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Stock photography is a funny thing. Some rebel moms recently put together some memes using stock photography, essentially making fun of the unattainable utopia that each scene promises. Stock photography, sometimes free and more often available for purchase, is used by businesses for advertising. Their needs (audience, targeted demographic) dictate what they choose. I love this photo because I can’t for the life of me imagine what it would be used for, and the caption the rebel moms added is sublime. The bias here is almost tangible - perfect children, white-blonde hair (and skin), elegant designer sofa and backdrop. Clive Thompson, in his article in Wired magazine, calls for an overthrow of existing stock photography, writing “When we use stock photos, we think in clichés.” He offers excellent remedies to the problem, including a grassroots effort of posting our own photos online with Creative Commons licensing attached. (Thompson, 2014)
I believe that it is getting more difficult for folks who are lagging behind in their technology skills to maneuver the ever-changing world of technology around them. Online tutorials are not beginner-user friendly; they make assumptions about prior knowledge that would be taught in the beginner course that our public library holds for free for folks once a month. I think about this especially when I talk to my in-laws, who are retired and are not required to be up-to-date with the latest terminology and skills. Words like ‘pause,’ ‘spam,’ ‘cell,’ ‘post,’ and ‘text’ are all words that 30 years ago had very different meanings. My father-in-law was in the Army and spam was a dietary staple. Post was where he was stationed, and text is what he reads in books. The command of this vocabulary and the modern connotations associated with it do privilege some and cause others to not belong. Conversations that take place via text message or online cause some to be excluded if they don’t text or have Facebook accounts. At our Professional Development day this week, in the auditorium full of K-12 educators, the hashtag #TechCampRSD13 was projected for all to see, and we were encouraged by the techies running the day to ‘tweet out’ and use this hashtag throughout the day. The PE teacher in my building, two years away from retirement, just laughed and shook his head. Where does he begin to even ask questions about what this means, how to do it, what electronic device could help him, and by the way, he just got upgraded to a mobile phone that doesn’t have an antenna. Command of this vocabulary, and lack thereof, creates a divide between the ‘cans’ and the ‘can-nots.’
2. The question, ‘Do you agree that schools ought to prepare learners to succeed in the world as it is even if that may not be the world as it should be?’ has surfaced several times during this course. It has caused me to have some uncomfortable moments - with myself! - as I’ve been wrestling with this. My child development background infused in me the belief that all children have value, all children can contribute, and all children’s stories must be told. It turns out that theory and practice, in this case, do not merge very smoothly. I expect the students in my classroom to ‘tune in’ and be ready to learn, and that means sitting up straight, taking their hoods off, and not talking. In the hallways, walk because it’s safer. Format your expository papers the same way - 12 point font, Times New Roman, margins set to one inch. Do not use profanity, and hugs are for home.
My husband, who interviews potential employees for the Digital Channels Division of People’s United Bank, doesn’t care about interviewees’ backstories. He needs employees who will come in on time, do their job and present themselves in board rooms to Senior Vice Presidents and shareholders in a stereotypical professional manner. If someone applies for a job teaching in my school and shows up in jeans and a hoodie, they do not get the job regardless of their qualifications. Substitute teachers who spend time on their cell phones do not get asked back. Gee describes this phenomenon when he writes about the African American mothers in a job training program. The sad irony in this anecdote is that the success case (the woman who was hired) used the correct grammar but not enough of the right experience. The woman who had wonderful experience and was better qualified for the job used the wrong dialect for a middle-class interview and did not get hired. (Gee, Chapter 9)
Gee defines Discourses (with a capital ‘D’) as “ways of recognizing and getting recognized as certain sorts of whos doing certain source of whats.” (Gee, p. 153) Unfortunately, our world (as Americans) is defined by a wealthy-white-male-dominated-Judeo-Christian lens. The qualified woman who used the wrong dialect did not get hired. “Many students from minority or otherwise non-mainstream backgrounds fail at law school.” (Gee, p. 161) These two references add to the mounting proof that even though it is not ideal or fair, we need to prepare students to succeed in the world as it exists. Fluency in the normative is important, and the implications of my stance are significant. I want to get to know my students, to celebrate them for who they are and understand their primary discourses. Sometimes that needs to be put aside in the name of ‘fitting in’ and ‘meeting expectations.’
