Discourse Analysis

Anne Wysocki introduces her article by pointing out that all page and screen-based texts are visual and we (as readers) have certain expectations that each texts needs to be. Example of the expectations are how some are for children (bright colors), some are towards adults and getting them to purchase something (weight loss commercials) and academic pages are very formal. Texts change and transform constantly to capture the reader that they want. Anne Wysocki states, “Visual arrangements do some of the work of the genre. This means, then, that the visual arrangements can be analyzed in terms of the genre work they do.” (Wysocki 124) This brought up the main point of her article to answer the question why do we expect the academic or literary pages to be professional looking the web pages that are academic or literary to be creative and inspirational. Her first point of view is that the visual elements and arrangements of the text are what people link towards first, like the logo or the headers of a paper. Wysocki also points out those attitudes towards the visual aspects of texts change over time. In the middle ages the educated believed that the visual presentations of pages were to make for a reading process where readers moved slowly through pages using the visual presentation of the pages as an aid to memory but today we want quick outlines or layouts to help us get what we need with no distraction or slowing down. This specific visualization leads to the reason we only use certain types of typefaces for certain papers. She also talked about different ideas that you can do with a web page and many different kinds of texts.
Like every program the High School Equivalency Program has its flaws as well as its strengths. The first video that I watched on YouTube was talking about the benefits of the program and According to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qW9YI2dIrvE most people get the wrong idea of “migrant workers”, most people expect that the workers are from Mexico or Central America and either Latino or Mexican. In all reality many people come down Canada or are around the United States who is just looking for the seasonal farm work and that is all they really know. It’s usually a big diverse group all working to the common goal; to make a living. So the student featured in the video goes on to explain that the program tries to support them in many different ways. The program is trying to help them to their General Education Degree so they support them by providing transportation, child care, a general stipend at the end of every week, and they also remain as flexible as the can be to address any problems that come their way in order for these workers to be successful. The program just tries to help out in any way possible. Also the program assistants in the video just hopes that the word about the program spreads to reach people that need the help. Everybody has interacted or knows someone who could benefit from this program. One thing that the assistant doesn’t talk about is about the different problems that you can come across when volunteering in the program.
High School Equivalency Program for Recent Dropouts; Smith, Franceska B. 18 AUG 2006 Volume 1984 Issue 21 Pages 41-54 March 1984. Was an article that talked about how there are still big dropout rates throughout the country despite all of the programs that we have offered to address many of the different issues presented throughout the country. It addressed the dropout rates among the High School Equivalency Program showing us that we the program does not have a one hundred percent success rate, many times the students have to move during seasons before they can finish their schooling. Another problem was just like regular high school drop outs and they give up on finishing their education because the class material was too hard or another problem came up. Many times the students found it hard to balance work, family, job, end everyday life which can definitely be a difficult task and need some good work ethic as well integrity to finish the schooling. Without getting the text book this was all of the information it would give me. I find looking for information on this subject very frustrating because none of it goes into depth and there are very few websites about the program. There is though in fact plenty of information about different branches off of the program, for example immigration, migrant farm workers, education, volunteering, and you can still take a look at many different ideas on what to write about.
An online article located at http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/migrants.html was talking about today’s migrant workers here in the United States. It informed us that according to the United States Department of Labor there are approximately 1.3 million U.S. Citizens that migrate between the states making a living by working on the farms and the agriculture industry. It gave all of the usual statistics about have they live a hard a life with little education, tough work and harsh living conditions. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration list agriculture as the second most dangerous occupation in the United States. The Farm worker Health Services Program reported that the average life expectancy of a farm worker is lower than the national life expectancy of the United States population. There was many different articles and information on the past history of migrant farm workers but it talked about how today the workers are 88 percent and alone working in the United States because they work in the states and send money back to their families back at their home. Only 55 percent are married and 71 percent are not living with their spouses. Many of them don’t change jobs and started this work in their early 20’s and just work until they are not physically capable of doing the farm work anymore. The workers usually have no more than a sixth grade education on average. 93 percent are foreign born, and 65 percent are working here in the United States illegally. This statistic then gets into the subject of border control and on whether or not the employers in United States should be punished for hiring migrant workers knowing that they do not have the correct documents to be citizens here in the United States. The migrant workers have generic paths that they follow when doing their seasonal work; In the East the workers start in Florida and work their way up through Ohio, New York, and Maine following crops that range from citrus to tobacco to blueberries, the Midwestern Stream starts in Southern Texas and moves through every state in the Midwest., and the workers in the west start in Southern California and move up the coast to Washington and North Dakota. They follow these patterns either because of the seasons, economy, and different crops patterns.
I still feel like each of the informative texts could have explained more on the program and about its strengths and weaknesses, Wysoki talked about detail and explanation in each of the multimedia texts and each of these could have used more of that. Each of the articles were boring and it took me a while to get through it, the assistant in the video talked about how they wanted to get more information out about the program so how about a specific informative website about the High School Equivalency Program that isn’t just for the students but also for the volunteers that want to be involved with the program. I feel like the HEP Program could use a marketing plan and actually put the ideas to use.

Unit 2 Discourse Analysis

"Disproportionality The Disproportionate Representation of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in Special Education." EMSTAC. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2011. .

Logsdon, Ann. "Diagnosing Minority Children - Ensuring Appropriate Diagnosis for Minority Children." Learning Disability - What is a Learning Disability?. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2011. .

Logsdon, Ann. "Disproportional Representation - Disproportionality in Special Education Programs." Learning Disability - What is a Learning Disability?. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2011. .

"Minority Disproportionality, Safe & Responsive Schools Project, Indiana Education Policy Center." Indiana University. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2011. .

"Oklahoma Parents Center." Oklahoma Parents Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2011. .


Reading Writing Analytically and Wysocki's The Multimedia of Texts contributed to the writing of my discourse analysis mostly by helping to focus my thinking and judgments while I read my sources. Before reading these two texts I had little awareness of my own thought process of how and why I drew conclusions about my reading. Writing Analytically helped me to see different patterns and underlying formats within a text that the author was specifically using to address and manipulate, in a way, their message. At first everything about discourse analysis seemed abstract and very confusing, however as I continue to complicate my research and thinking process, the models provided in the two texts do help and make more sense. Wysocki's model I feel is going to be very beneficial with my website, which I will be starting soon in my course work. Overall addressing Wysocki's model for discourse analysis does still seem extremely vague when applied to an academic paper, or one that is formatted as a single screen with “typical” page format. I am trying harder to look at both the text and visual aspects of the work as both being “visual” in using Wysocki's model and this has help some. By in large the two readings in unit two has aided me in developing my thinking as a better writter.

To focus my research from the large topic of Minority Education and programs such as BSU HEP, I started to look into different aspects of Minority Education. One topic that jumped out at me was the argument over the disproportionality of racial and ethnic minorities in special education. I became concerned with this topic first because it was an issued that I had never thought about before. And second because its has lead me to ask the question if disproportionality is causing a negative educational disadvantage through the generations in the minority communities. Disproportionality, is defined by the Oklahoma Parents Center website as, “...the over or under representation of minority students in special education. In other words, there is a disproportionate number, either a significantly larger or smaller percentage, of students from a specific minority background receiving special education services than the percentage of that minority in the population generally. Typically, African Americans and Hispanics are over-represented and Asians are underrepresented. IDEA ’97 specified that disproportionality needs to be addressed by state and local districts.” (http://www.oklahomaparentscenter.org/Dictionary.html)

The advocates of Special Education have worked hard to address the concern of disproportional minorities in Special Education. The main concern with disproportionality is the over-representation of minorities in special educational programs. According to Ann Logsdon, a school psychologist and the current administrator for disability services at Kentucky State University, a minority group is considered over-represented and disproportional when there is a statistically greater number of special education students within this demographic than there is in the general population of the school. EMSTAC is a federally funded organization which helps to develop and implement new strategies to improve the outcomes of students in Special Educational programs. EMSTAC provided the chart below illustrating the statistical over-representation of minorities in special education.



