Community Essay

Nickolas Gold-Leighton 
Professor Pisano
LANG 120
April 26th, 2014
                                                                        Community Essay

      Community is not the collection of beings in a certain area. Community embodies how we as
humans share our human experience among collections of others who share “something” in common with us. Community is personal to every individual and I have discovered throughout this semester that personal interactions, local, and national culture all play a major role when shaping/altering the malleable communities we live in today.
      Personal interactions helps to enable change and progress. Even the simple act of volunteerism can shape and grow communities in need of virtually anything. Throughout this semester we looked at the charity model of volunteering compared to the social change model and how they affect local communities. Community can be heavily influenced by individuals who provide relief to a certain area. I believe that personal interactions can be most closely identified as volunteerism. When volunteering this semester I determined that even though I was responsible for the completion of 20 hours of service I would maintain the conscious effort to make sure that I was not working to serve the school, rather I was working directly with the children to help as best I could. The community of ArtSpace charter school was
well grounded and my temporary addition helped to enforce a tight knit community between the students
and teachers. The students understand that their school is small and remarkably they have bonded regardless of their socioeconomic surroundings. This school fosters connections like these because they
believe that if the students possess enthusiasm, then their scholastic life is much less daunting. When
volunteering I remembered my reading response for "I Just Wanna Be Average” by Mike Rose. That
piece was aimed at showing how influential just one educator can be in the life of a child. Even though I am not an educator, I felt that my purpose for volunteering and engaging with each student carried a similar level of influence as Mr. MacFarland gave to Mike Rose. Mr. MacFarland was described as a passionate teacher but what made this piece standout to me was how even though Mr. MacFarland cared

for the material he was instilling within the community of the class, his additional connection with Mike
Rose made all the difference when Rose decided to pursue higher education. The golden idea of community is this type of connection. Where individuals who have life experience can teach, protect, and garner the interests of those similar to them. I feel that this semester has taunt me that the similarity people share is their connection with a the people or groups around them. This connection I feel evolves into community.
Local culture can be a strong proponent of creating or hindering communities. “Conversational Ballgames” by Nancy Sakamoto compared the culture of Japanese language to the culture that is formed by when individuals converse. Sakamoto’s experience speaking was very uncomfortable and thus allowed her to feel unwelcome. This piece I believed illustrated how on a local setting individuals could become dismayed from enjoying the embrace of community. For Sakamoto her inability to feel included gave her
a sense that not only could she not relate, but she was incapable of participating in the human experience
around her. Communities are most advantageous when they feed off everyone’s input and the consensus of the group. Sakamoto explained the culture of Japanese language which has been shaped around her, however her experience with communication is “like doubles in tennis, or like volleyball. There’s no waiting in line. Whoever is nearest and quickest hits the ball, and if you step back, someone else will hit it. No one stops the game to give you a turn (to give you a chance to play). You’re responsible for taking your own turn” (Sakamoto). The way we constantly feel influenced by our local culture can be mirrored in the way we unknowingly build our local communities.
     The influence of local culture can also be seen in “The Lesson" by Cade Bambara. In this piece,
the community established by Mrs. Moore was aimed at helping the children disconnect from their poverty stricken surroundings and learn about what else was accessible in the world around them. Community in this piece was aimed at alleviating the cultural influences of the children's surrounding by enhancing their understanding of the real world. The community that Mrs. Moore endorsed aimed at promoting the children around her to think critically and perspectively, leading to Sylvia’s main
statement, ”Imagine for a minute what kind of society it is in which some people can spend on a toy what it would cost to feed a family of six or seven” (Bambara). For these children who have clearly grown up

