Do It Anyway - Our Generation of Small-Step-Activism

Hello again!

Have you ever thought about yourself as an activist, felt the pressure or need to save the world?

Whether yes or no, do you think this is somehow connected to your generation?

In her book Do It Anyway, Courtney Martin (2010) makes this link when she talks about her generation, which she defines as all 35-year olds and younger. She claims that typical parents of this generation burdened their children with the responsibility to save the world. She, as a part of this, felt kind of overburdened, and did not really know how to realize this. Still, she felt the urge to do so. On the other hand, she argues that the older generation and media never really saw her generation as successful with being activists. She explains that her generation is seen “as entitled, self-absorbed, and apathetic” (p. XIV). Not really capable of being political or social activists. Anyon (2010) counters that it definitely is, just in several ways, different from her parent’s generation’s activism. This is why she wrote her book, in which she shadowed eight activists of her generation, and wanted to show how these changed something in their specific way , even if in small steps.

According to Anyon’s definition, I would be in her generation. However, I think that her definition includes a pretty wide span of ages that is hard to compare. On one side, I never shared her experience of my parents or anybody else pressuring me to save the world. I never felt this burden or responsibility in this intensity, nor did I see myself as an activist. Although, I can mostly agree with the claims of the older generation about more and more people in my generation—however you want to define it—becoming politically lethargic. I approve Anyon’s observations that there are exceptions that scarify their life to save the world, and are effective with it, but more often I see a youth that is not interested in anything happening around them. I have to admit that politics was never something I put myself into too much. Still, I do not want to lose all my faith. In my opinion, there are the people in between the “entitled, self-absorbed, and apathetic” (Anyon, 2010, p. XIV) and the big activists having the power to change big things. I hope that I can count myself into this group of people. Also, I think that this is what Anyon wants to express. Sometimes our everyday lives and professions with at least a little interest in our surroundings can change more than we think. I agree that our generation shows activism, just in a different way, although we have to admit that there are too many adolescents not caring enough.

One way to change exactly this is education. This is why I see my own activism in teaching children, and can relate a lot to the profile of Dena Simmons, an eighth grade teacher in New York, Anyon (2010) describes in her book. Teaching demands a lot of passion and commitment to your children. This is what Simmons life points out. Not everybody is made to be a teacher, but if you are it is possible to change so much with the right attitude. This is a form of everyday activism that keeps in mind bigger social issues like inequality.

Reconsidering that every generation is different, the activism of every generation is, too. So maybe we can still consider our generation a generation of activists if everybody contributes his or her own small part.

You just need to find out what your activism is! Think about how you change the world at least a little bit.

Yours,

GermanGirl.115

References:

Martin, C. E. (2010). Do it anyway: The next generation of activists. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

The House I Live in - Prison as a Chance or Isolation?

Hey everybody, 

It has been a long time...
Have you ever seen the movie "The House I Live in" made by Eugene Jarecki?
It is a, not really objective, documentation about the American prison system linked to the propaganda around the war against drugs. Jarecki clearly states his opinion about these topics in it, and wants to convince us of it to change something. 
I still wonder why he chose this title.

