Freedom Writers

I just met with Sammi and Mack to talk about how we were going to approach our presentation tonight, and he told us that instead of watching "Freedom Writers" he watched "Freedom Riders" having mistaken that film for the one that we were supposed to watch. It was kind of awesome.

Now this film was an example of the kind of education and educators I agree with the very most, and it looks like I'm not the only one based on the reception of this film. Don't let this go to your head Benjamin, but I saw quite a few parallels between our class and Mrs. Gruwell's class in the film. In the end they wrote a collective story for change. The used stories from their life to ask for that change, and when it came down to it, it made a change even if it was just in their lives (and quite frankly that's a huge accomplishment). We were asked to address issues that were relevant in our lives and to do so using a story or medium that we were familiar with. And addressing the issues that are important to the class is one of the greatest ways to connect with them and get them to perform at their highest level. For example, this semester I was extremely pressed for time and I didn't think that I would be able to make a very good story for change, and though I was still not completely satisfied with the final product I made time for it because it was something that I cared about. Once it became relevant to me on a more personal level I dedicated more time and effort to it. If a teacher can do that for a student then I think that teacher is doing their job right.

Friere talked a lot about formal education being a system where the teacher comes in and puts information into the students brains so they can later regurgitate that information. It's entirely accurate for the majority of teachers out there. He talks about all the disadvantages to being enrolled in formal education and the fact that it puts one person in a position of authority above a much larger group of people who have thoughts to contribute. I think that sometimes the teacher needs to fill this role so that the class knows who is directing the discussion, but I like to think of the teacher as more of a director. A person that is directing where the discussion goes, what the class does, and directs their attention to bigger ideas. The teacher, rather than filling their minds, needs to open their student's minds through though provoking questions, stories, comments, and ideas. Teach the students to teach themselves because once they are out of school it's almost all they can do. Teach them to become thinkers not regurgitators. Teach them to care about what they are learning. Teach them passion in what they study. My favorite teachers all through school did these things, and though they still taught us the curriculum they asked us to challenge it and see for ourselves whether or not we agreed with it. They got us thinking about greater issues and ideas rather than simply the class curriculum. It's amazing what a good teacher can do. There was a moment in the film where Mrs. Gruwell is asking the Principal and other faculty members if she can stay with her kids and teach them through their Junior year. The faculty is against it and don't see why it's so important to her. One, after Gruwell accuses them of not even caring about the students, says that caring is not important to teach them. It's funny how often that happens in schools yet once we hear it said we understand how ridiculous it is.

If there was one thing I learned during the course of this semester from this class is to challenge ideas and to look more critically at what I am learning and why I am learning it. And that is a life skill that I plan to hold on and continue doing.

My Teaching Experience

Teaching was one of the more exciting and cool things I had to do all semester. It was particularly great because of the people I got to work with. Sammi and Mack were fantastic to work with, and I feel like the three of us were able to play off of each other really well that the students couldn't help but pay attention to what we were saying and participate. We met the day before for two hours and went over our lesson plan to make it was a success. We decided that it would probably be most effective if we broke it up into three parts: Introduction, Explanation, and Application. That's probably a formula for teaching somewhere, but I did come up with off the top of my head and I was feeling pretty good about it. We decided that within each part of the lesson we would break it up so the students would never get bored with one person talking.

Sammi started things off by introducing the topic of research since that's what their class curriculum called for. She explained it really well and gave a nice introduction to what research is and why it's important. She then handed it off to me and I asked them a whole bunch of questions to get them involved. I asked them what they were interested in and how they learned about that interest. We had a girl that talked about her interest in dance. I asked her where she learned to dance and he mentioned that her mother was a dancer and that she learned from her at an early age, then went on to take dance lessons. She also watched films and tutorials on the internet on sites like youtube to better understand dance. I asked her where else she could learn about dance and she said in class and a few others talked about books, magazines, and websites on the internet as sources for learning. Once we had made the talked about all of these places as possible learning sources we told them that doing all this was research. And that they learned about the things they enjoy doing by doing research on that topic. It was mostly to make the point that research can be fun. After this short introduction we headed into the explanation phase.

There was some crossover between the explanation and application parts of the lesson in the way that we approached it. Both Sammi and I explained why research is important and how we can effectively do research, but we also tied it into our story for change this semester and how research influenced our choices in how to portray our social issue. I told the class about corruption and how I had to research that issue and what I did to apply my research. Sammi did the same thing with feminism. I was quite surprised at how intently the class listened to this part as it could've felt a little boring. We then tossed it over to Mack and he stole the show with his story for change. And a little shout out to him for changing the content of his story for change to fit the maturity level of the people we were teaching. We did talk about it, but the fact that he was willing to change the video from graphic intense deaths to Disney deaths was very respectable. He's a good man.

Once we sucked them in with the video we went into the application phase where we had them apply what they learned. We asked them to remake or change the ending to a story whose ending they didn't like, and to do so in a creative manner. It could be a drawing, a short written change, origami, or whatever they decided to do. We had some interesting changes for sure, but overall they were great. I was impressed at some of the changes that were made as well. One girl had Rapunzel become friends with her fake Mother instead of having her fall out the window to her death. I thought that was respectable and realistic.

Now as a whole I thought the teaching experience was wonderful. We had great participation throughout the entire lesson, and the kids were more than happy to share their thoughts. I felt like they actually learned something as well and we were able to help them see the importance of research and how great it can be. The second we said that watching films can be an effective way to research they were sold. A few kids came up to me after the class and said how much fun they had learning about research and what we had taught. I also feel like we were successful in our activity. It was a little tricky coming up with something we could do in 15 minutes with everyone, but it worked out just fine and I think they got the point.

