How to get your marks, pick up your work...

By or before August 2nd:
If you want to pick up your practicum and/or CPT after it's been marked and would like comments, let me know by this Saturday. (If you don't plan on picking it up from me, then I won't worry about writing questions in the margins, circling spelling mistakes, etc. But I'll probably put a brief explanation of my mark at the end of every practicum just in case.)

On or after August 15th:
Practicum and CPT marks will be available from August 15th onward. Email me any time on that day or after (and NOT before - I will totally forget to respond if you email me before I have the final marks) and I can tell you what you scored out of 20. Since it will be difficult or impossible for everyone to see the practicum and the official mark sheet, I can also send comments on the group project electronically if you want them.

In Late August or Early September:
Your final grade is posted to your student records. As Steve and Jeffrey noted in lecture today, we can't tell you what that final grade is before it is posted to the website.

On September 9th, 16th, or 23rd:
Practicums and CPTs will be available to pick up from me on the York campus. This isn't all that convenient, I realize - Tuesday is the only day of the week that I will be at York consistently, and only in the afternoon. (And only between 3:30 and 4:30 - though, if necessary, I could also meet just before 12:30.) My office isn't confirmed yet, but it will probably be Founders 168. That said, the best idea would be to email me in advance of showing up so that I can confirm a time and location.

Open Discussion Thread

This post is open for anyone to ask a question relating to tutorial conversations, assignments, or any of our course readings.

'Pedagogy of the Superhero'

Fyi, an abbreviated version of the powerpoint presentation from Wednesday's lecture has been added to the 'links' section of the class website. (It's abbreviated because all of those pictures made the file so large that it crashed my browser when I tried to upload it. So most of the pictures are gone, but all of the text remains.)

And more importantly, the assignment details - for anyone who didn't write them down or who didn't make it to lecture - are on the very final slide of the presentation.

Thanks again to everyone who came out to hear my lecture! I really appreciated it.

For Wednesday...

My old article on the X-Men/super-heroes and the identity politics of representation can be found on the Worlds of Childhood Readings page. Check it out in advance of the lecture if you have the time.

Open Discussion Thread

This post is open for anyone to ask a question relating to tutorial conversations, assignments, or any of our course readings.

Notes on office hours and assignments...

1) Since I've been able to leave tutorials early these past couple weeks, I thought I'd rework that time into another office hour. So I'm going to be at Treats in the hour before lecture 3 times in the next 2 weeks: Monday the 21st, Wednesday the 23rd, and Monday the 28th.

2) As I mentioned in tutorial, while Steve gave an option between doing either only the 'Who Owns York U' or both of the final 2 weekly assignments (1. today's concentric circles assignment, and 2. my not-yet-assigned superhero assignment), anyone who wants to do all three can do so for bonus. If you have a zero on one of the assignments, I'll replace it with the average of your two final assignments; if you don't, I'll add to one thing that you already turned in. It's not substantial, but if your mark is right on the cusp of the next highest letter-grade, it could make a difference. Keep in mind, of course, that everything still has to be turned in on time.

'Pedagogy of the Oppressed' chapters 3 and 4

Post any comments or questions about chapters 3 and 4 here.

Open Discussion Thread

This post is open for anyone to ask a question relating to tutorial conversations, assignments, or any of our course readings.

Important notice, re: Practicum

Remember that you must attach the completed Model Release and Consent Form when you turn your practicum in at the end of the month. They can both be found here. (I'm making this reminder its own post because I know that someone(s) will forget, or will attach the forms but leave sections blank. Don't be one of those people!)

'Pedagogy of the Oppressed' chapters 1 and 2

Post any comments or questions about chapters 1 and 2 here.

Open Discussion Thread

This post is open for anyone to ask a question relating to tutorial conversations, assignments, or any of our course readings.

Some 'Pedagogy of the Oppressed' resources...

Summaries for those of you who are having difficulty with the text. These might be helpful to review before you actually read the chapter - though I'd advise against reading only the summaries.

