The American Education
Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, the American educational system has undergone much transition in response to our changing society. Though there have been many problems raised throughout the years in regard to what our school systems should be teaching our children, there have also been many developments.
In the final decades of the 20th century, education has continued to evolve in order to meet society's demands. The transformation of society has created numerous problems in the educational system. These problems consist of the segregation of races, religions, social classes, and politics. In the earlier part of the 20th century, African-Americans were segregated within schools. They were placed into lower-class school systems with little extra-curricular activities, limited resources, and lower quality teachers.
At this time, religion played a major role on the educational system in the sense that all types of religious groups were represented in the American school system, but they were challenged with how they could be loyal to their religions beliefs. With the 'Pledge of Allegiance' present, some people felt as though the values of Americans and the "Creators'" beliefs should be taught in the classrooms. Of course, others felt that religion and school should be separate. As a result of disagreements such as these, many problems arose.
Politics and business influence have been a long term problem for the establishment of a free and fair education opportunity. America has been called ?the melting pot? of the world, meaning that within the nation live such an abundance of individuals from different aspects of life. Within the world, we find some societies less fortunate than other societies. Economic diversity is present within the United States as well. It is commonly understood that the wealthy are becoming better educated than the poor, and similarly that the wealthy have a better chance to survive in the economic growth of today?s society.
In Joel Spring?s book American Education, he uses several examples of the politics and economics surrounding education. Spring discusses the decade of the 1970s, in which businesses put such a demand on the educational system to create educational opportunities in the fields of science and engineering. During this decade, the nation was in an ?educational inflation pe...
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...dolescents to weapons. In many cases children have access to a weapon, particularly a handgun, within their own home. With lack of supervision, children experiment with these dangerous weapons, and may even take them out of their homes. Another contributing factor to violent acts among children is the role of the media and the way that television and movies portray violence. Every where you turn on television and in movies, you see someone killing someone or someone getting killed. Kids see the brutal ways, or the quick and smart schemes of combat tactics. They falsely believe that these types of behaviors are acceptable, because the next week they are back on the show demonstrating another episode of violent acts, with no consequences.
After reading Joel Spring?s book, and reflecting on some of the issues facing our schools, it is apparent that our educational system requires much attention among our nation?s leaders. While the system has transformed in many beneficial ways, we are still plagued by the growing problems of society. I look forward to reading another book by Joel Spring, and developing my evolving understanding of the educational system within the United States.
President Ronald Reagan once described America as, “A Nation at Risk,” He was addressing this statement to the education department thirty years ago and meant it as a wake-up call. He was aware that the United States was falling behind in education and needed to take action in order to prevent the demise of the country. Reagan correctly predicted the grim fate of America if education did not see improvement. Today, research finds that American education is failing to provide the necessary skills to succeed in college and various careers. The quality of education in America is a growing issue and every year graduate students are finding it more difficult to obtain high paying jobs and start his or her career. According to studies conducted globally, the curriculum in America is not as advanced and years behind international schools in countries such as China and Japan. There is much controversy in government over what can be done to reverse the situation in public schools but possible solutions that have been suggested are hiring more qualified teachers, more classroom time, and investing more money into education.
“The Father” by Carolyn Osborn is a story about Darwin and Casey, a couple who meet and begin a whirlwind love affair. This love affair leads to an unexpected pregnancy. Casey, the mother, leaves when the baby is just one month old only to return when the child is three years old. Soon, Darwin is caught in a court battle for custody of a son. Two days before the court date, Darwin discovers he is not the biological father of the child. This makes no difference to Darwin as he has loved and cared for the child since he was born. The central idea of this story is that sometimes the best parent isn’t always the biological parent.
93). Therefore, accountability became the central focus to improve education in America. Schools and teachers would now be judged or held accountable by their performance, and schools that failed to meet certain standards would be closed; this was a basic principle in the business sector (Ravitch, 2011, p. 8). Furthermore, NCLB mandated that every school must be 100 percent proficient in reading and mathematics by 2014; consequently schools that failed to perform would suffer punitive consequences. However, by 2007, the evidence was becoming clear that the mandates of the new law were not increasing student achievement in learning. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the federal testing program reported that only one-third of students met the federal standard for proficiency (Ravitch, 2011, p. 103). Ravitch argued that 100 percent proficiency in reading and mathematics was unattainable by the projected year. Not only did the law allow for each
Environmental justice can influence the population’s health. This environmental justice is relevant to nursing, because awareness brings changes and can save and improve many lives. When a person in a hospital or in a community setting is affected by a health problem, the entire community is at risk, knowing the population is lack of knowledge and have limited access to understand health care system. Therefore, a solution to eliminating cultural disparities is optimal for immigrant communities. In conformity with the Journal of Transcultural Nursing journal, nurses need to follow 12 steps to have a successful result when integrating cultural competence in the health care environment: social justice, critical reflection, knowledge of cultures, culturally competent practice, cultural competence in the health care systems and organizations, patient advocacy and empowerment, multicultural workforce, education and training in culturally competent care, cross-cultural communication, cross-cultural leadership, policy development, a...
