Cinnabar and Alabaster

passages
227. (only) che guevara's picture up in classrooms: "the cuban and chinese revolutions rekindled an interest in socialism as a viable alternative to corporate capitalism....however, the actual practice of education in china, cuba, and other socialist nations has had a surprisingly limited impact on radical education in the united states."
228. b/c most obviously "collectivist values and behavior" aren't brought through--"radical educational reform has largely retained the individualism of american culture" and "paid little attention to the necessity for purposefully fostering social skills and attitudes that lead to altruism, cooperation, and social responsibility." but "a decent and just social order, one allowing each individual to achieve self-determination and self-actualization, can be built only if individualistic models of social relationships are replaced by more communal or collective ones"
230. the state of things: "the american preoccupation with the individual self has escalated dramatically in the past few years, reaching the point at which it may be more accurately described as narcissism. the remaining fragments of the social bonds of responsibility, loyalty, and caring are under assault by those purportedly concerned with healing psychic wonds and liberating us from oppressive guilt....many of these criticisms [of family/community life] were originally raised by the feminist movement and represent serious attempts to free women from oppressive roles and relationships in the family. however, those seeking to embrace new roles may find it difficult to move beyond the individualistic image of the detached, self-oriented adult into other, more communal alternatives....we seek refuge in self-absorption, comforted by an ideology that claims this to be the only route to self-fulfillment"
231-2. "we are faced with the paradox of living in a society that generates an image of encouraging individualism while ensuring a destructive conformity"; "in our encounters with social institutions, such as school and the workplace, we feel ourselves dehumanized and robbed of personal identity. our response is to withdraw as much as possible from these public arenas, investing our energies instead in personal projects and relationships which appear to reveal our uniqueness and individuality....society, politics, the economy, and public life are shunned for personal enclaves of intimacy. social action is thereby aborted."
233. to change the world: "children must be raised and educated so that they have the skills to work together cooperatively as well as the capacity for independent thought and action, so that they develop a strong sense of communal as well as personal identity, and so that concern for the other is as strong as concern for the self."
237. in education: "unlike liberal educational reformers, who argue that existing schools are dysfunctional for society, radicals see that education reflects the nature of relationships inherent in american society....schools are viewed...as instruments of the state to socialize children to fit into and perpetuate an oppressive status quo. radical reformers seek to alter and undermine this role of schools"
239. a point she keeps returning to: idealized socially-concerned/committed "behavior does not arise spontaneously, even in nurturant group settings, but rather must be deliberately cultivated"--this is b/c "true freedom and individuality are not necessarily ensured or defined by the absence of constraints and controls. it is in the nature of being human that we can group and develop only in a social context, only by participating in a human community."
240. the role of context: "the negative effects of schooling are to be found in the larger culture as well. however, it does not follow from this that meaningful educational reform is futile. radical school reformers must define their work as part of a larger political movement that seeks to change society as well as the schools"
241. progressive movements made some collectivist-influenced suggestions & instituted more group activities in our classrooms, not always used to the ends they envisioned.
242. "collectivist education must be self-consciously oppositionist; it must take a clear stand against the mainstream of american ideology and institutions and ally itself with a more comprehensive movement for social change. otherwise, not only will this effort fail, but it may be subtly transformed into a means of increasing conformity to existing social institutions and arrangments."
243. moving toward collectivist pedagogy means (scary as it sounds to us) "deliberate intervention into moral and character development"
244. "to be effective and authentic, the moral code that one adopts must be congruent with personal beliefs and conceptions and must derive from intelligent reasoning, not from blind obedience....to the extent that collectivist education obstructs this dialectic, it is not suitable for the kinds of moral development that is necessary for a just society"
246. in china & cuba "independence and autonomy are sacrificed for the greater good" in ways we can't understand from our position as having "the enormous advantage of living in a society in which scarcity is not a major problem"--what works there "would be excessive and inappropriate for an american socialist movement"
248. limitations on/caused by how we do it now: "independence and competition rather than interdependence and cooperation prevent true collectivity. if children are rewarded for their private accumulation of knowledge and come to see each other as competitors and not collaborators, that fragile consciousness which dewey terms 'the social spirit' will not be supported, even though children work side by side."
249-256. 7 conclusions about collectivism's effectiveness & what it can offer: (1) cooperative experience; "if students have rarely experienced a goal structure other than competition in school, they will tend to form competitive goal structures when left to their own devices" (johnson & johnson) (2) "in contrast to the highly inconsistent nature of the socialization influences on american children, socialist schools present a uniform and clear set of expectations for children" that "are in harmony with norms of the society as a whole" (3) a "high degree of unity of purpose allows adults to exercise their authority and control without hesitation or ambivalence" which leads to an "absence of agressiveness and restlessness" in schoolchildren observed in china (4) "an atmosphere of warmth, acceptance, and caring"--"adult control arises not from a negative conception or fear of children, but rather from the view that all children--not just bright, middle-class youngsters--are essential for the construction of a new society"--little to no punishment is required, too, since "the confident expectation of competent and constructive behavior, followed by its manifestation, which, in turn, evoked appreciation and praise" (5) "both the structure and content of collectivist education are developed to enhance social bonds and solidarity between children" (6) there's a "pervasiveness of morality and politics in the classroom"--"children might display selfishness or meanness, but they can be persuaded--not through punishment, but rather by a combination of gentle guidance, group pressure, and self-criticism--to mend their ways" (7) "children in these societies have important, concrete roles to play" & "the helpfulness and selflessness which children in socialist nations are encouraged to display are typically related to concrete situations or difficulties. personal heroism is seen as necessary to promote the well-being of people, not to serve some distant and abstract ideal"
257. "perhaps the most important thing, however, is that children in socialist societies are raised in an atmosphere of warmth and respect in which moral behavior is highly valued"
258. "in a society in which normative roles tend to emphasize privacy, self-interest, and noninvolvement, taking risks for others or for larger social objectives is an anomaly. thus, a collectivist pedagogy for american children must be concerned with encouraging them to be independent and in some ways even rebellious. to oppose the dominant values and institutions demands courage, self-confidence, and the ability to endure the criticism and censure of others, many of whom are in positions of authority and power."
259. "groups are not merely a convenient way to organize learning and play but in themselves contribute to the kind of values and social relationships to be achieved. group experiences need to be structured so that participation in the group offers the child a level of satisfaction unattainable by working alone. principles of reciprocity, fairness, and mutual respoect should be fostered; the group provides a necessary setting for this, but the adult must take responsibility for drawing the apporpriate lessons and intervening when necessary"