Educational Foundations Ch. 5&6, Kozol Ch. 6

“This bureaucratic culture foresters the pervasive assumption that when students misbehave or achieve poorly, they must be “fixed” because the problem inheres in the students of families, not in the social ecology of the school, grade, or classroom.” (Anthology P.64)

No student needs to be fixed. What is the definition of fixed and through whose eyes? It’s a silly concept when you can look at another person and talk about what needs to be “fixed”. Each student is their own and comes from their own life with their own background, culture, family life, social surroundings, etc.  The job of a teacher is not to go around “fixing” students it should be about educating and brooding horizons.

“For example, could the definition of “hyperactivity” that their schools take for granted have something to do with today’s decreased opportunities for physical activity and rest during the school day?” (Anthology P.66)

Forcing students to strict schedules plus the taking away of activity and rest in the school day, makes it feel more like prison. This is just another wall between the school and the student as well this does not help the child obesity rates in the nation, have we thrown health out the window? Is the theory we will educate them about education but do nothing to implement it in their day? This to me is over the top

“Changing the class ecology brought out the creativity and leadership of Veronica’s most troublesome student, Tyrone…using a remarkably effective tool, which he called the Helping Hand” (Anthology P.69)

This quote shows that the student isn’t what needs fixing; it’s the system we use. We need to change our ways to engage and excite the students. What worked for one set of students may not work for the next; you need to do your best to understand your students and not just force feed them your content assuming that it works. Teachers need to morph to help student learning.

“When we acknowledge that there is nothing “wrong” with the urban students or their families or their communities, we must ask if the problem has been in the type of school we have been providing for them.” (Anthology P.162)

Exactly, the system needs to look in on itself and ask if it needs fixing. I think we need to allow districts to make decisions on how education should be run based on the community and populace of the school with no finical or test score pressure. This may take time to develop and I’m sure there are other answers, maybe mine is invalid in all. The point is I think there needs to be a major shift in how schools do school.

“These complex, layered contests influence each other in bi-directional ways. Urban schools are embedded in a much larger context, one that requires multiple sectors of the community acting in concert.” (Anthology P. 162)

This is the hardest obstacle to get around as far as changing the style of schools. There is so much going on in urban communities I couldn’t think of a way to coordinate something like that. I’m sure people want change but where do you start, shuttling kids out off to other districts isn’t the point; It feels like the dismantling of a community. Maybe a good start is to make the school the focus of the town.

“Built to hold 1,800 kids, the school held 3,400. More than 95 percent of the students were black or Hispanic; 1.5 percent was white.” (Kozol P.145)

I could only imagine what a day in a school like this is, it must affect the mid of the learners. An environment like this promotes students to do what they want when they want. Schools should be promoting just the opposite; do you bring a child to a crowded NYC subway for play time? No, because that’s an environment that isn’t fun and engaging. Schools can expect a positive response from the students until they are in a positive setting.