True Lies in Brice’s Ways with Words
In Ways with Words by Shirley Brice Heath we read about the author’s ethnographic study in the South during desegregation. The purpose of Heath’s study is to examine the ways people from different communities in the textile region raise their children. The way the children are raised according to Heath, affects the language development and the way these children learn to read and write in the school setting. In my paper I want to examine the way the church relates to the cultural differences in Roadville and Trackton. Cultural differences have ultimately created two separate learning styles. Reading Heath’s study creates curiosity as to how one book, the Bible, can be translated by two cultures in such differing ways that, “In short, for Roadville, Trackton’s stories would be lies; for Trackton, Roadville stories would not even count as stories” (Heath, 189).
Heath says, “For both Roadville and Trackton, the church is a key institution helping to provide occasion and rationale for their approaches to being parents and to enabling their young to use language” (147). Both groups engage in regular religious activity, the Trackton people meeting every other week for group services, and the Roadville groups meeting at church on Sundays. Both groups meet in mixed age group settings, as well. And both groups believe the Bible is the Word of God. Yet differences exist. Trackton groups do not necessarily meet in a building. “Preachers, men of music, and the best playsong performers claim they cannot stick to written text. Seemingly thoughts which were once shaped into words on paper become recomposed in each time and space.” (233) Trackton preachers and song leaders feel stifled by the wr...
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...ducation makes them unskilled at helping their children do well in school. Heath studied their struggles and identified significant ways to teach these children. As the study closes, we realize that to improve the education of the Roadville and Trackton communities, we would need to change the home environment, the religious traditions, and the culture of the communities to match that of the townspeople. To change the school to meet the needs of the students would not create a long lasting improvement. I for one find difficulty in judging one community as being better than another since each has its own value. Homogeneity seems to be an evil, but one that education in America both supports and at times seems to demand. Perhaps someday we will find a solution.
Work Cited:
Heath, Shirley Brice. Ways with Words. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
In Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible, Anatole proclaims that “there are more words in the world than no or yes” (310). He truly shows his wisdom by fully accepting that there is always something that can be more deeply understood. Anatole understands that accepting a new culture requires an effort to understand the differences and that is something that he truly proves to the Price family. Anatole grew up in the Congo with the culture that the Price girls find so strange. When the Prices start living in the Congo, Anatole starts to translate Nathan’s sermons. Once Anatole begins translating the sermons he sees Nathan’s and his family’s intolerance. Throughout the novel, this statement is demonstrated and is disregarded by many characters in many different situations and it completely illuminates the themes of cultural ignorance and global justice.
America’s public school system started off very rough, but through the dedication of many hard-working Americans, it was starting to shape into a system that allowed all children, regardless of race, gender, religion, or nation of origin, to have an education.
The gap between the nation’s best and worst public schools continues to grow. Our country is based on freedom and equality for all, yet in practice and in the spectrum of education this is rarely the case. We do not even have to step further than our own city and its public school system, which many media outlets have labeled “dysfunctional” and “in shambles.” At the same time, Montgomery County, located just northwest of the District in suburban Maryland, stands as one of the top school systems in the country. Within each of these systems, there are schools that excel and there are schools that consistently measure below average. Money alone can not erase this gap. While increased spending may help, the real problem is often rooted in the complex issues of social, cultural, and economic differences. When combined with factors involving the school itself and the institution that supports it, we arrive at what has been widely known as the divide between the suburban and urban schools. Can anything actually be done to reverse this apparent trend of inequality or are the outside factors too powerful to change?
The next evening, he offers the giant Polyphemus some very strong wine which makes him drunk and he falls asleep. During the time when he is asleep, Odysseus leads his team to build a sharp wooden stake which is hardened into the fire. They then drive this stake into the single eye of the monster as they tie themselves to the sheep bottoms so that they can escape in the morning. Through courage and viciousness, Odysseus leads his team to escape from the hands of Polyphemus (Bittlestone, James & John
McCullough offers a detailed account of the events of the Johnstown Flood as well as a thorough description of prior events, consequences, newspaper coverage and public opinion. McCullough makes a firm argument for the responsibility of man, and asserts the blame on the necessary people, therefore I feel he makes a fair and accurate assertion which I would agree with. By balancing his argument and depicting reasons why the flood was both a “work of man” and a “visitation of providence”, he illuminates not only the issues surrounding the Johnstown Flood, but on a broader scale he makes a powerful statement on the 19th century class structures that dominated ‘The Gilded Age’ of Victorian America. Throughout the book, I found the defining and most fundamental quote to be that of a New England newspaper that concluded, “The lesson of the Conemaugh Valley flood is that the catastrophes of Nature have to be regarded in the structures of man as well as its ordinary laws.”
On the other side of the spectrum is Ben Franklin 's vision. His vision of America was practical. Stating that wealth, respect, prosperity, is earned through hard work. In Franklin
America’s school system and student population remains segregated, by race and class. The inequalities that exist in schools today result from more than just poorly managed schools; they reflect the racial and socioeconomic inequities of society as a whole. Most of the problems with schools boil down to either racism in and outside the school system or financial disparity between wealthy and poor school districts. Because schools receive funding through local property taxes, low-income communities start at an economic disadvantage. Less funding means fewer resources, lower quality instruction and curricula, and little to no community involvement.
