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Author Archives: mikerlange fleury
Posts: 19 (archived below)
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Ch 11
This chapter focuses on the emergence of teacher unions which was contributed primarily through the changes in the election of school boards. Teachers were fighting for better treatment and better pay. I find it interesting how the last chapter we talked about scientific management where in this chapter teachers were seen as objects of scientific management where they had no power or organizational means of influencing educational policy. I don’t see too much of a difference between the teachers of this time and our teachers today. Teachers are still looked down upon. This reminds me of the reading of different cultures with their PISA scores. I read about Brazil and the majority of the country did not view teaching as socially desirable. Today in American school systems, the job of a teacher is still not seen as socially desirable. I also like the topics of “Selling the american way” in schools and as well as the discrepancy with the Rugg Textbook.
I would like to know how can the U.S promote the quality of being a teacher. From the past teachers have been look down upon until today. One would think that this dilemma would get better.
We also see the idea of control again with the selling of the American Way in schools and the use of the Rugg’s textbook. Is there any instances today where we can see this idea of control in what textbooks are being used in American school systems ?
Posted in Chapter 11 - Teach Unions...
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Ch 9 Links
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos067.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOqRx01N1W0&feature=related
http://www.jstor.org/pss/747527
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/yourview/1560806/How-can-we-better-prepare-young-people-for-the-workplace.html
http://socyberty.com/education/schools-don’t-prepare-young-people-for-life-in-the-real-world/
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_percentage_of_US_college_students_change_their_major
Posted in The Classroom and the Workplace (role of education)
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Ch10
Chapter 10 focused on the school administrators’ hope that the provision of equal opportunity would become a function of scientific management and measurement in the educational institution. The chapter focused on the notion of of meritocracy which was basically saying that each individuals social and occupational position is determined by individual merit rather than political or economic influence. One thing i found interesting was this reducing of public control where we seen the control of the school systems in earlier chapters. Another aspect of this chapter was the standardized testing movement which was an essential part of the development of vociational guidence which we read about in the previous chapter. A high emphasis is still placed on tests today such as regents, SATS, and ACT’s. I did great in my classes but was not comfortable with these tests.
Would the idea of of scientific management work in our school systems today to some degree ?
Is there a way our school systems can eliminate or place a lower emphasis on the tests such as the ACT and SAT ?
Posted in Meritocracy, Testing, and Special Education
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Ch. 8
As we continue to read this text we continue to see the subject of teaching morals in the classroom and the influence of the school system. After reading this chapter I found it interested to see how kindergarten actually emerged. Its roll was to compensate for the supposed loss of socialization within the slum family, to protect the young children from negative influences in the street, to provide preparation for entrance into regular elementary schools and also to educate their parents. I find this interested because this school system is going way beyond just teaching these children a subject. This leads to other discussion points in the chapter such as The Play Movement which was similar to the kindergarten which the function was to replace the socializing influence of family life which was supposedly lost. They used the playground to provide physical activities and games which were organized to produce a sense of team spirit, habits of cooperation and a willingness to play by the rules. I thought this was a good way to get the children to interact socially and work on team spirit. But this also reminded me of the video we seen in class which portrayed schools as another method of social control.
I feel the school system should go beyond just teaching a subject and open up their doors a little wider. Do you feel schools acing as social centers is good for society ? And do you feel our school systems today are doing enough to open their doors wider ?
Posted in Uncategorized
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Ch 7
By looking at our diverse school system today, I can say we have come a long way. This chapter mostly interests me because it focuses on the segregation and discrimination of native, mexican, Asian, Puerto Rican and African Americans. It opens up my eyes to read about this history because when i hear segregation I think of African Americans. This chapter displayed the importance of the Mexican-American War. Discussing the issue of the hatred among the irish and anglo-saxons in class is revisited in chapter 7 as many U.S citizens thought in their minds that Mexico stood for catholicism and feudalism. Now on the issues of education, puerto rican, native americans and mexican americans were in the same bout as educational policy was based on a desire to win the loyalty of these conquered people and stabilize control over them.
Throughout the chapter we see the control the u.s had over immigrants, how is this social control still seen in the education system we have today?
