McClemont,+Peter

__Assignment 1__

My name is Peter McClemont and I am currently teaching grade 4 at the American International School of Vietnam. Prior to this teaching position, I taught grade 3 in Kuwait and grade 4 at an international school in Jakarta, Indonesia. I have been teaching abroad for 7 years now.

Upon graduating from the University of Windsor Ontario with a Honours in Sociology, I went and taught ESL in the South Korean public school systems in 2009. I spent 3 years living in and around Seoul. I left South Korea in 2012 and decided to pursue my Bachelors of Education at Western, University in my hometown of London, Ontario. At the time, teacher's college in Ontario was only a 1 year program and by January of 2013 I had signed a contract to go and teach in Indonesia.

After living in the Middle East, I am very happy to be back in SE Asia. My current school is a good working environment, the kids are a lot of fun and the teachers I work with are excellent collaborators. I love the abundant nightlife (discos), travel opportunities and driving my motorcycle. Such freedoms were not always available in Kuwait.

On a final note, I really enjoy working with students and see myself working in the educational field for awhile. I love to travel, listen to music, workout and really enjoy studying and learning new things. I look forward to this course!

__Assignment 2__ I had a discussion with my grade 4 colleague Mark. Both of our first undergraduate degrees are in Sociology. We found that we were more interested in discussing the influences on a macro (society, institutions, etc) scale rather than micro (individual). However, we feel that individuals can have a profound influences on the lives of others. We also believe that people are strongly influenced through both nature and nurture but focused more on the nurture aspect.

We found that American History X puts a great emphasis on the importance of having strong adult figures in a young person's life. It showcases how the environment we live in and the people we encounter greatly shape our own perceptions. It was through the intervention of both Danny and Derek’s environment that caused their own beliefs to change remarkably over time.

A recurring theme we noticed was how American History X portrayed the importance of having a strong adult figure in a young person's life. That those we look up to or admire most, will have the greatest influence. This can be seen with Danny’s initial admiration for one of his teachers who is well educated and assigns the reading “Native Son’ which discusses the plight of a young African American. Danny’s admiration is largely diminished as his father discredits it the novel and the idea of affirmation. Though Danny seems reluctant to adopt his father's opinion at first, the murder of his father solidifies his father's previous prejudices. Danny then becomes Derek’s main influence and we find him adopting the same points of view as his older brother. Later on, Principal Sweeney would become one of the most important influences for both Derek and Danny to be able to move beyond their hatred towards other groups of people.

American History X demonstrates the impact that social institutions and the groups within them can have in developing our character. When Derek is placed in the correctional institution, his own personal beliefs our challenged by the Aryan Brotherhood. In prison, the Aryan Brotherhood cooperates and works with members of other criminal organizations who are from different ethnic origins. To Derek this is unacceptable and he begins to question his own role in the organization. This leads him to being assaulted by the group of individuals who are suppose to me most like him. The correctional institution forced groups such as the Aryan Brotherhood to behave differently in order to secure their own survival within it.

Lastly, we discussed the impact of both the school and the individuals within. The school is an institution in which cultural values are taught to students. It teaches about what a culture perceives to be justice. It American history X, both Derek and Danny learned the importance of equality and how hatred impacted their lives in a negative way through education. However, we also saw the importance of having strong minded and caring individuals within the system. If Danny’s teacher had his way, Danny would have been expelled from the institution. Rather, Mr Sweeney saw an opportunity to improve Danny’s life and allow him to grow as an individual. It could be said that the individuals within the institution often have a greater influence than the rules which govern it.

__Assignment 3__ __What would a peaceable school or community look like?__ It would be an environment in which teachers, administrators, parents and students work together to create a community which emphasizes the need for equal respect. Key understandings of peace would be integrated into the curriculum and emphasized in both daily routines and lesson planning. Participants would have the skills to resolve conflict through ways other than violence. Sharing, tolerance, respect and a sense of belonging would all be integral parts. It is a place in which people (students) feel safe and secure. __What elements of communication would be included?__ Elements such as group problem solving, active listening and think pair and share in which students discuss the role of conflict and how to solve it. Being apologetic, understanding and allowing everyone to have a voice in which to be heard. The emphasis being on how to solve conflict through listening to one another and discussing their feelings. __What would be tolerated and what would not be tolerated?__ Any form of violent behaviour or disrespectful language would not be tolerated. This would relate to bullying, teasing, name calling, mocking, insults etc. The behaviours that would be expected are those that demonstrate kindness, acceptance and cooperation. Some examples would be showing mutual respect, listening attentively, truthfulness and collaboration. Traits that show a desire to work through conflicts in positive ways outside the influence of violence. __What would the rules be?__ Students would be given the opportunity to explore ideas about what they believe a peaceful community would like through a couple of class activities. Using an anchor chart, I would then have a class discussion. Some of the rules I would expect my students to come up with would be to respect one another, listen attentively, be honest, work through problems using words, no bullying, etc. Rules would focus on creating a classroom community in which feels safe and supportive for all members. __Would would the expectations be?__ That conflict is inevitable but we are able to solve it in ways that do not resort to violence. Furthermore, that we are able to build and maintain a caring and supportive environment in which we all feel safe to participate in. One should never feel embarrassed to make mistakes or be ridiculed of their opinion is different from others. __What would the responsibilities be?__ As adults, we are mentors to our students and establish a community that is safe and supportive for our students to learn in. We resolve conflict in the same ways we expect of our students. When students have difficultying solving problems in peaceful ways, we are there to intervene and model the behaviour and skills needed to do so. Students would be responsible for their own behaviour, actions and doing their best to resolve conflict in peaceful ways (following the rules and regulations).

