Saturday, May 8, 2010
The Future
I would like to encourage the future teachers entering this class to be open-minded. I learned so much when I was engaged during class. And the topics of race, class, gender, sexuality, power and privilege have challenged and strengthened my core beliefs. Don't be afraid to say what you believe and never hold back. It's important to stand up for what you believe is right. You may be firm in your beliefs when it comes to these topics and your strenth will most likely resonate on others who aren't so firm. As future teachers, we need to be accepting and understanding; so, open your eyes to the world around you, even if it makes you uncomfortable. I learned from my peers and saw the diversity in my own class. If we are so different in one class at Baylor, imagine the students we will soon come across in our own classrooms.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Jonathon Kozol – The Shame of the Nation: Essay 1
Segregation is a topic we learn about in our history classrooms starting from a very young age. We understand what it means and we try to cope with those who have suffered from it, yet we do not realize that we live in a world of segregation today. America is a nation built on equality and freedom. We are a nation who stands for the “American dream.” So, it is our duty to make sure that each child is provided an equal education with equal opportunities because these children are our future.
In The Shame of the Nation, written by Jonathon Kozol, the author writes about the issues of segregation in urban and suburban schools. Kozol touches on the problem of inadequate funding to certain schools and explains that schools with less funding are more likely to do poorly on standardized testing because of lack of resources. From the first chapter onward, Kozol writes that teachers and administration in schools do not believe in the potential of inner-city kids. Obviously race is an issue when it comes to these students passing standardized tests. Research shows that “in several states, moreover, the funding gap for children of color is a great deal larger than the gap for children of low income” (Jonathon Kozol 246). Why is it that race has so much to do with inadequate funding for schools? Most students who attend schools where there are not available resources are students whose parents are not educated enough to know their options and if they are, the parents do not have the opportunities to fix these problems. On the other hand, “most Americans whose children aren’t in public school have little sense of the inordinate authority that now is granted to these standardized exams and especially within the inner-city schools the time the tests subtract from actual instruction” (112). Also, another cause of low test scores is because the crucial subjects that are on these standardized tests are not being taught in certain schools.
In U.S. schools, resegregation needs to be a priority. As educators and family of students, we see that resegregation has increased. From my point of view, assimilation of cultures is a key reason for having schools with students of all colors. With how society is today, students need to be aware of the cultures around them whether they agree or disagree with others’ beliefs, lifestyle, or ethics. Our main goal should be to educate children in order for them to be successful in the work field, no matter what career they hold. Also, all children should be given equal opportunities to strive for their highest potential. If certain schools are not getting adequate funding, there is no way the students that attend these schools will be able to reach their utmost potential. Most inner-city kids that Kozol writes about are from low income families; their parents most of the time cannot provide the resources for the children to learn the ins and outs of the society we live in.
Both whites and African Americans have stood their ground when it comes to resegregating schools since the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court decision. Both races want the best for their children. Although, it seems to be that more whites are able to provide the needed opportunities for their children to grow. The schools with only white students are mostly inhabited by students whose parents are paying for them to be enrolled. My view is: let private schools be private. If minority parents are not able to pay for their child’s way through school, they need to focus on bettering the school that their child does attend. The public school system is where most attention is needed by our U.S. government. Time, money and genuine care are what need to be put in the education system so that race, religion and class are not an issue. Kozol explains that “many Americans…have a rather vague and general impression that the great extremes of racial isolation they recall as matters of grave national significance some 35 or 40 years ago have gradually, but steadily, diminished in more recent years” (18). I would say that most people ignore the fact that our schools are still segregated, but we do see that social class is what separates the students. If we look a little deeper into the schools, it is quite apparent that race is a huge issue. However, not all schools are victims of segregation. Kozol writes, “The schools where children and their teachers still are given opportunities to poke at worms, and poke around into the satisfactions of uncertainty, need to be defended from the unenlightened interventions of the overconfident. These are the schools I call ‘the treasured places.’ They remind us always of the possible” (300).
Kozol also mentions that teachers in many urban schools are told to follow pre-planned lessons so that there is a commonality in the learning environment which does not always help students reach their full potential. Not building a personal relationship with students is the wrong way to teach them. The author has observed that labeling the students and therefore dehumanizing them can in no way encourage them to achieve their academic potential. As a representative and determined advocate, I believe that curriculum in schools are not built to separate students into two groups of “governors” and “the governed.” The curriculum in each school is designed to better each student from grade to grade and increase his knowledge in all subjects. However, I see that the teachers are the issue when it comes to the matter of a caste system in schools. Teachers seem to group certain races together and consider them of more or less worth. Most educators “practices and policies are targeted primarily at poor children of color” (64). They are unaware that each student is an individual who, no matter of his background, has potential to grow with the correct care, attention and teaching from his teachers and all other staff in school.
