The Great Educator

Teachers are expected to have a sound understanding of the content they teach.  But, that alone is not enough to grasp student’s attention and entice them to want to learn.  To really encourage learning, teachers need to understand and value all of the different cultural influences that students bring with them when they walk in the door.  By having a better understanding of the many different influences in a child’s life, the teacher will be better equipped to provide instruction that is appealing to the student.  Teachers that have a clear understanding of the importance of cultural influences will also be able to create connections in student work to the things that students may consider important in their life.  The connections made between the school work and the real life influences develop a sense of value and interest for the student toward the work.  Educator Phil Schlechty expresses that when teachers are designing work for students they should focus on what he describes as design qualities.  One specific design quality is “authenticity” (Schlechty, 2011, p. 94).  He describes authenticity as:

Genuineness.  Activities that satisfy the need for autheniticity accept the students’ definition of the situation as the most important concern and are designed to conform with these definitions.  Activities that respond to the need for authenticity accept the world of students as a resource rather than a problem.  The work is designed with an eye toward capitalizing on the student subculture (Schlechty, 2011, p. 94). 

Teachers that are able to create a classroom where the students want to learn because they feel genuinely connected to the work will have eliminated any problems that other teachers may still be experiencing due to a misunderstanding of cultural influences. 

However, doing this is not an easy job.  It takes time and effort for teachers to understand both the cultural differences that students come to school with and the overwhelming number of influences that occur on a daily basis in a child’s life.  It is not only about knowing who the student is as a person; but it is also about knowing their family dynamic, their friends, their likes and dislikes, what is important to them, just to mention a few.  In 1984, Benjamin Bloom wrote that at the secondary level, the peer group was likely to be the strongest (both positive and negative) influence towards school.  As noted in our prompt, Dewey named social influence as the great educator.  So, the job of the teacher has really never been about just teaching content. Teachers should have always been aware of the importance of understanding outside factors and the impact on student learning. 

As discussed in Chapter 14 of School and Society, there are different motivations to why individuals decide to teach.  However, if the individual chooses teaching for the right reasons then it will always be about the kids.  Teachers that understand that their job is about nothing other than the success of their students will take the extra time and effort needed to understand about cultural differences and influences in daily student life. Failure to understand either the differences or influences can make or break education for our young people.  By understanding cultural influences, teachers are able to create classrooms that support learning for all students.

References

Bloom, B.S. (1984, May).  The search for methods of group instruction as effective   as one-to-one tutoring.  Educational Leadership, 4-17.

Schlechty, P.C. (2011).  Engaging students:  The next level of working on the     work.  San Francisco, California:  Jossey-Bass.

Tozer, S.E., Senese, G. , & Violas, P.C. (2009).  School and society:  Historical           and contemporary perspectivies.  New York, New York:  McGraw-Hill.

Social Diversity and School Reform

Both the hidden curriculum of schools and cultural hegemony in schools unknowingly or uncaringly support the success and progress of the elite, while at the same time keeps students from poverty or minority groups on tracks that prevent them from achieving higher levels of success.  For many years, the focus in schools has been on closing the achievement gap between white students and minority groups.  However, the measuring stick for how well we are closing the gap is a test given on a single day to all students.  The test does not take into account the different modes of student learning or how much a student may have progressed in a given time period.  The test only shows performance on the given day.  Cultural hegemony affects the perceptions that both students and their parents develop about school over time.  These perceptions can be developed both in and out of the classroom and may have a great impact on student’s motivation to do well in school. 

