Today, one of Slate.com's bloggers, The XX Factor's Amanda Marcotte, published this piece about women being caught in "an infuriating bind" that we can't seem to win: Women: Please don't be stylish. Also, please don't be frumpy.
Having been out of the corporate world for awhile, I found myself thinking about a similar bind in academe: the chili pepper.
For those unaware of this little icon's nefarious undercutting of all things important and professional in the university system, the "chili pepper" is a "hotness" icon on ratemyprofessors.com. If you open the site and select a professor, any professor, you will be given five ratings items for this highly trained, educated, and skilled individual: Overall Quality, Helpfulness, Clarity, Easiness, and Hotness, this last as exemplified by the red chili pepper icon. Holding your cursor over this icon, the following text appears, "Is your professor hot? Hot professors get a red chili pepper."
Let's start by acknowledging that this icon can be assigned to women or men, but I maintain that it is infinitely more damaging to women professors because academe remains a male-dominated space in which we continually must prove ourselves equal and worthy.
By including "hotness" as a quality deemed important or appealing to students, this web site (and, presumably, anyone who assigns such chili peppers to professors) dismisses the individual professor's education, experience, skills, abilities, intelligence, and care for students. Instead, the chili pepper places undue emphasis on physical attributes and appearance in a location that SHOULD be focused on the education of the MIND, hopefully in service of preparing said minds for future career success after graduation. How does "hotness" affect this outcome? It doesn't, and its inclusion as a ratings option on ratemyprofessors suggests that the way your professor LOOKS is more important than HOW and WHAT she teaches. The chili pepper, with one click of the mouse, devalues a female professor's worth as a professor.
Some men might be bothered by receiving a chili pepper, but women who receive them are considered objects of desire not to be taken seriously, instead of credible vessels of knowledge and gatekeepers to the next academic level. This type of misplaced emphasis on physical appearance contributes to an already potentially harsh environment for women professors. According to Bernice Sandler, a Senior Scholar in Residence at the Women's Research and Education Institute,
"Some studies (but not all) show that students rate their female professors more harshly than their male professors. In one study, where women students gave their female professors somewhat higher ratings than the men, the women still viewed the male professors as more dynamic and as better teachers.25 How well women fit the stereotypes of “femininity” can also affect their evaluations by students. One study found that ratings of women faculty were strongly affected by whether they smiled and were sociable, but these factors were less important to the ratings of men.26 Another study noted that women who presented themselves in traditional feminine ways were rated less competent than women who did not."
She who receives the ultimate icon of disrespect has been devalued as a professor and deemed "less than" - less than easy, less than fun, less than serious...with an emphasis on "less than easy to look at." According to this scale, the "hot" professors are the ones students should want to take because physical appearance dominates the goals of a college classroom, right?
Imagine being the female professor who has received a chili pepper by a former student. Imagine the discomfort that causes, knowing that at least one of her former students looked at her as an object to be fantasized about instead of a professional who had valuable information to teach. Imagine going into the next semester knowing that her future students will see that chili pepper and what they will think of her as a result. Imagine having to get past that high wall of assumptions in order to get the semester's work done.
Women and work may still be a difficult concept for many Americans to grasp, and the chili pepper contributes to the next generation's misunderstanding of the role of women in professional environments.
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Sign of the times?
One of my students just had a breakdown. Not an "I'm so spoiled and unhappy with this B" breakdown, but a genuine, "I can't handle life anymore" breakdown.
Not in my class, but it easily could have been.
He's been a little...off...all semester. And getting progressively more frustrated, more agitated, more angry...leading to more frequent outbursts that disrupt class...but only momentarily. He has cried several times out of anger and frustration at the start of the daily quizzes because he wasn't as prepared as he knew he needed to be.
This is the first time I've encountered this situation and it is disturbing. I care about this student, so I called counseling services when the behavior started and after-class conversations contained phrases like "ready to throw my desk across the room" and "I'm on the edge" and "I don't want to do this anymore." The counselor advised me to suggest to this student that he visit the counseling center for a chance to vent and talk to someone privately who can help with coping skills and just be a kind ear. But if the student's behavior escalates, well, the counselor said...professors have been known to walk students over to the Center.
Tuesday in class, this student was more disruptive than he'd been before. Physically slamming his books, marching across the room in front of me to loudly and angrily sharpen his pencil, making gestures and facial expressions that were angry and agitated. Interrupting other students, making conversational asides that didn't make sense, and contributing almost nonsensical comments to the conversation, causing his classmates to smirk or look at him in confusion.
I didn't know what to do. Should I have dismissed class and walked him to the counseling center? The outburst lasted only ten minutes total and I have 25 other students to consider. I chose to ignore the outburst as best I could and once he calmed down, then I did call on him during the in-class discussion portion. As usual, his offerings were just a bit...off. Not quite on target. But I accepted his contribution and other students picked up the threads and continued discussion.
Moments ago, one of his other English professors came into my office. He had a breakdown in her class this morning. She drove him to the counseling center. We discussed granting him extensions for his work, which I am going to do. We also discussed this strange phenomenon that seems more acute this semester - students under extreme stress and in over their heads. She's seeing it more this semester than ever before (she's been teaching for two decades). I'm noticing it more as well, even being relatively new to this side of the desk.
It is easy for us to dismiss these students as privileged, entitled, lazy, and incapable-by-choice. But my student who finally broke down is not lazy, or privileged, or incapable - he strives for perfection, he has a job and is taking a full and strenuous course load as a senior in order to set himself up to hopefully get a good job post-graduation. He has family problems, one of which is the extraordinary pressure that he perceives his family is putting on him about finishing college. He worries about everything. His performance in class. What his professors think of him. Whether his level of engagement and participation is enough. Whether he is making the right choices.
Perhaps my student is the exception and not the rule. But another of my students in the same class is having severe family issues that is causing her undue distress and is distracting her from her work - and she is most decidedly an A student. And she failed the last quiz outright. Zero questions answered.
I'm beginning to wonder if the economic realities and conditions in our society are increasing the stress on these capable young people. They want so badly to do well and succeed, but they see an untenable future before them, even as they push themselves to work harder, faster, better in order to compete.
