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Diversity in education
Diversity in education research paper
Student-teacher relationship and the effect on student learning
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A variety of choices can make life much easier. Students are not given the option to select any courses that best suits their ability; due to the system believing it is best to dictate a singular educational path for every student. For example, according to an american essayist and author of “On Education” Ralph Waldo Emerson “By your tampering and thwarting and too much governing he may be hindered from his end and kept out of his own. Respect the child. Wait and see the new product of Nature...Respect the child”(273) Emerson uses continuous repetition of the word “respect” as teachers should respect students as any normal human being and not treating them as if they are inferior beings. Emerson advises that teachers should not force students
...ting them choose their own groups to be in during class, as offering multiple ways to complete projects, different assigned reading topics, and etc. The student can only get out of the class as much as they put in. Even though the students may wish the teachers would give less homework or let them read Sports Illustrated in class, there is a fine line between academic learning that incorporates “street smarts” and academic learning that lacks on the academic part. Teachers must insure their students are learning the required material and that they are not taking detours from learning about topics and ideas that students need to be successful after college.
Emerson’s Self-Reliance shows a unique glance on his perspective towards life. I felt empathy on some of the ideas, such as “trusting thyself”. Still, within his single page of writing, there was one that contradicted my belief. That quote was, “Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.” There were various points that I was left me thinking. What did Emerson mean when he said people must be a “nonconformist” to be a “man”?
Ralph Waldo Emerson was born in Boston in 1803. He was a son of Unitarian minister and the descendant of New England clergymen. This led him to become a minister himself and later quit to focus on his philosophy called transcendentalism. Emerson started writing in his youth and later attended Harvard University. After graduating from Harvard in 1821 he taught in a women school. The book of Anthology of American Literature says, “Like his philosophy, his writing seemed to lack organization, but it swarmed with epigrams and memorable passages” (939). Even though Ralph Waldo Emerson’s works had flaws, he “was nineteenth-century America’s most notable essayist” (Anthology of American Literature 938). According to Daniel G. Payne Emerson’s point
In the nineteenth century there are several schools of thought that are emerging, struggling to be recognized. Of these schools there are transcendentalists. A transcendentalist that can be pointed out as a great author is named Ralph Waldo Emerson. In the time period of the 1840’s Emerson is accredited with the Transcendental movement. Emerson is acknowledged as “one of the most influential figures of the nineteenth century” (274). Emerson is an American essayist and poet. He published numerous pieces of work which portions of them were at a moment in time when he was going through a great deal of pain. Most critics refer to Ralph Waldo Emerson as one of the most significant American writers of the nineteenth century, but are having difficulty deciphering which one of his creations earn the most interest. As time goes by, he continues to write incredible literary collections that are well recognized by his contemporaries. All of these conceptions have exposed an intellect of great uniqueness. They were critiqued by several authors that provided insight to the meaning behind the words. Emerson’s most talked about and most critiqued works include Nature, The American Scholar and The Divinity School of Address.
Parents are forcing students to take classes they don’t want, leaving the student dull and unheard. Parents focus their kids to take challenging classes in order to satisfy their fear of the child getting into a good college. Students are told by parents and the school system that they must take this challenging class and extracurricular just meet ‘the standard quota” but reality it’s not true. For instance, Zinsser’s did a survey on Yale students and asked the students a question about their parental guidance and why they follow it. The results were scary, most students stated: “well my parents want me to be a doctor… They’re paying all this money….” (Zinsser
Key Ideas and Details (a) What terms does Emerson use to describe society? (b) Interpret: According to Emerson, what is society’s main purpose? (c) Draw Conclusions: In what ways does Emerson believe people should be affected by the way others perceive them? a: He describes it in a conformist tone describing how they strive for consistency and are therefore cowards in their unwillingness to expand to new and unique ideas and ways of thinking.
In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Education”, he uses various diction to create tones to establish that the education is flawed and it revisions need to be made to fix it.
"In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, - no disgrace, no calamity (leaving me my eyes), which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, - my head bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space, - all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball. I am nothing. I see all. The currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God."
The ability for all children from varying walks of life to receive a well-rounded education in America has become nothing more than a myth. In excerpt “The Essentials of a Good Education”, Diane Ravitch argues the government’s fanatical obsession with data based on test scores has ruined the education system across the country (107). In their eyes, students have faded from their eyes as individual hopefully, creative and full of spirit, and have become statistics on a data sheet, percentages on a pie chart, and numbers calculated to show the intelligence they have from filling out bubbles in a booklet. In order for schools to be able to provide a liberal education, they need the proper funding, which comes from the testing.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.” Emerson is a firm believer of maintaining self-reliance and values rather than following the crowd. He also explains that in order to be truly successful in life, a person must make decisions and trust in his or her judgment. In today’s society, teenagers are more likely to not be self-reliant because the teens feel they will be judged for having different beliefs. People today need to realize that they should not conform to be like the rest of the world, they must not depend on the judgment and criticism of others, and people must refuse to travel somewhere in order to forget their personal problems. Through Emerson’s piece, readers are able to reflect on how people in the world today must try to be independent of others and uphold their personal opinions and philosophy.
In conclusion, education is broader than just falling into what the contemporary school system has to offer. Both Gatto and Graff proved this by explain how conforming students to certain perspectives of education limits their potential in other educational branches that interest the students. Also, curricula should bring a balance between making a school a place for obtaining information, and accommodating the educational demands for each individual student. It is imperative to understand that reforming the academic system, by fine-tuning schools to have its students learn what exactly they are interested in, will lead to having students accessing their full intellectual potential.
In conclusion, the core curriculum is vital to life of any student, yet with more personal choice and freedom, the high school environment can be strengthened and improved . Having a more balanced high school curriculum, with more options for the students, would also allow students to narrow their focus on a particular field or subject, while preparing them for their major in college. It would even boost the confidence of the student body, and therefore boost the Test scores as well. In addition, students who have trouble recognizing their talents, might be able to have a more fulfilling high school experience. The purpose of school is to prepare one for the future and ones occupation; it is certain, that having a more elective-based high school program would do just that.
In addition, the students’ mental growth can be strengthened if they are given the right to choose their own class schedule. The full development of the human personality, the reinforcement of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms which are shall gain more attention by the education.
“Changing Educational Paradigms” is a video where Sir Ken Robinson explains why he believes the current educational system has to change in order to stop the rise of American students being treated for ADHD. Robinson reveals that schools haven’t changed since the 18th century where the enlightenment and the industrial revolution had a lot to do with how American schools were designed to work. American schools are still organized based on the production line mentality, and intelligence was based off deductive reasoning and knowledge of the classics, all of this is deep in the academic gene pool. Robinson states that while they are trying to change the educational system they are doing so by doing what they did in the past. Which is something
Socrates created a method called “The Socratic Method” that made people think critically and outside the box. This is a method that is being used in education and in everyday life.