This is something that I would love to do again, and I have to give another shout out to my partners Mack and Sammi. They had some fantastic ideas that worked seamlessly in the lesson and between the three of us I feel like we came up with an effective way to teach and get our message across.

Participation in Learning

It looks like there's a reoccurring theme in education. At least one that I've noticed is the more responsibility and hands on experience you give to students the more they learn. I've been in that situation many times in my life, and one of the greatest learning experiences I've had in film was at Salt Lake Community College. I had a film teacher where everything we did in class was hands on for at least an hour of the two hour class. Sometimes I was lost, but I did get considerably better as the class went on. I figured some things on my own, and those that I couldn't my teacher was there to help me out. As we watched the the film this last week, especially the segment on the kid learning to do film, edit, and create content for his school was very relatable. The scene where the teacher picks his video apart and says that it's plain and kind of boring was great because instead of simply accepting the video, giving it a grade, and moving on he asks the boy to do it again and make it more interesting. A week later when they came back it was sooo much better! It was also something that he cared about so he wanted to make it better and improve the video, and once he began to see his potential he took it seriously and made it what it was.

Next example was the girl starting her own business. (Sorry I can't remember any of their names). She was fantastic, a little odd, but she was determined and was learning and working on something that she cared about. There were real consequences and real deals that were going down which automatically forces an individual to take it more seriously. She was also learning on the job which is a big deal. You learn, in the field, what works and what doesn't work. She was determined and what she didn't know she was forced to figure out and ask people. It's a very effective way of learning.

The class that took part in welcoming an old circus elephant had a pretty cool opportunity there. They had a real duty that they were taking seriously and they wanted to learn because they knew that they would have to implement the things that they were learning. I had another teacher that did a lot of that. He was a science teacher and there were certainly real consequences if you screwed up. It reminded me of Harry Potter a little because if you screwed up the formula (potion) it might just blow up in your face, and nobody wants that.

This teacher would teach us the proper way to do things, or rather, the theory behind the experiment, and then expect us to implement what we learned. We quickly found out who was paying attention, and who wasn't. It also exposed those that didn't quite understand and it forced us to ask questions so we wouldn't screw it up. I'm sorry about the randomness of this post, but I feel like I talked a lot about this subject in my "Teaching Philosophy" post.

Anyway, I think the greatest learning happens when it's hands on. That's all.

Teaching Philosophy

I've been thinking about all the different teachers I have had in the course of my lifetime, both conventional and unconventional. Scholastically I have somewhere around 100, which sounds absurd but is absolutely true. Then when you add in all of the different teachers in church settings, my parents, and even private lessons in different fields of interest. The list is just about endless. Yet there are only a few teachers that I can remember for their teaching. I have mentioned Mr. Moyle... That man is a miracle, not in such a great way. I remember him for being an extremely bad teacher. Then there are teachers like Mrs. Lambert, Mrs. Potter, and Professor Spencer Blake. There are three teachers that changed the whole game of learning for me. They made it interesting, fun, and I held a level of respect for them that made me want to remember what they were telling me. They were some pretty great teachers and something that they all did in their class was make sure that the students participated. We were expected to participate and we knew that the teacher wanted to hear from us. They were encouraging and didn't take things too seriously. My personal philosophy is that there needs to be in class discussion and participation. How else can a teacher tell whether or not learning is going on. It's like a doctor who hasn't asked a patient what the problem is before he starts treating him. In order to help people learn there needs to be communication to find out where they're at and where they're struggling.

Those teachers that I listed were also very organized in their teaching. When I say that I don't mean that they were Nazi's at sticking to their lesson plan, but they planned so well that they could lead the discussion in such a way that we learned what we needed to in the given time frame, and they used students answers to questions to lead into different topics of study. They were all experts in what they taught whether or not it was 3rd grade math, 7th grade science, or college Sociology. They all knew what they were talking about and in the case they didn't they all came back to class the next meeting having read and learned about it so they would be more prepared to help the class. Being able to deviate from course for a moment and find a way to return seamlessly is something that can only happen when the teacher is both prepared and organized.

One of the greatest things I learned while I was on my mission was the power of understanding and respect. I served in the third world country of Mozambique where the average individual had a 6th grade level of learning and a lot of life experience. Though they were not the most articulate bunch, they understood life and what it was all about. Something that I needed to learn was that even though their speech and their way of life was sometimes juvenile, these people had experience and they were not dumb. When I began to understand this I started to respect those I taught a whole lot more, and I never talked down to them. Once I started doing this it was interesting to see the effect it had on everything. People were more receptive to our message and they liked us a heck of a lot more. Thank goodness this was something I learned early on, because I saw how it affected the areas of those missionaries that thought they were better than those they taught. It's funny how far something as simple as kindness can go.

I just mentioned that I served my mission in Mozambique where the average level of formal education was 6th grade. Sometimes teaching was a little bit of a struggle because the people were not super familiar with a lot of scriptural terms, and the Book of Mormon is a rather difficult read if you're not used to that kind of reading or writing. Something I got really good at while I was on my mission was teaching for understanding which I define as this: Simply teaching the What, Why, and How of a certain doctrine, principle, or in this case, subject. What is it? Why is it important? How can we apply it in life? It works like a charm, and good explanations are priceless. You have to teach at the level of the learner, which doesn't mean treat them like a child, but create the best environment for them to learn.

All in all teaching is extremely difficult, and I don't consider myself a great teacher by any means, but I do feel like I've had the chance to observe many teachers in my life and gain a better understanding of how it is done most effectively. There are several things that I have left out as well that are wonderful things to do as a teacher, but for the sake of time I won't go into those. I also feel like there is a lot to learn still about teaching and how to convey your message in the very most effective way possible. (One last thing is to ask insightful rather than "no duh" questions. I was reminded of that as Mack, Sammi, and myself planned out our lesson for last Thursday).

