Future Social Issues Students

Those of you who are planning on taking Social Issues in Education are in for a journey. You will learn so much in this class if you go into it with an open mind. You will learn how you can make a difference as an educator, and how you can impact the school system in the United States. Each time you enter the classroom, you should try to clear your mind, so that you will be able to process all of the different views and ideas that are talked about during the class. At times, issues are addressed that might make you feel uncomfortable, but don't worry because no one is judging you. Feel free to state your opinion because this class is a safe haven. Nobody is going to attack you for saying your opinion on one of the many issues addressed during this class. You will never be told what to think, but throughout the semester your eyes may be opened to things you never knew in regards to issues in education. You may come to terms with some views you did not know you held, and your opinion may change. Through the novels, you will see many things that need to be changed in our education system, and after you take this class, you may feel empowered to try to make a change. This class is not focused on grades or tests, but is more about learning and understanding about the world we live in. You will be so glad you took this course, and you will finish the class knowing so much more than when you began.

Teaching To Transgress

Chapter 13 - Eros, Eroticism, and Pedagogical Process

About Passion in the classroom - "There is not much passionate teaching and learning taking place in higher education today. Even when students are desperately yearning to be touched by knowledge, professors still fear the challenge, allowing their worries about losing control to override their desires to teach." (pg. 198)

Main Ideas & Theses

Bell Hooks talks about how teachers "teach as though only the mind is present, and not the body." (pg. 191) Students and teachers alike are expected to leave their body behind when they enter the classroom, and only use their mind to absorb information. Hooks talks about she can barely remember anything about what a teacher looks like, but would know their voice. She writes about this, and how this shows that passion is not a priority in classrooms today.

Consistent/Inconsistent with Experiences as a Student/Novice/Teaching Associate

I think this is consistent with what I have seen as a student. Many teachers often lecture the entire class, and do not put any effort into seeing if the students understand the material. In one math class I took, the teacher did not even attempt to lecture, and instead would just write problems for the class to do, and did not care if anyone understood. The whole class was confused for the entire semester, and most of us grew to dislike the subject. It is rare to have a teacher who is really passionate about the subject they are teaching. As a novice, it was difficult to have passion when tutoring because I was just learning how to teach and make lesson plans. Since I was a little nervous, it made it harder to be excited, because I was just trying to everything right. As that semester went on, everything became easier though , and it was easier to have fun with lessons.

Consistent/Inconsistent with Teaching Beliefs & Practices

I think passion should have a place in every classroom. It makes learning more enjoyable, and it often makes it easier to understand everything. When a teacher is excited about teaching, then students are more likely to be excited about learning. The classroom can be a much happier place with passion, instead of a boring lecture zone.

So What? Impact on Future Professional Development

Passion in the classroom should be encouraged in all schools. Maybe they should have seminars about making learning more fun, and involving the body and the mind, instead of just the mind. It should be an important part of education, because teachers should be animated about what they are teaching to students.

Shame of the Nations - Exam 1 Essay

Jonathan Kozol - The Shame of the Nation: Essay 1

Dear President Obama,

I am so honored to have been selected to serve on the “U.S. Commission for Improving the Quality of Education Opportunity for Marginalized Children in the United States.” I believe that many improvements can be made in order to improve our nations education system. These changes should be implemented as soon as possible, so that the students of America can have the best education possible, no matter what their background, race, or socioeconomic status is.

Jonathan Kozol’s book, the Shame of the Nation, declares that the United States of America contains “apartheid schooling,” which is segregation in schools based on race. The first thought most people have when they hear the term apartheid is Africa. It may be shocking, but there is apartheid right here in our own country.

