Talking Point #5

Jeannie Oakes + Martin Lipton

"Teaching to Change the World"


Premise: (What is this about?)

1. Schooling
2. Teachers
3. Tradition
4. Hope
5. Merit
6. Competition
7. Progress

Argument:

That the postmodern world is abandoning the notion of progress through universals and predictability. That "teachers" embrace empirical research and theory that illuminate from multiple perspectives schooling dilemmas and their effects on particular students.


My Thoughts:

I don't know where to really go with this, mainly because it was ALOT of reading. What I took from this was that it was about the history of schooling and its traditions. From the early years where it was only 5 years of education and it was based on skill. How it was preparing you for a job out in the "real-world" rather then actually advancing your mind. How ability and determination held the key to success and upward mobility, and I believe those traits still hold true today. How civil rights and war on poverty try to create equality by offering free/reduced lunches, and head start pre-schools for low-income families but it only scratched the surface of the problem. How the American sense of schooling emphasizes the role of the individual and de-emphasizes the responsibilities of school or society. How because of war, in the 60's, 70's, and 80's woman became the teachers because they were willing to work for less, wouldnt leave, and were "naturally" more nurturing. Men were the principles, superintendents, etc. That schools were run like factories and in someways are still like that today. That students of color were more likely to be successful when placed with white students in a classroom, that somehow "doing better" had more to do with the presence of whites. But when it was really due to the available resources, qualified teachers, and school cultures that expect and make possible higher aspirations and achievements.

Just some things I underlined in the reading that stuck out to me...

"Individuals do not inherit their social status; they attain it on their own" I agree and disagree with this statement. I agree that someone can achieve a social status based on their actions or achievements. But based on perception, is with why I disagree with this statement. Based on your "appearance" you could be placed into a certain class, for example if you are poor and dress "out of style" then the general public will assume you to be poor and would think lowly of you. Therefore you are given your social status, and to attain a better one would be to change who you are and your appearance to attain it.

"The American Dream is held out as a genuine prospect for anyone with the drive to achieve it"
Basically, if you are willing and determined then you will achieve the "American Dream" which is ideally a house, white picket fence, wife and children, dog, etc.....(SCWAAMP)

"If the poor and poorly educated did not lift themselves with the aid of national programs, then the fault lies with them and with their misguided helpers"....I hear Kozol here.

"The surest guide to doing the "right thing", remains doing better than the others"
How success is measured by doing better then someone else