In David deSilva book, Honor, Patronage, Kinship, and Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture deSilva states that context is extremely important as well as understanding the culture, without these elements one cannot properly understand the interpretation of Scripture. David deSilva gives an enlightening contextual study of first century Mediterranean culture. deSilva believes that all culture delivers the framework for all communication, and the New Testament writings is no different in how the culture provides the framework for communication.
For decades now, there have been educational problems in the inner city schools in the United States. The schools inability to teach some students relates to the poor conditions in the public schools. Some of the conditions are the lack of funds that give students with the proper supplies, inexperienced teachers, inadequate resources, low testing scores and the crime-infested neighborhoods. These conditions have been an issue for centuries, but there is nothing being done about it. Yet, state and local governments focus on other priorities, including schools with better academics. It is fair to say that some schools need more attention than other does. However, when schools have no academic problems then the attention should be focused elsewhere, particularly in the inner city schools.
Education is an integral part of society, school helps children learn social norms as well as teach them how to be successful adults. The school systems in United States, however are failing their students. In the world as a whole, the United States is quickly falling behind other countries in important math and reading scores. The United States ranked thirtieth in math on a global scale and twentieth in literacy. This is even more true in more urban, lower socio-economic areas in the United States. These schools have lower test scores and high dropout rates. In Trenton Central High School West, there was an 83% proficiency in literacy and only 49% of the students were proficient in math. Many of these students come from minority backgrounds and are often from low income families. There are many issues surrounding these urban schools. There is a severe lack of proper funding in these districts, and much of the money they do receive is sanctioned for non-crucial things. Schools also need a certain level of individualization with their students, and in many urban classes, this simply does not happen. While there are many factors affecting the low performance of urban schools, the lack of proper funding and distribution of funds, the cultural divide between teachers and students in urban districts, along with the lack of individualization in urban classrooms are crucial reasons to explain the poor performance in these districts. Through a process of teacher lead budget committees and further teacher education, urban schools can be transformed and be better equipped to prepare their students for the global stage.
However, a child raised on a vegan diet can prove to be just as healthy as a child raised on a standard diet. As true with any diet, an unbalanced vegan diet lacking in necessary vitamins and minerals or having excess fat can lead to an unhealthy child and because children have smaller appetites and with the range of food available to eat already limited it might be hard to find food they will eat (Mann). This makes raising a child on a vegan diet a little more difficult than raising a child on a standard diet but not impossible. “Many dieticians believe it is possible to bring up a healthy vegan child [but] ... ‘you do have to make sure you know what you are doing.’(Mann).” With a vegan diet that is, on its own, restrictive a parent just has to ensure that their child is getting everything they need just like an adult on a vegan diet. Children have more nutritional requirements to ensure that they get enough of what they need you just have to plan each meal. Nut butters are extremely rich in protein and many grains are calcium fortified. There are also meat substitutes made of beans, soy, and vegetables that can appeal to children and are full of many of the vitamins a vegan could need. It is perfectly safe for a child to be raise vegan as long as they are consuming a proper balance of what they need
Few would disagree that witnessing the assault of their mother is a very disturbing experience for children. However, not all children living with domestic violence witness the direct physical assaults on their mother but they will be acutely aware of the abuse she suffers. Children do not have to directly witness any violence to be profoundly affected by it. There is a wealth of research which has highlighted the negative impact witnessing domestic violence can have on children. Abrahams (1994) found that ninety one per cent of the mothers within her research thought their children had suffered negative effects due to domestic violence. Furthermore, eighty six per cent believed these negative effects continued into adolescence.
...dairy, animal protein and oils are to the development of a child. Dr. Alastair Sutcliffe, a senior lecturer in pediatrics at University College London, recommends that parents should consider raising their children as vegetarian, since children are more vulnerable as vegans.
The first lady I interviewed said that the lack of control over the students and lack of supplies needed to teach was causing major issues in her community. She noted that many of the children are just passed along through the system until they eventually drop out. My second subject said he was happy with the education his children received but noted the classes are much larger for his children than what he had in his rural home town. The final subject I interviewed said that the lack of preparedness the public system has for college caused him to place his children in a private school to receive the education he felt they needed. Urban teachers described their classrooms as overcrowded and noted that in many instances there were not adequate resources available to teach the children (Goldring, 2002). Students in urban schools have a 50% chance of being taught by a certified mathematics or science teacher (Foote, 2005). Some of the teachers were under qualified to teach. Not only are urban teachers less likely to be prepared in their content areas, but these teachers also score lower on literacy skills measures on teacher certification examinations (Goldring, 2002). All of these finding combined lead to the inability to properly teach children and prepare them to pass exams (Ihlanfeldt,
Over the course of two decades, numerous studies have been conducted to highlight a dogs’ ability to read communicative symbols (Racca). Those that live in households show high sensitivity to human signals such as eye contact, name calling, and vocal tones, and show an attentiveness to read a human face (Barber). Dogs also can read some visual, human, communicative signals such as a point or a nod in a certain direction (Racca). This trait shows that dogs are intelligent; however, it does not support if they are able to fully understand all that humans say and do. These creatures are perfect for the experiment of human emotional recognition due to their close connection with their owners and due to their ability to differentiate between communicative