{"content":{"sharePage":{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"44869872","dateCreated":"1319471801","smartDate":"Oct 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"snp241","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/snp241","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1317051397\/snp241-lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/integratingculture-at-nyu.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/44869872"},"dateDigested":1532760206,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Multi. Ed. Statement","description":"In order to provide fair and equal opportunities within the classroom, I believe that creating a balanced and observant culture within the students will help them develop critical as well as respective attitudes about their education and about their lives. I will teach with a global perspective in mind and will also challenge aspects of their own understanding to promote their life-long learning and development. Development of basic procedure and explicit learning about race and other issues will provide a framework for the type of safe environment that the kids will be able to share their ideas and thinking in.
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\nIn order to implement this philosophy, I will speak with families on a continual basis as well as invite them into the classroom to share their wealth of cultural knowledge. Additionally, I will speak with the district and the administration, in respect to creating a global curriculum in terms of school events, visitors, field trips, etc. Through involvement and community awareness, mutliculturalism and understanding will be achieved.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"44869754","dateCreated":"1319471735","smartDate":"Oct 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"JasmineAllyce","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/JasmineAllyce","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/integratingculture-at-nyu.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/44869754"},"dateDigested":1532760206,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Multicultural and Anti-racist Education Statement","description":"While speaking about slavery, Frederick Douglass once asked, "In what new skin will the old snake come forth?" In other words, we may not see slavery as America has in its history, but we see it other ways, how? At present, the old snake has found a few new skins, and manages to wear them simultaneously. To me the scariest and most heart-breaking skin that the old snake wears is this country's various school systems.
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\nTeaching curriculums that don't value or even touch upon Multiculturalism is a new form of slavery. I'm not just talking about the African American students, but every student who never sees his or her culture represented in school. In a way, it's saying, "Your culture isn't important. Therefore, you're not important. You and your culture come second to the cultures that you'll learn about time after time." For the past few summers, I've been working with the CDF Freedom Schools. The curriculum is focused on providing our scholars with good books that allow ALL of our scholars to see themselves. It gives them a chance to see that there are people that write about them and their cultures, but that their books aren't taught in regular schools. My students have asked me why this is and how we can change it. I didn't have an answer until now.
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\nWe need to petition our DoEs, cities, and states. We need to show how harmful it can be to a child to not feel represented in his or her community. It's the responsibility of the schools, the community, and the families to speak up, and make sure every single culture is taught about. Fear a name only causes fear of the thing itself. We can't be afraid of the terms Multiculturalism or Anti-racism. If we are, there's no way we can teach it. In effect, we end up unknowingly teaching racism instead.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"44870090","body":"I completely agree. It seems that a lot of the lack of awareness stems from the fact that we are not going into detail about every culture we come across. This creates gaps in our understanding of people as well as results in people making generalities and racist remarks.","dateCreated":"1319471929","smartDate":"Oct 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"snp241","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/snp241","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1317051397\/snp241-lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"44869648","dateCreated":"1319471665","smartDate":"Oct 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"klb409","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/klb409","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/integratingculture-at-nyu.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/44869648"},"dateDigested":1532760206,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Multicultural and Anti-racist education","description":"I must first say that I really enjoyed the reading this week. In my placement I create the maps and lessons for Social Studies and teach them twice a week. These readings really helped put into perspective what my main purpose should be in teaching Social Studies. A large part of Social Studies is helping students to connect to their communities, classmates, and the world through historical contexts as well as the present day. It is a perfect forum for addressing biases, racisms, and misconceptions. Seefeldt makes interesting point that "today's social studies are embedded within the context of children's families, schools, neighborhoods, and world." The classroom community and how students interact with each other can be very much affected by the way we approach social studies and the topics covered. It requires us and the rest of the class to understand each student and where they come from. This is a common thread throughout all our readings this week. It requires us to go beyond just facts and classroom learning and into the lives of each student. Rogovin states, "I want all of my students to have equal access to learning. I have found that this can be done most fully when their learning experience is shared with their families." Rogovin found that one of the best ways to include families, schools and the rest of the community is to use them as resources. Rogovin points out that this can be done in a number of ways. Students may interview parents on their background, teachers may go to their principles or other teachers to help them come up with a variety of material resources to use for lessons, both families and schools help make school field trips successful, and much more. This not only makes everyone aware of what is going on in the classroom, but it gives them the opportunity to take part it in, to share their own ideas. In effect, they become a part of the inquiry classroom. This is particularly important when it comes to lesson planning. The reading put an emphasis on balance between curriculum and student inquiry. We often find ourselves fighting against the clock. However, by involving the administration we help them to see the importance of our inquiry work and it may make it easier should we want to pursue a student guided topic that the class finds to be particularly important but that is not outlined in the curriculum. As always, we are reminded that multicultural education must be integrated throughout the day. It is seen in how the students interact, how comfortable they are in participating and asking questions, and so much more. Without this kind of discussion and an in depth understanding of our students and the community equal, anti-racist education will be a real struggle.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"44868426","dateCreated":"1319470952","smartDate":"Oct 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"gtutson","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/gtutson","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/integratingculture-at-nyu.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/44868426"},"dateDigested":1532760206,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Statement of Multicultural Education","description":"Today we live in a very diverse world. People come from varying backgrounds and experience their backgrounds in unique ways. As school is a place where children spend a large amount of their early life, the classroom is a place of curiosity and inquiry for students. As children interact, they become aware of differences in skin color, language, and mannerisms. If students are not guided in learning about one another, then they are likely to come to conclusions or inaccurate knowledge on their own. I believe that the purpose of Multicultural Education and Anti-Racist Education is to provide students with the opportunity to create a safe space, to learn about one another, share their personal experiences and traditions, and become more open to people outside the classroom.
