Post your extra credit discussion of the reading in the comments section of this post. To earn credit your response should be at least 275 words. Post your word count.
The “Paths to leadership: Building middle school girls’ self-esteem” article was very interesting to me because it was largely documenting and evaluating the results of different studies that were conducted about women and girls concerning both their perceptions of themselves and their leadership abilities, as well as their perception of what boundaries they could push and what types of opportunities were available to them. The results of these studies and research efforts were analyzed and then incorporated into a project that developed workshops to encourage leadership confidence and self-esteem in middle school girls. I enjoyed this article mostly because it dealt with the age group we focus on in YWLP and it made me happy to learn how others are encouraging girls at that age group to recognize their own agency and to create and build their own opportunities as self-recognized leaders.
While I found both articles intriguing, the “Empowerment Groups for Academic Success: an innovative approach to prevent high school failure for at-risk, Urban African” article was possibly the piece that engaged me the most because it was focused on a specific socioeconomic demographic. This urban culture demographic and the part it plays in affecting the lives of women and girls that function within that environment is especially important to me because I attended school in a socioeconomic black hole. After having attended a private Catholic school from kindergarten through 8th grade, it was a huge adjustment to begin attending the poorest school in the county. I was not fully aware of the implications then, but now with my hindsight I am better able to recognize the differing expectations of girls and the lack of empowerment and prevalence of negligence that often surrounds girls in that run-down urban environment. Three certainties the girls quickly learned upon first entering into this rough neighborhood: 1) Keep your eyes lowered and talk quietly to prevent unwanted attention 2) It’s a competition between you and every other girl in the vicinity; the girl with the most social clout was the least likely to be harassed 3) The majority of girls were harassed or assaulted multiple times before they graduated. There was no feeling of security or safety, and that creates an environment that is hostile toward teamwork and collaboration where the need for empowerment of girls is overshadowed by the competition amongst them to survive just a little bit easier than their peers. An endeavor such as the one described in this article would have been extremely welcome in the community I attended high school within, and while no endeavor is perfect, it is still an adequate attempt to break down the barriers girls have thrust upon them as well as those they create for themselves.
I feel like these articles were easier for me to read and fully understand. They focus on the educational aspect of girls and leadership which is right up my alley since I am an education major. Throughout this entire course I am constantly thinking of how I will conquer these issues and discourses in a classroom. Then I FREAK OUT!! The article Empowerment Groups for Academic Success was very interesting to me. I think that the group counseling sessions are a great idea. These sessions promote bonding, connections, and communication. These are key things in leadership. Strengthening these skills are so vital to adolescent girls and developing their leadership potential. As the article discussed the progression of the groups bond and realizations it made me realize that this is a very possible solution to promoting girls leadership. The family unit that they created made them feel more comfortable to develop and talk about issues they were having both in school and at home. Another reason that the article jumped out to me was the possibility that I could be working at a Title I school or a school with at risk youth. The tips and process discussed in the article are great recommendations for me once I enter into the classroom. The article Paths to leadership was also interesting. Middle school is such a rough time for all young children. Regardless who you are, everyone goes through major adjustments and changes in middle school. This age group is at a crucial stage of development where self esteem and self worth hang in the balance. This article really focused on self esteem and development of leadership. This article provides more great things to have an understanding of as a future educator.
