HW 42: Significance of Curriculum and Censorship

The goal of my research is to figure out how students are controlled through curriculum and censorship. Most people can figure out that schools are meant to shape kids into what the government and society wants us to be. However this question can't simply be answered by what we're taught, it's also answered by what we aren't taught and what's taught beneath the surface.

Researching what gets taught in schools gives us some insight into how America wants its students to turn out and what the overall goal of school is. To do anything correctly you must know the goal of what you're doing, this must apply to school as well. If you don't know what you're trying to accomplish in school you won't be very successful in it, some students may get good grades but won't retain what they learn and their goal is to learn then they've just wasted their time in school.

To figure out the goal of school, the student must first look at the government's goal for these students, based on the curriculums set in place the government wants students to have a well rounded education in high school and branch out into different fields of study in college, this is shown through the "surface" curriculum, the curriculum that students are aware of. The sub-curriculum should also be explored to discover how schools are transforming students into "ideal citizens" and what exactly an "ideal citizen" is.

Learning about the goals society has for us will help us to play along since we know what the overall goal is, or it'll help us to criticize the school system and come up with new systems set around goals that make more sense and produce better citizens.

HW 41: School Curriculums and Censorship

"Censorship and Book Banning" in America by Melissa Kell

http://712educators.about.com/cs/bannedbooks/a/bookbanning.htm

This article illustrates the main idea behind censorship and gives some examples of certain instances. The main example the article gives is "The adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain. The book makes use of the "n" word and is therefore deemed "questionable". The fate of "questionable" books are decided by a government organization that weighs the books educational value over its "questionable themes". However this list of books that can't be read in the classroom only effects schools who would actually want to read those books. Schools can censor their students independently without the help of the government. Schools can choose not to buy certain books which can easily censor and limit the education of students.

"School Curriculum-Hidden Curriculum"

http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1899/Curriculum-School-HIDDEN-CURRICULUM.html

This article refers to what schools teach to their students "under-the-radar". Aside from the regular curriculum there is a hidden curriculum that teaches other things. Things like Obedience, Punctuality and discipline are all taught in class when a teacher says "be quiet" "come to class on time" "get your work done" etc. Schools create these hidden curriculums subconsciously or consciously. They can actively instill values in students or teach a certain way to influence the students to act a certain way in that class.

"Curriculum Policy"

http://www.icteachers.co.uk/resources/policies/curric_policy.pdf

This pdf is an official document that contains the basis for a good curriculum. The overall theme is surprising in the fact that it asks that the students learn basic information in all subjects, the goal of advanced education isn't necessarily to learn that particular information but to encourage the student to think in different ways and expand their horizons. The Curriculum Policy also places emphasis on the arts and music and experiencing them both which not all schools have (or can afford). The overall goal of a curriculum is to learn basic information primarily and take away new ways to think from higher subjects according to this source, advanced information is only supplementary.

"Government Speech and the School Curriculum" by Professor Anne M Lousin

http://www.keghart.com/opinions/Lousin_school_curriculum_who_decides

This article talks about certain topics that aren't discussed in schools, such as the Armenian Genocide and other genocides that don't get as much attention as the Holocaust. This may be because the government wants to talk about genocides that we've helped in to help portray America as a hero of sorts. While the government doesn't actively say what can't be taught there's a basic curriculum that must be taught to pass tests and this curriculum takes time away from topics that teachers and students would learn independent of the government. At the same time the curriculum put in place by the government is based on American history which is important to know as people who live in the US. However the government will always design its curriculums to support its own image.

"List of Banned books in Schools"

http://www.banned-books.com/bblista-i.html

This list of banned books contains several books that would be deemed inappropriate for students, many of these are classics such as "Huckleberry Finn" (which was previously talked about in another article) "Catcher in the Rye" (Which SOF has apparently gotten away with), several dictionaries that contain biological descriptions of private parts, and "The Grapes of Wrath" was banned in Oklahoma for its use of the "n-word". This shows that schools are more worried about students coming into contact with inappropriate things than they are with actual learning. The books that were banned reveal the sub-curriculum of these schools, a lot of books were banned for the use of the "n-word" this shows that those schools don't want their students using racial slurs, this is part of their sub-curriculum. The majority of these sub-curriculums involve sheltering the students from mature topics instead of teaching the students about them in a mature manner that will help them develop a clear view of the world. Although considering the decline in teenage maturity over the years its not hard to see why censorship might be the easiest option, although it isn't the best option.

Hw 39: School Questions, Thoughts, Experiences

Questions

1-What won't they teach in schools?

2-Why did we switch from vocational education to school education?

3-Would our society be able to function without schools?

Ideas

1-School is put in place to "brainwash" kids into thinking the way the government wants them to.

2-Because all kids go to school or are home-schooled according to government curriculum, no one can "think outside of school" we're all raised to think the way we're educated, which depends on which school we're in

3-School is intended to make kids smarter, but by having an environment that consists of multiple distractions, like other students, sports and extra-curricular activities the actual learning becomes peripheral.