-Wikipedia (really brief summaries)
-The Communication Initiative Network (more detailed)
-Freire's work in biographical context

'Pedagogy of the Oppressed', Intro and Preface

Post any questions and comments about the assigned readings for this Wednesday here.

re: Participation marks

Everyone should now have their participation marks. If you gave me your preferred email address when I passed the sheet around near the beginning of the course, I sent it there; if you did not, then I used you address as listed in York's directory.

To reiterate about the remaining park of your participation marks: the other half of the participation grade (it's 20% of your final mark, and what I've given you constitutes only half of that) will not be substantially different unless you substantially change your own participation. For example:
*If you're happy with your 6.5/10 and don't post any more frequently to the blog and don't come to chat about the class with me at my office hour, you can expect another 6.5 for the other half.
*If you've been posting to the blog regularly and suddenly stop, you can expect your mark to drop slightly. (ie. That 6.5 may have actually been a 5.5, which I increased to 6.5 because you've posted a few thoughtful things to the blog and you submitted two questions for the mock-exam.)
*Conversely, if you're unhappy with that 6.5 and start posting once or twice with really smart stuff every week or starting coming to talk to me during my office hour, you can reasonably expect your grade to increase.

I'm also considering putting together exercises specifically for our tutorial that would count toward the participation grade (which is an approach that the other tutorial leaders use), but won't do so unless it's something that the class is actually interested in.

"Three Wishes"

Since we didn't get any class-time to talk about Three Wishes, feel free to post some comments or discussion in response to this posting.

Exam review

Use this thread to toss out any questions you might have or discuss topics in preparation for the review. If someone wants to post the themes/binaries from tutorial and add or invite others to add to them, that would probably make an excellent starting point.

Mock-exam: multiple-choice questions

Here's the sample multiple choice exam questions. I've pulled one question from each person that submitted them (14 people in total). Some are good examples of what you will get on the exam and some are not. The reason I've chosen 'good' questions should be obvious. But I've included the 'bad' ones as well because these questions are still instructive, since they actually look much more like good essay questions.

So print this off or simply write down your answers and bring them to tutorial - and also take note of any questions that seem too open or interpretive, and perhaps require short essay style answers.

1. Which of the following is an example of how adult assumptions about childhood can lead to self-fulfilling prophecies?
a) if adults believe children should not read fairy-tales, they will let them watch Disney films instead
b) if parents refuse to read books to their children, the children will likely find another adult to read to them
c) if adults allow children to choose their own books to read, they may choose books that they find entertaining and interesting
d) if adults believe children are innocent, they will keep them away from interesting books because of potentially dangerous content

2. According to Dyer, how does the mainstream media treat gay characters unfairly or inappropriately in films?
a) By making all gay men flamboyantly so.
b) By inserting a masculine/feminine binary into homosexual couples. (I.E: even if they're both women, one of them obviously wears the pants)
c) By primarily using gay characters in comedy and horror films.
d) All of the above.

3. According to Marx & Engels, the class which is the ruling material force of
society is at the same time its ruling:
a) social force
b) artistic force
c) intellectual force
d) dominant force

4. How can childhood researchers, according to James, listen to the authentic
voice of the child?
a) Literally - listen to them
b) Researchers can explore the nature of the voice with which children are
attributed
c) Researchers can study documents relating to childhood (diaries, children's
literature, etc) and draw conclusions about childhood from these.
d) None of the above

5. What is David Jefferess concern in his article?
a) Western children go to school rather than work, and are expected to play rather than fulfil responsibilities to the household.
b) Western notion of childhood may not have existed prior to the eighteenth century
c) The dominant concept of the child in this discourse is dependent upon notions of work, education and the romantic construction of “childhood”.
d) The child in the CRC and child rights discourse is dependent upon the dominant, yet historically recent, conception of the “child” and to suggest how dependence on this concept of the “child” perpetuates structures of domination rather than contributes to the positive social change the child rights movement advocates.

