This fine film attempts to cloak fifties “happy homemaker” stereotyping in the mantle of science. It opens as Janice and Carol, two sisters, try to decide which classes they want to attend next semester. Janice remarks that she wants to take some courses in Home Ec, to which Carol is aghast. “Home Economics?” she scoffs. “Why in the world do you want to take Home Economics?” Janice is not easily dissuaded, and replies “Why? Because that’s something I’m gonna need to KNOW. If I’m gonna be a homemaker the rest of my life, I want to know what I’m doing!”
To confirm her point of view, Janice visits “Miss Jenkins,” her Home Ec teacher, who explains that Home Economics isn’t just baking and sewing; it teaches “the fundamental principals of food buying” and “the psychology of clothing.” “Present-day textiles cannot be judged with confidence just by casual examination,” Miss Jenkins cautions, as we see shots of girls peering through microscopes and stretching cloth swatches on a mechanical rack. If Janice decides not to get married (“at least, not right away” Miss Jenkins chuckles) she can apply her Home Ec training to college courses such as chemistry and bacteriology, or so this film insists.
“Home economics training teaches ways of developing democratic practices within the home,” Miss Jenkins adds, patriotically, but she doesn’t have to say any more to convince Janice. “Anyone who’s going to be married and a homemaker would be foolish NOT to take Home Economics!”
Why Study Home Economics (clip)
Includes sociological research in comments.
Published on Feb 16, 2013
When a student shows up to school out of dress code, the guidance counselor discovers that his disheveled demeanor is because he is currently homeless and does not have a place to wash his clothes.
Published on Feb 17, 2013
A diverse group of young Americans spent ten days in Israel attending seminars and meetings. Their goal was to learn more about another culture in an attempt to make them better teachers at home. Linda Gradstein reports for The Media Line.
Is taking part in school sport just a matter of keeping fit, or are there more unexpected benefits? And what of those pupils who want to make a career out of sport do they also need a good education?
Olympic champions Carl Lewis and Ian Thorpe conquered the world in their chosen sports, swimming and athletics.
The two sporting heroes advocate sport on the school curriculum and recall their days in the classroom.
*Beating the bullies through sport*
Sports lessons can tackle the problems of bullying and bad behaviour in school helping young people channel aggression and anger into healthy competition. A project in the USA is leading the way and shows why which shows why playing games matters in school matters.
*Sowing the seeds of excellence in Senegal*
Basketball is the key for a better future. That’s the belief behind the Seeds Academy, based 70km from Dakar, the capital of Senegal. It is where teenagers come to practice their favourite sport, and prepare for what might be their future career. Sacrifice, rigour and discipline are the key values at this academy.
Published on Feb 17, 2013
Palestinian schoolchildren struggle with insufficient educational facilities and textbook censorship in their East Jerusalem neighborhood, according to a new report. Some say Israel should let Palestine handle schooling in the area. Linda Gradstein reports for The Middle Line.
Published on Jan 30, 2013
Special correspondent John Tulenko looks at some charter schools that institute real world applications into lesson plans and emphasize the importance of improvement over intelligence. The schools are less interested in testing but rather making sure students have the life skills they need once they leave the classroom.
Published on Jan 31, 2013
Student engagement is a goal in schools everywhere. A teacher in the Washington suburbs has found a way to engage and motivate students– by bringing rhythm and fun to mathematics. As VOA’s June Soh reports, the approach works well especially for students who speak English as a second language. Amy Katz narrates.
Published on Feb 2, 2013
A school in Washington DC is making a difference for young African-American girls. Many of their families live below the poverty line of $35,000 for a family of four, in communities where more than half of all students drop out before they reach high school. VOA’s Chris Simkins has more on how this special school is turning around the lives of girls.
Published on Nov 29, 2012 by deutschewelleenglish
Affordable housing is becoming increasingly hard to find in Germany’s big cities. The main reason is the euro crisis; those who can afford it are buying – because property is seen as a safe investment. Big cities like Hamburg have a shortage of affordable housing. Students and trainees are hardest hit, as are low-income families. Many of those affected have no choice but to stay with their relatives, and/or are forced to commute long distances. The authorities have pledged to invest in new building projects – but finding vacant plots of land in cities isn’t always easy
Published on Oct 24, 2012 by VOAvideo
More than 7,000 girls in New York City become pregnant by the age of 17 each year. Nearly two-thirds have abortions. Now, some New York public high schools are expanding a program to provide birth control to students as young as 14 who request it. That expansion has become controversial with some parents. VOA’s Carolyn Weaver has more.
