An Educational Breakdown Education and those who rely on one have been severely let down over the years. The lower requirements of one educational system compared to another whose is higher is one of many breakdowns in how our children 's education is valued. In Russell Baker 's "School vs. Education" he stated, "Children whsoe education has been limited to adjusting themselves to their schools ' low estimates of them are admitted to less joyous colleges which, in some cases, may teach them to read." (225) When I look back on his previous information I can see the contrast. He wrote "The point is to equip the child to enter college." (225) Whatever the case may be, if a higher standard of education is not being enforced then students are …show more content…
When education is limited by those responsible for our children 's education they soon realize however smart they are or are not has no bearing on whether or not they pass and move on to the next grade. Sherry says, "It would mean facing the tough reality that passing kids who haven 't learned the material--while it might save them grief for the short-term--dooms them to long-term illiteracy." (Newsweek, 1991) Failing a child for not working to learn whatever it is that is being taught to them may motivate them to become better listeners or note takers, for example, and in turn better learners. Regardless of their abilities being forced to learn instead of skating along teaches responsibility, work ethic, and even time management skills. As I progressed through school easily my cousin struggled immensely. He received failing grades regularly, but because the teacher did not want to "deal" with him as he was the type of child who rebelled against any kind of authority, they passed him on to the next grade. He later dropped out during our sophmore year of high school and has been in prison for seven years with six remaining. It is a sad day in our country when so many adults yound and old are receiving their education in adult-literacy programs or prisons. My cousin is …show more content…
He goes on to explain that this is due simply to the lack of caring. Whether it be the salary a teacher earns or the quality of education that young minds are presented, when there is no initiative to improve upon the mistakes made by past administrators, teachers, parents, or students the future of America begins to look bleak. Barber theorizes, "Finally, if we were serious, parents, teachers, and students would be the real players while administrators, politicians, and experts would be secondary, at best advisers whose chief skill ought to be knowing when and how to facilitate the work of teachers and then get out of the way." (238) When becoming a teacher most people dream to inspire and educate not conform to ridiculously low standards some of which, if they had the authority, would remove and add certain lessons from their curriculum. I believe that if the level and quality ofeducation was placed into the instructors hands we would see a drastic improvement among education and the abilities of our children; our
The author states in “A New Deal for Teachers” that in America, especially in poorer school districts, teacher quality is lacking. In urban districts, out of the new teachers hired in the next three years, about half of them will quit (usually the quality ones). The recruitment of better teachers is, as the author says, the biggest problem in our education system. He states that he’s been told by urban teachers that many of their colleagues are incompetent. Contributing to this is that state requirements are very low, which allows poor quality teachers into schools. Miller explains that smart and competent people who want to be teachers, are getting more and more difficult to find. This is true mainly because there are fields of work that those
The issue of equality in education is not a new problem. In 1787, our federal government required all territories petitioning for statehood to provide free education for all citizens. As part of this requirement, every state constitution included, “an education clause, which typically called for a “thorough and efficient” or “uniform” system of public schools” (School Funding 6). Despite this requirement, a “uniform” system of schools has yet to be achieved in this country for a variety of reasons, many of which I will discuss later on. During the early part of th...
We live in a society where we are surrounded by people telling us that school/education and being educated is the only way to succeed. However, the school system is not up to the standards we want it to uphold. There are three issues we discuss the most which are the government, the student, and the teacher. In John Taylor Gatto 's essay “Against School”, we see the inside perspective of the educational system from the view of a teacher. In “I Just Wanna Be Average”, an essay written by Mike Rose, we hear a student 's experience of being in a vocational class in the lower level class in the educational system when he was supposed to be in the higher class. Both Gatto and Rose give their opinions on how the educational system is falling apart. Today the government is only trying to get students to pass, making it hard for teachers to teach what they want. Students are affected everyday by the school system. They sit there - bored - and do not think that the teachers care, making the
Both authors want what is best for society overall, which in their views are individuals that are “socially well-adjusted and educated citizens who are industrious…[and] benefit society” (Ray par. 1) by creating a stronger work force. This issue is not only important for each student’s future, but over time it has become a focus of parents as they try to ensure the absolute best education for their child. As Cox found, “an increasing number of parents are recognizing the battle that is waged for their children’s hearts and minds” (Cox p. 34) and it is important that their children are equipped with the best hearts and minds so they can effectively function in society. Both of the authors for these articles acquired advanced education which may explain their bias toward the importance of education. However, evidence shows that education is one of the factors responsible for the success of a nation. Workers, who after graduation are able to “enter the working world equipped with the same basic education,” have a step up from those who were not able to fulfill those educational standards. While society says that it values education, it is apparent that actions are not being seriously taken by the educated population to effectively keep public education as a focus in policy holder’s hands.