6. When looking at the analysis of Deborah Ellis’ books that we have read this term, who is seen as the strongest character in terms of dealing with social values in labour?
a) Parvana
b) Diego
c) Binti
d) Jay

7. What author states: “the category of the subject is only constitutive of all ideology insofar as all ideology has the function (which defines it) of ‘constituting’ concrete individuals as subjects.”
a) Antonio Gramsci
b) Louis Althussier
c) Karl Marx
d) Ellen Riordan

8. During the 18th century, western children was thought of as
a) little devils
b) equivalent to adults
c) totally innocent
d) as imperfect adults

9. What is the name of the organiztion that Eshan Khan was the leader of?
a) bonded labor liberation front
b) children's liberation group
c) free the children
d) stop child exploitation

10. One of the best way to deal with bias is to
a) accept it and move on
b) report it to the proper authority
c) blame it on dominant ideology
d) to treat everyone equally regardless of race, class, nationality or sexual orientation

11. When Jenkins describes Hillary Clinton's "village" mentality, there is a particular idea or state that the child embodies. What is this state?
a) The embodiment of nostalgic remorse, or of an innocence that has been violated.
b) The embodiment of a dream for the future which must be built in the present.
c) The embodiment of change, its threat and its potential.
d) The embodiment of a temporary state, an emblem for our anxieties about the passing of time.

12. What major element is heavily emphasized throughout the novel of Bifocal?
a) Class
b) Sexuality
c) Stereotypes
d) Individuality

13. What does discursive matrix mean?
a) a representation of one whole text in the same areas within it.
b) a meaning is getting made and represented in lots of different arenas.
c) discourse of ideas and representations.
d) none of the above.

14. Why did Prof. Jeffrey Canton mention that the notion of children literature is stupid?
a) Because its never authentic enough.
b) Because its adult literature created for children.
c) Because all children books are all similar.
d) Because their too young to write books.

Open Discussion Thread

This post is open for anyone to ask a question relating to tutorial conversations or any of our course readings.

Notes

*A reminder that the 'Voice' assignment (on the main class site), which is due on Wednesday, is 3-4 pages if you choose the email option, 6-8 pages if you choose the transcript. Double-spaced, of course. And worth double the normal value of these projects - it will be out of 6 instead of 3.

*The exam outline is posted to the class website, under the 'What's New' link.

*Presentation marks will be emailed to all of you in the latter half of next week. Remember that i'm only going to be assigning half of your total participation marks, which means that you'll still be able to affect the other half. The remaining marks will be assigned at the end of the year.

Review questions...

To remind everyone: you need to create 2 multiple-choice questions for the in-tutorial review on Wednesday and either email them to me or post them as a response to this message. (I would prefer it if you just posted them here - York email is painfully slow. But don't tell us/me which answer is correct. We'll figure that out when we take it up in tutorial.) You have until midnight on Monday (yes, after the next tutorial) to submit something, after which I'll pull it all together and repost it in mock-exam form on Tuesday (possibly as late as the afternoon) for the whole class to try and answer. (There's no specific penalty for not participating, but joining in on the review and contributing - like any discussion - is connected to the participation mark.) And then we'll discuss the answers in tutorial.

If you were in tutorial on Wednesday, then you should know which week you were assigned to cover. If you were not, then I'd suggest that you refer to May 21, 26, and June 2's articles and choose something from among those, since they have the most material to cover. If you're struggling to come up with something, definitions (supplying the definition and four possible terms) or identification (describing a place/person/thing and four options) questions are always the easiest. I won't tell you to avoid making it too easy or too hard because we all have different ideas of what's hard or easy - just try to make sure that all of the possible answers, even the wrong ones, sound at least somewhat plausible. (For example: If the correct answer is 'Louis Althusser', it would make no sense for you to include 'Magic Johnson' as an option. Try Marx, Gramsci, Jenkins, Jefferess, etc.)

So in summary:
-2 questions of your own design, drawn from your week of readings/lecture
-4 possible answers for each (with no indication of which is correct)
-emailed or posted here by midnight on Monday (although earlier is always better)

The Heaven Shop - Discussion Questions

1. The reporter who interviews Binti in the opening chapter asks "Which do you think is more important...jobs or free speech?" to which Binti replies "It depends on how poor you are." Is Binti's answer consistent with the argument of the book? How so? Do you personally agree with her answer?

