09/26/7, educational degrees

After class today I began to think about what education is. I think it is dlirectly correlated to the quality of life. People go to school and gain an education to improve their quality. It is presumed that the more schooling one gets and the more degrees one obtains, the higher the quality of life they will have. I do believe this is true in most cases. There are exceptions to every rule. There are people who get these degrees and go nowhere with it, there are also those who don't even go to college and make millions of dollars a year. Education does provide a step towards a better life. Teachers are necessities in these steps. Without them, there would be no education. Teachers go through all this schooling, obtaining these degrees, and are still looked down upon for not holding prestigious positions and for getting low pay. Additionally, it has been said that education is unequal because teachers qualifications are unequal. http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2006-04-26-teachers-poor_x.htm This article discusses how teachers in wealthier school districts are more qualified than teachers in poorer districts. However, is it really the teachers background? Personality and persistance are two qualities in a teacher which are often overlooked. The teaching fellowship program sends adults straight out of college to teach in inner city schools, but these teachers are young and they have passion. They may not know every detail which is in the textbook, but they know how to encourage kids to want an education, to strive for an education. In the end, does that one degree, that one piece of paper, really make a difference?

Education-09/19/07

After class today I went back to my room and thought about what education meant to me. For me it has always been about a goal. A goal to learn, to aquire knowledge and turn that into a career one day to make money for myself and for my family. Since I was three years old I knew I had to go to school in order to succeed, I never even questioned it. I came from Plainview high school, which Kozol mentions in his book. He says "black and hispanic students make up only 1% of enrollment while 97% of students at the school are white" (Kozol 33). Througout high school I was always aware I was lucky, I knew I had opportunities and I knew I had choices. I was in all AP classes my senior and I took it for granted. Learning and reading about all these other impoverished schools seem so foreign to me. I can not believe children don't have playgrounds or gyms. I do not see how children can learn if they can't play with one another. Play softens children, it makes them understand the world and it helps them gain knowledge of people. Knowing how people interact is such a useful life tool. People and situations become predictible and then you learn how to advance. If these kids don't play or interact they will not be able to perform tasks or jobs which involve interactions with people because they don't know how. Not giving children play seems to limit their opportunities for the future. I really liked the idea of charter schools because I think all children should have something to look forward to at school each week. I decided rather than looking for an article, to look into charter schools more. I thought it would be more beneficial for the class, for those who came to my blog, to be able to learn more about Charter schools since they were only briefly discussed in class. http://www.uscharterschools.org/pub/uscs_docs/index.htm. I really learned a lot about what these schools have to offer and the history behind them. I find it really interesting and hopeful that there are people out there who acknowledge the problem we have with our educational system and who are attempting to fix it.

Kozol Intro

After our class discussion today which was based on minorities within the classroom and differences in race concerning education, I watched several videos on CNN.com to try and get a perspective right from the source, from the people who are facing these problems today. http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/road.to.equality/ One woman said "it is the best time to be black in America and yet the worst". People are gaining independence, they have role models to look up to and yet they still feel they are unfortunate. They see people within their race who have accomplished but yet they can not do the same. They feel the brunt of American concerns today. Every culture, every race faces money problems and poverty problems, however African Americans feel like they are more directly impacted by it, according to this woman's video. According to Kozol, minorities face these inequalities in the classroom and some of them don't even realize or are angered by their situation. They simply accept the rotten floors, the dirty rooms and the old textbooks. They do not fight, they became angry with the teachers or principles but it seems to be misdirected anger, they should be angry at the educational system. These children grow up thinking this is how life is. Kozol goes on to discuss the one child who knew what was being done to her. She was resitant and cold, she just sat there, knowing but not saying anything. Rather than fighting she remained stagnant. I went to an all white, Jewish high school on Long Island. I knew there were poverty stricken schools out there in the US and I knew there were richer, more elite schools, however I never understood to what extent there was poverty in the educational system. I wonder if these kids know they are not being taught in the norm, do they understand they can do better? I was taught to fight for what I believed in, but these kids are clearly taught to accept their conditions as a part of their lives. If there is supposed to be equality in the educational system, how come there is no equality when it comes to a dream? Economically there is a struggle within the school systems, but does that have to impede learning? Shouldn't we all have the same ambitions, the same dreams, the same goals in life? Shouldn't we all want to succeed? Just because a classroom does not have windows or books doesn't mean these kids can't get a good education on life. I wonder if these teachers came from the same circumstance, and if so wouldn't they want better for the next generation?

Poverty Video

After watching the video in class I was shocked to see the way classrooms are conducted in these poverty stricken areas. It made me reevaluate the educational system in the US. I had a very positive educational experience, I took whatever AP's I wanted, going to college was never an option, I knew I was going. I was always told I could do it even if I felt otherwise. These kids think dropping out of school at 16 with a GED is considered an accomplishment, they do not think they can do better and teachers do nothing to support them. Because these kids are so poor, the educational system makes it so they stay that way. They don't push them to do better. These teachers see their jobs as getting kids through the day, rather than educating them. I wanted to research an article to find out what the state is doing to try and make this situation better. I found this link: http://www.cbpp.org/11-7-02sfp.htm. I am curious to know if these programs are working and where they are working. Even if these programs help poor states with their educational tools, it is impossible to reach all schools with these problems. Money also does not equal motivation. Just because these schools are getting funding does not mean they are influencing students to do better. I am curious to know if the number of high school graduates and the number of students who attend college has increased since this funding was given. It is extremely sad that poor students grow up feeling inadequate about their education, they see school as something they have to get through the minimal amount of before they can drop out, rather than a stepping stone to the goals in life they should have.