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Recommended: Educational equality
Importance of Equality Within Schools
Danielle V. Kolton
West Chester University
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Education represents the basic fundamental element necessary for a democracy to properly function. Without knowledge there is no way to survive let alone make any type of significant progress. All human pursuits require knowledge, whether it is science, engineering, or even the law. One of the great strengths of any republic is the quality of education it provides for its citizens.
Many of our greatest institutions in this country come from principles held dear by both the ancient Greeks and Romans. Their cultures, which represent the earliest forms of democracy, regarded education as the foundation for the preservations of their democratic principles and ideals. These republicans faded from civilization because of their governmental and more importantly their educational institutions failed to provide the adequate moral and intellectual guidance to all their citizens.
Many people today don’t understand the actual meaning of “equality” and know the short one sentence definition. However, equality is much more than just one sentence. Equality has discriminated people for nearly 100 years. Equality is a term that should be looked at more throughout high school, in order for people to grasp a better understanding. Since many people are so unsure of the history of inequality I chose to raise this argument to give a better understanding. Education has long been seen as an essential foundation of democracy. Equality in education is a topic that has or has had an effect on many individuals in the world.
One of the most shocking pictures for the American public occurred on September 4th 1957. On that day the nation was ...
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...om poor families are being cheated out of a future. He went and visited many schools and observed them and discovered many shocking things about American school systems. In Kozels book “Savage Inequalities” he discovered “that black and Hispanic schoolchildren are isolated from white schoolchildren and are shortchanged educationally.” Kozel also stated that “that real integration has declined significantly and education for minorities and poor students has moved backwards rather than forwards.” Kozels solution was to spend more tax money on poor school districts to equalize spending. Kozels discoveries on equality touched many people in their outlooks on society.
The most basic element of our society is to provide both an adequate and equal education for all, by giving equal access to the entire nation will create a stronger and more equal place for all to live.
Education is one of the most important tools in society, that serve as a base of power to open our minds, in a relationship with the truth. According to an article called The Anatomy of Inequality, by Linda Darling Hammond, refers to an objection to the public education in the United States, and how children should be educating. Hammond points out how there was the unfairness between African American, with low social status, and also with immigrants students. Although many people may think that these problems have been results through the pass of the years, it is clear that many issues still open, and waiting for justice. One Hammond major points are based that the country was established on equality, and freedom for everyone.
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...
Society holds a beneficial belief that education is a very prominent source that is necessary to engage in life’s successes. Education gives one the endurance to gain knowledge and the will power to accomplish goals and reach high standards. It allows individuals to know and understand the skills of life and the values it hold. Education has a history that has been around for hundreds of years that continuously develops as education improves, but the history of equal opportunity in education must continuously improve as well. Although education is known for its good deeds, inequality still plays a significant role in education today. There are opportunities that students must receive to relinquish some inequalities that are still present in education today. There are ways to address these obstacles and also ways to contribute to advanced opportunities to make education of equality.
Education has always been in existence in one form or another. As each child is born into this world regardless of who or where they are born, life lessons immediately begin. He/she will learn to crawl, walk, and talk by the example and encouragement of others. Although these lessons are basic in the beginning they evolve as the child grows. However, the core learning method of a child does not change. Learning from others, they will watch, listen, and then act for themselves. Thomas Jefferson believed that an education would lead men and women to the ability to be self-governed and become positive contributors to society (Mondale & Patton, 2001). Today, we can see how true this is by the examples of others. Those that are given the opportunity for education are more likely to find jobs and develop skills that not only improve a community, but influence the economic growth of their nation (Ravitch, Cortese, West, Carmichael, Andere, & Munson, 2009, p. 13). On the other hand, if an education is not provided to individuals, they can become a hindrance to that nation’s growth.
The inequality in Australian education can be attributed to a history of low expectations and discrimination placed on Indigenous people by the government and society. Aboriginal children were denied the right to education until the 1970s due to the discrimitory views of the government and society. The Indigenous population were the sub-standard race of humanity with little to no chance of succeeding in life and these attitudes affected the educational choices offered to them (Ray & Poonwassie, 1992). As the superior race, the Anglo-Celtic Australians, considered themselves both intellectually and socio-culturally more advanced than their inferior Aboriginal neighbours (Foley, 2013). As a consequence of these racially and culturally motivated preconceptions, children of Aboriginal descent were considered unskilled outside of their own and were deemed incapable of excelling in ‘civilised’ white society (Foley, 2013). As a result, the Australian Government, in an effort to civilise and nurture politeness within the Aboriginal people, constructed “structured” (p 139) education training institutions in 1814. However, these problems only provided sufficient schooling for menial work: Aboriginal male children were prepared for agricultural employment, while girls were trained for domesticated services (Foley, 2013). Thus, as a direct consequence of low expectation for life success, Aboriginal children were offered minimal schooling ‘consistent with the perception about the limitations inherent in their race and their expected station in life at the lowest rung of white society’ (Beresford & Partington, 2003, p43). According to Foley (2013) this combination of low expectations and poor academic grounding meant that Indigenous children we...
Public education in the United States is exalted as the “great equalizer.” This utopian concept would be true if the education provided to all citizens was equal. Unfortunately, the dueling principles upon which the American nation was founded— freedom to accumulate wealth and equality for all—inhibit the establishment and maintenance of equal education. Funding inequities within the United States public education system embody the tension between one’s right to accumulate capital and one’s duty to guarantee equality for all. As the current system stands, the right to accumulate and utilize financial resources prevails. Thus, an educational system that perpetuates the economic inequality of America’s racial groups endures.