(http://www.emstac.org/registered/topics/disproportionality/intro.htm#top)

What this chart shows, specifically with Black (non-hispanic) students, is that the percentage of black students in special education is 136 times greater than the general population of black (non-hispanic) students.

The academic community approaches disproportional demographics with two main schools of thought. One, disproportionality happens in minorities because there is inadequate testing oversight and placement procedures for special education programs that meet the cultural differences of minorities. Second, is a question of whether or not the growing number of diverse classrooms is skewing the statistical data, based on socioeconomic conditions. This second question is one that is harder to track and debate. It's being debated that socioeconomic situations, such as poverty, family educational background and family status, is a greater factor in over-representation of minorities in special education. However this is met with great opposition stating that the socioeconomic demographics that are being over-represented are also the same demographics that are being classified as minorities. This argument is taking place mostly between Administrators, Education boards and the Teachers to special education students.

Many times in my research I feel the author of a given text is trying to easy into the idea that our current assessment process for special education is on the boarder of being race bias, and thus risks being seen as racist. I believe this topic more than the two view points above are an area of greater concern. Neither group, schools nor the schools boards want to openly address the idea there may be a racists assessment happening in their schools. This tip-toe method of dealing with race in special education has made the climate of disproportionality a very political issue. In 1997 when the IDEA bill was reauthorized, it clearly mandated that State Departments of Education address and report on the issue of Disproportional programs in special education. There is an obvious concern shown in the Educational communities for this problem and many programs are being designed and changed to lessen disproportionality in special education.

Most documentation and discussion on this topic is happening within the schools and the Educational communities, then also in political circles while new legislation is being passed. The discussion specifically addresses the need to change current programs and assessment standards. Logsdon brings up a interesting point that many are not talking about, the idea that there is a lack of communication and responsiveness with families who represent the disproportional minorities. This lack of communication leads me back to my question of a generational cycle of disadvantaged minorities in the educational system. Logsdon states that disproportionality can, “...Result in a type of racial profiling that places minority students at a disadvantage throughout their school year; Result in lowered expectations among teachers, parents, and the students themselves;...” I believe this aspect alone is causing a generational continuance of poor educational statistics among minorities. Logsdon currently is my only source which clearly speaks to parents and the affected demographic. This disassociation between parents, the community, and schools I find can be a huge contributor to the continuing and growing number of disproportionated minorities in special education programs.

Discourse Analysis

restorefairness.org/2010/02/legendary-ny-district-attorney-calls-the-way-we-treat-imigrants-a-national-disgrace.web.2/27/2011
articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/17/opinion/la-ed-agjobs18-2010feb18.web.2/27/2010
lawprofessors.typepad.com/2011/02/
First off, I found the reading in Writing Analytically to be interesting. I appreciated the part on false dichotomies and the ideas about shying away from absolutely polar thinking. Most issues are not just black and white, there may be grey areas to consider. It ties into the "The Problems With Debate Style Argument"(page84), it is to take a pro or con stance on a position, convincing others of the rightness of your position while defeating your opponent. "The American College Dictionary says, "to argue implies reasoning or trying to understand; it does not necessarily imply opposition." Simply stated, this definition does a good job to put the position of Writing Analytically in a nutshell. I found the Toulmin Model to be especially helpful. I have found in the past that the Aristotelian model of logic is too black and white, because this is that then absolutely this. The Toulmin model leaves more wiggle room for adding support to an argument.
The Wysocki piece lends me a more trained eye when looking at websites, I am able to look at them critically and I can analyze why I do or do not like a particular website, what works and what does not work.
I want to talk first about the website restorefairness.org. The website itself looks patriotic with an all American background. It is well laid out, has big and bold lettering, everything is easily accessible and viewer friendly. It is an interactive website where you can vote on an issue, leave comments, and there are several ways to "get involved". The only problem I see with the voting on the website is that there does not seem to be enough information given to make a sound judgment call. Of course there is the fact that the vote does not count for anything concrete, other than showing people who visit the site how others who have visited feel about the issues presented. The reason I first visited the site was to lookat the blog section. There is a blog about "legendary NY district attorney calls the way we treat immigrants a national disgrace". It was a radio interview given by Brian Lehrer interviewing Robert Morgenthau, a district attorney in NY for 35 years. The blogger includes dialogue between the 2 men that accentuates the ideas posed by the website. It plays on emotions by showing the emotion of a man who is directly associated with immigrant rights. The following quote was high lighted by the writer. "Robert Morgenthau: I think, the way we treat immigrants is a national disgrace and I’m ashamed of what we do. I think anybody who’s here in the United States, legal or illegal, is entitled to the full protection of the law and they’re not getting that." I felt the blog was a bit lacking, from a 25 minute interview the writer chose information from only a small portion of the interview. In contrast however, the writer did a good job showing what their intent was, the view they wanted the reader to see. The writer uses the fact that Morgenthau is educated and involved in law to push the point that people should listen to what he says and take it to heart. This excludes any idea that there are others who do not share his view who are also educated and involved in law. The writer ended the blog with this phrase, "When those fully immersed in the legal system speak out on the injustice of immigration law, we need to pay attention."
Overall I really liked the website as a whole. It was easy to navigate, interactive, and most of all, it gives its visitors information on how to get involved in supporting immigrants rights and fairness, and help elliminate racial profiling, and racism.
An article that I found in the Los Angeles Times talks about the AgJOBS bill and the changes made by Obama in the last weeks regarding migrant workers and the H-2A program and its effects on migrant workers and agricultural business. Firstly, the writer sounds very leftist by making snide comments about the GOP and blaming Bush for the problems faced by migrant workers. He writes, "Democrats like it too. That just leaves the usual suspects -- GOP legislators who apparently are disconnected from the realities of farming in America. It's a shame." He talks about the AgJOBS bill and its benefits but does not touch on what some have said to be problems, he puts it in a light that it is a perfect bill with no problems. He makes it sound as if both migrant workers and agbusiness are unanimously in support of the bill, which is not the case. He uses statistics that do nothing more than add hype to his argument, "If the United Farm Workers and employers in agribusiness -- wary opponents on 99 out of 100 issues -- can negotiate a compromise, Congress should be able to do the same."
The last website I want to talk about is called ImmigrationProf Blog, a member of the Law Professors Blogs Network. It is an excellent source of information on immigration issues, I found a lot of useful information on this site. Its setup looks very academic, not a lot of flair or bells and whistles but easy to read and navigate through. On the right side of the screen it lists the blogs contributors and their credentials along with their profile and contact info. On the left side it gives lists of archives to easily access past posts. The blog I followed was a plea to ask Congress and the President to Enact Health Care Reform that Includes Immigrants from the National Immigration Law Center.It gives a description of the health care reform bill and how it excludes immigrants from obtaining any sort of health care. Although it comes off as an emotional subject, it does not bombard you with emotional jargon to pull you in. It includes the basic facts about the bill, who to contact, and by what time. It does not contain much in the way of personal opinion, it states facts about the health care bill and its effects on immigrants. It does not give lengthy descriptions, it gives easy to read summaries. The last sentence is the most opinion expressed, "Everyone needs health care to achieve the American Dream. Our political leaders need to ensure immigrants have the same opportunities to reach that dream." I feel it has the capacity to appeal to those they are trying to reach. It is stated they are asking progressive leaders to contact the president and congress, and make it clear who should be the one to contact them and why.