Resolved

So... resolved was awesome and I wanted to make a fiction film about the two boys from California that more or less revolutionized debate. It was extremely informative as well. In all honesty I had no idea how debates were held, but I am now informed and feeling much better about that subject. Now our in class discussion was fantastic. I think I talked about Mr. Moyle in class and the frustrations I had with the man, but it was good to see and hear that I'm not the only one that sometimes struggles with institutionalized education. But now that I've had a whole bunch of time to think about it I've decided that it really boils down to the person enrolled in classes wanting to learn. If you are interested in a subject then you will find a way to learn about it whether it's through a library, school, internet, etc. Yes I do agree that there is privilege. I would be a fool not to agree because it's a fact. But I do believe that when there's a will there's a way. As a matter of fact that's how I first began learning about film.

When I was younger I was really interested in film but there were no classes offered by the school that I had attended. So instead of enrolling in classes I got a camera and began reading different blogs and doing workshops online and I started teaching myself. I took my camera everywhere, and I began to learn what works and doesn't work. Once I had the chance to start taking film classes I was interested and whether or not the teacher was good I made it a point to teach myself.

Back to resolved. I have noticed that when there are dedicated people to teaching and learning- there will be learning. One of the most impressive things I have seen in a while was the California boy's debate coach and teacher. You could tell that he cared and wanted the best for his team. He did his best to prepare them with the little resources they had, and they dominated! Where there are dedicated people there is learning.  

Classroom Observation

Well the first thing that I want to talk about is the fact that I could never be a Jr. High School teacher. Even the thought of having to teach these kids scares me, and not many things scare me very much. This one does. It takes an unnatural amount of patience to deal with all of the classroom issues, and do it well. I fear for the lives of the children… Aside from that I thought it was very helpful. I kept a close eye on Reilly once I saw how difficult the kids were being. He held himself very well and didn’t let anything upset him. He took it all in stride, and was great to the kids. The funniest thing is that it’s probably a tame classroom and I’m just not used to that sort of chaos anymore. Anyway, back to what I learned:

One of the things I thought Reilly was really good at was bringing an energy to the classroom that grabbed the student’s attention, but he didn’t let it get out of hand. He started out with a question on the board and gave the students a few minutes at the start of class to think about it and write down their answer. The question was,  “What would you ask your hero if he/she was accused of cheating?” I participated in the activity and wrote down my answer. Then, using a few video clips, he showed the class what happened with Lance Armstrong. They were all shocked at the scandal, and he used his interview with Oprah to demonstrate the use of Yes/No questions vs open ended questions. It was pretty great actually. It kept the kids involved and interested, and as long as the video was working they were all pretty quiet. One of the things that I also thought was pretty great was that after thanksgiving break they would be choosing a topic of their choice to research and basically do what we did. Since it’s an English class, it’ll be in the form of an argument paper, but nonetheless it’s quite similar. I just hope they do something that’s a little more media related so that our lesson is applicable, helpful, and gives them some ideas of what they can do.

As Mack, Sammi, and I drove home we all brainstormed on how we can teach this class in the best way possible using Mack’s topic. We figure a bunch of Jr. High kids wouldn’t be all that stoked on the topics of feminism or corporate corruption. We could probably make it more interesting based on our approach, but we figure every kid loves movies, and using the movies they’ve seen to show them how the antagonist of a film is treated will instantly grab their attention. A few ideas we came up were the following:

·      Ask them what their favorite movies are and have them write them on the board.

·      Ask them what happens to the antagonist of those films.

·      Ask if they think the antagonist deserved what he got.

·      Ask if that’s how they treat people that offend them.

·      Ask them how the endings could be changed to make it nicer to the “bad guy.”

I’m pretty excited about teaching. There are multiple things that I’m nervous about, but I think ultimately it will be pretty great!

Education

“Oppression – overwhelming control – is necrophiliac; it is nourished by love of death, not life. The banking concept of education, which serves the interests of oppression, is also necrophiliac. Based on a mechanistic, static, naturalistic, spatialized view of consciousness, it transforms students into receiving objects. It attempts to control thinking and action, leads women and men to adjust to the world, and inhibits their creative power.”

As a student reading this particular essay it really stuck a chord. When I was younger I struggled in school. I hated sitting forever listening to what the teacher deemed “important.” I never acted out or caused any serious problems. But I would constantly wonder why we were learning what we were learning and why not something else. I think that may have come from a frustration I had with one of my seventh grade teachers. She was a nice lady, but it was the first time I realized that I not all teachers are wells of information and genius. It was a miracle she was teaching at all to be honest. There would be multiple times where she would have no clue what she was teaching and would simply have us read from the book and help each other. Then when we would ask her to explain it she would say, “I don’t know much about this part of the subject.” That was a great way to instill confidence in the classroom! The perception in society, as it’s studied in this chapter, of how teachers are placed in the realm of perfection makes sense to me, but is also the worst. Don’t get me wrong. 70 percent of all my teachers have been fine, and 20 percent of them amazing. I respect what teachers do with the upmost regard. And their job is extremely difficult. The way I see it is unfair. The classroom is a place where people go to learn. The teacher is meant to lead the discussion, but should also be willing to learn should a student bring something new to the conversation. My favorite professors and teachers have been the ones that lead a discussion rather than lecture us. Yes the discussions need to have a purpose and at least a type of agenda, but when the teacher is genuinely interested in the student’s understanding he or she will make a concentrated and solid effort to ensure that happens.

That may have felt like a little bit of a rant, but it’s something that’s important to me, and this article struck a chord with me. Although I may not agree with all of their points there were some great ones. This quotation beneath is something I agree with whole heartedly.            

“Education as the practice of freedom – as opposed to education as the practice of domination – denies that man is abstract, isolated, independent, and unattached to the world.”

