Democracy in American Schools

Until this presentation, I had never thought about the connection between all the issues we discussed and democracy. I always learned that our society was a democratic one, but I never fully comprehended the concept. To me it was a government made for the people by the people. It was based on things like equality and freedom for everyone, but after this taking this class it's hard to see where those principles exist. The great number of inequalities and injustices of our education system seems far from democratic. A question was posed during this weeks presentation which asked "what can be done to encourage active democratic participation within the schools that will motivate students to be more democratically active within the lager society?" In my opinion we need to educate students about current policies and the rights that they have. If schools initiated programs which informed students about community affairs and allowed them to voice their opinions and concerns, I think the students will be more interested in trying to make a difference. If they are shown that they can make a difference on a small community level, and then are encouraged to participate on a larger level students will be more inclined to do so.

Aquote I liked came from the Chomsky article on page 4. It reads "As our society allows the corporate cultures to reduce the priorities of education to the pragmatic requirements of the market, whereby students are trained to become compliant workers, spectorial consumers, and passive citizens, it necessarily has to create educational structures that anesthetize students' critical abilities, in order to domesticate social order for its self-preservation." this reminded me of the section in Kozol where he talked about teaching students to become managers. The school focused on this one profession and geared their lessons and activities accordingly. Also, when the IBM representative taught a lesson in an elementary school class and taught the students words like goods and services. In my opinion, by allowing corporations to teach kids about one specific job, we are limiting their goals. We should allow children to think for themselves and be what they want to be. By pushing a certain job type, students will think that is all they are capable of when in reality they could achieve much more. Another quote i liked was on page 68 of the West article. He says, "Democracy is always a movement of an energized public to make elites responsible-it is at its core and most basic foundation the taking back of one's powers in the face of the misuse of elite power...Democracy is not just a system of governance, as we tend to think of it, but a cultural way of being." I like this quote because I think it reminds us of the foundation of democracy. Power should not only fall into the hands of an elite few, but rather in the hands of the people themselves. We should be able to change our system when we find it necessary. If something is not working for us, we must do something to fix it. Unfortunately I feel that this is not going to happen. Many people feel like they do not have any power and cannot make a difference. I think if we can change this attitude which any of us hold and work together to fight for the things that matter, hopefully we can make a difference. I realize that sounds very optimistic but I think there is a chance that it can happen. We need to take control of the situation in order to correct the inequalities of our educational system.

the following link is for a speech Chomsky made at Loyola University:
http://zmag.org/chomsky/talks/9410-education.html

Censorship in Schools

It was interesting to see that I had read several banned books in school including Lord of the Flies, and To Kill A Mockingbird. At the time I saw nothing wrong with the content of these books. I do not understand why they need to be banned. I think in theory the concept of censorship could work as long as it is exercised correctly. We should censor books according to age. As long as books are read at an age appropriate level and there is parental consent, I don't think we should be censoring what students read. The issue of parental concern was also brought up in class. Not all parents know what their children are reading or would argue that it is inappropriate. I think parents believe that teachers would not assign an inappropriate book for their students. If parents have a concern with the material their children are reading, I believe they should have the right to excuse their child from reading it. On page 62 Reichman discusses who makes the school policies concerning curriculum. Ultimately the power lies in the hands of the school board members. They can take into account concerns and ideas from parents within the community but they have the final say. I think that parents and teachers along with members of the school board should all have an equal say in deciding what books students will read. Teachers and parents see the children everyday allowing them to better understand what material is suitable for children.

We also talked about the issue of altering content due to censorship. Growing up I never thought that textbooks would differ from location to location. After hearing in class about the differences in textbooks between the north and the south, I am interested to read a textbook from the south. I think that there should be a standard for what material should be put in textbooks. Children should be given the whole story and not just one side of the argument. Like Ravitch said, by leaving out certain viewpoints and altering content you are limiting the information reaching the students and altering their world view. In regards to altering content, I read Judy Blume's website suggested by the this weeks group. It was interesting to see her feelings towards censorship. If I was an author, I would be offended and annoyed if I had to alter my writing. I feel like it would alter the story and take away from the author's main point.

This article discusses censorship and the controversy that comes along with it. It also talks about how to avoid and handle controversy when it occurs.

