We were introduced to a book called "Hey, Little Ant" by Phillip and Hannah Hoose. The book provides a dim glimpse on how our society views the weak and holds all the controls to do what they feel like doing just because they hold the power to do so. The ideology is built upon how human society is built around policies that create this false assumption of who gets to control the other. The book illustrates two main characters; the kid and the little ant. The kid, represents the White supremacist of society and the little ant represents the dark skinned individual that looks different from its counterpart. From one perspective, this book may seem harmless as to the assumption of "what is wrong killing an ant?" However, the inner meaning to this story is the racial bias that is clearly present right in-front of our eyes.
The importance of the assignment was to show a comparison of how White supremacist in our society controls our way of life only because they are built stronger, possess power both politically and monetary, and foresee anything that looks different is considered the weaker, assume that those people have no purpose of living and everything they believe and act are the complete opposite of what the White controlled settlers deem acceptable only in their twisted society. "The divergent forms of colonization and imperial expansion that took root from this settler foundation employed English instruction policies that maintained the narrative of white settler superiority" (Funie 2020, 240). If you are not White that do not speak any English, you are not an ally. Anything different, you are labeled to be a perpetrator and a bullseye target. There are also people that call themselves bystandards who take no side, but also show no affection to one another even though they know what is considered to be right and what is considered to be wrong.
After reflecting upon the assignment, I reflected on all of my past actions on what I did when I saw an ant in areas I did not want the ant to be. Before reading this assignment, I was also part of the ally as I too were squashing ants and killing them to their gruesome outcome only because they were in my way. Now that I have a different mentality where even as small as ants, I began to believe that ants also are trying to live courageously and less tirelessly within our society. It is not their fault that they are located in places that we don't want them to be. It is because our society pushed their boundaries aside, taking over their land due to our greediness. All they are trying to find are places where they can live without any fear and disturbance. After reading this book, I tell myself how true are the contents of this book to how we live in our society now. The imbalance and inequality of the distribution of human power pretty much sums up what the current United States represent as a country.
Now that I completed the assumptions assignment, I realize even further that values differentiate greatly between many diverse cultures. Just because your stronger and bigger does not hold the right to control or even kill another just because of differences in appearance or values. These are the many reasons why there are countries that are still at war because they have this totally false assumption that one is better than the other and that they have the right to control another because they look less superior and different. These bias thinking's need serious revisions a even in our modern day, there are bias connections throughout all systems that associate to the human society.
This assignment along with the book is a great way to teach young children the understanding that life is precious to anyone, no matter the size and power difference. Just as humans are important in life, so as animals, insects and even objects. Everything all has a meaning and purpose to life. Without trying to understand the true meaning, we as the dominant society on this planet earth should not have the right to do what we assume to be right because in most cases, our decisions impact dearly to other systems that change and evolve at a constant pace. "Educational inequities can be reinforced by policy development and implementation" (Sampson 2019, 175). As long as we have the right mentality and provide meaningful, equitable education for young children, this can be the critical stepping blocks in our continuing survival of mankind. We the adults need to provide the meaningful and nurturing ideas about life and how we can be the role model to teach the young minds of tomorrow. We have already done the damage. Now it is time to recollect our thoughts and guide the positive purposes to the next generations.
Questions we can continue to ask:
1) Are we able to change someone else's assumption on a certain topic? Explain.
2) Why do we assume something when we clearly know it is not the correct outcome? Explain.
3) How could we provide a meaningful lesson for young children's critical thinking through an assumption?
Hey Dan!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your insight into "Hey, Little Ant" I liked the way you described the assumptions to what is current in today's society, (history actually) and its significance towards children's thinking & how to incorporated in a classroom. Although I can also see the metaphor meaning of bigger & stronger. I do not think it's only based on strength or size but those in the position of power & not solely on size. Hence our roles & how we chose to act in these situations. My role was fluid, I was a bystander but then an ally to the bully until my perspective was changed after reading the book. My questions to you would be
1. What other situations did you see yourself as an ally but after reading the book made your role change?
2. How did you navigate yourself when confronted with a racial bias/assumption or in the racist system? Were there any bystanders, or allys?
Hope to hear from you soon!
-Leslie M.
Leslie,
DeleteAlways a pleasure reading your comments.
