Tuesday, September 21, 2004
slackers
All due considerations for exceptions to stereotypes aside, there is a serious and blatant pattern for some behaviors among my students. Take punctuality, for instance. I teach 12 of the School's 15 seniors first period. The School confers upon its seniors an extra sense of responsibility to be keepers of our values and policies. Well, there have been 11 cases of being late to school (ergo, late to my first period class) since classes began nine days ago -- probably a few more, because I gave some kids a break for the first couple of days. There are four Asian students in my class, from either S. Korea, Japan, or Taiwan, accurately representing their demographic's proportion of our school (30%) enrollment. Not one of these four students accounts for any of the tardies, and each and every other student (all of them American) has been late at least once.
It is not bigotry to affirm that other cultures instill certain values (respect, kindness, punctuality) to different degrees, using different methods. I am unaware just how many Asian countries accomplish this in their children. I posit the use of fear, patience, corporal punishment, tradition, modeling, but I really don't have any hard evidence other than the mostly spotless record of students from these countries in my limited experience at the School.
It is important to recognize differences/privileges these international students might have with/over their peers at home -- class, economic, social. Still, there is a difference.
Maybe it also stems from the value they place on their time here to be educated. They come so far, and at such a cost, just to be taught high school and master English. Many of them visibly work that much harder and with a real understanding of the importance of each fact or skill. They are some of the kindest teenagers/people I have ever encountered; it's just in them.
I should also further qualify this by saying that the demographic of American students against which I'm comparing is also very specific: upper-middle class to upper-class teenagers, mostly spoiled or at least special.
All due considerations for exceptions to stereotypes aside, there is a serious and blatant pattern for some behaviors among my students. Take punctuality, for instance. I teach 12 of the School's 15 seniors first period. The School confers upon its seniors an extra sense of responsibility to be keepers of our values and policies. Well, there have been 11 cases of being late to school (ergo, late to my first period class) since classes began nine days ago -- probably a few more, because I gave some kids a break for the first couple of days. There are four Asian students in my class, from either S. Korea, Japan, or Taiwan, accurately representing their demographic's proportion of our school (30%) enrollment. Not one of these four students accounts for any of the tardies, and each and every other student (all of them American) has been late at least once.
It is not bigotry to affirm that other cultures instill certain values (respect, kindness, punctuality) to different degrees, using different methods. I am unaware just how many Asian countries accomplish this in their children. I posit the use of fear, patience, corporal punishment, tradition, modeling, but I really don't have any hard evidence other than the mostly spotless record of students from these countries in my limited experience at the School.
It is important to recognize differences/privileges these international students might have with/over their peers at home -- class, economic, social. Still, there is a difference.
Maybe it also stems from the value they place on their time here to be educated. They come so far, and at such a cost, just to be taught high school and master English. Many of them visibly work that much harder and with a real understanding of the importance of each fact or skill. They are some of the kindest teenagers/people I have ever encountered; it's just in them.
I should also further qualify this by saying that the demographic of American students against which I'm comparing is also very specific: upper-middle class to upper-class teenagers, mostly spoiled or at least special.
Monday, September 20, 2004
Release Party
Two noteable releases tomorrow:
Oh yeah, and the new Green Day album comes out tomorrow, too. Throw some dookie.
Two noteable releases tomorrow:
- Devendra Banhart Nino Rojo EP
- Criterion Collection's John Cassavetes 5-pack: Faces, Shadows, A Woman Under the Influence, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, and Opening Night
Oh yeah, and the new Green Day album comes out tomorrow, too. Throw some dookie.