I don't know what the root cause is...or if there are multiple causes working simultaneously, but I just can't dismiss this idea that our current economic situation and social attitudes are having a negative effect on our youth.
Not in my class, but it easily could have been.
He's been a little...off...all semester. And getting progressively more frustrated, more agitated, more angry...leading to more frequent outbursts that disrupt class...but only momentarily. He has cried several times out of anger and frustration at the start of the daily quizzes because he wasn't as prepared as he knew he needed to be.
This is the first time I've encountered this situation and it is disturbing. I care about this student, so I called counseling services when the behavior started and after-class conversations contained phrases like "ready to throw my desk across the room" and "I'm on the edge" and "I don't want to do this anymore." The counselor advised me to suggest to this student that he visit the counseling center for a chance to vent and talk to someone privately who can help with coping skills and just be a kind ear. But if the student's behavior escalates, well, the counselor said...professors have been known to walk students over to the Center.
Tuesday in class, this student was more disruptive than he'd been before. Physically slamming his books, marching across the room in front of me to loudly and angrily sharpen his pencil, making gestures and facial expressions that were angry and agitated. Interrupting other students, making conversational asides that didn't make sense, and contributing almost nonsensical comments to the conversation, causing his classmates to smirk or look at him in confusion.
I didn't know what to do. Should I have dismissed class and walked him to the counseling center? The outburst lasted only ten minutes total and I have 25 other students to consider. I chose to ignore the outburst as best I could and once he calmed down, then I did call on him during the in-class discussion portion. As usual, his offerings were just a bit...off. Not quite on target. But I accepted his contribution and other students picked up the threads and continued discussion.
Moments ago, one of his other English professors came into my office. He had a breakdown in her class this morning. She drove him to the counseling center. We discussed granting him extensions for his work, which I am going to do. We also discussed this strange phenomenon that seems more acute this semester - students under extreme stress and in over their heads. She's seeing it more this semester than ever before (she's been teaching for two decades). I'm noticing it more as well, even being relatively new to this side of the desk.
It is easy for us to dismiss these students as privileged, entitled, lazy, and incapable-by-choice. But my student who finally broke down is not lazy, or privileged, or incapable - he strives for perfection, he has a job and is taking a full and strenuous course load as a senior in order to set himself up to hopefully get a good job post-graduation. He has family problems, one of which is the extraordinary pressure that he perceives his family is putting on him about finishing college. He worries about everything. His performance in class. What his professors think of him. Whether his level of engagement and participation is enough. Whether he is making the right choices.
Perhaps my student is the exception and not the rule. But another of my students in the same class is having severe family issues that is causing her undue distress and is distracting her from her work - and she is most decidedly an A student. And she failed the last quiz outright. Zero questions answered.
I'm beginning to wonder if the economic realities and conditions in our society are increasing the stress on these capable young people. They want so badly to do well and succeed, but they see an untenable future before them, even as they push themselves to work harder, faster, better in order to compete.
I don't know what the root cause is...or if there are multiple causes working simultaneously, but I just can't dismiss this idea that our current economic situation and social attitudes are having a negative effect on our youth.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Punished for telling the truth
This story makes me very angry: Pa. teacher strikes nerve with 'lazy whiners' blog
I love my students - I wouldn't have put myself through six years of grueling graduate work, and put myself $60,000 in debt, and ended my marriage if I wasn't committed to teaching. But damn it, some of my students give me the lamest excuses for missing class, being late with work, missing deadlines - and while I haven't called out any particular student by name or even by group, I have certainly made public statements about how lame the excuses are in general - and have even mocked and made fun of the lameness! Sometimes I tell my students right to their faces that I don't buy their excuses. Does this mean I deserve to be fired because I speak the truth publicly about a general situation that exists in ALL colleges around this country and is UBIQUITOUS with this current generation of students?
Hell no. And neither does the teacher in the story. For two reasons.
One - If teachers can't speak out honestly about the serious problems in the education system - and yes, student attitudes are a big problem - then how can we EVER hope to CHANGE this system? The reaction of this particular school district makes me wonder if school administrators anywhere are TRULY interested in fundamentally changing the education system - revamping it a la Ken Robinson's suggestions, for instance - so that everyone (students and teachers) are more interested and engaged.
(School districts might have to stop cowering in fear from parents if real change is to occur.)
This travesty makes me think the answer is no - change cannot occur while the education system is held hostage by the attitude that we 1) can't hurt students' feelings by calling them out on their irresponsible behaviors because feelings are apparently more important than work ethic and 2) certainly can't speak out publicly about the student component of the problem for fear of being FIRED? WTF?!
I'm committed to challenging my students and work hard to get them past their own laziness and procrastination, which they readily admit to!! But I will not - NOT - stop speaking out publicly about some of the dumb things they say and do. And if that results in me having to change careers once again, then so be it. I've got lots of experience in many fields and I'm not afraid to use it.
And the second reason this teacher shouldn't be fired - This is obviously a free speech issue. It doesn't sound like this teacher violated any FERPA law or said anything that wasn't true - even if it was merely her opinion. Last time I checked, we have free speech and free press and unless her contract specifically states (like some private corporations might) that she is not allowed to speak publicly about her work, then the district is waving smoke and mirrors and has NO case.
Why don't they use this opportunity to have an open discussion with their teachers about the problems that exist in their school? Perhaps if they put their minds productively together, they might come up with some solutions to student attitude problems instead of punishing the very people who have the power to help CHANGE the situation?!
What the hell is wrong with this country?!?!?!
In solidarity with teachers at every level who are unafraid to speak out.
I love my students - I wouldn't have put myself through six years of grueling graduate work, and put myself $60,000 in debt, and ended my marriage if I wasn't committed to teaching. But damn it, some of my students give me the lamest excuses for missing class, being late with work, missing deadlines - and while I haven't called out any particular student by name or even by group, I have certainly made public statements about how lame the excuses are in general - and have even mocked and made fun of the lameness! Sometimes I tell my students right to their faces that I don't buy their excuses. Does this mean I deserve to be fired because I speak the truth publicly about a general situation that exists in ALL colleges around this country and is UBIQUITOUS with this current generation of students?