To be honest, I was never really interested in this topic, and don't know much about it. 
I never had too much contact with it.
However, what Jarecki presents in this movie, and how he does it, got me - in a very persuasive way. On one hand, it was really hard to figure out what his actual point was until the very end, or even after this. His movie covers so many different stories, characters, arguments, and perspectives that they are not easy to put together, or follow as a straight line, even if they lead into the same direction. On the other hand, this is one big strengths of this movie because Jarecki supports his main idea with information from personal, political, historical, statistical, and other examples and points of view.
You might ask, so what is his main argument? 
In my understanding of the movie, Jarecki mainly points out that the effects of the war on drugs harm more than help the society, and influence the prison system with a growing population. He claims that the war on drugs is an effective way to get rid of specific groups of people. Instead of preventing drug abuse, looking at the background of, and helping affected people or families, it only convicts them for relative small offenses, and sends them to prison. He identifies several populations that were or still are connected to certain drugs, and so became victims of the war on drugs over time, naming Chinese, Mexican, Black, and nowadays poor and gay White people. To be very provocative, he compares this to the process of the destruction of Jews during World War II. His explanations of the steps are very compelling and frightening if true.
The ones who profit are the prison and law enforcement system, whether public or private, producing jobs for whole cities, and making a lot of money, while the taxpayers are accounted. But the money isn't used well because prisoners are not (supposed to be) prepared for a resocialization. Anyway, spending the money for prevention or other forms of intervention would save it, and be much more efficient.
From what I know from Germany, which is unfortunately not much, officials lay a big focus on resocialization. There are two forms of imprisonments, in an open or closed prison, with different rights and routines. The open one provides resocialization more. There are possibilities of day parole and vacation. Prisoners work inside the prison when it's a closed one, or outside if it's open. They can get an education, and are engaged in a lot of activities. Contact to family and friends as outside resources is very important. A lot of professionals work inside on preparing the prisoners for a life outside (Böhnke & Heidenreich, 2014). Lots of people are only shortly in prison. But that doesn't mean that this it good, nor that the system with its goals really works. As in the United States, there is a high risk of recidivism in Germany. There are a lot of things happening inside that not many people know of, like secret hierarchies, gangs, a black market of drugs, cigarettes, and coffee, horrible conditions, and a lot of violence. It is all about power. When people come out of jail, it's often harder for them to get back into society than before (Schulz, 2013). I never heard of a connection between a campaign of a war against drugs and the prison system in Germany. I think there is a lot of prevention and social work going on. But probably most Americans haven't heard about that, too, so that doesn't prove anything. As I said, a lot happens unknown of.

What remains? Whether we believe in all Jarecki says, or what happens in prisons, we should stay aware, and think about it.
Is this a society we want to live in? (How) Can we change it?
What do you think about this topic?
I would love to hear from you.

Yours,
GermanGirl.115

References:
Böhnke, A., & Heidenreich, B. (2014). Gefängnis – Leben hinter Gittern. Planet Wissen. Retrieved from http://www.planet-wissen.de/politik_geschichte/verbrechen/gefaengnis/

Jarecki, E. & Shopsin, M. (Producer), & Jarecki, E. (Director). (October 5, 2012). The House I Live in [Motion Picture]. United States: Cinetic.
Schulz, B. (2013). Gefängnisalltag in Deutschland: Weggesperrt und vergessen. Spiegel online, 2013(2). Retrieved from http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/justiz/gefaengnis-in-deutschland-ex-gefangener-erzaehlt-vom-alltag-in-haft-a-869733.html

Which Education Do You Need to Work for Education? - Thinking about Working Class Jobs

Hello again!

I don’t know how about you, but I for myself don't have a degree to work by now. However, soon I will hopefully get it, so even now there are some things to think about…

I am planning to graduate as an early childhood educator from a four-year-college in Germany. This certificate in Germany means something different then what an early childhood teacher would be in the United States. In Germany it is more like a social worker specialized on children. If you want to be a teacher, you have to study something else. With my degree, for example you can work as a child care worker. However, if you want to work in this position you actually don’t need a degree from a four-year-college, but from a vocational school. This is what makes this job a working class job - not well paid, and rarely valued in society. Teachers, on the contrary, are mostly seen as appreciated professionals. Due to the fact that a lot of other countries in Europe have child care workers with a college-degree, Germany tries to change this, and came up with my course of studies. My degree differs from that of child care workers in professionalizing the view of and work with children.
So after my graduation, when I am going to begin working in a child care center as I wish to, I will be in a position of a working class job with the knowledge of a college degree. The questions will be: Am I better qualified for that job than the people with the vocational education? Should I be paid more?

Probably I paid more than they did for my education, although the vocational schools are very expensive, too. Still, most of the work I will do, will be same work they do. Only my perspective and background knowledge in special cases should be different.
Of course, I hope that I will be valued for my work, also in payment, because the reasons I chose college education were that you gain specific knowledge of formal education, which I knew was my way of learning, and expressing my proficiency, and you usually can earn more money.

