Blog 4

Quote 1 – Spring 228

“Parental objections also include methods of instruction. Some parents want their children to be taught by methods that emphasize independent thinking, critical thinking, and self-motivated learning. Other parents want an emphasis on rote learning and authoritarian instructional methods.”

When I read this I would like to know if the parents who are pushing for rote learning and authoritarian instructional methods have ever sat in on a class where these methods are practiced. I would like to think that every parent wishes the best for their children and this is a very biased statement but I do not think is the most beneficial path for young minds. This sort of teaching reminds me of military style teaching or something you might find on a military base, not that I have ever been to one, I am speculating. Unfortunately, this is the approach many schools are taking now because of all of the changes made in education in the last 10/15 years. I guess my point is that it is bad enough that the government is pushing for standardization in schools, mindless, rote, memorizing activities. Now parents, whether they know the impact of this teaching or not, are pushing for the same agenda. Will teachers have to fight administration, government, and now the parents of their students to encourage thinking and meaningful learning?


Quote 2 – Spring 228

“Religious objections to textbooks and instructional methods open the constitutional question of separation of religion and government. Some religious groups argue that public schools do not teach students to rely on the authority of God. Consequently, these religious groups maintain that public schools are violating religious beliefs protected by the Constitution.”

This is a very touchy subject because certain religious beliefs are extremely infiltrated into the culture of our society as it is, how can we eliminate every single religious association? I can understand certain religious groups who do not follow Christian beliefs may be offended or discouraged when they hear about a certain event or topic being discussed in school but is it really possible to make schools an entirely religious-free zone? The most common example is the instruction of creation vs. evolution. I understand creation should not be taught in public schools, but the theory of evolution contradicts everything that Christian religions believe in, so is that acceptable? Public schools should make attempts to not encourage any sort of religious affiliation and for the most part I feel as though they do. Again, there are common parts of our culture where certain religious beliefs are more common than others and if schools had time and money and resources left over after high stakes testing, perhaps they could teach small portions of different religions to encourage diversity.


Quote 3 – Spring 230

“Science textbooks were condemned for saying that there was a scientific consensus that the earth’s climate was changing because of global warming.”

This type of statement turned into an anti-technology, anti-Christian, and anti-American argument. As the text was changed to something less dramatic and true, they sugar-coated the details and in the process, downplayed the impact this statement could have had. Global warming and climate change are such serious issues, we cannot afford to continue down this road. Something had to be done. The youngest generation will be affected the most by these issues and yet they may not be receiving the whole truth in school. Well, they are being taught a much less harsh version of the truth. How can change be made if people are not exposed to the real problem?


Quote 4 – Spring 231

“A new California law that requires that math instruction emphasize basic skills and repeated drills as opposed to concepts and problem solving using real-life situations.”

As a student, I always enjoyed math for some reason but I also thought it was very dry. I had to be motivated and often times the strategies or diagrams, graphs, and visuals on the page were that motivation. Those were the things that made math come alive, that made it seem applicable in real life. Now California is adopting strategies to drill for a test and take any practical use of mathematics out of the classroom. Sounds like an excellent idea.


Quote 5 – Spring 231

“The reality is that very few administrators are willing to select for their schools textbooks that could cause controversy in the community.”

This quote does not surprise me at all and to be honest I do not think we can blame the administrators for this one. No matter what you do, someone is always going to be upset. I know this first hand. I officiate high school basketball and regardless of the call you make, you will always be making 50% of the people angry. You can rarely please everyone because there are usually 2 contradicting sides to every issue. What is unfortunate is that the kids may be losing out. Similar to the case with the Global Warming issue and phrasing the language in such a way that diminished the severity of climate change, students may only be getting ½ of the truth, perhaps even less. Reading this quote I am grateful that people in the community are taking an active role in education and are concerned with certain aspects. However, when 2 contradicting sides cannot agree, sometimes you are worse off in the long run.


Quote 6 – Spring 234

“Balanced education by giving equal weight to Biblical and evolutionary theories on the origin or life. Insurance salesman and minister, Russell Brock, told the school board, “To deny there is a God is to stand on a building and deny there is a building.”

Reading this quote reminds me of a comment I make in Quote 5: If 2 sides cannot agree and the solution is to cut out both sides (in this case Creation and Evolution), it may be more detrimental down the line. You are never going to get everyone to agree with teaching evolution and you are never going to get a population to agree with teaching creation. If you decide to give equal time for both, you may still be offending people who do not believe in either. If you cut them out entirely, students will be missing out entirely on a vital part of education. Is there a solution?


Quote 7 – Spring 237

“No child should have to endure the cyber bullying I endured. I was scared, hurt and confused. I didn’t know why it was happening to me. I had nowhere to turn except to my mom. I am speaking out now because I want other kids who are bullied online or on their cell phones to know that they should tell their parents or other adults.

With these ever changing times, the youth of today will not know a world free of technology. They have been exposed to this since they began school so it will always be an influence, whether or not it is used for positive or negative reasons, will be up to them. Kids need to know the precautions they should take as far as technology goes. Their parents, guardians, teachers, and older siblings should all informed and be able to recognize signs of bullying or any other form of violence, threat, or negativity that can occur. If kids will not speak up themselves they will need someone to speak up for them. This is all the more true because of the recent suicide due to bullying at South Hadley High School in Massachusetts. As unfortunate as it was, it has to serve as a lesson to the rest of the world. Kids can be cruel, this is nothing new. What is a new factor in this is the role of technology and how influential is can be. If a child is growing up with this technology at his fingertips, there is no escaping the constant chatter, the endless updating, always being connected with facebook, twitter, my space, aim, and who knows what will be next. Maybe this will make kids think twice about what they do and how they act to a difficult situation. Maybe it will make teachers and administrators take a more active role in preventing bullying.