Kozol has key points that need to be addressed by the leaders of our nation. Inadequate funding for schools with a majority of minorities, resegregation so that our students today will become better equipped leaders of the future, and hiring teachers and staff who are responsible and prepared to teach any color of student with their whole heart are the problems that have to be fixed so that the issues of race we have “overcome” in the past are no longer the shame of our nation.
Segregation is a topic we learn about in our history classrooms starting from a very young age. We understand what it means and we try to cope with those who have suffered from it, yet we do not realize that we live in a world of segregation today. America is a nation built on equality and freedom. We are a nation who stands for the “American dream.” So, it is our duty to make sure that each child is provided an equal education with equal opportunities because these children are our future.
In The Shame of the Nation, written by Jonathon Kozol, the author writes about the issues of segregation in urban and suburban schools. Kozol touches on the problem of inadequate funding to certain schools and explains that schools with less funding are more likely to do poorly on standardized testing because of lack of resources. From the first chapter onward, Kozol writes that teachers and administration in schools do not believe in the potential of inner-city kids. Obviously race is an issue when it comes to these students passing standardized tests. Research shows that “in several states, moreover, the funding gap for children of color is a great deal larger than the gap for children of low income” (Jonathon Kozol 246). Why is it that race has so much to do with inadequate funding for schools? Most students who attend schools where there are not available resources are students whose parents are not educated enough to know their options and if they are, the parents do not have the opportunities to fix these problems. On the other hand, “most Americans whose children aren’t in public school have little sense of the inordinate authority that now is granted to these standardized exams and especially within the inner-city schools the time the tests subtract from actual instruction” (112). Also, another cause of low test scores is because the crucial subjects that are on these standardized tests are not being taught in certain schools.
In U.S. schools, resegregation needs to be a priority. As educators and family of students, we see that resegregation has increased. From my point of view, assimilation of cultures is a key reason for having schools with students of all colors. With how society is today, students need to be aware of the cultures around them whether they agree or disagree with others’ beliefs, lifestyle, or ethics. Our main goal should be to educate children in order for them to be successful in the work field, no matter what career they hold. Also, all children should be given equal opportunities to strive for their highest potential. If certain schools are not getting adequate funding, there is no way the students that attend these schools will be able to reach their utmost potential. Most inner-city kids that Kozol writes about are from low income families; their parents most of the time cannot provide the resources for the children to learn the ins and outs of the society we live in.
Both whites and African Americans have stood their ground when it comes to resegregating schools since the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court decision. Both races want the best for their children. Although, it seems to be that more whites are able to provide the needed opportunities for their children to grow. The schools with only white students are mostly inhabited by students whose parents are paying for them to be enrolled. My view is: let private schools be private. If minority parents are not able to pay for their child’s way through school, they need to focus on bettering the school that their child does attend. The public school system is where most attention is needed by our U.S. government. Time, money and genuine care are what need to be put in the education system so that race, religion and class are not an issue. Kozol explains that “many Americans…have a rather vague and general impression that the great extremes of racial isolation they recall as matters of grave national significance some 35 or 40 years ago have gradually, but steadily, diminished in more recent years” (18). I would say that most people ignore the fact that our schools are still segregated, but we do see that social class is what separates the students. If we look a little deeper into the schools, it is quite apparent that race is a huge issue. However, not all schools are victims of segregation. Kozol writes, “The schools where children and their teachers still are given opportunities to poke at worms, and poke around into the satisfactions of uncertainty, need to be defended from the unenlightened interventions of the overconfident. These are the schools I call ‘the treasured places.’ They remind us always of the possible” (300).
Kozol also mentions that teachers in many urban schools are told to follow pre-planned lessons so that there is a commonality in the learning environment which does not always help students reach their full potential. Not building a personal relationship with students is the wrong way to teach them. The author has observed that labeling the students and therefore dehumanizing them can in no way encourage them to achieve their academic potential. As a representative and determined advocate, I believe that curriculum in schools are not built to separate students into two groups of “governors” and “the governed.” The curriculum in each school is designed to better each student from grade to grade and increase his knowledge in all subjects. However, I see that the teachers are the issue when it comes to the matter of a caste system in schools. Teachers seem to group certain races together and consider them of more or less worth. Most educators “practices and policies are targeted primarily at poor children of color” (64). They are unaware that each student is an individual who, no matter of his background, has potential to grow with the correct care, attention and teaching from his teachers and all other staff in school.