Unit 2 Discourse Analysis

Gutierrez, Sergio. focus west Loas americanosPersonal Interview. Focus West. 26 Feb 2011. http://www.focuswest.org/latino/losamidaho.cfm

Albright, Jodeane. "Migrant farm workers are modern-day slaves." Polotics. 29jun2007. Web. 26 Feb 2011. http://www.pocatelloshops.com/new_blogs/politics/?p=3209

COHEN, AUBREY. "Hispanics came for work,Stayed to build futures." Bellingham Herald (2008): 1. Web. 26 Feb 2011. http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2007/11/13/233401/hispanics-came-for-work-stayed.html

"End Illegal Immigration." Boundary of the United States. ALIPAC, Web. 27 Feb 2011. http://www.endillegalimmigration.com/About_Us/index.shtml

Americans for legeal Immigration. ALIPAC, 27feb2011. Web. 27 Feb 2011. http://www.alipac.us/

Center For Imigration studies, Web. 27 Feb 2011. http://www.cis.org/

NumbersUSA for lower immigration levels. NumbersUSA, 2010. Web. 27 Feb 2011. http://www.numbersusa.com/content/

Milton, Katherine, and Jack Watson. "Distance Education for Mexican-American Migrant Farmworkers." Arizona state university, n.d. Web. 26 Feb 2011. http://seamonkey.ed.asu.edu/~mcisaac/emc598geold97/Spring97/10/migrant.html

Discourse analysis can be a difficult task unless you have tools from which to draw upon. The book writing analytically has some great information and tools for this. The Toulmin model by far is my favorite, it is a basic outline of how to question the claims and warrents that a person uses in there arguments. Not only can you use it to evaluate an argument or article from some one else but you can also apply it to your own writing in order to strengthen your claims. Wysoki's writings on how to analyze web pages and other media is also useful in helping to determine if the information is valid and put together well. Wysoki's guidelines are helpful when setting up your own papers or web documents so as to make them easy to follow and aid in keep your audiences attention. I have attempted to use parts of these methods in my discourse analysis below.

Judge Sergio Gutierrez

The interview with Judge Gutierrez shows the success of an individual and how his success has inspired others within the migrant farm worker community. I feel the interview was conducted well and it asked some very specific questions concerning the difficulties Judge Gutierrez faced in his life leading up to his being appointed Judge. The interview with his wife also focuses on the difficulties children of migrant workers face in our education system and what she is doing to improve their success. A young girl Angeles Jacobo was also interviewed and she is quoted as saying "I was so impressed with him. And I said, I want to be like him. I was working in the fields and I know that I can do it because he did it. " . This interview speaks very positively towards the migrant communities and what they can accomplish through hard work and the help they receive from others.

Another article I discovered does not shed such a positive light even though it was written by a person obviously concerned with the well being of migrant workers. The blog "Migrant farm workers are modern-day slaves" (Albright) This blog post written by a news assistant for the Idaho State Journal shows just how we can over simplify a topic and let emotions overcome our search for facts. First off the article itself is very narrow minded and quite unsubstantiated using little facts to back up the claim that migrant workers are modern day slaves. It is based more on the person's opinion rather than proof. Using a term like "SLAVE" which implies that the migrant workers are property is ludicrous to say the least. The entire theme of her post however well intended, actually has an opposite effect than the one she desired based on some of the comments her blog received. "Jodeane, you see it is a vicious circle and you are most definitely running around in circles."(Anonymous post) Very few people will take a blog post like hers seriously especially when no credibility was established and when the author also misuses old sayings. "The biblical warning that you sow what you reap" (Albright) which is actually stated "You reap what you sow".

There are obvious differences between the two articles and there influences, even though they are posted by entities on the same side of the coin if you will. The most obvious is how things are perceived by people. The first article shows a very positive setting while the second even though it was meant to be helpful and bring some awareness to a problem it has the effect of being discarded and not taken seriously because of its emotional focus and lack of credibility of the author.

The third article I'm looking at shows a long history of Hispanic workers migrating to areas of the northwest. Around the time of world war I Hispanic farmers and farm workers were hired to supply sugar beets to the factories but this was only the beginning (Cohen). They were also later contacted to work the railroads from Seattle to Bellingham, the latter of which has seen a steady growth of its Hispanic community over the last few years. The sense of community and familiar like surroundings (Cohen) are a large reason why these formerly migrant workers have settled down and began working in other jobs aside from farm work. Some have started restaurants and work in "less visible jobs" (Cohen). The success of the community I'm sure has an impact on the successes of the individuals as well. It is now a place where they can feel a part of something and have friends and family to turn to for aid when it is needed. In a lot of areas migrant workers do not have this type of environment to help them. Without the benefits of a community such as the one in Bellingham most migrant workers find themselves at an extreme disadvantage. This article does a good job of staying somewhat unbiased while showing a positive outlook on a difficult topic.

The number of web sites devoted to immigration either for or against it is mind blowing to say the least. I've gathered a few examples here for this analysis. Websites like (NumberUSA and ALIPAC) are set up and designed with the purpose of "Educating the public" as well as urging people to take action to stop illegal immigration. I will mainly focus on whether or not they do a good job focusing their websites goals and organizing there information. First (NumnbersUSA) is set up in an easy to scan format showing links to news, blogs etc… it is very easy to follow and shows a lot of current topics concerning immigration, the up to date topics lends a lot to the pages credibility. (ALIPAC) on the other hand is a very busy looking site that is not as easy to scan their choice of fonts and bold outlines as well as their un-clear links in the margin do not make for easy access to information you might be seeking, to be honest the page hurts my eyes when I try and scan thru the text to seek key information. The (Center for Immigration studies) webpage is laid out very similar to (NumbersUSA) and has quick links to the most read topics as well as to their database of information and statistics. (Boundary of the United States) is an (ALIPAC) sponsored webpage that suffers from not being updated since 2009 degrading some of its credibility by not staying up to date with current topics. It however has a better design than the actual (ALIPAC) webpage. The very concise list of links on the left hand side allows for easy scanning and selection of information. The main body of the page also has imbedded links within the text for easy reference while reading through the information.

The task of researching and gathering current, factual and credible information on migrant farm workers and illegal immigrants to say the least is a difficult task. There are literally hundreds of websites speaking for "this" and against "that" and many have strong political views to one side or the other. Having spent hours going through the information out there I find myself no closer to any real viewpoint one way or the other. One thing however that is very obvious is that the matter of immigration legal or illegal is a growing issue that will have dire effects on our country if some solution is not found.

Discourse Analysis write-up: Meeting the Mandates of IDEA 97: Minority Overrepresentation and School Discipline

"Minority Disproportionality, Safe & Responsive Schools Project, Indiana Education Policy Center." Indiana University. Web. 22 Feb. 2011. http://www.indiana.edu/~safeschl/minor.html>.

The article Minority Disproportionality is a collection of reports addressing the overrepresentation of minority groups in special education programs nationwide. The introduction of this article lays the ground work and background knowledge for the reader to follow the article and continue on with each report that follows. The author did a good job at keeping the audience interested and reading flowing through the page. Each section of the web page is broken apart by a line and then followed by a bold faced heading which helps the reader to jump to the most important section of the article for their needs. Under each of the bold faced headings is a brief description of the report which is available for download from a link below.

I believe that the author does a very good job of addressing the main concerns of disproportionality in minority groups and what current measures are used. The author then counters this with what they are currently doing to aid in the correction and adaptation of new standards and curriculum. I feel that the author, like in my last write-up, again is speaking to the professional educator. With a better understanding of the websites background it is easy to address who the author is speaking to. This website is ran by the University of Indiana, to promote and help the development of “Safe and Responsive” schools to aid in identifying successful programs and changing ones that are not currently working.

The remaining article is written with authority and does a good job at siting sources used to draw into the authors arguments. However I was disappointed to find that the links to the works sited where broken and I wasn't able to find out what specific sources where used.

Idaho. Idaho Farm Labor. , 2010. Web. 22 Feb 2011. <http://lmi.idaho.gov/EmploymentUnemployment/FarmLabor.aspx>.

Discourse analysis of a web page (wysocki)

This is a website from the state of Idaho outlining the current information one would need if they were looking at migrant and agricultural work within the state of Idaho. The text is very simple and easy to read and concise. The Font used for IDAHO catches the eye and hints at mountains with the shape of the text. Additionally the background picture of a pristine mountain lake is very pleasing yet it does not take the eye away from the information you might be seeking. The transition of the page is very well done it is easy to scan and it is very obvious what a clickable link is and what isn't. From this page a person can navigate to a wealth of information about Idaho's current crop schedules, the current range of wages, current and estimated number of farm workers broken down by county. There is also links to United States agriculture sites and average wages.

