Sexual and Gender Diverse Adolescents and the Failures of Traditional Education in Public Education: Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

I am considering using the sources listed below to write a research paper on whether abstinence-only sexual education as taught in public schools is as effective as comprehensive sexual education programs in reducing negative effects from sexual activity in students which are defined as increases in teen pregnancy rates and sexually transmitted diseases. I am not fully confident of my topic yet and I might need to narrow the focus of my thesis.

1. Blount, J. M. (2016). Controlling Sex: Modern Histories of Sex Education. Reviews in American History, 44(4), 611-620.

This article discusses the recent publication of both scientific and historical studies that have been published on the history of sexuality. This article was published by Johns Hopkins University Press. The authors recognize that writings in sexual education history are lacking due to a few challenges -good scholarship requires understanding young people as sexual beings and acknowledging the sexuality of adults who work with them- but suggests that these challenges can be overcome if they are understood and correlated into collected data. Some themes recognized by the authors in sexual education historical scholarship are the political controversy over sexual education, the segregation of students by gender and race in teaching situations, tendencies to normalize and perpetuate specific gender and sexuality norms, and racial stereotypes. This article reviews both published articles and books in which the history of sexuality has been researched and presented and suggests either faults or successes of each. This article really won’t be of much help for use in a short cited paper as almost all materials reviewed are books which require a great deal of time to read, utilize, and cite appropriately. I did enjoy reading the article and perusing its recommendations; if the time frame for paper preparation and development was longer, the sources cited in the article would be quite helpful. This was the article that I enjoyed the most out of all the ones read.

2. Denny, G., & Young, M. (2006). An Evaluation of an Abstinence‐Only Sex Education Curriculum: An 18‐Month Follow‐up. Journal of School Health, 76(8), 414-422.

This article discusses research into how successful abstinence-only sexual education programs are in achieving their stated goals: that students will abstain from all sexual contact and activity except within the context of marriage. Research data was collected as part of an 18 month follow-up evaluation with both students and teachers recruited from fifteen school districts; curriculum was taught to participating upper elementary, middle school and high school students. The research suggests that for some students, this form of sexual education led to less sexual activity and more positive knowledge and greater intent to remain abstinent was achieved long term. Research conducted included attempts to create controlled conditions for teaching and organizing data, both pretests and post test for participants. Sample size was quite large and the questionnaires (tests) given to students were extensive; however, the study is fairly limited due to the inability to randomly choose research participants, concerns about validity of self reported data, and a sizable group of students that did not participate in the follow up research. This article is consistent to the results reported in #3 and may be based on the same data set. However, as some of the data listed appears to be contradicted by other sources, I think this article needs to be carefully assessed to see if it is biased or if the data isn’t being presented appropriately. I think this could be an great secondary source if the article can be validated as the information provided does give specific data supporting positive results for abstinence-only education.

3. Denny, G., Young, M., Rausch, S., & Spear, C. (2002). An evaluation of an abstinence education curriculum series: Sex Can Wait. American Journal Of Health Behavior, 26(5), 366-377.

This article presents findings from a study of the effects of a particular abstinence program titled “Sex Can Wait.” The series was taught to students in upper elementary, junior high, and high school levels with the goals of the program being to delay sexual initiation, develop life skills and self esteem in participants, and produce positive changes both in attitude towards abstinence and recent sexual behavior. To obtain the results described, participants for the study were recruited from fifteen school districts, divided by grade level into two separate groups. One group was taught the “Sex Can Wait” protocols and the second group was taught the “current practice” protocol. Teachers also received training in the “Sex Can Wait” curriculum which follows the guidelines set up in Title V. The data collected suggests that teachers are satisfied with the training provided to them, followed the curriculum as presented, and that positive impact outcomes for students in some grade levels was achieved. The authors also state that the research shows that for some grade levels new knowledge was not retained after the program completion, suggesting some failure either in the teaching or curriculum itself. However, final findings describe some positive outcomes for elementary and high school students that were taught the “Sex Can Wait” protocol including abstinent behavior and transitional sexual behavior (from virgin to non-virgin status.) However, based on questions acknowledged during the study, sexual behavior was defined as vaginal virginity and heterosexual penile penetration, suggesting that all other forms of sexual intimacy were neither acknowledged or studied. This suggested to me that the data may be missing many aspects of teen sexual behavior, skewing the results. This research was funded by the Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Programs which is a program through the office of the US Department of Health and Human Services. This research appears to be the same project and data presented in the article listed as #2 in this bibliography with more authors listed in this specific publication of the results. More data limitations were cited in this article than in #2 as well, suggesting better recognition of research limitations. I think that it would be a good source to use to show some positive outcomes from abstinence-only education as the majority of the articles I found support comprehensive sex education.

4. Hess, A. (2010). Hold the sex, please: the discursive politics between national and local abstinence education providers. Sex Education, 10(3), 251-266. doi:10.1080/14681811.2010.491632

This article discusses research into how abstinence-only sexual education is understood by both national organizations and by the local education providers. Using in-depth interviews with 21 grantees in New York State and participant observations from two federally supported abstinence only education conferences, this article compares and contrasts the beliefs and practicalities of the national movements that frame abstinence as both scientifically and morally legitimate and local providers who interpret their work through the lens of community norms. Some of the topics covered include how abstinence education frames student’s views on safe sex, marriage, homosexuality, decision making, good health, and foundational skills for building healthy partner relationships. It concludes with recognizing that while the federal guidelines on abstinence education discourage atypical interpretations, local education providers continue to liberally interpret the guidelines to develop strategies promoting positive student growth and sexual decisions. This source should be useful as it describes some of the different ways that abstinence education is viewed and taught, which is important when determining the effectiveness of the teaching criteria. This article has challenged my preconceived views on abstinence-only teaching protocols – I had assumed abstinence-only education meant just that- to encompass the reality of teaching a combination of both comprehensive and abstinence sexual education.

5. Jeffries, W. L., Dodge, B., Bandiera, F. C., & Reece, M. (2010). Beyond abstinence-only: relationships between abstinence education and comprehensive topic instruction. Sex Education, 10(2), 171-185. doi:10.1080/14681811003666317

This article discussed whether abstinence-only education methods are used as an end point or as part of a sexual education program that covers contraception, gender and sexual identity, etc. Using a small sample survey group of Florida teachers who were teaching subjects that made them likely to be the teachers of sexual education, this survey tried to determine the relationship between the two ways of teaching sexual education: comprehensive and abstinence-only. This study suggest that sexual education teachers who teach abstinence-only sexual education also teach topics classified that are usually part of comprehensive sexual education. However, as this study is modest due to small sample size, geographical location, political pressure on teaching and funding, and possible selection bias, it is important to recognize the limitations in the research study itself. As this study does have some limitations, it isn’t a great primary source for a research paper. However, the small sample size they used in this research is similar to some of the other papers I viewed, so this paper could be used to support their conclusions.

6. Kohler, P. K., Manhart, L. E., & Lafferty, W. E. (2008). Abstinence-only and comprehensive sex education and the initiation of sexual activity and teen pregnancy. Journal of Adolescent Health, 42(4), 344-351.

This article uses research comparing the sexual health risks of individuals aged 15-19 years due to either abstinence-only sexual education or comprehensive sexual education protocols. Results on students who received no sexual education were collected as well and suggest that students who received a comprehensive sexual education were less likely to report teen pregnancy than those individuals who reported no sexual education at all or abstinence-only programming. Also, abstinence-only programs didn’t reduce the likelihood of engaging in vaginal intercourse. However, individuals who participated in either comprehensive sexual education or abstinence-only sexual education did not report reduced rates of sexual transmitted diseases. Another conclusion was that teaching about contraception was not associated with teenage sexual activity. This article presented statistics that show sexual behavior among teens happens at similar rates in all developed nations, however negative consequences such as teen pregnancy and STDs happen at a higher rate in the United States. The authors also acknowledge that all forms of education supported by federal funding under current law must include abstinence-only messaging. Data was collected through a nationwide survey sponsored by the National Center of Health Statistics, was based on probability samples, and was restricted to 1719 never-married heterosexual teens aged 15-19, and reported sexual education and behavior. One point of interest is that the authors acknowledge that they only used subjects that reported hetero-normative urges and behavior, which acknowledged that a large fraction of the population was left out of the study. While reading several of the other papers, I had to really hunt in the data to determine that particular sexualities and sexual practices were omitted. I found it very useful to have that information acknowledged at the outset.

7. Kirby, D., Short, L., Collins, J., Rugg, D., Kolbe, L., Howard, M., … Zabin, L. S. (1994). School-based programs to reduce sexual risk behaviors: a review of effectiveness. Public Health Reports, 109(3), 339–360.

This article reviews 23 studies of school-based programs that cataloged adolescent sexual behavior, documented negative consequences to adolescents who participate in sexual activity, and assessed ways to reduce risky sexual behavior by this population. It was determined that not all sexual and AIDS educational programs had significant effects on young adult sexual behavior, but specific programs did delay the initiation of intercourse, reduced the frequency of intercourse, reduced the number of sexual partners, and increase the use of contraception. The results include the fact that there is not sufficient evidence to show that either abstinence-only sexual education or comprehensive sexual education delay intercourse or affect other sexual behaviors. How the authors determined which studies were selected for review was carefully described and all studies selected were heavily cited with appropriate documentation of research methodology. This article is laid out in an easy to read format and includes many cited studies that I can use.

8. Rubenstein, R. (2017). Sex Education: Funding Facts, Not Fear. Health Matrix: Journal Of Law-Medicine, 27525-554.

This article uses research from many other sources to develop its thesis that sexual education in America is inconsistent both in content and application and also in its effectiveness in producing positive outcomes. It discusses how the way abstinence-only sexual education and comprehensive sexual education are compared to each other is fundamentally flawed. In short, the author states that no study can be correct in choosing which form of education is more effective when the two forms of sexual education compared do not share common goals. Comprehensive sexual education is taught to try to reduce negative impacts of sexual activity on participants and that abstinence-only programs are taught to reduce all sexual activity. Drawing on statistics and research data from many organizations, this article addresses the failures of abstinence-only education due to the teaching of medically inaccurate information, the presentation of heterosexual and gender norms as scientific fact, and the use of negative analogies (chewed gum, licked cupcakes, dirty toothbrushes, spit in cups, etc.) It suggests as a model the “California Healthy Youth Act,” which has provisions requiring scientifically and medically accurate teachings, material appropriate and inclusive of diverse learners, appropriate safety and effectiveness statistics for contraception, and passive consent procedures that require all students to be taught the required information unless the parent objects. The article compares and contrasts different ways of teaching both abstinence only educational models and comprehensive sexual education that emphasizes the failures of both types of programs when information is inaccurate or not included. The authors’ recommendations include cutting all federal funding for abstinence programs and moving funding towards programs that provide comprehensive sexual education with the provisions includes in the “CHYA” mentioned previously. This source does have a very specific slant and, while the information appears reliable from the sources cited, recognizing a potential bias is important. This source is pretty helpful because it does have a lot of carefully bulleted information with clear cited research, making the data mentioned in the paper easier to analyze and use.

