nocturnus33 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
nocturnus33) wrote2005-05-25 04:12 am
nocturnus33) wrote2005-05-25 04:12 am
Speaking of Muggles
This little work was inspired by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
30minutefics comunity. It is an answer to the The Secondary Character Challenge, it is concieve as an intent to think about education in the wizzarding world.
Thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ozratbag2. She translated it from spanglish to proper English.
Please review, I truly appreciate your feedback and comments on both, the ficlet and the theory behind it.
Thanks tosnapes_angel for her usefull comments.
Title: Speaking of Muggles
Rating: All
Starring: Penelope Clearwater.
Author's note: This was the perfect excuse to take this out of my head.
Time: Got carried away, so I’m posting it at my LJ.
***
Penelope was nervous. She looked at herself in the mirror behind the stage "A little color, darling, you are just too pale".
She was dressed in simple light blue robes, giving the effect of perfect elegance. She had never spent that much time in front of the mirror before, because people had not come to see her attire, but she wanted to look professional, and most of all, adult.
Outside, in the great hall arranged throughout the auditorium, were her former professors, a few members of the Wizengamot, and important members of the wizarding community. Even though she had been invited by Dumbledore himself to speak at the conference, they had all come to listen to her, mostly out of curiosity and friendship. They would not like her speech, as she knew they were not open to what she wanted to say.
She could just sense it.
Percy, bless him, has brought her a single Pale Larkspur stick, with its tiny little bells. The fact that he didn’t wait after she had addressed the audience indicated that he secretly shared her fears.
In all his stiffness he was as sweet as a lost puppy. No matter how they would react, she knew Percy would be still there for her.
She took one last look in the mirror “Put on a brave face girl” and then stepped out onto the stage. The Great Hall ceiling reflected a starry night, and it soothed her.
Arthur Weasley introduced her, talking too much about irrelevant aspects of her Muggle roots and none about her research in both the Muggle and wizarding world.
She smiled shyly at the redhead clan in the third row, and discreetly returned Hermione’s thumbs up, as she was the only other one who really understood.
Then, Penelope the school girl was left behind and the lecture started. “Social reproduction: The Inequality of Pureblood vesus Muggleborn.”
She could see every detail of the lecture hall from the stage. She could see how the polite faces started looking for each other, as if seeking confirmation of what they were hearing.
A few moved restlessly on their seats, much more than etiquette allowed, confirming confirmed Penelope’s worst fears.
Just don’t let Snape ask any questions. Penelope prayed, feeling as though she was again being tested in the dungeons.
Forty five minutes later, the audience was clapping civilly, but she could not overlook the disappointed face of her old head of house.
Shit, they are taking this as a personal offense
A less than cheerful Arthur Weasley invited the concurrence to ask questions.
An embarrassing pause followed this request.
This is worse, much worse. Please God let someone ask a question, even Snape
As if reading her mind; as Harry had once told her Snape could do, the head of Slytherin and war hero asked coldly, ”Are you suggesting” and though her legs were trembling, she refused to let them see she was scared, ”that seven years of education in the best wizarding school is a nonsense?”
An angry murmur spread over the hall.
Penelope picked up her bottle of water and slowly refilled her glass. With a graceful gesture she drank a bit, deliberately slowing the process so as to give time the audience to focus on her response:
“Actually, professor Snape, I do agree that our wizarding educational system is an education of great quality for pure bloods. But…“
The buzz of irate mutterings and whispers filled the air.
She decided to continue. ”But you must agree with me that a statistical analysis of the N.E.W.T and O.W.L results of the last fifty years shows a significant tendency to purebloods besting muggleborns. This is not casual.”
”Are you saying my girl,” asked professor Flitwick with saddened eyes, “that we educate you in a biased way for being muggleborn? Both you and Miss Granger here, were two of our top students, and dearly loved by the staff.”
’My girl indeed,’ thought Penelope, and in loud voice she replied.