When Kozol began visiting schools in New York City, he found that “virtually all the children of black and Hispanic people in the cities that I visited, both large and small, were now attending schools in which their isolation was as absolute as it had been for children in the school which I’d started out so many years before.” (8) In the New York City schools, Kozol saw that segregation appeared worse in the late 1990’s, and early 2000’s, than it appeared before the Supreme Court decision Brown vs. Board of Education. Our nation is backtracking in regards to segregation, and most inner city schools now hold mainly African Americans and Hispanics. Kozol claims that the United States are becoming re-segregated, and that our nation is settling for “separate but equal,” the decision made in Plessy vs. Ferguson in 1896.

This could be to due to an increase in white flight, which is when white families leave their neighborhood when other races start moving into their neighborhood. This is a difficult problem to fix because there is no way to stop a white family from moving out of their neighborhood and into a different school zone that is more preferable to them. “Some of our most segregated urban neighborhoods lie just adjacent to well-funded districts serving middle-class communities. Less than a fifteen-minute bus ride often separates our wealthiest and poorest schooling systems.”(Kozol, 204) This issue has been increasing the re-segregation of the American schools lately, and it is a complicated problem to fix. Some options are to rezone, or get rid of zoning entirely, but then parents of students who are already in the nicer school districts will have an issue with newcomers coming into their district.

An issue Kozol talks about with the inner city schools is the curriculum. Many schools are given their curriculum from the government, like SFA, and the teachers are forced to teach these exactly as they are given. Kozol said he observed many classrooms where this curriculum was in effect, and saw many things he was not fond of. Students were not allowed to talk for the most part, which is a critical part of learning, and student and teacher interaction was very minimal. Another issue was that many schools tell their students that their goal in life should be to become a manager, and they promote this by putting them in work related classes. They often do not inform students that they have the option to attend college, and receive a higher education. I think this is sad, and is something that needs to be changed in these schools, but students should know that they can reach for a higher goal and attain it. A manager could be a great position, but if a student wants to have a different career, they should know they have that option.

Another issue that Kozol explores in these urban schools is standardized testing. In schools where students generally score well on their standardized exams, their curriculum does not need to be centered around these tests. In urban schools, where students often do poorly on these standardized tests, the curriculum is solely focused on passing these tests. Kozol says, “Even in good suburban schools where scores are generally high, I don’t know how many principals and teachers believe that the repeated measuring of children’s skills by standardized exams has a positive effect upon the processes of education; I know many more who feel it has the opposite result.” (page 110) I agree with Kozol on this point because teachers have their students memorize and repeat the information they need to know for the test, instead of checking whether students understand the information.

A lot of teachers are motivated this way because they will get rewards from the school if their students do well, and if the students as a whole do well, then the school will be given more financial aide. Kozol writes about districts, especially in Houston, lying about scores, and drop out rates in order for their school to get backed financially. I understand that schools need to be kept accountable for what they teach in some form, but I feel that the standardized tests that are given at this time are not necessarily doing their job, and are not helping students learn.

Urban schools also spend a lot less money per student, and this means that these students will not have the resources that a more wealthy school would have. Although money is not the cause of learning, money comes with the benefits of better teachers, textbooks, materials and other resources. “When minority parents ask for something better for their kids, she says, the assumption is that these are parents who can be discounted. These are the kids they don’t value.” (Kozol, 43) These are the students who will not get the best education because of a situation they were born into, and that should not be okay. Everyone child in the United States should be able to get a quality education if they wish to do so.

The re-segregation in United States schooling is a condition that needs to be examined carefully. It is obvious that the situation is not getting any better, and multiple political leaders have unsuccessfully attempted to implement change. “But if the past may be relied upon to make predictions for the future, we may sensibly expect that much of what is promised in the present set of goals, no matter how thy dominate the national attention at the present time, will be retracted, or amended, or diluted, or else more or less forgotten long before that very distant date arrives.” (Kozol 205) We need to focus our attention on this issue, and make change happen, unlike what has been done in the past. I look forward to working with you and hearing your input.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Cavender

Race Matters Chapters 5 - 8

5 Sentences on the Big Picture

Cornel talks about Malcolm X, black sexuality, affirmative action, and Jewish people. Cornel talks about black anti-semitism, along with the struggle of the Jewish race and the African American race as the underdogs in society fighting for a chance. Cornel also talks about black sexuality, and how blacks need to stop hating their bodies and have better self esteem. There is an entire chapter dedicated to Malcolm X and his fight for African’s Americans rights in society. Cornel discusses many issues that are relevant in today’s society with African American culture and issues.