Hell no. And neither does the teacher in the story. For two reasons.
One - If teachers can't speak out honestly about the serious problems in the education system - and yes, student attitudes are a big problem - then how can we EVER hope to CHANGE this system? The reaction of this particular school district makes me wonder if school administrators anywhere are TRULY interested in fundamentally changing the education system - revamping it a la Ken Robinson's suggestions, for instance - so that everyone (students and teachers) are more interested and engaged.
(School districts might have to stop cowering in fear from parents if real change is to occur.)
This travesty makes me think the answer is no - change cannot occur while the education system is held hostage by the attitude that we 1) can't hurt students' feelings by calling them out on their irresponsible behaviors because feelings are apparently more important than work ethic and 2) certainly can't speak out publicly about the student component of the problem for fear of being FIRED? WTF?!
I'm committed to challenging my students and work hard to get them past their own laziness and procrastination, which they readily admit to!! But I will not - NOT - stop speaking out publicly about some of the dumb things they say and do. And if that results in me having to change careers once again, then so be it. I've got lots of experience in many fields and I'm not afraid to use it.
And the second reason this teacher shouldn't be fired - This is obviously a free speech issue. It doesn't sound like this teacher violated any FERPA law or said anything that wasn't true - even if it was merely her opinion. Last time I checked, we have free speech and free press and unless her contract specifically states (like some private corporations might) that she is not allowed to speak publicly about her work, then the district is waving smoke and mirrors and has NO case.
Why don't they use this opportunity to have an open discussion with their teachers about the problems that exist in their school? Perhaps if they put their minds productively together, they might come up with some solutions to student attitude problems instead of punishing the very people who have the power to help CHANGE the situation?!
What the hell is wrong with this country?!?!?!
In solidarity with teachers at every level who are unafraid to speak out.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Death in education
Within a week of each other, the following three articles were published in three different publications:
Chronicle of Higher Education: "10 Tips on How to Write Less Badly"
New York Times: "Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits"
Philadephia Inquirer: "The Lecture is Dead"
What these articles have in common thematically is death: death of diligence, perseverance, and work ethic even at the highest levels of the education community; death of attention-span, common-sense, and structure of any kind for students; and these articles also lay the foundation for what seems to be coming faster than some of us would like: the death of the traditional college classroom where we interact face-to-face two-three times per week with our students, getting to know them and their personalities, quirks, and strengths. At worst, taken together, these articles announce the result of decades of growing laziness, convenience-addictions, and computer-assisted-dependence. At best, these articles are identifying serious and fundamental problems in the education system for the participants.
When it comes to academics writing "less badly," which my students just loved as a title (oh yes, I made my college composition students read that article for information and perhaps some relief that none of us writers are perfect), the biggest problem seems to be an over-abundance of self-importance and a lack of gritty work-ethic. Especially in grad school when it comes to finishing projects like dissertations on time. And everyone in the academy knows someone who fits Munger's "poseur writer" description, right down to the hipster skinny jeans and too-cool-for-school scarf or jaunty hat on a head so filled with ego that no real (and useful) ideas may penetrate.
For most of us, Munger's assessment is not shocking or even remotely surprising, but for those outside the ivory tower, his pronouncements may be unsettling. After all, aren't we supposed be advanced and hard-working idea people and wordsmiths cranking out publications for our own and our home universities' glory? Well, yes, but have you seen the average teaching/service workload for a tenure-track professor recently? This is something I'm recently discovering, although only three weeks into it and I did manage to find time to complete a book review. But maybe I'm just the weird, old-school one who works too hard and believes in deadlines? (And I also don't spend 4.5 hours per day on Facebook.)
As for the death of study habits, well, no shit. Hell, in 1987 when I was in high school, you could count my study habits with one fist. Namely, I had none. And certainly, secluding myself away in a little corner with a desk, a lamp, a hard chair, and no noise would have driven my teenage mind bonkers. Only later, after a career in advertising and one in journalism, when I returned for my advanced degrees did I discover the need and joy for silence when I studied. And usually in a soft, comfy chair with a cup of tea or Diet Coke or water and with my cat, Lucy, climbing all over me.
But the problem isn't when and where and how students study, it's that they don't study. And they don't care enough to retain new information. Well, many of them. Admittedly, I've only taught 400 students (not including my current 90) over the short four years I've been teaching in the university setting, but many of my students were so tightly and narrowly focused on one particular career goal (engineer, accountant, "business"...whatever the hell that means anymore) that they resisted giving thought-space to subjects that the university deemed valuable such as world literature and writing. Mostly, my students were swell but were more interested in just getting through those classes than in actually LEARNING and RETAINING anything. So in today's university setting, which is becoming more and more consumer-oriented with outcomes and goals that read like a fact sheet for the Widget Factory, with every piece in its narrow place, the value of studying subjects outside one's specialty/major may be in danger of being de-valued.
Thinking about devaluation, that last article is both true and a little scary. On one hand, I agree that lectures don't really work - students fall asleep, have the attention-span of a gnat (when it's not something they are already interested in), and are easily distracted by other more exciting tasks like texting, doodling, making paper footballs, and staring slack-jawed into space. I've seen it happen, which is why I chose to conduct my world lit survey classes without one lecture from me. I made the students present and lead class discussion (with me chiming in to add details, ask questions, and provide background when appropriate). Every day. And despite some hearty fear and resistance at first, they delivered tremendously and did (imho) get more out of those discussions than they ever would have by me just talking at them for an hour a day. So yes, I agree the lecture is dead, but my concern is what university administrations are doing with this type of information.
If the classroom is no longer a place where students are lectured at by brilliant PhDs, why have a classroom at all? Why not go online? In fact, why hire PhDs to teach those online courses? Why not hire Tony Robbins-esque type public speaking dynamos and give them a pre-crafted syllabus and readings and let them loose to dazzle the students via video-pod?
