Final paper

Yanjun Li        

ENGL 191

Final paper

Does Dress Code and Uniform Work in America?

Through my three interviews this semester, I have heard different opinions about dress code and uniform in school. Especially Japan which did well at part of enforces students’ uniform in school.  In my point of view, uniform or dress code does help the school to maintain their environment well and improve academic result.

            United Kingdom started their uniform history because of the poor or underprivileged people. They thought the uniform could fix the unbalanced social status. Therefore, “the uniform became a means of defining status”. Also, the royal people created the sample of the uniform. At the meanwhile, Britain started to require their high-level universities like Oxford and Cambridge to wear school uniform in order to identify their top students (Firmin, Smith and Perry 144). On the other side of Europe, France announced that all students are banned to wear any clothes with religious symbols in 2004. France purposed to unite their country’s religious and other countries started to concern about the issue (Gereluk 643).  Nowadays, France is the only countries that put this policy in action (Gereluk 644). “In France and England, for example, the wearing of the hijab is not only a symbol of one’s particular religious affiliation: it has increasingly become a political symbol, as a sign of solidarity against the state’s decision to curtail Muslim dress in the public sphere”. Similarly, in Islam point of view, wearing tawhid is one of the sign that you support for the religious of umbrella (Gereluk 644). On the other hand, Turkey banned the headscarves policy in order to make their countries more modern or at least keeping pace with the rest of the Europe countries (Gereluk 645). From all the example of these foreign countries, we can see that different countries have their personal dress code and uniform policy for various purposes, and that gave a great guideline to United States.

            In nineteenth and early twentieth century, people thought that United State would not have a uniform policy; however they used it in certain purpose at that time. United States didn’t carry the uniform policy out to their white students; instead they made action to the minorities. Their aim of the action was to civilize the “unruly” bodies of the minorities. The minorities were the Native Americans, Indian, Black and women, American thought that they were hardly ruled and wanted to use uniform to teach them how to be a proper citizen, whom all they could wear were western clothes. Also, their traditional clothes like tribal attire and moccasins were banned during that time as it affected the progress of westernized. After all these education, “women, black, Indian, poor classes, immigrants, toddlers or infants” would know how to self-regulate or self-govern themselves (Dussel 191).

            Because America brought their plan to successful conclusion, the Catholic school and Private school started to perform the uniform policy, too. Although America weren’t familiar with the uniform policy, Catholic school had a rich experience on processing this policy (Firmin 144). According to Firmin, Smith, and Perry, said that Catholic school didn’t attempt to create the “Catholic school effect”; instead, they wanted to equalize their students inside the school through the uniform. Moreover, equalizing everyone and respecting people is the aim of a Catholic school (145). However, public school’s parents always had a misunderstanding about the Catholic and Private school, which they thought the Catholic and Private school were always the best because of the uniform, “including the presence of safe, secure, and orderly learning environments” (Firmin, Smith and Perry 144).

            As Catholic school and Private school’s uniform policy went really well and solved the problem of how to equalize the underprivileged people, some of the boards of public school suggested taking action in their school by following the Private school. The top-class students in private school had a specific form of uniform which is called the ‘preppy look’. “Preppy look is the khaki or gray trousers, worn with Oxford shirts with button-down collars in white or light blue”. At that time, public school used the private school’s uniform as their sample of general uniform (Dussel 191).

Even though some of the public school chose to have a uniform policy, some of them, began to accomplish the policy which was similar to the uniform policy, it is called the dress code. Dress code is different from the uniform policy, which the dress code is “the rule about what cannot be worn at school”, and uniform policy is “what must be worn in schools” (Gereluk 643). According to Gereluk’s research, there are mainly four considerations of dress code, “1) whether the clothing creates health and safety concerns; 2) whether the clothing is oppressive oneself or to others; 3) whether the clothing significantly inhibits the educational aims of the school; 4) whether the clothing is essential to a person’s identity.” (645). The school could discuss through these 4 points to think about whether their schools had to carry out the dress code policy (Gereluk 645). Also, student should understand that “dressing appropriately for the environment in which you are in is an important component for all of life” (Firmin, Smith and Perry 154). Therefore, dress code or uniform can make students understand about this concept. From 80s to modern, United States went through the dress standard for decades. Between 50s and 60s, a lot of American schools carried out the dress code, which was “forbidding girls from wearing slacks, requiring particular lengths for dresses and skirts, blue jean regulations, prohibiting motorcycle boots or black leather jackets”, etc. From 1970, federal government started to concern about the student’s choices of clothing and the “freedom-of-expression”. In 1980, even though schools didn’t have the right to stop their students from wearing the clothes that is against the school, the court said that the students may not wear clothes like sheer blouses, cross-clothing and gang emblems, which those are offensive to school (Firmin, Smith and Perry 145). Public school launched the school uniform in Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C., and many people researched about the effect of the school uniform on these three schools. “Some data suggests lowered violence, gang influence, and academic improvement in students.” On the other hand, there were controversies between both sides, people argued that those schools have adjusted some of the policy with the school uniform policy at the same time, like “increased teacher enforcement and involvement with students as well as parental involvement with the school process and system” (Firmin, Smith and Perry 146). Therefore, educators thought that there were no certainties that can prove the dress code helped those good things. Other than that, some schools were revealing by using the dress code in the wrong reasons, like they involved the idea of racial discrimination involved, as they were mostly focus on African-American gangs, but not the white gangs. But, they weren’t all true to every school. In 1993, the students in the Will Rogers Middle School in Long Beach, California all agreed the successfulness of the uniform. Teachers thought the students got more patient and the students said that is because “they were not occupied with what they would wear to school” anymore. In the statistic that showed in Long Beach, California, the “suspension dropped 32 percent and crime fell 36 percent” in the very first year of launching the policy (Wilson 1). Therefore, I think the Will Rogers School gave an extremely strong data to prove the uniform is work and essential for the school. Not matter there are other factors affecting or helping the successfulness of school uniform policy, research found students found improved greatly in school and school become more secure, which are the ultimate goals of schools, therefore, I think school uniform did work well in school to urge their students. 