Some of the links also contain a drop down menu which is very helpful in reducing clutter that might make it difficult for a person wanting to quickly scan for a specific area to navigate to. The main body of the page is very brief giving a quick overview of what a person can find with just a few clicks of the mouse. A very eye catching link in the shape of a page showing the current crop activity list is well placed. I would imagine this would be one of the first links a person looking for information on Idaho's crops would click. All in all a well designed web page with a lot of beneficial links placed in an easy to follow format. Additional links on the top right of the page show that you can follow along on twitter and face book and there is also a link to buy Idaho a nonprofit organization that promotes Idaho business. Every one of the links works so I would assume they update the site regularly adding to the credibility of the information. The colors used and the text make it a very pleasant yet professional page as one would expect from a government website. I found the information from the various links to be helpful as well and will defiantly refer to this website while I continue my research into migrant farm workers and the HEP program.

The Colbert Report
Tags: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

The Colbert Report
Tags: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Rayfield, Jillian. ‘Colbert Testifies on AgJOBS Bill: ‘Like most Members of Congress, I havn’t Read It’ (videos). Website, tpmdc.talkijngpointsmemo.com. Web 2/21/2011. This article is a commentary on two videos of the Colbert Report where he was talking on his experience with the United Farm Workers “Take Our Jobs” campaign. Stephen Colbert spends a day as a farm worker on a New York farm and interviews Zoe Lofgren a chairwoman on the House Subcommittee on Immigration. The other video, he testifies in front of a congressional hearing on immigration to share his experience on the farm and to be a spokesperson for migrant farm workers. I will focus more on the videos themselves opposed to the commentary left by the writer of the article. The first video is his five minutes in front of the House Judiciary Committee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Security. In the beginning of his five-minute statement he says, “I am happy to use my celebrity to draw attention to this complicated issue.” Throughout the statement, he made many satirical and bizarre comments, but never really addressed the issue. If his goal was to draw attention to the issue, I think he failed; he did a better job distracting from the issues. I know he is a reporter, his job is to make fun of politics while still bringing them to the attention of the public and that is what draws people to his show, but there is a line between educating while being funny and just being comedic. Another example is when he was interviewing Congresswoman Zoe Lungren, it was an interview to supposedly talk about the issue of workers’ rights and what they face working on farms but she could not get a word in edgewise. He continuously interrupted her, after he asked her a question and she began to answer with a real response he would interject with a joke. It was a missed opportunity to hear from an expert on the issue. If his real goal is to educate the public on what is happening, he needs to allow for the opportunity. Throughout his testimony, he seemed to be playing the right side of the fence, even though he was there on behalf of the United Farm Workers of America. He stated, “We are far too dependent on immigrant farm workers. We do not want immigrants doing this labor. I agree with Congressman King, we must secure our borders.” On the other hand he was giving his account of working on a farm all day, "I have to say," Colbert said, "and I do mean this sincerely. Please don't make me do this again. It is really really hard." He continued: "You have to spend all day bending over. It turns out, and I did not know this, most soil is at ground level. If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we make the earth waist-high?" And then when Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) asked Colbert why he picked this cause, he became more earnest: “I like talking about people who don't have any power. This seems like, one of the least powerful people in the United States are migrant workers who come and do our work, but don't have any rights as a result. And yet we still invite them to come here, and at the same time we ask them to leave. That seems like an interesting contradiction to me.” It is as if through his commentary he was trying to get the acceptance from both sides of the issue. Overall, I think it is helpful for someone in his position to bring attention to the issues we as the general public hear very little about. I would like to see more facts on these issues given, if the goal is to bring awareness, give us more facts. The jokes can be funny, but more facts please.

Discourse analysis

Martin, Philip. Guest worker Programs for the 21st Century. April 2000.
Website, Center for Immigration Studies, CIS.ORG. Web Feb. 18, 2011
Let us look at part of the opening paragraph of this article. “Should the US launch another guest worker program? The commission on Immigration Reform in 1995 concluded that: “a large scale agricultural guest worker program… is not in the national interest… such a program would be a grievous mistake.” President Clinton agreed in a June statement, which asserted that a guest worker program would increase illegal immigration, displace US workers, and depress wages and working conditions.” The binary in this article is, should the US launch another guest worker program, how it affects the national interest, and whether or not it would increase illegal immigration, displace US workers, and depress wages and working conditions. He goes on in the article to give a “Lesson of History”. He uses two other examples of guest worker programs that did just what he argues for in his beginning statements. Martin uses the Bracero and the H-2A programs as examples. Martin states, “None of these programs fulfilled their stated purpose: to add workers temporarily to the US work force without adding permanent residence to the population, and to do so in a manner that does not adversely affect US workers. Instead, the Bracero programs laid the groundwork for one of the world’s great mass migrations that from Mexico to the United States and the H-2A program has been wracked by costly disputes.”
Martin does a good job describing the way the other 2 programs worked and how they failed. What he does not make clear is how exactly the Agjobs program works and to what extent it is the same as the others. He seems to lump all guest worker programs into one category, he assumes that the government has not learned from its mistakes. Later in the article he states, “The surprise about Agjobs is that it has divided immigrant advocates, who are normally united against guest worker proposals.” If this is the case than my assumption would be that, there are differences large enough to gain support from a community that in the past was against such programs.
There is an issue he is trying to bring forth, that it is the large agricultural business uses their money through lobbying to keep a steady flow of cheap labor coming into the united states, instead of working smarter even if it costs a bit more. An example, “Employers invest in lobbying to maintain the program, not in labor saving or back saving alternatives.” The idea is that illegal migrant workers are much cheaper to maintain than moving into the 21st century , “where much of the labor could be replaced with labor saving machinery and better ways to manage now more expensive workers.” He seems to be placing the blame of the current system more on the agricultural businesses side than the government. He goes farther to give examples of how he believes the status quo should be changed, putting even more emphasis on the side of ag. Business. This is what he states needs to be done, “Illegal immigration must be under control., Employers must have a continued incentive to seek alternatives., Bilateral agreements should govern recruitment, remittances and returns.” In these principles, he puts a fair amount of responsibility on both the government and Ag. Business, but there is a conflict. He states, “Some level of failure can be expected when governments attempt to regulate a relationship in which migrants and employers have different goals than regulators.” Later he goes on to say, “Government policy should push agriculture towards a sustainable 21st century future, not permit it to revert to a 20th century “Harvest of Shame” past.” What does he expect each side to be responsible for? Whose responsibility is it to put agriculture into the 21st. century? He wants government to push agriculture into the 21st century but in turn says that the government fails when attempting to regulate employers and migrants.

Research Question: Is the Disproportionality in Special Education creating a vicious circle of lower educational standards in Minority groups?

As many of you now the current economical conditions have effected all aspects of life in the United States. Families now more than ever are facing trials that only a few years ago were unimaginable. Home forecloses, lay-off, raising cost of living, tighter family budgets met with even tighter state and federal budgets. All aspects of our daily lives are being effected by the state of our current economy. As a result every state this year is trimming their budget once more and cutting back where ever they can. One area they are looking at is Education. Educational reform has been a buzz over the past 18 months in almost every state. The school districts are faced with new challenges, between a changing demographic of students and the lacking federal funding. The states are being forced to throw out their old strategies and consider new methods of funding and supporting their local schools.

One large part of the school budget that has been flying low in the debate over funding is IDEA and FAPE. Both of these acts provide and guarantee the funding of special education programs in public schools. Many families rely on these programs to help them provide the much needed developmental programs for their children. However there is an overwhelming lack of oversight and administration of these programs and funds. These current short comings are now met with smaller budgets and more students than ever before. Many children are simply left is a system that isn't working or placed into the wrong program base on outdated tests. The tests and placement evaluations currently being used, according to some, are not adequately adapted to the new demographic of students that is are entering into public schools.

