Cultural Critique

On Socially Programmed Divisions

A thriving people need visibility, respect, and education. Empowerment simply will not occur without personal agency and knowledge of history. And no matter how much we want to justify our biases, the truth remains that steps toward progress will be in vain if we step dividedly.

The recent turn of events surrounding undocumented immigrants in the United States has demanded that I see our commonalities in a different respect. Immigrant rights are queer rights. As June Jordan so eloquently articulates in A New Politics of Sexuality, freedom is indivisible, and to divide ourselves into easy-to-reference categories creates a culture of compulsive taxonomy where the emphasis is on labeling, not truly seeing each other.

Presently, I fear our critical and over-active minds have tricked us again. We've lost ourselves in impassioned discussions of “immigrant rights” or “lesbian rights” without understanding that, as long as these discussions take place separately, we've signed the dotted line on a promissory note entitled We Are Not One.

Excutive Summary & Solutions Proposal

Leadership Public Schools

Cultural & Academic Blueprint

College Park, Oakland, California

June 2009

Submitted by

Andrea Danielle Guy-De la Selva

AREAS OF PRIMARY CONCERN:

All concerns are intersectional, informing and influencing the symbiosis of our school culture. All observations and solutions provided below are site specific.

1. Teacher Success
2. Student Success
3. Leadership Success

DELTAS:

1. Effectively communicating, motivating, and teaching our English Language Learner population (College Park: 66% Latino, of the 66%, 44% are ELL)
2. Student to teacher ratio
3. Putting students in positions where leadership (w/in student authentic contexts: self, community, school, etc.) takes healthy flight

SOLUTIONS:

ELL Population
Effectively communicating, motivating, and teaching ELL population
(College Park: 66% Latino, of the 66%, 44% are ELL)

In a student-led/created/regulated Bilingual Social-Aid Club members are invited to learn English/Spanish in an open and non-threatening environment (eliminating language performance fatigue/pressure). The club dynamic is woven w/ strategic power shifts (student-teacher knowledge/skill share [as opposed to traditional focus on teacher as convoy and disseminator of knowledge]). Students design language themes; will be schooled in the process of leading group activities, lesson planning, etc. The desired member population is diverse, w/ the club inviting an array of 1) ELL students who attend LPS 2) Teachers who understand membership as an intrinsic part of professional and cultural development 3) Parents seeking bilingualism.

Student to Teacher Ratio
In circumstances where the student to teacher ratio provides an unfortunate barrier to the critical learning process, the following accommodations are suggested.

Teacher’s Assistants—the cost effective way: Tap into resources on the teacher track; many future teachers need to fulfill required standards of student-teaching and are willing to co-teach and/or help the lead teacher guide and create a “teacher presence” in the classroom (high student populations in the classroom can lead to destructive student-teacher tension when the student feels their needs are not being met because of an excessive and unrealistic student/teacher ratio). Additionally, develop relationships with parents and invite able parents/familial representatives to play a role in their child’s education by volunteering in the classroom. This can lead to a myriad of perks benefiting all, such as lasting teacher-parent-student bonds that simultaneously increase enrollment, and empower parents to take an active role in their child’s education. Many school districts have had great success with this familial involvement model, including SRLDP (School Readiness and Language Development Program) a student-first prototype that mandates a representative of the students’ family volunteer in the classroom twice monthly.

Student Leadership
Putting students in positions where leadership (w/in student authentic contexts: self, community, school, etc.) takes healthy flight

Student leadership development and school morale are inextricably bidirectional. Providing strategic spaces for student-growth is key. Maintaining a comprehensive student counsel that authentically and responsibly celebrates the voices, concerns, and needs of the students and the community in which the students live. This leadership dynamic will not only boost student morale (which will help maintain robust and consistent enrollment) but will provide students with contextual leadership experience. Student counsel will differ from other student counsels in that the counsel will realistically address changes that can be made within the school and community culture. The counsel will serve as conduit for student-administration communication, and will act as the nucleus, or, major center where other student-led organizations collaborate (for instance, a student group that wishes to sprout a community beautification campaign will meet with student counsel in a think-tank fashion, and communicate their needs and wants as necessary).

Editorial

Mills College Fetish Ball: Transformers,
Paddles and Whips, Oh My!

The décor was set to a fabricated velvety red, the air a smoke-filled gray (compliments of a rented party fog machine, no doubt). Shoulders relaxed from sangria embodied the room as heavy industrial beats pulsed, causing the walls to reverberate with anticipation - anticipation for the locally celebrated dance group, “The Transformers.” The hostess proudly announced the group's presence and the crowed cheered, their voices cascading in momentary liberation. It was transformer time.

Upon viewing the slyly cropped hairstyles and faux facial hair of the female dancers, it was clear that great preparation had been taken to challenge conventional perceptions of female and male attire. With charm, sex appeal and grace, the transformers moved in synchronicity, dancing debonairly to pop-culture hits such as Justin Timberlake’s teen-puppet-gone-rebel’s “Rock Your Body” and to hip tunes by Christina Aguilera (an openly gay ally who received an award from The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, GLAAD, in 2003).

The Transformers' performance art also included a skit that delivered a clear message against abstinence only programs. These sassy lasses (or should I say lads?) are crystal clear about what they want to transform: sex-education delivered from a traditional heterosexual perspective. What’s next on their list of manifestations? “Sequin suits and a performance piece that demonstrates how important it is to love our bodies” said Ixquel Sarin, of the group. With all this inspiration, I’m going to dust off my Janet Jackson jumpsuit ala Poetic Justice and pump it up to Aretha’s R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Who’s with me?