9. Santelli, J., Ott, M. A., Lyon, M., Rogers, J., Summers, D., & Schleifer, R. (2006). Abstinence and abstinence-only education: a review of US policies and programs. Journal of Adolescent Health, 38(1), 72-81.

This article tries to recognize the broad support for adolescent education in this country while acknowledging the controversial ways that education is determined and taught. The authors determine that abstinence is a necessary and appropriate topic in comprehensive sexual education protocols, but recognize that abstinence only education has not been shown to be effective in producing lower rates of teenage pregnancies or sexually transmitted diseases. The authors of this article find, after reviewing several studies on both types of education, that the emphasis on abstinence-only education and federal funding of such is undermining more effective teaching protocols for sexual education and




10. Silva, M. (2002). The effectiveness of school-based sex education programs in the promotion of abstinent behavior: a meta-analysis. Health Education Research, 17(4), 471-48

This article presents findings from 12 studies conducted from 1987 to 2002 which focused on the overall effect of educational interventions on abstinent behavior. The author discusses the differences between the values expressed in abstinence-only and comprehensive sexual education, but recognizes that both programs strive to foster positive decision making and problem solving skills in students to help students make healthy decisions for themselves. Primary sources for research data were located using ERIC, PyschLIT, MEDLINE, and the Social Science Citation Index and these sources were then winnowed using eligibility criteria listed in the article. The findings indicate a small effect of abstinent interventions with significant variations shown in groups represented by parental participation and percentage of female participants. This article has a lot of sources and readily discusses some of the ways the author recognizes limitations in the studies analyzed; however, this will be a challenging source to use as I found it extremely difficult to understand. It feels like an article that I could really learn a lot from if I had someone knowledgeable to help me figure out the parts that I do not understand.

11. Stanger-Hall, K. F., & Hall, D. W. (2011). Abstinence-only education and teen pregnancy rates: why we need comprehensive sex education in the US. PLoS One, 6(10), e24658.

This article uses statistics and research studies to examine the rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease in teenagers over the course of ten years during which abstinent education was the most funded and taught curriculum. One statistic emphasized is that the United States ranks first among all developed nations in both teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases and that these numbers have risen steadily after ten years of abstinence teaching. When choosing information to study, material was collected from the Education Commission of the States to determine state laws on sexual education and the level of emphasis on abstinence in state laws and policies. Data on confounding factors (socio-economics, educational attainment, ethnic composition and Medicaid waivers for family planning) was collected and correlated to discover whether these factors had an effect on teen pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases. When the data were analyzed, there was a positive correlation between abstinence education and teen pregnancy; the more emphasis on abstinence-only sexual activity, the higher the rate of teen pregnancy and STDs occurred. The authors recommend less federal spending on abstinence education and higher funding towards comprehensive sexual education to lower rates of sexual transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy. The authors also recommend that the federal government create requirements or guidelines for schools to follow so that sexual education is consistent and teachers are well trained. The hope is that these guidelines would help bring the level of negative sexual outcomes for teens down to the current rates of other developed countries. This article agrees with other papers that I have found and makes similar recommendations for successful changes. The way it is written also makes it easy to understand for me so it would make a good source for me to use. I think this article gives me a good jumping off point to frame my thesis argument and then I can use other articles to help confirm or question the data listed.

12. Weed, S. E., Ericksen, I. H., Lewis, A., Grant, G. E., & Wibberly, K. H. (2008). An abstinence program's impact on cognitive mediators and sexual initiation. American Journal of Health Behavior, 32(1), 60-73.

This article discussed the research performed by the authors into whether abstinence education for virgin seventh graders in Virginia has an effect on delaying or limiting sexual behavior. The main points of the study were to assess the impact of abstinence education programs on the initiation of sexual intercourse in teenagers and to learn more about the mechanisms that learn more about the stimuli that move adolescents to initiate sexual intercourse. The results suggest that abstinence-only education can achieve significant delay of sexual initiation in teenage participants. The data were collected in a one year evaluation of an abstinence education curriculum being used in Virginia public school systems. The program complied with the guidelines set by Title V and was taught as a nine unit course as part of the required physical/ health education classes held in participating public schools. Data collection included pre- and post self reports in which the authors paid particular attention to developing questions for optimal accuracy. This article appears to be well researched and the authors provided many useful citations; however, a few phrases throughout the document felt incendiary and stereotyped. This article clearly defined sex and discussed how the results can vary depending on how sexual activity is defined.

Sexual and Gender Diverse Adolescents and the Failures of Traditional Education in Public Education: Sources

This post is just the full list of sources including some sources that I didn't use. It is not fully comprehensive of all potential sources, but it is mostly complete. So for those readers who want to do some research of their own, here is a good start. Also here is a link to a show that gave me the idea to do the research to begin with: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver- Sexual Education.


Works Cited

1. Blount, J. M. (2016). Controlling Sex: Modern Histories of Sex Education. Reviews in American History, 44(4), 611-62.

2. Denny, G., & Young, M. (2006). An Evaluation of an Abstinence‐Only Sex Education Curriculum: An 18‐Month Follow‐up. Journal of School Health, 76(8), 414-422.

3. Denny, G., Young, M., Rausch, S., & Spear, C. (2002). An Evaluation of an Abstinence Education Curriculum Series: Sex Can Wait. American Journal Of Health Behavior. 26(5), 366-377.

4. Frieden, T., Jaffe, H., Cono, J. et al. (2015) Sexual Identity, Sex of Sexual Contacts, and Health- Related Behaviors Among Students in Grades 9-12- United States and Selected Sites, 2015. MMWR Surveill Summ 2016; 65, p.19-22, retrieved https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/ss/pdfs/ss6509.pdf

5. Gates, G. (2017) Vermont Leads States LGBT Identification, Gallop, retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/203513/vermont-leads-states-lgbt-identification.aspx

6. Hess, A. (2010). Hold the Sex, Please: the Discursive Politics between National and Local Abstinence Education Providers. Sex Education, 10(3), 251-266. doi:10.1080/14681811.2010.491632

7. Jackson, J. (2007) Unmasking Identities: An Exploration of the Lives of Gay and Lesbian Teachers. Lanham, Maryland. Lexington Books

8. Jeffries, W. L., Dodge, B., Bandiera, F. C., & Reece, M. (2010). Beyond abstinence-only: relationships between abstinence education and comprehensive topic instruction. Sex Education, 10(2), 171-185. doi:10.1080/14681811003666317

9. Jennings, K. (2005) One Teacher In 10. Los Angeles, California. Alyson Books
10. Kirby, D., Short, L., Collins, J., Rugg, D., Kolbe, L., Howard, M., … Zabin, L. S. (1994). School-based programs to reduce sexual risk behaviors: a review of effectiveness. Public Health Reports, 109(3), 339–360.

11. Kohler, P. K., Manhart, L. E., & Lafferty, W. E. (2008). Abstinence-only and comprehensive sex education and the initiation of sexual activity and teen pregnancy. Journal of Adolescent Health, 42(4), 344-351.

12. Luker, K. (2006). When Sex Goes to School: Warring Views on Sex- and Sex Education- Since the Sixties. New York, W.W. Norton and Company.

13. Macapagal, K., Coventry, R., Arbeit, M., Fisher, C., and Mustanski, B. (2017) “I won’t out myself just to do a survey”: Sexual and Gender Minority Adolescents’ Perspectives on the Risks and Benefits of Sex Research, Archives of Sexual Behavior, Volume 46, Issue 5, pp 1393–1409.

14. no author. (2017) LGBT Youth. CDC, retrieved https://www.cdc.gov/lgbthealth/youth.htm

15. no author. (2017). Sex and HIV Education. Guttmacher Institute, retrieved https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/sex-and-hiv-education

16. no author. (2013) Statistical Data- Clark County School District, retrieved on http://www.ccsd.net/resources/budget-finance-department/pdf/publications/cabr/2013/statistical-data.pdf

17. no author. (2017). Sexual Behaviors : HIV, STD, & Teen Pregnancy Prevention. CDC : information gleaned from Division of Adolescent and School Health, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. retrieved https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/sexualbehaviors/

18. no author. (2017). Teen Pregnancy in the United States. CDC : information gleaned from Division of Reproductive Health and National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, retrieved https://www.cdc.gov/teenpregnancy/about/index.htm

19. Rubenstein, R. (2017). Sex Education: Funding Facts, Not Fear. Health Matrix: Journal Of Law-Medicine, 27525-554.

20. Segal, C. (2017). Eight States Censor LGBTQ Topics in School. Now, a Lawsuit is Challenging That. PBS, retrieved http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/lgbtq-issues-class-lawsuit-utah/

21. Silva, M. (2002). The effectiveness of school-based sex education programs in the promotion of abstinent behavior: a meta-analysis. Health Education Research, 17(4), 471-48.

22. Shtarkshall, R., Santilli, J., and Hirsch, J., (2007). Sex Education and Sexual Socialization: Roles for Educators and Parents. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 166-119.

23. Stanger-Hall, K. F., & Hall, D. W. (2011). Abstinence-only education and teen pregnancy rates: why we need comprehensive sex education in the US. PLoS One, 6(10), e24658.

24. Valenti, J. (2009) The Purity Myth: How America’s Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women. Berkeley, California, Seal Press.

25. Weed, S. E., Ericksen, I. H., Lewis, A., Grant, G. E., & Wibberly, K. H. (2008). An abstinence program's impact on cognitive mediators and sexual initiation. American Journal of Health Behavior, 32(1), 60-73.
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26. Zimmerman, J. (2015). Too Hot to Handle: A Global History of Sex Education. Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press.