I'll be honest. This unnerves me because I did not become a professor to teach solely online, but I do see that's the direction of most universities because online education is a solid money-maker. And considering the speed at which things change nowadays, I'm wondering how long I have to create interesting, discussion-based, classroom-grounded environments in which my students can get to know me, each other, and some new useful material. Five years? Ten? More? Less?
I'm not averse to hybrid courses where students come to class once a week and then are responsible for a vast amount of work on their own time. That seems a smart compromise. But going online 100%? I'm not convinced that is the right direction to educate vast numbers of young people (undergraduates) who already spend too much time in front of their computer and TV screens.
Although, that would create the perfect workers who are content to sit for 10-12 hours a day at a computer screen in their pajamas...who would fit cog-like into the Widget Factory's concept of uncomplaining and controllable worker productivity at low cost, would it not?
Chronicle of Higher Education: "10 Tips on How to Write Less Badly"
New York Times: "Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits"
Philadephia Inquirer: "The Lecture is Dead"
What these articles have in common thematically is death: death of diligence, perseverance, and work ethic even at the highest levels of the education community; death of attention-span, common-sense, and structure of any kind for students; and these articles also lay the foundation for what seems to be coming faster than some of us would like: the death of the traditional college classroom where we interact face-to-face two-three times per week with our students, getting to know them and their personalities, quirks, and strengths. At worst, taken together, these articles announce the result of decades of growing laziness, convenience-addictions, and computer-assisted-dependence. At best, these articles are identifying serious and fundamental problems in the education system for the participants.
When it comes to academics writing "less badly," which my students just loved as a title (oh yes, I made my college composition students read that article for information and perhaps some relief that none of us writers are perfect), the biggest problem seems to be an over-abundance of self-importance and a lack of gritty work-ethic. Especially in grad school when it comes to finishing projects like dissertations on time. And everyone in the academy knows someone who fits Munger's "poseur writer" description, right down to the hipster skinny jeans and too-cool-for-school scarf or jaunty hat on a head so filled with ego that no real (and useful) ideas may penetrate.
For most of us, Munger's assessment is not shocking or even remotely surprising, but for those outside the ivory tower, his pronouncements may be unsettling. After all, aren't we supposed be advanced and hard-working idea people and wordsmiths cranking out publications for our own and our home universities' glory? Well, yes, but have you seen the average teaching/service workload for a tenure-track professor recently? This is something I'm recently discovering, although only three weeks into it and I did manage to find time to complete a book review. But maybe I'm just the weird, old-school one who works too hard and believes in deadlines? (And I also don't spend 4.5 hours per day on Facebook.)
As for the death of study habits, well, no shit. Hell, in 1987 when I was in high school, you could count my study habits with one fist. Namely, I had none. And certainly, secluding myself away in a little corner with a desk, a lamp, a hard chair, and no noise would have driven my teenage mind bonkers. Only later, after a career in advertising and one in journalism, when I returned for my advanced degrees did I discover the need and joy for silence when I studied. And usually in a soft, comfy chair with a cup of tea or Diet Coke or water and with my cat, Lucy, climbing all over me.
But the problem isn't when and where and how students study, it's that they don't study. And they don't care enough to retain new information. Well, many of them. Admittedly, I've only taught 400 students (not including my current 90) over the short four years I've been teaching in the university setting, but many of my students were so tightly and narrowly focused on one particular career goal (engineer, accountant, "business"...whatever the hell that means anymore) that they resisted giving thought-space to subjects that the university deemed valuable such as world literature and writing. Mostly, my students were swell but were more interested in just getting through those classes than in actually LEARNING and RETAINING anything. So in today's university setting, which is becoming more and more consumer-oriented with outcomes and goals that read like a fact sheet for the Widget Factory, with every piece in its narrow place, the value of studying subjects outside one's specialty/major may be in danger of being de-valued.
Thinking about devaluation, that last article is both true and a little scary. On one hand, I agree that lectures don't really work - students fall asleep, have the attention-span of a gnat (when it's not something they are already interested in), and are easily distracted by other more exciting tasks like texting, doodling, making paper footballs, and staring slack-jawed into space. I've seen it happen, which is why I chose to conduct my world lit survey classes without one lecture from me. I made the students present and lead class discussion (with me chiming in to add details, ask questions, and provide background when appropriate). Every day. And despite some hearty fear and resistance at first, they delivered tremendously and did (imho) get more out of those discussions than they ever would have by me just talking at them for an hour a day. So yes, I agree the lecture is dead, but my concern is what university administrations are doing with this type of information.
If the classroom is no longer a place where students are lectured at by brilliant PhDs, why have a classroom at all? Why not go online? In fact, why hire PhDs to teach those online courses? Why not hire Tony Robbins-esque type public speaking dynamos and give them a pre-crafted syllabus and readings and let them loose to dazzle the students via video-pod?
I'll be honest. This unnerves me because I did not become a professor to teach solely online, but I do see that's the direction of most universities because online education is a solid money-maker. And considering the speed at which things change nowadays, I'm wondering how long I have to create interesting, discussion-based, classroom-grounded environments in which my students can get to know me, each other, and some new useful material. Five years? Ten? More? Less?
I'm not averse to hybrid courses where students come to class once a week and then are responsible for a vast amount of work on their own time. That seems a smart compromise. But going online 100%? I'm not convinced that is the right direction to educate vast numbers of young people (undergraduates) who already spend too much time in front of their computer and TV screens.
Although, that would create the perfect workers who are content to sit for 10-12 hours a day at a computer screen in their pajamas...who would fit cog-like into the Widget Factory's concept of uncomplaining and controllable worker productivity at low cost, would it not?
Sunday, August 29, 2010
A (not so) simple question
When the server came to my table this morning, I already knew what I wanted for my post-hike meal: two eggs, hash browns, wheat toast, and strawberries. But two questions nagged at me that I lost the nerve to ask: Where did the eggs come from? Where did the strawberries come from?
These simple questions are loaded with implications and could potentially be received as negative or critical of the business. The diner was packed, my server was rushed, and it just didn't seem appropriate to ask, but I do want to start asking these types of questions because I do care about where my food comes from. What country, what state, what the conditions are for the animals before they are slaughtered. In fact, what has got me thinking more about food as a safety and humane issue are several related things.
