This article focused around the idea of "hope". How doe hope influence society? How does "hope" look in the past, how does it look right now, and how will it look in the future?
HOPE - sing it if you know it.
A portion of the article talks about the Obama campaign and how he ran on a platform of hope. It also discusses how having an African American president signifies how far we have come in this country. While, I do see where people are coming from, it is not to say that racism has come to an end. John McCain stated that he felt it was the end of racism. The article points out that "educators must not use Obama's election as evidence that we have emerged victorious in our battle with racism or with any of the oppressions (classism, patriarchy, xenophobia, homophobia) that continue to cripple our society." This is the form of 'mythical hope' the article talks about. While it is a great achievement to recognize, it does not mean that the world has conquered social issues.
Another part of the article I found to be interested was were it spoke about "control of destiny". Based upon your social class and socio-economic status, different events factor into your daily life. One of the most import factors...stress. "The exposure to chronic stress associated with living in these types of 'socially toxic environments' is now thought of as one of the most-if not the most-significant contributors to poor health." It is hard to have hope when you are born into a poor living situation. This ties into the first documentary we watched, speaking to the limitations people in low economic conditions face. This could include money for healthy food, transportation, paying rent, child care, etc. Having hope when these are conditions you are used to can be challenging.
From an educators stand point, I appreciated how the article spoke about making connections with the lives of students. "The most effective urban educators, in every discipline at every grade level, connect the academic rigor of the content areas with their students' lives." With that being said, I feel that is one of the most important pieces of information to take away as a teacher. Making connections with students and making the learning more meaningful to them makes for a richer academic experience and increases student engagement. As teachers, having students take ownership over their learning and making it something that they can feel proud of is part of the reason of what makes teaching so great.
Changes - Tupac - "selling crack to the kids.. I gotta get paid.. that's just the way it is"
Looking at the potential for classrooms to be this so called "crack in the concrete" is something all educators can appreciate. If you don't have hope, what else do you have?!
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