too fast have been influenced by their local culture and have incorporated those beliefs into the community around them. Local culture provides the backbone for how individuals feel when participating in communities and what type of experience each member receives.
     On a national level culture has a profound impact on the communities around us. In “Want Amid Plenty: From Hunger to Inequality” by Janet Poppendieck it is apparent that when national culture has established a framework for how poverty is addressed, then community is shaped to accommodate the status quo. Poppendieck illustrates how the communities established within the poverty stricken areas are
reluctant to trade their food stamps for bare necessities due to the national culture surrounding homeless
and poverty. Poppendieck makes the assertion that "Many poor people are indeed hungry, but hunger, like homelessness and a host of other problems, is a symptom, not a cause, of poverty. And poverty, in turn, in an affluent society like our own, is fundamentally a product of inequality” (Poppendieck). As
Poppendieck makes this claim in her writing, I felt that this was a direct attack on our national culture.
National culture can have economic disadvantages when degrading malleable communities like these. Furthermore “Helping and Hating the Homeless” by Peter Marin was an interesting look into how
we as a nation have established a framework on how to deal with the homeless among us. Our national culture has set a precedence on how to deal with the homeless and less fortunate. These communities of human beings are unjustly subjected to established laws that make it illegal to barely survive in the unfortunate conditions they have not a majority of control over. Community in this instance shows that
national decisions have direct impact on communities on an individual level.
     In conclusion, I feel that personal interactions that lead to volunteerism are the most productive forms of community. Volunteerism gives back to any community with enhancements on a social or physical level. National and local culture in addition have far reaching impacts on the sustainability and viably of communities. National culture can populate preconceived notions of a certain idea while local culture can change those beliefs on a local level. Community should be a forethought and never an afterthought. Community is not always beneficial as discussed in this paper. Community can be harmful if culture is accepting of such present inequalities. Or community can thrive if individuals maintain passion

for a defined purpose or experience they want to see come to fruition. I believe that our culture, whether local or national, leads to the betterment or degradation of communities globally.

                                                                           Works Cited

Bambara, Toni Cade. “The Lesson.” Writing and Community Action. Susan Kunchandy. Phoenix: Longman,           
     2003. 193-200. Print.
Poppendieck, Janet. "Want Amid Plenty: From Hunger To Inequality." Monthly Review: An Independent      
     Socialist Magazine 50.3 (1998): 125. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.
Rose, Mike. “I Just Wanna Be Average.” Writing and Community Action. Susan Kunchandy. Phoenix:    
     Longman, 2003. 39-49. Print.
Sakamoto, Nancy. “Conversational Ballgames” Writing and Community Action. Susan Kunchandy. Phoenix:  
     Longman, 2003. 137-139. Print. 

Final S-L Journal

For my final S-L journal I can start off by saying that the odd jobs that I continued to work on have finally amounted to something. Over the course of this semester helping teachers finish/organize classroom projects has given them more than intended results than expected. Understanding that the level of dedication we put into our efforts really does matter was a large lesson that I learned this semester. With an increase of passion for what you do comes the resulting body of work you finish with. Working with ArtSpace Charter school was a great experience and I would recommend this volunteer opportunity to anyone in the future. I felt as though I was making difference for the students and helping the teachers catch up on the unfinished projects. In the near future I look foreword to volunteering with ArtSpace again. 

“Service to a just cause rewards the worker with more real happiness and satisfaction than any other venture of life.”

Carrie Chapman Catt (1859-1947);
American Women's Rights Activist     

Research Paper

Nickolas Gold-Leighton

Jessica Pisano  

LANG: 120 

March 19, 2014

What does it mean to really learn?

In this day in age everyone is expected by society to perform throughout school thus leading to a successful life.  While a majority of our national population maintains this status quo we still find a percentage of Americans who have yet to find any progress producing their own form of success. Many could protest that these Americans are lazy or do not carry the common sense to maintain normality within their own lives. However a majority of these cases can be traced back to an individuals inability to preform in an educational setting. When students present a learning disability or even a lack there of to desire to learn we separate and disassociate with the problem and deem their learning condition fixable by way of medication and/or discipline. Current culture expects that every individual is entitled to the freedom of choice. Which promotes the question “should every student then deserve the access to an educational environment that not only teaches those who will naturally excel, but will foster the student who’s potential is present just worth an alternative form of explantation?”. Throughout the past decade more forms of alternative educational systems have begun to arise across the country. Whether using hands-on or visual forms of teaching, Montessori schools or Charter schools all provide legitimate avenues for a students mind to traverse over traditional “forced school systems” (Gray, ch. 3).    