”What I’m saying is that the system favors one group against another one; reproducing the inequality that we find in the wizarding society as a whole. The gifted child tends to be the one who shared the symbolic goods and codes of the wizarding culture. Going to Hogwarts after being born in a pureblood family is just the extension of a worldview, so the possibility of success is higher.” she could see Mme Sprout raising her eyebrows to a red faced Mme Hooch. ”A muggleborn student is expected to fit into this culture, and in less than two months, he or she is compelled to leave their indigenous culture behind and learn a whole new language. To think in a way they have never had to think. They are implicitly told that their roots are shameful.”
”Are you comparing us with death eaters?” Professor Tofty shouted from his seat.
She could see a couple parting.
”She is doing none of that!” Hermione turned back in her seat to reply to Tofty.
Penelope realized this would be out of control before long, and she tried to talk while they were still listening.
”No! In my time at Hogwarts I found mostly kindness from my teachers and fellows; but professor Tofty, if you carefully study Hogwarts curriculum, or any other wizarding school curricula, you’ll find that the selection of knowledge considered worth teaching came in a high percentage from the European Wizarding World. Nothing from muggle world culture is considered worth teaching. When muggle topics are approached, it is in an almost childish and paternalistic way.” She carefully avoided her soon to be out-laws eyes. Arthur would have had her head.
”We have Muggle Studies in the curriculum, Penelope.” said her monster in law, using THAT tone with her again.
She only nodded politely.
”True, Molly, but it is still a minor class, more a spot, a sign of the divorce again from both cultures, more than anything else. There is an ethnocentric arrogance in the way we are educating our kids, and we are damaging them. It is not casual that there are no muggleborn teachers at any wizarding school, or that after we graduate the employment is filled in order of importance first by pure blood wizards and witches and then mugleborns. Social Mobility is rare.”
”There are muggleborns with power and prestige among us, Miss Clearwater,” commented McGonagall angrily.
She bit her tongue in time, catching herself from correcting the way Minerva McGonagall was addressing her.
”Yes, Professor, but the number of them has no statistical significance. Our exams and the grading system is not fair, and it just perpetuates and justifies the reproduction of our social structures. We blame individuals for what is a social failure.”
”I never heard such an ungrateful thing! You are biting the hand that fed you.” she heard Filch, the care taker, broom in hand muttering from backstage.
’Typical,’ she thought. ‘The oppressor always ruled the oppressed mind, and Filch was a living example of what she was talking about. He was condemned to failure the day he was born a squib.’
”What I’m trying to propose is an effort of bilinguals, so the schools try to talk with the muggle culture, not only tolerate it us an oddity. Hogwarts needs to take charge of its hidden curriculum. The curriculum that tacitly despises all muggle cultural products.”
”Are you accusing us of a conspiracy? This is outrageous!” Mme Bones, was evidently trying to maintain her composure while her voice shook slightly.
“YOU ARE THREATENING THE BASES OF OUR SOCIETY”, shouted a green hatted wizard not waiting for her to answer.
“SHE IS NOT, YOU DRIED UP OLD TOAD! I’VE ALWAYS FELT OUT OF PLACE HERE,” answered back an alumnus she recognized as former Hufflepuff.
She never knew who started it, but soon everybody was shouting at each other and a few spells were cast. Percy came to rescue her, for what was a rather shameful escape from the stage, and the last she saw was a busy Dumbledore calming the audience.
”You did it brilliantly,” he said solemnly. How she loved his boyish face, and she could kiss every freckle on his nose.
”Percy, you don’t need to lie to me. It was a disaster.”
”No it wasn’t. Look at them. You touched the very nerve of their prejudiced worldview, and so you succeeded.
She still doubted it, but she let Percy lead while hugging her tightly, as he picked up a Portkey and took them both out of Hogwarts.
”What?…where?” She was confused at her whereabouts, a muggle room she never been before.
”Your speech gave me some exquisite ideas, love.” Percy gave her tiny kisses all over her face.
