tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523827246619043163.post8545612640867617132..comments2023-06-26T10:09:35.761+01:00Comments on Alice in Galaxyland: How to Prove you're Inclusive: Be SlickUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523827246619043163.post-86490986950206343732010-11-07T01:05:18.240+00:002010-11-07T01:05:18.240+00:00I feel sorry, that you weren't capable of even...I feel sorry, that you weren't capable of even becoming a teacher.Iamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523827246619043163.post-47454984588826427102010-10-29T22:46:31.262+01:002010-10-29T22:46:31.262+01:00Alice,
The exercise you encountered in no way dem...Alice,<br /><br />The exercise you encountered in no way demonstrates racism. Rather it is an experiment that demonstrates how we can easily be led to conclusions based on little evidence. And sometimes that's a good thing; otherwise we would constantly be having to explain everything to each other in minute detail. In this case the coloured stars were used to deliberately invoke a course of action. I don't think it was fair for them to have drawn the conclusions they did.<br /><br />Here's an example from my own experience. In an experiment from a psychology course I took at Uni, we were asked to take a number of tests. In one a draughts board was set out with the draughts pieces in place and we were asked to remove all the white pieces. An experimenter sat watching us with a stop-watch. So, I worked out the fastest strategy and removed the required pieces as fast as I could. I felt I had performed well. Of course, that wasn't the purpose of the test at all. As was pointed out to me later, the experimenter never asked me to perform the task quickly. But the presence of the stop-watch implied that. In fact the test was to determine competitiveness, and was designed to invoke that response with visual clues. It was a trick and I fell for it. It was, of course, in no was as humiliating as your experience, but a valuable lesson all the same.<br /><br />PS. I, too, dropped out of my PGCE course; after two weeks.<br /><br />PPS. The colour-scheme hurts my eyes, too :-).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523827246619043163.post-47305635259598643402010-10-29T21:07:11.773+01:002010-10-29T21:07:11.773+01:00You folks are wonderful! Kuly - ROFL, you can call...You folks are wonderful! Kuly - ROFL, you can call me Anne :-D (but if I ever see anyone address you as "Paki" I will be bunching up my fists and ranting quite a lot for quite a long time to say the very least!)<br /><br />Nas, I'm thrilled to hear that lecturers recommended my blog. That is pretty well as high as compliments go. Was that my "homeopathy proofs" by any chance? Anyway, thanks ever so much for coming along. <br /><br />I'm really enjoying this discussion; it is a very good point how the actual focus of the discussion gets lost in "testing people" one way or another.<br /><br />As for the colour scheme. I've darkened the text, but now my whole blog is looking pretty dark. I think having pale grey text on a dark grey background would be better. This will take a while to fix though as a friend did the code for this background for me (it's a JPEG hosted on her photobucket - mine refused to be expanded enough!!). In the meantime, does this help? And thank you for bringing this to my attention!Alicehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14217937730862636923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523827246619043163.post-53430905545313849972010-10-29T19:15:37.188+01:002010-10-29T19:15:37.188+01:00Good post.
Just commenting to agree with Sam Rose...Good post.<br /><br />Just commenting to agree with Sam Rose that white on black is awful to read (for me). I sometimes disable styles to avoid this, but then I lose other nice things, like the background, pics etc.<br /><br />Grey background would be easier if you don't want to go all traditional.<br /><br />-JJeremy Hughesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523827246619043163.post-88437548501518807062010-10-29T18:34:36.097+01:002010-10-29T18:34:36.097+01:00Hey Alice!