Assessment Practices

This week we discussed the topic of assessment. The use of standardized tests is the most commonly used method for assessing the progress of the students. As England said, these tests are dangerous. Often the students feel a great deal of pressure while taking these exams, enough pressure to make them lose focus and perform poorly. I know from my own experience, I was never able to eat breakfast on the day of standardized testing because I would literally be sick to my stomach with nerves. The lack of food, and the stress of finishing on time made it hard for me to concentrate. I think that the idea of standardized testing is not bad, but the way they are implemented is. They do allow comparisons to be made between different students. If there was a way in which the stress could be taken away from standardized testing, I feel they could be beneficial. If changes were made in the ways they were administered, I think that would be helpful. Instead of taking these tests in gymnasiums filled with a hundred other students, we can administer these tests in smaller classrooms. We also discussed the possibility of finding an alternative to standardized testing. I think that finding a feasible alternative will be challenging. We discussed the use of portfolios which seem to have many advantages, but I feel that it could be very time consuming for the teachers. I like the idea of providing students with different options for projects. One student can write a paper, while another creates a work of art, or another writes a song. This is a good idea because students are able to show their understanding of the material in a manner that bests suits them. This article talks about the issue of standardized testing and possible alternatives. We also discussed the different learning styles and multiple intelligences that students have. Some learning better visually, while others learn better through first hand experience. It should be the teachers job to prepare lessons that effectively teach all of the students. I think that this would be challenging but not impossible. The teacher can prepare a slide show presentation which would help the visual learners, while explaining it in detail for those who learn better with words. Afterwards the teacher can prepare an activity in which the students are able to learn through their own experiences in order to better understand the material. I think if teachers take the time to create these lessons plans, it will greatly benefit their students and allow them to perform to the best of their ability. We also discussed the admissions process for certain schools described by Kozol. I never had the opportunity to choose where I went to school so this was interesting to me. I found it strange that parents would hire someone to prep their child for an interview. I also think it's wrong for parents to lie about their address on the application form. It is interesting to see how far parents will go to have their children attend a certain school. The children of these "savvy parents" as Kozol calls them, are very fortunate to have such resources. But I find it unfair to those less fortunate children who deserve the same opportunities.

School Selection and Condition

Before reading Archbald's article I had never heard of magnet schools and I wasn't even aware of the school choice option. I think this shows one issue with school choice. People are not aware of their options. Parents need to be aware of the possibilities and opportunities available to their children. The idea of school choice needs to be brought to the foreground. I think that schools should send home pamphlets in order to advertise school choice. Another issue that we discussed was the effect of school choice on segregation. We talked about how school choice just shuffles bodies around from school to school without having a greater impact. I think there are two issues we need to look at; one being the issue of segregation and the other being the issue of unequal education (based on curriculum, conditions etc). In order to improve the quality of education for disadvantaged students, charter schools (a form of schools choice) came into play. These schools help students by providing them with a higher quality education than they would have received in other public schools. But, now there is an issue of segregation. It's almost as if, once we try to improve one aspect of education, more problems are created. I'm not saying that segregation within the school system was caused only by charter schools but rather the use of them just perpetuated the problem. So do we eliminate charter schools and school choice in order to decrease segregation even though they can be beneficial? In my opinion, although I hate to say it, I feel that segregation within schools will be around for a very long time. Private schools will continue to educate mostly rich upper class white children. While the urban public schools will continue to educate mostly minorities. In some sense, we segregate ourselves based on location. In my opinion we tend to live in areas where people are similar to ourselves. This causes a lack of diversity not only within the school district but within the community as a whole. I think programs should be initiated in which schools from different districts or areas bring their students together for certain activities in which they have the opportunity to learn about a wider range of cultures and experience more diversity.

We also discussed the issue of school conditions. After reading Kozol's chapter and watching the youtube video presented in class, I was shocked at the horrible conditions these schools were in. I couldn't believe that these schools were were still open and parents were sending their children to them. Kozol talks about one school in which there was asbestos and lead based paint which was chipping from the walls. From the description Kozol gave of one school it seemed like a prison. I wonder how students are able to learn in such conditions. Students need a warm, friendly, clean place in which they can learn. These conditions cannot foster a proper learning environment for the students. This article talks about the poor conditions found in many schools across the country and the effects they have on the teachers and students.