From my experience in internships and temporary jobs until now, I was mostly treated as everybody else, and interest was shown to my ideas, even without a degree yet. I hope that this will stay the same, when I begin to work with maybe different pay. I really don’t want to compete, I want to enrich my work, but I’m aware that this still could happen.

http://www.cafepress.com/+child_care_provider_tote_bag,261135215

Anyway, I think that my future colleagues should certainly get more respect and regard for their work. I agree with Rose (2012) that people in working class jobs like this show multiple skills, big knowledge and proficiency. That’s why they should earn a lot of esteem, and not be viewed as less intelligent if they are good in what they are doing. If they even do something outstanding like Rose describes about his uncle, they should be valued for that in specific. 

Skills, knowledge and proficiency should determine your appraisal, regard and wages. 
Independent from your degree, you should be valued and respected for the work you are doing. This is why I also concur with Rowe (2013) that you should and need to work smart and hard. And when you do this, you can and should get good money in working class jobs, too, as some people are very good at what they are doing, and don’t need a college degree for this. Still, I think that it is good to professionalize some jobs, too, like it is done with mine, and give people the opportunity to connect their experience with some formal education. College can help you to better show your skills and knowledge, and improve them. It also gives you the possibility to be promoted, and enables you to take more responsibility. This, for example, should from my point of view make you earn higher wages. College is definitely not necessary, and made for everyone, but like Rose (2012) says, it can be a “means of fulfillment” (2012, p. 246). For me it was, and is.

At this point I want to end with a little anecdote from my mother. She achieved a college degree of early childhood education similar to mine back when she lived in Poland. She had 15 years of experience, and was and still is really good at her work, as I can prove. However, when she came to Germany, her degree wasn’t accepted - not even as a child care worker for which, like I said, you only need a certification from a vocational school. After she raised me and my two younger brothers, she was looking for a job, but couldn’t find one in her former field of work without a degree. Luckily, she could work in a home for the elderly WITHOUT having any degree for this work. She learned all she needed, and is very passionate about her work. Her team values her, and she loves her team and the elderly people. The payment could be better, but that’s how it goes with all the social employments…

So for her this is the right place now. And this is how things are sometimes going - ignoring, or not valuing your degree on the one side, but appreciating your skills on the other.

For my part, I am happy about my education, and excited where it will lead me. I am glad I could choose my way, and hope it will help me use my proficiency. Still, like my mother showed me, your degree doesn’t predict anything, your work and personality should do, whether you are in a working class job or not.

I wish you all the best with all of your degrees and jobs!

Yours,

GermanGirl.115

References:

Rose, M. (2012). Blue-collar brilliance. In Graff, G., Birkenstein, C. & Durst, R. (Ed.), They say I say: The moves that matter in academic writing (2^nd ed.) (pp. 243-255). New York, NY, London, UK: W. W. Norton.

Rowe, M. (2013). Why “Work smart, not hard” is the worst advice in the world. Popular Mechanics. Retrieved September 18, 2014, from http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/why-work-smart-not-hard-is-the-worst-advice-in-the-world-15805614

Learning How to Learn - My Educational Experiences

Hey guys!

Thinking of my education in Germany, there are a lot of differences to the educational system in the United States. To make this comprehensible to you, I first will try to explain what the system is like in Germany.
Instead of going to middle and high school after elementary or primary, in Germany there is just one school you are going to as a secondary school until you graduate. But this secondary school is separated into two to three types of it, that have different aims after and time until graduation. In former times there has been three types of secondary school - one where you pass after nine years, one after ten, and one after twelve. Recently, the states in Germany, which are in charge of education themselves, mostly aligned the first two kinds of schools. 
When I was reading the article Social Class and Hidden Curriculum of Work by Jean Anyon (1980), and compared my experiences to the US system, it struck me, that what Anyon calls a "hidden curriculum" is kind of an open curriculum in Germany. 
Anyon (1980) believes that public schools offer "different types of educational experiences and curriculum knowledge to students in different social classes", and tries to prove this with her research. She points out that some schools unofficially prepare their children either for a vocational or higher education e.g. in colleges. In Germany, these selection processes are partly a purpose of school, and explain the two different types of secondary schools. People who want to go to vocational schools only have to absolve the nine- or ten-year-long secondary school. Students that want to achieve higher education go to the other school for twelve years. Although a lot of persons that graduate after twelve years are going to take vocational education, too. Some of these students then go back to school, to college, when they are adults. 
But thinking of Professor X's article In the Basement of the Ivory Tower (2014), it seems like the German system separates the secondary schools with the same ideas like Professor X, that some students just aren't made for college. Besides that, there is a lot of unintentional, but known-of social inequality in Germany, too. This is the case when the students can't choose to which secondary school they are going because of what kind of job they want to have later, but because of what opportunities their parents give them. At this point I can't say which system is better, I just experienced the German one, but I know that independent from the system, we have to fight social inequality!