Gene Bauer, author of Farm Sanctuary , detailing his work on the nonprofit place that he started in Watkins Glen, NY (http://www.farmsanctuary.org/), is coming to my campus to speak on Sept. 15. The moment I saw that announcement, I knew I wanted to incorporate his talk and an excerpt from his text into my Advanced Composition class. Our theme this semester is "pressing social and cultural issues," so I figured this would be a good one for us to start with before students go off and pick a topic that interests them. So I bought his book and read it in order to know which excerpts to give my students.
Honestly, I have several friends who are vegetarian or vegan, and am an animal lover and nature hound myself, and I also consider myself fairly well-read on a wide variety of topics. But the systemic abuse of both people and animals and the extraordinary levels of cruelty and malice built into the corporate farming industry makes me sick. Baby chickens being ground up ALIVE in wood chipper-type machinery? Feeding corn, dead chicken parts, and feces to cows messes with their digestive systems (I'm stunned), thus causing a ripe in-body environment for rabid strains of e-coli to grow? Starving male calves and holding them in pens so tiny they can't turn around so their flesh is soft and white (veal)? Boiling chickens alive? These are just some of the real-life horrors revealed in books like Bauer's and movies like Food, Inc. and I definitely think it is high time that we all start educating ourselves on where our food comes from and how these animals are treated or we cannot call ourselves a humane country. Period.
Bauer's book inspired me to do something I've been postponing for months because I knew how horrifying it was before even watching a minute: I watched the documentary Food, Inc. And yes, it is as hideous as you might expect - but also necessary. Books like Bauer's and documentaries like Food, Inc. expose a human-built system that completely disregards other species' rights wholesale. Even the idea that cows, chickens, and pigs feel pain. How can ANYONE think that these creatures don't feel pain? My god, I stopped fishing because I knew I was hurting the fish when I stunned it and then killed it. They squeak. Did you know that? Fish squeak when you kill them. (Aside: I do still eat fish, but only store-bought and only wild-caught, not farm-raised, and only occasionally.)
These texts also unveil many facts that the average consumer wouldn't know such as the reason junk food is so cheap is because those are the crops/products that are the most heavily subsidized because they are actually VERY EXPENSIVE to produce! This, to me, was a revelation. Perhaps it is something I should have known, being as highly educated as I am. But this is just one of the facts that I've since started looking into. Another is this lovely tidbit - according to the data in Food, Inc. 90% of the hamburger meat that is processed in this country goes through an AMMONIA BATH to kill e-coli.
AMMONIA. (Don't believe me? Go ahead. Read up: http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/01/nyt-discloses-pink-slime-they-call-hamburger/
I'm done ordering burgers. And no more grocery story meat. Not that I eat a lot of meat in the first place, but that lovely gem has solidified my resolve to purchase meat from local farmers who actually raise the animals, kill them and cut them up without any chemicals. These farmers live with these animals, care for them, and are as intimately involved in the killing process as anyone would wish to be. They do it by hand. Perhaps that makes me a hypocrite (maybe we're all hypocrites) because I'm willing to let someone else kill that animal for me. But that's a dilemma for another day...
The best way to guarantee our meat comes from local farmers is to shop at farmers markets where at least most of the produce, meats, and dairy are local or regional. Also, for a foodie like myself, I relish exquisite food, but haven't eaten veal since I was 23 because there is no reason to eat a baby cow. None. I suppose I will eventually become a vegetarian the way this is all affecting me, but in the meantime, I will try to seek out restaurants and stores that sell locally-produced meat, dairy, and produce. I have found two restaurants and several farmer's markets - that's a good start.
While thinking on these horrifying facts, I picked up a copy of today's Allentown Morning Call, my local paper. And look what the lead story is on the front page of the Sunday paper:
PA egg safety rules a model for coming federal regulations
At first blush, this article is very positive. PA is breaking new ground in voluntarily protecting consumers from salmonella in eggs. We're leading the charge, the feds are following, and my goodness, the FDA may again have the power to inspect places that process the food! Egads, what a concept.
But these chicken houses (in the photos) in Lancaster have 100,000 birds crammed into them on tilted metal grates on top of each other. According to Bauer's firsthand evidence, the grates cause broken feet and bones, the tilt causes the hens to never really be able to settle in so they are always moving, and the moment these hens stop producing at a high rate, they are sent to a slaughterhouse to be ground up into chicken nuggets or cow feed. This is humane? No. Would any one of us want to live this way? No. Then why have we rationalized away our basic sense of decency and humane treatment? We coddle our cats and dogs, feeding them organic specialized diets (or at least that's what my Lucy eats), exercising them, playing with them, buying them toys and fluffy beds...while the animals who are responsible for producing or becoming our steak dinner/chicken fingers/milkshake are treated as inanimate, unfeeling objects incapable of thinking or feeling pain.
Seriously?!
Seriously.
So my resolve was hindered this morning, but no more. I love diners, but I want the diners that I frequent to know that at least one of their customers cares where her eggs and strawberries came from. And the next time I visit that diner, which will probably the next time I hike the nearby nature preserve, I will make it a point to ask. And if they say "we don't know" or "from the store" or name a large manufacturing company - basically, any answer other than "X farm right down the road," I will very politely ask why not the farm down the road? And make a suggestion that they consider doing so.
Other changes I'm now committed to making include buying almost exclusively from farmer's markets and I am fortunate to live in a place with several permanent markets to choose from. And this includes animals for food - I've found an Amish farm that raises bison and chickens. I'm sure there are more if I just start looking. Might I suggest you do the same?
These simple questions are loaded with implications and could potentially be received as negative or critical of the business. The diner was packed, my server was rushed, and it just didn't seem appropriate to ask, but I do want to start asking these types of questions because I do care about where my food comes from. What country, what state, what the conditions are for the animals before they are slaughtered. In fact, what has got me thinking more about food as a safety and humane issue are several related things.