Kozol has key points that need to be addressed by the leaders of our nation. Inadequate funding for schools with a majority of minorities, resegregation so that our students today will become better equipped leaders of the future, and hiring teachers and staff who are responsible and prepared to teach any color of student with their whole heart are the problems that have to be fixed so that the issues of race we have “overcome” in the past are no longer the shame of our nation.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Race Matters: Preface - Ch. 6
5. The author, Cornel West, writes about the dilemmas of Black Americans who are categorized at the bottom of the social ladder, and he defines their problems as nihilism, living a life full of meaninglessness and etc. He explains that Blacks usually don’t oppose each other when it comes to politics. Along the same lines, West also brings up the point of Black leadership and the lack thereof. The emergence of Black conservatives is another important point that West writes about. Overall, the author hits on all major issues that are consistently in the forefront of Black culture, politics and ethics.
4. Pg. 23 – “Life without meaning, hope, and love breeds a coldhearted, mean-spirited outlook that destroys both the individual and others.”
Pg. 47 – “A prophetic framework of moral reasoning would have liberated black leaders from the racial guilt of opposing a black man for the highest court in the land and of the feeling that one had to choose between a black woman and a black man.”
Pg. 55 – “One reason quality leadership is on the wane in black America is the gross deterioration of personal, familial, and communal relations among African-Americans. These relations—though always fragile and difficult to sustain—constitute a crucial basis for the development of a collective and critical consciousness and a moral commitment to and courageous engagement with causes beyond that of one’s self and family.”
Pg. 82 – “The crisis of black liberalism is the result of its failure to put forward a realistic response to the changes in the economy.”
3. Nihilism (pg. 22) – the lived experience of coping with a life of horrifying meaninglessness, hopelessness, and (most important) lovelessness
Prophetic framework (pg. 43) – a framework that consists of moral reasoning with its fundamental ideas of a mature black identity, coalition strategy, and black cultural democracy
Black conservatives (pg. 82) – have been able to convince black Americans that conservative ideology and the policies of the Reagan and Bush administrations are morally acceptable and politically advantageous
2. As a person of a minority in America, I still feel as if this is my country. All of my loyalty is to America. However, I do think that the school systems could better educate their students of other cultures just to open their eyes to how other people live their lives. I know from personal experience that my friends love listening to what I have to say about my Indian culture and all of the things we do different than the “typical” American culture. Even though it may not be much, each culture has their uniqueness that students should be aware of.
In high school, usually when we learned about black history, it was always about the same thing; civil rights. Along the lines of what West is proposing, it’s true that our schooling did not emphasize the importance of learning about other cultures, especially the black culture. The only time we learned about certain other cultures was probably when we briefly talked about the world religions and the cultures that practice those religions. History class, even if it is world history, is repetitive and does not change from year to year. We seemed to always learn in the end about white Americans and their origins.
1. Can curriculum change so that more cultural history is applied and required in schooling?
4. Pg. 23 – “Life without meaning, hope, and love breeds a coldhearted, mean-spirited outlook that destroys both the individual and others.”
Pg. 47 – “A prophetic framework of moral reasoning would have liberated black leaders from the racial guilt of opposing a black man for the highest court in the land and of the feeling that one had to choose between a black woman and a black man.”
Pg. 55 – “One reason quality leadership is on the wane in black America is the gross deterioration of personal, familial, and communal relations among African-Americans. These relations—though always fragile and difficult to sustain—constitute a crucial basis for the development of a collective and critical consciousness and a moral commitment to and courageous engagement with causes beyond that of one’s self and family.”
Pg. 82 – “The crisis of black liberalism is the result of its failure to put forward a realistic response to the changes in the economy.”
3. Nihilism (pg. 22) – the lived experience of coping with a life of horrifying meaninglessness, hopelessness, and (most important) lovelessness
Prophetic framework (pg. 43) – a framework that consists of moral reasoning with its fundamental ideas of a mature black identity, coalition strategy, and black cultural democracy
Black conservatives (pg. 82) – have been able to convince black Americans that conservative ideology and the policies of the Reagan and Bush administrations are morally acceptable and politically advantageous
2. As a person of a minority in America, I still feel as if this is my country. All of my loyalty is to America. However, I do think that the school systems could better educate their students of other cultures just to open their eyes to how other people live their lives. I know from personal experience that my friends love listening to what I have to say about my Indian culture and all of the things we do different than the “typical” American culture. Even though it may not be much, each culture has their uniqueness that students should be aware of.
