Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Final Reflection

As a final reflection of 495ESM, i want to start off saying how much I appreciated this class. I enjoyed the hands-off teaching that our professor employed. It allowed for us to form our own thoughts and values about what was being taught. The fact that the "lessons" were left open-ended allowed us to ponder about the topics and really consider what was being presented. This was an excellent approach for this class as the class provides students with knowledge and tips to bring with them in their teaching career. It opened up the opportunity to either take the lesson or choose to reject it. I loved this!

Because technology is becoming such an important part of everyone's life and it is growing and changing so quickly, it was such a great idea to bring this up in a classroom in preparation to teach in a technically advanced world. It is an excellent idea to get teachers to stop combatting students knowledge and use of technology in class and, instead, use it to our and our students' advantage. Learning about all the various mediums that are in arm's reach to teachers will provide a more exciting, relatable teaching time. With these skills, it allows for teachers to be up to date and using all that they can to reach students and encourage learning in any aspect. By using varying resources it also opens the student up to constant learning. Before, separating technology as merely a distraction instead of a tool was doing the student an incredible disservice. By showing them how to use more than just books and papers in order to educate themselves, opens up the entire world for learning opportunities.


By opening up the world like this also allows them to appreciate all form of life, culture, and identity. It allows for learning of people and in turn, they can gain respect and value in things and people foreign to them. This truly was a eye-opening class that filled my heart with much hope and encouragement. Of course I am to naive in thinking this can fix the world's prejudices. However, this is one step further than before. It allows for more conversations to level the playing field. I am so grateful I took this class.


Final Draft Beijing Bicycle

Kelsey Kaufmann
 5/7/14
Eng 395ESM
Prof. Wexler
You and Me Made New by Strangers
 There are many diverse methods of learning about the world and the different values and beliefs people hold. Each medium highlights specific points and frames of reference. One medium sheds light on life itself and really allows for diving into location and space. This medium is that of visual texts. Visual texts, although does not require much imagination, does allow for one to understand cultures in regards to its location and space and frame of reference. For example, the movie Beijing Bicycle is a visual medium that highlights the effects of American capitalism. It dives into outsourcing jobs to China and the economic and societal effects it had on the Chinese way of life and values.

 While under Deng’s rule, China became a powerhouse of producing goods to sell to Americans and Englishmen. “The massive infrastructural investments under way in China have entrained much of the global economy.” (Harvey 140) China erupted very quickly in a capitalist environment and the citizens of important cities like Hong Kong were greatly affected. First, there were many economic changes that happened in these cities. There was a huge amount of migration happening from the farmland to the city to work at factories. Due to the influx of business and low-class workers the disparity between the upper and lower grew larger. There was a very large gap between these two classes however; they were in extremely close proximity to each other. This is revealed in the movie by all the scenes of high-rise buildings of business placed immediately next to the shacks that the workers lived in. The Upper class was literally on top of the lower class and as reliant on them for success. Marx says: “The City is both progress, productivity, poverty, indifference, and squalor. (“Cultural Space” 4) Because the owners of the factories lived in the city and so did the workers, technological advances were being made and so profit increased but profit and working standards have an inverse relationship. While profit increases, the standards of the factories lower so that the owners can reap an even higher profit. They get greedy and further the gap between them and their employees. In doing this, it allows for them to have uncontrollable power and create dependence on them from the employees. In the movie it showed the American companies taking advantage of the Chinese pride that many are raised to value. They gave their employees a bicycle and said it was their responsibility to retain it. Doing this not only took the blame off of their hands, but also allowed for even more of a profit if it got lost because the employee would have to pay it off.

As a result of the economic implications that the capitalist power brought China, there were social ramifications that affected most every Chinese citizen. Due to American capitalist thinking getting introduced to China, cultural practices started to change. “Space is a construction and material manifestation of social relations which reveals cultural assumptions and practices.” (“Cultural Space” 2) The first aspect that was affected was that American family values started to take over the younger Chinese generation. The Chinese culture always valued high respect for one’s elders according to the movie. In the movie Beijing Bicycle, it shows a young man talking back very rudely to his father and definitely not respecting him. The individualist ideals of American culture came over with their economic ideals. Another familial aspect is that the idea of a blended family started to occur more. Although Chinese people may have been getting divorced all along, the factory work and values heightened the amount. There was much more stress and individual drive that played a role in society that people started having to think for themselves in order to stay successful and employed.