This is the first time I'm actually...Hey Alice!<br />This is the first time I'm actually on your blog. A link was provided to us by our lecturers and what an awesome blog it is too! ;D.<br /><br />Okay back to your post. Ummm. It's a great, thought provoking post! I think you're right; everyone makes mistakes or misjudges what is being required. But then making mistakes is a good thing, as long as you can then see you've made a mistake and do something about it. Being overcome by "worrying and worrying" doesn't lead to advancement in anyway.<br /><br />Racsim. I totally agree with your paragraph before the supernova picture. Some people are so caught up in political correctness / avoiding saying anything which could remotely be associated with racism that they sound so stupid (to put it simply). <br /><br />&& you have highlighted some excellent points about these 'lets get together and discuss about sessions...' in which the actual point being discussed is brushed to the side or healthy productive learning is replaced by more of a 'lets see if you can spot these naughty qualities in the people present here'.<br />I agree with a lot of the points made in the above comments, regarding the fact that a lot of teaching today is not to pass on knowledge to students but to get them through the exams. My physics teacher used to say exactly that. And that I think that is one of the reasons people don't enjoy school because they're being force fed information they couldn't give two hoots about.<br /><br />Lovely read!<br /><br />Thank you for sharing!<br /><br />Nas<br />=]Nashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06664500976252662011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523827246619043163.post-41744533088929334952010-10-29T17:25:11.504+01:002010-10-29T17:25:11.504+01:00Sorry Alice,
dont know why I called you Anne (I d...Sorry Alice,<br /><br />dont know why I called you Anne (I do have a friend called Anne who I was talking to earlier - maybe that was it).<br /><br />Anyway - sorry about that - I'm an idiot(!)Kulynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523827246619043163.post-30171576449902289982010-10-29T17:20:11.738+01:002010-10-29T17:20:11.738+01:00OMG Anne, did this really happen? How bizzare. Rea...OMG Anne, did this really happen? How bizzare. Really there's no need to feel embarressed - they stuck coloured stars on your heads (which are transient and about as far removed from skin colour as you can get) and told you to sort yourselves. What did they think was going to happen?! That is devious - and also - how does it help in any way whatsoever? What connection does it have to reality?<br /><br />Your deconstruction of the whole event is spot on.<br /><br />It reminds me of an episode of South Park where Christmas was trashed and burned and banned by the townspeople, led by the mayor, to avoid offending non-Christians. I thought it was hilarious and typical of the OTT juvenile humour you get on that show. I never thought these things would become reality. <br /><br />"One of them, the very next morning, referred to one of the demonstrators in disgusted tones as "That Paki"."<br />- Well this is disturbing; a trainee teacher as well?! I've been on the receiving end of language like this many times. I hope to god she's not teaching now. And if she is we should start a mission to mess her mind with irony until her head collapses - because she clearly has no understanding of it.<br /><br />Anyone who says, "I'm not a racist" is usually about to add "but I wouldn't want my daughter to marry one."<br />- well that's fair enough isn't it? Why would anyone want their daughter to marry a racist?(!) ;-)Kulynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523827246619043163.post-76122773984200430322010-10-29T01:04:45.778+01:002010-10-29T01:04:45.778+01:00If no one else has this problem, I will write my o...If no one else has this problem, I will write my own script to change it, no worries ^_^ <br /><br />I'll read more of your blog tomorrow after I get back from University. <br /><br />Regards,<br />SamSam Rosehttp://twitter.com/samwhoonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523827246619043163.post-24601404210071957202010-10-29T00:28:07.928+01:002010-10-29T00:28:07.928+01:00Thanks Sam! It's supposed to be light grey tex...Thanks Sam! It's supposed to be light grey text and I love my space colours - but you and other readers matter too - did anyone else find this with the text? :-)Alicehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14217937730862636923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523827246619043163.post-70796562087833885502010-10-29T00:19:42.906+01:002010-10-29T00:19:42.906+01:00Hmm, it is my belief that trying to avoid racism e...Hmm, it is my belief that trying to avoid racism exacerbates the problem of racism. The whole idea of "diversity in the work place", such as hiring at least one black person, at least one Chinese person, at least one woman and so on simply makes the situation worse. In a perfect world, we wouldn't even have to think about these things and the word "stereotype" would not exist.