The means of justifying these inequalities are important for the entire world. Education played and will always play a big role in everyone’s lives. Equality in education will eventually guarantee every person a better position in society. Educational inequality is the difference in learning effectiveness and results as faced by students with varying backgrounds. The effects of educational inequality are not only left within the circles of education, but also remain further to have an impact on other life aspects. All over the world, there have been unending calls to reform education at each level. With various causes that are very much connected to society, history and culture, the educational inequality has apparently been one of the most difficult challenges to address. Regardless of the challenges faced in removing educational inequality, education has continued to be a very important part of society with a big expectation of moving it forward. In the current-day America, very many disadvantaged children have continued to grow up missing key skills. Discrimination has continued to persevere in educational achievement between racial issues. Above all, low performance levels among these disadvantaged children have over the years been responsible for the long-term issues, especially in such an society with higher levels of skills and a failing incomes offered to those people that are less-skilled.
Education is a concept that is synonymous with anyone one that is living a good life. It is believed that in order to live a prosperous life that members of this society must first obtain a good college education. But how can education be considered a founding block of success when only the privileged enjoy the benefit of a proper education? A large percentage of undocumented immigrants arrive to this country because they want their kids to be able to attend a good school and receive a proper education but that is not always the case. Undocumented people arrive to this country with no money; therefore they are forced to live in low-income communities. As we have discussed in class, the schools in neighborhoods with low economic status are not as good
“Social Justice in Education” by R. W. Connell discusses the role of education in society and the implications that social justice issues have on education. Connell begins by establishing that education and social justice can be examined separately yet they are inescapably linked through the social medium of their implementation. “Education concerns schools, colleges and universities, whose business is to pass knowledge on to the next generation. Social justice is about income, employment, pensions or physical assets like housing.”(Connell, 1993) Three points validating the equal importance of social justice and the education system to people of all delineations are: 1.) in Western society public schools are key forums of social interaction and comprise some of the largest social institutions 2.) educational institutions are highly economic bodies and have become “major public assets” (Connell, 1993) 3.) teaching becomes a vehicle by which society is ultimately determined and has a great influence over society’s morality. Connell describes the meaning of justice in education as being “a question of fairness in distribution… equality.”(Connell, 1993) “Justice cannot be achieved by distributing the same… standard good to… all social classes.”(Connell, 1993) By stating this, Connell summarizes that in the attempt to achieve equality, unequal means must be employed.
Today’s America’s ability to provide a basic education to anyone is truer than ever before. Does it mean everyone gets an equal education? The concept behind education is an individual who has been educated and knows all the answers. For some this is a person who has been through the rigors of school and graduated. Most of us want to believe it is someone who makes a living with what they have learned. Adult education is flawed and does not provide the best education for people. Education starts as a child and ends when the adult receives their degree. Pedagogy students have not reinforced their patience or experience to be educated. Therefore, education is only truly achieved when an individual goes through life and has become an adult.
All people deserve the right of education equality no matter gender, race or financial income. According to the daily star, by 2015 only seventy percent of countries will have achieved equality between the sexes in primary education and fifty six percent will have achieved equality in lower secondary education. Education equality is one of the main problems in school systems.
In a democratic society, personally speaking, I think that equity and equality go hand in hand in the realm of public education. Equity, in the aspect of education, is the idea that something may be fair, but isn’t always equal. Equality is the idea that everyone is seen as being equal. Without equity, there would be no equality.
Education is the key that allows people to move up in the world, seek better jobs, and ultimately succeed fully in life. Education is very important, and no one should be deprived of it. The right to an education is one of the human natural rights which every person should have from youth to when they are old. Human natural rights are fundamental privileges acquire from the rational nature of man and the natural moral. Right to an education is an inalienable right for it cannot be renounced or transferred because it is necessary for the fulfillment of one’s primitive obligation.
This paper explores the way social inequality affects schooling. In a classroom setting, one student can be treated unequally just because of their race, ethnic background or religion. Taking notes from Purcell- Gates and Boykin, A.W. & Noguera, P., the topics of ethnicity and the achievement gap will be discussed in the event that all students should be treated equal. Also bringing in the topic of the “No Child Left Behind Act” introduced by former president George W. Bush in 2001 and was signed into law in 2002. For a long time, social inequality places a negative effect on schools around the country. The common urban verse suburban educational battle has been going on for way to long and there is a fix that needs to be made.
Societies run off the power of the people, and some societies use a democracy as a form of power. There are people who say that for a democracy to survive that people do not need to be educated on all subjects, they also believe that asking questions or challenging “long-held ideas” is a waste of time, because no results will be formed by them. Then there are the people that feel that someone needs to be educated just enough to survive and questions or voicing opinions on “long-held ideas” should only be done when it is absolutely mandatory. Finally, there are the people (like me) that disagree with the people above. These people believe that all education is important. They are the people who understand that asking questions and voicing their displeasure with the “long-held ideas” makes the democracy survive. To further expand on democracies surviving people believe that some of the most terrible things came from obedience, but many people including myself believe that disobedience is what causes terrible things while obedience puts a stop to it. A democracy would not exist without education and being able to stand up behind a question or voicing an opinion of displeasure, nor would a democracy survive without obedience. No one would take a stand to allow for the democracy to survive if the nation was disobedient. Through letting people gain knowledge, questioning ideas, and voicing opinions; the democracy has a pulse.