Great Educator

Dewey argues that social influences like the family, neighborhood, culture and the media impact students more than school do. He believes that education in schools is only a secondary factor.  Although at one point I agreed with this notion, I know school can overcome some social factors.  I have taught in a school where most students have many family and economic problems.  Discipline was out of control and teachers were overwhelmed. As a sixth grade teacher, I was very sad because I felt I could not help these students much. I had 6^th graders dealing drugs and that year we had at least six pregnancies in the 6^th grade class.  When a new principal was assigned to the campus, I believed not much would happen.  I was mistaken. She told all teachers that they were the key to student success.  There were no excuses for our students’ failures, we had to succeed.  She gathered teachers behind her and provided supplemental support for students. Teachers need helped in the classroom received the help they needed. That principal’s second year in the campus, that school received a recognized standing by TEA, a few years later we were exemplary. I know we impacted students even though those social factors existed in their lives. Was this just an academic gain? What happened after the students left this middle school? I cannot answer this questions, but I now believe that if all school and teachers believed that school can impact students more than their social surroundings, then we may continue the success.  Marzano (2003) asks a very important question, “If schools have little chance of overcoming the influence of students’ backgrounds characteristics, why put any energy into school reform” (p. 3)? We can overcome students’ background characteristics with teaching that focuses on the entire student.  We must not only feed the mind, but the heart as well.  Teachers must make students understand that they have no other choice but success and that no excuses can be accepted. Yes, the backgrounds of students make it more difficult to reach the students, but it is not impossible. The principal was moved to a different campus, but the campus is doing just as well as other campuses in the district that do not have the same problems this school has.

Reference

Marzano, R. J.  (2003). What works in schools: translating research into action. Alexandria,             Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Cultural Hegemony

            John Gaventa stated that people should not ask why rebellions occur in a democracy. They should ask why in the face of so many inequalities it does not. This is evident by the beliefs of elite theorists. They believe that unequal power relationships between two or more cultures, ideologies, socioeconomic groups and others are justified. In contrast to the traditional democratic theory which holds that social order is based on public consensus. What is probably more surprising is that even though a small group of citizens control the political and economic institutions, shape the civic beliefs, values, and behavior of most of the population, social order is maintained through the cooperation of citizens. This is due to that fact that the general population is socialized into accepting these inequalities.

One reason why the general population accepts this domination is due to education, which elite institutions and people control. Although education agencies and the government assign a curriculum for districts and educators to follow, there is a hidden curriculum that many times is ignored. Walter Karp has questioned the purpose of school reform and in turn the purpose of the assigned curriculum. He believes that schools are accomplishing what they were designed to do, socialize people to be compliant, poorly informed about democratic practices, and not to think critically. In social studies classes many truths are withhold and students are told to mostly to accept the ideals of the elite, even though the constitution gives citizens the right go against government with arms. Every morning millions of students rise to pledge allegiance to a flag, which is a sign of respect. Yet, when a student refuses to stand, he is lectured, punished, and in some cases even taken to court. Students are told that the way they participate in government is through voting, but they are not told how that a small elite group is really in power and that affect the power of their vote.

Yet, the belief cultural hegemony makes me question the importance of both cultural pluralism and assimilation. I believe that the elite institutions that control most of the nation’s wealth and power are not affected by either. If a culture is assimilated, that does not make them part of the elite. If cultural pluralism has more control, it does not make them part of the elite. It is even better for these elite institutions to continue the debate, because it takes away the focus on them and makes socializes citizens.

Education for its own sake versus for a particular purpose is now an ongoing debate. Although curriculum for college readiness, specific careers, or even for character building now exists, the curriculum is more for individual purpose. I believe that education should have purpose, but at the same time I believe that the elite institutions controlling the nation do exist and will continue to rule. The majority of citizens can use education for personal improvement and for their personal pursuit of happiness. As long as these elite institutions do not take this rights from us, education is the key for personal happiness in this society.

School Reform

School reform is vital for the success of students and the system. Changes in society, demographics, technology, and even curriculum require schools to change the way things are done.   The issue is not whether reform is needed; the issue is whose voice should be heard during reform. In order for reform to have complete success, all stakeholders should be involved in reformation. The voices of teachers, students, community members, local school board members, and state and federal politicians should be heard to ensure that the best reformation is implemented.

When all stakeholders affected by educational reform are not involved, one group can be negatively impacted. This will affect the implementation of reformation or most importantly affect education’s major purpose, student success. One example is a policy that is being enforced by TEA that begins this summer. Due to budget cuts, TEA is disqualifying students that live in a two mile radius from their campus from bus transportation. Many stakeholders will not see a problem with this reform. Politicians may gloat that there are balancing the budget. Tax payers might feel that their taxes are being spent more wisely. Yet, teachers and students will be affected negatively. During the regular school year, this reform might make change, but in summer programs it affects these stakeholders greatly. This is a problem for the 21^st Century Summer program at Lucio Middle School in the Brownsville Independent School District. Due to this issue, students that live close by are not going to be bussed. These students do not have a problem walking, but now the number of students that need bussing dropped so the number of busses for the program was cut in half. Now some students will need to be at their bust stops at 6:00am, when the program does not begin until 8:00am. This will affect participation from students that can use the enrichment program. This is why it is vital for all stakeholders need to be involved in reformation. If students and teacher were allowed to participate, they could at least see the importance of bussing in the summer programs or other programs that have lower enrollment. In the David School, it is obvious that many stakeholders were involved. First, they realized that certain students need special attention. Community members and politicians probably had an impact when discussing the funding for this program.