<br /><br />I agree that you don't really have need to feel humiliated. You sorted something by colour. It's a logical thing to do in that context. It doesn't mean you're a racist, that's just pseudo-scientific nonsense. The idea of proof by substitution is ridiculous: "You sort things by colour, people have a skin colour, therefore you are a racist." is similar to saying "You use the Internet, it's possible to download films illegally over the Internet, therefore you download films illegally.". <br /><br />Fabulous quote from Allan Sandage, beautiful :)<br /><br />As for my thoughts on the education system, I agree with Thyrisis hat I preferred the teachers who genuinely taught you great things instead of preparing you for tests. I think the UK education system was designed for the average person and nothing more. There isn't a great deal in place for the truly talented individuals who want to really push themselves intellectually. I will reference this speech from a 16 year old valedictorian: http://www.sott.net/articles/show/212383-V...aduation-Speech I think it more or less sums up my stance :)<br /><br />As a parting note, the white text on black background style of your blog was really quite unkind on my eyes. Not sure if it was just me... Would there be any chance of you maybe considering a kinder combination of colours for reading, pretty please? :)<br /><br />Truly great post, <br />Sam RoseSam Rosehttp://twitter.com/samwhoonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523827246619043163.post-13885232130297430582010-10-28T16:48:34.213+01:002010-10-28T16:48:34.213+01:00Thyrisis, that was a fantastic comment, thank you!...Thyrisis, that was a fantastic comment, thank you! You are totally right that the answer is not to whinge about this experience, but to advocate a more sensible approach. I'm as fallible as anyone else, and all my energy went to feeling humiliated and defensive rather than to thinking up a better way to go about this important issue.<br /><br />I've had some more great comments from Twitter that I'd like to share with you all:<br /><br />"awww Alice that was quite a blog. In there you say "I like myself that way." well we all like you that way too. Don't change"<br /><br />"You shouldn't waste time worrying about such an unpleasant group of people. It's obvious who was racist in that group."<br /><br />"Interesting blog http://tinyurl.com/34zzfdu Management box ticked, problem remains! I am definitely scienceist on Twitter ;-)"<br /><br />"Great thought-provoking post. Don't feel humiliated - you were misled by the sensiviity-challenged."<br /><br />"I think it's just human nature to be defensive when picked on. Unlike most, you thought it through though. My point is that figuring out how to make people think differently about this stuff is very hard but needs to be everyone's priority"<br /><br />I'd love everybody's further comments and ideas. This is to do with policy in teaching so it's an important topic - and it's also to say the least an important topic for this (thank goodness) multicultural country anyway.Alicehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14217937730862636923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523827246619043163.post-83368233801865140172010-10-28T11:05:56.271+01:002010-10-28T11:05:56.271+01:00Alice, I agree with your point entirely. The harde...Alice, I agree with your point entirely. The harder thing is to suggest an alternative. It seems to me that this is a symptom of the understandable desire to ensure consistency in a very important area (avoidance of racism) across the entire school system. Clearly this requires rules and standards to measure compliance against. Unfortunately it seems that a frequent, if not inevitable, consequence of such things is that people cease thinking and start 'teaching to the test'.<br /><br />Once that happens it's easy to see how people can start to make connections that seem ridiculous to objective consideration, such as your black coffee example or thinking that placing similarly coloured stars together is equivalent to racism.<br /><br />I feel lucky that I attended a school in which at least a few of the teachers did not teach to the test. These were everyone's favourite teachers - the ones that actually made you think, not the ones that tried to embed facts in your head. I think it's due to their influence, which was far greater and longer lasting on me (I'm long past school!) than the 'teach the test' teachers, that I learnt to think.<br /><br />I think this is similar to the drive to skepticism - either you think independently or you don't. When something does not immediately strike people as clearly wrong then they tend not to think too much about it - there is, after all, so much going on all the time that to seriously think about everything is practically impossible.<br /><br />It's much easier to simply say 'racism is wrong' than it is to think about the historical, cultural, social, economic, political, religious and even psychological reasons that cause it. These all need to be addressed before racism can ever be truly overcome, even though many of them may take a very long time. Living in a highly homogeneous society just makes this less likely to be addressed, of course.<br /><br />What I'm trying to say is that careful consideration of consequences is a rarity in every aspect of life. I think the only solution is to help people develop not only the ability but also the desire to think for themselves. Blogs such as yours must be part of this, so keep up the good work!Thyrisishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01946736108439369591noreply@blogger.com