Education is empowerment, and if someone is using it to oppress in anyway that’s something that can and should change. It just takes a little more effort from everybody involved.

“That’s all I have to say about that.”

Story for Change

Cast your minds back to when we all pitched our Big Ideas. I had originally thought to do a short story based off of the already existing text of Fievel Goes West. Well that didn't happen. It became more of an original idea rather than a remix. So I decided to abandon that and take a different approach. I decided to make a short video compilation of popular movies that deal with some type of corruption. It is based roughly on the idea that the fight against corruption starts with "you" and that's where the change needs to happen. I believe that a return to social, corporate, and political integrity is desperately needed. Though this may never happen, at least we can fight for it, and do our part.

I'll be honest. This project was a challenge. I didn't have much time to work on it, so I made the time. Though it's not perfect and may get a little confusing near the middle I do feel like I gave it my best shot, and I really respect those that do remixes well. I begin the video with a title card asking the audience to allow Rafiki from The Lion King to be their guide. I took a lot of his dialogue from the movie and used it as a compass to navigate the audience through the piece. It looks at Corruption as a whole for the first little bit and then asks you to look in the mirror. I used the clip of Simba staring at himself in the pond and juxtaposed it with a bunch of corrupt figures in popular movies that hopefully gives the audience that there is a desire in all of us to get ahead using any means possible. The ending is designed however to give the audience hope and tell them that it can be stopped as long as they are willing to fight for it. I really hope that it's not super confusing. It's pretty tricky telling a story/give a speech through video clips turns out.

One of the things that I feel like I accomplished with my story for change is simply raising awareness. I am not sure if the audience will find anything else of worth, but at the very least I made it known that I think corruption is an issue worth addressing, and I can't help but wonder what Adorno and Horkheimer would think of it. It's sort of paradoxical that I'm using the very product of the man (according to Adorno and Horkheimer), and using it against him. But I'm sure they would be able to find a way to argue that my Story for Change is only perpetuating their ideals and social subjugation to the ones with the money.

The middle section of the video is where it feels like it loses itself, but that is intentional. It was designed to be jarring, make you take a look at what is happening. The reason behind that is to help the audience see the corruption inside of them and fight it. Some of it is really over the top, some of it isn't so much. It gives you the sense that you're losing control, but once it reels itself back it you realize what it was all about. It gives it grounding and a stronger foundation even if we aren't quite sure what is going on at the moment. At least that's my hope, maybe it will just feel like a jumbled mess. That wouldn't be such a great thing.

As I compiled these clips trying to create meaning I had kind of a cool experience. I came to a deeper understanding of how much this topic really means to me. It didn't feel like I was creating the Story for Change to get a grade, but to really make a difference. I'm almost tempted to continue perfecting my video so it's more influential, poignant, inspiring, and makes a change. The more I created, the more it meant to me, and I hope the viewer has the same kind of an experience as I did in the making of it. I'm positive it won't be the same however, because when you create something of this sort I'm almost positive it will mean more to the creator than to anyone else. Take God for example, we are his creations and we mean more to him than anything else. As a child when you built something it meant more to you than anybody else (except maybe your mother). That's one of the downsides to such a project. But that's also what gives me the desire to make it all the better so that the audience has an experience that was just as meaningful as mine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y914bu9GL6g&feature=youtu.be

Fairytale Remix

I'm listening to the Star Wars sound track right now as I write this blog post, and I'm remembering something we discussed in Daryll's class last winter semester as we watched A New Hope. He mentioned that Star Wars itself was essentially a "remix" of past works. Being both a scifi and western, and using past stories for inspiration. The greatest of these was Frank Herbert's The Dune. I'm going to link a page to this blog so that those who are curious of all the parallels between Star Wars and The Dune can take a gander, but that will be at the bottom of the page. The reason I brought this up is to point out the fact that even some of our most beloved stories that we perceive as "entirely original" really aren't a lot of the time. They are just remixes of already existing material. It's like taking a piece of clay that has been used to mold a pot, breaking it down, and using it to create a vase with different flourishes and designs. It was interesting reading Zipes' "Breaking the Magic Spell" for these exact reasons. It pointed out some fairytales that have existed for extremely long periods of time, yet they have been morphed to fit the social needs or wants of a specific time period. We get a look at Beauty and the Beast as an example. That story has changed multiple times across the ages.

"In the case of 'Beauty and the Beast,' not only was a folk tale motif transformed and adorned with baroque features by the imagination of the writer, but the literary mediation controlled the production, distribution and reception of the tale." 

This excerpt also deals with the fact that these tales that have existed across time not only morph with social needs or wants like I previously mentioned, but the "literary mediation" have a major sway over if and how that story gets told. We saw this in "Wonder Woman: The Untold Story of the American Superheroines." The production, distribution, and overall reception of Wonder Woman was essentially dictated by how she was presented. We were shown many of the different stages that Wonder Woman passed through and how she was a representation of feminism. Beginning as the ultimate woman she inspired many women to be better, and to be proud of their gender and fight for their rights. Once she became a valuable icon the media took her in several different directions. I thought this was an interesting insight as to how the media manipulates certain icons and images to influence their audience into a certain way of thinking. Which yet again brings us back to Adorno and Horkheimer, but at least in this case the people who love Wonderwoman rejected the stupid things the media were doing with her story. Examples of this include her constant need to be saved, her opening of a line of clothing, and her over sexualization. These depictions of Wonder Woman did not reflect the original motivation of her creation. Being a symbol of feminism for people everywhere it became an embarrassment to fans and writers alike. Fortunately the fans took her back and gave back her superpowers and values that had been lost along the way. 

