An Analysis Of Toni Cade Bambara's The Lesson

Toni Cade Bambara’s short story “The Lesson” teaches more than one lesson. The reader learns experiences offer invaluable education to students beyond what they may learn in a traditional core curriculum. In this story, the narrator Sylvia is recounting a trip to an expensive toy store that serves as the setting for a lesson on income inequality. Education, by one definition, is “the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university” (Google search). Miss Moore, Sylvia’s educator focuses on the other definition, “an enlightening experience”. (Google search) Miss Moore has no ties to Sylvia or any of the children in the neighborhood, however, Miss Moore involves herself because “She’s been to college

Miss Moore has taken over as an adult authority figure for the time, and she proceeds to offer the kids this kind of outside education monitored in the article. In “The Lesson”, Sylvia says parents speak poorly of Miss Moore, however, they do not turn her down when she volunteers to take the lead of the children’s education. Miss Moore is providing a place for educational activities, which, as noted in the article is involvement behavior, when they are at the toy store, and even during the cab ride when she tells Sylvia to calculate the tip based on the fare. The article also touches on how improved communication between schools and parents benefits the child’s learning. Subsequently, with Miss Moore as a representative of the place of school, the semi-negative attitude towards her from the parents is a reason to believe why Sylvia has much contempt towards Miss Moore and her lessons. If there are at home negative connotations towards school or education, children will be more resistant to the idea of being educated. It does say in the story the parents have no issue sending them off with Miss Moore, which does help her to have influence over the

Schwarz is vocalized by Sugar after the children have examined the store closely, noted the exorbitant price tags and pieced together how money is involved in their lives. Consequently, Bambara has shown that they could not come to this realization without Miss Moore, “haling two cabs, like it was nothing” and bringing the children see with their own eyes, things they could not imagine (Bambara). In the article “Teaching Children to Think” Joel Westheimer is passionate about education, and enhancing student’s critical thinking skills. He delivers a personal narrative that recounts his experience struggling to teach thinking skills to an especially rough student in his class that is very similar to Sylvia. He taught middle school in New York City and vividly recalls the challenge of working with students who are hard pressed to cooperate with his teaching agenda and have a limited view of the world around them. He wizens to their schemes to outwit him, and he even comes up with one of his own that creates profound thoughts in the minds of his students. Westheimer’s experience with the reluctant student, Archeem, showed him how to create a learning environment that is engaging to those kinds of kids. While trying to turn students into thinkers, he realizes students will learn more when the lesson is not just presented for the memorization of facts. Westheimer’s insight is students may not develop the