Quote 1 - Anthology Chapter 11 page 114
"How often do we hear about teachers who do the right things? How often do we see what and how they do these good things?
This is a very good point and I feel as though this is the case with almost every aspect of society. When watching the news, I would say on average, I see 1-2 good-natured, human-interest stories for about every 10 stories. Knowing this, I suppose it makes more sense, and by more sense I mean more money, to show shocking stories about the dysfunctional education system, how schools are failing, and how education in this country is on the downfall. Knowing this, I completely support the author, Robert DiGiulio, in supporting and encouraging the good efforts by teachers. This is different than the encouragement that Race to the Top tries to promote; DiGiulio is looking for slight praise for educators simply for intrinsic value. This is something that is being squeezed out of the education system because of standardization and increase of high stakes testing on which certain curriculum is based. So many teachers are doing excellent things in their classrooms and it would be nice for fellow educators, future educators, parents, and students to get a better perspective on what really goes on inside a classroom, not just the negative media that education receives that is usually void of the facts.
Quote 2 - Anthology Chapter 11 page 115 Robert DiGiulio
"Simply telling kids they are good won't wash. Student success is fostered by the work students do, by what they produce...participating, performing, creating, practicing, designing, producing, carrying out an experiment, finishing an assignment, or any of hundreds of other activities."
This author connects this quote with a statement earlier in his article and it relates all of the above activities with quality teaching. Each one of those aspects of teaching is possible because the teacher is allotted time or makes time for these innovative, critical thinking activities. These are all things that kids are supposed to be doing. They are supposed to get their hands dirty, figure things out on their own, question everything, investigate, be creative, and reflect on whatever it is they produce. How can a student do this with a machine-scored test? Where is the leeway with a standardized test? This section, even though brief, is extremely powerful. This teaching represents quality teaching. Allowing and encouraging students to take part in all of the activities mentioned above represent a quality education. What else should we want for the youth today? Were we given that as school-aged children? I like to think so. Some of my memorable records of elementary school involved projects, going outside to learn about nature, going to Mystic Aquarium to do hands-on experiments that coincided with our science material, writing a script for a play for Beowulf and performing it for our class in the 7th grade, etc. Is there time for this anymore? We are stripping education of its best features and taking the rights from kids that they deserve. Third graders cannot speak for themselves in front of the board of education so who will speak for them to ensure they are able to produce, perform, create, practice, participate, design, experiment, and be kids?
Quote 3 – The “Banking Concept of Education” by Paulo Friere page 1
“Education thus becomes an act of depositing…Instead of communicating, the teacher issues communiqués and makes deposits which the students patiently receive, memorize, and repeat.”
I’m not quite sure that I ever thought I would hear education being compared to the banking system. This seems outrageous and just another reason to criticize the way education is going. This analogy is a great one because it relates the fact that education is becoming a corporate commodity. The art of teaching is being sucked out of teachers and the students are disadvantaged because of that. Every good quality that a teacher possesses will no longer exist because people who do not understand education and the consequences of this type of system are the ones controlling education. Education is becoming cut and dry, black and white, right or wrong, multiple choice, true and false, numbers specific, standardized with no deviation, much like banking. Unfortunately for us, education was not designed to be like banking.
Quote 4 - The “Banking Concept of Education” by Paulo Friere page 3
“Well-intentioned bank-clerk teachers who do not realize that they are serving only to dehumanize.”
The term “dehumanize” scares me. It probably scares me even more because I believe it is happening. Humans are human for a reason. We do not function like machines; therefore, we should not be educated like machines. We are the creatures on this earth that have the most capacity yet we are now going in reverse. We are minimizing the natural human aspects of questioning, thinking critically, predicting, experimenting, trial and error, and breaking all of these things down into small, easy-to-memorize, no thinking required parts like robots. There is a huge difference between knowledge and wisdom. We are extracting the wisdom out of our minds and it was that wisdom that led us to our present day life. Now we are taking away that human aspect and creating knowledge robots that can repeat anything we ask them to as long as they have memorized it. We will no longer have our minds; we will simply have our brains.
