Anthropology and Education

Hello everyone! Althought I did not go to class, at home I do the activity for yesterday.

Today I try to write about a subject that interested me, which is education, linking with it the discipline that I study: Anthropology. I say it will be an attempt because you do not quite understand how I can relate the two disciplines or anthropology with this aspect of society.

I think all of us students realize the educational crisis of our country, where mainly criticizes the "quality" of the education system, whether formal or university system. I think this question of quality is based on inequality between the students universe, if the content and activities that take place in school and collage are appropriate for the goals of education... final: why educate? What good is education? What tools is giving us? Clearly, it is believed that education as articulated today is not providing sufficient tools to their students; there is a reproduction of patterns instead of a formation or creation of individuals.

From what I have learned and reflected, I think that anthropology can help in this issue by providing information about the relation of the content according to cultural groups, namely, really serves an educational system as homogeneous, being that our society is composed of different cultures or lifestyles? In addition, Anthropology can help validate the speeches and point of view of the beneficiaries of education, because I believe that until you heard or consider what they think, not is able to make significant changes in the educational system.

In this way, Anthropology can bring about changes in the country if it proposed it in and out if his circle of scholars.

My favourite photograph

In the image is my shadow along the shadow of my boyfriend. In this moment, we were in the square of Molina, in the VII Region of our country.

The photograph is special for me because it was taken in the first trip that we made by ourselves. The image is beautiful, too: the day was cloudy, even had rained all morning, and come out the sun. And we use to take the picture.

This have an important significant for we, because represent that if we stay together will always be good, there is always light in our lives. This has importance because this moment I got a bad new: breast cancer of my mom breached into the lungs.

The trip we made the last winter holidays and we went to the home of an aunt of my boyfriend that live in Molina. We went for just a weekend, but the experience was beautiful and comforting.

Now, I will present to my boyfriend: he is Fernando and he has 19 years old. He studies Pedagogy in Music in the UMCE. We bring together 3 years. We begin when we were in the school, and now are together in the university. He is very important in my live, because rather being my boyfriend, he has been my friend and he has supported me in many difficult times, especially with the moments that are relation with the disease of my mother. Furthermore, he is an excellent company: he is happy, funny, spontaneous, relax and playful. I think that he is a complement for me.

So, the photograph represents a moment special for me and for he. In it we see our union and that despite the storm, can sunrise.

Education, Infancy and Anthropology

Today I will write about some topics that I am interested, these are: education, infancy and anthropology. I think that Education is very important in the present context because its influence on children is increasing, owing to the fact that they spend more time in school, like this the formal education can become a tool for transformation of damaging conducts.

This year, I had the opportunity of attend to Imaginario Infantil subject. This subject will deal with conceptions of childhood, the infancy in education and the infancy as subject. These topics are based in the philosophy of infancy. Matthew Lipman, an American philosopher, was promoted of the union between philosophy, education and infancy. This new relationship is aimed to “learn to think”, owing to the children and youth development their thought.

Considering this new perspective I thought about the contributions that the anthropology can offer and I think that the anthropology can play an important role in to validate the vision of children and in the understanding of this and of their reality. That is why I would like to work in Educational Anthropology and Anthropology of the Infancy.