2. Talking about her radio show character, Binti explains that "Mr. Waijiru says my character is so awful because she teaches people how not to be." Are there other examples of such characters in this book? Do you think that this is an effective strategy to employ in children's entertainment?

3. Gogo has a long speech about her family and society's denial of AIDS at Binti's father's funeral, which leads to the marginalization of Binti and her siblings at the hands of their relatives. Later, Jeremiah argues that "The truth can hurt sometimes, but lies hurt even more." Is this argument consistent with the events of the book? Drawing from the book, devise some arguments both in defense of lying and in defense of telling the truth in the context of Malawi and the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

4. The book features a budding romance between Junie and Jeremiah, both of whom have HIV. Is this an empowering representation of life with HIV, since it shows they can still love and be loved? Or, given that they do not fall in love with people who are HIV-free, could it be a problematic representation? Can we imagine how differently the relationship might be represented or received if one of the characters was not HIV positive?

Open Discussion Thread

This post is open for anyone to ask a question relating to tutorial conversations or any of our course readings.

Barbies of the World

Barbie's "Dolls of the World":
The Princess Collection
Festivals of the World
Africa
Asia
Australia
Europe
North America
South America

All of the standard critiques of Barbie's inability to represent real people apply. Additionally, if you have the time to look these over then be sure to ask yourself who isn't represented at all. I suspect that a large number of people in the class will discover that they don't even exist in the world of Barbie.

Information/knowledge and childhood

As a follow-up to the Wednesday discussion, in case you were interested.

Information: Information consists of observations that are recorded or gathered, but which don't mean anything until they are related to a system of knowledge. Think of Professor Steve's favorite example of the images on the York homepage - there's a picture of a windmill and one line of text says 'An environmentalist sees zero emissions' while another says 'A literature student sees Don Quixote'. The windmill is the information that has the potential to mean many different things. However, that potential is only realized in relation to a body of knowledge - like environmentalism or literature.

Knowledge: Knowledge is created within a system of discourse. For the purposes of our course discussion, knowledge should be understood as an ideological system that organizes the otherwise unintelligible information into something that is 1) meaningful and 2) always hegemonic. For example: Look at Hendrick's different periods of in the historical understanding of childhood. Each era used information about children (their ages, their ability to comprehend, their sexual and physical maturity, etc.) and made sense of that information by relating those observations to a pre-existing ideological system (Protestantism, Puritanism, psychoanalysis, science, etc.) in order to create a knowledge about children and childhood.

In summary:

*Information is never neutral because it's always embedded in a system of knowledge. However, it can reevaluated in relation to another system of knowledge. So while it is not neutral its value can change: we can't make the category of childhood meaningless, but we can change what childhood represents.

*Knowledge makes information meaningful, but systems of knowledge are always hegemonic. The cost of meaningfulness is that meaning is unequal: children are made to represent 'innocence' and 'purity' at the cost of their own agency and to the benefit of adults.

Open Discussion Thread

This post is open for anyone to ask a question relating to tutorial conversations or any of our course readings.

Assignment Reminders

1) If the assignment says one page, it means one page, double-spaced, 12-pt font, 1 inch margins. It does not mean 1 and 1/2 pages, or 1 page single-spaced. Being able to express everything that you need to concisely in 250-300 words is part of the assignment. (Though, as I said in tutorial, I'll let the 1 page single-spaced/2 pages double-spaced thing slide for the Barbie assignment, only because it wasn't absolutely clear.)

2) The lateness policy, again: Once tutorial starts, any assignments that haven't been turned in get a zero. I've made a habit of being a couple minutes late whenever an assignment is due, so there's really no good excuse for turning it in 5 or 10 minutes late - give yourself enough time to fit in washroom breaks or account for the possibility of a printer error. (In all seriousness: I didn't appreciate being put on the spot in front of the class on Monday when people sheepishly tried to hand in their assignments late. If it's late, just sit down and move on - I don't want to see or hear about the assignment.)

Open discussion

I'm going to put up an open discussion post every weekend, which people can feel free to use over the course of each following week. Ask questions, suggest answers, post links or whatever you feel might be interesting or important.

