Enid Lee, Incorporating Antiracism Essay Example for Free

Enid Lee, Incorporating Antiracism Essay In â€Å"Taking Multicultural, Antiracist Education Seriously,† Barbara Miner interviews Enid Lee, a â€Å"leader in antiracist education† as noted on her website, Enidlee. com. She pushes for the use of the term ‘antiracist’ because the tem currently in use, ‘multicultural’, is too nice, focusing more on food and fun rather than hard issues of racism. Although her interview is inspiring and very necessary, some facets of her presentation seem to swing to far to the militant side to garner widespread acceptance. First, Lee explains that in many schools, European posters, readings, games and activities dominate the landscape. While I believe this is true in some cases, I do not believe it to be true in all cases. Many, many classrooms in which I have learned, observed and taught have been filled with pictures of prominent white, black, Hispanic and Asian authors, researchers, and political leaders. Lee’s multistage approach to antiracist education is clear and organized and sequentially stepped so as not to seem overly forceful. However, her insistent on the use of ‘antiracist’ is a bit harsh in that it assumes that anything not adopted or previous to this new ideology is racist. That is a huge overgeneralization. It also separates people into groups – the antiracists and everyone else, who, by association, must be racist. I do not think that many public school systems, and certainly no private systems, will purchase curricular materials and send teachers and administrators to antiracist workshops because it implies the worst of these people and materials. Lee can simply not make that kind of generalization. She urges the changes to extend beyond the school. Racism is alive and well in the community, but her approach sends the wrong message: â€Å"We have an antiracist plan to change this racist community. That is the message that people will hear. A less forceful message is much preferable to Lee’s approach. Lee is convincing in her devotion to creating antiracist schools. She urges to push for administrative changes and curricular changes, which she admits are financially blockaded by under-funded school districts. She gives an unsubstantiated claim that multicultural, antiracist programs are the most under-funded, when the removal of arts programs in elementary schools has made the national media several times in the last few years. Finally, after admitting the sad lack of money for programs, she launches on her website, a national push for her own conference called â€Å"Putting Equity on the Table† that costs $1450 for two school officials to attend. This is a three day conference and the rate (which is the early bird rate) does not include the hotel fee at the Hampton Inn in downtown Boston. In addition, the recommended reading resource is entitled Education Children of African Ancestry in the United States of America, Canada, and the United Kingdom. If we are truly talking about an antiracist education, why does our primary conference resource only focus on one race? Nobody will fault Enid Lee and others like her for taking on the cause of equity in education. Clearly the past has shown that steps are necessary. However, Lee’s focus on only African-descended children, on an inflammatory name for her type of education (which, oddly, does not appear on her conference registration information), and on her need to charge exorbitant fees for her conference detract from her credibility and are likely to be off-putting for widespread educators.

Personal Values Development Paper -- Ethics Morals Personal Narrative

Personal Values Development Paper Personal values and ethical standards are almost like your DNA, individually yours. There are so many people with different values and ethical standards that there may be some that are similar to yours, however, I believe that there are no two exactly alike. People's ethics and values are instilled by one's culture, background and environment. In my family, traditional values were very important to our upbringing. The concepts of religion, family, unity, honesty, and education were instilled at an early age. We were taught to obey and that the first duty of a child was to make our parents proud. I learned very early in my life about diversity, being one of six children brought up by the same set of parents and in the same environment with the same values how differently our values and ethics are. As far back as I can remember my parents instilled into us that religion was the uttermost important thing in life. First was God and church then your family, every night we were reminded to say our prayers, to pray for our family, friends and those less fortunate than us. Without fail every Wednesday we attended bible study and every Sunday we attended church service. If for some reason we failed to come home on time to make bible study we were not allowed to go out or talk on the phone until we attended Sunday service or if we failed to make it to Sunday service we were not allowed to go out or talk on the phone until we attended Wednesday night bible study. As children we had no problem attending services, however as teenagers my two older brothers and I started to have a little bit of a problem with this attending church twice a week thing. I remember accusing my parents of chuffing r... ...to the business owner of our family run business. And due to all the various types of responsibilities associated with each occupation, my personal values have gone through some adaptability or you may say maturity. Which in part has made me the person I am today, I strive to impart good working values on to my employees by doing to them what I would have wanted someone to do for me. By example I strive to be an honest, compassionate, and trust worthy business manager and family member. By no means am I perfect, believe me my family would vouch for that, however I do strive to instill into my nieces and nephews the same values and morals that my parents instilled into us. And everyday I strive to improve in each area just a little bit more, if I can help one person become a better person in my lifetime then my parents have succeeded in raising a good person.