Other Sources not quoted.....


https://mic.com/articles/123634/john-oliver-laverne-cox-and-nick-offerman-just-gave-us-the-sex-ed-psa-america-needs#.llodWwE3h

Guttmacher Institute, Sex and STD/HIV education, State Policies in Brief, October 2011,, accessed Oct. 19, 2011.

https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/facts-american-teens-sources-information-about-sex

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-domitrz/the-conversation-we-need-_b_7968198.html

http://www.thejournal.ie/john-oliver-sex-ed-2263891-Aug2015/

https://www.thecut.com/2015/08/john-oliver-made-a-very-helpful-sex-ed-video.html

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/john-oliver-eviscerates-american-sex-ed-but-the-reality-is-even-worse-20150813

http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/news/watch-john-oliver-blast-subpar-sex-education-in-u-s-schools-20150810

http://www.agreenroadjournal.com/2015/08/sex-education-last-week-tonight-with.html

http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/john-oliver-sex-ed-psa-laverne-cox-jonathan-banks-nick-offerman-1201566669/

https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/facts-american-teens-sources-information-about-sex

https://www.guttmacher.org/news-release/2012/sex-education-linked-delay-first-sex

https://thinkprogress.org/teen-pregnancies-highest-in-states-with-abstinence-only-policies-8aa0deeebb41

http://www.ibtimes.com/states-reconsider-abstinence-only-sex-ed-programs-obama-congress-battle-over-teen-1804460

https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/sex-and-hiv-education

Sexual and Gender Diverse Adolescents and the Failures of Traditional Education in Public Education: An Introduction

This post is an introduction to the next few post sharing a term paper that I completed for a class that I took that focused on sociology and education. The paper is long so I intend to break it into a few posts and I will have a post listing all sources for those who are interested. This topic is near and dear to my heart as I didn't feel like I got a very healthy view of sexuality from my public and religious education and I wondered how widespread disinformation or a lack of information was being taught. Turns out, its really more common than I expected. If fact, it appears that a lack of comprehensive sexual education is the norm and not an outlier at all.

I hope my readers enjoy the paper and, per usual, I am interested in your critique and comments. Enjoy.

Analysis of the Article : “Neurodiversity: The Future of Special Education”

This post is an analysis of an education article titled “Neurodiversity: The Future of Special Education”. You can find a link to the original article here. The following is a thoughtful response that I wrote for a small audience and I thought I would share it here.

Special Education is a topic that is near and dear to my heart as I know several individuals and families that depend on its services to educate their children. While laws require that schools offer and fund these services to students, how they are offered and performed can vary greatly in schools; even schools in the same district can have widely varied programs available. Some schools may even choose to flout the laws requiring special education and parents are forced to start lawsuits to achieve any services as all. One thing that seems consistent in schools over the country is how special education and those students who need it are viewed: students with disabilities are seen as having problems and weaknesses and those who need special education are not as intelligent or as able as ‘normal’ students. These viewpoints with their emphasis on disability, dysfunction, and other negative connotations that go hand in hand with them can cause resignation and a negative outlook in students and families for their future prospects. Thomas Armstrong brings a fresh perspective on special education and how the perspectives and viewpoints of teachers and schools can and should change to facilitate better learning, the development of programs that support a ‘whole person’ growth, and to develop positive perspectives and momentum both in scholarship and individual growth.

In his article titled “Neurodiversity: The Future of Special Education”, Armstrong states that the ways special education programs are currently developed and understood by its practitioners needs to change in several key ways. He suggests that schools and educators recognize the neurodiversity of students as a positive trait to be honored and respected just as with other human diversity traits such as race, gender identity, religion, etc. While current programs for exceptional education tends to emphasize a student’s deficits and strengths, he believes that a new approach should be developed that emphasizes the students’ strengths (such as what currently happens for gifted or talented students.) Some formal assessments to help determine a students’ strengths are the VIA Character Strengths, Virtues, Dunn and Dunn Learning Style Assessments, and the Baron-Welsh Art Scale. Informal assessments that are currently available for educators to utilize for additional information on learning strengths is the Neurodiversity Strengths Checklist, “strength chats” as devised by Epstein (2008), and motivational interviewing. This emphasis on positive talents should then be used to build on the students’ strengths and minimize their weakest areas by utilizing workarounds to help students manage both academic and nonacademic challenges without allowing their disability to hinder them. According to Armstrong, this approach is very different than current special education services where students are taught how to live with their disability instead of working to overcome it.

Another key component of Armstrong’s suggested neurodiversity acceptance is that all students in classrooms need to be taught about the intrinsic worth of human variation and neurological diversity. By educating all students on how the human brain works, how environment shapes brain structure and function, and that all students have a capacity for learning, the expectations of everyone involved in the special education system would change. Some research studies suggest that when teachers expect positive outcomes from their students, academic results usually improve. Also, inclusion would be more effective as learning diversified students would be viewed more as assets in the classroom rather than a difficulty or burden. As a side benefit, if students are taught to respect and embrace neurodiversity, students who learn or act differently are more likely be accepted by their peer groups and less likely to be marginalized or bullied. If implemented, the author’s recommendations have a significant potential to change the way special education is understood and provided to students as well as positive implications for both individual and community development.

This article has several strengths. The author discussed traditional methods of special education and compares and contrasts these methods with his recommendations. He includes research that supports his conclusions and also addresses some of the challenges that would need to be overcome to implement them. He suggests assessments that are currently available to educators to help determine student strengths so that they can be used to facilitate a learner in knowledge attainment. He states that educators who start to utilize these methods will have positive feelings for the children they teach who have learning weaknesses and that these positive feelings will translate into strength manipulation to help students recognize and work to overcome the learning areas in which they are weak. Armstrong’s work can be used for students that have been shunted into special education to help create IEPs that truly look at the student as a whole person and not just a list of ‘things to check off.’

One weakness that the article has is the author’s use of polarity language. He uses language to discuss his thesis and special education in ways that is inherently divisive. His recommendations are littered with language that radiates positivity: growth mindset, nuance, creating, thrive, transformation, assets, etc. However, the language used to describe the current system is very different: deficit, disorder, dysfunction, negative connotations, insular, remediation, burdens, etc. I do not disagree necessarily with his word choices as they do allow him to discuss his research with readers and work to motivate educators into implementing his stated program. However, I worry that the language used may turn off some of the very people that are needed to implement the changes suggested. Another weakness is that the author doesn’t address funding needs to implement his changes. Armstrong acknowledges that both educators and parents may fear the process of funding special education for children if disabilities are viewed more positively- it is the use of terms such as disability and dysfunction that make that funding currently available. If his recommendations are put into normal usage, would the funding dry up? I think that it is quite understandable to worry about this aspect as, even with protections for funding that are required by law, these regulations are still held in contempt by some schools and school districts. Armstrong suggests a way to protect current funding under the system by continuing to use the traditional methods of determining disability and dysfunction that will open the door to special education services. Educators would then try to discard the ‘disability mindset’ after initial diagnosis and use the recommendations stated above to motivate and teach their students. However, Armstrong does not suggest how to get the funding to utilize his recommendations in the classroom. He recognizes the financial problems that are conceivable if special education funding becomes restricted, but he doesn’t offer any ideas as to how to use that funding for development of similar programing in schools. At one point in the article, Armstrong gives suggestions for educators to utilize his research; schools in specified districts working together to integrate his research, promoting school wide ‘fairs’ for students on neurodiversity, and hiring a neurodiversity coordinator to help monitor the changes put into place. Where is the funding for these extra services going to be found? Will it take away services that are already in place for students? Will funding for a coordination for a school district make funding dry up for special education teachers in different schools in the district? It is really hard to know and the author has not addressed that at all.

As stated above, I would really like to understand how this research can be funded and put into common usage. As a mother of a child with a few learning disorders, I see a potential benefit for using Armstrong’s research for changing the way that school deal with and teach individuals with disabilities. As neurotypical students also have many different ways of learning, it seems correct to believe that all students may need some help for success in the classroom. As such, it seems reasonable that educators who recognize the differences between a “disability paradigm” and a “diversity paradigm” would be able to quickly modify the ways that they provide services to their students. I would like to have a better understanding of how best to help ‘change perspectives’, both in educators and parents to see a more positive yet realistic outcome for their children. I would also like to know exactly how accessible the student strengths assessments are to educators and whether there are fees or other hurdles to ease of use. As the most clear cut assessment mentioned- the Neurodiversity Strengths checklist- was developed by the author, I would want to understand what financial benefits he might enjoy from this product. (This could also be seen as another weakness in the article as it might be more of a sales pitch depending on what benefits the author stands to gain.) Also, Armstrong mentioned some ways of modifying lessons to help students with learning differences achieve better results from their students. However, every modification he mentioned suggests to me that the students he is thinking of would have two specific traits; at least normal intelligence as defined by current special education assessments and their education would be provided by a decently funded educational system. I would be curious to see what modifications that he would recommended for individuals of less than normal intelligence scores (forms of mental retardation) or for individuals who attend schools with significant funding issues that can’t afford to purchase specialized software, virtual reality applications, etc. I could not tell if Armstrong had studied the ramifications of working with students who display significant physical, mental, or learning challenges when developing his views and conducting his research as this information was not mentioned. I would really like to know how his theories work and can be used across the whole spectrum of students and not just a majority.

I can see several ways that Armstrong’s research can be used in practical settings in schools. For schools districts and educators that are able to see their students from the perspective of student strengths over weakness, teaching and inclusion could become more specific for each student- even in larger classes. Currently, inclusion of special education students in mainstream classrooms can make teachers feel overwhelmed and they can view these students as a distraction or encumbrance to themselves and the others students. Any perspective that helps teachers to see the good in the children they teach and give them a desire to help all students perform at their best regardless of ability is an essential part of true classroom inclusion. As Armstrong mentioned in this article, when teachers view particular students negatively, other students may develop the same attitude towards those students. This can lead to bullying, ostracizing, and other negative consequences towards special education students which can create an unsafe school situation for all participants.