Quote 5 - The “Banking Concept of Education” by Paulo Friere page 4
“ Authentic thinking, thinking that is concerned about reality, does not take place in ivory tower isolation, but only in communication.”
I find this quote interesting and I understand the importance that the author places on communication, but I feel as though other aspects hold a similar importance as well. He mentions that authentic thinking relies on communication but I would also like to add that questioning, predicting, reflecting, and a variety in courses will lead to authentic thinking. It would seem to me that thinking should be just like anything else. You cannot ride a bike for a child; the child needs to learn on his own. You cannot play an instrument for a child; he or she must learn and practice on his or her own. So why is it that we are trying to tell students what to think, they must learn and practice thinking on their own. They can do this in so many different ways (as mentioned above) but must be given the opportunity. Where will our children get this opportunity if not in school?
Quote 6 – Progressive vs. Traditional education, quote by John Dewey
“Learning is thinking about experience.”
This quote is short but sweet. It highlights the importance of experience and then reflecting on that experience, whether the experience is positive or negative. Unfortunately, we all know that all kids do not experience the same things. Children that live in the poorest areas of the country will not have the same experiences as those who live in more affluent areas. With this said, those who are disadvantaged from the start need a quality education more than anyone. They may not have other options to gain positive experiences that will further learning, they need a good, safe school to attend in order to thinking about those experiences. They need to be challenged and encouraged to continue their education. We all know that is not happening but what are we doing about it?
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Your first quote really interested me. You are absolutely right and I like how you linked this idea to the media. It is very rare to hear teachers success stories and when things are going great in the classroom. We have targeted the schools that are doing poorly, we have targeted the administrators that are performing poorly and we have pointed out the teachers that are not teaching "well." Shouldn't we also be looking at the schools, teachers and administrators that are doing well? We should be focused on these things and be learning from them. We can use them as a guide to help others. You are absolutely right when you say that it is linked to money. Are people going to want to spend more time and money on schools that are already performing well? No, and this is why they need to make it seem that way so more money is thrown here and there to "save" or rebuild these schools. I really like your insight into this and I absolutely agree that more positive attention to the educations system would be beneficial. Certainly, we still need to hear about issues in order to address them but more attention needs to be put on positive aspects of education.
ReplyDeleteI think you bring up a great point. I understand negative, shocking stories like schools not reaching AYP or lowest scores in the state will make for good media. But a story I would much rather watch is one where a struggling school is helped by a strong school. This would most likely look like a suburban school helping an inner city school but this could be an excellent practice on so many levels. It could involve tutoring, or cleaning up an inner city school, or raising funds for a playscape or supplies. Again, many suburban schools have the funds and support to make things happen, we've seen this in the Kozol book. This would bring out teamwork, a sense of community, and the students could learn a great deal from their peers who probably only live 15 miles away but in a completely different world.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I really like how it could build a sense of community. It would be great if struggling schools could have a sister school that is doing well. Teachers could work together and students would have a great opportunity to experience diversity and be emersed in a community. I love this idea and I think that it could really work. This way, instead of poor schools doing worse and good schools getting better, they could combine efforts and really have a positive impact on one another.
ReplyDeleteThis would make sense right? I wonder how teachers and people in education would feel about this. I have a feeling for some, probably those in the strong schools, would see it as being too time consuming and not willing to participate. Again, their school is not the school in need. It becomes easier in their minds to ignore the problem and pretend it doesn't exist. This is the worst attitude because then, either blatantly or subconsciously, it gets passed on to the students and no progress has been made. Students need to understand the world around them. As a matter of fact, the adults need to understand this world, perhaps more so than the students. Kids do not grow up thinking one way or another, they are influenced by their environment. Imagine an inner city child and a suburban child coming together for a common cause, for the common good. If they participated in a program such as the one we are speaking of, they would experience a bond. This bond may never have occurred otherwise. This are the things we should be working towards and providing grant money for, community building, partnership, teamwork, and helping out neighbors.
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