In my experience, the majority of my teachers were dedicated and caring people to their work. I previously thought that maybe I had gotten lucky with my instructors in which classes I participated in, or maybe I am a more open minded person than those who criticized our educators. Now I see that teachers are scapegoats for other complications outside of their control. Even if some are no longer of a higher caliber, a reason for the decline could be disheartening caused by their limited resources and general disrespect year after year. The government may not be willing to reverse past changes, but now the system whose purpose is to prepare the children of today to become the adults of tomorrow is being annexed by business behemoths striving for ever greater profits to fill their
...ity of a four year education; those restrictions would also deny the opportunity of higher education to many who could achieve even greater success than those who had been chosen. Throughout history, there are stories of ordinary individuals who rose up to live extraordinary lives. To not allow someone the opportunity to achieve their potential would serve not only to separate the classes farther, it would also cause the stagnation of our economy. Jobs would be easier for the chosen educated, as there would be less competition. The truth is, it is that very competition that pushes every sector of our economy, driving companies to make better products or offer better services. Without competition, industries quit moving forward and better products don’t get engineered. It is clear to me that returning our education system to one in which only the chosen few were admitted would actually cause far more damage to society than the danger the author speaks about. If someone chooses to take the necessary steps to achieve greatness, no one should be able to hinder them except themselves.
Education was provided to the children from higher classes to become more intelligent to be able to lead and be ahead of those that were in lower class systems. However the government created the public education system to allow children to have the same opportunities as any other kid in the country rich or poor. Yet, did the government really provide this experience for children to become more intelligent than those whom were rich, or is there more to the real meaning of public education? In “Against School”, written by John T. Gatto, looks into the “real” intentions of what the purpose of education is. Gatto looks beyond the meaning of children acquiring only knowledge from education, but comes to a point where he believes that educations
The need for basic literacy skills is vital in order for our nation to continue to operate successfully. With approximately 5 million students, graduating below the National Standard for Literacy and unable to read, we must take a look at the curriculum and teaching techniques to assess whether the current systems need to be revised to better assure ALL students are successful. (Adolescent Literacy: A Policy Research Belief p. 1) The issue begins first with the definition of “Literacy”, and the fact that there are several aspects of literacy which are not currently included in the curriculum. Another issue is the “old” standards which are in place do not support the level of diversity which is now seen in many school systems. Then comes the issue of funding for schools and many schools in better neighborhoods obtain the highest level of private, and public funding and therefore are able to provide the higher level of education. However, in “The Literacy Education for All, Results for the Nation (LEARN) Act”, Senator Patty Murray states, “Research also shows that low income children are less likely to have access to high quality, literacy rich environments. These same children perform 40% lower on assessments of literacy achievement even before they start kindergarten.” (Murray) So, whose responsibility is it to ensure the success of the upcoming generations? Will the Federal Government step in to create a better system for the generations to come? There are quite a few solutions which have been used by Teachers, but with such an “old” system in place the issues of diversity, financial demand, inflexibility of the curriculum to assist individual students, classroom sizes increasing on a yearly basis, pressure to achieve sp...
There seems to be obvious differences in the education system all over America. It caters the upper class majority and it is biased to the ones that serve the lower and middle class minority. There is a strong undercurrent of racial inequality in today's school systems that negatively affect the quality of education that its students receive. A schools potential to give a proper education often depends on the perspective economic, and social, or perhaps the racial backgrounds of its students.