The working class started to realize that a change in economic values had to change their societal values if they were to work successfully in the new economy. They had to have an individual drive and be less self-sacrificing when it came to their family. These adjustments were hard to accept and manage and often time, it led to much rage. What stemmed from the rage created from society changing, translated often into fits of anger toward friends or family. In the movie, anytime there was a disagreement, the characters would end up physically fighting. They were trying to deal with the new economy and way of life but by keeping it silent like their Chinese culture taught them. However, because it was mixed with American culture this silence did not remain. It only led to outbursts of fighting for themselves. “For what the Chinese had to learn (and to some degree are still learning), among many other things, was that the market can do little to transform an economy without a parallel shift in class relations, private property, and all the other institutional arrangements that typically ground a thriving capitalist economy. The evolution along this path was both fitful and frequently marked by tensions and crises, in which impulses and even threats from out- side certainly played their part.” (Harvey121-122)

 The last aspect that was greatly affected and obviously shown in Beijing Bicycle is the idea that the migrant worker lost his voice and, often times, simply had to comply with what was being dealt him. This led to even greater social inequality and anger. “But the reforms also led to environmental degradation, social inequality, and eventually something that looks uncomfortably like the reconstitution of capitalist class power.” (Harvey 122) Overall, the capitalist class power was productive only for the Upper class and the lower class still had to work like they always had. The only difference was that in order to be employed they had to move to the over-crowded city with terrible working standards and no company responsibility to protect them. This movie did an excellent job at showing the comparison between who reaped the benefits of the American capitalist ideals coming in and who did not. By having time to look at the scenery and reveal the defeated mood of the migrant worker sitting in the lowest parts of the city reveals the harsh reality they lived in. Putting this comment of Chinese workers in a visual medium was an excellent way to communicate the severity of their situation.

 Works Cited
 “Cultural Space and Urban Space: The New World Disorder.” Cal State University of Northridge. moodle.csun.edu. PowerPoint. 7 May, 2014.
Harvey, David. A Brief History of Neo-liberalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. PDF file.

Draft for Beijing Bicyle


Kelsey Kaufmann
5/5/14
Eng 395ESM
Prof. Wexler
Beijing Bicycle
            There are many diverse methods of learning about the world and the different values and beliefs people hold. Each medium highlights specific points and frames of reference. One medium sheds light on life itself and really allows for diving into location and space. This medium is that of visual texts. Visual texts, although does not require much imagination, does allow for one to understand cultures in regards to its location and space and frame of reference. For example, the movie Beijing Bicycle is a visual medium that highlights the effects of American capitalism. It dives into outsourcing jobs to China and the economic and societal effects it had on the Chinese way of life and values.
            While under Deng’s rule, China became a powerhouse of producing goods to sell to Americans and Englishmen. “The massive infrastructural investments under way in China have entrained much of the global economy.” (140 ch5) China erupted very quickly in a capitalist environment and the citizens of important cities like Hong Kong were greatly affected.
Economic factors= took advantage of Chinese pride, Americans hid the blame from themselves by convincing these workers it was their duty to family and their responsibility to use the opportunity given.
            Big juxtaposition of low and upper class. Upper literally on top and reliant on low class. (show high-rise buildings next to ghettos looking shacks.
            Produced these things but still but imported goods.
Social Factors= American family values, blended families, individual pride (teens retaliating on dad)
            Sense of entitlement

Monday, April 28, 2014

Freedom in Learning

Lately, the idea of Social Justice has been coming up. We have talked about it an almost every single one of my classes as well as in conversation. I cannot ignore it- nor should it be something ignored. It is a very important topic that dives into globalization yet again. In social justice, there are many arenas of defnitions and subtopics. What I have found in all facets of this toipic is that education is required in order to be aware of social justice and lack there of. What this means is that education is a poignant step in benefitting the world as a whole. Teachers need to take their job seriously and know that they are given the opportunity to relay information to students in order to inspire and ignite movement. We cannot let this chance pass on without making our mark. We should be teaching world issues as well as growing their identity and shaping their thoughts.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

globalization

Globalization in regards to education cannot be ignored. Because the world is becoming so much smaller in the sense that we involve ourselves with international affairs, education must also. Everything is so connected now. Whether we are discussing business, social media, culture, entertainment, literature, or even our history, in order to get a comprehensive analysis, one must include the globe and not merely a part of it. Also, I believe that this “smallness” of the world will only continue to get smaller. We can already Face Time with people literally half way around the world….who knows what the next advance will bring us?

