September 18...Understanding the Broader Context of Teacher Work
Share and discuss something new that you leaned from the Knight-Abowitz and Stitzlein reading. It can be something surprising, disturbing, hopeful, etc. Also feel free to address the question of whether it is important for teachers/future teachers to know about the wider contexts within which there work sits (hint: Stemhagen definitely thinks it is important!).
I’ve never heard of the grocery store metaphor for education systems so that gave me a new perspective on the topic. After explaining why selecting a school for a child is different from selecting a cereal, the author writes, “Individual consequences of breakfast cereal are borne by those who make those individual choices, and not the wider society.” This puts things in perspective about how our education system affects the entire population and how problematic this ideology is. I liked how the author included the section on public schools being “aimed at supporting and improving social life in communities and the nation.” I think it’s unfortunate that some politicians who make decisions can forget aspects like these which can have upsetting effects on the individuals who face the repercussions.
ReplyDeleteThe most disturbing thing I learned from this reading was the quote from the Ohio senator saying he actually wanted to defund the public schools. I know most schools are losing funding but I feel like in general its not peoples goal to defund schools, they just don't have another choice. But this senator probably read one article about his grocery store model and then used it to justify cutting education funds. I'd never heard of that metaphor before but now that I have I don't want to hear it again. Teachers in public schools aren't subpar because they are in public schools they are subpar because people like that senator think a private schooling system, or completely restructuring the public school system would be better than our current one so they defund public schools. When the schools get defunded the first thing to suffer is teachers salaries, because of that so many people aren't becoming teachers. Peoples first reaction to me saying I want to be a teacher is reminding me of the poor salary. To be completely honest I don't really understand the second question, when you say wider context i am going to assume you mean knowing your students backgrounds. If I'm wrong correct me. Assuming thats what you mean I think that knowing the context is very important because its hard to teach to a group that you don't understand and even harder to get then to understand.
ReplyDelete-Sophia Groot
The article on public schooling made a lot of interesting points I had never thought of, as well as some scary ones. To begin, my idealistic and romantic educator mind had no idea—or at least never wanted to believe— that there were people out there who wanted to defund public schooling. Hearing that an Ohio senator actually wanted to privatize education is very disheartening and disturbing to me. He believed it wasn’t good enough and that our educators lack the competition that makes our market thrive. This is so far from the truth. Without public education, we would be lost as a people. The people who feel we need private education don’t actually see how valuable public education is for us. This article perfectly laid out why it is vital for us to continue funding education. School is not something you can pick and choose, like at a grocery store. School allows us to function together as a society. If we don’t have some semblance of unity in our schooling, values such as democracy will diminish.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I found interesting while reading this article was how limiting private school education can be. As some one who never attended private school, I never really thought about the influence it can have on students by not being surrounded by others who do not have the same values or ideals as you. So, when reading I noticed that the authors mentioned how whether "intentionally" or "unintentionally", private schools can focus and engage students in one way. Another aspect in the article that caught my attention was the metaphor of education by comparing it to cereal. I thought this well-illustrated the concept of deciding what works specifically for a community or family rather than for the entirety of the population.
ReplyDeleteMary Kate Harrison – I personally have never envisioned public education as a capitalist venture like the way Donald Bourdreaux of the Wall Street Journal describes markets. The idea of public schools being in competition to produce the highest quality of students as companies do with products is a very disturbing thought to me. I do not think that there should be any economic incentive when it comes to public education. The emphasis on the civic element of schooling in Knight-Abowitz and Stitzlein’s article I believe is the most significant aspect to education. Promoting the shared values and liberties of this country and teaching generations how to defend their rights is essential to maintaining a free democracy. I mention this country, the United States, in particular because I think we have a very unique opportunity to encourage educational reform around the world in countries where education is not as accessible. It is extremely important for teachers to understand the broader context of their work because positive change takes determination but more importantly it takes knowledge. Therefore, the article’s mention of “shared fate” is something future generations of students must be made aware of through socialization and engaged citizenship that is provided in proper public education systems.
ReplyDeleteSomething that I found disgusting that the article mentioned was how there are people out in the country who want to defund public schooling. I think it's absolutely wrong to even think about defunding public schools. Some schools already don't get enough funding as it is and if they cut even more of their budget, they're going to have close to nothing. They discussed the grocery store metaphor which was the first time I heard of it. I don't agree with it because school isn't something you pick and choose. Instead of reconstructing public schools as a whole, give them more funding and see what great things they can incorporate for their students. This article explains perfectly why public schools are important in todays society. I think it would be great for teachers to have a wider context about things. Even if you don't need the extra knowledge it's good to have just in case if you need it one day. It's never a bad thing to have a wider grasp on things.
ReplyDeleteIn this reading, one of the pieces that stood out to me the most was the supermarket metaphor. I think this piece stood out to me the most because it really makes you think about how unfair the funding of the public education system can be. It is already a known fact that relatively poorer areas have lower funded schools, but when you compare it something that will effect everyone and not just children that can't really speak on the issue, it gives you a clearer of view on the inequality and unfairness of the topic.