One way that this research can be applied is to provide a more specific emphasis in equality in the school environment. By helping students to learn with the strengths that they have, it should create an environment that doesn’t stratify as easily among financial and perceived intellectual lines. I suspect there will always be some form of social class functionality in a school- there will always be a student who is always last to be picked for team sports for example- but helping to minimize those aspects in classrooms by creating more equal opportunities for learning should be very helpful for helping students to prepare for their future. Teachers who are able to take the time to understand both the weaknesses and strengths of the children that they teach can take that knowledge into the mainstream classroom to create an inclusive learning environment that holds realistic and high standards for all student participants. These actions as performed by teachers conform to the recommended guidelines in the InTASC Model Core Teaching Standards; specifically, Standard #2 titled Learning Differences.

I also think that teachers that encourage students to utilize learning by tapping into their strengths are teachers that affected students will work harder to achieve for. At the beginning of this class, almost all learners mentioned a specific teacher that made a difference in their lives and all of those teachers had one thing in common. That commonality was that each student felt the teacher’s sincere desire and support for the student’s educational growth . When each of us feel cared for and developed a strong bond with that teacher, we worked harder and achieved more because our success was no longer just for us, but also to cement the relationship that had been previously created between teacher and pupil. Not all teachers feel inspired or have any desire to develop that kind of deep relationship with their students, but all anecdotal evidence provided in class suggests that teachers who create positive circles of communications and a unique relationship with each student do create significant knowledge growth and more positive outlooks for these students. I suspect that teachers who are willing and desire to create these tight bonds with students will also desire to provide the student what they need to succeed. If so, that extra time or service will not feel so strongly like a burden to be endured, but a challenge to overcome; a slight difference in viewpoint, but one ripe with better outcomes.

I found myself very interested in Amstrong’s research and I am happy that my library search brought it to light. I thought the article well written and provided many opportunities for thought and opportunities for more research. I can think of several ways that this information could be utilized in a classroom and I hope that these particular recommendations are incorporated into the traditional special education programs that are currently functioning in schools locally and across the country. I would be interested in seeing how these techniques work in the typical classroom and within the resources currently available to rural schools. I look forward to more research to suggest whether this program is optimal for most students.

Any thoughts on both the articles and it's topic? An experience that you wish to share? I'm eager to hear if anyone has first hand experiences with this program and it's implementation....

Self Care.... Filled with Hormones

I have been struggling this semester. I think there are a few reasons including feeling a lot less motivation with the loss of my grandpa, work health problems... the usual suspects. I tried to work on some homework but I seem to be unable to concentrate on either history nor interdisciplinary studies so I found myself roaming my shelves for something to read. I have agreed to try and take some time for self care- I'm quite terrible at it and I am working to do a little better- and I have decided that some of my self care should include stretching and fun reading. My eyes slid down the rows of books and then stopped on my nutrition textbook. I have never been willing to get rid of it because I sometimes find myself using it as a resource for trying to understand comments from my doctor better or even as a resource for a history paper. So, amusingly enough I hauled it to the couch (We can't say I picked it up because it's huge) for a bit of 'light, restful reading. I found myself quite frustrated by the reading so please take that in mind when I discuss my thoughts below... I guess it wasn't very restful reading.

I entered this chapter with little knowledge about hormones and how they affect the average person’s body, and by extension, my own. I have listened to doctors chatting about my hormones to my parents from about the age of 14 onward. In almost every doctor’s appointment that I attend as well as incidental evidence in my own life, my hormones are in control of me… and not me of them. I see menstruation and the whole process of hormones in a very negative light. As early as 18 years old I wanted to get a hysterectomy to try and end at least part of the process. The only thing that has stopped me from a hysterectomy is money... and if I was offered the opportunity to have it done tomorrow and have it paid for...I would not hesitate at all. As mentioned in the text, some of the societal and cultural ideas around menstruation are definitely alive in my mind for I too believe that I am filthier and more disgusting during the time of my menstruation and I want to avoid people and try to do anything I can to hide it. I don't talk about it much and I used to go to great lengths to hide any evidence including sanitary supplies from any one in my home- I even used to hide it from my husband when I was married... which was challenging and sure looks foolish from where I stand now. The way I think sure has changed... as evidenced that I am try to talk about it here. I found myself a bit bemused to read the words on the pages in front of me such as “One Indian phrase for menstruation is the flower growing in the house of the god of love” and “when researchers looked for positive changes in the premenstrual phase, they can find those as well." I haven't found those yet I guess.

The chapter listed a lot of research on women's health as well as hormones and sexuality. I suspect that the reason there appears to be so much research focused towards these topics is that hormonal changes are seen as an overall negative in quality of life for the majority of women. As Americans live in a fairly patriarchal society and women are not seen or treated in many cases as equal to men, focusing on the differences- and perceived negative differences- makes perfect sense. In general, if we look for the bad over the good that is what we will find. As a history buff, the discussion of women, women’s health, and sexuality have been seen in a negative light throughout many cultures and ages in time. The text also mentions that religion can also play a role in how hormonal changes, menstruation and reproductive activities are viewed and treated. It seems clear to me that many cultures and religions view the unique actions of women's bodies as problematic and use social pressure to control these actions, using members of both genders to create and reinforce this pressure. Another thing that most people who practice medicine have noticed that wasn’t mentioned in the text is that there is gender bias when it comes to many serious problems such as pain, heart attack, etc. How a person is treated when experiencing these disorders can vary widely based on the gender of the person experiencing them and that bias tends to create more negative outcomes for women than for men. What these facts and ideas say about our culture are not great. If the perspectives and biases in our culture and society tend to be more negative towards women, their health and potential in our society, it shouldn’t come as a shock that more studies are focused on the negative aspects of women and their health when research is being discussed, funded, and developed. If society sees men unconsciously as physically better and less hormonal as the male gender has no outward appearance of hormonal changes as stated in the text, then it also makes sense that research is much less likely to turn its focus toward men. Research in general tends to start with the spark of an idea on how something works, an idea of how to change something, or even how to fix a problem or perceived difficulty. If a culture in general is unable to recognize that men’s hormonal cycles exist or that they are important, no funding or time is going to be focused on that as it will be seen as waste of time and resources. I think that creates difficulty for both genders as men’s health and experience is ignored or undervalued so that problems are not recognized and potentially helped and women find that that their health and the study of their health is focused more on the negative aspects of it – or perceived negative aspects- and less on the positive traits and aspects of the health differences.

If more research was focused towards men and their health as well as hormonal cycles, I believe that we could gain knowledge that could be quite beneficial for men and the health problems that occur for them. However, it must be acknowledged that the majority of all medical research is focused on men- just not hormonal research- and it is vital to start including women in these processes. Excuses for leaving women out of health studies include the perceived 'variability' of their hormone cycle and the 'uniqueness' of the female body's functions... which feels a bit like a cope out. After all, the majority of all of our bodies- male and female- work and respond the same in similar circumstances.

I am not sure that reading this was really good self care or if I found myself distracted and worked up about something that really isn't super relevant to my life right now. But I found a few things that I was interested in researching at some point. I wonder how much of my health problems is based on some of the external influences the text mentioned. Do I feel more pain because of hormonal changes or because I feel like I ‘should’? Do I feel dirty and awful because of my sensory disorders which cause challenges with the physical sensations… or do I feel that way because I have been taught/ influenced to feel that way? Are the mental symptoms of confusion and personality ‘changes’ really a part of the hormonal changes, part of what I expect to happen, or pieces of both intertwined in the perspective and package of me? Certainly interesting questions to ponder this evening. Although the ponder must end soon as the guys are headed over. :D

What are your thoughts?

Praxis Project Reflection

This semester, I have found myself pulled in many different directions. Between emergencies with friends, medical tests and physicians mumbling around me, I feel like this semester has flown by so quickly I haven’t gotten more than a few glimpses of what I was trying to gain… like a hummingbird I see the beauty and remember it but I have to keep going over my notes and writings to really pull up the clear full image that I had in front of me. I changed my ideas on a project a few times over the weeks from blog post biographies on my favorite feminists to a newsletter with basic articles for on different aspects of feminism…. to my final and completed project of resources for Maine individuals who identify as LGBTQI.

This project came about when an individual finally discovered that her fear of her husband was also her children’s fear… she discovered that he was hurting the children as well and they were terrified their father would kill her. She pretended to be ‘normal’ for two days while quietly making plans with friends and the moment her husband left for work on Monday with the only car, she walked out to meet a friend with her children and hasn’t gone back. She was lucky and even though the struggle with the courts is all encompassing still, they are safe. Those two days were awful, with several people trying to find what resources there were out there for her. Domestic violence resources are supposed to be prolific – and they are- but out of almost 50 searches, over half had disconnected numbers, were closed, had lost funding, were full and unable to help others, or even had very strict limitations. That same week, some of the readings combined with this particular experience, caused me to push aside what I had done and begin again. I wanted to see what resources that there might be pulled up on google and spent two hours writing up every source I found for LGBTQI resources in Maine. My goal was to create a comprehensive list and hoped that I was able to fill a few pages of solid and available resources to pass along to the university.

I learned a few things from this project. The first was that as I had predicted, most of the resources that I had carefully listed were either no longer operational or if they were, I had no information to find any new information for them through follow up searches. However, as I just started cold calling different people and organizations, I not only found more resources but also found people who were collecting some of the same information I was looking for. I found individuals who not only were enthusiastic that I was willing to spend the time creating this resource and were willing to help me, but were hopeful they could have a copy of it when completed to help community members near them. I had conversations with one group who was saddened that I had found them by accident and gave them ideas on my search so that they could try and make their organization come up in search engines instead of my lucky referral from a lawyer’s office. I also worked on it at work and as my project became locally known, I had a co-worker and a few patients quietly pull me aside and hand me a paper with an email or a phone number on it. I ended up having to leave resources off the list due to time constraints (I could probably spent another 25+ hours and have twice as many pages), but I feel really good about what I have. I was pleasantly surprised at how many resources there are around… even though so many parts of Maine are rural and far flung. I was also a bit surprised to find some organizations carefully not answering some of my questions and I realized that they didn’t want to be a resource, but could not come right out and say it – due to their funding models, personal opinions, etc.… (I did leave those groups off the list.)

