Many things that were brought up in class were relative to power. First off, we discussed the idea of educators choosing what they want us to know. Although sad, but true, the educational system decides for us what is important to know and understand. They (educators, administrators) choose our textbooks, supplement materials, and homework assignments all reinforcing the same concepts and ideas. For example, in class I was shocked to hear about the real reason behind affirmative action, as I believe were many of my classmates. This just goes to show how things are kept from us to reinforce certain ways of thinking. This idea relates to something I thought a lot about in class, "money is power", although this concept seems obvious when it comes to our discussion about unequal education and resources it seems even more prominent. Whoever has the money has the power to decide curriculum, the policies, the resources and probably more. This is just another example of our capitalist society working at its "best."
Another power relationship in education is between the students and teacher. Teachers must gain respect from their students in order to effectively teach the class. Personally I believe that teachers should be "judged" based on their style of teaching, not necessarily on experience nor credentials. What I mean by this is how well the teachers engage and make the students comfortable in their learning environment. Teachers could have gone to the most prestigious school and still come out horrible teachers based on their personality and teaching methods. Throughout this class I have thought of one of my favorite movies of all time, Freedom Writers; although its the exception it shows how amazing some teachers are and the determination and passion they have for helping others can truly change the lives of the students. Here is the trailer from the movie http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809280899/video/973710/20061013/150/973710-700-wmv-s.29179774-173810,973710-100-wmv-s.29179467-173810,973710-1000-wmv-s.29179642-173810,973710-300-wmv-s.29179553-173810,973710-56.6-wmv-s.29179465-173810 .
I was shocked to hear that some teachers change the answers/scores of some students' tests. Although it seems they have the power to do this undetected, do they think they are really helping the students? If anything, they're only making the system more unequal and putting the students at risk for academic failure later on. I know a girl whose parents were told she wouldn't get into SOM based on her grades and SAT scores. Miraculously after her parents discussed with the School of Management that they both worked for the SUNY system, she got in. It's all about networking and it's all about power.
The roots of our unequal educational system comes down to a few things; money, our attitudes and our unwillingness to change and open ourselves to new ideas. It's even apparent in our class that on a smaller scale these are the things keeping our unequal educational system right where it is.
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3 comments:
You made some great points in your blog. I also believe that teachers should not be judged on what college they went to or how many years they have been teaching but on their actual teaching style at the moment. Just because a person understands some topic to the full extent and can break it down into a simple form that doesn't mean they'll have the patience or determination to teach it to someone else. It also does have a lot to do with power and networking. Like we keep repeating "It's not what you know but who." I don't think this system is focused on helping students in generalt but rather how to profit the most from certain classes and how to sustain their materials (Lower-class workers).
I also believe strongly that a teacher's style in the classroom is more important than their credentials. In high school I learned more from my AP psych teacher who was 22 and fresh out of college, than my 65 year old math teacher. AP psych may seem hard and boring for some but I enjoyed it. I received a 5 on the AP exam because I wanted to learn. I found the homework interesting, I found the class environment engaging. My teacher knew hsow to relate the subject to our every day lives. These new teachers are fresh out of college, they just went through schooling and acknowledge the pros and cons of a classroom environment. These teachers are excited and stimulating. I believe teachers should be closely watched by administrators for errors, and not in testing but in classroom personality and teaching styles. Any person can feed you information out of a textbook, but a teacher who makes you want to .learn and who has you engaged in the material is a real educator.
What did you think about the readings?
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