During his presidency thus far I feel that Barack Obama has not done as much as he could have to help eliminate the race movement. He has made plans to set up schools nationwide that will replicate the Harlem Children Zone, which has proven to lower the achievement gap. However, as far as dealing with foreign countries I do not feel that he has used his race to his advantage. In addition, now that he has become president the race issue know longer appears to be a factor as other matters in our nation have become prominent such as the large amount of spending he has done and the fact that we may be on the brink of another war. Barack Obama becoming president illustrates how far we have come in terms of the race movement. However, there is still more that can be accomplished. He has the potential to do more in terms of healing racial tension in our country than anyone has before him which would benefit our country and could be his presidential legacy.
I think that having Barack Obama elected president of our country has given African Americans hope that they are capable of receiving a high profile position. Furthermore, I believe that his presidency has helped to eliminate some racial opinions that people had of African Americans. Listening to President Obama speak and being able to see his family’s interactions and dynamics has helped me to truly feel that I am not that different from members of another race. His presidency has shown that we are all human and desire the same things from life as well as are capable of doing high profile jobs successfully and having a high level of intelligence. Instead the only factor which makes us different is our skin color. On the contrary the fact that Barack Obama is of a mixed race and was raised by a white women deters us from going as far as we could with the race movement.
During the time that Barack Obama was campaigning for the presidency of the United States I did not think much about how it affected the race movement. However, I can remember watching his inauguration in high school and my history teacher telling myself and my fellow peers that he never thought that this day would occur in his lifetime. After hearing this I began to truly think about what this meant for our country. This day showed the tremendous strides that our country has made as far as race relations and showed that any individual is capable of becoming president of our country. In addition, I thought that if Barack Obama had a successful presidency it would do a great deal to aid African Americans. Clearly other African Americans felt similarly as they voted for him.
I thought the video brought up an interesting point when it discussed the issue of the education system being created for an industrialized society instead of today’s society. I agree with this statement and thought that the comment about how our education system is creating assembly workers and how schools should not be designed into departments and grade levels helped to really hit home at what is wrong with our current education system. We must prepare our students to be successful in today’s society and if restructuring our education system is what it is going to take then I am all for it. Unfortunately, this will be very difficult due to fear of change and possible failure. In addition, I think it will be difficult for people who have been through the current education system to imagine a different one and will be uncomfortable with their children having a different experience than they did. When I am a teacher I hope to fix some of the issues with the education system that were addressed in this video.
Another huge issue with our education system is that the majority of students and I have often found this in myself as a learner are solely concerned with grades and performing well on standardized tests that they forget to find enjoyment in learning. Education is approached in the wrong way because teachers are so concerned about preparing students for exams that they forget to incorporate fun in the classroom. This in term creates students who are very bored and therefore become stimulated with other things, which is why so many students are becoming diagnosed as ADHD. I agree with what was stated in the video about how many students are diagnosed as ADHD that should not be. If teachers restructured the way in which they taught I feel that this issue could possibly be decreased, however with the constant pressure of standardized testing this is not easy. As a future educator one of my main goals is to aid my students in finding enjoyment in learning. Lastly, much like the video I agree that the best way for students for learn is through them collaborating with one another and in my classroom this will occur frequently.
As a future educator this video clip terrifies me as it gets at the heart of the matter of what is currently wrong with our education system. In addition, the video addresses the challenges that I am going to face every day as a future teacher. I want to change the current education system because I feel that it is not producing the results that we want in students as far as them being able to think for themselves. Unfortunately, I have noticed this in my own experience with the education system. In comparison to what the video states I felt much more able to think outside of the box when I was in my young elementary school years. As a future educator I want my students to recapture their ability to think for themselves as it is the only way that they are going to be able to be successful in the future.
Lastly, if more Americans were aware of the fact that they themselves can make a huge difference then I think that they would be more inclined to try and improve the state of poverty. Sam talked about how his former student paid for a Haitian man to receive treatment for his cancer. If Americans heard more inspiring stories such as these it would go a long way to helping to improve the conditions of poverty. There are no easy answers to improving poverty but I do know that if we took the time to care more about others our world would be a better place.
Americans could take numerous steps that would help to benefit those in poverty as well as the overall state of the world. First and for most we could become less consumed with ourselves and care more about others. Other steps that we could take are limiting the material possessions that we own and lowering our ecological footprint. In addition, we could donate possessions that we would normally throw away to someone in need such as food and clothes. Similarly, we could spend time helping those in need. Americans could also become more aware of the poverty issues that are occurring around the world such as the slavery video that Sam showed. If more Americans were aware that slavery is the means that they are receiving chocolate and some of their clothes maybe they would take a second look at the materials that they are purchasing.
In contrast to the way that Americans live individuals in poverty would be elated to have a mattress to sleep on, a roof over their head, or food to eat. Americans view these things as standards that they are entitled to have. Individuals in poverty are concerned with living through the day and having the basic necessities to survive. Americans have the necessities to survive and more however we take them for granted because we constantly desire more. A perfect example of this was during class when Sam discussed the man that he knows from Haiti who he was not allowed to purchase a mattress for because then everyone else would want one and it was not possible to accommodate everyone so Sam’s friend was forced to remain in the same impoverished state. Factors such as this make improving the conditions of poverty extremely difficult.
I feel that the way in which we live in America is extremely materialistic. Our society is concerned with keeping up with what everyone else has and values material possessions and wealth over most other things in life. American society also takes advantage of the world’s resources by consuming a tremendously larger amount than the rest of the world. We seem to view that resources have no end. In addition, Americans also tend to believe that they are entitled to an equal standard of living as the rest of its fellow citizens have. Lastly, we tend to ask for handouts.
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