We saw all these data proved the successfulness or failure of dress code, but what is the initial idea of the dress code? A school dress code suppose to “eliminate competition, teach young people to dress appropriately, decrease non-academic distractions, and lower the clothing costs of attending a private school” (Firmin, Smith and Perry 165). With dress code, peer pressure can’t exist anymore, it is because no one looks different than others, and they all wore in the same standards (Firmin, Smith and Perry 156). Therefore, the students will be equalized without name-brands (Firmin, Smith and Perry 152), which helped to eliminate the “competition” and encourage them to respect each other. People proved that uniform and dress code can be the security measurement, because “they are useful for identifying gang’s members, as they resist wearing a uniform” (Dussel 193). Therefore, the uniform can make sure and improve the school security in order to provide a safe and guarantee environment to their students.

Everything has two sides of pros and cons, and uniform policy is not one of the exceptions, it has negative side, too. Sometimes, when you are banning symbolic clothing from one‘s expression, he/she may feel humiliated. For example, a girl who believed in Muslim requires wearing the niqab in order to respect their god and themselves. However, if the school banned girls wearing niqab, they will feel offensive to uncover their faces, which it may arise to a political issue (Gereluk 647). Therefore, some people may think the dress code is too autarchic or oppressive. Therefore, people who set up the dress code should be very careful these kind of sensitive issues, otherwise, it will be offensive to people’s right and freedom of speech and religious.  On the other hand, according to the students’ interview from Firmin, Smith and Perry’s research, some students argued that they can’t see any difference or improvement in their classroom and the academic results. They also said it didn’t decrease their distraction at all, as they can get good grade no matter what they wear. Moreover, they disagree that students would be brilliant all in the sudden after wearing the school uniform (159).  To determine whether the uniform is effective to their academic result is a subjective statement. So, the policy has various effects on different students. Meanwhile, it is clearly that those students who disagree the improvement in school properly are the grade A students, therefore, they might think the dress code or uniform wasn’t very effective for them and couldn’t push the grade up anymore. However, I still strongly think that uniform help certain students improving their academic results improved, at least to the students who can’t keep focus in the class and those who have bad grades.

Setting up a dress code coordinator wasn’t that simple, there are many careful considerations to make. “The U.S. Department of Education issued a manual outlining the following recommended policies for successful implementation of new school uniform codes” (Firmin, Smith and Perry 147). First of all, while in the process of issuing the dress code, school should encourage the parents to join the conference (Firmin, Smith and Perry 147). It is because school can only control the students in the school area, when the kids step out of the school authorized area, school can’t do anything on them other than their own. In order to have a huge success in the policy, parent’s involvement is a very critical step. Secondly, school should “protect student’s religious expression” (Firmin, Smith and Perry 147). As the example mentioned above, if you ban people from wearing niqab, they and even the religious will feel offensive and humiliated, which can cause senior political offers. Therefore, school should make sure they give enough space on these sensitive issues. Thirdly, school should not stop students from expressing their other rights, (Firmin, Smith and Perry 147), for instance, students love football game, and they will buy the favorite team shirt, therefore, school should not banned the students from wearing to support their team, as it is a freedom of expression, too. Next, school should determine whether they should have a voluntary or mandatory school uniform policy” or not (Firmin, Smith and Perry 147). School should not just blindly follow the trend of having a mandatory school uniform policy; instead, the school should evaluate their needs and choose one of the two policies by using the evaluation. Otherwise, overwhelming or restricting their kids may turn the effective inside out. After that, when the school choose to have a mandatory policy, the school should also discuss about the method of withdrawing from the school uniform policy (Firmin, Smith and Perry 147). It is for emergency, after the school find the mandatory uniform policy wasn’t suitable for the school, they can soon carry out the withdrawal policy in order to decrease the losses as many as possible. Other than that, school shouldn’t “require the student’s to wear message” (Firmin, Smith and Perry 147). Students should not wear any shirts that printed a message on it, it is because sometimes, it will be offensive to someone, and easily increase people’s attention which causes distraction. Other than that, school should assist the families that go through financial difficulties (Firmin, Smith and Perry 147). Poor families may not be able to buy a uniform for their kids, so school should have a good financial program that helps those families. Last but not least, school should “treat school uniforms as part of an overall safety program”. As it is mentioned above, educators think that uniform are useful to determine the gang’s members, and also there are example of decreasing the crime and suspension rate, therefore, school should treat it as a safety policy, too.