__Evidence within the classroom.__ Building a supportive classroom has been a large focus of mine since the beginning of the year. Every morning is started with a “Morning Meeting” in which we come together as a class, greet one another, and play a game related to our lessons. I always end the meeting with a positive message to my students based on their performance the previous day. Classroom mottos, posters and many other activities we did as a class our displayed on my walls. Students are encouraged to help their partners out during workshops and it is not unusual to see students who finish work to help their peers who are further behind. We have many team building activities, participation is continually encouraged and many of our lessons revolve around group discussion.

__Evidence within the school__ The Dean of students and student counsellors play an active role in the lives of our students. The counsellors are often coming into the classroom and having discussions about how to respect one another and how to solve our problems through ways which are non- confrontational. Our dean of students is excellent and is continually discussing the importance of respect for one another. Parents are often involved in student events and parent participation is strongly encouraged to be involved in their child's daily learning.

__How will you promote peace in your community?__ At the elementary level and having ESL learners in my classroom, the first step is to have a group discussion about what the term peace means. This can lead into activities and discussions about respect, diversity and the importance of having a classroom in which we all feel safe. Group building activities, teaching about acceptance, giving students responsibilities and jobs (such as teacher assistants, room inspectors, taking care of fish) give students a sense of control over their environment. I will continue to incorporate ‘peace’ and the importance of conflict resolution both in lessons and daily routines.

__Assignment 4__ I think homicide rates would be directly related to the stability and overall development of a country. As well, the equality of human rights within them. I believe I had read before that during periods of war (instability) that homicide rates (deaths outside of military activity) also increase. There were a lot of unstable times in the last 800 years or so. Then again, I could be wrong.

I knew overall that homicide rates had declined and that our current time period was more stable. The United States has always been known to have some pretty violent cities. However, they have also always had areas within those cities that are very stable. So I knew that overall the homicide rates were similar over the years but that you find areas with great discrepancies.

My colleagues were split. Two assumed violence had increased and the two others had assumed it was fairly stable over the past 30 years. The two who assumed it increased related their opinions to the continual portrayal of violence within the media both internationally and locally. The other two had a similar mind of frame as me that you will always have pockets of instability and higher homicide rates within certain areas of a city

I always find statistics in regards to crime and crime trends interesting. The assignment allowed me to see others view and opinions about the statistics of crime in their own country. Overall I enjoyed it.

__Assignment 5__ The last time I saw someone's “amygdala” hijacked was about 6 months ago and it involved a personal friend. The person cowered, cried, shook and literally booked a flight (flight response) out of the country within a matter of minutes. I knew their past history and the situation quite well so in my opinion their fears were not justified. Especially as it was an incident involving another friend of ours and their situation wasn’t applicable to ours. To me it seemed like an emotional breakdown but thankfully about 20 minutes or so later the person calmed down and it was no longer an issue. It took them another hour or so to completely calm down and be at ease. They lost the flight on the money but everything turned out fine, as I figured it would.

I was going to mention a situation in Kuwait when a Kuwaiti woman went on a tirade at the bank, but after living in Kuwait I really don’t know how embarrassed or regretful she would be after. It seemed socially acceptable there. I know in Canada she would have been arrested and removed from the bank. In this situation she was able to file a complaint while continuing to insult the clerk.

__Ted Talk__ Amy discussed how hormonal changes were affected by people's own non verbal communication. That risk taking, assertiveness and confidence were all directly related to a person's own view of the power status. If one feels powerless in their own abilities, they are likely to “shut down”, or not express their own ideas and opinions. This is also true in communication, if someone betrays themselves to be less powerful, they will likely be dominated in the conversation or interaction. Therefore, non verbal communication becomes as important as verbal in regards to how people perceive us. These non verbal communications can be very useful in evaluative social situations. It pays to portray yourself as powerful and confident, even if you aren’t, a term in which Amy called ‘faking it’. If one portrays themselves as confident even when they are not, at some point they will more than likely internalize the trait (as most people do with more experience in situations). It seems people react to nonverbal communication and people who appear powerful are more likely to be well liked and successful.