Issues of culture are often controversial. LaBorde (2010) has noted that culture is always a factor in conflict. Ironically, conflict can provide nurses with an excellent opportunity for developing compassion that will lead nurses unto a place of meeting in which there is a deep respect for differences and equally intentional openness to the possibility of connection. Healthcare practitioners are confronted in a daily basis with the practical manifestation of these issues. In particular, nurses are more confronted by cultural issues than the other healthcare providers because nurses spend majority of their time with patients. However, some nurses are reluctant to confront and discuss the cultural issues because of lack of knowledge in dealing with patients of diverse cultures (Tjale & Villiers, 2004).
This essay will focus on outlining the fundamental principles of cultural diversity and how effective nursing interventions are used when providing an adequate amount of care for an individual from a culturally diverse background and how this may collide with the nursing therapeutic engagement. This essay will give the reader an insight upon culture whilst giving a significant explanation of cultural differences within a health setting. The patient’s real name will not be used and will be referred to as Mr. X. This is in line with the Nursing and midwifery Council 2008 (NMC, 2008) requirements to maintain confidentiality at all times.
In order for nurses to provide culturally competent care, they must not only respect but also understand the beliefs, attitudes and cultural lifestyles of their patients. Nurses must seek cultural awareness, knowledge and understanding of their patient's cultures, which can be achieved through effective communication with their patients. A nurse should have a basic understanding about several different cultures in order to provide high quality care. However, the best way to learn about a patient's culture is to ask the patient, which shows a patient that you respect them.
America’s public school system started off very rough, but through the dedication of many hard-working Americans, it was starting to shape into a system that allowed all children, regardless of race, gender, religion, or nation of origin, to have an education.
Transcultural nursing requires us to care for our patients by providing culturally sensitive care over a broad spectrum of patients. The purpose of this post is to describe cultural baggage, ethnocentrism, cultural imposition, prejudice, discrimination, and cultural congruence. I will also give an example of each term to help you understand the terminology related to nursing care. I will definite cultural self-assessment and explain why it is valuable for nurses to understand what their own self-assessment means. Finally, I will describe the five steps to delivering culturally congruent nursing care and how I have applied these concepts in my nursing practice.
The self-assessment has demonstrated that I am able to deliver culturally congruent nursing care due to my critical reflection, knowledge of cultures and cross-cultural communication abilities. I am able to avoid prejudices, stereotypes and biases that may hinder the delivery of culturally competent care due to my understanding and respect for different cultures. In addition, I am able to form trustful relationships with clients and understand their personal perceptions towards the available treatment alternatives (Cowen & Moorhead,
Some might say multicultural nursing is difficult. Becoming culturally competent can make caring for people in different cultures easier. Nurses must develop skills to break the barriers that might interfere with the care of a patient in a different culture. In this paper, I will analyzed and described at least five points on how the concepts learned may be used to influence nursing care, analyzed and summarize how has this research changed my cultural competency, and evaluated and describe how positively affect nursing care.
Cultural competence can be defined as using the ability of one’s awareness, attitude, knowledge and skill to effectively interact with a patient’s many cultural differences. Madeline Leininger, a pioneer on transcultural nursing describes it this way; “a formal area of study and practice focused on comparative human-care differences and similarities of the beliefs, values and patterned lifeways of cultures to provide culturally congruent, meaningful, and beneficial health care to people” (Barker, 2009, p. 498). The importance of cultural diversity in healthcare allows for the delivery of appropriate cultural autonomy. Showing respect for others will lead to trust between nurse and patient which in turn improves healing and health.
As a nurse strive to provide culturally sensitive care, they must recognize how their client's and their perceptions are similiar as well as different. Nurse enhance their ability to provide client-centered care by reflecting on how their beliefs and values impact the nurse-patient relationship. To provide appropriate patient care, the nurse must understand her/his culture and that of the nurse profession. Cultural biases can be particularly difficult to identify when the nurse and client are of a similar cultural backgroup. When we recognize and know a culture, we will know what is right for our patient, and thus may impose our own values on the client by assuming our values are their values. Recognizing differences a present an opportunity not only to know the other, but also to help gain a greater sense of self. In this paper, I will explain more about diversity and cultural competence in case study.
Characteristics can be as diverse as ethnic background, language spoken, gender status, physical appearance, race, and religion to name a few. Migration from various countries is creating a diverse population with different cultures and languages within the United States. Due to these cultural differences and lack of knowledge, disparities are increasing. Studies have shown that both language barriers and lack of cultural customs can hinder the services provided to the patient by the healthcare worker (Renzaho, Romios, Crock, & Sonderlund, 2013). This study provided a positive outcome when communication and cultural mutual understanding took place and patients had a more positive health outcome. It is very important that nurses are diversified in various cultures in order to better care for our patients. According to Mareno and Hart (2014), cultural competency has become one of the core values being taught in nursing programs. Their study showed that the perceived level of cultural awareness and skills among the nurses provided was low. Awareness and knowledge levels increased with higher education. It was highly recommended that self-awareness exercises be incorporated into the nursing course and continued to be addressed during the remaining curriculum until
Education is a vital tool for lifelong success but there are many areas of concern in the current system of public education. Education reform has been a constant occurrence since the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Every year, specialists develop