Must Read This One Too!

Winter of Fire by Sherryl Jordan: A fabulous teen/young adult novel dealing with racial discrimination, and indoctrination, in a futuristic setting.

In a smoky, hazy, sunless world, there are two classes of people: The Quelled and the Chosen. The Chosen live privileged lives, while the Quelled, who are branded, are treated as slaves that must mine for the firestones which keep the homes of the Chosen heated. The lowest of the low are the female Quelled. This is a story of a young Quelled woman who challenges the existing ways of life. She breaks all conventional rules when she is chosen to become the Handmaiden to the Fire Lord. Her investigation into the history of her people reveals teachings and methods of indoctrination that were meant to keep her people in slavery. She discovers that she has the power to divine for the firestones and eventually rises in power, taking her position as society’s new Fire Lord.

The story parallels the injustices made toward the African American peoples. This is an excellent book to use as a springboard into discussions on racial discrimination. My daughters and I loved this book! One of our favourites.

Textbooks: Bureaucratic tools

White Supremacy and the Rhetoric of Educational Indoctrination: A Canadian Case Study


This was a very enlightening, yet scary read. I can’t remember who suggested this, or brought this one into class, but thank you, I think that it has added a lot of dimension into our understanding of the deliberate cultivating of a white racist society in BC. The importance education plays in the role of the development of attitudes and prejudices becomes apparent in the article. We are also enlightened by developing an awareness of the power of textbooks to promote specific ideologies. Even when textbooks present different views, we have to remember that they are only one source which should be used to examine different issues. I think many teachers who only use textbooks in the classroom do so not to deliberately promote a specific point of view, but because textbooks are easy to use. It is hard work trying to find a variety of resources to explore issues – specifically issues that are presented at the reading level of your students.

So, if schools were blatantly used to effectively support white supremacy, then we, in turn, can use schools as a vehicle to undo this by challenging, discussion, and studying these issues in the classroom. I appreciate the efforts of everyone in the classroom in bringing in different resources, the networking has been good. Many hands make light work!

Mickey Mouse is not "Mickey Mouse"

Definition from Gage Canadian Dictionary
Mickey Mouse: not worthwhile or serious, insignificant or trivial: a Mickey Mouse rehabilitation program, a school offering Mickey Mouse courses. [from the name of Walt Disney’s movie cartoon character]

The video Mickey Mouse Monopoly stresses the huge impact Disney movies, along with the accompanying marketing of toys and accessories, have upon the socialization of children. Children are viewing and absorbing images that Dr. Henry Giroux insists are forming the child’s imaginary world and that reinforce stereotypes, white supremacy, and racism. An interesting question posed in the video is “Is the racism intentional?” The resounding answer is: “It doesn’t matter, the effect is the same!”

I think the video created a lot of personal tension with the viewers in the class, as we struggled to make sense of how we have previously viewed these Disney movies. I grew up watching, and loving, the Disney movies. I can remember thinking to myself, as a child, that the depiction of the Siamese cats in Lady and the Tramp was so effective. I think I enjoyed how the stereotypes were presented because the music and the cartoon characters fit so nicely with my stereotyped ideal of this group of Asian people. I remember laughing at the Chihuahua dog, with his Mexican accent, and enjoying this flagrant stereotypical presentation of Mexicans. It was good to hear the voices of people protesting the representation of their race in this way.

Giroux’s message is that we can not accept Disney propaganda as harmless or insignificant, as the Mickey Mouse definition suggests, (the impact is not "Mickey Mouse") because children replicate movie scripts in their play. A great message from the video is that entertainment must have some responsibility because you have the attention of someone. When you self-examine your guilty feelings over your enjoyment of the stereotypes presented at great cost to others, the need for critical media literacy skills becomes apparent. We need to be careful when we use movies in the classroom to ensure that our teaching addresses social issues and that we teach democratically in a way that bell hooks (1994) describes as teaching "without reinforcing existing systems of indoctrination".

So, is Mulan a strong female character, who challenges existing female roles? Does her return to her traditional place in society, (at the end of the movie after she has saved China) undermine all of her efforts? Is the message negative or positive? Does she perhaps provide a message that one can work within the traditional structure and yet still adopt other roles when needed, (and even when desired?) .. or do we get depressed because the message says that it will take a huge catastrophic event (like a war) to help women get out of their roles... Linking to the reality that the emancipation of women in North America was due to pressures from the workforce created by WWII, and then further suggesting the depressing notion that racial emmancipation will only come under these same conditions?

Another great picture book

Erika's Story written by Ruth VanderZee. This picture book deals with the horrors of the holocaust. The storyteller survives the holocaust because her mother, in an attempt to save her, throws her from a moving train. One picture in the book shows a wrapped bundle, (the baby) being flung from the moving train. I wondered whether or not this would be too graphic or gruesome to read to children. Some of the feedback I had from other teachers was that they would not read the book to primary students. (But I did anyway). The story is a celebration of life, of future generations that exist because of a mother's desperate and courageous act. It generated a lot of discussion about the horrors of war, and the disbelief that things like this actually happened.

Silencing the lambs

I was not too crazy about the title of Hankins' article with the allusion to a movie with a horrible theme, and the suggestion that children are meek little lambs. I think if you ask any child how they would wish to be portrayed they would choose a more fierce animal rather than a meek lamb. However, Hankins message is very powerful: we must listen to the stories children tell and we must honour the ways in which they tell their stories, and in turn, honour the ways in which their culture tells stories. How does this relate to our story writing lessons that insist on a beginning, middle and end? We have all seen the graphic organizers of plot profiles resembling an upward climb toward the story climax, culminating with an ending which wraps everything up neatly. Does Hankins challenge you to change how you teach writing stories, or to accept different story structures that your students may use?

Great books that can start great conversations in the classroom

Picture book: December, written by Eve Bunting
A different picture book that addresses poverty within a Christmas theme.

Novel (Great Read Aloud) Touching Spirit Bear
by Ben Mikaelsen
A very intriguing journey of self discovery of a juvenile delinquent who agrees to participate in the process of circle justice. Initially the protaganist is self-serving and only interested in this type of justice system because it will allow him to escape spending time in jail. Some gory details (he gets mauled by a bear) but a very thought-provoking book.

Student participation in writing IEPs

Allen makes an interesting comment which suggests we empower students by providing them with the opportunity to participate in writing their own IEPs. This notion has been suggested by other writers, but I am curious, does this practice exist in our school districts? I have been involved with establishing behaviour IEPs that have had a lot of student input into the reward and consequence aspect of these plans, however, I see little student involvement in academic IEPs at the elementary school level. Are your students involved in the planning of Academic IEPs?