Alternative forms of education give each student undeniable possibilities to learn in a variety of settings. Not only are alternative forms of teaching more effective with higher rates of mental course retention but the educators in each environment burnout much less often. Students consistently feel appropriately challenged when given assignments. Our educational system can be improved with the quality of teaching provided. Alternative education establishes the frame work for every student to achieve personal success. Hands-on education is among the many pillars that make up alternative education. The educational model of “Busy Hands, Busy Brains” (Cleaver) is the culmination of hands-on education actually proving itself to be a viable form of material retention. Hands-on education is a form of teaching that appeals most to visual learners. This hands-on approach to teaching younger children has been seen to be accessible with student that have ADD/ADHD learning disabilities, Aspergers syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and nonverbal learning disorder (Cleaver). The reason this style of teaching works is because when you combine multiple tasks that require movement, talking, and/or listening it activates a series of areas in the brain. "The more parts of your brain you use, the more likely you are to retain information (Cleaver). For young students being hyperactive is common and with their ample energy devoting their attention solely on just listening can prove to lose much of their focus in the long run. Allowing students to multitask gives each individual the ability to channel their energy for more complicated tasks. This ability to multitask and retain higher rates of information is not only a phenomenon found with younger students. In fact the journal of Applied Cognitive Psychology reported that volunteers who doodled during a dull verbal message were 29 percent better at recalling details from the message (Cleaver). With results that prove even grown adults can improve retention rates in business like settings then why is there not more of a demand put on schools and teachers to implement mnemonic tricks for students when teaching subjects that are conceptually dense? Visual, auditory, and kinetic learners are most advantageous when being taught by hands-on methods. Furthermore, the idea of hands-on education is not primarily based on the idea of using tangible items. Educators that embrace this style of teaching will commonly allow students to explore their natural interests and where there is a definite lack of ability projects can be centered around building upon comprehension of areas of disinterest. Visual, auditory, tactile, kinesthetic, and social learners individually approach challenges differently. Then why should we teach every child the same way? If teaching is considered an art why do we approach education from a formulaic standpoint?  When social learners are exposed to hands on-education most of their time is spent in small group conversation. This verbal communication strengthens their understood knowledge of the concept and allows the “student to become the teacher”(Cleaver). “When students explain and demonstrate skills to each other," says Sheldon Horowitz, EdD, director of professional services for the National Center for Learning Disabilities, "they are validating their understanding of the material being learned and, often in ways that adults are less successful, helping their peers to build and master new skills”(Cleaver). The ability to not only multitask on an individual level but to preform social interactions within a group environment is a major focal point that helps to define alternative education. Whether taught directly to an individual or among a group of students hands-on education has the potential to be implemented with success and consistency.

Similar to hands-on education is the emerging field of visual learning. A style of teaching that is incorporated along with standard methods, however visual learning is capable of explaining difficult concepts in more approachable ways. Within the world of education the technical term is referred to as Cognitive Aspects of Creativity. Over the last ten years the video game industry has exploded in terms of capabilities of not only target audiences but how immersive environments can become. The video game industry reaches over twenty billion dollars and in recent years teachers are excepting the benefits of the industry (Snyder, ch.4). Even though certain companies have been producing educational games for several years like that of Brain Age or Luminosity, it has been unfavorable to implement because “gaming has conventionally been viewed as a mindless activity engaged in by young men and women during their free time” (Snyder, ch.4). With students now being exposed to a plethora of social media, advertising, and entertainment it would seem wise to use video games for constructive purposes and not for “mindless activity". This recent addition to the educational system has roots in much higher areas of discipline. The United States military, Government agencies, commercial airline pilots, and even drivers ed courses all use the same brand of technology. This alternate form of teaching is a virtual representation of what will exist within environments, which allows the “student” (of any age) to learn how to operate a tank, a sedan, Boeing seven forty seven, or even a space shuttle docking on the international space station. 

Learning does not restrict any age person, but learning will enhance how any person can connect with the world around them. Visual learning of this magnitude can help young students explore the foundation of the cell or even teach medical students how to operate more efficiently on the body. Students who have had access to games or “video-games” that challenge their minds while coupling the same information from there courses have a greater capability of retention and participation (Snyder, ch.4). Within the past nine years the National Science Foundation ITEST (Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers) has incited funding for a program that aims to combine the efforts of educators and students to design and create immersive educational games that follow content standards. The acronym for this program is the HI FIVES (Highly Interactive Fun Virtual Environments in Science) this program proved in 2005 that pilot simulator projects are possible conceptual ideas that students and teachers can obtain together (Snyder, ch.4). 

Within the alternative education there are school systems designed to challenge the student in a more constructive atmosphere. Maria Montessori, an Italian physician developed a frame work for how children should be taught within the class room. Her main focus was to have classes that encompassed children from three to eight years of age. She wanted the students to feel a sense of independent choice when choosing what form of activity they would take part in. Maria Montessori also wanted the students to be able to use their hands or some form of tangible “discovery" model when learning a new concept (George, ch 2). As Maria Montessori focused on our own human tendencies she felt that restricting an individuals movement when trying to learn would result in a less efficient manner of retention and interest. “Children are designed, by nature, to play and explore on their own, independently of adults. They need freedom in order to develop; without it they suffer” (Gray, ch. 1). Montessori’s findings during the 1900’s placed importance on the human tendencies of abstraction, activity, communication, exactness, exploration, manipulation, and self-perfection. Ironically this is not uncommon, most of the educational restructuring that has initiated within the United States over the last twenty years has based itself on the ideals and goals of Maria Montessori. Working independently would be our form of self discovery and her term of “exploration” would be similar to that of a hands-on assignment. Maria’s work studying the interactions and developmental processes of children and teachers was profound. Her work has made headway into how our current culture desires education to evolve. Nationally there are many Montessori schools that follow this simple practice and are able to carry testimonials from past students validating the comprehensive and  “self-perfectionist” mentality of learning (George, ch 2). 

