Chapter Ten: Faith!

Religion seems to play less of a role in modern society.  Celebrities are the new Gods.  It doesn’t surprise me that adolescents find meaning in pop stars and movie stars.  Adolescents are dealing “with competing versions of reality and a diverse range of possibilities vying for adherence in the public sphere” and frequently “struggle to organize their experience into what we might call a coherent frame of orientation” (204).  A pop song by Taylor Swift might speak to a student more than anything else in their world.  It might be the only part of their life that helps them reach that frame of orientation.

A quote that struck me: “According to Erickson, a central feature of adolescence is becoming aware that one is creating a sense of identity with every thought, decision, and action…” (205). As teachers, we under-estimate our students’ perceptions of the world.  They’re, for the most part, more aware of everything going on around them than we give them credit for.  They’re more aware of their identity than at any point so far in their lives, and how they’re part of constructing it.

I loved how this tied into the end of this chapter.  It really brought together all the other chapters and everything we’ve been discussing this semester. 

When teens ask the big questions, and we BS them, they know we’re being hypocritical.  “Being transparent about the ultimate concerns that undergird our curricula…will help adolescents formulate powerful questions of their own” (226).  “Adolescents do not want ‘fixes or formulas’ but simply want to be heard” (226).  These ideas were simple yet do fit into one of the underlying messages of the book: give students a safe place to talk, to be themselves, to get messy, to make mistakes.  Try to give them the benefit of the doubt as much as possible.  Try to look at all the angles.  There’s never an easy answer.  Students don’t want to fail.  “The point is not to define or contain the experience but to open the possibility that it might occur and then accompany youth as they make meaning of it” (227).  We’re not trying to re-invent the wheel.  Give students an opportunity to seek their own transformation and see what might happen.  

This chapter reminded me of the book I’ve beenreading about JD Salinger, who wrote of Catcher in the Rye.  Salinger is famous for moving to rural New Hampshire and leaving the world of publishing soon after his success with Catcher in the Rye.  The book I’m reading documents his reasons for leaving civilization, and my interpretation is he was being changed by the rabid reaction of his fans.  People were looking at him as a sage, a God-like creature, who had all the answers to life’s most difficult questions.  Catcher in the Rye connected with people on such a deep, personal level that they thought they knew Salinger, but not as a person, as a diety. 

Infamously, several people cited Catcher in the Rye as inspirations for heinous acts, the most notable being Mark David Chapman’s assassination of John Lennon.  I wonder why they identified with Salinger’s book so much.  Were they going through a struggle with their identities?  Were they going through a struggle with the bigger questions in life, like why are we here?  What’s my purpose in life?  Salinger’s protagonist, Holden Caufield, sees the world filled with phonies and he feels like an outcast.  I understand why this would connect with people who feel like they’re ostracized by society.  I think Salinger underestimated the impact his novel would have on people, and when he realized the real damages, he got out of town. 

Interestingly enough, the book I’m reading about Salinger does a good job of dispelling some of the myths surrounding him.  However, they do add to the celebrity-legend machine surrounding him.  They interviewed mostly people who were the periphery of Salinger’s life, like his children’s nanny.  None of his direct relatives or close friends are actually interviewed, giving the book a less distinguished feel.  Ironically, the book itself is much like the people he was trying to drive away.  The reason why he stopped being part of society was exactly because of people who would write books like the one I’m reading. 

In other words, the book doesn’t seem to be as self-critical as it should be.  In any case, the book does note that Salinger had a great understanding of kids.  He certainly loved talking to kids, allowing them to discuss their problems to him, and he loved giving them advice.  He certainly was open to their experiences and helping them find themselves, their true identities.  It makes sense most of his characters were children!   

Nakkula Chapt 9

            I thought Nakkula framed this chapter in an interesting way.  Nakkula writes about how the media and American culture are presented to people: “Get more!  Get more than you currently have, more than you’re currently getting, more, even, than you ever imagined.  The for-profit media is designed to seduce” (180).  This idea that Americans are never satisfied inevitably affects growing adolescents’ identities.  This is especially true with the confusion that surrounds sexual identity.  

            Nakkula argues that sexuality scripts are infused with ‘traditional romantic tales’ purported by Disney and romantic comedies.  Obviously these ideas aren’t all bad, but the distinction is never explicitly made between the reality of love and sexuality vs. the myths of prince charming and Cinderella.  If there’s one thing I’ve learned in this co-hort, it’s the lack of explicit direction and explanation in our society.  It seems reasonable to me, and not at all controversial, if we discuss this in schools more openly.  If it’s done the right way, this would help some students who are having difficulties with their sexual identities.

     

     “Early adolescents are filled with such questions without quite being able to formulate them and, typically, without any safe spaces and available adults with whom to work the questions out” (184).  Again, if anything this book has taught me, it’s the importance of having safe spaces in your school.  I believe that my credit recovery class room, since it’s small, has been a safe space for some students to succeed where they hadn’t before.  I try to allow some discussions about identity to happen organically in the classroom.  Sexuality is one place I have trouble going to, although I’m sure my case study student will not have any qualms about discussing her thoughts on this subject, considering she already is giving me TMI without even asking!  But,  she probably does this because she doesn't have any adults to talk to about her struggles.  Obviously, this chapter gave me some confidence in discussing these matters with the student.

            I always thought school sex-ed was pretty lame and tame, but the way Nakkula puts it, it’s a disgrace to society.  The “medicalization of adolescent society” is so obviously not-helpful and not-reality.  Ditto to abstinence.  The idea of discussing desire with the biological ramifications of sexuality makes a helluva lot more sense than what is being taught now.  We need to get rid of the myth that people innately come to their sexual orientation.  They might come to these conclusions eventually, but the pain that the adolescents may have to go through could be avoided. 