As described in Bemak, Chung, and Siroskey-Sabdo’s article, the Empowerment Groups for Academic Success, or EGAS, model reimagines the classic group intervention therapy technique. Interventions based on the EGAS model create an environment immediately empowering of group members by placing power over the direction and content of the session in their hands, rather than those of the counselor leading the group. As a result, the sessions become a space of complete potential for self-exploration, communication, and group decision-making to guide those. Girls in the group decide which topics they wish to address, as well as how deeply this address will go, instead of simply responding to the prompts and pre-determined path of discussion set by the counselor. Additionally, any sharing of information, feedback, and/or responses to others’ discussion is primarily (because the pressure to fit into a group environment, particularly one so closed, must still be accounted for) self-motivated and self-aware in how the girls assess themselves and each other on deeper levels than they may have previously been encouraged to attempt. Girls therefore gain agency and control over not only the direction of the conversation, but also the content they contribute to it, should they choose to, making the spaces of EGAS forums doubly empowering as ones which facilitate girls’ exploration of themselves as a group to instigate positive change.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this model’s success stems from its ability to effectively disseminate and share power between all members of the group, including the counselor. Far from seeing the counselor as a knowledgeable, experienced, leading figure who acts, albeit to varying degrees of remove, in ways to guide the direction of the group, the EGAS model constructs counselors almost as reduced members of the group. Counselors are expected to enter sessions already “knowing and understanding his or her own racial and ethnic identity and worldview” so that they may offer support where sought of girls’ exploration of these topics while remaining aware in doing so of “its impact on the racial identities and cultural worldview of group members” (Bemak, Chung, and Siroskey-Sabdo 380). Counselors’ knowledge and experience, then, is framed not always as a positive asset to guiding the session, but more frequently as something that could overpower the session if counselors do not fully understand it and keep it in check. Checks of seniority and perceived adult authority are thus conceived of as integral to the success of the EGAS model: instead of something EGAS sessions strive to achieve, limited and self-restrained involvement of adult authority in favor of girl-led direction and content is assumed as necessary going in. Consequently, EGAS sessions become more then spaces where girls are encouraged to assume agency in leadership with adults. Rather, they are spaces constructed around the idea of girls functioning as the primary leaders from their very inception, empowering for girls and girls’ leadership arguably by definition, let alone by actual practice.
[Word count: 485]
Work Cited
Bemak, Fred, Rita Chi-Ying Chung, and Linda A. Sarofsky-Sabdo. “Empowerment Groups for Academic Success: An Innovative Approach to Prevent High School Failure for At-Risk, Urban African American Girls.” Professional School Counseling 8.5 June (2005): 377-89. WilsonWeb. Web. 27 Oct. 2011.
The “Paths to leadership: Building middle school girls’ self-esteem” article was very interesting to me because it was largely documenting and evaluating the results of different studies that were conducted about women and girls concerning both their perceptions of themselves and their leadership abilities, as well as their perception of what boundaries they could push and what types of opportunities were available to them. The results of these studies and research efforts were analyzed and then incorporated into a project that developed workshops to encourage leadership confidence and self-esteem in middle school girls. I enjoyed this article mostly because it dealt with the age group we focus on in YWLP and it made me happy to learn how others are encouraging girls at that age group to recognize their own agency and to create and build their own opportunities as self-recognized leaders.
ReplyDeleteWhile I found both articles intriguing, the “Empowerment Groups for Academic Success: an innovative approach to prevent high school failure for at-risk, Urban African” article was possibly the piece that engaged me the most because it was focused on a specific socioeconomic demographic. This urban culture demographic and the part it plays in affecting the lives of women and girls that function within that environment is especially important to me because I attended school in a socioeconomic black hole. After having attended a private Catholic school from kindergarten through 8th grade, it was a huge adjustment to begin attending the poorest school in the county. I was not fully aware of the implications then, but now with my hindsight I am better able to recognize the differing expectations of girls and the lack of empowerment and prevalence of negligence that often surrounds girls in that run-down urban environment. Three certainties the girls quickly learned upon first entering into this rough neighborhood: 1) Keep your eyes lowered and talk quietly to prevent unwanted attention 2) It’s a competition between you and every other girl in the vicinity; the girl with the most social clout was the least likely to be harassed 3) The majority of girls were harassed or assaulted multiple times before they graduated. There was no feeling of security or safety, and that creates an environment that is hostile toward teamwork and collaboration where the need for empowerment of girls is overshadowed by the competition amongst them to survive just a little bit easier than their peers. An endeavor such as the one described in this article would have been extremely welcome in the community I attended high school within, and while no endeavor is perfect, it is still an adequate attempt to break down the barriers girls have thrust upon them as well as those they create for themselves.