After following all these requirements or guidelines, I am sure the school will reach their ultimate goals: academic improvement and secure environment. Moreover, their students will behave well, respect each other and become a big family after the school uniform policy or dress code policy.

Works Cited

Dussel, Inés. "When Appearances Are Not Deceptive: A Comparative History Of School       Uniforms In Argentina And The United States (Nineteenth–Twentieth Centuries)." Paedagogica Historica 41.1/2 (2005): 179-195. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Apr. 2012.

Firmin, Michael, Suzanne Smith, and Lynsey Perry. "School Uniforms: A Qualitative Analysis Of Aims And Accomplishments At Two Christian Schools." Journal Of Research On Christian Education 15.2 (2006): 143-168. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Apr. 2012.

GERELUK, DIANNE. "What Not To Wear: Dress Codes And Uniform Policies In The Common School." Journal Of Philosophy Of Education 41.4 (2007): 643-657. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Apr. 2012.

Orlans, Harold. "School's Dress." Change 29.6 (1997): 5. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Apr. 2012.

Wilson, Amy Mitchell. "Public School Dress Codes: The Constitutional Debate." Brigham Young University Education & Law Journal 1 (1998): 147. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Apr. 2012.

 

 

 

 

First Graft of Final paper

Yanjun Li        

ENGL 191

First graft

Does Dress Code and Uniform Work in America?

            Through my three interviews this semester, I have heard different opinions about dress code and uniform in school. Especially Japan which did well at part of enforces students’ uniform in school.  In my point of view, uniform or dress code does help the school to maintain their environment well and improve academic result.

            United Kingdom started their uniform history because of the poor or underprivileged people. They thought the uniform could fix the unbalanced social status. Therefore, “the uniform became a means of defining status”. Also, the royal people created the sample of the uniform. At the meanwhile, Britain started to require their high-level universities like Oxford and Cambridge to wear school uniform in order to identify their top students (Firmin, Smith and Perry 144). On the other side of Europe, France announced that all students are banned to wear any clothes with religious symbols in 2004. France purposed to unite their country’s religious and other countries started to concern about the issue (Gereluk 643).  Nowadays, France is the only countries that put this policy in action (Gereluk 644). “In France and England, for example, the wearing of the hijab is not only a symbol of one’s particular religious affiliation: it has increasingly become a political symbol, as a sign of solidarity against the state’s decision to curtail Muslim dress in the public sphere”. Similarly, in Islam point of view, wearing tawhid is one of the sign that you support for the religious of umbrella (Gereluk 644). On the other hand, Turkey banned the headscarves policy in order to make their countries more modern or at least keeping pace with the rest of the Europe countries (Gereluk 645). From all the example of these foreign countries, we can see that different countries have their personal dress code and uniform policy for various purposes, and that gave a great guideline to United States.

            In nineteenth and early twentieth century, people thought that United State would not have a uniform policy; however they used it in certain purpose at that time. United States didn’t carry the uniform policy out to their white students; instead they made action to the minorities. Their aim of the action was to civilize the “unruly” bodies of the minorities. The minorities were the Native Americans, Indian, Black and women, American thought that they were hardly ruled and wanted to use uniform to teach them how to be a proper citizen, whom all they could wear were western clothes. Also, their traditional clothes like tribal attire and moccasins were banned during that time as it affected the progress of westernized. After all these education, “women, black, Indian, poor classes, immigrants, toddlers or infants” would know how to self-regulate or self-govern themselves (Dussel 191).

Even though some of the public school chose to have a uniform policy, some of them, began to accomplish the policy which was similar to the uniform policy, it is called the dress code. Dress code is different from the uniform policy, which the dress code is “the rule about what cannot be worn at school”, and uniform policy is “what must be worn in schools” (Gereluk 643). According to Gereluk’s research, there are mainly four considerations of dress code, “1) whether the clothing creates health and safety concerns; 2) whether the clothing is oppressive oneself or to others; 3) whether the clothing significantly inhibits the educational aims of the school; 4) whether the clothing is essential to a person’s identity.” (645). The school could discuss through these 4 points to think about whether their schools had to carry out the dress code policy (Gereluk 645). Also, student should understand that “dressing appropriately for the environment in which you are in is an important component for all of life” (Firmin, Smith and Perry 154). Therefore, dress code or uniform can make students understand about this concept. From 80s to modern, United States went through the dress standard for decades. Between 50s and 60s, a lot of American schools carried out the dress code, which was “forbidding girls from wearing slacks, requiring particular lengths for dresses and skirts, blue jean regulations, prohibiting motorcycle boots or black leather jackets”, etc. From 1970, federal government started to concern about the student’s choices of clothing and the “freedom-of-expression”. In 1980, even though schools didn’t have the right to stop their students from wearing the clothes that is against the school, the court said that the students may not wear clothes like sheer blouses, cross-clothing and gang emblems, which those are offensive to school (Firmin, Smith and Perry 145). Public school launched the school uniform in Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C., and many people researched about the effect of the school uniform on these three schools. “Some data suggests lowered violence, gang influence, and academic improvement in students.” On the other hand, there were controversies between both sides, people argued that those schools have adjusted some of the policy with the school uniform policy at the same time, like “increased teacher enforcement and involvement with students as well as parental involvement with the school process and system” (Firmin, Smith and Perry 146). Therefore, educators thought that there were no certainties that can prove the dress code helped those good things. Other than that, some schools were revealing by using the dress code in the wrong reasons, like they involved the idea of racial discrimination involved, as they were mostly focus on African-American gangs, but not the white gangs. But, they weren’t all true to every school. In 1993, the students in the Will Rogers Middle School in Long Beach, California all agreed the successfulness of the uniform. Teachers thought the students got more patient and the students said that is because “they were not occupied with what they would wear to school” anymore. In the statistic that showed in Long Beach, California, the “suspension dropped 32 percent and crime fell 36 percent” in the very first year of launching the policy (Wilson 1). Therefore, I think the Will Rogers School gave an extremely strong data to prove the uniform is work and essential for the school. Not matter there are other factors affecting or helping the successfulness of school uniform policy, research found students found improved greatly in school and school become more secure, which are the ultimate goals of schools, therefore, I think school uniform did work well in school to urge their students. 