In high school, usually when we learned about black history, it was always about the same thing; civil rights. Along the lines of what West is proposing, it’s true that our schooling did not emphasize the importance of learning about other cultures, especially the black culture. The only time we learned about certain other cultures was probably when we briefly talked about the world religions and the cultures that practice those religions. History class, even if it is world history, is repetitive and does not change from year to year. We seemed to always learn in the end about white Americans and their origins.
1. Can curriculum change so that more cultural history is applied and required in schooling?
Monday, February 1, 2010
Kozol: Chapter 10 & 12
5. In chapter 10, Kozol writes about how the American legal system can be used to fight against apartheid. He mentions that there have been many attempts to desegregate schools and bring equality that at times have been unsuccessful. The court system has a hard time with actually being effective when it comes to the issue of apartheid. Also, in chapter 12, Kozol writes about different schools, that he has visited in America, that suffer from segregation. Overall, these two chapters described how the government works with these issues and how Kozol has been interactive in the problem of segregation.
4. Pg. 245 – “Thirty-five out of 48 states spend less on students in school districts with the highest numbers of minority children than on students in the districts with the fewest children of minorities.”
Pg. 246 – “In several states, moreover, the funding gap for children of color is a great deal larger than the gap for children of low income.”
Pg. 249 – “Efforts to return the focus of this struggle from the local courts and legislative bodies to the federal level, not through further litigation but through legislative processes, have been attempted in the past few years by several members of Congress. The leadership has come, in large part, from black members of the U.S. House of Representatives.”
Pg. 300 – “The schools where children and their teachers still are given opportunities to poke at worms, and poke around into the satisfactions of uncertainty, need to be defended from the unenlightened interventions of the overconfident. These are the schools I call ‘the treasured places.’ They remind us always of the possible.”
3. Racial Isolation (pg. 239) – students of different races separated or not given as much attention
Inequity (pg. 263) – unfairness in schools especially regarding different races
“Super-teachers” (pg. 293) – subject to idolatry in movies and books from time to time; too many in the real world
2. Interning at a school where Whites were the minority was a great experience for me. There was never a problem of segregation in the school, but racial isolation was apparent whether it was on purpose or not. Most Hispanic students who attended the school were on the same academic level, so, most of the time they were grouped together and grouped away from the Whites.
1. What more can we as teachers do to make the government realize how big of a problem apartheid still is and that it needs to be fixed?
4. Pg. 245 – “Thirty-five out of 48 states spend less on students in school districts with the highest numbers of minority children than on students in the districts with the fewest children of minorities.”
Pg. 246 – “In several states, moreover, the funding gap for children of color is a great deal larger than the gap for children of low income.”
Pg. 249 – “Efforts to return the focus of this struggle from the local courts and legislative bodies to the federal level, not through further litigation but through legislative processes, have been attempted in the past few years by several members of Congress. The leadership has come, in large part, from black members of the U.S. House of Representatives.”
Pg. 300 – “The schools where children and their teachers still are given opportunities to poke at worms, and poke around into the satisfactions of uncertainty, need to be defended from the unenlightened interventions of the overconfident. These are the schools I call ‘the treasured places.’ They remind us always of the possible.”
3. Racial Isolation (pg. 239) – students of different races separated or not given as much attention
Inequity (pg. 263) – unfairness in schools especially regarding different races
“Super-teachers” (pg. 293) – subject to idolatry in movies and books from time to time; too many in the real world
2. Interning at a school where Whites were the minority was a great experience for me. There was never a problem of segregation in the school, but racial isolation was apparent whether it was on purpose or not. Most Hispanic students who attended the school were on the same academic level, so, most of the time they were grouped together and grouped away from the Whites.
1. What more can we as teachers do to make the government realize how big of a problem apartheid still is and that it needs to be fixed?
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Kozol: Introduction - Chapter 6
5. Kozol writes about the issue of segregation in urban and suburban schools. The author touches on the problem of inadequate funding to certain schools, and explains that schools with less funding are more likely to do poorly on standardized testing because of lack of resources. Also, another cause of low test scores is because the crucial subjects that are on these standardized tests are not being taught in certain schools. Kozol mentions that teachers in many urban schools are told to follow pre-planned lessons so that there is a commonality in the learning environment which does not always help students reach their full potential. Not building a personal relationship with students is the wrong way to teach them.