The song brings attention to the student protests in Chile, who are challenging the unfair, elitist education system put in place by Pinochet. The video features young Chileans holding signs with their name and school, some declaring, “Apoyo a los estudiantes” (“I support the students”) mixed with soundbites on the protest (with English and French subtitles). Tijoux told Remezcla Musica, “Writing this song, I was inspired by these social movements, writing from my perspective as a mother, musician and citizen. I thought it was important to pay homage to these protesters.”
The song is centered around the idea of the Shock Doctrine, a term coined by author and journalist Naomi Klein in her 2007 book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.
A “Shock Doctrine” is the employment of economist Milton Friedman’s free market economic plan during times of great turmoil and upheaval. This is what was referred to in the Fault Lines video when the Chicago Boys were sent from Chile to study economics with Friedman in the 1970s, and employ his Regean-era policies in the fresh dictatorship.
Published on Jul 10, 2012 by NDLONvideos
New Video by Ana Tijoux Defends the Rights of Immigrants in Arizona.
A collaboration with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), National Immigrant Youth Alliance and Puente Movement, Chilean MC Ana Tijoux is the latest artist to lend her support in Arizona as part of the “Alto Arizona,” a campaign focused on the visibility, respect and dignity for immigrants that have been the target of hate and criminalization not only in Arizona but around the world.
…
Hit for hit, kiss for kiss,
with wishes and nourishment
with ashes, with the fire of the present, remembering,
with certainty and ripping, with the clear objective,
with memory and with the history of the future, it’s NOW!
Everything: this trial tube,
everything: this daily laboratory,
everything: this failure, everything: this condemned economic model from dinosaur times.
Everything is criminalized, everything is justified in the news,
they get rid of everything, walk all over everything, open a file on everything and classify it.
But…your politics and your tactics,
your typical smile and ethics.
Your manipulated communiqué
How many of them were silenced?
Cops, hoses and lumas*,
cops, hoses and tunas**,
cops, hoses, DON’T ADD UP.
How many were those who stole the fortunes?
Venom: your monologues,
your colorless speeches,
you don’t see that we AREN’T alone,
millions from pole to pole!!
To the sound of a single chorus,
we will march with the tone,
with the conviction that THE THIEVING STOPS!!
Your state of control,
your corrupt throne of gold,
your politics and your wealth,
and your treasure, no.
The hour has struck, the hour has struck
We will allow NO MORE, no more your doctrine of shock
…
Published on Sep 27, 2012 by RTAmerica
The University of California at Davis has reached a financial agreement with the protesters who were pepper-sprayed during a campus protest last November. Images of a police officer discharging military-grade pepper-spray in the faces of non-violent protesters became a rallying point for the Occupy Wall Street movement and the policeman apparently is not going to be charged. RT’s Liz Wahl brings an update on the story.
The percussionists in this Sao Paulo school band can’t hear the music.
Instead, they feel the vibrations from the drums and speakers.
Their teacher, Fabio Bonvenuto, started teaching deaf and hard-of-hearing pupils in 2005.
Called “Music of Silence”, the band also has hearing members.
And Bonvenuto says that combination has produced positive changes.
[Fabio Bonvenuto, Music Teacher]
“The first thing we noticed was the change in the (deaf) students’ social skills, since they began to interact more with others. They also learn to respect boundaries.”
Bonvenuto says the hearing-impaired process sound differently, but it’s all done in the same part of the brain.
The band even performs with other schools, which improves the kids’ confidence and amazes their parents.
[Fabio Bonvenuto, Music Teacher]
“The families get involved. Many parents walk up to me and say: ‘I didn’t know my child was capable of playing music. I didn’t know she was part of such a great project’.”
“Music of Silence” will hit its highest note in 2014 when the young musicians perform at the opening ceremony of the World Cup.