We saw all these data proved the successfulness or failure of dress code, but what is the initial idea of the dress code? A school dress code suppose to “eliminate competition, teach young people to dress appropriately, decrease non-academic distractions, and lower the clothing costs of attending a private school” (Firmin, Smith and Perry 165). With dress code, peer pressure can’t exist anymore, it is because no one looks different than others, and they all wore in the same standards (Firmin, Smith and Perry 156). Therefore, the students will be equalized without name-brands (Firmin, Smith and Perry 152), which helped to eliminate the “competition” and encourage them to respect each other. People proved that uniform and dress code can be the security measurement, because “they are useful for identifying gang’s members, as they resist wearing a uniform” (Dussel 193). Therefore, the uniform can make sure and improve the school security in order to provide a safe and guarantee environment to their students.

Everything has two sides of pros and cons, and uniform policy is not one of the exceptions, it has negative side, too. Sometimes, when you are banning symbolic clothing from one‘s expression, he/she may feel humiliated. For example, a girl who believed in Muslim requires wearing the niqab in order to respect their god and themselves. However, if the school banned girls wearing niqab, they will feel offensive to uncover their faces, which it may arise to a political issue (Gereluk 647). Therefore, some people may think the dress code is too autarchic or oppressive. Therefore, people who set up the dress code should be very careful these kind of sensitive issues, otherwise, it will be offensive to people’s right and freedom of speech and religious.  On the other hand, according to the students’ interview from Firmin, Smith and Perry’s research, some students argued that they can’t see any difference or improvement in their classroom and the academic results. They also said it didn’t decrease their distraction at all, as they can get good grade no matter what they wear. Moreover, they disagree that students would be brilliant all in the sudden after wearing the school uniform (159).  To determine whether the uniform is effective to their academic result is a subjective statement. So, the policy has various effects on different students. Meanwhile, it is clearly that those students who disagree the improvement in school properly are the grade A students, therefore, they might think the dress code or uniform wasn’t very effective for them and couldn’t push the grade up anymore. However, I still strongly think that uniform help certain students improving their academic results improved, at least to the students who can’t keep focus in the class and those who have bad grades.

Setting up a dress code coordinator wasn’t that simple, there are many careful considerations to make. “The U.S. Department of Education issued a manual outlining the following recommended policies for successful implementation of new school uniform codes” (Firmin, Smith and Perry 147). First of all, while in the process of issuing the dress code, school should encourage the parents to join the conference (Firmin, Smith and Perry 147). It is because school can only control the students in the school area, when the kids step out of the school authorized area, school can’t do anything on them other than their own. In order to have a huge success in the policy, parent’s involvement is a very critical step. Secondly, school should “protect student’s religious expression” (Firmin, Smith and Perry 147). As the example mentioned above, if you ban people from wearing niqab, they and even the religious will feel offensive and humiliated, which can cause senior political offers. Therefore, school should make sure they give enough space on these sensitive issues. Thirdly, school should not stop students from expressing their other rights, (Firmin, Smith and Perry 147), for instance, students love football game, and they will buy the favorite team shirt, therefore, school should not banned the students from wearing to support their team, as it is a freedom of expression, too. After following all these requirements or guidelines, I am sure the school will reach their ultimate goals: academic improvement and secure environment.

 

 

Works Cited

Dussel, Inés. "When Appearances Are Not Deceptive: A Comparative History Of School       Uniforms In Argentina And The United States (Nineteenth–Twentieth Centuries)." Paedagogica Historica 41.1/2 (2005): 179-195. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Apr. 2012.

Firmin, Michael, Suzanne Smith, and Lynsey Perry. "School Uniforms: A Qualitative Analysis Of Aims And Accomplishments At Two Christian Schools." Journal Of Research On Christian Education 15.2 (2006): 143-168. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Apr. 2012.

GERELUK, DIANNE. "What Not To Wear: Dress Codes And Uniform Policies In The Common School." Journal Of Philosophy Of Education 41.4 (2007): 643-657. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Apr. 2012.

Orlans, Harold. "School's Dress." Change 29.6 (1997): 5. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Apr. 2012.

Wilson, Amy Mitchell. "Public School Dress Codes: The Constitutional Debate." Brigham Young University Education & Law Journal 1 (1998): 147. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Apr. 2012.

Final Paper Outline

Topic: Does dress code and uniform work in amercia?

Introduction:

                Hook: Through my three interviews this semester, I have heard different opinions about dress code and uniform in school. Especially Japan which did well at part of enforces students’ uniform in school.