Charter schools are a recent addition to the world of alternative education. Since the 1990’s charter schools have begun to establish themselves in rural settings. The state of Oregon is a very pro alternative education state and has legislation to promote the addition of new schools. However only 1.3% of Oregon’s student population actually belongs to a charter school (Nagata). This amounts to 1,031 students enrolled. Charter schools are typically a mix of traditional and alternative public education. Charter schools offer parents, students, and teachers “public school alternatives based on the idea that competition will bring educational innovations” (Collins). There is potential for controversy with Charter schools because they possess the power by law to establish their own form of regulations on curriculum. “Charter schools offer autonomy in exchange for accountability” (Collins). The schools are free to implement hands-on education and new media departments as long as they produce test scores that prove their curriculum has provided the necessary state requirements. The rate at which Charter schools are being established has increased since the 1990’s and because of the lack of regulation for an allotment  of time there is room to mix traditional teaching styles with the heavily integrated arts and alternative educational practices.   

              Alternative education is not a substitute for traditional schooling. It is a altercation of how teachers and students learn together. Hands-on and visual learning help to connect concepts for visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and students with learning disabilities. Charter schools and Montessori schools both help to incorporate alternative education into main stream practice. While Montessori schools focus on a structured and yet flexible core they are the heart of alternative education with Charter school playing the bridge between traditional and alternative practices. Alternative education does not produce a superior student they facilitate the student to become a self driven individual capable of finding success in what they pursue.    

Works Cited 

Cleaver, Samantha. “Hands-On Is Minds-On.” Scholastic 2014. Scholastic Online. Web. 18 March. 2014

Collins, Timothy. Charter Schools: An Approach for Rural Education?. Charleston: Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools, 1999. PDF file.     

George, Anne E. Scientific Pedagogy as Applied to Child Education in "The Children's Houses". Washington, D.C.: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1912. PDF file.  

Gray, Peter. Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life. New York: Basic Books, 2013. PDF file.

Nagata, Yoshiyuki. Alternative Education: Global Perspectives Relevant to the Asia- Pacific Region. Vol. 10. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, 2007. PDF file. 

Snyder, Heather T. Cognitive Aspects of Creativity: Science Learning Through Serious Educational Games. Teaching Creatively and Teaching Creativity. New York: Springer, 2013. 53-62. PDF file.

Reflection Journal #3

Over the course of this semester I feel that my writing has become much more concise. Normally I find that my writing only discusses sections of what I want to touch on. During Language 120 my ability to write about my main ideas have made great progress. As a writer I feel that my strengths are a mix of vocabulary and thesis development. My greatest writing challenges are avoiding grammatical mistakes and finding source material for whatever topic I am using. For the remainder of this semester I hope to continue learning about how different authors are able to develop living worlds within their stories and provided experiences. 

Wordle

Reflection Journal #2

   Now that I have been able to volunteer with ArtSpace Charter School for several weeks now I have found that working with the school has been personally enriching. With ArtSpace I have carried a mixture of odd jobs that have helped each instructor. This week I reorganized the school's tempera paint using the color spectrum and refilled paint cans that the students will use for art projects. Last week when volunteering for the virtual arts classes I helped by sorting through slides of photographs of bygone eras. Personally I found this to be very amazing as over 10,000 slides were donated to the school from someones private collection. Each slide contained scenes from truly amazing locations like that of Downtown Cairo, Giza, 1970s Los Angeles, the Indonesian Islands, and The Great Barrier Reef.
   The past few weeks of volunteering have helped me lean how education is such a lost and dying art for some schools. As I am currently volunteering for a charter school and teaching in another public  institution I have observed teachers don't need the most advanced white boards to be great or even the superior funding of that of a private school. Teachers need to facilitate an environment safe enough for students to openly feel they can create without harassment or ridicule.
   Hopefully in the near future my work with the teaches can provide them with more free time to focus on making larger strides with their lesson plans. With my help I want to see the teachers accomplishing new opportunities that before were limited possibilities.