Word Count: 453
I feel like these articles were easier for me to read and fully understand. They focus on the educational aspect of girls and leadership which is right up my alley since I am an education major. Throughout this entire course I am constantly thinking of how I will conquer these issues and discourses in a classroom. Then I FREAK OUT!!
ReplyDeleteThe article Empowerment Groups for Academic Success was very interesting to me. I think that the group counseling sessions are a great idea. These sessions promote bonding, connections, and communication. These are key things in leadership. Strengthening these skills are so vital to adolescent girls and developing their leadership potential. As the article discussed the progression of the groups bond and realizations it made me realize that this is a very possible solution to promoting girls leadership. The family unit that they created made them feel more comfortable to develop and talk about issues they were having both in school and at home. Another reason that the article jumped out to me was the possibility that I could be working at a Title I school or a school with at risk youth. The tips and process discussed in the article are great recommendations for me once I enter into the classroom.
The article Paths to leadership was also interesting. Middle school is such a rough time for all young children. Regardless who you are, everyone goes through major adjustments and changes in middle school. This age group is at a crucial stage of development where self esteem and self worth hang in the balance. This article really focused on self esteem and development of leadership. This article provides more great things to have an understanding of as a future educator.
sorry my word count is 290
ReplyDeleteAs described in Bemak, Chung, and Siroskey-Sabdo’s article, the Empowerment Groups for Academic Success, or EGAS, model reimagines the classic group intervention therapy technique. Interventions based on the EGAS model create an environment immediately empowering of group members by placing power over the direction and content of the session in their hands, rather than those of the counselor leading the group. As a result, the sessions become a space of complete potential for self-exploration, communication, and group decision-making to guide those. Girls in the group decide which topics they wish to address, as well as how deeply this address will go, instead of simply responding to the prompts and pre-determined path of discussion set by the counselor. Additionally, any sharing of information, feedback, and/or responses to others’ discussion is primarily (because the pressure to fit into a group environment, particularly one so closed, must still be accounted for) self-motivated and self-aware in how the girls assess themselves and each other on deeper levels than they may have previously been encouraged to attempt. Girls therefore gain agency and control over not only the direction of the conversation, but also the content they contribute to it, should they choose to, making the spaces of EGAS forums doubly empowering as ones which facilitate girls’ exploration of themselves as a group to instigate positive change.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the most interesting aspect of this model’s success stems from its ability to effectively disseminate and share power between all members of the group, including the counselor. Far from seeing the counselor as a knowledgeable, experienced, leading figure who acts, albeit to varying degrees of remove, in ways to guide the direction of the group, the EGAS model constructs counselors almost as reduced members of the group. Counselors are expected to enter sessions already “knowing and understanding his or her own racial and ethnic identity and worldview” so that they may offer support where sought of girls’ exploration of these topics while remaining aware in doing so of “its impact on the racial identities and cultural worldview of group members” (Bemak, Chung, and Siroskey-Sabdo 380). Counselors’ knowledge and experience, then, is framed not always as a positive asset to guiding the session, but more frequently as something that could overpower the session if counselors do not fully understand it and keep it in check. Checks of seniority and perceived adult authority are thus conceived of as integral to the success of the EGAS model: instead of something EGAS sessions strive to achieve, limited and self-restrained involvement of adult authority in favor of girl-led direction and content is assumed as necessary going in. Consequently, EGAS sessions become more then spaces where girls are encouraged to assume agency in leadership with adults. Rather, they are spaces constructed around the idea of girls functioning as the primary leaders from their very inception, empowering for girls and girls’ leadership arguably by definition, let alone by actual practice.
[Word count: 485]
Work Cited
Bemak, Fred, Rita Chi-Ying Chung, and Linda A. Sarofsky-Sabdo. “Empowerment Groups for Academic Success: An Innovative Approach to Prevent High School Failure for At-Risk, Urban African American Girls.” Professional School Counseling 8.5 June (2005): 377-89. WilsonWeb. Web. 27 Oct. 2011.