            The last two conclusions I drew from this chapter were quite important to my case study.  Nakkula discusses the various models used to understand sexuality and identity in adolescents.  He’s careful to note that “we do not use developmental theory and research of this type to determine what stage someone is in, but rather that we draw from this knowledge base as a way of orienting ourselves to what MIGHT be going on for each individual” (197).  I think that’s a huge idea for my case study.  I don’t know if I’m going to completely slam-dunk figure out what’s going on with this kid.  If I keep in mind I’m trying to look for possible solutions, and not the number one solution, I think I’ll be able to help my student.

            The last important note from Nakkula was keeping in mind that “the key to comprehend and engage with the ways in which students are making meaning of their sexual identities and, ideally, to help them cultivate contexts within and outside of school for supportively nurturing its development” (197).  This is a zoom-out idea for me.  We’re not here to solve all of society’s problems.  We, as educators, are simply trying to provide a place for students to feel safe to grow and develop.  Due to the way our society is structured, we sometimes overlook some students.  This is especially true with homosexuality, considering both sexuality and homosexuality are taboo subjects.  Rome wasn’t built in a day, but hopefully the ripples will be felt if we start making changes.  Sexuality is such a taboo subject, yet if it’s framed in a different way, maybe things can change.

Nakkula Chapter 8

       Again, throughout this entire reading, I had trouble connecting this to my current teaching practice.  Ethnicity does not play a huge role with the students I currently have in class.  Most are white and rarely bring up their ancestry, unless St. Patrick’s Day is near.  I did find this chapter to be more interesting than the last and, luckily, I was able to connect this to my own life experiences. 

My two closest friends in high school had unique ethnicities for my very white hometown.  One of my friends, E, was adopted from Vietnam when he was two or three years old.  My other friend, K, was part of the second-generation of Chinese immigrants.  Both faced tremendous challenges in high school. 

K turned out to be a successful adult.  He is currently working a steady job and I’m still in touch with him.  On the other hand, E has faced many troubles with the law in his young life.  I wonder if the lack of sensitivity to his ethnicity hurt his formative years, and played a part with the troubles he’s been having.  From what I understand, from other friends, was that he was much more self-conscious about his ethnicity than he ever let on to me. 

I went back through my notes and read what I had written through the lens of my two friends.  This made the reading resonate with me much more than I previously thought.  I hope these comparisons will help me with any students I have in the future that face these kinds of obstacles.

From what information I can recall from high school, we had very little educational perspectives on ethnicity.  Nakkula points out that “as educators, we hope to grapple with these questions at a level commensurate with their complexity, we must look carefully at the many intersections of race and ethnicity, and the multiple identity options these intersections provide” (151).  Like I said in last week’s post, even though ethnicity wasn’t a huge part of my high school, those who did have a unique ethnicity felt even more isolated.  I think my friends did feel outcast and didn’t have anyone to talk to about their situations.

Nakkula cites a study done by Martinez and Dukes that states “a stronger ethnic identity lessens the impact of negative stereotypes and social denigration in the individual by providing a broader frame of reference for the self that includes additional sources of identity” (153).  My friends faced negative stereotypes from our peers.  I remember hearing a story about a group of kids throwing Chinese food at K’s front door.  Other times pretty terrible racial slurs were said to both E and K. 

K would typically hold in his emotions when he was picked on or make jokes about it.  "That's racist!" he would say, half-hardheartedly joking.
E would fight back.  I remember one instance when he was called a racial slur in gym class and he punched a kid out.  Perhaps, as Nakkula points out via Erickson, K implicitly understood he was in a tough situation, but also figured out how “to express his identity in socially acceptable ways” (154).  I do recall him celebrating Chinese New Year and bringing in food that everyone thought was strange.  E seemed to lash out much more and had trouble working the system in a socially acceptable way.   

Why was this?  I don’t want to play armchair psychologist here, but through the lens of this chapter I can at least make a guess at what helped K along.  I think K fit more into a primordial model of his ethnic identity, meaning he had more of an emotional attachment to his cultural heritage.  His parents ate ethnic food, celebrated traditional holidays, and spoke Chinese at home.  E, on the other hand, were raised by his adoptive parents, who were white.  Let me be clear: they are very nice people.  But, they must’ve struggled with raising E, especially when he had questions about his ethnicity.  He had to lose his ethnicity and, inevitably, may have lost part of his own identity.  This seemed to be something he struggled with mightily.  

As Nakkula points out, “the resolution of a person’s ethnic identity naturally follows the decisions they make…and the energies they devote to it” (162).  Did my friends devote energy to their ethnicity?  I certainly think K did, since he lived with it.  E had to push his identity underground.  I spent more time with these two dudes than anyone else in high school and we mostly had inside jokes about their ethnicity.  They never spoke about it seriously or revealingly with me. 
While I was finished up my blog post, I was sitting at my parents house and my dad was watching Two Broke Girls.  I didn't think the show was particulary funny, which is fine, but the show really leaned on completely idiotic stereotypical humor.  They especially poked fun at the Asian character on the show.  He has an accent, can't drive, is high-strung, and has a demanding mother.  I was wondering if the show had attracted any controversy with this style of humor, and I found a ton of articles online that were unhappy with the show's clumsy stupidity.

Exhibit A: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yQULP-P5q8

On the other side, there's Dave Chappelle. 
I can't believe I didn't think of posting this last week.  The older I get, the more I'm aware of how sharp Dave Chappelle's social satire truly was.

This is The Racial Draft, one of the funniest sketches from his show:

http://www.comedycentral.com/video-clips/b224ei/chappelle-s-show-the-racial-draft