Mickey Mouse Monopoly film clips

Mickey Mouse Monopoly
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Yul Brynner:
in The Magnificent Seven
(he's the one in hat-to-toe black)
as Pharoah in The Ten Commandments
(or, rather, a mash-up version of that movie)

Brief updates...

1) The Barbie assignment is due next Monday.
2) FYI, I have an appointment that scheduled to run 11:30-12 elsewhere on campus, so I might be running a bit late for my office hour this week.

More on childhood and innocence

Anyone ever notice how kids are routinely written about in the newspaper? Check this one out to see how the ideology of innocence, while well-meaning, can often exclude kids from the category of childhood altogether: http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/429526

A few updates...

1) The most recently assigned group activity - "Something to Talk About" - is now on Steve's assignment page.

2) A note about "praxis" and the group presentations: With one and perhaps two exceptions, praxis (even though you may not have known the word) was the missing key element in most presentations. Keep that in mind as we move forward.

3) If you haven't received a presentation mark in your email inbox, that's because you weren't in class last week on Wednesday to give me you email address. If that's the case, email me in the next few days (only email me from your York address if you check it regularly - I'd prefer an address for an account that you use every day, rather than once a week) and I'll send it back to you.

4) If anyone did answer the reading questions for the Marx & Engels, Gramsci, and Althusser readings and would like to discuss their answers or the problems they encountered in answering them, feel free to post a comment in response to this message.

Open Discussion Thread

As promised, the comment thread for this post is open for anyone to ask a question relating to tutorial conversations or any of our course readings.

Assignment Reminder

Just to remind everyone, the assignment located here is due next Wednesday by the beginning of tutorial. So if you're going to disappear to get a coffee or something, make sure that you give it to me at the end of lecture - just to be safe. (And, again, remember that this is #1 not a team assignment, but individual; and #2 not a research assignment, but an interpretive piece.)

(Hate) Machine

Link to (Hate) Machine, the short film that we didn't get a chance to see in lecture:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ebh0BaY8m0

"Kids with Cameras"

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=C-c9kiuSGpU

Jeffrey sent this link out over email, but just in case you didn't get the email or we don't have your email address, I've posted it here too.

Contact info

Neil's contact info:

Email
shymATyorkuDOTca

Office hour
Wednesday, noon to 1pm at Treats in the Student Center
(but alternative arrangements can be made over email)

Note on Monday's presentations

There's some confusion over whether some text on paper needs to be handed in after or before the presentation, so I'll clear that up really quickly - no. The presentation itself is the entire mark and the only thing I need to see.

(As for indicating who did what, that's a requirement for the final group project we'll be doing in July and isn't necessary for in-class assignments such as this one. Everyone in the group will get the same mark.)

Links re: The 9 year old taking the subway home

The Globe and Mail story that we discussed in tutorial: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080408.wlsubway08/BNStory/lifeFamily/home
The 'Free Range Kids' blog, run by Lenore Skenazy, the mother of the 9 year old in that story:
http://freerangekids.wordpress.com/

Research/Study Teams

Team Lists
(this list will be updated as people are added or drop the course)

Team 1 - Sonia L., Sarah A., Renatha S., Rabail A., Sadaf N., Mohamed H.
Team 2 - Natalie L., Sam W., Lesley K., Marc C., Christina B., Amanda B.
Team 3 - Ashley M., Raman B., Chantel E., Christine O., Pam M., Agustina A.
Team 4 - Amanda U., Mike A., Trisha A., Ejiro O.
Team 5 - Dixon B., Adiam M., Chi-Eun J., Jessica L., Michael K.

Convention on the Rights of the Child

Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 44/25 of 20 November 1989
entry into force 2 September 1990, in accordance with article 49

(as described at http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/youth/childrights_e.htm)


“Rights" are things every child should have or be able to do. All children have the same rights. These rights are listed in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Almost every country has agreed to these rights. All the rights are connected to each other, and all are equally important. Sometimes, we have to think about rights in terms of what is the best for children in a situation, and what is critical to life and protection from harm. As you grow, you have more responsibility to make choices and exercise your rights.