Story remixes have been going on for an extremely long period of time and that's not going to change. Some are better than others, and some adaptations are more popular than others. My goal for this upcoming project is to write truth. I think a lot of people like the superficial and cliche because they're used to it. The stories that the masses hold dear to their hearts are the ones that reveal truth in such a way that touches them. I want to write something that can achieve that. It's far easier said than done, and I don't consider myself an amazing writer, but hopefully the desire to write something of worth that's truthful and thoughtful I'll find some sort of inspiration. Les Miserables is a story that people have held close to since it was written. It has been adapted into a few different versions of films, a musical, etc. The story is timeless because it reveals many truths that people can connect with. The character of Jean Val Jean is the type of person that just everybody can connect with. We have all sinned, we have all made mistakes, we have all felt rejected, we have all had to pay for our mistakes, it's how we deal with them that brings about satisfaction in this life and salvation in the next. Marius' character is also one that I feel strong connections to as well because I have had to choose between love and duty, and it's a difficult decision. I, like him, chose duty, and I am have gained tremendously from it. There are many other stories in this world that dig just a little bit deeper and find truth. People relate the very most with these stories. I feel like that's why I connect with Brandon Flowers' lyrics and music so much. He writes in a very intriguing way, but I also believe that he writes to find truth, reveal truth, and present truth in a way that it hasn't been viewed before. 

Stories are some of the greatest tools man has to teach, convince, and enlighten others. When it's done correctly and with good intentions it can have a lasting and deep affect on those who experience it.

http://www.moongadget.com/origins/dune.html

Social Reform and Social Media

"Because people can only challenge domination by connecting with each other, by sharing outrage, by feeling togetherness, and by constructing alternative projects for themselves and for society at large. Their connectivity depends on interactive networks of communication. And the fundamental for of large scale, horizontal communication in our society is based on the Internet and wireless networks... The networked social movements of our time are largely based on the Internet, a necessary though not sufficient component of their collective action."

In this day and age, social reform is largely dependent on social media. As a matter of fact it is is one of the most effective ways to facilitate horizontal communication rather than the carefully constructed and mediated information that comes with vertical communication. As I read through this article I thought of past social revolutions and reformations such as the American Revolution, the French Revolution, the documentary Burma VJ, and even Newsies. Honestly it baffles me that they were even able to coordinate movements with enough people to even be noticed. Technology has changed this in a massive way. Movements can be coordinated not only locally, but globally through the internet and social media. But before we can have movements we must have shared experiences that create the want and often times the need for change. In the quote above the very first line is essential to the rest of the text: "People can only challenge domination by connecting with each other, by sharing outrage, by feeling togetherness, and by constructing alternative projects for themselves and for society at large. " This is the first key step that social media allows. Instead of a solitary meeting with your friends to talk about how horrible you are being treated in your community, country, etc - you can get online and share it. Everybody that has access to a computer can get online and share it. And within a few hours you have hundreds of personal experiences that feed the fire. These people share it with their friends, both in person and through social media, who share it with their friends, who share it with their friends. It perpetuates and creates immense possibility for social reform. Once all of these people are on the same page and feel passionately enough about making a change, through social media platforms, they can schedule a movement to make that change. I believe that this is the last step that the author, Manuel Castells, was addressing as he referred to the use of the internet as "a necessary though not sufficient component of their collective action." It boils down to the people standing up and making a change, social media just facilitates that.

Kony 2012 is a prime example of using social media as a means to achieve social reform. We watched the video on class which was released on Youtube and currently has almost 99,000,000 views from people around the world. The Kony 2012 facebook page currently has 82,767 likes from people around the world, and their numbers have plateaued within the last year. What's fascinating is that because of the internet, like we've talked about, they were able to have a worldwide impact. The likes and views are coming from not only across the country, but from across the world. They called for social reform, really made a push for it through social media, and gained traction like I've rarely seen. Especially for a political cause. It's a testimony to the fact that it can work. It is something that people have used, and continue to use, especially as the providers of the platforms improve their product.

The more I have looked into the use of social media as a resource to push social reform, the more I ran into organizations and stories about when it was used. One of the most interesting ones I found happened in 2010-2011 in Egypt. Just to call back what was going on - Hosni Mubarak, the President of the Country, was an authoritarian and was basically running a dictatorship. The people wanted a greater freedom of voice and decided it was time to make a change. Using social media platforms they Egyptian people were able to decide on a date and time to meet in central Cairo and protest. Here is a short excerpt from an account of that movement:

"Tens of thousands of people have gathered today in central Cairo and other Egyptian cities for what they are calling the "day of departure" of President Hosni Mubarak." 

Had social media not been involved as a major form in the coordination of this event, the magnitude of it all would have been majorly affected. I would be willing to bet that only a few hundred in any one of the cities would have turned up, and the majority of the population would have never known. I don't think I fully realized just how much social media has impacted the social reform organizations of the world today. And this whole time I've been talking about the positives of how people use social media to coordinate movements and advocate social reform, but I have to wonder how those in power influence it. If there's anything I've learned from Horkheimer and Adorno it's that everything is influenced by "the man" and what "the man" wants to think, feel, and do. I know we want to think that all social media is a means for "horizontal communication," but how much of that is true. Especially when a country's government is essentially a dictatorship and they control what is said and done. It's sort of tricky to know, but when there's a will there's a way I guess. In my opinion, it's better to have social media as a tool or resource, even if the oppressors have access to it as well.

Annotated Bibliography on Corruption

Just as a reminder, the social issue that I am addressing this semester is Corporate Corruption. I had originally planned to focus on corruption in the community so it became real for those that would see this, but it has quickly evolved into something else. I had also talked about jumping into the frying pan and doing my own research, and possibly trying to expose corruption that I have personally seen. Right now, from a personal standpoint, it is not the best idea and I am currently in the process of coming up with a better idea of how to approach it. In the meantime however, and after looking at my newfound resources I have decided to take a new approach- make it personal.

