My Perspective

I am in the midst of writing and completing my Thesis. It has been about 9 months since I have written anything here. With all that has been occurring in the U.S. lately, I wanted to share a thing or two and decided to blog.
Lashing out at the government, particularly the passionate feelings and expressions toward President Obama can be seen as freedom of speech. One of my favorite books is Off White: Readings on Race, Power, and Society (1997)by Michelle Fine, Lois Weis, Linda C. Powell, and L. Mun Wong. This book shares a series of essays, stories, and some accounts on race, power and society. Based on the piece Underground Discourse by Rosenberg(p. 79-89) we always seem to find excuses for what people do. I do say the rhetoric on Obama is racist and further, he may have learned early on to be silent and to ignore these acts. So far he seems to be wearing rose-colored glasses, and seem to be concluding it is anything else but racism.
What does this have to do with my research? I have been reading about Multicultural Education and its goals toward Education and humanity. James A. Banks (1994) suggested the following goals in his book Introduction to Multicultural Education;

• To increase educational equality for students from diverse groups, restructuring needs to provide equal chances for all students
• Help all students to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they will need to survive and function effectively in a future of U.S. society
  
• Help students to develop cross-cultural competency in cultures beyond out national boundaries and the insights and understandings needed to understand how all peoples living on earth have highly interconnected fates (p. 17)

With all that has been occurring in my country and the world, I have to believe in my open-mindedness, my cultural pluralistic ideology, and to channel this toward the betterment of society. I am just one perspective, so it is important to be positive and see the good, on the other hand, I am not one to make excuses. Freedom of speech means one can express whatever they want. When does that freedom become a hate-crime? Please respond.
My advice, learn, care, and do. (More of Banks' advice).

The World At Your Fingertips!

Happy New Year one and all! I just found a site in my junk mail and I wanted to share my junk mail with you all! I don't know how valid the site is but I am looking and looks interesting enough to share. I don't know what your plans are after you have earned your masters here, but I just wanted to show you what may be available to you. I am just visiting the sites to see what they're all about, so far I am just working on here and now. Who knows, sites like these can open doors for you if this is what you are interested in. Here it is:
http://www.justclicklocal.com/local.php?query=teach+abroad&source=ak&adgroupid=TeachAbroad

Good luck to all my classmates this weekend at Bethel!

By the way, in looking at one of the sites, TESOL caught my eye. Looked so familiar! Hmmm.