Today, however, I was having a difficult time focusing. Usually my notes are pretty basic, just about what is discussed in class. Today I was so bored, I started a stream-of-consciousness thing in my notes. I now give them to you for your amusement, or as an insomnia buster. Take your pick.
*These notes have been slightly edited. I took out people's names, just leaving their initials, and threw in a couple of clarifying statements, in italics. Otherwise, this is how my brain usually works in class, but normally I don't bother typing everything out. Like I said, it was a boring day.
EDSE 503 6 December 2011
· Once again, capitalism is evil. Because it’s not a curriculum studies class without dogging on capitalism. This time, capitalism is trying to take over the globalization of education.
· ASCD is BAAAAAADDDD! Because it’s an American organization, and has colonial roots, those evil bastards!
· IAACS – trying to create something different – de-centered international curriculum association – one not necessarily based in Western culture, which, as we all know, is EVIIIIILLL.
· World-wide but not necessarily....Dr. C forgot the phrase – worldwide but not necessarily uniform association of curriculum studies – no standardization! VIVA LA REVOLUCION!!!
· World conference every three years in some part of the world not in the West – Shanghai was the first, second in Tampura, Finland. And he has a shiny book that came from there – he presented it there, about China. Third was in 2009 (tri-ennial) in Africa (“I bless the rains down in Africa! It’s gonna take some time to do the things we nev-er ev-he-eh-ev-er do” bum ba ba ba ba bum bum, doodle ee doo doodle ee doo, doodle ee doo, doodle ee doo) in Capetown South Africa.
· Audience had little idea about Canadian history – he talked about experience of aboriginal peoples and the residential schools. Someone thought he meant Aboriginals from Australia. In that dude’s defense, most people outside Canada refer to the group of people here as Natives or Indians, not Aboriginals.
· Next conference in Rio!! Brazil! Viva la BRAZIIIIILLLLLLLL!!!
· We’re invited – I feel special! Too bad I’m a poor college student living off of loans and familial generosity.
· Paper #1 – Presented by Dr. C in Finland – should probably have read it, but let’s be honest – I’m not being tested on it, and I really don’t care at this point. Christmas Break Fevah STRIKES AGAIN!!
· Western China – not as Chinese as Eastern China – lots of Muslims and non Han Chinese.
· China has a lot of people. Really! Huh. You learn something new every day!
· Eastern China is much more isolated. I should have gone to China on the panda trips when I had the chance. Now I will probably never get the opportunity. LAME SAUCE!!
· I miss Badger Springs. I’d like to see what it’s like now with a different principal, and how the staff is dealing with it.
· Okay, Dr. C, you promised J you’d let her speak her piece. Maybe you should do that. We don’t have any more classes, so you can’t make it up to her.
· Oh, that’s mean. (He was asking the student what she thought of and how she liked the paper that HE WROTE – like she’s gonna say she didn’t like it.)
· Five key elements of curriculum reform in China –
o Student centered teaching
o Focus on democratic education by involving locals in decision making when it comes to curriculum
o Address global education to foster international understanding of Chinese education
o Concern about responsibility for environment and care for natural world
o Move away from subject matter common knowledge; relate knowledge to life of individual students
· Chinese education is generalist – make all students the same – get high marks and learn everything they should – highest achievement possible – ingrained in the culture – an A- is an Asian F!! (I didn’t say that, one of my Chinese classmates did).
· They can be as high minded as they want about changing education, but you are dealing with cultural stereotypes that are ingrained in the majority of civilization. Eventually, you will realize
· Students are obedient and listen. Do not question the teacher. Asking something not related is thought of as weird, stupid. Teachers are honoured and unquestioned – authority. Oh, would that I could be a teacher in China!
· Teachers resisting the change to democratic teaching. I don’t blame them. Have very avaunt garde ideas about what a democratic classroom means, and trying to make it fit with ancient Chinese traditions.
· Class size is very important; China has around 60 to 70 students in each class. I changed my mind about wanting to be a teacher in China. The private schools have around 35-40. I will never complain about teaching a class of 30 ever again. Okay, that’s probably a lie, but hopefully I will remember it could be a lot worse.
· Maybe the reason teachers have to be considered the authority, and students are taught to listen and obey without question has something to do with how many students are in the class. There’s a limit to how much you can get done when students won’t listen and decided to question your authoritah!
· Changing who is in control is not always a good thing, and shouldn’t happen over night. No sh*t, Sherlock. Kind of like how OWS wants everything to change, but has no idea what they want to change to, or how to get there. Okay, tangential rant over.
· Funny how some people keep trying to tell the class how it is in China, and the Chinese students keep saying, um, noo....not really...
· Certification = smartness in China. So, the more certifications you have = the smarter you are. Apparently, they don’t really talk to people with degrees, because I’ve met some doctors who are morons.
· What happens to the students who have special needs? Honestly, the LD students probably don’t even get an education, or identified as LD. When anonymity and conformity is the goal, no parent is going to fight for their different child.
