Thomas H. Benton’s article titled Remedial Civility Training examines the problems that haunt secondary education today. Public—private—high school—university, no form of education is spared from student’s lack of respect and interest in learning. Benton gives firsthand accounts of what he experiences as a professor of English at Hope College. Thomas H. Benton is disturbed by the quality of students that the current education system works with. Benton deliberates upon the lack of care and respect that students now days possess towards education and educators. Thomas H. Benton is an English professor that also teaches history. He interacts with countless students that are just beginning their upper level studies. Of these pupils that he encounters
Benton uses the article to persuade educators and professors not to give up on the students and to try to protect those students that do want to learn: “I have become convinced that professors -- particularly the ones with tenure -- need to find ways to give remedial attention to student behavior, just as they have long done for students who cannot read or write well enough to succeed at college.” Furthermore, the article evaluates the problems and gets to the real cause of the lack of care and
Benton is a concerned professor trying to help other professors assist today’s students. Benton genuinely enjoys what he does and he cares about those that he teaches and wants them to succeed, learns, and grow. He is slightly irritated by the actions and behavior of those that he teaches; however, that does not stop his desire to help those learn: “we must stop pretending that we are not seeing what is in front of us every day. We must stop shrugging our shoulders at minor discourtesies before they metastasize into a culture of vulgarity, violence, and general mayhem.” Benton is dedicated to his cause and he is passionate about helping others to learn, despite the behavior of the
In the 2013 NBC news article, “Johnny Can’t Write, and Why Employers Are Mad”, written by CNBC’s Kelley Holland, she introduces the substandard state of lack of responsibility taken for writing and communication problems in schools of all grade levels. Holland explains according to the “Association of American Colleges and Universities conducted by Hart Research Associates 80 percent said colleges should focus more on written and oral communications”. Holland points out that “Nobody takes responsibility for writing instruction”. Holland implies that this problem affects not only job seekers and college students, but school districts also. Holland notes that this problem starts early on she reports according to William Elliot “an adjunct professor
Education is one of the most widely debated issues of our country in this current day and age. Many people feel as though schooling is biased and unfair to certain students; meanwhile, others feel as though the schooling systems are not serious enough in order to properly educate students to prepare them for their futures. The three texts that will be discussed, are all well written controversial essays that use a great deal of rhetorical appeals which help readers relate to the topics being discussed. In the essay “School,” Mori manages to specify her views on how different modern education is in America as to Japan; meanwhile, in “A Talk to Teachers,” Baldwin presents his argument as to how all children, no matter
...and walked home.” Collins contrasts the students’ misbehavior with the teacher’s ignorance, thus implying a relationship between the history teacher’s inability to teach his students and their ensuing misbehavior.
Labaree discusses how the United State’s education is in a school syndrome, as people in America want schools to teach society’s ideals as well as let people express their individuality. These two demands are polar opposites that cannot be achieved. As the focus goes towards balancing these in hopes of improving society as a whole, the bettering of actual student learning is put on pause. Labaree talks about the beginning of education reform, in the 19th century, being the most successful in developing society; however, as education reform continued throughout time, its effectiveness wore off. He then addresses how the desire for education reform is more about improving society than it is about learning. He finishes his argument by providing possible solutions to fixing this problem, but states that fixing this problem will never happen because no one is willing to give up both demands. Overall, Labaree goes in wonderful detail explaining the problems of education reform. What made me choose this article was that he addressed the desire that people have on school systems in promoting both society normality and individuality. This correlates well with my topic in whether public school systems promote conformist ideals or individuality.
This article points out the flaws in our modern education systems. Students should enjoy school and feel as though they are learning important things in the subjects offered. The classes can be altered to tend to the interests of children, so they can properly express themselves. School should be preparing children to be mature, how to handle hard situations, and ultimately prepare them for their future lives. Overall, Gatto’s article has its flaws, but it can be used to help improve the education system for upcoming
...ild, when he would hide and daydream, up until his first years of college, when he would avoid areas that were difficult, the author recognized that there was important link between challenging the student on a meaningful level and the degree to which the student eventually produced. “I felt stupid telling them I was… well – stupid.” (Rose 43) Here, Rose shows an example of how poor preparation and low standards in the classroom can make a student feel inadequate. Indeed, one can see how many things seemingly unrelated do affect a student’s ability to learn.