4. Pg. 18 – “Many Americans I meet who live far from our major cities and who have no first0hand knowledge of realities in urban public schools seem to have a rather vague and general impression that the great extremes of racial isolation they recall as matters of grave national significance some 35 or 40 years ago have gradually, but steadily, diminished in more recent years.”
Pg. 64 – “Although generically described as ‘school reform,’ most of these practices and policies are targeted primarily at poor children of color and although most educators speak of the agendas in broad language that sounds applicable to all, it is understood that they are valued chiefly as responses to perceived catastrophe in deeply segregated and unequal schools.”
Pg. 108 – “Other principals have said things like this to me, tentatively, not generally in school, more often in an evening’s conversation. It is as if they’re looking back at an ideal of education that they valued deeply when they started out in their careers, and value still, but feel they have to set aside in order to respond to the realities before them in the neighborhoods that serve and to deliver those empirical results that are demanded of them. These things are said almost nostalgically.”
Pg. 112 – “Most Americans whose children aren’t in public school have little sense of the inordinate authority that now is granted to these standardized exams and, especially within the inner-city schools, the time the tests subtract from actual instruction.”
3. Urban neighborhoods (pg. 100) – residential communities in the city
High-stakes tests (pg. 53) – determine whether students can or cannot be promoted after taking these tests in third grade
Schools in suburban districts (pg. 125) – made up of classrooms with no more than 18 students in each class, resulting in more one on one time with student and teacher
2.Throughout my senior year of high school I interned in a low-income, title 1 elementary school. I saw that these children needed attention that they did not always receive from their parents or guardians at home. With instability in their home lives, the last thing these students would need is a cold, impersonal teacher. At this school, all of the teachers were genuinely concerned with the well-being of each student which made the students happy to be at school.
I also interned at a junior high which had students who were predominantly Hispanic. I assisted in a classroom with eighth grade students who did poorly on their Math TAKS exam. I saw that with patience and building a connection with the students, they were more willing to listen and learn instead of blocking everything out if the material was just forced on them.
1. How can money be allocated so that inner city schools can properly educate their students for standardized testing with adequate and efficient resources?
4. Pg. 18 – “Many Americans I meet who live far from our major cities and who have no first0hand knowledge of realities in urban public schools seem to have a rather vague and general impression that the great extremes of racial isolation they recall as matters of grave national significance some 35 or 40 years ago have gradually, but steadily, diminished in more recent years.”
Pg. 64 – “Although generically described as ‘school reform,’ most of these practices and policies are targeted primarily at poor children of color and although most educators speak of the agendas in broad language that sounds applicable to all, it is understood that they are valued chiefly as responses to perceived catastrophe in deeply segregated and unequal schools.”
Pg. 108 – “Other principals have said things like this to me, tentatively, not generally in school, more often in an evening’s conversation. It is as if they’re looking back at an ideal of education that they valued deeply when they started out in their careers, and value still, but feel they have to set aside in order to respond to the realities before them in the neighborhoods that serve and to deliver those empirical results that are demanded of them. These things are said almost nostalgically.”
Pg. 112 – “Most Americans whose children aren’t in public school have little sense of the inordinate authority that now is granted to these standardized exams and, especially within the inner-city schools, the time the tests subtract from actual instruction.”
3. Urban neighborhoods (pg. 100) – residential communities in the city
High-stakes tests (pg. 53) – determine whether students can or cannot be promoted after taking these tests in third grade
Schools in suburban districts (pg. 125) – made up of classrooms with no more than 18 students in each class, resulting in more one on one time with student and teacher
2.Throughout my senior year of high school I interned in a low-income, title 1 elementary school. I saw that these children needed attention that they did not always receive from their parents or guardians at home. With instability in their home lives, the last thing these students would need is a cold, impersonal teacher. At this school, all of the teachers were genuinely concerned with the well-being of each student which made the students happy to be at school.
I also interned at a junior high which had students who were predominantly Hispanic. I assisted in a classroom with eighth grade students who did poorly on their Math TAKS exam. I saw that with patience and building a connection with the students, they were more willing to listen and learn instead of blocking everything out if the material was just forced on them.
1. How can money be allocated so that inner city schools can properly educate their students for standardized testing with adequate and efficient resources?
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Pros & Cons in Education Today
In a lot of schools across Texas, the extreme importance given to standardized testing is unnecessary. I do not think that it is helping students reach their potential at all! On the other hand, in education today, most schools give students the opportunity to enroll in upper level classes that give each student the chance to expand their knowledge in any subject.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)