As our schools become more diverse racially, ethnically, and culturally, Special Education programs have failed to provide testing and evaluations that take into consideration these students are born into different socioeconomic environments than the “traditional” student. This gap leads me to question whether these differences of culture, race and ethnicity are a driving force in the growing number of under educated minorities in the public education system. When we add in a budget that is already falling behind to provide needed funding for Special Education, what are the current state and local governments, who are responsible for over seeing Special Education, doing to make sure these evaluations are being adjusted and updated to accommodate the new demographics within our public schools system to avoid the Disproportionality in Special Education?

Discourse Analysis write-up: The Disproportionate Representation of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in Special Education

"Disproportionality The Disproportionate Representation of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in Special Education." EMSTAC. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2011. .

In the article Disproportionality: The Disproportionate Representation of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in Special Education, the author speaks from a stand point based on the idea that ethnic and racial minorities are not properly being represented in special education programs in schools. The author uses many references to different educational bills that are for the protection on minority and special education groups to frame her argument that many times minorities are grouped into the wrong category of need. She states “Once students and their special needs are properly identified, special education services must provide the supports needed by students with disabilities to reach their developmental, academic, and social outcomes that will give them greater opportunities to return to mainstream classrooms.” this statement is documented as law under IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. It states that all children are guaranteed a appropriate education based on their needs. The problem that the author brings up is that these children are not having “their special needs are properly identified,” which then leads them to having less chance of success in the future.

Throughout the article the evidence is presented as very cut and dry, students, specificity racial and ethnic minorities are not being properly assed for special needs. The author however lacks in the evidence supporting the argument. She brings up different examples of hypothetical situations i.e. :“For example, suppose that a Hispanic child has been classified as mentally retarded (MR). However, the decision for the classification did not adequately consider language differences, the student's culture or the instructional practices.” This is a well delivered example for the author's purpose in stating minorities are not getting the needed placement evaluation, however I feel that the author doesn’t adequately address the argument from what process is being used to evaluate these students.

The article backs up the main objective of the argument by using an aggressive tone to make her point. The author uses a chart based on the percentage of student demographics per race to illustrate the stratification of race and special education. I feel this chart is useful to show there is differences in race and special education, however the statistics can be miss leading. There is not enough information on how the numbers were derived. The chart also lacks sufficient labeling to be interpret objectively. The author also does not follow the chart with information regarding how this information relates to her argument. The statement “Although students from other racial and ethnic groups are overrepresented to some extent, the national data from the 22nd Annual Report to Congress pinpoint the magnitude of the problem for African American children and youth with disabilities.” is the only correlation that is made to the graphical data, which I believe is loosely related to the argument.

The realization that there is disproportionality with ethnic and racial minorities has been documented in many schools and several districts throughout the nation. This article does help shed light on the different aspects that many influence this problem, but lacks the credibility needed to draw meaningful conclusions. The author seem to be addressing the educational community as her audience. She seems to make the assumption that this problem is understood by her audience and the underlying circumstances. This assumption that the author draws leaves the audience I feel with inadequate information on the current state of the process and only a broad outline on who to possible alleviate the problem.

Research Question Draft

The question I want to ask is about the AgJOBS Program. I want to know what the program entails for migrant workers and the agricultural business. Thus far in my research I have the understanding that it affects them both. What are the benefits and the downfalls for both sides? I know it is not directly relate to education for migrant workers but it does address their rights, how they are paid, whether or not they can obtain citizenship, health care, and general living conditions. I believe there is a direct correlation between these things and the education levels of migrant workers. I think it would be prudent to address why there needs to be a program like this in the first place. The program was born under the Bush administration in 2000, how far have we come to implement the program? How has it affected the agricultural system and migrant workers thus far?

Graman, Kevin. "Clinics, volunteers bring medical care to migrant farmworkers." The Spokesman-Review. The Spokesman-Review, 25 jul 2010. Web. 17 Feb 2011. <http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/jul/25/healthy-harvesters/>.

Discourse analysis of an article in a Washington paper on migrant workers healthcare.

"In the 24 years since President Ronald Reagan signed immigration reform granting amnesty to undocumented immigrants, a generation of farmworkers has helped make Washington tree fruit a $2.5 billion industry." (Graman) Focuses here in his first paragraph that undocumented immigrant amnesty of 24 years ago is part of the reason the fruit tree industry grew to $2.5 billion dollars much as the use of those workers may have helped to achieve that level of gain they are not the sole factor and he fails to show any actual statistics to prove his reasoning thus focusing attention away from the other factors that were involved in making an industry grow. These workers according to the article are now retiring and being replaced by younger workers that half of which are "believed" to be here illegally. This assumption however possible has little actual proof to back it up.

One person interviewed claims "They are the people putting food on our table," said Carol McCormick, supervisor for outreach for Columbia Valley Community Health. "Many are undocumented. They are afraid." This statement is not directly true it is one used to lead the reader into being sympathetic or biased towards the point the author is trying to make. Last time I checked I put my own food on my table I don't recall anyone else doing it for me. You can see how the words can easily be twisted to form a bias in one direction or another.

The Author of the article goes on to focus on several other situations during this Migrant clinic to keep the reader focused on the plight of these farmworkers. We then arrive at this statement. "When they arrive in the United States, they are very healthy," said Lilia Gomez, an outreach coordinator for the Washington Association of Community and Migrant Health Clinics who has been coming to health fairs for the past six years.

The workers are young and their nutrition has been well balanced, despite a general lack of health care.

"Probably for the first 10 years that they are working here, they are being very productive without using any services at all," Gomez said.

Although the source has credibility the statements are a fallacy of contradiction. First she claims there healthy then she claims they are probably never seen in a clinic for the first 10 years they are here. How could any of that be documented there starting health? There health over the course of 10 years? However the article does go onto to point out that several farmworkers were interviewed and they claim the problems begin when they start working here and that our horrible food and there working conditions are the cause for the degrading health. This may be true but there isn't sufficient evidence to back it up other than a few interviews.

The remainder of the article shows us actual costs and the means available for these workers to seek medical care pretty strait facts like one family might pay $25 dollars for an office visit based on their annual income and household size. I neither agree nor disagree with the articles view point but I do feel it lends nothing to the real issue at hand. There are many underlying issues that would have to be addressed first, Like how immigration should be handled and who should be responsible for providing insurance for the workers etc…

Research Question Draft TW

Going back to my original blogs and reading through the various questions that came about from the research done to this point, I feel the most prevailing or burning question for myself is one that I asked in my very first blog. How successful is the HEP program? First off that is a broad question and one that cannot necessarily be quantified in the scope of this course. On the other hand if we first focus on the definition of success and how it pertains to a specific HEP program we can narrow the playing field. Let's take for instance the question " How successful is the BSU athletics program?" that question is a lot narrower than say " how successful are college athletic programs?" . While spending time tutoring the students at the BSU HEP center I was able to ask a few questions of a couple of the students while we got to know each other. I'll return to that later but for now it had a large impact on my choosing to find out if the BSU HEP program was successful.

How do I plan to quantify the success of the program? First off I feel a program like this is only successful if those utilizing it put forth an effort to be successful. The program provides all the tools necessary but it cannot make the student succeed. The student has to have a desire to pick up and use those tools. A sword in its scabbard is of no use to a soldier in battle if he doesn't draw the blade. Therefore I feel my main focus will be on individual success/failures of students in the program and how they view the program themselves.