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\nWhen thinking about Multicultural Education, my first inclination is to provide each student with a special day or week in which they are able to be celebrated. When I was a child, something similar was done in my school for birthdays. On a student\u2019s birthday, their parent was able to come in and decorate a bulletin board with pictures about the student, and the class made birthday cards which were bound into a book for the child to keep. I picture doing something like this, but celebrating the student\u2019s culture rather than birthday (or possibly combining the two as a jumping off point for traditions). Students would be able to share and ask questions to learn about one another.
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\nBut implementing such an activity in the classroom only begins to touch upon Multicultural Education and Anti-Racist Education. Social Studies would play a major role in these approaches to education. Students need to learn more than just what is presented in text books, because there is usually a bias in these books that portray a certain group in either a positive or negative light. By teaching the rest of the story, I would hope to develop students that think critically and consider different perspectives. Additionally, with the spread of diverse cultures comes the issue of prejudice and feelings towards certain people. By having conversations about prejudice in relation to social studies units (slavery, civil rights, wars, etc.) I would hope to allow students the opportunity to discuss their feelings, how these issues have affected their lives and upbringing, and how they can change these perceptions moving forward.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"44867964","dateCreated":"1319470613","smartDate":"Oct 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"arleen4445","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/arleen4445","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/integratingculture-at-nyu.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/44867964"},"dateDigested":1532760206,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Philosophy ","description":"Multicultural and anti-racist education should definitely be implemented into the classroom. Respectful and meaningful discussions should be debated about such sensitive issues. First and foremost it is important for teachers to know children's thoughts before anything is even mentioned on the subject of multicultural and anti-racist education. Teachers must begin with a general idea of how children view the world and how they view other people. When teachers have an understanding of the various perspectives in the classroom, teachers can then implement lessons accordingly.
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\nWhen teaching multicultural and anti-racist education to children, it is important for them to be taught and to acknowledge the reality of many of the unfortunate situations that constantly occur around the globe. Riots in response to hatred, bigotry, chauvinism, and sexism are common, everyday occurrences that should not be ignored, but rather should be openly and intelligently discussed. Not only is it the teacher\u2019s job to aid their children to be successful readers, writers, and mathematicians, but also it is also important for children to be able to think critically about issues regarding the world around them.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"44870232","body":"Arleen, I like that you stress how important it is to have open discussions with your class and to encourage children to think critically. I think a crucial component of a multicultural education is first teaching children HOW to think critically about an issue and then teaching them HOW to express the conclusions they've personally come to. It's so important as a teacher to model what an ideal "listener" looks like during these discussions and I think you touch upon that by encouraging teachers to try and view the world from the minds of their students!
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\n-Rachel","dateCreated":"1319472003","smartDate":"Oct 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"Raradiaz","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Raradiaz","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"44866310","dateCreated":"1319469697","smartDate":"Oct 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"Raradiaz","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Raradiaz","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/integratingculture-at-nyu.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/44866310"},"dateDigested":1532760206,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Teaching for Equality","description":"I used to feel that we all carried cultural baggage. I didn\u2019t mean it in a negative sense but at the time I didn\u2019t realize how important it was to put a positive spin on our culture. What I once saw as baggage is now a personalized toolkit that each of my students can utilize in their life both inside and outside of the classroom. I will not be a teacher who avoids issues of race and promotes a \u201cblind eye\u201d. As Rogovin addresses in his article, I want to promote inquiry in my classroom. I want my students to be able to express their curiosity and worries. In a safe classroom environment, students should be able to express their opinions and hold a respectful conversation. There will be no biased teachings of social studies and history in my classroom. When a controversial issue is brought to attention, we will use our academic toolkits to tackle the issue and discuss it as a community but we will also use our cultural toolkits to analyze the issue from multiple perspectives.