Within the walls of our educational system lie many adverse problems. Is there a solution to such problems? If so, what is the solution? As we take a look at two different essays by two different authors’ John Gatto and Alfie Kohn, both highlight what’s wrong within our educational system in today’s society. As John Gatto explores the concept if schools are really as necessary as they’re made out to be; Alfie Kohn analyzes the non-importance of letter grades within our schools. Although both essays are fairly different, they still pose some similarities in relation to the educational system in today’s society.
In John Gatto’s essay “Against Schools” he states from experience as a school teacher that are current educational system is at fault (148). He claims that classrooms are often filled with boredom manufactured by repetitive class work and unenthusiastic teachings. Students are not actively engaged and challenged by their work and more often than not they have either already covered the concepts taught in class or they just do not understand what is being taught to them. The children contained in classrooms have come to believe that their teachers are not all that knowledgeable about the subjects that they are teaching and this advances their apathy towards education. The teachers also feel disadvantaged while fulfilling their roles as teachers because the students often bring rude and careless attitudes to class. Teachers often wish to change the curriculums that are set for students in order to create a more effective lesson plan, but they are restricted by strict regulations and consequences that bind them to their compulsory teachings (148-149). An active illustration of John Gatto’s perspective on our educational system can be found in Mike Rose’s essay “I Just Wanna Be Average” (157). Throughout this piece of literature the author Mike Rose describes the kind of education he received while undergoing teachings in the vocational track. During Mike’s vocational experiences he was taught by teachers that were inexperienced and poorly trained in the subjects they taught. As a result, their lesson plan and the assignments they prepared for class were not designed to proficiently teach students anything practical. For example, the curriculum of Mike Rose’s English class for the entire semester consisted of the repeated reading of ...
Weber, G. (2014, January 23). How can we bring respect back into our schools. Retrieved February 25, 2014, from Crisis Prevention website: http://www.crisisprevention.com/Blogs/The-Empathic-Educator/February-2014/How-Can-We-Bring-Respect-Back-Into-Our-Schools
Ultimately, what is at stake here is the fact that parents are making excuses for students who do not want to work hard in school or are not able to handle it, therefore, parents need to stop making excuses for adults and let them decide their paths in life. If parents stop excusing their kids, then teachers can continue the challenging work for student resilience to increase. College is a privilege, not every child in the world can experience and no one said it would be easy, but no one said it was acceptable to hold each student’s hand for the ride
Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Burroughs, N. F., Kearney, P., & Plax, T. G. (1989). Compliance-resistance in the college classroom. Communication Education, 38, 214–229.
“If you would just get up and teach them instead of handing them a packet. There’s kids in here that don’t learn like that. They need to learn face to face. I’m telling you what you need to do. You can’t expect a kid to change if all you do is just tell ‘em.” Texas student, Jeff Bliss, decided to take a stand against the lack of teaching going on in his class (Broderick).
Many people are familiar with the concept of the 7 deadly sins which are very interesting and can be used in explaining life. Benton when writing his argument probably had that in mind by making a comparison between his observation of the student’s behavior to what the 7 deadly sins are. Examples of what he has observed are mentioned in the passage like, I have seen students come to classes barefoot, with bare midriffs and shoulders, in boxer shorts, bathing suits, and other kinds of clothes that, even by fairly casual standards, are more appropriate for streetwalking than higher learning”. Implying how as a teacher he has seen this things first hand. With his observations we can make an assumption that he exaggerates a bit in one his observations
Most people see teachers and professors in the same light. They perform similar tasks. They teach. However, they are separated by a fine line of distinction. High school teachers help a student build a foundation of knowledge, and train the student to focus on learning. College professors help to shape and define a student’s foundation of knowledge, and challenge the student to cultivate the mind. High school teachers and college professors have similar goals and guidelines, but they take a differing approach to achieving the end result. The way the class is conducted, academic expectations, and view of student responsibility are a few of the contrasts between high school teachers and college professors.
Education is meant to be the key to a successful life. It is supposed to inspire great ideas, and prepare each and every generation for their future. However, school for today 's generation fails to meet those requirements. Every student knows education is important, but when school is not engaging or in some cases, even relevant, it makes learning difficult. Improving the school system is something educators attempt to accomplish every year. Despite their best efforts, there are numerous flaws students see, but adults overlook. There is a lack of diversity for students to learn, an overabundance of testing, and students’ voices are being ignored on how to create a more productive learning experience.