__Assignment 6 A__ I would define conflict as a disagreement between two or more people. Conflict resolution would be the way in which such disagreements are resolved.

I think a good conflict to analyze regarding a hijacked brain would be one I witnessed in my earlier years of teaching. Our Head of Department and a fellow colleague of mine were continuously arguing. Our school was following a country's curriculum in which my teaching colleague was trained in. He or she grew up in that country, taught in its system and felt our HOD was not living up to the rigorous demands it required. It was a continuous battle which would often escalate both in the staff room and in teacher meetings. It got to the point in which parents, teachers and even students were involved as a blog was created to document what he or she felt was the many shortcomings of our HOD. Petty insults towards personal character and teaching abilities was the norm between the two.

I would argue that our HOD felt threatened as a subordinate was continually questioning their ability and asking why they were still in the position. My teaching colleague eventually took it to administration. My teaching colleague felt threatened as he or she believed the school was not living up to its expectations and he or she was not able to teach how he or she thought fit. This led to the dismissal of one colleague, a turbulent year and a very unhappy working environment. Eventually a blog was created and the whole school became involved.

Rather than working it out as professionals, they let their emotions run high and could not come to any form of resolution. Shouting, personal insults and bursts of frustrations just made for a very difficult working environment. When witnessing their arguments, I would say their amygdala hijacked them as they simply could not calm down until one walked away and often got the involvement of others. There was no in-between, one was right and the other was wrong. One would fight, and the other would take a flight (out of the room and straight to the administration office).

I don’t think emotions or the “amygdala” always hinder conflict resolution. Conflict is a normal occurrence and I would say that most conflicts are resolved without emotional outbursts. However, I am sure there are some people in which this is not the case and emotions may very well get in the way of their ability to resolve conflict. I think it depends on the people involved and the situation in which the conflict presents itself.

However, when amygdala hijacks do occur, logic goes out the window. The ability to reason or think intelligently seems to disappear. In some of the readings it discussed how high amounts of adrenaline are released into the blood and the flight or fight response takes over. This can have a lasting effect of up to 20 minutes and takes a full 3 to 4 hours to recover. I think it would be best to remove yourself from the situation and wait until that person calms down. If for whatever reasons your presence continually causes amygdala hijacks for someone, or them you, it might be best to find a mediator.

__Assignment 6 B__ I remember reading articles a few years ago about how the term ‘fuck’ was used differently depending on the social situation. It had a list of all the ways it could be used in a positive or humorous sense. It seems cursing is an integral part of our culture and is perceived differently depending on the context of the situation. For example, between friends it can be used to express astonishment, to create humour or simply to relate to one another. They can be used to make us feel better by allowing us to vent our frustrations and express our anger. However, I would be careful with whom you use such words as they could create or escalate a conflict as well. Therefore, curse words are an integral part of language which are both influenced by and influence culture. Just be careful when you use them and to whom you use them with.

__Assignment 7__

__I messages to my 4th grade students:__

__Message #1:__ When you put your name and date on your assignments I know you are becoming responsible 4th grade students and I feel proud of you as a class.

__Reaction__: My students smiled and double checked to make sure their names and dates were on their journals. This is something I have been spending a lot of time working on over the first quarter.

__Message #2:__ When you talk during a lesson I know that you are not paying attention and I feel that you are not putting your best foot forward.

__Reaction:__ The classroom became quiet and the students gave me their full attention. This led to a brief discussion about respecting one another and appropriate behaviour in the classroom.

__Message #3:__ When you don’t walk quietly in the halls I know that you are disturbing other classes and I feel that other classes don’t understand just how great you are

__Reaction:__ Some students quickly blamed each other but this led into a discussion about the importance of teamwork and accountability.

__Message to Gigi__ Gigi, when you enter my home sometimes things are missing or misplaced and I feel uncomfortable.

__Positive Reinforcement for Gigi__ When you respect my privacy I know that we have a trusting relationship and I feel valued as your friend

__Positive I Message__ When you call for a ride after drinking I know that you are mature and responsible and I feel comfortable knowing you make the right decisions

__Negative I Message__ When you drink and drive I know that you may face serious consequences and I feel anxious for yours and others safety

__Assignment 8__ I think the most important reminder from the article is how bullying is about a power imbalance and that adults can be perpetrators. When looking at bullying programs in schools, we must look at all the relationships within the social structure. This means awareness programs addressing all types of bullying and how to report it must be implemented.

