Out in the Open , a CBC interview with Piya Chattopadhyay

February 24, 2018.

FIGHTING HATE WITH FRIENDSHIP--ONE EXALTED CYCLOPS AT A TIME.

The interview was with Darryl Davis, a black musician/pianist in the style of Jerry Lee Lewis. How he came to meet with and become friends with members of the Ku Klux Klan is the subject of the discussion.

The interview is well constructed with Darryl playing his music and Piya giving pertinent background information at the interview's start.  She then begins with a straightforward question.  "How did you happen to meet with the KKK?"  Davis is not a reluctant speaker and Piya lets him tell his story.  She makes a comment about the situation Davis found himself in regarding talking to a KKKer and then asks, "OK, so what happened next?"  Again Davis is given full rein to elaborate fully.

Then more of Davis' music and more information.  She returns to her easy conversational tone of questioning--examples--"All of this happened decades ago?  How do the conversations go?  What is your opening comment with the KKK member?  How does that go deeper into a conversation or dialogue?  How do you cut through hate that is embedded intergenerationally?" Davis discusses the issue thoroughly and ends with the quote,"  You cannot hate the hate out of a person.  You cannot beat the hate out of a person.  But you can love it out of a person."

More music, more information and then an interview with Scott Shepherd, a former KKK Grand Dragon for the state of Tennessee.  She asks, "Why did you seek out Darryl?"  He says, " Darryl talked to me...I really didn't expect him to...Darryl is black and he is showing me love and respect and hi is one of the races that I really condemned, that I really hated."

Piya's final question to Shepherd was, "What did you do with your KKK robe?"  "I gave it to Darryl."  "Really?"  "It's hanging in my house."  The interview ends with laughter.

Piya's interview style sometimes used her questions as a lead into a particular event; other times her tone was conversational and more informal.  She focussed some of the interview time on background and demographic information. The flow if the interview with the music and information along with the interview itself provided the listener with a remarkable idea of who Darryl Davis is and how he is doing his best to counteract racism one dialogue at a time.

Observations on February 1, 2018.

I started my observations at 9:15 am at the Trout Lake Community Centre's Carousel coffee bar located near the skating rink.  I was enjoying my warm cheese and chive scone spread with butter and a small latte in my shiny indigo blue thermal coffee mug.  The smell of the scone and coffee were tantalizing and when I tasted them I was not disappointed with either of them.

I made 5 different observations of strangers during my 15 minute time.

• Mother and child at the coffee stand--both with blond hair; mother in beige sweater and brown vest with a multi-coloured scarf wrapped around her neck and khaki cargo pants.  Child had earrings, diamond-like and a blueish kind of outfit. 
• Mother and child at the coffee stand--both with matching black touques--seemed to know the coffee guy because they carried on an animated conversation while he was getting her coffee, much laughter and many smiles on the woman's face. They went to a table nearby, the daughter about 2 climbed up on the chair by herself and sat facing the back and seeming to pretend it was some kind of transit vehicle while she made transit inspired sounds.  Mother was talking on her phone.  She seemed to pay little attention to her child while she talked, ate her snack and drank her coffee.  Her daughter ate her snack when she wanted to with no direction from her mother.
• A grey-haired woman seemed to be wandering without purpose back and forth along the hallway.  She had no expression on her face that I could see.  She was wearing jeans, a white and grey pullover sweater and white runners.  I saw her walk back and forth perhaps 6 times--maybe she was getting her morning exercise...it was raining heavily outside.
• A woman of Chinese ancestry who had black hair, wearing black pant,wearing a purple hoodie and carrying a purple sequined purse went into the washroom nearby.  When she came out I noticed her shoes.  They were yellow and blue runner--quite a contrast to her other apparel.
• A pile of kids--heard them before I saw them--coming to skate--perhaps twenty-five or so.  I couldn't count them.  They were moving around too much for that.  By the tone of their voices they were supremely excited about going skating.  By that time I had finished my latte and it was time to go to my writing class just down the hall..

Observations of my writing class colleagues.  

I was in the classroom prior to  the rest of the class entering so that I could focus my attention on a couple of my classmates as they came into class.

• Jackie is new to the group this session--today she is wearing a bright blue knitted sweater, a beautifully arranged blue and grey chiffony-type scarf around her neck and dark trousers.  She has blond curly hair, wears brown-rimmed glasses and she blinks a lot.  Her make-up is subtle but apparent.
• Ruth is her usual gorgeously attired person.  She was a fashion buyer for a large department store before her retirement but she is still a fashion plate.  This morning she is wearing a black long-sleeved turtleneck sweater, black trousers and a maroon knitted tunic with black, white and maroon shawl she is wearing draped over her shoulders.  She has shiny maroon waterproof boots to complete her wardrobe.  Her make-up is immaculately applied and her nails are the same colour as her tunic.
• The rest of the group come in and I make generalized observations about us all.  Only Ruth has coloured nails.  Many have no rings on their finger; some have a lot on nearly all their fingers.There are 4 with discernable make-up; the rest are bare-faced.  There are 16 of us; 15 women, 1 man.  We are all over 55--that is a requirement of the program and some of us have been in the group for many sessions.  We meet for 2 hours each Thursday and although we are all very different in appearance, age and interests, we all love to write.