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\nWithout a multicultural\/socially just education, how could I expect my students to KNOW how to deal with these issues or to KNOW how to express their opinions when asked? I am a teacher who makes students feel empowered. I want my students to have the confidence and tools to tackle any issue, whether it be academic, cultural, or social.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"44870416","body":"I also wrote about safe spaces in my answer. It is so important that we hit issues on the head rather than assume, as you said, that the students will learn these things at home. It kind of goes back to what Hilliard mentioned about "opportunity" and how not all students are given information. Rather than punish students for not knowing and being culturally aware, I think it makes total sense to incorporate these elements within a classroom setting. When I look back, I wish more of my teachers talked explicitly\/let us talk explicitly in the classroom to share our beliefs and misconceptions.","dateCreated":"1319472115","smartDate":"Oct 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"snp241","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/snp241","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1317051397\/snp241-lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"44865330","dateCreated":"1319469139","smartDate":"Oct 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"Zoeirene90","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Zoeirene90","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1316988746\/Zoeirene90-lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/integratingculture-at-nyu.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/44865330"},"dateDigested":1532760206,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Personal Statement","description":"Drawing from all classroom experiences, create your personal statement about taking Multicultural Education and Anti-racist Education seriously. What do you have to say about teaching to provide equity? What sincere efforts would you propose to reach Multicultural and Social Justice Education goals from different perspectives, to your schools, school districts and in your communities?
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\nI am learning that Multicultural and Social Justice Education is crucial to developing as a well-rounded person. From my perspective, my eyes are being opened up to the variety of people around me in many ways besides just race; everyone is an individual, everyone is different, and can be treated as such in a way that promotes acceptance because of differences. Colorblindness is not an option because it does not allow students to think critically about the world around us, but rather to keep our eyes closed to progress. Colorblindness is passive in this way; a consideration of the benefits of differences will help create a more united community based on individual needs.
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\nCooperation is imperative to moving forward. Acceptance can only be achieved if we work together to reveal our beliefs and become vulnerable to let other beliefs influence our actions. We must provide equity by LISTENING to the people around us, not just merely hearing what they have to say. We have to disagree and accept these disagreements for what they are rather than resent them. The human race is a variety in itself, its survival depending on unity. We should expose our biases and prejudices and allow ourselves to work with others in order to survive in our ever-evolving existences.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"44870638","body":"Zoe, I like that you touch upon the idea of a well-rounded person. I always found that one of the most challenging aspects of teaching is that we're not just teaching an academic curriculum, we're teaching children how to treat others and how to express themselves respectfully in the world both inside and outside of the classroom. Rogovin states in her article that social justice starts in the classroom and branches out. From the picture you've drawn for us, a classroom where students consider the benefits of differences to create a more united community, encourages just that. Again, I think you have the right idea considering what our students will be like once they leave our class.","dateCreated":"1319472208","smartDate":"Oct 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"Raradiaz","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Raradiaz","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"44862162","dateCreated":"1319466923","smartDate":"Oct 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"ragrawal89","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/ragrawal89","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/integratingculture-at-nyu.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/44862162"},"dateDigested":1532760206,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Philosophy","description":"Multi-cultural and anti-racist education is serious and important to implement in the classroom. I strongly believe that every child has the "capacity to learn" and as an educator, it is my responsibility to provide the "opportunity to learn". To do so, you need yo realize that all students have different backgrounds and different cultures. I want to welcome the differences in my class in a respectful and productive way. Students will feel comfortable in my class to express their differences in terms of race and culture, but also appreciate similarities and differences amongst their pers. Through my placements, especially last semester, when I was in the Bronx and this semester in P.S. 206 in East Harlem, the population of the students is predominately black and Hispanic. I've noticed that last semester, my CTs did not tend to cultural differences. The books that were read were not multicultural. This semester, there is. Wide diversity of literature but the teachers do not tap into the appropriate prior knowledge of the students. In my classroom, I want to learn about my students - where they are from, interests, culture special holidays they celebrate, families, and living situatuations. This will help me be able to include all my students in every lesson, and plan lessons that are meaningful to them. If students find interest and relevance in lessons, it will help them learn better.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"44875632","body":"I really like what you said about having to understand students' different backgrounds and cultures to in order to provide them the opportunity to learn. Its true that learning is better facilitated when we know our students both academically and culturally.","dateCreated":"1319475388","smartDate":"Oct 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"RachelCantu","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/RachelCantu","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1319345279\/RachelCantu-lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"44862084","dateCreated":"1319466853","smartDate":"Oct 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"francescaneedham","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/francescaneedham","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/integratingculture-at-nyu.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/44862084"},"dateDigested":1532760206,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"multicultural ed","description":"Teaching multicultural education in an integrated way in the classroom is key to a successful united classroom community. Every student brings with them a unique and different experience. This is often brought up in terms of learning abilities and disabilities, but we also need to see it in terms of multicultural education. We must know and accept our students\u2019 backgrounds and learn and understand their experiences and culture. It is our responsibility as an educator to not shelter our students, but rather encourage exploration and open discussion.