”You looked so sensuous over there,” he said as he continued with her neck, “and I couldn’t stop thinking while you addressed the audience,” as he started unbuttoning her robe and smiling in what he thought was a wolfish grin, ”why we just don’t try another kind of reproduction?”
***
PS:
To whom it might concern.
Miss Clearwater want to pointed out that muggles had long ago described cultural reproduction, and you could check in the UK researcher Basil Bernstein’s works “Class, codes and Control”, or the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu in his classical “Reproduction” and the ”The Heirs”, the latter written in collaboration with Jean Claude Passeron.
Miss Clearwater, while on vacation, wanted to thank the many letters of support she had received. Also, she wanted to warn anyone interested that the Howlers had been charmed to be returned to the sender.
For all the ones interested in her thesis, she also would appreciate any feedback or thoughts you had about Wizarding Educational System.
30minutefics comunity. It is an answer to the The Secondary Character Challenge, it is concieve as an intent to think about education in the wizzarding world.Thanks to
ozratbag2. She translated it from spanglish to proper English. Please review, I truly appreciate your feedback and comments on both, the ficlet and the theory behind it.
Thanks to
snapes_angel for her usefull comments.Title: Speaking of Muggles
Rating: All
Starring: Penelope Clearwater.
Author's note: This was the perfect excuse to take this out of my head.
Time: Got carried away, so I’m posting it at my LJ.
***
Penelope was nervous. She looked at herself in the mirror behind the stage "A little color, darling, you are just too pale".
She was dressed in simple light blue robes, giving the effect of perfect elegance. She had never spent that much time in front of the mirror before, because people had not come to see her attire, but she wanted to look professional, and most of all, adult.
Outside, in the great hall arranged throughout the auditorium, were her former professors, a few members of the Wizengamot, and important members of the wizarding community. Even though she had been invited by Dumbledore himself to speak at the conference, they had all come to listen to her, mostly out of curiosity and friendship. They would not like her speech, as she knew they were not open to what she wanted to say.
She could just sense it.
Percy, bless him, has brought her a single Pale Larkspur stick, with its tiny little bells. The fact that he didn’t wait after she had addressed the audience indicated that he secretly shared her fears.
In all his stiffness he was as sweet as a lost puppy. No matter how they would react, she knew Percy would be still there for her.
She took one last look in the mirror “Put on a brave face girl” and then stepped out onto the stage. The Great Hall ceiling reflected a starry night, and it soothed her.
Arthur Weasley introduced her, talking too much about irrelevant aspects of her Muggle roots and none about her research in both the Muggle and wizarding world.
She smiled shyly at the redhead clan in the third row, and discreetly returned Hermione’s thumbs up, as she was the only other one who really understood.
Then, Penelope the school girl was left behind and the lecture started. “Social reproduction: The Inequality of Pureblood vesus Muggleborn.”
She could see every detail of the lecture hall from the stage. She could see how the polite faces started looking for each other, as if seeking confirmation of what they were hearing.
A few moved restlessly on their seats, much more than etiquette allowed, confirming confirmed Penelope’s worst fears.
Just don’t let Snape ask any questions. Penelope prayed, feeling as though she was again being tested in the dungeons.
Forty five minutes later, the audience was clapping civilly, but she could not overlook the disappointed face of her old head of house.
Shit, they are taking this as a personal offense
A less than cheerful Arthur Weasley invited the concurrence to ask questions.
An embarrassing pause followed this request.
This is worse, much worse. Please God let someone ask a question, even Snape
As if reading her mind; as Harry had once told her Snape could do, the head of Slytherin and war hero asked coldly, ”Are you suggesting” and though her legs were trembling, she refused to let them see she was scared, ”that seven years of education in the best wizarding school is a nonsense?”
An angry murmur spread over the hall.