Today, the way the educational system works in the U.S. concerns a large number of people in this country. "Only 25% of adults have a great deal of confidence in the people running education, according to the General Social Survey, down from 49% in 1974" (Russel 4). A lot of discussions have been held to find the best ways to improve teaching methods. At the same time, people recognize that a very valuable solution to increase the level of education in the United States is to look at some problems that cause difficulties and hamper the enhancement of the quality of education. The first step is to define these problems. As in every country, the U.S. wants to develop its national standards in education and wants them to be high. This has always been a government function. Being democratic, the government is trying to fit the qualities of democracy into the way to set these standards. Of course, this is not an easy task since this country has a very diverse population. To please everybody has always been an almost impossible task. Despite this impossibility, national standards have already been set. "If a visitor from another nation was dropped into an American public school classroom without knowing the state or the region, he or she would be likely to see the same lesson taught in the same way to children of the same age" (Ravitch 9). Everything seems right except the fact that the abilities of children are different. Not everybody is able to study at a college; not everybody wants to continue being educated. It is obvious that every country wants to produce as many educated people as possible. But, at the same time, every country needs workers because, regardless of the fast development of technology, there is still a great necessity for human labor. To satisfy all the necessities of the country, the government should provide different kinds of education. This does not mean that we need to eliminate all of the standards; they could be set in each field of education. Although standards are set, there is still a very big difference in teaching methods in different schools. Perhaps, the most serious problem starts in high schools: some schools provide a higher level of education than others. Students from most city schools graduate with the confidence in their knowledge; their level of educati...
Teachers are put in situations that are not fair to them. Parents have become less involved in their children’s educations; they sadly expect schools and teachers to do their job. It is not the schools or the teacher’s jobs to raise the children; it is their job
The most important reason public schools provide an excellent education is that teachers are required to be highly qualified and suited for the job. When asked if public schools were a wise investment for the government Barnard answered,” Yes, not every parent [very few in fact] are trained and suited to educate students”” (Barnard). In particular, they must acquire and maintain a license to teach. In order to earn this teaching certification, they must demonstrate proficiency in all basic skills, study their subject area in depth, and learn effective techniques of instructing all kinds of learners. They also are required to get on-the-job training under the guidance of an experienced teacher. They have to motivate students to learn and have a passion for teaching, maintain their license, and continue their own education and training throu...
For decades, education in America has been focusing on the basics of education which include the bare minimum competencies of reading, literacy, writing, mathematics, and science for students in elementary and secondary schools. In 2001, the No Child Left Behind Act reaffirmed the need for basics and pushed for all students to be evaluated based on a set of minimum standards. These standards instituted the need to be tested in a manner so that students from all ethnic and economic backgrounds have the same opportunities. Furthermore, these standards have not included the need to adapt to the continuous change in order to meet the needs of today’s economy and industry. When the focus should be adapting to higher standards of education, public education system still remains the same. Meanwhile, private schools and vocational training gives students a better chance at obtaining a job in today’s world.
For the most part it is not the students fault as to why they are failing, but the teachers. In run down schools in poor towns, most teachers can only do so much with what they are given. In most cases it leads the teachers to just give up. In David K. Shipler’s The Working Poor: Invisible in America, Shipler states, “It had been a science class, and the teacher had given up and allowed a student who had brought a Nintendo game to plug it in” (Shipler 240). If the teacher ends up giving up or stops caring all together, the student will follow suit. In the student’s mind if the authority does not see it as important, why should they. It is important that the teachers, no matter the school, not give up on the students, for most it is the only the students have to look up to. According to Lyndsey Layton, writer for the Washington Post, just about 11 million children were living below the poverty level (Layton). For that amount of children to be living that low in life is unacceptable, but because of how education is in these areas where the children are living in are bad, they don’t have much hope for their future. Education is the only outlook these kids have for a better future and if that is corrupt or interfered with than there is a really good chance of them not being able to escape the poverty. Although there are millions of teachers that do strive to provide the best for his or her
...sionate professors who helped shape the type of teacher I would like to be. They found ways to talk to me in a manner that motivated me to want to improve, all while honoring the work that I have already done. I would like to bring this same moral into my classroom, when a child is motivated, passionate,and self-aware of their needs, strengths, and weaknesses, they can and will push themselves to improve. Students do not solely care about how much knowledge an educator has, but they care about how much these educators truly care. We shouldn't judge a person on how educated they are based only on test scores. The most educated person may not be the most suitable person to teach children. I may lack the test scores, however, I do not lack the passion and motivation needed to be a great teacher. If we cannot celebrate small successes, the final outcome is less weighted.