A safe and inclusive environment in which everyone feels welcome is essential in the development of a child. Therefore schools need to be a place in which students, teachers, staff, parents and the community create an atmosphere of care and respect. In Ontario, a safe schools program was implemented which focuses on doing just this. Like most of the bullying programs, it focuses on building respect, tolerance and giving people resources to stand up to bullying. The schools promote core values and building trust within the community. A lot of these wonderful ideas was seen as the keystones in preventing bullying in the provided resources.

Any program that is to prevent bullying needs to be an integral part of the curriculum and involve the entire community. A set of core values in which all members can work towards needs to be established. Educating people about what bullying is, how to recognize and prevent it is also essential. Awareness is key.

__Assignment 9__ I remember taking this last year and the results were I was a practical manager. The same was true this year. One difference was that last year the person who took the test (Eric) was a people person and this year my colleague Mark was the same as me, a practical manager. Overall I agree with the results. When it comes to my own life I am usually organized and neat (an example of this is that I have to make my bed every morning). I need direction and structure and can feel lost when I do not have clear instructions on a task. I am always on time and find it hard to understand why some people are always late. I have a few good friends and a lot of my hobbies are individual in nature.

__Assignment 10__

Q1. The family had profound influence on both Derek and Homer. The role of nurture caused both characters to continually question their own self perceptions and beliefs. Despite having other influences in their lives, their own viewpoints were continually challenged by their fathers. In American History X, we can see how Derek has a great deal of respect for the diversity that other minority groups have faced throughout time. However, this is quickly shot down by his father and regarded as mere nonsense. Derek listens but seems to not completely internalize his father’s beliefs. However, it was his father who planted the seed for his son’s soon bigoted views. When Derek’s father death is caused by members of a minority group, his father’ prejudice views are internalized by Derek. Homer was continually challenged by his father. In his father’s eyes, nothing else was acceptable except for Homer to become a miner. As Homer pursued pursuits outside of mining, the more difficult his father became. However, Homer had enough strength to continue to in pursuit of his goals. He also had supportive teachers and friends who were able to somewhat counter the views of his father. When Homer’s rocket is blamed for causing a forest fire and all hope seems lost, Homer finally gives in to his father’s pressure and begins mining. Both characters were greatly shaped through the role of nurture. However, they both broke away from this influence later on in life. People outside of their families’ sphere of influence become of greater importance and we see them develop their own sense of self and identity outside the influence of their families.

Q2. For both Derek and Homer the role of the mother played little influence. They both cared deeply for their sons but did not have near the influences of the fathers. Homer’s mom was timid and though supported her son this was not really evident. It was not until near the end of the movie that she questions Homer’s fathers believes as to why he does not support his son. This can also be said with Derek’s mother. She cares deeply for him and his brother. This is evident when despite Derek’s wishes, she sees him out of concern as Danny now is pursuing the same path as Derek. She reaches out to someone who has a much greater influence in her younger sons lives than she does.

Q3. Murray had little influence in American History X. The greatest thing he did was to involve Mr Sweeney the school principal when Danny wrote an offensive paper based off of his white supremacist views. In contrast, Miss Reilly had an essential role in the life of Homer. She inspired him to pursue his goals no matter how much diversity he faced. She was his greatest resource, motivator and continually encouraged him to fight for what he wanted. If it was not for her, Homer may never left the town and became a miner himself (so it’s portrayed in the movie anyway). Even when all was lost, she gave Homer all the tools he needed. The book in rocket trajectory which she gave Homer allowed him to research the trajectory of rockets and prove that his rocket could not have started the fire. When Homer presented this evidence to Miss Riley she did all she could to clear his name.

Q4. Both principals had a profound influence on the young boys lives. Homer’s principal, was the one who initially put a greater emphasis on the importance of exploration through Science. Though reluctant at first, he was the one who gave permission for the students to work with rockets and explosive material. He was also the one who allowed Homer to prove his innocence with the help of Miss Reilly. With his guidance, Homer’s innocence was proven, he was enrolled back in school and was able to represent Big Creek High in the Science fair. When looking at Derek and Danny, it was Mr Sweeney who warned Derek that Danny was following in his footsteps. It was Mr Sweeney who took Danny under his wing and instead of expelling him, gave him a wonderful opportunity in which to learn from. His guidance helped both Derek and Danny view the world outside of their own bigotry.

Q5.

Derrick was involved in a community which had a large amount of racial tensions. There were white supremacy groups and street gangs constantly vying for positions of power. Being brought up in such a community led to continual conflict based on race relationships. People looked after their “own” and anyone outside was considered a threat. It was a community which fostered hatred and often led the individuals to being incarcerated.

In contrast, Homer had a caring and supportive community. They were there to celebrate his successes and recognize him for all the hard work he was doing. Though the focus was on mining, they were there to encourage those who had the ability to move beyond it.