Penelope picked up her bottle of water and slowly refilled her glass. With a graceful gesture she drank a bit, deliberately slowing the process so as to give time the audience to focus on her response:
“Actually, professor Snape, I do agree that our wizarding educational system is an education of great quality for pure bloods. But…“
The buzz of irate mutterings and whispers filled the air.
She decided to continue. ”But you must agree with me that a statistical analysis of the N.E.W.T and O.W.L results of the last fifty years shows a significant tendency to purebloods besting muggleborns. This is not casual.”
”Are you saying my girl,” asked professor Flitwick with saddened eyes, “that we educate you in a biased way for being muggleborn? Both you and Miss Granger here, were two of our top students, and dearly loved by the staff.”
’My girl indeed,’ thought Penelope, and in loud voice she replied.
”What I’m saying is that the system favors one group against another one; reproducing the inequality that we find in the wizarding society as a whole. The gifted child tends to be the one who shared the symbolic goods and codes of the wizarding culture. Going to Hogwarts after being born in a pureblood family is just the extension of a worldview, so the possibility of success is higher.” she could see Mme Sprout raising her eyebrows to a red faced Mme Hooch. ”A muggleborn student is expected to fit into this culture, and in less than two months, he or she is compelled to leave their indigenous culture behind and learn a whole new language. To think in a way they have never had to think. They are implicitly told that their roots are shameful.”
”Are you comparing us with death eaters?” Professor Tofty shouted from his seat.
She could see a couple parting.
”She is doing none of that!” Hermione turned back in her seat to reply to Tofty.
Penelope realized this would be out of control before long, and she tried to talk while they were still listening.
”No! In my time at Hogwarts I found mostly kindness from my teachers and fellows; but professor Tofty, if you carefully study Hogwarts curriculum, or any other wizarding school curricula, you’ll find that the selection of knowledge considered worth teaching came in a high percentage from the European Wizarding World. Nothing from muggle world culture is considered worth teaching. When muggle topics are approached, it is in an almost childish and paternalistic way.” She carefully avoided her soon to be out-laws eyes. Arthur would have had her head.
”We have Muggle Studies in the curriculum, Penelope.” said her monster in law, using THAT tone with her again.
She only nodded politely.
”True, Molly, but it is still a minor class, more a spot, a sign of the divorce again from both cultures, more than anything else. There is an ethnocentric arrogance in the way we are educating our kids, and we are damaging them. It is not casual that there are no muggleborn teachers at any wizarding school, or that after we graduate the employment is filled in order of importance first by pure blood wizards and witches and then mugleborns. Social Mobility is rare.”
”There are muggleborns with power and prestige among us, Miss Clearwater,” commented McGonagall angrily.
She bit her tongue in time, catching herself from correcting the way Minerva McGonagall was addressing her.
”Yes, Professor, but the number of them has no statistical significance. Our exams and the grading system is not fair, and it just perpetuates and justifies the reproduction of our social structures. We blame individuals for what is a social failure.”
”I never heard such an ungrateful thing! You are biting the hand that fed you.” she heard Filch, the care taker, broom in hand muttering from backstage.
’Typical,’ she thought. ‘The oppressor always ruled the oppressed mind, and Filch was a living example of what she was talking about. He was condemned to failure the day he was born a squib.’
”What I’m trying to propose is an effort of bilinguals, so the schools try to talk with the muggle culture, not only tolerate it us an oddity. Hogwarts needs to take charge of its hidden curriculum. The curriculum that tacitly despises all muggle cultural products.”
”Are you accusing us of a conspiracy? This is outrageous!” Mme Bones, was evidently trying to maintain her composure while her voice shook slightly.
“YOU ARE THREATENING THE BASES OF OUR SOCIETY”, shouted a green hatted wizard not waiting for her to answer.
“SHE IS NOT, YOU DRIED UP OLD TOAD! I’VE ALWAYS FELT OUT OF PLACE HERE,” answered back an alumnus she recognized as former Hufflepuff.