When I say make it personal I mean bring it home making it seem more real to my family, friends, and colleagues. The media has had a large influence on how people view corruption and corrupt people. A few films that come to mind right away are The Dark Knight, The Untouchables, and Ides of March. All of these films deal with corporate and political corruption. They shine an unfavorable light on them, yet in each case the protagonist who is fighting the good fight is the kind of hero that we can't be. We can't go out guns blazing bringing down mobsters, we don't have a sleek batmobile decked out with missiles and guns, and we are not in the political standing to make a major difference in society as an individual. Therefore we need to take the kind of approach that is more personal.

In finding all of these resources and jumping into the material, I don't think I originally realized just how overwhelming it all might be. One of the more interesting things I found out, which I sort of knew already, was just how intertwined Political and Corporate corruption are. The rich and powerful want to be taken care of, and so do politicians. Together they can be dangerous since their relationship can be very beneficial. I read more about the scandals that surround the bankruptcy of almost every fortune 500 company that has ever existed. The executives at Enron threw the workers of their company under the bus while they walked away with billions of dollars. Corporate corruption spreads so far and so wide that it almost feels like there's nothing we can do about it considering it's very difficult to see the corruption until after the fact.

Unfortunately I get overwhelmed by things like this fairly easily, and I have to take a step back and ask myself three easy questions. What? Why? and How? When I look at my pool of resources it makes me wonder how we can combat corruption. It seems almost impossible as an individual, and there's no way to entirely rid ourselves of it, but we can try. I believe it begins with the individual. My push is for an increase of integrity. If people would stick to their guns and keep their integrity this wouldn't be such an issue. So I am not sure yet how I am going to approach it, or address integrity, but I believe this is the right approach. You can fix it all at once, but one starfish back in the ocean is a start.

Predator of a Nation, written by Charles Ferguson, is a book that talks about the criminalized state in which the financial sector of our country has succumbed. It focuses on the influence that the academic, financial, and political fields have had on the “predator’s path to conquest.”

Ferguson, Charles H. Predator Nation – Corporate Criminals, Political Corruption, and the Hijacking of America. New York: Crown Business, 2012.

This book focuses on the lies of America’s large fortune 500 companies. It talks about their misdeeds and misbehaviors, and exposes truth about these companies to the general public.

Clinard, Marshall B. Corporate Corruption The Abuse Power. New York: Greenwood Press Inc., 1990.

Pigs at the Trough focuses on the affect corporate greed and corruption is having on the entire nation. Huffington singles out different political leaders and business owners to prove her specific points.

Huffington, Ariana. Pigs at the Trough How Corporate Greed and Political Corruption are Undermining America. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2004.

This film has five parts: How we got here; The bubble; The crisis; Accountability; and Where we are now. The director of this film helps shed light on why Iceland privatized its banks and they, and the rest of the world, went into recession when the Lehman Brothers and AIG went under.

Inside Job. Directed by Charles Ferguson. Belgium: Sony Pictures, 2010.

Based off of the book Enron published in 2003, Gibney helps us see the scandal of Enron, and why the top dogs walked away with billions when the company collapsed.

Enron. Directed by Alex Gibney. USA: Jigsaw Productions, 2006.

This film essentially picks a fight with large companies. It looks more closely at how large businesses function, and points out the flaws and criticizes the way they function.

The Corporation. Directed by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott. Canada: Big Picture Media Corporation, 2004.

This article talks about the rise of corporate corruption over the last several years. It also touches on how corruption may be cyclical with recessions and the abandonment of integrity as a result.

Porter, Eduardo. “The Spreading Scourge of Corporate Corruption.” The New York Times (New York), July 10, 2012. October 15, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/11/business/economy/the-spreading-scourge-of-corporate-corruption.html

This magazine article talks actually talks about what the world has done to crack down on corruption through creating laws and exchange policies that forbid many types of unethical behavior in regard to foreign exchange.

Surowiecki, James. “Invisible Hand, Greased Palm.” The Newyorker, May 14, 2012. October 15, 2013. http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2012/05/14/120514ta_talk_surowiecki

This website provides general corruption statistics across the globe. Mostly in reference to political corruption, but the more I’ve read the more I’ve found that political and corporate corruption are essentially intertwined.

“Corruption Statistics.” Transparency.org/uk. Accessed October 15, 2013. http://www.transparency.org.uk/corruption/statistics-and-quotes

Again, this website focuses on political corruption across the globe, but it compares the world’s countries with each other to give us a better idea of where we stand and how we are doing in comparison.

“Corruption index 2011 from Transparency International: find out how countries compare.” Theguardian.com. Accessed October 15, 2013. http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/dec/05/corruption-index-2012-transparency-international

Adorno and Horkheimer, need I say more?

Last week was frustrating for a few reasons. Horkheimer and Adorno are extremely smart and I understood a lot less of what they wrote than I would have hoped. Going over the reading in class was extremely helpful by the way. But once I fully understood the argument they were making I wanted to discuss it with them face to face. I'm sure they're great debaters so that probably wouldn't have gone so well, but the thing that frustrated me the very most was that no solution was presented. Here they have issues with just about all media that is produced by people of the United States claiming that it's all propaganda of what "the man" wants us to think, yet they present no way of changing that. Maybe it's because they see the "problem" as an unchangeable problem. I don't know. The thing that gets me is that their claim delves into the way people are brought up, what their social views are, and what they believe is right or wrong. The government is not creating half of what people watch, it's corporations and independent film makers. The most accessible being hollywood films rather than independent. There are some films I don't necessarily agree with and others that I do. I agree with those films because they are in line with the values I was taught growing up. I believe their issue with media is actually an issue with social customs and what we value in comparison with other countries and territories of the world.