Remembering my school, the historic 'Roswitha-Gymnasium' in Bad Gandersheim, Lower Saxony, there was no big choice where to go, as we lived in a rural area. If you had good enough grades, or your parents really wanted you to go, you could only go to one school in your district, which provided a degree after twelve years. During my studies of Early Childhood Education in Hamburg, a big city in Germany, I have experienced different things, but that's what my school was. We had round about 700-800 students, 70 teachers, and my graduation class was a big one of 130 students because that was the first year where this kind of school in my state graduated after twelve and not 13 years so that we actually had two classes in one. If I tried to describe the school with a characterization Anyon (1980) uses, it would probably be the 'executive elite school'. The curriculum for at least the last two years was a common one for the whole state. However, the practices really depended on the teacher. As our principal pointed out at our graduation ceremony, the main aim for us should have been to learn how to learn. That would have been what a student needs to go to college. For me, that worked, and I am close to graduate from college, absolving my last semester here - abroad. For others, 'though, it didn't, and that is where both educational systems fail.

If you are interested, I could gladly illustrate this more.
Until now, thanks for reading my thoughts!

Yours,
GermanGirl.115

References:
Anyon, J. (1980). Social Class and Hidden Curriculum of Work. Journal of Education, 162(1).
Professor X (2008). In the Basement of the Ivory Tower. The Atlantic. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/06/in-the-basement-of-the-ivory-tower/306810/3/

It's Never Too Late for Your Happy Ending - An Interview with Lori Kostro

Hello everybody!

Today I want to give you a short look at the life of one of my classmates, Lori. While interviewing Lori, she delivered me a deep insight into her life. She shared same important happenings with me, and was very open-minded the whole time.

Lori works at the customer service at a local electric company. Sponsored by her work, she had the opportunity to go back to school. So, since May she is majoring in Business Management at Cedar Crest College. Most courses she had until now have been online courses. Starting the other classes, Lori felt a little overwhelmed in the beginning, but she doesn't regret her choice to go back to college. She needs this degree so that she can reach an advanced position, e.g. as a supervisor, in her company. Before that job, Lori told me, she worked in health care service. 

Besides her career, there was a lot more going on in Lori's life. I got to know that Lori has two younger sisters and two younger brothers. The first three of them are close together in age, and grew up with each other. There is a big age difference to the last two. 

One of the most important parts in her life is Lori's son. He is 20 years old, so Lori was a young mom when he was born. We talked about his high school time, which Lori experienced as hell, because he hated school. Lori also described her parenting style to me. It didn't consist of many rules, except for no lying, and showing respect. Raising him as a single-mom because his father died when he was two years old, Lori maybe has an even deeper relationship to her son than other mothers do. He still lives very close to her, in his own apartment next to her house, both located on a farm they are living on. They just moved to this farm some months ago with Lori's new boyfriend. 

On this farm and in this relationship Lori feels like she finally gets her happy ending. The farm is very peaceful, they have a pond with snappy turtles in it, two cats, a dog, and plan to get horses. Lori is also thinking about growing vegetables to maybe make some money with selling them. And at some special places Lori even feels like close to heaven. 

I really want to thank Lori for sharing all this personal information with me and us! It was a pleasure to me to get to know you better, Lori.

If you are interested in some more insights of Lori's life, you should visit her blog at: http://loristales.blogspot.com/

And of course I hope that you will visit my blog again. 

Thank you! Yours,

GermanGirl.115