1) As you articulate in the position of power, its always feels safe to be in the side with power and strength, but in reality, its just another way of showing improper judgement and just running away from the problem itself. It almost feels like supporting the underdog kinda feeling but in a more justifiable way. You know what is right and wrong and just because the majority tends to lean on the wrong end, doesn't make you want to join that group. It is important to believe in what you trust and cherish as a human being. So as everyone is treated equally, it is the extra effort in supporting others to share the same beliefs as I do.
2) The only ally was my family and close friends. I always believed that at the end of the day, it is only you as a person who can stand up against the racial system. Therefore throughout the years, I learned it the hard way but maneuvered my way around to stay positive and learn to trust who I am as a person. Who cares what others think about you, the important thing is how you believe and think about yourself. That is the way to confront the racist system!
How can you talk to people who don't benefit from privilege often about the ways they do benefit from privilege?
ReplyDeleteI believe the importance begins by discussing and addressing the meaning of privilege. Identifying examples of privilege and how it is related to the world they live in. To be positive and believe in what you say so it does relay correctly to the people who don't benefit from it. Most importantly, I should be able to help the people and understand that everyone has the potential of experiencing privilege. That anyone and everyone have access to it but you need to believe in it as well. I should be aware of the people I speak to and learn their background so that I can relay the message accordingly.
DeleteHow would you utilize this book with children to get to the level of understanding that you reached?
ReplyDeleteI would approach the book to a level that younger children would understand, the concept of bullying and neglecting to withhold friendship. Most young children have a clear understanding that it is never nice to do anything bad that the children deem hurtful and hateful. A lesson concentrated on the importance of helping one another, that no one is superior over the other just because of height or age differences, and the overall concept of treating and respecting everyone with the same fairness that you think you deserve. We as teachers have that responsibility to relay to the young children through these repetitive lessons. It is important and it will continue to be taught until everyone in the class gets it.
DeleteHi Dan,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your post. It got me thinking about younger children and whether or not it is a good lesson for them when it comes to the privilege some people have. I also thought about racism and how it is something that should be talked about with younger children. How would you bring this idea to an administration that is hesitant about the topic? Do you think parents should be asked if they would like their child to participate in this lesson?
This is Amalia btw ^
DeleteHi Amalia and great topic to discuss. As we head into an age where diversity matters in any grade, it all begins from the top. If the folks at the top don't believe in the concept of equal privilege, there's no point of supporting that school as a teacher. Another important topic to be discussed, especially for the parents, is the idea that there aren't any differences of race in the classroom. Everyone is all treated equally and the resources that are used in class should all relate to the cultures of the students in the classroom. If there are no resources and items that the diverse students cannot relate to their home environment, children have no means of expanding and sharing their cultural knowledge and this is what is missing in our modern education. History has it all wrong and should be taught correctly from the beginning.
DeleteDear Dan. Thank you very much for bringing up this topic that some people think is controversy. This book “Hey, Little Ant” Is proof of what many people are going through in the United States. Also, in the educational system. Why supremacy bias and assumption help to shape the life of many children everyday. As educators, we need to bring these topics to the classroom not as a way to create a hostile environment but as a concept to educate, and that will help to change some assumptions. We need to provide mindfulness lessons to young children about racism,diversity and equality, we spand children critical thinking and eliminate assumptions. Thank you very much for sharing this mindfulness and meaning that affect many students in the educational system.
ReplyDeleteHow do you implement a Lesson Plan that aligns with the standard and at the same time cover this topic?
Hello Maria and thank you very much for your insight. As I discussed this same topic with Amalia's post above, it all starts from the top. The current standards are wrong and needs to be revised so that every race is to be taught as one race where racial differences should not be a factor in life, period. At the end of the day, we all bleed red and we are all humans on this beautiful planet. There should be no reason why we should be different because of the language we speak or the differences in the color of our skin. It's all taught incorrectly from the beginning and a serious restart needs to happen because at the end of the day, no one race benefits and is the main reason why it leads to violence and crime. The United States should be the prime example of this philosophy and I hope we are the pioneers who do make this change in our educational system.
DeleteHi Dan,
ReplyDeleteIt was a great book.
There are assumptions that are pass down from previous generations. Like my assumptions of tattoos have been part of my culture for many years. The book was an eye opener of how bystanders and allies can change positions depending on the situation.
If you were to reshape an assumption, where would you start?
Do you consider an open minded person if so, how would you influence other without under powering their point of view of an assumption?