The next thing. The idea that people "get what they ask for" is something that isn't entirely off. After thinking about our in class discussion about being given crap because that's what we ask for made me think. I'm not sure whether or not we talked about Miley Cyrus in class or not, but that is something that made me believe that it's not entirely inaccurate. I have noticed that even with the scandal at the VMA's people are still listening to her music, watching her videos, and yes, people are still twerking. It makes me crazy. Those are the people that enable trash like Cyrus to continue doing what she does. So in a way we are given what we ask for. Then there's the other side of it. I do everything I can not to support it and I feel like I am rewarded with great products of the media. Adorno and Horkheimer would disagree saying that it's part of "the man's" agenda, but I have decided that I am past that. These films are created to inspire, uplift, and give hope to those that might be having a hard time. Can we really say that "Finding Nemo" is a terrible piece of work because it reinforces values that we might have? Sammy cited the 13th article of faith which reads: "We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things." The last part is extremely applicable in this setting. "If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things." I can think of countless films, tv shows, music, and all sorts of media that meet this criteria, and these are the kinds of things I choose to watch and create. If it's a reflection of what I believe and what I hold dear then I did my job properly. If it happens to fall in line with the views of other people in this world all the better. Horkheimer and Adorno have a great argument and I agree with a lot of it, but I don't see some of it in a negative light.

Lets talk about "The Hunger Games" for a moment. I watched it this morning so that it would be fresh in my mind. It was interesting to watch it from a media literacy standpoint. The scene where Peeta comes away from his first interview having informed the world that he's in love with Katniss. She's pissed and wants to kill him, but Haymitch stops her and says that he made her look "desirable" and that it just might save her life. He says that it's a tv show after all. That was quite poignant since our entire discussion last time was about what the media gives us and how it's both what we ask for and a confirmation of what the corporations want us to think, value, and feel is right and wrong. The capitol really pushed to convince the 12 districts into thinking that the Hunger Games are something that brings them together, unites them, and is good. I don't believe our government nor big corporations try to do that. People are smarter than they give them credit for. An example of this is the film Avatar. It had a major agenda and look at how people received it. It was great and terrible at the same time. Kind of an interesting thing to think about. Either way it was the source of one of the more stimulating conversations I've been a part of in a long time. That's why I love this class!

7 Great Debates

I really enjoyed our in class discussion about the "7 Great Debates." It was great getting insight from everybody in the class rather than just Hobbs. The first question that is posed is the following:

"Should media literacy education aim to protect children and young people from
negative media influences?" 

Hobbs made a fantastic point that the "protectionist stance leads to an instructor-focused classroom" which leaves the student to parrot what the teacher has sanctioned as right and wrong. This approach can also cause the students to approach all media as if it were harmful. It turns them cynical and instead of enjoying and participating in media they take a stance of superiority. That is not what we want as a society. In my opinion it is good to be wary of what the media provides. There is more crap out there than ever before, and if we are not careful we can loose ourselves in it. But on the same side, there is more good out there than ever before and those are the things we need to engage in. If we approach all media from a protectionist standpoint we will have a hard time engaging. Another problem we find with the protectionist approach in the classroom is that each teacher has their own set of standards of what is appropriate and what is not. A single standard cannot exist because everyone has conflicting opinions. In one classroom all Rated R films might be considered bad, and in another Rated R films that graphically depict historical events might be acceptable. It's hard to tell what is right and what is wrong. Students should be taught how to correctly use media and to be cautious. It's hard to know exactly what to do which is what makes it such a great debate.

Another question that is posed that I feel rather strongly about is the following:

"Should media production be an essential feature of media literacy education?"

Absolutely. There is no debate here for me. Students need to learn how to create their own material for multiple reasons. First because it teaches them to respect the work of others. All you have to do is get on Youtube. Look up any video and you will find several people that hate on the work that was done. It doesn't matter how poor or how professional it looks, there is always someone to point a hating finger. There is no way that this will ever be eliminated, but once you create something yourself and realize just how difficult it can be your level of respect for those who try increases substantially.

Media is controlled by big corporations and people who run those corporations. It's film business which means that the underlying reason it is made is to make money. As hard as that is to admit for some of us, the majority of what is made and what we see is to get our money. Having students create their own work will teach them the "what," "why," and "how" of production. I use these three questions in just about everything I do, but in applying it to media production we are forced to ask ourselves: "What are we creating?" "Why are we creating it, or why do we want to share it?" And, "How is it going to affect the viewer? Or how is it affecting me?" Once we create our own media we begin to ask these questions when we participate in other types of media. For example, when I watch a movie like "Avatar" I ask myself: What is this movie about? Why did the director choose to tell this story? And how is it affecting me? It's a simple formula, but it's very self reflective and forces us to look inward at the effects media is having on us.

I really enjoyed this read, and I felt like our in class discussion was awesome. It was interesting to get all the different points of view on how things should be done regarding media literacy. I felt like most of the class was in concurrence with one another, but I'm not sure if that was just to avoid contention or if everybody mostly felt the same. Another thing we did in class that I really thought was great, was going out and asking strangers questions regarding media in their lives. Most of the answers were what I expected, but there was one question that Mack and I asked that people seemed to struggle with, and that was "List a few films you've seen that address social issues." We asked most of the people we talked to this question, and there was only one person that named something right away. The rest of the interviewees sat and thought about if for a while and some never came up with anything. Even after I gave them a few examples like "Remember the Titans" or even "Batman Begins" they couldn't think of anything. After that experience, and thinking back to it at random times during the week, I think that teaching people to be aware of what media is telling them rather than simply allowing it to wash over them is super important. People need to be aware of what they are being told, and what the agenda of certain filmmakers might be.

I think these debates should be discussed more in public schools, and that media literacy should be instituted everywhere it can be. The more people know and are aware, the better their decisions.