I discovered that in some ways, those who identify as lesbian, gay, transgender, bi-sexual or intersex may have extra difficulties in finding resources and support even in areas that are known for being ‘liberal’. While there are so many resources, finding out about them was a significant amount of work and took quite a few resources to find. It appeared to me that just like my anonymous 'individual', when you are in a tough place, you really do need people with some social privilege and resources to help you find and access what you needed. I think this project was as successful as it could be with my limited time frame and the blinders of my own privilege- after all, I did choose what resources I left off the list due to time constraints… I have to wonder sometimes how things did or did not make the cut. I am hopeful that this assignment will have the forward removed by UMA and be copied and distributed wherever is appropriate. I am hopeful it will be useful to someone. Thank you.

picture from: http://all-free-download.com/free-vector/download/abstract_rainbow_background_vector_148022.html

Thoughts on Kevin Kelly and Predictions on Technology

*For this discussion, we started by watching a youtube video that war filmed in 2007 that you can find here. I highly recommend it! It is a video by Kevin Kelly about predictions on technology and computers.

This was a really interesting video and I am really impressed with Kevin Kelly and his research. He certainly made a quite a few predictions that are true today and I am interested to see how his predictions for the future turn out… it appears he will be pretty on there as well. One thing that I thought was interesting and I have spent some time chewing on is that the more transparent we are on personal things, the more we can gain. I am still a bit of a dinosaur when it comes to technology- mostly because I just can’t afford it- and I do share some things that are personal on Facebook and through email but I am still really learning about all of this. And even when saying that, I really that I am codependent on my technology that I do use. So is my place of work, my school, and most places that I go to. I was thinking about it and I see benefits to being so dependent on machines and also some downsides. I think that everything in life has some benefits and not so good things… anyone who has kids knows that ;) I like being able to get personalized recommendations and to be able to research and do things that so much more easily, but I also do not like being inundated with ads and other useless things. Thinking of the web as a living breathing beast was a metaphor that really did seem to work for me and thinking about how we are teaching machines to see and think for us and eventually being able to do it much better than us collectively (I think we are there now actually) is an image I do not think I will lose soon.

One last thing that I thought about was how ‘we cannot imagine ourselves without writing or alphabets’. That is really true. I love reading and do it as much as I can. I love writing and consider it one of my best talents. I can’t imagine a life without that and it is a pleasure to hold a book in my hand and sometimes I wake up with that same book there. But I also wake up with a phone next to be to so that I can check my email, etc… So I am changing slowly but adding technology when I can. I feel sad that so many books are not being read on a computer but it also makes books more available for people to read and that’s a great thing. How can I be upset about that? So it is interesting to think about how we are embodying machines with our characteristics and anchoring our lives around them as well.

United States Governmental Priorities and the Office of Special Prosecutions

In our current times, some politicians like to argue about ways to cut taxes, cut the budget and to eliminate governments programs and organizations that they feel are redundant or unnecessary. I say current times, but this same process of politics and political spin has been around since governments began. One of the organizations that has been targeted by some politicians and talking heads lately to be eliminated is the Office of Special Investigations(OSI). A link to their mission statement found here.

On the face of it, the OSI is a really easy target. It is a small section in the criminal division of the US Department of Justice that only deals with human rights violations/crimes. Because of our laws and freedoms, there are only certain way to target those individuals that they find which is usually a long and expensive process- we do not charge them so much as a regular criminal and need to have overwhelming proof to deport them and then need to find a place to take them which isn't simple either. It needs a budget, but never creates an income of its own. With few exceptions, this department only works on 'cold cases' looking for people that are not currently in the news and for crimes that the majority of citizens do not feel have touched them or their families personally. The crimes they are investigating are huge with names like 'Holocaust' and 'genocide' that add another layer of distance from the average American as most of us have never participated in (we think) nor been affected by these human rights crimes in our daily or personal lives. So one the face of it, I can see why some people believe the department should be shuttered.

However, there are a few reasons that the Office of Special Investigations is of great value and needs to be kept open and funded. One is that the United States has a legal and binding obligation to do so. While the United States was one of the early signatories, the convention was not ratified until 1988. When signed (and afterwards ratified), our country agreed to work to prevent genocide and prosecute those who commit it no matter where in the world the acts were committed. In fact, when President Harry Truman signed the convention and then sent it to the Senate to be ratified, he stated: “The Senate’s approval would demonstrate that the U.S. was “prepared to take effective action on its part to contribute to the establishment of principles of law and justice.” Later, President Richard Nixon asked and reminded the Senate to pass it and it was later ratified with two reservations and an addition of legislation. That legislation was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan and was called the Genocide Implementation Act of 1987 which made genocide a crime if committed on our soil or by US citizens. There is no statute of limitations and comes with life imprisonment and hefty fines. At the time of its signature, President Reagan expressed that he would have preferred a bill that call for the death penalty, but “This legislation still represents a strong and clear statement by the United States that it will punish acts of genocide with the force of law and the righteousness of justice." So we have agreed to try and prevent as well as prosecute war crimes both in an international treaty and within our own laws. If we want other countries to abide by international treaties and laws, it stands to reason we must show the example and do so as well. While the department was originally created to find and prosecute Holocaust victims, we have had a few genocides since then and it seems to me that we must follow through not only with our legal commitments to prevent, discover and prosecute war criminals, but we must open it up to other genocides for two reasons; the continued finding of Holocaust perpetrators is going to become impossible soon as mortality will win that particular battle and if it is about the act and not the ethnicity or national identity of the perpetrator (as most were German from the Holocaust) then were must treat all genocides as equal and in need of our resources. I understand that this unit has started investigating and searching for those who have committed crimes in Rwanda, Bosnia, Darfur, etc... and I am glad for it. Another reason that this office should stay open is because fulfilling our requirement under laws and treaties would be much easier if we had one department to do it that has specialized skills and the ability to focus on it. Local police forces would find themselves very challenged to take up this cases from tips and continue to do the local policing that they specialize at.

We also have a moral obligation to look for and try to create justice for those who have been victims of human rights crimes and genocide. When we concentrate on looking for the perpetrators and trying to hold them accountable, we tell the victims and others that we take what happened to them seriously and believe that they deserve justice. We also give people (indirectly) a lesson and warning- that this behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. By continuing to look and follow up on leads towards those who broke the laws, we do not give the offender easy rest because that person will always know that their lifestyle/ life is at risk... secrets do get found out. While I sympathize with the idea that sometimes the person who is caught is a good and active member of their community now, I do not believe that crimes of murder without some justice and restitution should be ignored... no matter how 'good' the person has been afterward. (I question if sometimes the individuals are good...not to be 'good'... but to not get caught.) The obligation that we have is not only to ourselves and our families but to humanity as a whole in pursuing justice and educating each other about tolerance. As all of us work together to acknowledge these crimes are unacceptable and work together to prevent them, then over time maybe we will hunt down fewer of these offenders... because there will be less crimes against humanity. Only then should we possibly consider closing the Office of Special Investigations. Only then...

Hiatus...

Well, the last few months have been a bit crazy with all my classes and everything going on right now. So the blog has pretty much been pushed aside while I dealt with everything and got my school work done. However, in answer to the email I received today, the blog is still active and actually the next few months will be very busy with reading for my consuming family and public as I begin to edit and post my assignments and writings from my classes. I have writings on human behavior, racism, genocide, history, eugenics, gender studies and more... so for those of you who have been waiting… don’t stress! More is coming…. ;)

I love you all and look forward to trying to share and continuing introspection in the new year. Anything you want me to research, share, etc… feel free to ask. I might be willing to do so. :)

What Do You Think?

So I had a really quick question. I am making a list of ideas for future blog posts... fun things to research, etc..... I've actually thought of few off the top of my head over the last few days that interest me, but I thought I would hang the question out there for others to offer suggestions. Anything that you are interested in that any of you might like me to research just for you? A short, but sweet post.... please share your thoughts. :)

I'm Back... :D

Gosh, I've missed blogging. It's so funny, but I miss writing and I miss the satisfaction that I get out of it. I've also missed the brief snatches of conversation and new people that I have encountered in this process....

So I am going to make a very valiant effort to begin again. This seems like a good time as so many other parts of my life are changing and I am starting to focus in new directions and paths. A few paths that I have decided to take are roads that I have traveled before and I feel a small amount of refreshing joy to return to them. Some choices I have come to gradually as I rule out other paths that look so attractive but don't feel like a great choice right now. But rejoining my own tiny part of the blogger-sphere seems good right now.

So here I am... As I begin to write again and focus on topics that are prescient in my life or on subjects that give me joy or pause, I also make a request for my friends and readers. If you have a subject or a need that you wish to know more about but do not have to dig deeply into the large tomes of information, feel free to ask if it would be a topic that would interest me to research for you. I am hoping to find new and and wonderful things to write about. That sounds like a pleasure indeed. :)

Questions and Thoughts on Oral History and Tradition

This semester I am studying Oral History and will be doing an hour long interview. I thought I would post these questions. I had a lot more but I think these particular ones cover the basics of what Oral History is, oral tradition and how it is used, and how these forms of history can be beneficial. I need to decide on a topic for my class and I am thinking of interviewing a Catholic nun... After reading this post, does anyone else have any suggestions that they would be interested in? I was very fascinated with some of the differences and information I learned. Hope you find something interesting and new in this post as well. :)


1. What does the study of History teach us?: The study of history can teach us how to look through the eyes of another human being and what life and culture were like for them. History fores us to look at the world and life differently than how we live it- even when studying the history of someone who lives next door or in the same family. We can learn why people did they things that they did...sometimes through journals and letters where we can 'see' what they were thinking and what thinking went into those decisions and how they changed the life of everyone involved. This study can teach us to become more introspective about ourselves and how we make decisions and to question why we do what we do in our lives. The study of history also teaches us about basic human traits and humanity itself. We are forced to face our fears, prejudice and other ways of thinking when studying history and we are also forced to think about our role in the history that is being made today that we call our life. It can also teach us how to live in our contemporary society in an intelligent and informed matter. Being able to understand or at least show tolerance to the actions of ourselves and those around us keeps life more interesting, safer, useful... and beautiful!

