5 Assignment 01

I stared working since I was 19 years old. My first job was at the Family school of Manhattan as a teacher assistant and staid at the school for thirteen years. After that I moved on the Montessori school of Manhattan. I been there for nine years,now as a co-teacher in a toddler classroom.

How did my grandparents and parents worked back in my native country Dominican Republic. My grandparents worked as farmers they had rise and plantain farms. They where able to make things better for my parents because they where able to send my parents to college and as a result my parents didn’t have to work as difficult as my grandparents did.

I think this history struck my sense of what work is, my relationship to work,and my goals and hopes for the future. It has stirred me a great deal because i didn’t have to work at the farm I only went to wash the horses, play with the pigs and cows and for camping for fun. It made me see how hard and arduous life was for my grandparents. I think growing up and observing this made me want to work hard to better myself ,go to school and have a career and help future generations of my family.

Because I worked at different schools for many years,I consider that a person needs to invest in their future by educating themselves. Working at a school I have to further my education in order to better my career and pay check. In this day a age educating our self is the only way I think we could modify our self for a better paying job.

What Weber means by “ethic” of work .On one hand Weber thinks that having a strong work ethic determines your economic growths and prosperity. Weber had the notion that when you work with intention it raises your morals and value. He also beveled that protestants value work more than people from other religions but there were never any supporting thesis that supported his believes.

My reflection: I was raised to think that if we don’t work for what we want we won’t get anywhere. My grandparents where hardworking, they where farmers and had to do hard labor in order for my parents to go to college and not have to farm like they did. Seeing how hard they all had to work made me feel I have to make something of myself . I need to have a career not just a job. Now that I have kids I want them to have the same work ethics me and my family have.

I am currently a Substitute Para-Professional in the Department of Education. I work as a one-on-one teacher for students with special needs. My family is from the Dominican republic. My grandfather was a soldier in World War II and my grandmother was a stay at home mom, until she came to the United States and worked in a hotel. As far as work ethic, my mother as well as the history itself taught me to work hard if you want nice things, because nothing in the world is free.

In order for anyone to do the job I have, in my opinion, one must love children. All types of children in all different types of situations. You must be calm, organized, you must know when to step in and to step out, and finally you must have a positive attitude. This is very important because students with special needs need to feel a connection with you. Being a para-professional is one of the toughest jobs I have ever had. It has helped me understand that we all come from many types of situations and we have to make the best of them. I love my job and it has taught me to be patient, strong, learn to appreciate life and my children. Work is what you make of it and I enjoy my job. I have great relationships with the staff members and it makes work more enjoyable. As for my hopes in the future, I want to live happily with my children, because its all about them. To continue to learn new things and contribute as much value as I can to the world.

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism by Weber is in a way similar to what history is in today’s modern life. Weber tells how Catholics and protestants are very different. Catholics are about knowledge/ higher education, Where as to Protestants wanted positions of ownership and management. They wanted their own high statuses and wages.  In a way they are similar to today’s world because we live in a capitalist society. Where there is private ownership and production and finally the exchange of our work for money. In a sense its saying that we have always labored to our needs. This is what holds us together.

Due Sunday, September 4th, by midnight.  Word count: 400 words.  Please make sure everything is in your own words.  Do not include any quotes and if you paraphrase make sure to include the proper citation.

Write an introductory post that tells the class who you are and about your interest in this class. Then, in no less than 400 words, write your own labor history by reflecting on the following questions: Do you work now? If so, where? How did your grandparents and your parents work? How do you think this history has affected your sense of what work is, the relationship of education to work, and your goal and hopes for the future? Given your understanding of what Weber means by an “ethic” of work, reflect on your sense of what work means to you.