We have come a long way in regards to multiculturalism in the school system, but is there a way to make immigrants feel that they can achieve more than the norm in the school system and include them more in the curriculum ?
Posted in Uncategorized
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Ch. 6
Chapter 6 focuses on the role of teachers and the emergence of females in the teaching system. After the American Revolution, many doors opened up for women as the role of women were linked with the development of republican citizens. This was a time where many young girls were given a chance to learn the same material that was only taught to boys. There was a major increase in female teachers and a decrease in males. Some reasons included that females are better teachers for young children because of there child rearing talents. Another reason was that this was a major opportunity for females because there were no other possibilities of employment and they were also seen as having “purer morals”. These reasons were interesting to think about now as i look back at my past teachers as a child were all females.
Another area i found interesting in the chapter was what made a qualified teacher. Mann said a qualification for teaching was perfect knowledge of the subject. Another qualification was an aptitude for teaching and an ability to manage and govern a school room and to mold moral character. I found this interesting because im curious to know are the teachers today really passionate for teaching the subject matter. I believe to be a good teacher you must be passionate about teaching and helping others. That is one reason I would like to enter this field. In the past time teaching was not seen as socially desirable. I would like to know the statistics on teaching seen as being socially desirable. Are teachers really teaching for there passion of the subject matter ?
I would also like to know are females still representative in the teaching system today if so what levels ?
Posted in Role and Perception of Teachers, Teacher-student relationship, Teachers and Pedagogy
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Chapter 5
This chapter gives a good foundation on how common schools were developed. After reading this chapter i think of how far we’ve come from a society full of discrimination. Majority of the time when we think of discrimination we think of African Americans with regards to slavery and the segregation in the school system. Reading this chapter, it was interesting to see how Protestant Anglo-Saxons viewed the Irish. They feared that the “drunken Irish” might destroy the American Dream. I had no previous knowledge on this hostility between Catholics and Protestants. This hostility shows the irony of the name of the common school because it wasn’t really common to all children as Protestant religious values were dominated.
Another aspect of this chapter i can relate to is the opening of catholic schools. I was actually in public school until i entered into high school where it was a catholic school. To read and learn how catholic schools emerged is intriguing because it was developed due to the struggle between Irish and Anglo-Saxon cultures.
The first question i would like to ask is, Are Anglo-Saxon cultures still evident or somewhat dominated in American school systems today ? Secondly, without the conflict between Anglo-Saxon and Catholics, do you think Catholic Schools today would have emerged the way they did ?
Posted in Common School and Power, Native American Education
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Ch. 4
Throughout the reading the movement of common school was discussed. Children with diverse ethnic backgrounds and various social class and religions were taught in a common manner which thought that this would result in a decline in hostility among social groups. I find it interesting how we just discussed the topic today in class (2/28) of of whether we should be teaching one culture in the classroom setting. As common schools was used primarily to improve public morality and to end crime and poverty, many social groups believed this was the best way to control crime and social unrest..
This has me curious to know, what is the function of our schools today ?
I also found it interesting how passionate Horace Mann was for the role of common schools. He went from the profession of law to a higher calling in a field of endeavor that promised universal salvation. This reminds me of Obama’s state of the union address where he says if you want to make a change in the world become a teacher.
I just would like to know why do we lack the passion in our teachers today ?
Posted in Common School and Power, Native American Education
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Chapter 3
I found it interesting to see the effects of Noah Websters’ work on the nationalism created in school systems. His creation of American language and spelling books helped form a dominant English-speaking, Protestant, Anglo-American culture we have today through our school systems. His work focused mostly on patriotism rather than children’s own beliefs. I find it interesting how this was evident in our past education where we would perform the pledge of allegiance and other activities.
With the work of Webster which is still evident in our school systems today i wonder how we are such an individualistic nation as opposed to a collectivist one.
Jefferson’s educational plan comprised of two ideas which was preparing the citizen and the preparing the political leader. He thought of the two, preparing the citizen was most important. I agree with jefferson’s take on allowing children to form their own opinions.
I would like to know what do how do contemporary schools choose what is the most important criteria to include in preparing individuals. Is it based on preparing young to be competitive among nations ?
Posted in Multiculturalism, Nationalism, and the Role(s) of Education
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