Observations about myself

• I am a fairly observant person.  I am interested in what is going on around me be it people, new situations or my surroundings.
• Today I noticed more closely those people who I may see each week at Tout Lake Community Centre.
• I generally focus of people's faces--their smiles, frowns, eyes, and on their hands and nails and  their hair--shaggy, curly, straight, coloured, thinning or bald.  
• Today I  was more aware of what people were wearing because I couldn't be up close enough to see their faces too well.
• It was an interesting exercise...I felt a little like a spy!

focus my attention ona couple of my classmates.I

Observations from January 29, 2018.
#1.

•   some kind of box--beige with a handle
•   feather
•   2 math games-- twirly-orange and yellow; red, white, black
•   tea cup and saucer
•   some kind of board game; begins with the letter "S"
•   a book--man on cover; can't remember title
•   a red (some gold) rectangular box; silky looking; longer than    tall or wide; maybe a foot long; Asian in appearance
•   a multi-coloured twirly thing--I think it might make a sound     if it was moved around

#2.

• a grey crocodile or alligator
• red/blue/beige object; don't know how many sides'looks like it might be another math game
• funny little people, red, blue, yellow, green-male painted with high gloss paint
• beige box is an accordion with silver-coloured buttons

#3.

• red, white and black math game is placed on a white plastic stand 
• rectangular box --has a piece of writing on it; maybe Chinese; red and gold flowers
• an open ball with hexagons?joining up with blue, green and black single strand thread-like cords 
• small figures have faces on them
• tetrahedrons--small, white, glistening 
• little people had faces on them 

The 3 exercises in observation provided me with an opportunity to refocus my attention on objects depending on where I was situated in the room.  No matter how hard I tried though, I could neither remember all the items nor give all the details about them.  Perhaps we focus on those things which are most common to us?

• little people had faces on them

Qualitative Studies in Special Education, Vol. 1, No. 2,pp.195-207, 2005, Council for Exceptional Children.

The five authors of this study, all professors at various universities in the United States, collaborated to provide insight into the important contribution qualitative studies have made in the field of special education.  They summarize how three studies have provided significant information that can be used to inform policy and practice in special education.

The first study concerns a family from the Dominican Republic with an adolescent with Down Syndrome.  The parents and siblings showed great support for the boy and the authors contend that this kind of support can be translated into providing a valuable model for teachers and peers.

The second study gave detailed information about how two individual teachers whose style were quite different from each other had their students responding well to their different teaching methods.  The authors concluded that there were nine effective practices observed in the classrooms that readers could not only understand but also could incorporate into their own teaching practices.

The third qualitative study was the instructional practices of a twenty-seven-year veteran first-grade teacher who provided a climate of learning where "children engaged productively in reading, writing and problem-solving".


These examples the authors believe "that qualitative research is a systematic approach to understanding qualities, or the essential nature, of a phenomenon withing a particular context" and it encompasses various kinds of study.  Figure 1 of the paper outlines the sixteen different types of qualitative research and their descriptions the authors have listed.  They say that in order to do qualitative work well "we must have experience related to our research focus, be well read, knowledgeable, analytical, reflective and introspective".


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In their research into early and current research in the field the author found that "qualitative studies lead to an understanding of individuals with disabilities, their families and those who work with them".  Personal narratives and life histories are often produced by people with disabilities and can give voice to those who have been historically silenced or marginalized.

Figure 2 contains  twelve specific credibility measures for providing  authentic results in qualitative research.  Figur 3 presents quality indicators within qualitative research. 

The authors conclude, "We believe our our own qualitative studies as well as those of our special education colleagues should be validated as providing necessary evidence for practice and development".

As I read the paper I was struck by the feeling that the authors were pushing for validation of the qualitative research model especially in special education learning.  Such learning embraces a wide field and other areas of research may not produce as empathetic results as those that the authors have sited.  One might discern from some of the evidence that good teaching practice is at the heart of all learning, regardless of disabilities, bilingual education or first-grade literacy instruction.  Perhaps the personality and passion, as well as outstanding teaching practice of  teachers in specific areas, are some of the contributing factors in this qualitative research paper.  Do these capabilities matter more or less than the instructional methods used?  How much does it matter?







listed here.