                Thesis statement: In my point of view, uniform or dress code does help the school to maintain their environment well and improve academic result.

Body:

                First main point:

                Uniform: Start at “why” and “when”.

1. UK started their uniform because of poor.

2. in nineteenth and early twentieth century. American stated uniform to make action to the minorities.

                Second main point:

                Dress code:

                Start at what difference between uniform policy and dress code.

                There are mainly four considerations of dress code:

1.       Whether the clothing creates health and safety concerns.

2.       Whether the clothing is oppressive oneself or to others,

3.       Whether the clothing significantly inhibits the educational aims of the school.

4.        Whether the clothing is essential to a person’s identity.

Third main point:

Advantages of uniform or dress code work in America.

Fourth main point:

Disadvantages of uniform or dress code work in America.

Conclusion:

                It’s hard to set up a dress code. There are three main rules that may give coordinator some help. And then make school reach their ultimate goals which is academic improvement and secure environment.

Topic of final paper

"Does dress code and uniform work in America"

I choose this topic because when I doing my interview, I have some questions which link to education about their countries. And three of them are all talked about their children in school are uniformed. So do I. However, in U.S. I can not see many school uniform. So, I am interested in this topic. I want to do more reasearch on this topic.

Review of Interview 3

The best interview:
Toure, Mohamed L. http://en191fl12s28mohamedto.blogspot.com/ I give 20 pionts to that interview.
He did very well now. I think it is a prefect interview now.



The second best interview:
Galkina, Elena V http://elenaen191f12s28.blogspot.com/ I give 20 points to that interview.
This interview is organized very well. It covered all main points. And she also compare withe her 2 previous interviews, then find what she need to improve. She did it.



The third best interview:
Alnawmasi, Sultan F http://en191f12s28alnawmasi.blogspot.com/ I give 20 points to that interview.
He did improve his whole interview. He covered all points that should be post. I still can remember he was not doing well in his first interview about transcription. Now, his transcription was really good, I can see how enjoy his interview conversation.

 My score card

Review of Interview 2

The best interview:
Toure, Mohamed L. http://en191fl12s28mohamedto.blogspot.com/ I give 20 pionts to that interview.
Although, he had the same contury for the second interview, he did inprove his whole interview. He doing better on preparations, he stared to ask himself what is it he wanted to accomplish in order to be more efficient. He had more clear goals to touch. He did well in warm up talking that I need to learn. And I like his country report which also getting better.


The second best interview:
Brittany Hofstater http://eng191f12s28brittanyhof.blogspot.com/ I give 20 points to that interview.
I give 20 points to her because she covered all required points. and she made her conversation interesting and flow. And also the country her chose is also I interested in.


The third best interview:
Jonathan Ouedraogo http://en191f12s28jonaou.blogspot.com/ I give 19 points to that interview.
His second interview I scored high because fully covered all main points.It gives enough information and also included pictures in the country report. However, he lost one point of lack of details in the preparations.


My scorecard sheet

Third Interview

My Third Interview

Preparations
Going my third interview I chose another country called Burkina Faso. My intentions were to gain a better understanding of a different culture from my own. I am interested in knowing about their traditions, customs, food, religious beliefs, and daily activities. I would like to then compare this information to my own culture. I thought about who I wanted to contact for my third interview. I decided to approach a friend named Patrick who is introduced from my roommate and also from that country. We decided on Thursday 11/8/2012 at 12:00pm in the library. I reserved a study room to conduct the interview, and I brought my recording device as I did before.

Description
I thought my third interview went the best because I had a better understanding of the interview process than I did in the first two interviews. I was more confident which made me less nervous as well. Patrick was nice because I bring some snacks to him. He had informed me even though the interview went well there are some things I could do to make it more successful. Instead of jumping from topic to topic I should find ways to connect the topics with questions that lead into each other. I thought I did a much better job at doing this.
Country Report

 

http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/burkina_faso.htm

 

"The country of free men" is known to the world as Burkina Faso. It is a small nation, about the size of Colorado, located in the north-western region of Africa. It is surrounded on all sides sharing boarders with six neighboring countries including: Benin, Togo, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali and Niger. The French occupied this area from 1895 until they gain their independence in August 1960. During the time of colonization this area was known as Upper Volta (1). Though the country is very poor the government has remained relatively stable for a number of years in an area of the continent which is hit by frequent instability. Also, the government “is attempting to improve the economy by developing its mineral resources, particularly gold, improving its infrastructure, making its agricultural and livestock sectors more productive and competitive, and stabilizing the supplies and prices of food grains” (2).

Today, the government of Burkina Faso is a Republic. They have a multiparty democracy in which the citizens vote on elected officials (1). Though, this hasn't always been the case. The history dates back before the colonization period. At that time it was ruled by the Mossi Empire. Then the French invaded and took control over the area. In 1960, Burkina Faso gained their independence from France. Over the next thirty years there were a series of military coups that took power over the government. It wasn't until 1991 that a democratic election was held(2).

The national language is French because of their history of colonization. Oswald informed me the main greetings are Bonjour, Comment êtes-vous? They also greet by shaking hands, hugging, and kissing on the cheek. According to Patrick though, it is polite for you to wait to greet people who are older. Out of respect you must wait for the elder to initiate conversation or a handshake.