Political Ideologies

D. Sokolova 28/09/2011 On the topic of â€Å"Political Ideology† (Heywood 2003, p. 5) states: † ‘Ideology’ is consider a particular type of political thought, distinct from, say, political science or political philosophy. † Ideology is a set of views and ideas that provides the theoretical basis to organize and rule community life, establish values, habits and perspectives. It demands the certain methods to be used for solving different social problems. As (MacKenzie, et al. 1994, p. 1) have noted, ideology † provides both an account of existing social and political relations and blueprint of how these relation ought to be organized. Beyond this general definition, however, the concept of ideology is notoriously difficult to get to grips with. It is loaded with a wide range of possible meanings, many of which are contradictory. † † The word ideology was coined during the French Revolution by Antoine Destutt de Tracy (1754-1836) , and was first used in public in 1796. For de Tracy, ideologue referred to a new ‘science of ideas', literally an idea-ology. † (Heywood 2003, p. 6) De Tracy tried to find moral, ethic and political phenomena of basic consciousness and offer a logical explanation under one concept. For Marx and Engels ‘ideology' (MacKenzie, et al. 994, p. 5) † is the role of changing historical conditions that is fundamental to the formation of ideas. † Rather, French philosopher Louis Pierre Althusser (MacKenzie, et al. 1994, p. 16) † insists upon the strict separation of ideology and science. Arguing against the traditional relationship between ideology an d truth†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He affirms that † ideology is the ‘cement' that binds human societies together. † An Australian political theorist Minogue have noticed, that ideologies (MacKenzie,et al. 1994, p. 4) † create the false expectation in people's minds that a perfect world is ultimately attainable. From this point of view,† ideologies are seen as abstract system of thought, sets on ideas that are destined to simplify and distort social reality because they claim to explain what is, frankly, incomprehensible. † The foremost modern exponent of this view was the British political philosopher Michael Oakeshott (1901-90)† , who has issued guideline, that † Ideology is thus equated with dogmatism : fixed on doctrinaire beliefs, that are divorced from the complexities of the real world. † (Heywood 2003, p. 10) † The birth of political ideologies can be traced back to the processes thought which the modern world came into existenc e. The process of modernization had social, political and cultural dimension. Socially, it was linked to the emergence of increasingly market-orientated and capitalist economies, dominated by new social classes, the middle class and the working class. Politically, it involved the replacement of monarchical absolutism by the advance of constitutional and, in due course, democratic government. Culturally, it took the form of spread of Enlightenment ideas and views, which challenged traditional beliefs in religion, politics and learning in general, based upon a commitment to the principles of reason and progress. The ‘core' political ideologies, the ones out of which later ideologies emerged or developed in opposition to – liberalism, conservatism and socialism – reflected contrasting responses to the process of modernization. † (Heywood 2003,p. 21- 22) Main features distinguished them from each other are the following: Liberals, particularly during the Cold War period, have viewed ideology as an officially sanctioned belief system that claims a monopoly of truth, often through a spurious claim to be scientific. Ideology is therefore inherently repressive, even totalitarian. Conservatives have traditionally regarded ideology as manifestation of the arrogance of rationalism. Ideologies are elaborate system of thought that are dangerous or unreliable because, being abstracted from reality, they establish principles and goals that lead to repression or are simply unachievable. Socialists, following Marx, have seen ideology as a body of ideas that conceal the contradictions of class society, thereby promoting false consciousness and political passivity amongst subordinate classes†¦ Later Marxist adopted neutral concept of ideology, regarding it as the distinctive ideas of any social class, including the working class. Fascist are often dismissive of ideology as an over-systematic, dry and intellectualized form of political understanding that is based on mere reason rather than passion and the will. The Nazis preferred to portray their own ideas as a Weltanschaung or ‘world view', not as systematic philosophy. Ecologists have tended to regard al conventional political doctrines as part of super-ideology of industrialism. Ideology is thus tainted by its association with arrogant humanism and growth-orientated economics-liberalism and socialism being its most obvious examples. Religious fundamentalists have treated key religious texts as ideology, on the grounds that, by expressing the revealed world of God, they provide a programme for comprehensive social reconstruction. (Heywood 2003, p. 15) It is recognizable, that the theory of ideology still has many different features. This view has been supported in the (Eccleshall 1984, p. 23) saying that â€Å"Ideology is the realm in which people clarify and justify their actions as they pursue divergent interests. † However, â€Å".. there is no settle or agreed definition of the term, only a collection of rival definitions. As David McLellan (1995) put it, ‘Ideology is the most elusive concept in the whole of social science'. † (Heywood 2003, p. 5) Bibliography 1. Heywood Andrew. Political ideologies: An introduction. 3rd edition. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. 2. Eccleshall Robert, Geoghegan Vincent, Jay Richard, Kenny Michael, MacKenzie Iain and Wilford Rick. Political Ideologies: An introduction. 2nd edition. London: Routledge, 1994. 3. Eccleshall Robert, Geoghegan Vincent, Jay Richard and Rick Wilford. Political Ideologies: An Introduction Great Britain: Essex, 1984.

Relationship Between Language And Mental Health - 895 Words

The focus of the study of linguistics has always been on its cognitive aspect. There was the agreement that language was in many aspects a universal concept. These early linguists did not appreciate the position and influence of culture on language. It is the shift in focus that has shown the study of language as essential to anthropology, and through language that symptoms are expressed, and language forms the medium through which many aspects of treatment are delivered (Swartz et al, 2014). Following that thinking, it then has an effect on mental health. There is evidence that immigrants will more often than not feel isolated in host countries and a large part of the incidences is due to the language barrier. This paper shall look at the relationship between language and mental health. It is a situation that begets immigrants of almost all types. It becomes even worse if the immigrant is in a country where he has to learn the host language from scratch. The isolation will have a d irect effect on one’s mental health. Research has shown that humans did not wholly develop speech as a biological adaptation. Of course, there are biological developments that made speech possible; however, they do not tell the whole story. There is now overwhelming evidence that language was as much a social evolution as a biological one. It was an easier and more efficient way of communicating. It also afforded the humans to be able to pass a far wider range of messages than the other animals.Show MoreRelatedMental Health : A Growing Concern Within The Indian American Communities1380 Words   |  6 Pages Mental health problems are a growing concern within the Indian American communities in the United States. First generation born Indian Americans are experiencing mental health concerns far greater than the generation before them. What are the causes of this rise in mental health issues? Mental health issues are not foreign to any ethnic or racial group. 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