· Chinese teachers work as a collective....”You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.”
· I am not a robot! I am a unicorn!!
· And now we’re talking about the Cultural Revolution – I wondered when we’d bring Mao into it. YES!! Thank you for bringing out the radical tone of the articles we read!
· New does not mean good.
· ON TO GOUGH!!!
· How do we understand other cultures in this globalized society in a way that is not exploitative, but communicative?
· Transnational curriculum inquiry.
· Emphasis on creating trans-nationalist spaces
· Explore possibilities for teaching, learning and research beyond Australian nation.
· Not sure what W is talking about, he’s kind of muttering – oh, polity – international polity > national polity, I guess...Aristotle?
· W has a cool accent. Mixing Iraqi with British – very fun to listen to.
· Polity = political system combining oligarchy and government by democracy – rule of those with property; majority of citizens have a share in government= middle class rule
· All about balance in power; transfer balance of power into curriculum inquiry
· Roots in Greek thought, Aristotelian paradigm compromise between oligarchy and democracy. W is using big words I don’t know, and am too lazy to look up.
· Global solidarity – yeah, like that will EVER happen.
· Curriculum decision making is blurry; postcolonial views to the rescue! But, wait, isn’t a postcolonial perspective EVIIILLLL?
· Regulate research regularly
· Now he’s bringing in Italian sociologists; cultural hegemony and hegemonic systems; certain values become common knowledge and people don’t question them; curriculum studies has become a hegemonic discourse; curriculum inquiry needs to intervene
· He’s using big words again...I guess when you’re a professional student with multiple Master’s and Doctoral degrees, you get used to using big words and referencing obscure people...
· One time, when W was in second grade, he recited a poem he wrote about Saddam Hussein, and he got a pin with Saddam’s face on it from Saddam himself, which he proudly wore until he was about twelve, and his father and uncle sat him down and gave him the business on what a horrible person Saddam was...good for them, and good for W for realizing it
· What IS IAACS trying to do? Better question: Do I care? Answer: No. No, I really, really do NOT care...oy vey.
· L, I can’t hear you! Speak up!
· Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb, watermelon, watermelon, watermelon...oh, wait, you say that in crowd scenes so it looks like you’re talking...I guess typing it out isn’t quite the same thing...
· Oh, I crack myself up...and I can’t type for beans...backspace is my new BFF!
· I’m tired. And bored. And cold. Remind me...why do we need the AC in December, when it’s -3 outside and snowing?
· I think I’m gonna post this to my blog...anyone intimidated by graduate school really, really shouldn’t be.
· We already know we need a large scale change to education as we know it; the problem is getting everyone to agree where the problems are, and what needs to be done to fix them. Personally, I think we should start by getting rid of the Department of Education, and returning the control to the states. Canada has their Education system set up that way (well, provincial control, they don’t have states here), and it’s working out better for them. And they only have standardized tests every third year, or something like that.
· Also, they have this nifty Bill 44 thingie, which states that parents are the primary educators, and have the ultimate responsibility and say in how their child is educated, and what they learn. So if parents take issue with a curriculum topic, they can opt their student out. We need that. Badly.
· Wow, that was phrased really awkwardly – “...adults use children as the outward projection of adult unrealized desires” – I think the point M’s making is parents try to get their kids to achieve the dreams the parents had for themselves, but the way it was phrased...awkward!
· Young and old work together to teach each other – everything I know about life, I learned from Kindergarten. No binary us vs them mindset.
· What is all this for? Why are we here? What is the meaning of life...?
· Oh, here we go. Modern economies don’t want us to ask...conservatives are bad...le sigh...why do we seek for knowledge? See, this is why I love the Gospel. Because I can be a conservative, and believe in the pursuit of knowledge, and understand why I am here, and what I am doing, and where I am going. And I understand that the pursuit of knowledge is means to an end, not an end itself.
· Oh, shoot, here we go again, K and her incomprehensible accent, bless her, and her long, winding, tangential comments...le siiiiigggghhhh....I wanna go hoooommmme
· D, if you don’t know how to say what you want to say, don’t say it.
· See, the problem with open mindedness is eventually you lose hold of anything concrete, and then what do you have? I’d rather cling to my close-minded concrete ways of thinking, absolute right and wrong and everything in between, and know where I stand and what I believe, rather than allow everyone else’s opinions and thoughts influence my own to the point where my open-mindedness leads to my brains falling out.
· Please can we go now?
· BIS-MIL-LAH! NO!!! We will not let you go!
· LET ME GOOO!!!
· THANK YOU!!!
· Final assignment: e-mail it to him. Okay, thought we’d get a little more instruction than that...
· Thanks for the offer of beer, Dr. C, but I’m outta here. (Class ended an hour early so everyone could go to the Faculty Lounge for drinks, and Dr. C offered to buy the beer. I went home instead.)