Education in Burkina Faso is highly valued and respected. Parents save up a lot of their money in order to send their children to school because their education is not free. Like in the United States, it ranges from 1st grade to 12th grade but there day to day schedule differs. In Burkina Faso, children go to school from 7:30am until 12:00pm. They have a two hour break to go home and eat with their families. They then return to school and finish at 5:00pm.

The most common modes of transportation include walking, bicycles, motorcycles, and cars. They do have a bus system but it is crowded and unreliable. Many children get their own motorbike around the age of 15 to drive themselves back and forth from school. To travel between countries the most common form of transportation is by train.

Burkina Faso is comprised of the two main religions Islam and Christianity. There is little conflict between the two religions in this country. Oswald told me, "During Christmas it is tradition for Christians to cook and bring food to their Muslim neighbors and vice versa during Ramadan." Patrick also confirmed this fact. He said, "It’s difficult to decide who is Christian and who isn’t because we tend to celebrate those together [...] we kind of like eat and celebrate together. So sometimes it difficult to tell is Christian and who is not. I think that is the main difference with the U.S."

According to Oswald and Patrick the main staple food is called tô. It is a paste about the consistency of mashed potatoes but is made from millet or corn flour. It is then combined with your choice of sauce. Patrick said, "[we] have all different types of sauce you put on the side. Can be baobab, spinach, it can be different stuff." During the interview I failed to ask details so I did a little more research myself. I found that baobab is a type of tree that produces fruit. "Baobab fruit looks like a large velvety-green coconut. Inside are large seeds, coated with powder that has a tangy taste of caramel pear with a hint of grapefruit" (3). It also contains a wide variety of nutrients.

 

By taking part in the interviews and doing my own research I learned a lot of interesting facts about a country I didn't know much about. I found some similarities and differences between Burkina Faso and the United States. It is similar in terms of the government in power and parts of the education system I believe this may be due to the Western influence inherited by France. However it differs greatly because of their economic situation.

 

 

Work Cite

1. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2834.htm. 26 March 2012
2. http://www.everyculture.com/Bo-Co/Burkina-Faso.htmlCo/Burkina-Faso.html. 26 March 2012
3. http://www.baobab.com/. 3 April 2012

Transcription

Me: Hi, How are you doing today?

P: I’m good, how about you?

Me: I’m so-so. I’m going to start the interview with asking where are you from.

P: I am from a West African country called Burkina Faso, it used to be called Upper Volta 40 years ago but now it is called Burkina Faso and Its about 60 million people and a little bigger than the size of Minnesota.

Me: Ok, so a fairly small country.

P: Yea, we are a small country.

Me: Ok, What are you going to school for?

P: Basically I came to study information technology. I ended up having my two year degree in information technology. I wasn’t sure about it so I went back for another two year degree in business. I transferred here to St. Cloud and now I’m going for natural science. So I am kind of looking like I’m everywhere probably looking a little lost but I will find my way.

Me: Yes, you will. How long have you been in St. Cloud?

P: Oh, it is my first semester.

Me: How do you like it?

P: It’s a little different from Virginia where I transferred from. But I like it so far.

Me: Is there anything that St. Cloud State could do to make your stay better?

P: You mean St. Cloud, the university?

Me: Yep the university.

P: Umm, for the moment since I’m not really used to the system yet and I don’t know exactly what’s going on around here. I am not sure if really give an answer to that question because I really need to see what is around here. When I got here I just started school and I didn’t get time to get to know the environment better. I didn’t really have time to know what could make it easier. But for now I think everything is ok. I don’t have any problems

Me: When you transferred here, as it easy for you to transition into school or is there something that could have been better?

P: Ok, well I could say something about the transfer because the transferring has been really tough. I had to go meet with the faculty that had the classes that I wanted to transfer. And they have to do an evaluation and stuff. Personally I wasn’t aware of that. That I had to do it myself. Because I sent my transcript and when I opened my student account I used see all the classes that transferred. But I didn’t know that they weren’t final. I didn’t know they weren’t exactly where they are supposed to be. So I had to go back and see. I got some of them but not all. And since I was the first person transferring from my school in Virginia I think that was a problem too. They didn’t really help deciding which credits transferred also. But I wish there was better system between the Midwest and East coast transferring system.

Me: Alright. Are you in a lot of stress while in school here?

P: This school is tougher than I thought. Stress, no I’m not a lot of stress unless I get a lot of assignments. But not really, I can handle it right now.

Me: Well, that’s good! What age did you start school? And can you tell me a little bit about the education system in Burkina Faso.

P: School, you don’t mean college, right?

Me: Yea I mean like all your school throughout your life.

P: We start school when we are 5 years old. We go to preschool and stuff. And I think the major difference is that we go to school at 7:30 then we get out at 12am. Then you go back at 3pm and get out at 5pm. I think here you go from 8 or 9 and get out around 2. Depending on the school and grade you are in.

Me: Yup you have your lunch break but you would stay on campus.

P: Yes, but for us you go 7 to 12 then 3 to 5 from 1^st grade until 12^th.

Me: Is that so you can go home and see your family and have a lunch break.

P: Sometimes, we have those schools where the kids would stay in the dorms

Me: ok so if you don’t live on campus for school how do you get to and from school, what kind of transportation do you use?