She never knew who started it, but soon everybody was shouting at each other and a few spells were cast. Percy came to rescue her, for what was a rather shameful escape from the stage, and the last she saw was a busy Dumbledore calming the audience.
”You did it brilliantly,” he said solemnly. How she loved his boyish face, and she could kiss every freckle on his nose.
”Percy, you don’t need to lie to me. It was a disaster.”
”No it wasn’t. Look at them. You touched the very nerve of their prejudiced worldview, and so you succeeded.
She still doubted it, but she let Percy lead while hugging her tightly, as he picked up a Portkey and took them both out of Hogwarts.
”What?…where?” She was confused at her whereabouts, a muggle room she never been before.
”Your speech gave me some exquisite ideas, love.” Percy gave her tiny kisses all over her face.
”You looked so sensuous over there,” he said as he continued with her neck, “and I couldn’t stop thinking while you addressed the audience,” as he started unbuttoning her robe and smiling in what he thought was a wolfish grin, ”why we just don’t try another kind of reproduction?”
***
PS:
To whom it might concern.
Miss Clearwater want to pointed out that muggles had long ago described cultural reproduction, and you could check in the UK researcher Basil Bernstein’s works “Class, codes and Control”, or the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu in his classical “Reproduction” and the ”The Heirs”, the latter written in collaboration with Jean Claude Passeron.
Miss Clearwater, while on vacation, wanted to thank the many letters of support she had received. Also, she wanted to warn anyone interested that the Howlers had been charmed to be returned to the sender.
For all the ones interested in her thesis, she also would appreciate any feedback or thoughts you had about Wizarding Educational System.
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An interesting sidelight on the Wizarding World, and a new take on dear old Percy who is so often painted as a dry old stick. All that red hair should mean something, eh?
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(Anonymous) 2005-05-25 12:20 am (UTC)(link)About Percy...I had my doubts, I think he could be seen as a person who confused acting "ethically" with being a "good boy"(Stick to the letter of the law, being always at the statu quo side, back up any authority in a jerachical way, etc...most as the teacher's pet). I think he is starving for attention and care. My hopes are that Penelope shake his basis and at least he show his best for her.
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Soooooooooooo good
Re: Soooooooooooo good
The million dollar question.
Social Reproduction is not bad per se. We need institutions that take care of our cultural legacy but...
The first paradox is that modernity built this institution seeking for egalitarian (?) basis for our society. This very same institution is the one that froze change and social mobility. For example: In Chile there is a national educational test, women always excel in language and tend to do worst in math: Reproduction. We teach them differently.
But the problem with this analysis, as it that don't explain social change.
Ok, every society have a movement toward social reproduction (keeping traditional structures) but at the same time there is change. How do you explain it? Which role play the Educational system on it?.
Is the classical debate in Social Science: Weber vs Durkheim.
You could like this author:
Kemmis, S. with Fitzclarence, L. (1986)Curriculum Theorizing: Beyond Reproduction Theory. Geelong, Victoria: Deakin University Press (150 pp.)
or
Grundy, S. (1987) Curriculum: Product or Praxis, Lewes: Falmer.
XX century make us understand that knowledge is not neutral but VERY culturally situated (?), schools had the mission to transmit that cultural good we call knowledge...which one?. Einstein and Goëdel were the last strikes towards our monolithically trust in objectivity.
This means to have an epistemic attention in how knowledge is give, consume and re construct at school. What meanings that knowledge have, which interests represent. Helping who?, serving who? Ignore who?
There is a possibility in the articulation and re signification (?) of cultural meanings in the school.
A clue could be given using Habermas domains of human interest.
Which is the rationality we have at school Work Knowledge (Controlling & predicting our environment?), Practical Knowledge (understanding and interpret our intentions?) or Emancipatory Knowledge (through criticism and self-emancipation?)? The latter could help us broke the tendency towards reproduction.
Ok, I get carried away. Sorry.