4 Key Passages

“Given the history of this country, it is a virtual certainty that without affirmative action, racial and sexual discrimination would return with a vengeance.” (page 95)

“Black anti-Semitism and Jewish antiblack racism are real, and both are as profoundly American as cherry pie. There was no golden age in which blacks and Jews were free of tension and friction.” (page 104)

“If the best of black cultures wanes in the face of black anti-Semitism, black people will become even more isolated as a community and the black freedom struggle will be tarred with the brush of immorality.” (page 115)

“This demythologizing of black sexuality is crucial for black America because much of black self-hatred and self-contempt has to do with the refusal of many black Americans to love their own black bodies – especially their black noses, hips, lips, and hair.” (page 122)

3 Terms

Xenophobia – intense or irrational dislike or fear of people

Affirmative action – an action favoring those who tend to suffer from discrimination

Black anit-semitism – African American people not liking Jews

2 Connections

Cornel discusses the issues black people have with their bodies and self esteem. This issue is apparent in American culture in general, not just in the African American culture. So many women, and even some men hate their bodies because they think they are not thin enough or pretty enough, and this is an issue that so many people in America are dealing with every day.

I thought it was interesting how on page 112, where Cornel talks about black anti-Semitism, how he says that blacks hate Jews because it is “ a form of underdog resentment and envy.” I think this could be very true, because in general most people hate the people who have what they want. The Jews have gotten farther ahead in terms of class, and they used to be in the same situation as blacks, so now they hate the Jews because the Jews got what they wanted.

1 Question

Is African American and Jewish friction still prevalent today?

Race Matters: Preface – Chapter 4

5 Sentences on the Main Idea

Cornel West writes about race in America, mainly emphasizing African Americans, and the obstructions that are in the way of their race making a difference. West mentions the lack of political leaders in the African American culture, and how they are too worried about pleasing the public, so they do not speak about what they really want to get changed in the political world. West blames part of the race issues on white supremacists, but he also holds the African American people accountable for their own actions. West writes about the term nihilism a lot, and how the African American race has lost hope in their country, and in particular, their race. Race Matters is an interesting, yet disturbing book to read on the African American race.

4 Key Passages

“In fact, the major enemy in black survival in America has been and is neither oppression nor exploitation, but rather the nihilistic threat – that is, loss of hope and absence of meaning.” (p.23)

“A love ethic must be at the center of a politics of conversion. A love ethic has nothing to do with sentimental feelings or tribal connections. Rather it is a last attempt at generating a sense of agency among a downtrodden people.” (p. 29)

“Malcolm, Martin, Ella, and Fannie were angry about the state of black America, and this anger fueled their boldness and defiance. In Stark contrast, most present-day black political leaders appear too hungry for status to be angry, too eager for acceptance to be bold, too self-invested in advancement to be defiant.” (p. 58)

“The present generation has yet to produce such a figure. We have neither an Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., nor a Ronald Dellums. This void sits like a festering sore at the center of the crisis of black leadership-and the predicament of the disadvantaged in the United States and abroad worsens.” (p. 61)

3 Terms

Afrocentrism - regards African Americans and their culture as superior

Nihilism – life without meaning, hope or love

Black authenticity – who is really black?

2 Connections

Although there are many areas that still need change, I liked how Cornel West acknowledges that there has been some racial progress in America. West did not know it when he wrote this book, but there is now an African American president, and that is definitely a major accomplishment for the African American race. Even though everything is not perfect with race in America, there have definitely been some achievements recently.