When it some to educating students, we would be doing them an extreme disservice to not include aspects of globalization. They will constantly be faced with ideals and people from all over the world and will need to familiarize themselves with world issues. With immigration and international business being at such a high level, it simply cannot be ignored. This notion, however, is not new. When you think back to literature, immediately your mind goes to British Literature. Globalization has been around. We have always shared ideas and explored options and it is only increasing.


Giving students knowledge about the entire world will make them better people. It will drastically improve their life. Learning about the reasons behind various peoples’ decisions will create more peace and equality. It lessens the judgment and uncomfortability that comes with not knowing things. Along with being able to understand others better, this will also help our students understand themselves better. One can learn a lot about themselves when they are learning about others. We realize how similar the human race really is and we know what to appreciate and value. I think doing this will allow for knowing oneself to come at a younger age than usual.


On the downside, we should educate our students on the negatives about globalization, so that they can know how to improve it. Too often, certain cultures get commercialized and commidified until it has no respect left. The value in it gets diminished due to its mass production for tourism and the like. This needs to be avoided. Also, part of the business world that globalization is involved in are the sweatshops. Substandard working conditions fill the major corporations and must be put to an end. Hopefully, while students are learning more about other cultures, they will come to a sense of equality and realize the mistreatment these workers are enduring. Hopefully the idea of globalization will be taught in a way that will bring the world so close that the dangers of the sweatshops will become real and not just a far off world. 



Tuesday, April 8, 2014

I am currently in Seattle, Washington visiting some friends with my husband and having a blast! We have been here for three days and are exploring  and learning so much!
These are just a few of the pictures from it. The first is a picture if my husband and I when we went on a hike to a light house and searched for the geocache my friend Jon had looked up. This was an excellent experience and I could not help but think of how beneficial this could be for education. You have to be able to learn to read coordinates as well as follow a compass. I was thinking if a class was assigned a geocache in a certain location and had to include a porn in the box once found or a riddle or a fact or something if the like it could be a wonderful experience to appreciate nature, get active, learn to navigate, get creative, and have lots of fun! It would be great to incorporate this type of learning with a book such as Lord of the Flies where the kids must learn to fend for themselves.

The second picture is Jon and I in a German town called Leavenworth. This was an amazing town and provided yet another great learning experience! Granted what we learned was mostly about various beers and bratwursts and how they are made, however, I did realize how much people can and do choose to learn in an average day. If we can make school entertaining and interactive for students it will almost cover up the fact that they are learning and it will have the result that we hope to achieve.

Lastly, during the trip my husband mentioned how much he loved thriller movies and as conversation tends to do, we ended up talking about Genie the girl with no language. My husband Ben had never heard of this story before but was very interested and wanted to know more about it. He simply pulled out his cell phone and searched her name in YouTube. Next thing you know, we were watching video clips and reading articles. It just showed how much learning can be done in everyday life. I just hope that I can tie this fun simple way of learning into my style of teaching.

http://youtu.be/cN7Z_ctY2bU

Thursday, March 20, 2014

greater responsibility

Sundance Institute Feature Film Program



With technology advancing as quickly as it is, people are more and more rapidly gaining access into various cultures and insights. The ability to cross borders is accomplished with a click of the mouse nowadays. However, with this great access comes great responsibility. Today, we, humans, are looked at as mere consumers that are fed message after message about the society we live in as well as other society. This becomes a problem when we look at who is in control of giving the message. Knowing that we cannot separate the message from the messenger, we must critically think about the message itself. We must ask ourselves, "who is sending the message?" "what is their ideals?" "what do they want us to see?" Depending on the answer to the question, we might have to use caution in watching and consuming what we do. Our views of things can be greatly slanted depending on the lens that we see it through. Sundance Film is one organization that understands this and sees the need for true, raw storytelling. These independent films are not heightened by the stereotypical roles, characters, and themes and instead allow the message to be heard through a true voice. The organization tries to cultivate true voices. In the video it says: "They do not tell you what to do and not do, they ask you 'what are you going to say?'" As teachers, we need to cultivate the same voice in our students and ourselves. We are the future and if we can grab media and technology by the horns and direct in a way that builds people up instead of breaking people down, the world could be something special.