Revised post.
Martin, Philip. "AgJOBS: New Solution or New Problem?." International Migration Review 37.4 (2003): 1282-1291. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 6 Feb. 2011
The author of this article is trying to weigh the differences of whether or not a new program called AgJOBS will provide solutions or cause new problems in relation to immigration. Philip Martin states, "Depending on how the program is implemented, how workers and employers respond and whether unauthorized entry and employment continue(1283)." In this quote, I think he is addressing some of the issues that have come up since the government has tried to implement this program. There have been other similar programs instituted in the past, and the question is; will the problems that arose from the previous programs be addressed and dealt with in this new program.
AgJOBS was born in 2000. Its aim is to create a legal farm workforce, which its advocates assume will also ensure a higher-wage workforce. The program would allow migrant farm workers to gain temporary resident status if they meet certain requirements. Martin makes comparisons between AgJOBS and another program called H-2A, they both seem to have the same end result in mind, better pay and living conditions for migrant farm workers and to create a stable farm workforce. One of the problems seems to be that both programs who offer a chance at U.S. residency creates an influx of immigration thus flooding the farm work force and lowering wages. Seemingly only to the dismay of the workers themselves, agricultural business would continue to prosper while not paying higher wages. If they can always find someone willing to do the work for less.
The owners of agricultural business have had a heavy hand in dictating the programs brought to the table. They have amazing amounts of clout when it comes to legislation. An example is from the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act. It included employer sanctions to discourage unauthorized entry and employment. "U.S. Western crop farmers opposed this compromise, arguing that it did not acknowledge their unique dependence on unauthorized workers, and they would be unable to obtain workers in the flexible manner necessary for their "perishable agriculture"(1283)."
I wonder, how much of their disagreement has less to do with the ease in which they can find workers under these programs, but more to do with the legislation that requires farmers to pay a fair wage and provide housing and the costs that farmers incur because of the rules? But then I have more questions. How do those costs get carried over to the consumer? Do we as consumers feel that we are willing to pay a few cents more for food if it means another human being is getting paid a fair wage?
I do not feel this is an easy subject to draw a solid line through. There is government regulation on one side, and farmers making a living on the other, with migrant workers caught in the middle. I believe that farmers are making their decisions based on the bottom line, which unfortunately can equate to human beings not being afforded basic life needs.
There is also the side that farmers come from, they too have rules and regulations that they have to follow, are prone to much loss due to weather, bugs, any number of things that can affect crops. Sometimes you hear of farmers disposing of entire crops that for one reason or another cannot be sold on the market, and in turn they lose thousands of dollars. They had to pay someone to harvest the crops that they will not see a return on. So I can see the rock and a hard place that sometimes farmers are in. Another place where I think there should be radical change, why would we have entire crops of food thrown out because the market is too full? What about all those who go hungry everyday in our own country let alone in other countries. It is not democratic by any stretch of the imagination. There are many ways you can turn these issues, that may seem separate but I believe are interconnected. Agriculture is an industry that exists under feast or famine, but in either instance its most valuable employees seem to more often than not live in a state of famine.

Unit One project. Blogging is cool.

1. Writing about my research, was it difficult or easy, changes I made in response to the challenges.
The research seemed challenging at first, finding information that I felt was important to my service agency was more difficult than I imagined. There are so many different angles to look at migrant workers and their families and the hardships they face. Through my research, I have found that there are still people being taken advantage of and not given what is rightly theirs. It has been an emotional ride thus far. Maybe it is a harsh term, but when learning about migrant workers the idea of legal slavery comes to mind. People not being given basic needs, working long hours with very little pay, inadequate housing, dangerous work environment, and so forth.
I have a hard time accepting inequality and imbalance, especially when it comes to human beings. They do a job that is vital and necessary, and I am thankful to the people who work so hard to put food on our tables. However, isn’t there a way to get the job done and be given the acknowledgement through fair wages, decent living conditions, health care, and education that you’re doing such an important job? This has been the most difficult part of my research, that it hits an emotional cord for me. One of the ways I vent my frustrations is telling other people about what I am learning and how it affects all of our lives.
I have had a somewhat difficult time finding a lot of stuff written about migrant workers, I have found a lot of stuff on current legislation and programs’ being brought forth that try to address some of the issues, but that is frustrating as well. The new programs are meant to help, the government realizes the old programs are not working, but from what I can tell, the new programs are not different enough from the old ones to make the changes they are seeking. There is a lot of big agricultural business impeding the process, they want cheap labor, and often the all mighty bottom line is more important than the people are. Enough of my ranting, I wish I had all of the answers, but unfortunately I do not.

2. How has my voice changed in response to my research?
It has been a different experience from the writing I have been doing. I feel a bit intimidated by doing a little research and then trying to sound like an expert of sorts. Like I have said, the information I have researched so far has given me knowledge and quite the opinion, but I have a hard time feeling as if I am conveying the research completely. I am hesitant to express too much of my own opinion because I fear offending someone. A question I ask myself when writing on our blog is, would a migrant worker feel patronized or ashamed of being what they are by the information I am sharing? Am I being too ethnocentric? I would like to find the voice of migrant workers to hear what they are saying about the lives they live. I have yet to find it, there are plenty of websites and articles written on their behalf, but, is it what they want?

3. Transition from traditional writing, to writing on a blog.
I like the fact that I get to write for a larger audience than just my professor. We are tackling large issues that I think the more people know about them the better off we will all be. It is through the process of learning about things that we find a way to change them. It goes back to the idea that community service is a necessity for democracy it is our duty.
Although I am glad to share what I am learning, I may be overly cautious in my writing because I am not a real “expert” on any of the stuff we are learning. I am thinking that through the semester, my knowledge base will grow and I will be able to delve deeper into the subject and hopefully give a richer analysis.

4. Weaknesses or strengths to my writing?
The feedback I have received has repeatedly told me that my writing does not always have good flow. It is one of my biggest hurdles when I write. I do not feel I am the most eloquent of speakers either. Finding the perfect words and putting them in perfect sequence drives me crazy. I will revise and revise again to make some sort of semblance out of what I am trying to say. The dictionary is always by my side when I write. My writing has gotten better over the last 2 semesters, but still needs some work. It has been a few years since I have been in high school, 15 years to be exact. High school was not my strong suit either; I dropped out at the beginning of my junior year and got my GED. School was neither fun nor challenging for me academically, challenging socially though. I suppose I can relate somewhat to the folks in the HEP program in that regard.

5. How is blogging a workable medium for research writing?
The point of research is to gain understanding and knowledge on a subject. What good would it do to have that knowledge and not share it? I have really enjoyed the different aspects that each of our groups members have researched and brought to the table. I have an angle I am playing, but it is only a part of the whole picture, the blogging allows all the different ideas to come together in one place. It creates a broader picture and gives the reader more. I have benefitted from reading what others have posted, they have found information I never thought to look for, and it has helped inform my own research. Each of the group members has given such great, thoughtful reports on what they have learned.
At first, I was apprehensive about doing a group project, but thus far, it has been a good experience. I trust my other blogging companions to be thoughtful and show care in their work.

Unit One Project: Reflections of a Blogger

Walking into English 102 I had little to no idea on how to analytically write a paper, or what an extended bibliography was. My conceptions of research and writing was very narrow and mostly based on high school English classes. My previous experiences writing in high school essentially consisted of choosing a topic, finding 3-4 usable sources, skimming the material in each source, pulling out what I wanted to address, then throwing everything together into a loosely formulated paper. Using this approach in high school did seem to satisfy the end goal of presenting a paper that was graded more so on proper formatting and grammar than the actual content presented in my research. I always did choose topics that I had interest in, this help me to have a deeper connection with my writing and make a formative argument. Entering into English 102 knowing that this course focuses on computation, research, and service learning, one can only imagine the large groan that I had for the coming semester. All I could think about was how am I going to do in this class. I have always felt my writing is graded more on mechanical “non-sense” than actual content and meaning. Stepping into Jeremy Branstad's class the first day I actually let out a sigh of relief. Hearing that this course was going to incorporate digital rhetoric and research through our service-learning partners I was actually excited. Knowing that this course wasn't going to make me chug and regurgitate information in the name of research really opened my mind to what the course had to offer.