\nIn order to be a good teacher, we must know our students. This means beyond knowing their academic skill, but also knowing their life, learning about their experiences, and embracing their differences or similarities. Knowing a students\u2019 background ensures that we can provide the best education for them, as well as the most comfortable and open environment. As a multicultural educator, I would ensure that I make meaningful connections with my students and the academic material, involving discussions and panels in which the students are active participants.
\nTo successfully integrate a multicultural curriculum, this means teaching active anti-racism. While this is a big step, it is crucial for developing a meaningful community and creating a space in which open discussions are allowed. Students will value themselves and each other as a community. Teaching history is a crucial part of multicultural curriculum, as it is often seen from one side. Instead of shielding young students from the often-unjust reality, it is important as an educator to create a space in which students feel comfortable discussing these topics. This will create a strong classroom bond in which students can speak out about their own injustices and learn to treat each other fairly. Teaching a multicultural curriculum is the first step in forming students into compassionate and respectful members of society.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"44863984","body":"Francesca, I completely agree with you. I basically wrote the same thing about knowing all aspects of your students in order to create a more meaningful expierences gore your students. I liked how you worded that you would want to encourange exploration and open discussion. I forgot include discussions in my philosophy but that is differently a key co potent to produce successful enviorment in your classroom.
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\nRicha","dateCreated":"1319468034","smartDate":"Oct 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"ragrawal89","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/ragrawal89","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"44870898","body":"You said, "Students will value themselves and each other as a community." This is great and necessary inside the classroom, but how could we make this extend beyond the walls of the school building. How can we equip our students to withstand the racist\/ignorant ideas, of older members within their communities and families?","dateCreated":"1319472364","smartDate":"Oct 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"JasmineAllyce","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/JasmineAllyce","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"44874738","body":"Francesca, this is a really great statement! I really like how you discuss multiculturalism within the academic curriculum as well as as an additional way we must address student differences. Jasmine, you bring up a really good point. We have to work even harder to make sure that students are equipped to carry these ideas into the community but it is hard when the older members disagree with them. We are also teaching students to be respectful of everyone, maybe especially their elders. The classroom is a good place to practice the difficult art of respectful disagreement that is so important in life.","dateCreated":"1319474779","smartDate":"Oct 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"RachelCantu","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/RachelCantu","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1319345279\/RachelCantu-lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"44858758","dateCreated":"1319464601","smartDate":"Oct 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"snt227","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/snt227","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/integratingculture-at-nyu.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/44858758"},"dateDigested":1532760206,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Statement On Multicultural Ed","description":"Teaching for equity means that every student is being taught in way that fulfill each student's individual needs. According to the law, every student has a right to a free, appropriate education in the least restrictive environment therefore teaching for equity means accomplishing that goal for every student. Every student has different needs and its our goal to make sure all their needs are meant. I feel that teaching multicultural education to our students is a very important step to accomplishing that goal. Multicultural education as we have learned can to incorporated into every subject we just have to when we are planning out our lessons look through the multicultural education lens and see how we can relate it to it. I think a very good way that I would like to incorporate multicultural education is through the inquiry-type classroom that we have been reading about. I think so many of the topics that come up in multicultural education come up in the questions that students form on their own so if we are able to bring up student's questions to the entire class I think it would be a good way for the whole class to discuss issues and questions that might come up about people who are different than them. Students are very observant so if they see something they will ask questions so as teachers we can use their questions as teaching tools and guide them to see things differently and from different points of view. I definitely feel that in the beginning of class in order to be able to teach about multicultural education you really have to build community in the classroom where everyone feels safe and feel comfortable enough to share with the class their opinions and ideas without being judged. I really like how my class does that by making the class feel like they belong to something bigger than themselves and by creating the code together. I also think you have to have the stereotype discussion with the students and you have to get the families of students and community involved which is so important like how our readings say. We also want students to understand their identity as well through I am poems or so sharing stories back their background and about their lives with the class. I think these are just some of the ways I feel we can incorporate multicultural education into our classroom to teach for equity.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"44869362","body":"This idea of "belonging to something bigger than themselves" is a great way to link multicultural education to other curricular areas, especially Social Studies. I think the most successful way to approach this is to first focus on the individual and what special qualities and characteristics they bring to the classroom\/community\/world\/etc. and then move to the larger picture of these interactions between many individuals engaging in a given environment.","dateCreated":"1319471497","smartDate":"Oct 24, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"gtutson","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/gtutson","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]}],"more":true},"comments":[]},"http":{"code":200,"status":"OK"},"redirectUrl":null,"javascript":null,"notices":{"warning":[],"error":[],"info":[],"success":[]}}