2. What is oral history?: Oral History is almost the most personal of all ways to collect historical facts and research. Oral history is the research, preparation and collecting of facts, observations, recollections, etc... of knowledge from another human being. Oral history can not be gotten by reading a dusty ledger or sitting quietly in a dark library. Oral history tests you as a historian and as a human. To collect information, you must be personable, able to engage with others, able to listen and not steer the conversation in different directions or toward your own biases. You must be able to act sympathetic-even when you personally are not- and help people to share honestly what is in their memories and also be able to assess the information and the individual sharing it. Oral history is a little different than oral tradition and oral history can be more useful for the society that is generally mostly literate. One reason for this is that the people in these societies are less likely to use their memories to hold 'things' long term... as they could be written down or recorded. The focus of this class will be on the “collecting of an individuals spoken memories of his life, of people he has known, and events he has witnesses or participated in”.

3. What are the common types of historical sources?: The most common sources for historical information can be easily classified into groups. The grouping of written documents can include, but are not limited to- journals or diaries, books or other published works such as newspapers, letters, and governmental records such as census forms, applications, and tax records. Other examples can be land or property deeds, ledgers and/or records kept by groups such as churches, non profits, small informal groups, etc... Another group would be 'visual documents' and would include pictures, portraits,and prints that-while they may contain no writing- can tell us a lot about the subjects and environment/culture at the time they were created. The grouping of physical documents can encompass almost anything that hasn't already been covered...such as coins, clothing, tools, furniture, buildings, art, music, etc...

4. What is oral tradition? What role does it play in literate and illiterate societies?: Oral tradition is a story, tradition or practice that is shared orally or through speech- usually handed down from generation to generation. Oral tradition is usually eventually written down, but can tell us so much about the society and the people who originated them and allows history to be kept and shared by groups who do or did not have writing. It was a good way to keep valuable information for others in your group and would allow the literate and the illiterate alike to share the information. One downside of written documents is that they are only as useful as the person attempting to read them. If there is no one who can read the document... then the information is just as unavailable and gone as if we didn't have the documentation in the first place. (Sometimes you can get lucky and discover how to read the documents so they shouldn't be discarded- the Rosetta Stone is an example.) Oral tradition can cover such 'documents' as speeches, songs, interviews, and conversations. Oral history, especially if shared by a quite charismatic speaker, can evoke emotions, memories and actions that the written words is hard pressed to match. And again, the spoken word is available to all who know the language- whereas written documents have an added impediment. Spoken word, as shared with more people and preserved by memory is more accessible to everyone -anyone in hearing distance. Other documents can easily be destroyed- a book can be burned, etc... But to destroy a memory, you must destroy all who have the memory before they can spread it... and like destroying a trail a gossip, it is a horribly impossible thing to do! :) So societies that have no way to write it... or will be punished for writing it down.. would carefully remember these 'documents' so that they could still be shared.

5. What is the difference between oral history and personal observation?: Oral history is something that is told to a person-usually a person that has very little experience with what is being discussed. One purpose of oral history is to share something with someone who doesn't have that experience. Personal observation is experience. While people can tell you their experience, you as the historian will also be colored by your view of the experience and merging the perspectives will be more difficult if not impossible. The best way for me to understand this is by looking at the difference between the words sympathy and empathy. A person can have sympathy and some understanding of an experience, but because they have not experienced it, they cannot have the depth of knowledge of one who has personally experienced it. So a woman who has lost a child has a much better understanding of a different woman’s situation when she has lost a child and can have empathy, but a woman who has never had a child cannot not truly understand what that other person has gone through- no matter how many times it is explained. There will always be missing pieces... sort of like the concept of history in general. :)

6. Why is oral history especially important in this age of communication revolution?: People in this communication age are far less likely to keep written documents such as journals. Facebook allows you to store and save your status updates now, but that doesn't tell you what was said in conversations or really what you were thinking when you wrote that tiny jot of information. And once we forget the information... it is gone. People used to write letters and mail them- now we write emails and delete them... or we save time and talk on the phone. I think we also spend less time with people these days and so sharing with people is less of a priority. We divide ourselves off and just are not big parts of our communities as we once were. We are not as intimate with a large amount of people and our circle of trust grows ever smaller. However, this rationale may only apply to the 'common man' as the more well off and famous are very likely to have volunteers to collect and categorize the person's written documentation. These documents may be less revealing than the past and certainly may not always be the most truthful or unbiased, but these documents should help to flesh in a picture that we would not have had without them.

7. What is the relationship between written records and oral history?: I think the easiest way to discuss these two topic is to start by saying that by themselves they are useful and I do not want to suggest that alone they are not useful documents with which to discuss and research a topic- but only together does the most complete picture of that slice of history able to be discovered. Memory is a fragile substance and when someone tries very hard to be the most accurate because there will be no written record, memory appears to be the most valuable and 'solid'. But without that intense effort memory is a fluid object that can change based on perceptions of the event, passage of time, etc... Oral history can give us insight into new ways to determine written documents as well as a way of verification. When there are discrepancies, that can help open the mind to ideas of new research.

8. What is the greatest advantage of oral history over written records? What are some of the drawbacks of oral history?: The greatest advantage of oral history is that the historian gets to participate so the historian can actively ask for what information they want. Everyone wants to know if Richard III 'did it', but we can't actually ask can we? :) So if the researcher take the time to look into the desired subject, the interview can be filled with questions that potentially bring forth greater meaning and understanding into the subject matter. Sort of an efficient way of getting to the knowledge that you seek! Having questions that have been thought of and determined as useful can have some biases but can also preserve information that would otherwise have been lost... and may very well be useful to future historians. Oral history sometimes is a way to preserve stories and history that would otherwise be lost entirely as some cultures are biases against actively recording your own history. Oral history is also biased in its openness- you do not have to be rich and famous to apply and so it can provide an every-man’s perspective. It can also explain the 'why' behind a person's actions whereas sometimes written documentation is very much caught up in the 'how'. Also, oral history with several slightly different tellings of the same event can also give us clarity into the situation - some constants throughout the stories will make parts of the tale clear. However, some drawbacks are that written documentation for the 'everyman' will probably be lacking- it is important to remember that oral and written history compliment each other. Oral history is also dependent on memory which can have flaws and can be colored by perspective and bias. That said, almost all historical sources have flaws and so knowing the flaws allows us to use the source to its best advantage and your the most valuable use.

9. What is the importance of research in oral history?: Oral history is a great form of documentation, but it needs to be used if at all possible as a complimentary form of documentation. No form of history can be truly accurate if there is nothing to compare it too... what I mean is there is no way to show how accurate it is. So all history should be validated through other sources and oral history is not immune from this rule. Oral history is also very likely to have 'gaps' of information that can be filled in with written documents and other sources. Research before the oral interview is extremely important as well, because it helps you to know what you need to ask; i.e. what answers you already have, what is missing, what is not clearly understood, etc... Otherwise you can have a interview that is full of already know facts and to find to more... you have to do another interview. A little bit of a waste of everyone's time really.

10. What is meant by the phrase “historical significance”? Why is it important?: Historical significance basically means that there is an meaning or message to the information that is important to that time in history. So you need to ask yourself some questions about a topic to decide if it has historical significance... such as was this information important at the time and does it continue to be important today? How was this information used at the time and changed or not changed over the following years and generations. Did this facts/actions change things that followed in time and place. The term 'historical significance' also is a term in which what information is important depends on what the questions are that are being asked and how the questions and the answerer 'fit' into their cultural, political, local landscape,etc...!

11. What questions/issues should you consider as you decide what topic to research?: One important question (to me) is what topic would I find myself interested in pursuing... or would really find fascinating? No matter how important and needful the information is, if the historian has no real interest or enthusiasm for collecting the information it can effect the results in ways that may not easily be seen or detected. Another question I should ask is how will my interview contribute to the knowledge and information already known- or what will my work be adding to the already collected data.

Hope you enjoyed this!

For the Beginning Family Historian....

One of the classes that I am taking this semester is teaching me more in depth ways for doing family history. This post will cover several topics that I researched for class and I thought were interesting and really useful for someone just starting out.. This post will also have a lot of my 'blather' for a good grade :). Skip the blather and enjoy the information! This post contains information on the different U.S. Census forms and what they contain- including non population schedules, the difference between archival non published documents and 'unpublished documents' in general as well as the valuable nature of Collateral Kin. It contains information on places to go to start your research and the easiest ways to find some sources. So here you go!

According to the authors of the texts, there are almost unlimited types of unpublished records that can be used to research local history. The major difficulty for utilizing these forms of documents is that you actually have to know they exist... otherwise you might not even know to search for them. For example, a non-profit organization keeps certain records that they are required to by law. Knowing that pertinent piece of info will help you to know what documents that the organization may have. However, when you start to look in personal archives, it is a very different story. I am one of those really weird people that has saved all of my incoming correspondence for years and I have six or seven albums full of all that correspondence in time order. So someone who wanted to could filter though those books and find pertinent political information, information about others in my family and friends, local activities, religious functions and gossip as well as getting a really good idea of what I found important, interesting etc.....

So some of the forms of unpublished documents that you could truly find to be your 'gold' mine for knowledge are: business ledgers, correspondence files, wills, journals (my favorite), church newsletters and other documentation, customer and employee files, nursing home records, personal tax records and receipts, etc... The authors do take the time to carefully explain the difference between the two basic categories of unpublished documents- and why that matters. Archival documents may not have been published, but they are considered archival because of the reason that they are kept. Archival documents tend to be maintained and kept for legal, administrative or historical value. So when you keep your first five years of personal tax returns, they are considered archival because you probably kept them for legal reasons in case you were audited... (I suppose if you kept them because you were too lazy to throw them away they might be classified under another name, but I am not sure that I know the official name for that. :) The authors make it clear that the word 'archives' or 'archival' is used for almost all unpublished documents, but it is important to know the different because it changes your focus on what documents might be available (instead of just obvious due to legal requirements, etc...) and what the true value of the document may be. For instance court records would be considered archival and they would hold a wealth of information. Court records are generally recorded and or transcribed at the time making the most accurate document possible. It would have pertinent information such as who was the plaintiff and defendant, why the court is intervening (is someone being charged with breaking the law, being sued for personal reasons, etc...). It would have evidence and many might contain testimony from pertinent parties including disagreements with presented evidence. Being able to use these records along side of published documents such as newspaper articles, editorials, and other forms would really not only help to 'flesh out' the information that you seek but also have an additional source of potential verification. Newspapers, for example rarely list their sources and so finding out how they got the information that they reported on can be fairly tough. But using other documents along side that do have listed sources (or are from a more official source like a court) can confirm information that you have from sources that you are not sure of... or can not confirm for that matter. Another thing to remember about true archival material is that much information will be missing in the sense that only the 'important' documents will have been kept.... while the 'trivial' or 'mundane' documentation will be thrown out. So the important distinction is that archival information can truly seem to have more legitimacy than other unpublished documents, have a higher standard or what needs to be kept so they can be 'more complete' in some ways.... but only the 'important information will survive- and what is the important information will vary depending on who the archivist is, what their motivations are, etc... Some archival documents such as military registrations are really useful in that they can almost provide a 'picture' of an individual. They- in a lot of cases- recorded height, body shape, weight, and eye and hair color.