Experiences

1-In my experience, few kids actually come out of school with a "thirst for knowledge" or even remember what they learned

2-Just about every day people complain about how bad the school is, either in an attempt to look cool or too good for this school or simply because we go to a very poor public school

3-Teachers usually define weather a class is good or not, the subject matter has little influence in most cases

Schools are intended for education, or so we're taught to believe, but education isn't the only thing happening in schools, assuming it actually happens to begin with. The school environment offers so many distractions that most students prioritize other things above learning, things like friends, sports, extra-curricular activities etc. This puts schools in an odd position because while they're publicly intended to make smarter, most kids don't care about their own education. Most of the information we learn in school we'll forget unless its used in our careers, which means education isn't the main product of schools. This either means that education is like some weird business that advertises its apples and sells oranges or there's some sort of other purpose to school that we're missing.

This other purpose must be social development, the only other things to be gained out of school besides an education are friends and skill at extra-curricular activities which usually create friendships among the people involved. This means that school is productive in most cases, unless a student has no friends and doesn't learn anything. This relationship mimics life, life is in most cases a balance of knowledge and how social someone is. School really just serves as a virtual world where things are simpler, its a watered down version of the real world where kids like us can be safe from the big bad world out there. School serves as a way to ease us into the real world, we lose our innocence in controlled increments to create productive function citizens.

HW 37: Cool Paper Draft

Introduction

The word "Cool" is an odd word that everyone uses but nobody defines. It can be used to express approval towards a situation, as in "okay, thats cool" or towards a person or object its hard to label what kind of positive reaction "cool" fits the best. No one knows the exact meaning behind the word because it's such a widely used term that there are hundreds of definitions for it. The only common factor between each definition is the idea of approval, people who are cool are accepted and feel good about themselves.

Subconsciously being "cool" is about fitting into people's lives, each person is the hero in their own story and needs companions and "supporting characters". To be cool people try to fill roles in multiple lives and fill certain archetypes, this gives them a sense of value. Because this is all subconscious, no one is aware that they're playing roles or that they're altering their roles to fit more easily into the lives of the people around them.

Social Cool

The majority of Americans see Cool as a fashion contest. The way people dress defines how cool they are, not only do people, mostly teens, have to wear the right clothes, they have to wear them at the right time. Not only do they have to wear the right clothes at the right time, but also in the right group. For example a kid wearing expensive clothes with name-brand tags and logos will be accepted by most teens, but that same teen won't be accepted by the "alternative hippy" crowd. Cool is different to different people, everyone has their own standards for how people should dress, act and look to be cool.

What's Cool is partly defined by corporations, some people are dedicated enough to brand names to find anything that brand sells to be cool. People then associate things about those products to be so certain "traits" become cool by association. Certain companies have focus groups that find out what teens find cool and use that information to create new products that teens will find cool. These products are inspired by archetypical roles, for men there are products that give off a masculine vibe which fits the role of "hero" and men who assume this role are cool. For women however, their products are designed to give off a feminine vibe which fits the role of "princess" or "damsel in distress". A man can't assume a woman's role accurately and vice versa, because of these roles we're limited to wearing and buying certain things to be accepted in our culture.

Psychological Cool

People try to be "Cool" to feel a sense of value. We need to feel valued to have self esteem and function well as human beings. Instead of working hard at a skill and contributing to society, which would actually be valuable, most people try to look cool and assume the "cool pose" to be liked. However subconsciously we perceive "like" and "value" to mean the same thing which isn't always the case. Being stylish and trendy will get you liked but there's no real value to someone who doesn't have any skills or real qualities as a person.

The "Cool Pose" is a way to assume a certain role. The classic James Dean attitude of apathy and competence is closest to the "hero" role. The role of "The hero" can be assumed in many ways the "Cool Pose" is used to assume the rebel hero. James Dean's performance in "Rebel Without a Cause" conveyed just that, a rebel without a cause. Because he was a rebel he had a sense of mystery and his aloofness and apathy made him seem as though he was better than other people making him the main character which gave him attention which made him cool.

Mythic Cool

Being "Cool" or accepted relies on filling a role in someone's life. This role is a mythic role, to be accepted the person must fill the role of "side-kick" or "mentor" etc. As social creatures we try to surround ourselves with people who will benefit us in life, this can happen consciously or subconsciously. The way we become accepted is by tailoring our characters to fit the expectations of the people around us, and there are different expectations we have to meet to assume different roles, the standards one has to meet to be someone's mentor are much different than the standards they have to meet.

Conclusion

People will always be filling roles and there's no way around it. To be cool everyone vies for the role of the hero, everyone wants to be the main character, which is impossible. This is impossible because A-In the grand scheme of the universe there is no main character, everything just "is" and B-psychologically everyone is their own main character (unless they have self-esteem issues) so there's no pint trying to outshine them in their own life. "Cool" people may get attention but they don't have true friends because the role of "the friend" is a supporting role that few people actively try to assume. Instead we should all try to be our own hero's in our own lives but assume supportive roles in the lives of other people and accept that. There's no value in outshining the people around you, value comes from what you contribute to people and assuming a supporting role is the way to do that.