As educators, we must also address learner preparation in terms of the technology use and social community interactions they will encounter in the world as it exists. Internet safety units are taught, as are workshops on cyberbullying and netiquette. Turkle’s Chapter 13 addresses the anxieties that surface among young users. They keep their phones on because they are afraid to miss anything, create fake profiles to see how well they are liked, and have redefined what constitutes an ‘emergency.’ (Turkle, pp. 243-245) Real-world communications include Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, texting and email, and we are positively implicated by a sense of community, improved organization and the ability to ‘check in’ whenever and wherever we may be. Our post-9/11 world is one of connectivity, 24/7, to assure us of our physical and emotional safety. (Turkle, p. 247)
3. I am one of you. In Barack Obama’s book Audacity of Hope, he recounts an early campaign stop for lunch at an Illinois TGIFriday’s “when he had the audacity to order Dijon mustard on his cheeseburger….His political aide hastily informed the waitress that Obama didn't want Dijon at all, and thrust a yellow bottle of ordinary-American heartland-values mustard at him instead.” (Grunwauld, 2008) Our more seasoned politicians and their campaign advisors work hard to convince us that they are one of us, not THEM, and therefore will work to get us what we want and need when elected.
Tom Foley’s ad titled “The Plan 60” is one minute of Tom Foley giving the message to voters, visually and auditorily, that government policies under Dannel Malloy are not working. The ad is full of stereotypes, prejudices, appeals, fears, and more. The intended audience appears to be white upper-middle class men and women who are approaching or at retirement age. The first 15 seconds of the ad plays on the fears of voters - what is not working. After that, he launches into what will change under his leadership. When taxes are mentioned, we see the obligatory factory floor with a group of male workers, women shopping (because that’s really all they care about as far as taxation goes) and a manly man driving a big pickup truck. There are two African American men who appear in the ad, and they are the only minorities in the ad at all. The first appears 22 seconds in and is one of the blue-collar warehouse workers. The other appears 35 seconds in, is another blue-collar warehouse worker, and Foley has his back to him. Where do African American men fit into Tom Foley’s plan? Well, their employers, under a Foley administration, would see lower taxes and less burden on the small business owners (white men) for which they work. The other white men in the commercial? Driving pickups, sitting at the beach with their kids, analyzing blueprints, making eye contact and conversation with Foley.
I had so much to say and so many resources to cite for this response that I chose to use the Google Docs written format with embedded links to videos and images. The blog version of this response has embedded videos on which readers can click. The purpose of this response is to analyze my own thoughts, opinions and positions and communicate those to my peers. The topics are heavy - writing seemed to be the most serious medium - and would be comfortable for people in education and academia.
Resources:
Gee, James Paul. Social Linguistics and Literacies: Ideology in Discourses. London: Routledge, 2012. Print.
Grunwald, Michael. "The Democrats Play Trivial Pursuit." Time. Time Inc., 17 Apr. 2008. Web.
Thompson, Clive. "Only You Can Overthrow the Tyranny of Awful Stock Photos | WIRED." Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, 27 May 2014. Web.
Turkle, Sherry. Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. New York: Basic, 2012. Print.
Bob. "Moms Recaption Overly Pleasant Parenting Stock Photos -- Brilliant (20 Photos)." TheCHIVE RSS. N.p., 28 Oct. 2014. Web.
Hennick, Calvin. "7 Things I Can Do That My Black Son Can't." 7 Things I Can Do That My Black Son Can't. N.p., 27 Oct. 2014. Web.
Morrison, Toni. "Comment - The New Yorker." The New Yorker. N.p., 5 Oct. 1998. Web.
"Asking Barack Obama If Bill Clinton Was the First "black President.""YouTube. YouTube, 21 Jan. 2008. Web.
"United States Census Bureau." Connecticut QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau.2013 Web. 05 Nov. 2014.