For some minority groups, doing well in school can be impacted simply by schools understanding the importance of cultural pluralism.  To truly understand cultural pluralism within a school system, the school must be willing to value the cultural differences that students bring with them on a daily basis.  The school must be aware of how these differences will impact learning for each individual student and then work to provide instruction that supports the students and enables them to progress in a way that will promote successful learning.  The school would need to find ways to honor the cultural differences so that all students may have a deeper understanding and appreciation of differences in society.  Sadly, in contrast, it seems that most public school systems function under the idea of assimilation to the dominant culture for all students.  While this action may not be a purposeful form of discrimination, it may create a feeling of inferiority for minority students.  In effect, this feeling of inferiority may cause students to see school as a place they do not fit in or are not welcome.  It would be difficult for any student to do well in an environment where they did not feel comfortable or welcomed by their peers or teachers.  If school systems are devoted to successful education for all students then administrators and teachers must work harder to ensure that the cultural differences that students bring with them are honored and appreciated by all.  However, creating a school that supports pluralism will take more than hard working administrators and teachers.  A change in national expectations of schools would also be necessary.   With our current system, schools are expected to assimilate all students to the dominant American culture.  In addition, schools are rated based on student performance on state standardized test given in the English language.  Until federal requirements of schools are changed to acknowledge student performance in ways other than standardized tests, it will be difficult for schools to move to a society that focuses on pluralism. 

School Reform

The responsibility of state and federal politicians is to uphold the views of their constituents.  They should be knowledge of the needs of the people they represent, for it is those voices that should be listened to when it is time for decisions to be made.  At a time when our country is calling for a reform of our current educational system, it is my hope that our political representatives will do their homework and be informed about the needs of each of the cities, towns, communities, and schools they represent.  While only a small number of school aged children are able to cast a vote, it is my opinion that the best politicians will take time to hear the voices of their future voters.  But, just listening to the voices is not enough.  Politicians must be able to make sound decision based on the information they collect from town hall meetings, public forums, or just chance conversations.  Failure to act on the information in the appropriate way has greater implications than not being re-elected.  Failure to act can result in reduced funding, loss of necessary programs, reduction in teachers, increased teacher-student ratio, and additional issues that all have the potential to negatively impact successful student learning.
At the David School, the major voice is that of the student.  Administrators and teachers take time to listen to individual students and then work with them to be successful in the content provided.  While students take traditionally required classes, they also have the ability to express their thoughts, views, and beliefs.  Evidence of this occurs several times in more than one episode.  Cody has open discussions about God and scripture from the Bible with his science teacher.  Chris starts both a newspaper and a choir group, even though he has had several issues with attendance and grades.  While the David School is a very non-traditional school created to work with highly at-risk students, there are lessons to be learned from the way they listen to the students and design an educational system that fits the students’ needs.
W.E.B. Du Bois wrote, “When to earth and brute is added an environment of men and ideas, then the attitude of the imprisoned group may take three main forms, a feeling of revolt and revenge; an attempt to adjust all thought and action to the will of the greater group; or, finally a determined effort at self-realization and self-development despite environing opinion” (Tozer, 2009).  Failure to listen to the needs of all stakeholders regarding the needs of our schools could be potentially fatal for the current public school system.  With the advancements of the internet and on demand information, will the need for the school house cease to exist?  Will the stakeholders that feel imprisoned by the current system take on one of the three forms described by Du Bois.  While the internet may be able to provide school in the form of classes, it cannot provide the opportunities for social and emotional development that occurs on a daily basis within our school systems.  If social interactions are reduced due to the elimination of programs, increased class size, and various other reductions will students, the major stakeholders, take their learning to another platform?  Of course, this question in itself brings up a whole other issue.  Will all students have the ability to receive an education from another platform if public education is not providing them with what they need?  Will lack of interest in our current system turn into another form of segregation to those that cannot afford to purchase the form of schooling that works best for them?  With that said it becomes our responsibility as educators to maintain a system that meets the needs of all students, provides them with high level instruction, prepares students for life outside of high school, and promotes both social and emotional development through a variety of school programs and activities.  Tozer (2009), notes that John Dewey argued that a society run by a class of experts would inevitably function to serve the interests of experts at the expense of the majority and that the world has suffered more at the hands of experts than at the hands of the masses.  I am hopeful that the decision makers will listen to the needs of the masses and make decisions based on what is right and not on personal interests.
References
Senese, G., Tozer, S., & Violas, P. (2009).  School and society.  United States:  McGraw Hill.