P: Back home, it really depends until about 15 years old your parents will give us a ride to school. When you are about 15 they get you a motorcycle so you can be independent and going to school by yourself. That’s when you really start to go by yourself.

Me: So, what are some other modes of transportation people can use?

P: Yea, we have bus but as far as respecting time it is not really accurate, it is not as developed as it is here because we have really few buses because we are a poor city and stuff. So people rely more on bicycle, motorcycle, and friends and family to go to different places.

Me: So mostly cars, walking, motorbikes. Would you maybe take the bus to the market to get food or is it close enough for you to walk?

P: No, usually the markets are really close. I think like Division would be like the same distance. But you would have the markets about 5 to 10 blocks around you. So you could kinda walk to the market or bicycle sometimes.

Me: Ok, So when you’re at the market. What kind of food is popular to buy, or what food is your country famous for?

P: Umm, we famous for a type of food, let me see what it looks like. You know you have those uhh like at KFC. What is the name of the thing again? Uhh Mashed Potatoes. Something like mashed potatoes but it could be done with corn instead or wheat one of those two.

Me: ohh so it is the consistency of mashed potatoes.

P: yea, you then have all different types of sauce you put on the side. Can be bokra, spinach, it can be different stuff. That’s mainly what we are known for.

Me: So that would be like your staple food, what is it called?

P: It is called To. Like T.O.

Me: What countries food do you like the most?

P: Well, in terms of food I’m not picky at all. I’m not picky so. I’ve tried Chinese it is ok. I have had Tai, South Korean, I like American food sometimes because it is greasy. But I think everything is ok.

Me: do you like spicy food, or more sweet?

P: Spicy, yes. Spicy because we have some spicy stuff and I even think our food is spicier than yours.

Me: Yea…

P: Have you tried it before?

Me: No, but I know that they say a lot of foods are spicy in the U.S. but when you try them they aren’t.

P: Yea, sometimes we have food that we cook, and it has that real spicy things in it. So kind of spicy, yea.

Me: Ok, what is a kind of food you would eat during your religious holidays?

P: umm, I’m Christian so basically no we don’t have a specific food but for Muslims they have a specific food that they eat at the beginning of the fasting period. It’s a pancake like, more like a bun cake kind of like a donut. It’s done with wheat. But I’m not really sure it depends to differ between cultures. But at the end of the fasting the slaughter like the sheep and stuff.

Me: Ok, so what are some religious holidays that you celebrate?

P: Christmas would be the main one, Easter too.

Me: Is there something specific you do for those holidays in your country that you don’t think Christians in the United States do? Like what do you is culturally different rather than religiously different?

P: Ok, culturally different back home when we have those holidays, sometimes its difficult to decide who is Christian and who isn’t because we tend to celebrate those together. Like assume it is Christmas time, for example, some Muslim families what they do is go get some groceries and stuff and bring them to their neighbors for them to do their celebration and that’s what Christians do when Muslims have their celebration. So we kind of like eat and celebrate together. So sometimes it difficult to tell is Christian and who is not. I think that is the main difference with the U.S. I think it tends to be more individual, if I may.

Me: You have more of that community based faith but in the U.S. it is more individualistic. They don’t really mesh well.

P: Yea, exactly.

Me: I really like that. I wish it was more like that here. Is there anything you do on a daily basis for your religion?

P: something that I was supposed to do but I am not doing is that every time you wake up and go to bed you say a little prayer or something. But sometimes it is a little tough because sometimes we wake up thinking about the work we need to do. Or this and that but we forget. We are supposed to go to weekly mass or follow some rules like at the end of this week we are done with our fasting period. During this time we are not supposed to   eat meat on Fridays.

Me: ok, so what is like a typical day for you?

P: A typical day is, wake up in the morning, listen probably to some music, go to school, spend an entire day studying, go back home, umm cook something to eat if I did do so during the weekend and check emails and stuff call friends. Go back to bed.

Me: Yea, the life of a college student!

P: Yea that’s life.

Me: What would be a typical day in the life of a child in your country?

P: Oh, that’s pretty easy. They wake up in the morning, make sure you get your breakfast, then go outside with your friends and do what you want to do. And probably around 5 it is time for you to take a shower. I mean if you are 10 and below. Probably around that age. Then make sure you eat around 6 and around 9 you go to bed. That is the typical life for the children back home.

Me: Yea pretty similar I would say. Is there any sports that the children like to play or watch?

P: Yea, Soccer, that is what we do.

Me: Yea, I think much of the world besides here. Huh?

P: Yea, I don’t understand why you guys don’t call it football.

Me: I don’t really know either. Let’s move on to another question. Is there something you could tell me about yourself that people don’t really know when they first meet you? Something that would give me an idea about who you are as a person.

P: Yes, probably one thing is that I don’t talk too much. And people, when you don’t talk too much, people don’t know how you are inside. I don’t really know who I am at first when we talk. It’s like time after time I will let myself out so you can see who I am. And ahh, people tends to have this first impression about you that in my case it is always different impression you would have after some time. I don’t really let myself out.

Me: So, like until you get comfortable with the person and get to know them.

P: No not really get to know them but if I am comfortable with them.

Me: well, you are very friendly at work. Very outgoing and nice.