Cornel West states on page XV, that “black people consume 12 percent of illegal drugs in America yet suffer nearly 70 percent of its convictions!” I thought that was so interesting that African Americans get convicted for such a high percentage, when they did not even commit the crime. When I think of drugs, the image of African Americans often pops into my head, but obviously they are not the race that does the majority of drugs in the United States.

1 Question

West claims that the black leaders today are inadequate in making a difference in politics, so what can be done to change this?

Chapters 8 & 12 Countdown

Chapter 8 & 12

5 Sentences on the Big Picture

In Chapter 8, Kozol talks about the government programs over the past few decades to improve the education system of America. Most of these programs were designed to make huge strides in the education world, but in reality, most of these programs have failed to make any lasting changes. Kozol also highlights political leaders, and how many of their programs are the same as a decade ago, but the end date for their goal to be reached is pushed back further by a multiple years. Kozol also claims that too many inner city schools emphasize careers after high school, rather than trying to get students to reach for higher education. In Chapter 12, Kozol emphasizes the role of the teacher, their love for children, and how that should never be disregarded by people who think they know more about education than the employees who work in schools.

4 Key Passages

“Too much is expected of them when they come; too little is accorded to them when they leave.” (p. 198)

“Some of our most segregated urban neighborhoods lie just adjacent to well-funded districts serving middle-class communities. Less than a fifteen-minute bus ride often separates our wealthiest and poorest schooling systems.” (p, 204).

“But if the past may be relied upon to make predictions fro the future, we may sensibly expect that much of what is promised in the present set of goals, no matter how they dominate the national attention at the present time, will be retracted, or amended, or diluted, or else more or less forgotten long before that very distant date arrives. The testing protocols, unhappily, may be the only part of this that actually survives.” (p. 205-206)

“Teachers and principals should not permit the beautiful profession they have chosen to be redefined by those who know far less than they about the hearts of children.” (p. 299)

3 Key Terms

Program – a term used to describe government efforts to improve the education system in America that most often fail

Accountability – Kozol talks about the government not being held accountable for following through with their education programs. It is also mentioned with schools being held accountable to give true records to the government about test scores, and drop out rates.

Improvements – Kozol speaks about all the programs that are supposed to reap benefits to underprivileged children’s educations, but these benefits are often short lived.

2 Connections

Kozol mentions money being a key area that affects the achievement gap in schools. I am taking American Educational Thought, and we were talking about the causes of the achievement gap the other day. Our teacher mentioned that studies have been done, and that the main factors to lessen the gap are having a stable family, and religion, not money. The problem with these two factors is that they are difficult to change, because you cannot choose your family, and most people are the same religion as their family members.

Kozol also talks about the government rewarding schools with financial aid when they score well on standardized exams. Many of the schools in the book ended up lying in order to get the financial benefits the government offered. I went to a school where the standardized tests were not made a huge deal because my school always scored relatively well. Maybe students would do better if they were not told that the test was the only measure of their success for the year, and this would make the entire experience less stressful to them. I know I would have been much more afraid of the standardized tests every year if I knew that would be the only way a teacher would judge whether I was smart , and so if the teachers emphasize the tests less, then maybe the students will do better because they will not worry about the tests so much.

1 Question

If all of the government programs have ultimately reaped few benefits in education, then what needs to be done to bring a lasting change to the school systems?

What's Working and What's Not Working in Education Today

I am not a fan of standardized testing. Although it may keep students accountable for what they learn, I do not like how teachers have to revolve their curriculum around one test. This makes the teachers stress out if they are in a inner city school, because their job depends on how well their students do on the standardized test. I don't necessarily think standardized testing should be dropped completely, but I think it could be changed to where it is not the only important thing a child should do the whole school year. I think something good about education is that people are starting to notice that so many inner city schools need help in many ways. If awareness can be spread, instead of poorer schools being avoided, then some changes could be made to help these schools become better in the future.