Week 4

Week 4 - Kozol 5, Spring 5

Quote #1
"...complex industrial societies make available different types of educational experiences and curriculum knowledge to students in different social class." (Anyon, Folder 4)
This passage goes on to say that the "working class is for docility & obedience" and the middle-upper class is a "managerial class for initiative & personal assertiveness."   I am outraged by this pattern but I see it happening.  I am not sure what the answer is and how to get our system to buy into the potential of every child and not just the ones from the top economic backgrounds.  I would have to guess that the drop-out rate and low test scores have a lot to do with not being engaged.  These students must be bored out of their minds.  This is outright discrimination and I don't understand how it is legal and can be considered equal opportunity to education.

Quote #2
"....Principals are not building managers. They are an educational leader... for teaching staff, faculty, parents and the community." (Gloria Ladson-Billings, Folder 4, Video on Educational Debt)
Why this statement was a revelation to me, I could not tell you.  I have obviously never given this topic any thought.  Imagine if this were true at every school. Imagine if the Principal was more active in making sure his staff and community were educated on the topics that matter to their school.  I have seen Principals that are like this, but never realized that it was what made the difference.  I believe that this type of principal could generate a lot of community support.  I don't believe that people don't care, I believe that they are unaware at times of what is going on around them and how they can help.  I think that if a Principal took the role as an active advocate and educator for their school, people would be willing to listen.

Quote #3
"Not the place but the path, not the goal but the way." (Kozol, p130)
I love this story about the young man named Anthony and his escape from a system where he really had no future. This revelation of his, specifically, is great.  In my work with at-risk youth in the youth theater I managed, this was our basic credo.  "It's the process that is important, not the product."  Of course, we love a good product, but it is simply not the point.  This touches on the Anyon article referenced in Quote #1. The kids at the upper class schools were being taught in this manner. If we teach kids to feel confident in figuring out the process - to anything - rather than focusing on the "right answer," they could tackle any obstacle.  The hardest part is learning how to learn and learning to trust yourself to try. These are the tools that kids need to face the world, not the right answer to a question on a test.  I speak from experience that these lessons are much more difficult to incorporate as adults rather than learning them as a child.