Denise Clark Pope's 'The Predicament Of Doing School'

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Denise Clark Pope, author of “The Predicament of Doing School,” has a P.H.D in teacher education at Stanford University. Dr. Pope did a year long study in a college prep school (Faircrest High, California) of observing and being a spectator. Dr. Pope observes the students tendencies. Even in a rich college prep school, student simply not learning the intended curriculum, let alone in a public school. She claims, “These students explain that they are busy at what they call ‘doing school.’ They realize that they are caught in a system where achievement depends more on "doing" - going through the correct motions - than on learning and engaging with the curriculum. Instead of thinking deeply about the content of their courses and delving into …show more content…

While looking into Faircrests’ “best and brightest”, she claims “Often their behavior contradicts the very traits and values many parents, students and community members expect schools to instill.” That is a very controversial statement that needs to be addressed because it is essentially saying that the school system doesn't do their job, as intended. A question she poses is “Why must students feel the need to manipulate the system and devise crafty strategies to get ahead?” Since she is claiming that the school system is not doing its job, and the students in return feel like they need to use the system (not as intended) to simply keep up or get ahead. In the next section, Dr. Pope explains the students perception of what they think grades actually mean. While some teachers think that grades merely represent effort, it means something totally different to a student. An interview with Eve (a grade centered student at Faircrest) revealed “That’s all I can think about… to get into [an Ivy League School] and become a successful $500,000-a-year doctor or engineer or whatever it is I want to be.” When Dr. Pope interviewed Eve's thoughts on grades, she said “This school turns students into robots...just going page by page, ‘doing’ the work, ‘doing’ the routine.” As stated by Eve, students don't feel like school actually helps them to achieve their end goal, which for many of them is to

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