Starting to find sources to write my first extended bibliography, I wasn't sure how to approach this step. I started by using Google and just typing in different words, phrases, and titles, trying to find what ever I could relating to my topic. This step seemed a daunting task, because I was so unorganized in my methods of searching. After watching the videos on “Lateral research” it opened my view as to the power not only of Google as a search engine, but also to many different searching methods I had not approached in the past. I liked the idea of using my current sources as a gateway into finding new and possibly difference sources through the works sited page. I will be taking great advantage of this as my research progresses. I am finding that many of my current sources are rich with their own background in different aspects I didn't think to look before. My extended bibliography Education World® : Curriculum : Meeting the Educational Needs of Migrant Students has a very rich source of different paths for me to follow through the article I cited. Not limiting my focus to only my source and the topics discussed within that specific text has opened my research to new arguments and points of view that I have not yet explored.

Working with a service-learning partner has helped me open my mind and writing to different perspectives as well as avoid coming to conclusions that I have had in the past about minority groups and the struggles they can face. While researching my topic of migrant workers and High School equivalence or GED certifications I did start my research with some what of a closed mind. I was entering into a field of study that I already had drawn many previously conceived notions about. Trying to broaden my perspective and look for sources that countered my opinion was difficult at first. Reading Harris' Forwarding and Countering approach actually helped me look at my sources differently. I started to look at not only my writing as a conversation between my audience and me, but also my source as a conversation that they were having between themselves and me. Looking at writing this way helped me to understand what the source was trying to convey to me through the use of their sources and really gave both, my writing and theirs credibility I feel. Before this class I never tried or worried about my “voice” as a writer. I only worried about if I was hitting all the needed matrixes that my grading teacher was looking for.

By using digital rhetoric, and blogger as my media to post, and essentially share my work with a larger audience, I changed my method of writing. Writing in English classes, like I mentioned before, I would write to suite the requirements of the teacher and that was my end goal. Writing in a blog and sharing my writing with not only my teacher but also the community that will read my writing, allowed me to almost “drop my guard.” I'm concerned less with being in an English class and more concerned with conveying my meaning and arguments clearly. I like having the exposure that Blogger provides my writing, however one thing I feel this media lacks is an actual grading medium. I understand the purposed idea of peer group revisions and commenting, but I feel this actually lacks validity in gaining meaningful criticism. I feel this in my own posting of comments to my peers. I feel disconnected between wanting to help my peers in there writing and feeling a lack of clout on the suggestions I provide. I am not an English major or a expert at writing. I do however believe I can give meaningful feedback on the layout of their writing ie: whether or not they follow the unit guidelines. Many time while leaving feedback or posting a group response I question whether or not my feedback will be received in the light I would like. I try in all my responses to provide feedback in a way that I would want another to provide feedback on my writing. This is also a subject I have issues with in peer reviewed postings. I feel that sometimes peer review can be viewed as only an assignment to be completed and as quickly as possible. I feel that I need further guidance and mentoring in my writing to truly grow as a writer. This is something that peer review has seem to come in short on.

Developing a writer through an English class, especially one that is lower division, I feel lays the ground work for what needs to come later based on repetition and continuous learning. Trying to quantify the growth of a writer in only 15 weeks based on a handful of projects posted to a blog feels very discouraging to me. The posts and comments tend to take on a diplomatic approach and try not to offend or publicly critique the actual writing. Trying to grow as a writer then becomes an even greater task as I look for credible feedback. When writing and posting assignments to public blogs and relying only on the review of group members leaves me wondering if my writing is developing and maturing in the direction needed for the material and projects to come.

Extended Bibliography Revised: “ESOL AND THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN.”

REGAN, TIMOTHY F., and PETER SCARTH. “ESOL AND THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN.” 1968. ERIC. EBSCO. Web. 30 Jan. 2011.

Regan and Scarth in their article “ESOL AND THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN” comment about concerns and observations on programs for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), and how these programs are or are not working for Mexican-Americans. They directly address different methodologies and pedagogies being used in 1968. Regan and Scarth also discuss the short comings and the lack of regard for the Mexican-American’s “psychological set and his cultural heritage.”(Regan, Scarth 1) This article discusses how this psychological set and Mexican-American heritage is immensely important for the student's retention of the curriculum.

The process that the educational community has used in teaching Mexican-American's English in the class room, according to Regan and Scarth, has been lacking guidance and direction for many generations. There are multiple aspects address by the ESOL programs that have short comings in the past. Regan and Scarth point out that teachers continue to disregarded research that supports using Spanish in the classroom and insist on having students only speak English. Because there has been such a disregard for this research, the educational community that Mexican-American's participate in, has been set back year after yea. Regan and Scarth continue to discuss the importance of empathy for the Spanish speaking students' cultural backgrounds that the students call upon for understanding and using their new learn skills. When teachers hold back Spanish speaking students from using their cultural and past experiences to draw conclusions to learning, the students are considerably restricted in their ability to process complex ideas.

The evidence that Regan and Scarth present in their article is still evident, although being written in from 1968, in the education system today. Many teachers who interact with Spanish speaking students encounter the same issues address in this article. As the number of Mexican-American students in English based classrooms increases the philosophy that Educators use must be open to adapting their methods to help these students learn in an environment that best suites their needs. The unique backgrounds and heritages that many Mexican-American and migrant workers families' come from present teachers with new learning barriers they have not encountered before with native English speaking students or urban students. These new learning environments require new techniques and programs that have not previously been used in public education.

The complex ideas and methodologies addressed by Regan and Scarth are ones that all educators must start to ask and address for themselves when they are working with an increased number of spanish speaking students. With the help and use of ESOL specialists, teachers and schools have had more success helping Spanish speaking students in their classrooms. Many concerns arise out of the current state of these programs. An area not specifically addressed by Regan and Scarth is the need for Mexican-American students to be fully assimilated into American culture. One of the main focuses in primary school is to help children become and act “American.” This step I believe is being left out of the education process in today's teaching, for respect to the Mexican-American students' home life and cultural background. However with the lack of becoming “American” these students will have a harder time continuing their American education, one that is so reliant on standardized tests geared toward American students. When students are pushed constantly to achieve higher testing standards how will Mexican-American's perform in an educational system that is not an equal one to their needs or development abilities?

English 102 reflections

The Course

When I first read about this course I was intrigued by the fact it was going to use blogging as our media for assignments. The reason for my somewhat excitement was the opportunity to learn more about using internet media. I will admit the first day of class and the extensive syllabus was a bit intimidating and overwhelming. Adding in the service learning aspect added yet more work to the quickly growing list. So I'm faced with the question do I drop this class and find another that might be more traditional to fit my already busy schedule? Never having been one to shy away from work or difficulties I decided dropping the class wasn't an option. With new attitude and renewed vigor I approached the class with the goal of getting as much out of it as I could. The initial assignments were a bit of a challenge for me, learning a new media along with what seems a less traditional writing assignment took more time than I first thought it would. I grunted and stumbled through it though. The feedback I received spurred me on to focus my thoughts and knuckle down to try and do a better job with my next few posts.

Research

During this time I faced the challenges of researching a topic I really had not a lot of interest in at first. As my research methods developed and I learned to overcome the sheer mass of information on the web, most of which I found to be quite useless I began to focus my searching in a more productive way thanks a lot to the professor and students feedback and suggestions. Delving deeper into my subject I found myself growing more and more interested in it and the people it involved. This brought about yet a even more refined way of looking at the research and directed my focus more about the people instead of the statistics.

Writing

Another challenge I faced was being used to short quick posts on the internet using sites like face book. That made me predisposed to keeping my writing short and simple therefore not adding a lot of meat to the writing leaving it rather lacking in content. This hasn't proved too difficult to overcome yet I still try and keep things simple. I prefer talking over writing I could talk a 100 word paper a lot easier than I could write one. (had to fight the desire to insert a J face there)

Reading

The challenge of reading the required text in English 102, whew that's a tough one it isn't like reading a catchy or spirited novel about a subject you really enjoy. I had to teach myself to not just read the words but also break the text down into groups and write notes about it. The first few things we read I had trouble being able to recall anything from it. So I actually had to go back and reread a lot of it. Now I approach the reading in a more problem solving way taking notes about the key things of interest to my writing or researching abilities and ignore a lot of the fluff and filler.