Gene Bauer, author of Farm Sanctuary , detailing his work on the nonprofit place that he started in Watkins Glen, NY (http://www.farmsanctuary.org/), is coming to my campus to speak on Sept. 15. The moment I saw that announcement, I knew I wanted to incorporate his talk and an excerpt from his text into my Advanced Composition class. Our theme this semester is "pressing social and cultural issues," so I figured this would be a good one for us to start with before students go off and pick a topic that interests them. So I bought his book and read it in order to know which excerpts to give my students.
Honestly, I have several friends who are vegetarian or vegan, and am an animal lover and nature hound myself, and I also consider myself fairly well-read on a wide variety of topics. But the systemic abuse of both people and animals and the extraordinary levels of cruelty and malice built into the corporate farming industry makes me sick. Baby chickens being ground up ALIVE in wood chipper-type machinery? Feeding corn, dead chicken parts, and feces to cows messes with their digestive systems (I'm stunned), thus causing a ripe in-body environment for rabid strains of e-coli to grow? Starving male calves and holding them in pens so tiny they can't turn around so their flesh is soft and white (veal)? Boiling chickens alive? These are just some of the real-life horrors revealed in books like Bauer's and movies like Food, Inc. and I definitely think it is high time that we all start educating ourselves on where our food comes from and how these animals are treated or we cannot call ourselves a humane country. Period.
Bauer's book inspired me to do something I've been postponing for months because I knew how horrifying it was before even watching a minute: I watched the documentary Food, Inc. And yes, it is as hideous as you might expect - but also necessary. Books like Bauer's and documentaries like Food, Inc. expose a human-built system that completely disregards other species' rights wholesale. Even the idea that cows, chickens, and pigs feel pain. How can ANYONE think that these creatures don't feel pain? My god, I stopped fishing because I knew I was hurting the fish when I stunned it and then killed it. They squeak. Did you know that? Fish squeak when you kill them. (Aside: I do still eat fish, but only store-bought and only wild-caught, not farm-raised, and only occasionally.)
These texts also unveil many facts that the average consumer wouldn't know such as the reason junk food is so cheap is because those are the crops/products that are the most heavily subsidized because they are actually VERY EXPENSIVE to produce! This, to me, was a revelation. Perhaps it is something I should have known, being as highly educated as I am. But this is just one of the facts that I've since started looking into. Another is this lovely tidbit - according to the data in Food, Inc. 90% of the hamburger meat that is processed in this country goes through an AMMONIA BATH to kill e-coli.
AMMONIA. (Don't believe me? Go ahead. Read up: http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/01/nyt-discloses-pink-slime-they-call-hamburger/
I'm done ordering burgers. And no more grocery story meat. Not that I eat a lot of meat in the first place, but that lovely gem has solidified my resolve to purchase meat from local farmers who actually raise the animals, kill them and cut them up without any chemicals. These farmers live with these animals, care for them, and are as intimately involved in the killing process as anyone would wish to be. They do it by hand. Perhaps that makes me a hypocrite (maybe we're all hypocrites) because I'm willing to let someone else kill that animal for me. But that's a dilemma for another day...
The best way to guarantee our meat comes from local farmers is to shop at farmers markets where at least most of the produce, meats, and dairy are local or regional. Also, for a foodie like myself, I relish exquisite food, but haven't eaten veal since I was 23 because there is no reason to eat a baby cow. None. I suppose I will eventually become a vegetarian the way this is all affecting me, but in the meantime, I will try to seek out restaurants and stores that sell locally-produced meat, dairy, and produce. I have found two restaurants and several farmer's markets - that's a good start.
While thinking on these horrifying facts, I picked up a copy of today's Allentown Morning Call, my local paper. And look what the lead story is on the front page of the Sunday paper:
PA egg safety rules a model for coming federal regulations
At first blush, this article is very positive. PA is breaking new ground in voluntarily protecting consumers from salmonella in eggs. We're leading the charge, the feds are following, and my goodness, the FDA may again have the power to inspect places that process the food! Egads, what a concept.
But these chicken houses (in the photos) in Lancaster have 100,000 birds crammed into them on tilted metal grates on top of each other. According to Bauer's firsthand evidence, the grates cause broken feet and bones, the tilt causes the hens to never really be able to settle in so they are always moving, and the moment these hens stop producing at a high rate, they are sent to a slaughterhouse to be ground up into chicken nuggets or cow feed. This is humane? No. Would any one of us want to live this way? No. Then why have we rationalized away our basic sense of decency and humane treatment? We coddle our cats and dogs, feeding them organic specialized diets (or at least that's what my Lucy eats), exercising them, playing with them, buying them toys and fluffy beds...while the animals who are responsible for producing or becoming our steak dinner/chicken fingers/milkshake are treated as inanimate, unfeeling objects incapable of thinking or feeling pain.
Seriously?!
Seriously.
So my resolve was hindered this morning, but no more. I love diners, but I want the diners that I frequent to know that at least one of their customers cares where her eggs and strawberries came from. And the next time I visit that diner, which will probably the next time I hike the nearby nature preserve, I will make it a point to ask. And if they say "we don't know" or "from the store" or name a large manufacturing company - basically, any answer other than "X farm right down the road," I will very politely ask why not the farm down the road? And make a suggestion that they consider doing so.
Other changes I'm now committed to making include buying almost exclusively from farmer's markets and I am fortunate to live in a place with several permanent markets to choose from. And this includes animals for food - I've found an Amish farm that raises bison and chickens. I'm sure there are more if I just start looking. Might I suggest you do the same?
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
The Discordant Dash for Doctoral Degrees
Let’s start with the premise that the pursuit and award of a doctoral degree equals economic privilege. Add in a dash of consideration for J. Elspeth Stuckey’s idea that by the time mainstream students reach the ninth grade, they have already achieved an elite academic status (The Violence of Literacy). Now take a quick glance at table #283 (page 23) in the Census Bureau’s updated 2004-2005 Statistical Abstract of the American Indian and Alaska Native Population: http://www.census.gov/statab/www/sa04aian.pdf.
This should be disturbing to more people than myself. I am just one short week away from taking my comprehensive exams (for my doctoral degree), so am trying to concentrate on reviewing, but find my attention sidelined by details such as this. Once again, as with my prior post on economic disparity within my home academic institution, I find myself distracted and upset and wondering what the hell is the answer to this problem?