P: Thank you, I try to. I don’t know if it my personality or culture but I don’t think it makes sense to work with people you don’t know. I believe that, like think, you never know what is going to happen. It is always good to know the people you are working with because they might need you or need them like somebody might be in trouble. If you didn’t know that person well you might not step in to help that person. I think it is always good to know everybody you working with. I feel like some people at work it doesn’t really matter to them. I think maybe it’s the culture or something.

Me: Yea especially like some of us work in the front of the house and some work in the back. I feel like in the front we know each other so much more and then you guys know each other well but a lot of the servers don’t come back and try to get to know you. They just come back there and try to do their own thing. But to communicate well you need to get to know each other. So when you first meet someone what are the greetings you use in your country?

P: In my culture whats happening if you feel that the person is older than you, you don’t sake their hand or initiate. You need to wait for the other person to initiate that then you can. Otherwise we say like Hi, how are you? Are you doing ok? No, like hug or kiss on the cheek.

Me: if you know the person, or friends or family would you hug or kiss on the cheek?

P: Uh, ya know we not, as far as hugging and kissing, we not really into those two types of things. Were not really into hugging. We only kiss during celebrations, like wishing a happy new year. Otherwise if someone is coming to visit in your house, it is hi, how are you? And a handshake. That’s about it.

Me: I see, would you say hello in English or do you speak French since it was at one time a French colony?

P: yes, we do speak French. But we do speak the native languages as well. And in school we learned English but since we do speak it a lot. The speaking wasn’t that well.

Me: So more of the writing.

P: Yea, writing is better.

Me: I’ve heard that before. So, since for a time period your country was taken over by the French and then you gained independence, what kind of government is in charge of your country now?

P: they say the government is kind of a democratic government. But I don’t think so because after 1960 the first president, he wasn’t democratically elected it has more to do with ah, colonization and stuff. I think 4 or 5 years later there was a coup. They took him down. I believe the following one we had another coup. 3 or 4 presidents out of 5 presidents were taken out.

Me: So they were taken out of power?

P: Yes, by a military coup. Then the military in charge of the coup would then get power. So they were like I don’t like this president. They take him out of power.

Me: Right now was the president elected in to power?

P: Ok, because it started twenty years or so ago. He took power in 1987. Then in 1991 there was an election that he won. Then at that time the president would be for two terms of 7 each. And at the end those two terms he kind of changed the constitution to make it to five years. Since the constitution had to be changed it was like the two 7 years didn’t count. So he was able to go back to his first term. Right now he is on his second 5 years. And there were some rumors that about the fact he did something to the constitution to be in. so we don’t know yet. But thanks to him the country is stable. This is something we owe to him. Besides that we still have poverty. It’s really hard on the population. Before the military coup, a president that was for four years, during that four years we didn’t need to import any things. But since then for years now we still have to import stuff. So I mean about how you handle the government. It’s the politics.

Me: Yea all about politics. How has that been different from living in the United States, they are both technically democracies, but how do u think it differs?

P: I think it is pretty much, back home we don’t feel like it differs much, because here and back home we are not close to it. We go on with our day to day lives. But the main thing I see here is that it is more likely cultural and economic. Here you have more opportunities to get a job, everywhere and stuff. You know? Easier to start your life and stuff. Its better.

Me: Ok, yea that’s good. Well I am done with my interview. Is there anything you would like to add to our conversation that we didn’t talk about?

P: One thing I may say, I was doing presentation on my country for a cultural event and I was doing some research. And you know the united states peace corp? right. We do have some members from this corp that tends to go back to my home country to do their different things. I found out that 1 out of 10 doesn’t come back to the U.S. They don’t come back because, what they said is that the life over there is much more, people are more welcoming and stuff. I’ll tell you my first experience. When I came to the U.S. my first problem was I am living in an apartment I don’t even know who my neighbor is. I’m like ok, that is the way it works around here. When you go out, even if you know who the neighbor is, if you meet the neighbor in the stairs or something and he is on his way. I’m like ok, what am I supposed to do am I supposed to stick to myself or not? It was really cultural shock but as you go you start to find your way.

Me: People can seem closed off unless you know them personally but sometime I wish that we were more opening and welcoming to our neighbors and get to know each other. Ya know, you may live on a block with all these people but you don’t even know who they are. You might get the wrong impression about them. But if you don’t really know them how can you judge them.

P: It’s like I said, your neighbor might be in trouble without you even knowing it. I don’t think the U.S. is going to get to that level soon.

ME: no I think it may have had that more friendly to each other but now it is so closed off and individual. You are supposed to live your own life. You need to do this and live on your own. You don’t need anyone else, kind of.

P: I understand it from the fact that it is tough in the country. You need to be working and make money to pay rent, and the bills which is a little different from my country. If you are late on your rent you can just go to the landlord and they will give you a two three months delay. But here if you are late you’re going to have fees and it’s a little different. I think its based on society you tend to be more of a capitalistic kind of society.

Me: yea I think our society is based on this merit that you have to provide for yourself and do things on your own and it is acceptable to get help from others.

P: Yea, that’s a good feeling too. I think if we had that back home it could help. Like you should do things on your own but if you need to get help from friends and family its ok too.

Me: yea that is true. Sometimes you need that. Life is hard.

P: Yea, life can be hard.

Me: Ok, but thank you so much for coming to meet with me. It’s been great!

P: No, it’s my pleasure.