Alpha Girls emphasizes the influence that society and culture has on the psyche of the female, and especially how she sets her expectations for herself. As our culture, and in particular our classroom culture, shifts toward eliminating discrimination for girls (81), girls have begun to set higher expectations of themselves in all areas. However, I wonder about the culture that exists in the communities that we work in daily. For the most part, Kindlon’s research was limited in that it did not address inner city schools in public non-charter schools. How do you think that the culture in these communities in particular could effect the expectations of our girls? What do you see in the culture of your school that either encourages or discourages the ambitious qualities of the alpha girl?
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
What about the Baltimore community?
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Kyla,
ReplyDeleteThis is a question that deserves exploration. It made me think of an experience I had recently with my 7th grade girls "crew," a 30 minute morning meeting designed to work on character building, self-confidence, relationship building, and interpersonal/intrapersonal skills. Somehow, we got around to the topic of pregnancy. I asked the girls, "at what age do you think it's appropriate to have children?" Most of the 11 girls in my group discussed how their own mothers had them when they were very young--15, 16, 17--and cited this age as a "normal" time to have children. Not a single girl discussed how early pregnancy can interfere with college and/or career ambitions. I was struck by this conversation--it really gave me an insight into my girls, their experiences, their role models, and how all of these factors shape them. Teenage pregnancy alone--a seemingly small thing--is a big piece of the culture of poverty and really does discourage the ambitious qualities of the alpha girl Kindlon discusses.
The alpha girl is certainly defined by ambitious qualities that eventually lead to success and a "fulfilled" life. While it is also ambitious to believe that schools alone can foster a desire and yearning to set high goals and expectations, the reality is that our students leave school and head out into a very real and often harsh community at the end of the school day. Our students, therefore, are shaped greatly by the communities in which they live. As Lydia poignantly pointed out, children look at what they hear and see to determine what is OK and what isn't. In the case of pregnancy, even an alpha girl might believe that giving birth at a young age is fine and perhaps even beneficial.
ReplyDeleteAt my school, female students are exposed to an administration of well-educated women. The principal, the assistant principal and the instructional support staff are all women. The female students can certainly look up to these ambitious women and see themselves. By the same token, however, many of my 5th grade female students pigeonhole themselves into thinking that they can only aspire to be teachers or secretaries because that is what they see around them. The concept of aspiring to be a lawyer, accountant or doctor is much more difficult for them to understand. I truly think that the culture my female students see might act as an accidental hindrance toward their very ambitious goals, thus preventing alpha girls from seeking - and attaining - their highest potential.
Katie Packer
I teach first grade, and I still have six-year-old Alpha Girls strutting around my room. They're intelligent, active, and incredibly motivated. And yet their female motivators don't meet our vision of what the ultimate modern female should look like. Of course, our ideals also fall within a cultural lens--a lens which, I feel, is unfair to impose upon our girls and their communities. Let me explain.
ReplyDeleteOne of my six-year-old Alpha's, Mariah, comes to mind. Mariah is near the top of her class, she participates in several after-school activities (including Advanced Gymnastics, being the youngest in the program), and she's driven to do well by a female role model of her own: her mom. Now, Mariah's mom is not a doctor, or a lawyer, or an accountant, or a college graduate. She does not fit the qualifications we, as a group, seem to ascribe to successful women. But.
She has raised Mariah and her four brothers singlehandedly, while working as a cleaning lady, and taking evening classes to pursue a different career. She had Mariah in her teens, yet she did not see this as a barrier to happiness and success (as we seem to assume she should). Nor does Mariah see her mom's circumstances, and envision her own possibilities limited by these surroundings. Mariah wants to go to college and graduate school, but she is equally motivated to be a good mother one day (however young). Rather than feel the "sting" of her mother's "poor life choices," Mariah is inspired by the hard work her mother has invested on her behalf.
And Mariah isn't alone. I can think of at least six other girls in my class--all whip-smart, hardworking, and vision-driven--with similar stories. The same stories we can tell about women trapped by poverty and pregnancy can be told as stories of resilience and inspiration.
So, I think it's unfair to assume that being surrounded by young mothers and tough circumstances necessarily limits our students' life goals. And I think it's equally problematic for us to rate the woman who graduates on time, goes to college, and has children in her late twenties to be somehow superior to the woman who ends up on a different path. I'm not pointing fingers at any of the ladies on this blog--rather, I think our organization and our professional culture is rife with assumptions like these. We've somehow encrypted a hierarchy that places professional, degreed young ladies in JCrew blazers at the top--we've seated ourselves at the head of our own tables.
Chloe
Chloe, I agree with you that it is wrong to rate any person (man or woman) as "superior" to another based on where he or she ends up in life. I feel like any culturally responsive teacher, and for that matter, any honest person, would afford the resilient families we see every day the same respect and admiration that we would to any Fortune 500 CEO. However, I feel like giving the same respect to our students' parents doesn't change the fact that the concentration of poverty and the normalcy of things like teen pregnancy exist in our schools' populations. Having a strong woman as a parent or role model like the mothers you write about is fantastic for your student. But, I don't believe anyone can argue that in the society that we live in, "normal" things in our students' communities like teen pregnancy make the kind of success an alpha girl strives for far more difficult and unlikely. Parents like the ones you write about have overcome so much in their lives and should rightly be admired and respected. But, I feel like it still doesn't change what is perceived as "normal" in these communities, and I feel that this type of normal does limit the expectations. If these limited expectations are bought into and not raised, I feel like they would certainly limit the possibilities.
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