Trying to outrun a Tyrannosaurus Rex is a bad choice.

Media literacy education is a good choice.

Corporate Corruption

Recently I have had several experiences that have dealt with dishonesty, lack of integrity, and basic corruption in the work place. This last summer I had the opportunity to work with The Color Run. Inside of that company there is a lot of room for "taking care of you and your own." We had an employee who was cheating others out of money and work, and instead took care of his guys. Fortunately he was found out, and demoted to another position. He wasn't doing horrible things, but what it did do was open my eyes. I started paying closer attention to corruption in the workplace, and I started asking questions. I found some things out that were extremely insightful, disappointing, and even terrifying. I have had some close encounters with corrupt corporate big wigs as a result, and had to fly under the radar in some of the situations pretending to know less than I do to protect those it could affect. After noticing so much corruption around me, even in places I would least expect it, I had to ask the question, "has it always been like this?" I found an article from the New York Times that addresses this question.

"Have corporations lost whatever ethical compass they once had? Or does it just look that way because we are paying more attention than we used to?"

"Last year, the economists Justin Wolfers and Betsey Stevenson from the University of Pennsylvania published a study suggesting that trust in government and business falls when unemployment rises. “Much of the recent decline in confidence — particularly in the financial sector — may simply be a standard response to a cyclical downturn,” they wrote."

Corruption has always, and always will exist. It comes with the imperfection of human beings. However I believe that it's our job and responsibility to address it and restore integrity in the work place. Integrity is something that was once greatly valued, and a man's word was his bond. I feel like we have lost that, and that is a terrible loss. In the place of honesty and trust we have fraud and skepticism. Fortunately there are still companies out there that don't tolerate such behavior and rid themselves of people who would take advantage of the system. We need to use these companies and people as examples of how the rest should be, and expose the corrupt for who and what they are. 

The most difficult part of all this is finding the guilty. "As Warren Buffett famously said, 'You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.'

Company executives are paid to maximize profits, not to behave ethically." In a world of capitalism where the corrupt go to great lengths to cover their tracks how do we find them. It's like a game of cat and mouse. Do we turn to a night time vigilante who takes fighting crime into his own hands? I believe that there is always someone who knows, and it just takes someone willing to speak up. It's only about a million times easier said than done, but if integrity makes a comeback and is prized as greatly as it once was this country will also make a comeback. 

Maybe I'm just an idealist and getting back to where we once were is impossible. But at least it's a good idea. 

Bibliography

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/11/business/economy/the-spreading-scourge-of-corporate-corruption.html?_r=0

http://www.wanttoknow.info/corporatecorruptionnewsstories-0-10000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtHuoF5qoC8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxAwU_kNhJA

So it's been a while since I've written anything academic so I sure hope I sound somewhat smart and that this post makes sense. Yesterday's conversation on politics has stuck with me throughout today. The comment that was made about our personal politics serving as a base for everything we do and is built into our words and actions got me to take a look at myself and ask a few questions: What do I believe? What fuels my thoughts, words, and actions? What do I care most deeply about? Once I answered these questions I was able to answer the following questions: What am I willing to fight for? What political stands am I willing to make? What am I willing and not willing to accept?

It was interesting to see what other people in the class feel strongly about and how they express those emotions. In a world filled with so many people with different backgrounds I don't believe that there can be any two people that have the exact same philosophies on every subject. One of the things I hope to do while I am in this class is to express the what and why of my beliefs without imposing them on anyone. Though I hope to present them in such a way that is not offensive and cultivates understanding it's a little hard to always be politically correct. And maybe being politically incorrect can help us better express what our views are in a positive way. "Hairspray" is an example of this. The film shows some extremes on the subject of segregation and how people may have felt about it in 1963. You had the side that was all for integration and they were presented as open minded, nonjudgemental, and wise. The characters in the film that were pro segregation were presented as conceded, close minded, and stubborn unwilling to change their views. Something I always appreciate in films is when the audience is given the opportunity to sympathize with the antagonist. We were never given the opportunity to do this in "Hairspray." We were thrown into this political debate influencing us to consider only one side of the argument. The viewer comes away with the view that everyone that supports segregation is a stubborn close minded monster. If we don't take the time to understand why someone might believe what they do we will be subject to thinking that anyone who disagrees with you is a horrible person.

I hope that last paragraph made sense. It does to me, but sometimes I feel like whoever reads my posts might finish it thinking to themselves, "What just happened?" What it boils down to is fairness. Am I being fair to those who may not agree with me? Am I being fair to those that do agree with me? Am I presenting my view and ideal in such a way that would not embarrass those who share my beliefs? I have noticed that when someone acknowledges in fairness the other side of belief I much more prone to listening to what they have to say even if I share their belief. I feel like I'm starting to get repetitive.

One more quick note about the movie. I felt like the character development in the film was extremely weak. All of a sudden Tracy, Penny, and Link were these huge advocates of integration. It sort of came out of nowhere for me which was frustrating. Her parents were also this same way. When did everyone become so vocal about integration. I felt like it lacked the roots that were needed for us to believe that Tracy could become this prominent leader in this political stand. A little more character development and a little less making out goes a long way. You can quote me on that if you want. What's funny is that here I am tearing into this movie because they failed to present the opposing side in a fair way and I have also failed to do so in this blog. It just goes to show how easy it is to present your belief without regard for the other, but once we learn to do that our argument becomes that much more powerful. So let me say that the film did have strong points. It presented a story about integration and acceptance of people for who they are rather than their appearance. Of course when the film was made, and even now it is a nonissue because segregation has been done away with. However it touches more on accepting people for who they are. It uses our past mistakes and successes as ways to demonstrate how and why we should be better.

Oh politics, what fun they are!