Look specifically at the “Doctor’s degrees” section of Table 283 “Degrees Earned by Level and Race/Ethnicity: 1981-2002.” Notice anything strange?
The number of doctoral degrees conferred to Blacks, Hispanics, Asian or Pacific Islanders (which, by the way, is a misnomer since many Pacific Islanders consider themselves more “indigenous” than “Asian”), and Nonresident Aliens (whatever the hell that means)
But wait. This uphill battle is a pretty consistent problem for Native peoples – from challenges with literacy to continued treaty and land disputes with the
I don’t have an answer to this frustrating and easily identified problem, but it seems pretty clear that there is a problem related to higher education in our Native American communities. Of course, I know that the problems run much deeper than this. However, education and economic opportunity have always been tightly bound together, especially in the
If we, as a people in this nation, claim to believe that education is the “answer” to economic problems…why aren’t we doing more to help this particular group solve its own problems through higher educational achievement? At the very least, more non-Native people should be aware of this problem. And more people should give a damn about it - maybe then our leaders would also pay attention to disparities such as this.
Interesting that no politician currently running for President has meaningfully addressed Native communities and their concerns thusfar, beyond some lip service. Telling. Very telling.
(Edit: The Dems allowed this one tribal college president to speak: http://www.reznetnews.org/article/united-tribes-technical-college/tribal-college-president-decries-poverty-indian-country
...wonder if the Repubs have a similar plan?)
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Empowering students to join the conversation
One of my students, a young African-American woman (I’ll call her “Liz”) from an inner-city childhood and substandard schools, told me yesterday about her experiences and passionate commitment to improving conditions in VA hospitals. She has volunteered in a particular VA hospital since she was 12 years old and at age 16, had some truly life-changing and eye-opening experiences including vets being turned away, uncaring high-salaried administrators, and witnessing the physical therapy department lack the funds and equipment to help vets in pain. She now wants to be in the physical/rehabilitative therapy field as a result, but her anger about the government’s lack of financial attention to veterans’ care lends a sharp edge to her words and presentation of her thoughts. And yet she considers herself a terrible writer. She utterly lacks confidence in her ability to convey her thoughts and ideas in writing.
She received a 99 out of 100 on her first major essay for me. When she saw her score, she was visibly shocked and said in a quiet, shaky whisper, “I’ve never gotten an A on a paper before.” Then she cried.
I was stunned and moved both by Liz’s reaction to her outstanding performance on paper and angry at an education system and English teachers before me in Liz’s life who were either unwilling or unable to recognize her passionate commitment and quality thinking. And then I realized that perhaps Liz’s ability to thrive had something to do with the subject matter of our composition class and my teaching strategy that combines expressivism with critical pedagogy and an awareness that perfect grammar does not make a perfect writer. Some of my best thinkers have imperfect grammar and sentence structures – but their ideas are creative and compelling and usually well-organized with a passionate focus. I also offer as much encouragement as I can to students like Liz, especially when they so clearly care about doing well and are so evidently terrified of the task at hand. How did our educational system get to this point where fear and dislike of writing is so deeply ingrained that too many students tell me regularly, “I’m so bad at English,” “I’m a terrible writer,” “I’m just not good at writing.” I counter these statements with my own: “You know more than you think you do,” “Give yourself more credit, these are good ideas,” “You’re not a terrible writer, you’re a good thinker and that leads to good writing, I’ll help you.” Although I am new to teaching in academia, I am not new to teaching. I’ve been a mentor in varying capacities since my mid-20s, I’ve taught at numerous writers’ conferences helping other (newer) writers develop the skills and confidence to start a freelance writing career, and I’ve directed community theatre, which requires all sorts of teaching and mentoring skills with all ages. Encouragement, support, and compassion are at the root of every teaching moment I encounter…and it boggles my mind that all other teachers don’t approach teaching with the same attitude. But then, I’m starting to realize that in academia – at the university level – teaching is often a side dish, not the main course. And unfortunately for students like Liz, this means they become relegated to dishwashing duty instead of learning how to become first-class chefs. Part of my composition/rhetoric reading list for my upcoming exams includes Min-Zhan Lu’s “Conflict and Struggle: Enemies or Preconditions of Basic Writing” from a 1992 College English issue. Lu cites Ann Murphy’s essay, “Transference and Resistance” that “draws on her knowledge of the Lacanian notion of the decentered and destabilized subject.” Murphy argues that Basic Writers “may need centering rather than decentering and cognitive skills rather than self-exploration…being taken seriously as adults with something of value to say can, for many Basic Writers, be a traumatic and disorienting experience.” I have to wonder – in the case of a student like Liz, would this also be liberating and empowering as well? By giving students a sense of control and ownership of their own experiences and place in the world – or at least opening the door and inviting them to feel this – wouldn’t this also be a positive growth experience?
In addition to Murphy, Lu also cites Peter Rondinone, who maintains that “learning involves shifting social allegiances,” and asserts that “conflict can only impede one’s learning.” Lu is alarmed by this and so am I. Conflict, struggle, difficulties – these are a natural part of life, in or out of the college writing classroom. Conflict and coping with struggles can create some of the most memorable and lasting learning moments – sometimes life-changing, but ultimately positive, even if the conflict moment itself is painful in the short term. The long-term gains from learning how to cope with and articulate struggle can be extremely beneficial in very tangible ways. Last night, Liz emailed me that she couldn’t locate her finished paper on her computer – she didn’t save it correctly, spent two hours looking for it, and couldn’t find it. So she wrote to say she’d take a zero on the assignment.I got her email this morning, wrote back instantly and told her no, that she shouldn’t give up that easily. I emailed her the two page draft she’d sent me and told her to use that as the base of the new re-written paper. She came to see me this morning and we talked extensively – many things seem to be going ‘wrong’ for her right now, and this lost paper combined with a failing math test were the so-called final straws. We talked about the need to learn how to cope with obstacles and how common problems like this really are – that instead of giving up and giving in to the urge to withdraw from the semester entirely, she should take a moment to be angry, and cry, and lament how unfair life is…then get back on the computer and re-write the paper. Basically, I tried to encourage her not to give up because she has a modest and completely attainable goal – to graduate and help people (in some capacity). She also has never experienced teachers like myself and her math teacher – apparently, we are the only two teachers she has encountered in college thus far who truly seem interested in helping her succeed.Apparently, when she has approached other teachers for help, the result is a rather disengaged rote repetition of common assistive advice – not truly personal help.