Article 1
Everyone under 18 has these rights.

Article 2
All children have these rights, no matter who they are, where they live, what their parents do, what language they speak, what their religion is, whether they are a boy or girl, what their culture is, whether they have a disability, whether they are rich or poor. No child should be treated unfairly on any basis.

Article 3
All adults should do what is best for you. When adults make decisions, they should think about how their decisions will affect children.

Article 4
The government has a responsibility to make sure your rights are protected. They must help your family to protect your rights and create an environment where you can grow and reach your potential.

Article 5
Your family has the responsibility to help you learn to exercise your rights, and to ensure that your rights are protected.

Article 6
You have the right to be alive.

Article 7
You have the right to a name, and this should be officially recognized by the government. You have the right to a nationality (to belong to a country).

Article 8
You have the right to an identity – an official record of who you are. No one should take this away from you.

Article 9
You have the right to live with your parent(s), unless it is bad for you. You have the right to live with a family who cares for you.

Article 10
If you live in a different country than your parents do, you have the right to be together in the same place.

Article 11
You have the right to be protected from kidnapping.

Article 12
You have the right to give your opinion, and for adults to listen and take it seriously.

Article 13
You have the right to find out things and share what you think with others, by talking, drawing, writing or in any other way unless it harms or offends other people.

Article 14
You have the right to choose your own religion and beliefs. Your parents should help you decide what is right and wrong, and what is best for you.

Article 15
You have the right to choose your own friends and join or set up groups, as long as it isn't harmful to others.

Article 16
You have the right to privacy.

Article 17
You have the right to get information that is important to your well-being, from radio, newspaper, books, computers and other sources. Adults should make sure that the information you are getting is not harmful, and help you find and understand the information you need.

Article 18
You have the right to be raised by your parent(s) if possible.

Article 19
You have the right to be protected from being hurt and mistreated, in body or mind.

Article 20
You have the right to special care and help if you cannot live with your parents.

Article 21
You have the right to care and protection if you are adopted or in foster care.

Article 22
You have the right to special protection and help if you are a refugee (if you have been forced to leave your home and live in another country), as well as all the rights in this Country.

Article 23
You have the right to special education and care if you have a disability, as well as all the rights in this Convention, so that you can live a full life.

Article 24
You have the right to the best health care possible, safe water to drink, nutritious food, a clean and safe environment, and information to help you stay well.

Article 25
If you live in care or in other situations away from home, you have the right to have these living arrangements looked at regularly to see if they are the most appropriate.

Article 26
You have the right to help from the government if you are poor or in need.

Article 27
You have the right to food, clothing, a safe place to live and to have your basic needs met. You should not be disadvantaged so that you can't do many of the things other kids can do.

Article 28
You have the right to a good quality education. You should be encouraged to go to school to the highest level you can.

Article 29
Your education should help you use and develop your talents and abilities. It should also help you learn to live peacefully, protect the environment and respect other people.

Article 30
You have the right to practice your own culture, language and religion - or any you choose. Minority and indigenous groups need special protection of this night.

Article 31
You have the right to play and rest.

Article 32
You have the right to protection from work that harms you, and is bad for your health and education. If you work, you have the right to be safe and paid fairly.

Article 33
You have the right to protection from harmful drugs and from the drug trade.

Article 34
You have the right to be free from sexual abuse.

Article 35
No one is allowed to kidnap or sell you.

Article 36
You have the right to protection from any kind of exploitation (being taken advantage of).

Article 37
No one is allowed to punish you in a cruel or harmful way.

Article 38
You have the right to protection and freedom from war. Children under 15 cannot be forced to go into the army or take part in war.

Article 39
You have the right to help if you've been hurt, neglected or badly treated.

Article 40
You have the right to legal help and fair treatment in the justice system that respects your rights.

Article 41
If the laws of your country provide better protection of your rights than the articles in this Convention, those laws should apply.

Article 42
You have the right to know your rights! Adults should know about these rights and help you learn about them, too.

Article 43
These articles explain how governments and international organizations like UNICEF will work to ensure children are protected with their rights.