All stakeholders should be involved in education reform. First the voice of students needs to be loud and clear. Their needs are the purpose of education. Reformation should happen when their needs are not being met because this impacts society. Most third world countries are populated with the uneducated. The social ramifications of not listening to the students’ needs would be drastic. Teachers’ voices are also very important. Teachers are the main implementers of reform. If their voice is not heard the reform might not be successful. Teachers understand best the educational philosophies for students’ success. The community must also be heard. If they are not heard, this could have financial ramification when dealing with taxes and bond issues. Politicians in the local, state, and even in the federal level’s voice is important morally. The United States and especial the state of Texas still believe in protecting students’ morality. If school reform was left to the community at-large, the media and business community will probably have a lot of power over educational reform and there focus is not students’ morality. Yet, even these stakeholders are important because they affect education reform financially.     

School reform is needed, but any reform or change in education is not easy to implement. In order to successfully implement educational reform all stakeholders should be involved. The voices of students, teachers, the community, school board members, and state and federal politicians can become the voice of success.  

Gender Equity

Males vs. Females: The Eternal Debate

            The debate of gender bias has existed for a long time. If a person is a creationist, the argument could be that God created man first in his image and women from man to give man company. If a person is an evolutionist, the Darwinian theory of survival of the fittest could lead to the conclusion that men are stronger than women. This debate has even entered the educational system. Some educators believe that schools shortchange girls, that they are given the same opportunities. I believe that that the argument that girls are short change is exaggerated and has caused problems for both boys and girls.

            Klienfeld (1998) explains that the idea that girls are shortchanged by schools was created by women’s advocacy groups in order to portray women as victims, so they can receive special treatment and policy attention. The problem, she continues, is girls are not shortchanged. In fact, women get higher grades in school and receive higher class ranks and school honors. Women graduate from college more frequently than men and the number of professional and doctoral degrees received by women is increasing. This is proof that the issue has been overblown. In some areas boys do better like in science and math, but girls are at the top in reading and writing. This is probably due to interest. Girls are just not as interested in math and science as they are in reading and writing. Today, we have curriculum and lesson plans in math and science strictly for girls. While in some cases this might increase girls interest, in other cases it might create women professionals that are not as excited about their career and therefore slowing down progress. The biggest danger is that the focus on this issue is taking away the attention on those who de need special treatment and policy attention: special education students and minority students like Hispanics and African American boys and girls. This debate even extended to sports. Title IX makes schools and districts responsible for providing the same number of sports for both boys and girls. Yet, at the time it did solve a problem it created other problems. Now, girls can play football with boys. This can create problems both physical and emotional for both the boys and the girls. In some districts now there are more girls sports than boy sports, shortchanging boys.

            I believe that being shortchanged or not depends not on gender but more on individual characteristics. Some girls would rather be artists or mothers, and do want to be scientists or engineers. Yet, some girls grow up to become famous scientists like Marie Curie. Whether a boy or a girls a student’s interest, desires, family, and will help shape what they will become. Granted, educational experiences are determining factors, the other factors are just as important if not more. It is not fair to state that schools are to blame for the differences in career choices and accomplishments. The David School focuses on boys and girls, but it is obvious that most of the problem students are males and not females. In this example the problems were not created by gender bias, but from family issues and personal beliefs and attitudes of these boys.  Schools and districts need to approach this by making everything equal. They need to focus on boys as much as girls. They need to encourage every student to achieve to their highest potential. They need to believe that no barrier, gender or otherwise, can deter them from their ultimate goal.

            In the web page, Gender and Society, it is stated that most people in the United States believe that women have more difficult lives than men. If this is the case, then why are women accomplishing just as much if not more than men. If would definitely make the generalization that women are smarter than men and God has a way of balancing the situation, so women have it harder. Whatever the case may be, all boys and girls are given the same educational opportunities. All students must understand that racist and sexist will always exist, but that their will is stronger than their hate.               

RITA

Rita

How would the David School be different if Rita was principal?

            The David School is an alternative high school for troubled teens. Students are helped academically, but are also mentored. Although teachers and administrators have good intentions, not all students succeed. One example is Chris who received an incomplete for being absent 15 days and not completing all hos class work. He was given the opportunity to make up the work missed, but due to some bad decisions, he failed to complete it. Some teachers also were just frustrated and told him that he would receive and incomplete no matter what he did. Rita is a principal that was allowed to lead Wilson Middle School where she noticed a lot of social injustices. If Rita was the principal at the David School, students like Chris might have a better opportunity to succeed.

            Principal Rita will first work with the teachers at David School. Although, they worked hard to assist these students, they gave up to easily. Rita, as a teacher worked with students with needs and was successful at it. I believe that most times teachers are good teachers, but master teachers are those that go beyond. The video Teach documented examples of master teachers. One teacher stayed two to three day a week to help one of his kindergarten students.  Although, the David School teachers were good teachers, the type of students they served need master teachers that go beyond. Chris could have been visited at home or given one to one assistance. Although the music teacher said he would visit, he did not. Principal Rita would also not allow isolation of these students. Although the David School focuses on students with emotional and behavioral issues, I believe it is important that students are also mainstreamed. They need to learn to be part of the community. As they become adults, society will expect them to contribute and there will be no special work place that will accommodate and understand their problems. It is an injustice if the students of David School are not allowed to participate in mainstream education. Principal Rita is a social justice advocate that would not allow this injustice to continue.