Some may argue that a big research university isn’t the place for students to receive personal help from over-taxed professors. Sink or swim. Survival of the fittest. But what if by helping Liz, she realizes her own capacity to overcome adversity and does graduate, then goes on to become a public advocate for improving VA hospitals? Perhaps these learning moments that are fraught with conflict, difficulty, and discomfort are the moments she will absorb and then, years later, benefit a community of people in need because of her willingness to bravely and substantially face the difficulties of life head on.
Don’t we owe it to our students to empower them to learn from conflict and struggle, no matter how small or how large the issue, and to fearlessly join the human conversation? Isn’t that why we’re teaching? Or shouldn’t that at least be part of it?
She received a 99 out of 100 on her first major essay for me. When she saw her score, she was visibly shocked and said in a quiet, shaky whisper, “I’ve never gotten an A on a paper before.” Then she cried.
I was stunned and moved both by Liz’s reaction to her outstanding performance on paper and angry at an education system and English teachers before me in Liz’s life who were either unwilling or unable to recognize her passionate commitment and quality thinking. And then I realized that perhaps Liz’s ability to thrive had something to do with the subject matter of our composition class and my teaching strategy that combines expressivism with critical pedagogy and an awareness that perfect grammar does not make a perfect writer. Some of my best thinkers have imperfect grammar and sentence structures – but their ideas are creative and compelling and usually well-organized with a passionate focus. I also offer as much encouragement as I can to students like Liz, especially when they so clearly care about doing well and are so evidently terrified of the task at hand. How did our educational system get to this point where fear and dislike of writing is so deeply ingrained that too many students tell me regularly, “I’m so bad at English,” “I’m a terrible writer,” “I’m just not good at writing.” I counter these statements with my own: “You know more than you think you do,” “Give yourself more credit, these are good ideas,” “You’re not a terrible writer, you’re a good thinker and that leads to good writing, I’ll help you.” Although I am new to teaching in academia, I am not new to teaching. I’ve been a mentor in varying capacities since my mid-20s, I’ve taught at numerous writers’ conferences helping other (newer) writers develop the skills and confidence to start a freelance writing career, and I’ve directed community theatre, which requires all sorts of teaching and mentoring skills with all ages. Encouragement, support, and compassion are at the root of every teaching moment I encounter…and it boggles my mind that all other teachers don’t approach teaching with the same attitude. But then, I’m starting to realize that in academia – at the university level – teaching is often a side dish, not the main course. And unfortunately for students like Liz, this means they become relegated to dishwashing duty instead of learning how to become first-class chefs. Part of my composition/rhetoric reading list for my upcoming exams includes Min-Zhan Lu’s “Conflict and Struggle: Enemies or Preconditions of Basic Writing” from a 1992 College English issue. Lu cites Ann Murphy’s essay, “Transference and Resistance” that “draws on her knowledge of the Lacanian notion of the decentered and destabilized subject.” Murphy argues that Basic Writers “may need centering rather than decentering and cognitive skills rather than self-exploration…being taken seriously as adults with something of value to say can, for many Basic Writers, be a traumatic and disorienting experience.” I have to wonder – in the case of a student like Liz, would this also be liberating and empowering as well? By giving students a sense of control and ownership of their own experiences and place in the world – or at least opening the door and inviting them to feel this – wouldn’t this also be a positive growth experience?
In addition to Murphy, Lu also cites Peter Rondinone, who maintains that “learning involves shifting social allegiances,” and asserts that “conflict can only impede one’s learning.” Lu is alarmed by this and so am I. Conflict, struggle, difficulties – these are a natural part of life, in or out of the college writing classroom. Conflict and coping with struggles can create some of the most memorable and lasting learning moments – sometimes life-changing, but ultimately positive, even if the conflict moment itself is painful in the short term. The long-term gains from learning how to cope with and articulate struggle can be extremely beneficial in very tangible ways. Last night, Liz emailed me that she couldn’t locate her finished paper on her computer – she didn’t save it correctly, spent two hours looking for it, and couldn’t find it. So she wrote to say she’d take a zero on the assignment.I got her email this morning, wrote back instantly and told her no, that she shouldn’t give up that easily. I emailed her the two page draft she’d sent me and told her to use that as the base of the new re-written paper. She came to see me this morning and we talked extensively – many things seem to be going ‘wrong’ for her right now, and this lost paper combined with a failing math test were the so-called final straws. We talked about the need to learn how to cope with obstacles and how common problems like this really are – that instead of giving up and giving in to the urge to withdraw from the semester entirely, she should take a moment to be angry, and cry, and lament how unfair life is…then get back on the computer and re-write the paper. Basically, I tried to encourage her not to give up because she has a modest and completely attainable goal – to graduate and help people (in some capacity). She also has never experienced teachers like myself and her math teacher – apparently, we are the only two teachers she has encountered in college thus far who truly seem interested in helping her succeed.Apparently, when she has approached other teachers for help, the result is a rather disengaged rote repetition of common assistive advice – not truly personal help.
Some may argue that a big research university isn’t the place for students to receive personal help from over-taxed professors. Sink or swim. Survival of the fittest. But what if by helping Liz, she realizes her own capacity to overcome adversity and does graduate, then goes on to become a public advocate for improving VA hospitals? Perhaps these learning moments that are fraught with conflict, difficulty, and discomfort are the moments she will absorb and then, years later, benefit a community of people in need because of her willingness to bravely and substantially face the difficulties of life head on.
Don’t we owe it to our students to empower them to learn from conflict and struggle, no matter how small or how large the issue, and to fearlessly join the human conversation? Isn’t that why we’re teaching? Or shouldn’t that at least be part of it?
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