HW 36: Cool Paper Draft Comments

Jakob's blog

"We try to be successful but success is defined by the people around us and to be accepted we must conform to the dominant idea of success". This was the idea that I took away from your draft, I think relating the idea of success to the pursuit of "cool" can lead to many interesting ideas. I liked the evidence you used from Matt our readings and the quote from the Genome research Institute, you have all the pieces for a great paper but your thesis is a bit odd since it takes the idea of cool in a different direction (which will make the paper more interesting). Because your thesis is so different you have to keep connecting it to the idea of cool so the reader doesn't get confused, you can do this by explaining the relationship between "cool' and "success". I look forward to reading the finished product and as always I expect interesting thoughts and ideas from you.

Beatrice's blog

"Teens use their "cool" identities to try to control their worlds even though we all ultimately have no control due to our socially constructed cultural maps" This is the way I understand your thesis. I like the way you connected our study of cool to a deeper psychological level. The way you can make your paper better is to add bulk and evidence to it, Matt's lecture should be very useful for this idea. You can also connect your idea to the ones we've discussed in class, for example (since you're going the psychological route anyways) you can connect this idea of feeling control to value, are they connected? do they both come from being/acting cool?. You can also connect this to the "cool pose", all "cool poses" no matter what time period or culture you look at evokes a sense of control, examine the relationship there. You have a good start but I'd like to see you expand these ideas further and connect them to the ideas we've talked about in class or expand on them with more outside sources.

Hw 35: Cool Paper Rough Draft

Introduction

The word "Cool" is an odd word that everyone uses but nobody defines. It can be used to express approval towards a situation, as in "okay, thats cool" or towards a person or object its hard to label what kind of positive reaction "cool" fits the best. No one knows the exact meaning behind the word because it's such a widely used term that there are hundreds of definitions for it. The only common factor between each definition is the idea of approval, people who are cool are accepted and feel good about themselves.

Social Cool

The majority of Americans see Cool as a fashion contest. The way people dress defines how cool they are, not only do people, mostly teens, have to wear the right clothes, they have to wear them at the right time. Not only do they have to wear the right clothes at the right time, but also in the right group. For example a kid wearing expensive clothes with name-brand tags and logos will be accepted by most teens, but that same teen won't be accepted by the "alternative hippy" crowd. Cool is different to different people, everyone has their own standards for how people should dress, act and look to be cool.

What's Cool is partly defined by corporations, some people are dedicated enough to brand names to find anything that brand sells to be cool. People then associate things about those products to be so certain "traits" become cool by association. Certain companies have focus groups that find out what teens find cool and use that information to create new products that teens will find cool.

Psychological Cool

People try to be "Cool" to feel a sense of value. We need to feel valued to have self esteem and function well as human beings. Instead of working hard at a skill and contributing to society, which would actually be valuable, most people try to look cool and assume the "cool pose" to be liked. However subconsciously we perceive "like" and "value" to mean the same thing which isn't always the case. Being stylish and trendy will get you liked but there's no real value to someone who doesn't have any skills or real qualities as a person.

Mythic Cool

Being "Cool" or accepted relies on filling a role in someone's life. This role is a mythic role, to be accepted the person must fill the role of "side-kick" or "mentor" etc. As social creatures we try to surround ourselves with people who will benefit us in life, this can happen consciously or subconsciously. The way we become accepted is by tailoring our characters to fit the expectations of the people around us, and there are different expectations we have to meet to assume different roles, the standards one has to meet to be someone's mentor are much different than the standards they have to meet.

Conclusion

For people to truly be happy they have to be accepted and feel valued. Instead of following interchangeable fads people should develop the character they made for themselves. We're all assuming roles that we've made so we should take advantage of the fact that we're assuming roles and change who we are. If we can come to terms with the fact that we're playing roles we can change our role to fit who we want to be, and create characters that are valuable and have skills and interests that are interesting instead of just wearing the newest and coolest clothes.

HW 34: Race/Religion/Gender's effect on "Cool Pose"

The "Cool Pose" is a way for people to look cool without having to create an elaborate identity, this "pose" changes based on racial, ethnic and religious background as well as gender and physical appearance. Being cool requires someone to fill a pose, being cool as a certain ethnicity requires the person to fill a specific pose that's made to fit that ethnicity. These poses are dictated by society, or the subcultures that reject the standards of society (and substitute their own standards).

This limitation of "poses" we can assume further "boxes" us and traps us in our identities, not only are we viewed as "uncool" if we don't assume the pose, but if we don't assume the correct pose for our ethnicity and religion etc. we're still viewed as uncool. On top of that each group of people has a separate standard for how people should act, for instance, white people think black people should act a certain way to look cool and black people may think they should act another way to be cool. This conundrum further illustrates the idea that we all have to assume different identities to be accepted by different people, for them to accept us we have to fill a mythic role in their life. To fill this role we have to extend the "character" of our base features.

A person's character is pre-determined by their appearance, this character tells them which mythic role to play in the lives of the people around them and assuming that role will lead them to be accepted and feel valued. Someone who is tall and strong will be perceived as a hero, to be accepted that person must fulfill that role completely and must alter their personality to fit their appearance. In this way our physical appearance shapes the identity that we'll have.