Hernán Rivera Letelier

Hernán Rivera Letelier is any of my favourites writer and he is Chilean! I like his books because this shows the live in the saltpeter mining town. As well, I love the histories that he written, these are very entertainment and funny. The characters, that Hernán Rivera revive, are modest, poor and transmit the problems of that period of the Chilean History. For example, in the “Mi nombre es Malarrosa” tell the live of a girl who became a prostitute or in the “El Fantasista” tell the history of the closedown of the saltpeter mining town Maria Elena.
Hernán Rivera Letelier born in Talca in 1950, although he brought up and he lived until 11 years in Algorta, a saltpeter mining town of the north of Chile. When his mother died and the closed down the saltpeter mining town, his family moved to Antofagasta, where he worked selling newspaper and as a messenger of mining company. During lifetime he linked with to northern of Chile and the saltpeter mining town, even today he live in Antofagasta. Hernán Rivera Letelier has written 14 books: the first is “Poemas y pomadas” of the 1988 and the last one is “El arte de la resurrección”, published this year. Of the 14 books, I have read 10: “La reina Isabel cantaba rancheras”, “Himno del ángel parado en una pata”, “Fatamorgana de amor con banda de música”, “Los trenes se van al purgatorio”, “Santa María de las flores negras”, “Canción para caminar sobre las aguas”, “Romance del duende que me escribe las novelas”, “El fantasista”, “Mi nombre es Malarrosa” and “La contadora de películas”.
He have receive some prizes, as “Caballero de la orden de letras” in France in the year 2001 and, this year he received the Alfaguara prize of Novel for his last one book.

My favourite piece of technology: my mp3

Mp3 is a digital audio player. It is very small to carry it everywhere. My mp3 has 1GB capacity, so I can store around 400 songs. In addition to my mp3 I can listen to the radio. It is important: to listen to music must be mp3 and headphones.

I always go out with my mp3, is my best company, especially on long trips by bus and metro in Santiago, because I live in Puente Alto and everything I have away. I use my mp3 in secret; because I always use it on the street or on public transport and I can steal. I use my mp3 mostly when I travel, but sometimes instead of listening to music for study or do both. Also I use it in my house, when they are noise and I can not concentrate.

I love my mp3 because I like the music. So my life without mp3 is a life without music, so sad. I like music because this can teach things with its letters and the music through its melodies can transmit different emotions and it can transport different places. From my vision, to travel with music is to put “background music” to my life and this is important because sometimes my feelings are transmitting for the music. And the best thing is that I choose the soundtrack!

PD: I put a photo of my mp3, is the same!

I love Chilean music

I love Chilean music, I think that this king of music have much content and to represent the “be Chilean”.
The styles that I like are rock, funk and folklore. I love dance cueca and I like the letters of the songs. The dance consist in the conquest of the men toward the woman, therefore the woman is directed by dance, contrary to dance salsa or merengue. There are different types of the cueca like Argentinean, Peruvian and Bolivian. But there are diverse kings inside of the Chilean territory, too, for example there are the northern cueca, “cueca porteña”, “cueca chora”, “cueca brava”, “cueca chilota” and “cueca campesina”. I like all because each transmit particular histories of the persons that to compose. These songs transmit the culture of a part of the Chilean people.
I am a fan of Chilean rock groups, principally of Chancho en Piedra, Weichafe and Fother Muckers. In the case of Weichafe is a group of heavy rock that is separated; there to separated in the 2009, where have ten years. The others groups still are together.
Anyway, I like singer-songwriter such as Manuel García, Camila Moreno, Chinoy and Victor Jara. Victor Jara has a history very special because he was victim of the military period of our country and he gave his life for his dream.
From the above is clear because I have trouble English. I listen only Chilean music because is the music that more represent me.

The excepcional Marvin Harris

Marvin Harris was an American anthropology. He born on August 18, 1927 and he died on October 25, 2001. He studied in the Columbia University. He worked in the same university and, later, in the University of the Florida. His fieldwork more important is in Mozambique in the 1957.
Marvin Harris is recognized because he was an exponent of the cultural materialism. In your works, he used elements of Marxist theory, for example: superstructure, modes of production and exploitation. As well, he worked with demographic studies conducted Malthus. In this way, he developed a new perspective to see sociocultural evolution, said what the social reality consist of three levels: infrastructure (demographic and productive factors), structure (the set of institutions) and suprastructure (ideologies that explain the reality). These three levels are connected.
I like Marvin Harris because is an anthropology that write very clear; their works has a simple language. I read a part of his book Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches: The Riddles of Culture and I really like because it found explanations for social phenomena were very consistent, for example the cows in the Indian are sacred because has a lot roles as animal, for example poop is used as fertilized.