Gender Equity

Gender Equity

The phrase “gender equity” normally brings to mind that women are not equally treated by men in similar roles.  The issue of gender equity in society is a battle that continues to get attention.  A US Census Bureau report showed that American women in 1999 earned approximately 77% of what men made in that same year.  In 2000, the median weekly earnings for females were 76% of the male median, according to the Department of Labor (Mead, n.d.).  However, schools seem to have gone above and beyond to try and eliminate this long standing issue.  Within the confines of the school building, evidence has shown that girls are performing better than boys in most areas.  Girls normally get better grades than boys in school, outperform boys in reading and writing on standardized test, get more honors in school, and traditionally have a higher class rank.  It is also pointed out that while the school may not be the cause of sex differences in achievement, they play an important role in making sure that both boys and girls have the opportunities to develop their intellectual skills (Kleinfeld, 1998). 

At the David School, students expressed their personal feelings openly, but strangely enough, without bias.  It seems that the students and teachers at the David School accepted each other and their differences.  With that said, when looking closely at specific scenarios from the Country Boys series, there are questions that can be raised.  In every segment of the series, there is a scene from a graduation ceremony.  In all of the scenes, the graduate speaking to the class is a boy.  While the video is about Chris and Cody, it is also interesting to point out that there never seems to be any girls in leadership roles.  On two separate occasions Chris is allowed to take a on a school project, organize the project, and even take students from class to complete the project.  From the opposite view point, at the end of the second video Mitzi does a great job of calling out a number of students as she says her good-byes.  She calls upon both males and females, but there is marked difference in her emotional state as she talks to the girls and encourages them to not give up but complete their education at the David School.  The point being made, that in a school where accepting students as they are seems to be the norm, there still seems to be some potential gender bias.  It does not appear to be in the form of sexism or purposeful actions, but still bias.  If the bias does exist, then did the bias in any of the above mentioned situations cause a negative reaction for any other students?   It would be a concern if the bias prevented other students from being successful at their own goals.  However, to the viewer, it does not seem that the individual attention given to specific students at certain times creates any negativity between students or staff at the David School. 

The evidence cited from Judith Kleinfeld makes the point that between girls and boys, there are some things that each sex does better than the other.  In addition, it is clear that if schools fail to provide needed support for any student in any situation, the result will have a negative impact on the student.  With the goal of the current educational system being for all students to be successful, it is important for teachers to know and understand the different developmental stages of both boys and girls.  Teachers must also understand their own bias to students regarding their own preference for students with good behavior versus students who struggle to abide by classroom rules.  Teachers must have a clear understanding of how their responses to students create certain feelings and impact students’ confidence to perform in both a positive and negative way.  It is the responsibility of the school administrators to provide quality professional development for teachers to help them best understand the differences between genders, socio-economic groups, and different cultures.  Education, communication, and understanding are the only way to ensure that bias between individuals or groups fails to exist.  As the administrator of a school it would be important to take the appropriate steps to provide the proper professional development, have open lines of communication with students, staff, and parents, and create a culture of understanding school wide to ensure that bias in any form does not exist within the school.

References

Kleinfeld, Judith (1998).  The myths that schools shortchange girls.  Retrieved     

from http://www.menweb.org/kleinful.htm

Mead, Margaret (n.d.).  Gender roles:  A matter of nature or nuture.  Retrieved

from http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/gender.html

Rita

While Rita seems to have a great understanding of the need for equality within a school, I am not sure that having her serve as the principal of the David School would be a good move. Rita has had diverse experiences as a teacher and experiences with gifted students as an assistant principal. However, she does not seem to have a strong background in understanding the individual needs of troubled teens. I am concerned that in Rita's need to make things fair for all she may eliminate students from the David School. In the situation with Chris, Mitzi made allowances for him, even when he had broken the rules for attendance and fallen behind in his work. It is clear that Rita has students interest at heart, but would her lack of knowledge in working with extremely troubled students cause her to make decisions that could negatively impact their success.

In addition the teachers at the David School have very open discussions with students about God and religion. I am not sure that Rita would allow this to occur, due to her social justice perspective. This could cause tension between her and the teaching staff and maybe even some of the students.

My first post on my first Blog

Just created this blog to fulfill a requirement for my third doctoral class.  I am excited about using this forum for class and learning more about blogging and connecting with other educators around the world.