Journal #6

Journal #6

Reiko Lui rocks.

She rocks for being courageous enough to attempt this unit. She rocks because she is wise enough to let the discussions go past the point of discomfort and into dangerous territory, while still maintaining some semblance of control. Ultimately, she rocks simply for bringing this controversial, yet critically important, topic to her students and letting them work through it together.

When I compare her experience to what it would be like for me to have taught this unit at Park Center, there are some important differences. Athenases says that all the students shared two influences from the community, “a strong religious presence and exposure to gay and lesbian life.” Not so in the Osseo district.

Most of my students were not active in the faith of their parents or grandparents, whether they were Buddhist, Muslim, Christian, or Jewish. Some participated in annual observations, but most didn’t have a real understanding of the spiritual significance of them – they just went along with it because it was expected of them. Reiko’s school was located in San Francisco, where the past several decades have seen the growth of institutional tolerance toward many groups, including the GLBT community.

When it comes to “Dear Anita,” I can easily envision some of my male students having trouble siding with the author, especially about gay teachers. The pederast stereotype is firmly rooted in many of them, particularly with the African immigrant boys. This is where I really learned from Reiko’s methods. Athenases says she “rarely evaluated student responses,” instead letting them build on each other’s thoughts and challenging each other’s ideas. Whether or not I ever get to integrate something on sexual orientation into the curriculum, I still plan to adjust my discussion moderator style to be more like her.

I did handle it differently one time, now that I think of it. This was outside of class when a couple Liberian guys asked me if another faculty member was gay. They assumed he was because he was very precise with his language, gestured with his hands quite a bit, was fastidious, and liked Shakespeare. In their “lived world” the guy has to be gay, right?

They were stereotyping, so I came back at them with another stereotype. What if a guy tends bar, is married with a teenage son, he coaches high school hockey, and was part of the U.S. Army’s invasion force in Iraq. Do you think he is gay? They said “no way.” I told them that describes the teacher they were wondering about.

Even though my description convinced them he wasn’t gay, that just started the conversation. We talked for a while, and I tried to get them to see that sexual orientation isn’t discernable simply by observation. They were falling for the old Seinfeld deal. He said that if you’re 30, single, neat, and thin, lots of people assume you’re gay.

I am trying to think how I can use Reiko’s methods at Edina. I guess I’ll wait to see if they rehire me first. Once that happens I’ll be tenured and then maybe I can introduce a unit in the Art of Film class that examines how Hollywood portrays different groups.