General Reflections

In the beginning I noticed a fair amount of willingness to participate in the class by most of the students. This was exceptional for a class starting at 7:40am. Armed with cups of coffee, and energy drinks Jeremy boldly engages his students in improving their academic writing skills at an early hour that most wish they were still asleep. My favorite morning so far has to be when the discussion inadvertently turns to the analogy of a wine tasting. I could not help myself as the chuckles began but it turns out it was extremely relevant to our tasks in the class because it spoke of perspectives and assumptions of pretentiousness. This often times can over shadow writing and especially while using an online media that potentially the entire world can see. With that said the need to focus ones writing in a way to make a clear and concise point becomes more difficult when addressing a broad range of potential viewers. Normally when writing an academic paper one has a professor as there only audience but this grand and infinitely large landscape we call the internet poses a different challenge.

In closing I look forward to the weeks to come to see how my writing and approach to research and writing improve. I would like to thank my fellow students for their constructive feedback that will no doubt in the long run help me become a better writer.

 

 

HEP and Migrant Workers revised post

"Federal Register" www.federalregistar.gov the daily journal of the united states government. N.P. web 26 Oct. 2010.
Velazquez, Loida C. Migrant Farmworkers' Perceptions of Schooling, Learning, and Education. , 1990. Print.
Mines, Richard. Findings from the National Agricultural Workers Survey (naws) 1990. a Demographic and Employment Profile of Perishable Crop Farm Workers. Research Report No. 1. , 1991. Print.

Before I start I feel it was important to included findings and questions from my three earlier blogs due to the relevance each one has to the other.

 

The HEP program was implemented in 1967 to help migrant and seasonal farm workers and their families obtain the skills necessary to gain a GED(General Educational Development) credential. The following programs are all designed to assist the migrant workers and their families with continuing education High School Equivalency Program and College Assistance Migrant Program, the Federal TRIO Programs, and Gaining Early Awareness, and Readiness for Undergraduate Program

The HEP programs are specifically designed for migrant workers to be able to meet there special needs. What constitutes a migrant worker? A migrant worker works in the agricultural business traveling from place to place harvesting crops etc… Typically most people I feel when the term migrant worker is used make the assumption " illegal immigrant" or "undocumented worker". When in fact the portion of migrant workers that are illegally in the United States is a very small percentage. The migratory workforce is composed of many ethnic backgrounds ranging from European Anglo, Black, Mexican-American, Asian, Filipino and people from Puerto Rico. Even though these people have different cultures and backgrounds they share a bond or commonality if you will in their daily lives. The constant moving around and following their work has made it difficult on them to finish school. Their frustration with our regular school systems is one of the reasons for their high dropout rate from high school.

In the late 90's more than 50 percent of all agricultural workers were migrant workers according to the "NAWS" demographic report. These migrant workers play a key role in the success of our agricultural business yet they still remain the least educated minority group in our country. The median level of education for these migrant workers was 6th grade and only 1 out of 5 workers had taken adult education classes according to the "NAWS" report. Why is the education level still so low after 30 years of programs specifically designed for them? I feel one of the factors contributing to these numbers is that a lot of migrant workers may not even know there are programs out there to assist them. A program cannot be successful if no one knows it is there.
" Migrant lifestyles revolve around working, moving on to find other work, and working again."(Velazquez pg.11.) As we can imagine that type of lifestyle would add a degree of difficulty to gaining an education.

Velasquez interviewed and studied several migrant workers in North Carolina and found there to be a common theme to why these people would drop out of school. The constant traveling and lack of an understanding of the American school system along with prejudice and unsympathetic teachers and faculty had a lot to do with their choosing to drop out of school. Most make an attempt at some point to return to school for higher learning but many did not gain there GED until programs like the HEP came along. During this study Velasquez discovered several factors about migrant workers and their way of life, some key points of defining their culture. They have a strong sense of loyalty and honor within their families. They do not disrespect their elders and they have a high respect for authority.
I feel due to these values and "station in life" many of them do not make attempts to rise above or go against the grain if you will. Many have the belief that due to the difficulty of understanding the complex social system of America they don't stand a chance of ever elevating themselves to a better position in life. Therefore passed down through generations is a sort of this is who we are and what we do mentality. Programs like the HEP that are specifically designed to meet there needs may be the only chance they have of breaking that cycle.

With all the disadvantages stacked against them it isn't hard for one to begin to feel pity for these people. Pity however is not what they need. Awareness is what they need, awareness that there are programs and people willing to work with them to assist and guide them to a better education and ultimately a better life. Over the next few weeks I will be working through our universities service learning center at our local HEP center. During that time I hope to answer some of the following questions. How did the student find out about the program? What kind of specials needs do they have? How successful /helpful they themselves feel the program is and what their goals are? I also would like to find out how they found out about the program and how wide spread that information is to the migrant communities.

 

 

The Value of Trust

Watkins, Adam and Melde, Chris. “Latino and Asian Perception of How They View Their Educators” (2010) Youth and Society. pp. 4-24. Print.

Respect means more than putting value in words that authorities tell you. This article speaks of the value of trust, and acceptance that immigrant students can have with high school authorities. This trust is applied when teachers convey words of wisdom outside the classroom, and the students follow. The acceptance of authority is applied when teachers will tell the immigrant student to obey, and he or she does. The ability to gain this respect is purely up to the instructor. The study shows that both Asian immigrants, and Latinos have about the same level of respect for certain teachers, and a certain level of distrust for different teachers that act differently. A slip up of misjudged racism, or misled disciplinary action will lose the trust of immigrant students, just like any other student. The difference is that when a student is new to a culture, they need someone to be there that they can trust. Someone that can help them to advance their learning, not just become part of the majority. The culture shock between an American schooling system, and an Asian or Latino school system, will be helped if there is a level of trust between the instructor and student (Watkins and Melde, 23). The Instructor must trust a student is applying his or her best ability to learning, while the student must trust that the instructor is looking out for the students better interest. This relationship between the student and teacher can have a ripple affect throughout the students life. It starts with learning more in that specific field, then ends with a better chance of getting a respectful job, and eventually doing more than merely getting through life. This respect does have two sides to the coin though.

Chris and Adam state how teachers might in fact be more willing to trust immigrant students because of the different value of respect for elders they were taught in their culture(Watkins & Melde, 6) . However throughout time that level of respect might start to diminish the more Latinos or Asians hang out with the American Whites, who are taught differently(Watkins & Melde, 8). This in turn puts value on the preservation of their culture, but this shouldn't be the only reason for respect of preservation of their culture. It is shown in studies that respect of a culture in turn gives more respect for the teacher, it gives an environment where the student can learn more. This needs to be a focus of teachers then, in order to connect more with students. This value of culture is almost forgotten in the study in this article.

The main fault of this article in my opinion is the fact that it tries to relate the value of respect to grades and graduation rate, without taking into account extra variables that might come into play. The study in itself fails to show that there is really any correlation, yet realistically there is. They write how the two different cultures being Asian, and Latino share the same value of their instructors, yet there is a distinct difference between which culture has a higher high school graduation percentage, and similarly a higher college graduation rate. The problem is they fail to realize the main difference in why that might be. Latino culture put a higher dedication on family and tradition, where Asian culture puts a higher dedication on education and personal passion. The two differences in culture is most likely the reason of the distinction in graduation rates in both high school and college.

Trust is a very important part of anyones education. It is a nice reprieve to see in this study that both cultures respect the majority of their educators. However the fact of the matter is there is still a problem with distinguishing the two different cultures from American. Latinos may need a more condensed education, faster paced and focused on incorporating their family ties into their education. Where as Asians seem to be thriving in this education system. Perhaps this education system is too easy for them? The article states how sometimes families decide to migrate because it allows for a better educational chance for the kids in the family. We owe it to them to supply them with the best chance of advancement of knowledge possible. A dedication from the teachers learning their culture to gain students respect must be part of that system.