[Part One]]
You already have my positive thoughts from yesterday. Here are my thoughts and opinions - except of course for the to versus too thing here. That's not jsut an opinion, that's common usage. Alse, where you put the mss. dwon for Hermione. That's an abbreviation of the French for Madamoiselle, isn't it? To warn you, I pointed that out and put "miss" which is more common usage in Britain and America for an unmarried female-type person.
Penelope was nervous. She looked at herself in the mirror behind the stage "A little color, darling, you are just to pale".
* Should be too. Random example: You can go from here to there and I can go from here to there, too.
She never spent that much time in front of the mirror, because people had not come to see her attire, but she wanted to look professional, and most of all, adult.
* I think you wanted to add a bit to this to clarify the impression you want to make upon the reader:
She had never spent that much time in front of the mirror before; she knew that people had not come to see her attire, but she wanted to look professional, and most of all, adult.
Outside, in the great hall arranged throughout the auditorium, were her former professors, a few members of the Wizengamot, and important members of the wizarding community. Even though she had been invited by Dumbledore himself to speak at the conference, they had all come to listen to her, mostly out of curiosity and friendship. They would not like her speech, as she knew they were not open to what she wanted to say.
* Was she invited to speak because of some research she had done? If so, then had it been done for a school research project as either a student or as a professor?
She took one last look in the mirror “Put on a brave face girl” and stepped out onto the stage. The Great Hall ceiling reflected a starry night, and it soothed her.
* She took one last look in the mirror. “Put on a brave face, girl,” she told herself, and then stepped out onto the stage.
Re: [Part One]]
I will fixed it during the weekend. Just now I'm dealing with hubby's health problems tht would let me bussy.
[Part Two]
*A few moved restlessly on their seats, much more than etiquette allowed, confirming Penelope’s worst fears.
As if reading her mind; as Harry had once told her Snape could do, the head of Slytherin and war hero asked coldly, ”Are you suggesting” and though her legs were trembling, she refused to let them see she was scared, ”that seven years of education in the best wizarding school is a nonsense?”
* At this point I wondered why this would come up, coinsidering the topic was the splinching of the magical and muggle worlds. I didn't se anything in the topic that would suggest that Hogwart's was the culprit behind the splinch.
She decided to continue. ”But you must agree with me that a statistical analysis of the N.E.W.T and O.W.L results of the last fifty years shows a significant tendency to purebloods besting muggleborns. This is not casual.”
* This actually confused me. I think you menat that muggle-born outstripped purebloods on al the N.E.W.T. and O.W.L.s but it confused me because what you said seemed to mena that pureblood's test scores were significantly highter than those of muggle-borns.
* Just reread it and you had it spot on, but “Social reproduction: pureblooded and Muggleborn, a Splinched identity” doesn't give us even a vague idea, since you didn't mention any part of her speech, what this would be about until you hit us with this bit. Rather than reproduction, how about something more along the lines of “Social Reproduction: The Inequality of Pureblood vesus Muggleborn”
”Are you saying, my girl,” asked professor Flitwickt (no 't' at the end) with saddened eyes, “that we educate you in a biased way for being muggleborn? Both you and Mss (Miss) Granger here, were two of our top students, and dearly loved by the staff.”
”A muggleborn student is expected to fit into this culture, and in less than two months, he or she is compelled to leave their indigenous, their culture behind and learn a whole new language. To think in a way they have never had to think. They are implicitly told that their roots are shameful.”
* "...leave their indigenous culture..."
She never knew who started it, but soon everybody was shouting at each other and a few spells were cast. Percy has come (came) to rescue her, for what was a rather shameful escape from the stage, and the last she saw was a busy Dumbledore calming the audience.
#
This would be rare in the wizarding world too, an actual sociologist. In some ways I think the wizard's opniions of muggles form a counterpart to the muggle's opinions (for those who have them) or the wizarding world. This was a nicely-thought out piece. Thank you for the delightful read!
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oh.. and there's only one Z in lazy and wizarding.
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He,He, I had the tendency to complicate english words.