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I left State College on Saturday afternoon with a warm glow. Sounds cheesy, I know, but that's the right way to characterize it... I was there to give a talk in a lecture series to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the American Indian Leadership Program in Penn State's College of Education. I spent most of my time with students and faculty in the program, and thank them here (publicly) for that warm glow: Heather, Peter, Connie, Arlene, Rose Mary, Kari, and Jane; and, professors John Tippeconnic and Susan Faircloth. I also spent some time with a handful of professors in the College of Education: Gail Boldt, Dan Hade, Lisa Hopkins and Jacqueline Reid-Walsh. Dan's work on the commodification of children's literature is excellent, and I encourage people to look for it. You can listen to him via a podcast here. The podcast link is on the left side of the page under MULTIMEDIA. Tippeconnic and Faircloth recently released findings from their study of graduation rates of American Indians. Titled The Dropout/Graduation Rate Crisis Among American Indian and Alaska Native Students: Failure to Respond Places the Future of Native Peoples at Risk, their findings are grim. Quite often, statistics about American Indians are not part of large studies of drop out rates. The reason for that is, we are deemed "statistically insignificant" and therefore, ignored. That "statistically insignificant" attribute is ironic, given that images of American Indians are everywhere. Because they are, we don't actually see them until someone points them out. They may be innocuous, or, they may be highly derogatory. The findings of my content analysis of SLJ's Top 100 Novels is a good example of how unexpectedly pervasive this imagery is. Another example is the reviews of Peter Pan in Scarlet (the sequel to Peter Pan), only one of which noted the negative stereotyping I found in it. On page 7 of the report, Tippeconnic and Faircloth note that being left out because we're statistically insignificant is an example of:
5 Comments on Why This Blog Matters, and, My Visit to Penn State..., last added: 4/29/2010
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By: Alice,
on 8/29/2008
Blog: It's All Good (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap) JacketFlap tags: alice, reports, holiday, biking, Penn State, Add a tag
Any of the above--and in combination--I am ecstatic about the possibilities and excited by the potential. With academic life cranking back up next week (if it's not already cranked in your neck of the world), what's your response to these findings, in terms of your own experience? Also (unrelated) a colleague just forwarded me a link to Wimba Pronto. Looks like a nice way to carry conversations from the classroom to the dorm room and beyond. Even if it's only for virtual office hours--could be a more formalized setting than Facebook and less stilted than Blackboard. (Not that I've actually used Blackboard myself, but so I'm told.) Enjoy the holiday weekend.
0 Comments on Student comparisons, or, Why Penn State students come out ahead as of 8/29/2008 12:10:00 PM
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hi. send me an e-version of Fryberg's article. much thanks!
Matthew,
Send me an email address. Mine is debreese at illinois dot edu.
My response to statistical insignifcance has always been to ask, "How many people like me do there need to be before people like me count?" Stops 'em in their tracks.
Hmmm, where to begin. Hopefully not all who capitalize the word FICTION are protesting that the work has no influence on thought. Many librarians (myself, for one) will be in the habit of capitalizing the word because it specifies a collection within our library. At least I would think that the librarians are not trying to comment that the work is not influential.
I do agree, however, that a lack of empathy is problematic. But then that is problematic no matter what heritage, ancestry, or background there may be. I've seen a lack of empathy from white teachers with white children who weren't from the same neighborhood - it doesn't matter what the background is.
The statistical 'insignificance' is a serious problem mainly because its source is in the government itself. Anyone who is not of the elite or the approved groups is insignificant. Women, blacks/African-Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, all 'enjoy' such status in selected settings. That is not to say that this acceptable for anyone. It is not, but changing such attitudes is difficult and fraught with consequences along the way.
A major concern I have with all of this is the one pointed out by Tippeconnic and Faircloth - that of Indians dropping out, but really of any group dropping out. As an educator I want all people to have the benefit of an education and the opportunity to realize their potential for a decent life that comes from being educated. Does that make me someone who believes in 'pie in the sky' or does that make me someone who thinks that all things are possible?
I will reiterate some of what I said in my We the People post again. Literature read in schools needs to positively reflect the student body. It is one thing to read about the historical perspective of racism and stereotypes in non-fiction but quite another if that is the only perspective offered especially in fiction. Urban schools still struggle to find literature that appeals to African American students. Students want to read about characters who are like they are.
I personally have had the experience somewhat recently of being insignificant to others. It is very demeaning and I thought that perhaps I had become invisible. I sat right next to someone and participated in a discussion and was never acknowledged-in fact, I felt positively ignored and therefore unimportant and insignificant.