Other documents can be used that are not archival and can be very, very useful. And knowing why records are or are not kept can also give you ideas on how to find documents that you seek. One of the first things you need to do when you are considering using an unpublished document as a source is to try and figure out why it was kept... what information was considered important. For instance, if I look back at my correspondence letters that I mentioned above, I have purposely thrown away four letters that I have received in the last decade. All four of the letters were purposely rude, hurtful, angry and I didn't consider the viewpoint in them to be the most accurate (they were fairly damning and hysterical actually). I eventually threw them away because I was concerned that whoever went through my papers in the future and read those particular letters would think poorly about the individuals that wrote them... and I must admit that keeping them for that purpose had crossed my mind :) I wonder sometimes if I should have kept them even though they were so 'bad' simply because it is pertinent information (to my family's genealogy at least in the sense of how terribly we treat different parts/people in the family) but I have over time really felt it was the right thing to do. Someone who was reading my bound letters would consider them wonderfully complete, but would need to ask themselves what my motivation was in keeping them. My motivation is for the future historians in my family... but until they are sure of that my letters are suspect. Have I kept them to skew the way one side of the family looks... or have a presented truly the most accurate (ie all the letters) picture? Have I kept only the correspondence that paints me in a particular light that is positive or that I like? These questions need to be truly understood before relying on unpublished documents. So journals can be very useful as long as you understand that the journal was written for (?) and that the writer will have his/her biases. 'Manuscripts' or 'personal papers' tend to be slightly more suspect than 'archival' documents, but are also so likely to provide the 'real' bits of information that are needed to confirm very small or trivial things. It must be noted that because this category of 'unpublished documents' are not 'required' to be kept, they too are likely to be missing big pieces of information.

I have to start by saying that I love census records. You can get some really basic and useful stuff off of a census record that it may be hard to find anywhere else such as home, neighbors, total number of pregnancies and living children, etc... However, I have discovered that while using census forms, you must keep an open mind about it just as you would for other sources. Some people are listed under the census as nicknames instead of their 'official' name. Women who marry can literally disappear from the census records if you do know what their married name is (and if it is a common name such as Mary Smith... knowing her husband's name as well. And the census-especially older census forms can not explain family relationships or circumstances- so you cannot be sure who is 'who' and sometimes can be confused by individuals listed (which can get quite confusing with poor handwriting to boot!) Another reason to not stick with only the direct line- You can get stuck for ages on the women. But now I am clearly whining from experience and not from the actually text readings :)

Information that can be gleaned from most census records are: name of adult male, household members (or at least number of them) and as the census forms begin to contain more information - you can gain names of all household members, heads of households and relationships to household members, ages and sometimes birth month/year, race, some disability status such as blindness, marriage information, birthplace info for person and parents, education and ability to read or write, occupation, immigration status, military service, language, number of births vs current living children, and more. (By the way I had no idea that there was a way to gain information from the 1940-2000 census'... I thought I just had to wait... and wait... and wait! Thank you! :)

There are different forms of census schedules; they changed as a census was officially begun, as the wish for more information made them more intimate and in depth, and as collecting the information because easier due to better knowledge, better technology, and more emphasis on accurate collecting. Some census schedules only provide information about industry/manufacturing while others provide information on the population of an area. So early census schedules provide 'less' information that census schedules as they continued to develop throughout the decades (and in one case where almost all the records were destroyed by fire. Here is a basic breakdown of what you can expect to find on the different census schedules. (New information will be in bold. What I believe the term 'schedule' means is actually a dual definition- 'Schedule' means the different full census groups.... and in each census itself ... 'schedule' means the differing sections within the census forms such as individual/family sections which could include age, sex, etc.... or agriculture sections which included acreage, profitability, livestock and produce produced, etc.... or 'products of industry' which could include business name, products produced, etc... or even mortality schedules. It could also mean separate census schedules that were taken up by the states themselves and not the federal government- these census tend to be labeled differently by year. (This is pretty approximate and I could have confused some things).

1. 1790- This is the very first ever US census and took 18 months to complete. The schedules for six of the states have been lost (Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey and Virginia.)

2. 1800 – This is the second census and it took about nine months. The information collected was : household name, number of males under and over 16 years of age, number of females of all ages, number of 'free individuals' and number of slaves.

3. 1810 - This census took about ten months to complete. The information collected was: household name, number of males under and over 16 years of age, number of females of all ages, number of 'free individuals' and number of slaves.

4. 1820 - This census took about 13 months to complete. The information collected was: household name, age of all members of household- male or female, number of 'free individuals' and number of slaves. Also counted 'not naturalized' citizens. (Children of ages 16-17 years of age may have been counted twice)

5. 1830- This census took about twelve months to complete. The information collected was: household name, age of all members of household- male or female, number of 'free individuals' and number of slaves. Also counted foreign nationals. First census with printed forms for names and also an age category of over '100 years old'. Before the oldest category was 'over 45 years of age'.

6. 1840 - This census took about 18 months to complete. The information collected was: household name, age of all members of household- male or female, number of individuals over 100 years of age, number of 'free individuals' and number of slaves. Also counted foreign nationals. First census to document 'war pensioners and their widows'.

7. 1850 - This census took about five months to complete. The information collected was: household name, age of all members of household- male or female, number of individuals over 100 years of age, number of 'free individuals' and number of slaves. Also counted foreign nationals and 'war pensioners and their widows' and marital status if married within the last year. First census to collect the names of all household members and not just 'heads of household' as well as the place of birth of all individuals recorded. Also, separate slave schedules were begun this year which would contain only the name of the slave holder, the 'race'/age/sex and number of individual slaves. Might also contain some skills of some of the slaves as well as disability.

8. 1860 – This census took five months to complete. The information collected was: 'Head of Household' name as well as the names, ages, and places of birth of family members, number of individuals over 100 years of age, number of 'free individuals', number of slaves, foreign nationals and 'war pensioners and their widows' and marital status if married within the last year. This year also had a separate slave census which would include the slave owners name as well as some pertinent individual information – number of slaves, perceived 'race', age and sex of slaves including if any were over 100 years old, disability such as blindness, and some occupations such as carpenter, etc...

9. 1885 – This census was only completed by five states/territories – Colorado, Florida, Nebraska...and the territories of New Mexico and Dakota.

10. 1870 - This census took five months to complete. The information collected was: 'Head of Household' name as well as the names and places of birth of family members, age of all members of household- male or female, marital status if married in the last year, number of 'free individuals', number of slaves, foreign nationals and 'war pensioners/widows'- listed anyone who wasn't taxed as an individual. Month of birth was collected on all individuals that we born 'within the year' – or the last twelve months.

11. 1880 - The information collected was: 'Head of Household' name as well as the names and places of birth of family members, age of all members of household- male or female, marital status, number of 'free individuals', number of slaves, foreign nationals and 'war pensioners/widows'- listed anyone who wasn't taxed as an individual. This census also started listing the street and address of the people whose information was collected- while that info can be found on other census forms in later years, it is not consistent throughout the years. Month of birth was collected on all individuals that we born 'within the year' – or the last twelve months. This census also started listing an individuals parent's birth places and were as specific as possible.

12. 1890 - This census took about one month to complete. The information collected was: 'Head of Household' name as well as the names and places of birth of family members, age of all members of the household- male or female, each individual's parent's place of birth, marital status, foreign nationals and asked about naturalization papers, and 'war pensioners/widows' It could also have street addresses. This census started a column for all individuals of all ages so that it could also keep track of child labor. Also started to track how many children a female gave birth to and how many were still living. People were also asked if they had an acute disease or chronic disease, what it was, etc... A fire in the Commerce building in Washington DC destroyed all but approx. 1% of this census (I will admit that I have never found anyone in this census for my personal use. :) Some groups such as Ancestry.com are trying to piece together documents to help 'recreate the information' that was burned and also using others forms such as the Union and Veteran’s Widows schedule.....

13. 1900 - This census took approx one month to complete. The information collected was: 'Head of Household' name as well as the names, month and year of birth, and place of birth of family members, each individual's parent's place of birth, marital status as well as number of marriages and years married, foreign nationals and/ or person's naturalization status, and 'war pensioners/widows'. Also tracked how many children a female gave birth to and how many were still living. This census also required that immigrants give year of immigration. This census also started listing place of birth by current region name- rather than what it was called at time of person's birth.

14. 1910 – This census took approx one month to complete. The information collected was: 'Head of Household' name as well as the names, place of birth of family members, each individual's parent's place of birth, marital status as well as number of marriages and years married, foreign nationals and/or person's naturalization status, and 'war pensioners/widows', immigration year if immigrated. Also tracked how many children a female gave birth to and how many were still living. Census also listed place of birth by current region name and not necessarily what it as called when person was born.

15. 1920 - This census took approx one month to complete. The information collected was: This census took approx one month to complete. The information collected was: 'Head of Household' name as well as the names, place of birth of family members, each individual's parent's place of birth, marital status as well as number of marriages and years married, foreign nationals and/ or person's naturalization status, and 'war pensioners/widows', immigration year if immigrated. Census also listed place of birth by current region name and not necessarily what it as called when person was born.

16. 1930 - This census took approx one month to complete. The information collected was: This census took approx one month to complete. The information collected was: 'Head of Household' name as well as the names, place of birth of family members, each individual's parent's place of birth, marital status as well as number of marriages and years married, foreign nationals and/ or person's naturalization status, and 'war pensioners/widows', immigration year if immigrated. Census also listed place of birth by current region name and not necessarily what it as called when person was born. Also asked married people for the first time how old they were at first marriage. Also asked individuals what languages they spoke prior to coming to this country.

