Cultural Forms of Whiteness - Literature review Example

Cultural Forms of Whiteness The book “Identifying Race and transforming Whiteness in the Classroom, written by Lea and Helfand (2004) was based basically on the study of post modern theory of education. It illustrates effective antiracist pedagogies and classroom activities that interrupt and contest whiteness. The book demonstrated exploration of the lives of people from the selective position of their own memories. This helped the author in tracing the ways in which they come up with the assumptions that they use to mediate and interpret everything around them. The authors worked hand in hand with others in building alternative pedagogies and support systems, to be able to teach and reflect on the assumptions behind and effects of teaching. In Part 3 Unit 6 Ways of Knowing, it shows the ways of knowing which correspond with how each person uniquely navigates his or her world, and are thus important to include and acknowledge in the classroom. In Christensen's Tribal Paradigm, the author commences by illustrating the essence of the tribal Elder's knowledge. Knowledge of the elders passed through oral tradition is important. In the holistic world of Indians, elder knowledge are even structural (Lea and Helfand, 2004, p.172). She showed how she works with the circle in her classes. So that the students can have something to decipher, this is like bringing them in the real world. These ideas add value to classroom work. The students will learn from the examples sets by those who come before our generation. The wisdom and learning can be passed through generation for the betterment of the society. The ideas shared by the Black educators in Bullen's chapter reveals that the philosophy that one race is greater than the other is hurting the educational system. In the modern society, there is still inequity and social injustice. Hence, it is the challenge for Black educators to maximize their privilege to have penetrated the educational system and be advocate for the most disadvantaged in the school communities. The black female liberation is linked to the struggle for human rights for all in the chapter by Lemons. The black feminism is the logical political movement to combat the numerous oppressions that all women of color face through several past generations. Since the winning of the black female liberation, civil rights battles for all were focused on. Likewise, the issues of Black womanhood have come to the foreground of the liberation struggle. When everyone understands that nobody gets anything until the coalition wins power that is when coalition politics works. In a coalition politics, there is a necessity for partners of the coalition to develop a coalitional culture. The action of these partners should be to stick to the promises made by them at the time of their alliance. To re-conceptualize classroom practices, according to Mathieson, there is a need to review and asses the performance targets while offering motivation to change. Translate current researches on the improvement of classroom practice into practical use. Capitalize on the emerging knowledge base in order to enhance practices in the classroom. The historical legacy of racism persists on both sides, white and on the other side black. Racial experiences have implications both for cultural socialization and racial identity. It is important to understand this historical legacy because we must find explanations of the present through prevailing current conditions and our past. Bell Hooks, on the other hand, talks of "the association of whiteness with terror in the black mind" (Lea & Helfand, 2004, p. 247). Hooks, argues that the African-American male is forced by white supremacist society to adopt certain masculine traits embedded in the patriarchal system. We see how the white supremacist capitalist patriarchy socially constructs oppression. The terms stereotype, prejudice and discrimination were tackled. Stereotype involves generalizations about typical characteristic of the members of the groups, measured by measuring the straightforward attribution of traits to nominated groups. Prejudice, on the otherhand, is the attitude toward the members of the same group based solely in their membership in that group. It can be negative or positive. Prejudice is a negative feeling which often involves stereotypes and can function as a schema for organizing information. Lastly, discrimination is Lastly, discrimination is actual positive or negative actions regarding the objects of prejudice. Discrimination is the behavioral manifestation of prejudice. In the Acevers' Xinachtli Project, “Xinachtli has been described as evidence of a paradigm shift in strategy and practice for community development initiatives serving the Xicano Mexicano community. The Xinachtli is the holistic point of reference and evaluation for all Tonatierra activities. The Mexican genocide is about the accusation of genocide, the mass killing of student protesters by the government forces in 1968 and 1971. Former president Luis Echeverria was the first Mexican President ever in the history of Mexico to be accused and faced criminal charges. Race and whiteness are play out in the classroom as two radically different concepts. Usually, the white easily lands better position, gets the better part and talks freely without being overly criticized. The black is turned away more often than not by the same group of people in the classroom. Each school year, white students claim some mistreatment as not happening anymore while students of color usually observes that mistreatment happened frequently. Colored students get upset that they did not know some stuff. They often wonder how come their education is lacking that no one taught them some of the lessons they should learn. A white is usually shaped by his/her class, gender or race. It is shaped by privilege as a white person. However, there are instances that that white may have experienced discrimination based on gender or religion. These are the specific everyday forms of race and whiteness as played out in the classroom. We can we change our practice by encouraging teachers to spend their time and effort addressing the issue on how to talk about race. These teachers must understand that all oppressions are linked, where privilege and oppression are always interacting. These writings help us to become more effective educators by having a clearer understanding of whiteness. Actually, in this modern time, the concept of whiteness is increasingly fading. In most parts of the world, whiteness is all in the mind. Majority of the people nowadays are rational people guided by principles. 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