms.
Set #5 (3,
4, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12,13, 14, and 16).
.
Set #6.
.
.
(1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 12, and 16)
**For earlier
or later festival sets,
use your own discretion.
Audio: NPR Story
322: Shouting Across the Divide
- Replayed broadcast about the
devastating bigotry a Muslim family suffers in schools after 9/11.
Art that changes our views:
In many of his recent works
Chris Jordan, a photographic artist based in
Seattle, addresses the issue of meaningless meta-numbers.
As a population can we really wrap our heads around statistics
that say things like "every 5 minutes American consumers use 2
million plastic containers" or "every 30 seconds we discard
106,000 aluminum cans?" In his exhibitions like
Running the numbers: An American self portrait
Jordan shows us what that looks like on large canvases.
Two million plastic containers on a 5X10 canvas look like lots
and lots of dots, but suddenly viewers are confronted with a
visual representations of the enormity and magnitude of
our waste.
Important Social Issues:
21st Century Slavery - We have
an international program that goes to Thailand over winterim and works
in the shelter established by
Sompop Jantarak. Joseph's work
is a result of that experience.
The Thailand Project - UWSP student Joseph Quinell uses his
passion for art to make a difference in the lives of children. Related
site on
founder of the center for rescuing prostitutes and abused or
enslaved children.
Recommended by Joseph, and in our LRC:
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