Whew! Other census schedules can be obtained that are not population driven and they will have lots of information that you cannot glean from the above discussed census forms. Agricultural schedules can help flesh out a community- what social role farming had or didn't have in the community, financial stability in the area, or what might have been grown. Also, farm is a very generic term and could have been used for fruit orchards, and garden nurseries. Around the 1880's, records began to be kept of what was grown as long at the farm was over a certain amount of acreage or the sold more than $500 dollars worth of farm 'goods' (the amount of goods, cash or produce could be estimated and might not be the most accurate). Records also expanded to cover the value of farm equipment, the amount of livestock (and their potential value), value and number of loss animals killed by nature, etc...., owners of farm vs tenant farmers, costs of business which might include upkeep of equipment,etc... In 1810, the US government started a Manufacturer Schedule to help record what businesses were out there, what they sold, quality, and value to the goods and business. They might have recorded number of employees, annual production rates, number of machinery or technology, products made and the location and owner of the business. The 1830 and 1840 Manufacturer Schedule wasn't taken due to the confusion and inaccuracies of the years before. It was started again in 1850, but it was limited to businesses that were able to exceed $500 in production. It also started to collect the genders of employees- how many women vs men were working in an industry and average monthly wages. In 1880, the data collected centered mostly around twelve specific industries. However, it must be noted that some forms or non population schedules have been destroyed or are otherwise hard to find because as time went on... they were not considered as important or legally protected as other 'archival' forms.

Another schedule is called the 'Defective, Dependent, Delinquent classes' and is officially filled out on supplemental schedules 1-7. This schedules help the government to compile statistics on those individuals that are more likely to need institutions, hospitals, prisons, shelters, etc... I didn't know this but these forms are also used to collect statistics to aid in the study of genetic disease. However, all individuals that are listed on this form are also listed in the regular population census. The Schedules 'officially' are:

1. Insane Inhabitants – individuals who were alcoholics, had mania, depression, paralysis, dementia or epileptics

2. Idiots – extreme mental deficiency from childhood

3. Deaf- Mutes – you had to be both extremely hard of hearing and be unable to speak because of it... or a semi-mute who lost hearing after gaining some language.

4. Blind – included blind, or semi-blind

5. Homeless children – special attention given to see if children came from 'respectable homes' or 'vicious backgrounds'.

6. Inhabitants in Prison – information on inmates was gotten from the warden. (sounds like a recipe for perfection and disaster all at once :)

7. Pauper and Indigent – this form was designed to count all individuals that were living in public houses, hospitals, etc... at public expense.... so some individuals might be counted twice if they had any of the above mentioned 'conditions'.


Other schedules that were collected were:

1. Social Statistics Schedules: collected through 1850-1885.
2. Mortality Schedules: This records deaths within year of census.
3. Veteran's Schedules – started in 1890.


Polking has lots of suggestions for where you can get help with your family history. The first place the author mentions is the library- which is a wonderful place to start. Some libraries have purchased access to the Ancestry website and also have collections of 'genealogical resources' that you may go through. Each library that I have gone to that does have a genealogy collection also has a librarian that is absolutely delighted to teach you how to start as long as he/she in not swamped with other work- that is how I have learned a few of the things that I use when doing my research. Polking mentions several volumes by name that a lot of libraries have but doesn't mention that libraries can also have resources on microfiche, CD-Rom, or other programs for public usage. (Maybe the author's libraries are just not as good as mine or the author doesn't have a Mormon background where people will almost kill to help you... although he does mention family history centers later in the book. :)

Mr. Polking also mentions using Courthouse records as well as vital records by state to discover information. States can issue certificates of birth, death, marriage, and divorce depending on their archives and your pocketbook (some states are way more money and hassle than others... CT is a snap and cheap.... NJ is a six month or more waiting period and then your request can be denied due to a technicality and it costs much more than a lot of other states.). Some Federal land records are available as well in printed records. He mentions a few different immigration resources (I have also found others by 'Google-ing'), and genealogical researchers. Genealogical researchers are a great resource but I will admit... they are my source of last resort! Some cost between $75-150 an hour which doesn't include expenses and may find nothing of value for you. Now, they may also find exactly what you need and if you do not live near where the information is, it certainly can still be a bargain for you to hire someone to look for you. I guess that I am cheap and a fairly hands on girl... so I starts lists from all the different genealogies that I am working on and areas and when I get enough... I justify a trip! I tend to find even more than I went looking for in some cases and get stumped in others, but it always feels costs savings and worthwhile... so I guess you know that I have a long list when I go :) Oral histories can be helpful as well and when you are able to find them they are worth it in so many ways. You can get ideas about family that you were not around and the life they led from their own lips. Military Records can be good and can actually give you a great visual picture of your relative because they can also describe physical characteristics as well as behavior, rank, etc... The author also mentions ways to use religion and ethnicity to help find records- you can search the churches of your ancestors as well as resources concentrating specifically on their religion, church and local area. You can use immigration and ethnicity to help you with research if your relatives are Jewish, European, etc...

Another research place that the author recommends are LDS family history centers. I highly recommend them for many reasons... and I have a few disclaimers First, people who volunteer there are excited to help you -I used to be one of them) and you can be the highlight of their day! There will not sleep until they help you get what you need if they can. However, as a member of this church I must warn you that some people use their volunteer work for two purposes that may not square with your goals. Some volunteers believe that while helping you they must also be a 'missionary' and convince you to join the LDS church. Some individuals can be easily put off, but others cannot and I can see that as very frustrating for some people. Others want to help with your genealogy because their genealogy is so far back it is 'hard'... and thy have already done the 'temple work' for their relatives. If you are a non-member you bring the promise of genealogy that is easier and needs 'temple work completed. It is up to you to decide what information you are willing to leave with representatives and to make clear what they are allowed to use that information for. Last disclaimer is that the smaller centers have a lot less information and you do need to pay and wait for some information to come from the larger library. So those are my disclaimers. When you find a person who volunteers... and you feel like you both understand and trust each other, you can find that a Mormon genealogist is a great friend to have. If you are willing to wait for microfiche and other documents and use it at your little local center- it is great and you can get a lot of stuff! I got a form from there that I was able to use to write a document in German and send it in German to a church to try and get some help with a German ancestor. That was pretty cool.

And the information on adopted children is great. I am stuck on one individual who I do know her name before adoption and I can't find much else. I think that using the information in this reading will be my next step on the family history that I am doing for class. And the information on illegitimate children seems like some great information to keep track of as well. I know that tracking the ancestry of African American's in this country is supposed to be hard (I have never tried so I have no idea but slavery tried really hard to separate families so I wouldn't doubt the challenges. It appears that you can find information almost anywhere for almost anything. I have found sources for items from historical biographies 'source pages' that have had great information for other purposes. Magazines can have sources, libraries, the internet, people's personal family collections... I have even found someone's genealogy in a Bible at a yard sale which I managed to find a family member for... It seems you just need to keep your eyes pealed!

And I must admit that I thought a lot about the section 'unexpected markets for your research'. I have tended to do the genealogy of anyone who asks- its really that simple. I have never thought of publishing it or even doing anything with it except give it to the person that I was compiling it for. The idea of sharing some of it with other enthusiasts sounds very intriguing and a little scary. Definitely something that I might think about for a bit. :) And I have certainly learned this week that there are more things constantly to learn. So much was familiar, but other things certainly were not- for instance I thought the date on the top of the census forms was the 'date', not an official date.

Last, but not least is the concept of collateral kin. First I have to say that I am already a convert of making families whole and not just the 'direct line'. I have found that you can't get a whole image of the family without the whole family nor are women and young children as easily traced without them. Grandmothers move in with Aunts, orphans move in with Uncles or Grandparents and you can not have any idea of how they 'fit' without taking in to account the whole family around them. I do have a strong belief in the direct line and being able to see your exact ancestry, but to also see your ancestors in their 'context' is a real way to see them... and not just a few lines on a chart or a spare picture or story. A friend of mine who past away last April was really a product of many things but her childhood really made her into the strong woman she was. Her father died within two months of her birth and she grew up as a step child with three half siblings. In many ways she raised her siblings when her mother died several years later. To only see her as who she is now would be to ignore what made her who she is today. This is what the author appears to mean by collateral kin. Collecting information on other family members always tends to give you information on your direct relative even if it is just incidental. You can find out hereditary disease that run through the whole family, the community, economy and social structure around the family as well as occupations, dangers, traditions, etc... (You can also find out things you didn't want to know like murder, abuse, etc.... but the risk for good information is almost always worth the risk of bad- and frankly there will always be some bad... otherwise we would definitely be lying or whitewashing our family's history. Sticking with just a surname also tends to make you so focused that you can miss the info that you need which is just a page away; ex... a neighbor talks about his good neighbor Joe (who is who you are researching,.... but doesn't always mention the last name.) Those sorts of information are harder to get if you put 'on blinders' and stick only with the surnames or direct line. I have found some research that talks about someone's children and short lived marriage that was not in census forms or the 'typical suspects' but in journal, letters and documentation from a sister. One thing that the author also mentioned was the relationships. You are more likely to find the people you need when using relationships than last names – unless of course you have an extremely rare last name. Otherwise you will have huge lists of people that do not have anything to do with that you are doing.... or even your family! ;) So using the information that you can get from siblings, cousins and distant relations as well as neighbors, family friends, work relationships, etc... can give you the closest image you can really get of what it was like to 'be' your relative and to live in that place and that moment. Also when you study an entire family, you can study larger patterns in society of education, migration, economic times, etc... Those larger and broader subjects are so much harder to study one person at a time... especially if the one person as a time can be a decade or two apart. :) One of the best reasons to study collateral kin that the author mentioned is that by studying distant cousins, sometimes they have information on a common ancestor that you do not... and if you ask nicely, they tend to be willing to share.... one of the great things about family history enthusiasts.!!! They also may have records simply because they lived in a different area and their records were not destroyed or lost. I was also fascinated by the idea that wills and documents left by individuals without descendants were more useful that those who did- never heard of that idea before. I also was surprised that some of the kinship meanings didn't mean what I thought that they meant! I also appreciated finishing up with the thought that familiar terms (cousin,etc...) were much more fluid in older times. When I go back and look at some of the genealogy that I have done, maybe I will have some more tools at my disposal to figure out things in my 'gaps'.! :)