ReplyDeleteAnother piece of the article that I found disturbing was the statement, "The market is designed to deliver maximum choice and quality to serve each individual’s preferences. Education, on the other hand, isn’t solely about an individual’s experience, nor is it aimed solely at individual fulfillment." On one hand it is common knowledge that teachers cannot focus on students individually at all times, but it makes me fearful that it has become so staple that students will not be taught for individual success, but for classroom success. This piece of the article in particular brings me back to being in high school where teachers pushed for having a classroom percentage of how many students passed standardized testing, rather then how much each student understands, recognizes, and is interested in the topic. I feel like this method pushes more for memorize to pass instead of legitimately learning.
Objectively reading this reading definitely helped me separate feelings from facts. It is great that the authors present some factual data and allow the readers to decide how to think on their own. However, I believe the conversation of school choice vouchers is contingent upon an individual's preferences and priorities. School choice vouchers do not completely take away from public school funding; they allow parents to have more control over their children's education by reducing the amount of government involvement (i.e. parents choose what to do with their tax money by deciding which school / district to place their child in, which does not sound like a completely terrible idea. It is between the parents deciding where their children get educated or allowing state and local officials to decide for them without placing any emphasis on a multitude of factors that could affect the children).
ReplyDeleteI believe the cereal example greatly ties to the concept of school choice. The authors suggest as consumers we make assumptions before buying cereal such as "Cereal is a choice I make for my own family. Your family’s needs or wishes shouldn’t affect my choices, and I shouldn’t attempt to interfere with yours." In a way, the funding children get to be educated should be theirs and the decisions should only impact them. On the other hand, the authors state that "unlike cereals, though, schools serve our shared civic interests, rather than just our individual desires and needs." In other words, the authors think that by parents choosing to place their children in the school of their choice, they are automatically losing shared civic interests and are heavily focusing on individualism.
Nonetheless, one could argue that children may still possess these values regardless of the school they attend. The way I see it is that school choice would greatly benefit those students who wish to have their needs and interests fulfilled at a particular school. For instance, if a student is zoned to a certain district and the school he / she attends perhaps does not offer quality education or a safe environment, I believe the parents have the opportunity and option to place said student in a better school by using their voucher. Oftentimes families end up doing drastic moves such as unnecessarily moving to a new district or using a family member's address for their kids to go to a school that better fits them.
When I was in middle school, I was zoned to school A. I did NOT like school A for reasons that affected both my emotional state and academic success. However, why was I forced to go there simply because it was the neighborhood school? Why was I not given the option to go somewhere else where? Due to this, I believe it is important for parents to have several options when deciding where their children should attend school. All in all, I think this topic is highly contingent on individual's needs. I do not believe the government should dictate every aspect of a child's education.
Lindsey: After reading this article I can understand where the Ohio senator is coming from. In a way it makes sense that rather than fixing the already broken system, we just make a whole new system that is better but, I think that would be a mistake. I understand the Senator's logic, but I think he is wrong and to some extent I found his comment disturbing in that it lacked the all important historical context that would have given him a more holistic view of the role of education and the importance of education. Moreover, I think that it is extraordinarily important for teachers to understand the wider contexts of teaching and the history of education because how can they make comments or even fully understand what is happening currently or potentially the future, if they don't understand what happened in the past and why that has lead to the present. I think contextualization is important in every field, be it teaching, banking, engineering, or art.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the Abowitz atricle,
ReplyDeleteI am extremely against the idea of de-funding public schooling as a whole. It does not make sense whatsoever because it does nothing but completely take away a huge part of education from society. Yeah there are other options for education, but public schooling is a huge part of the whole. I tried to understand the reasons for taking away the needed funds for education, but what good would that do? A lot of public schools are already struggling with funding their specific school. If a school is not able to provide for its' students, of course it is going to fail. De-funding would do more harm than good and there would be no logic behind the decision. They started off the article debating whether or not education is considered a public good and when they started to explain what they meant, they leaned more and more towards the idea that public schools should not be funded if they do not fulfill the "public good" trait. Public good meaning gives a little something to not only the students, but everyone to the public. I say that public schools definitely do benefit the society as a whole, but others argue that it does not. I do not understand that though because everyone starts with schooling, whether it is public or not, that should not matter.
I greatly appreciate the idea of public schools representing the shared interests of a community. It takes collaboration from many different fields to create a successful public school. Public schools are intended to promote ideals of a democratic society in which citizens are taught to defend our rights and help solve greater issues together. I also appreciate that public schools represent diverse backgrounds because the issue with many private schools is the lack of diversity.
ReplyDeleteMy only issue with this article is that it seems to take away from the importance of the individual's choice. There are some students who need to make an individualized choice about their education so they choose a private school. While I don't always agree with the ideals of private schools I do believe there is a place for them as not every child does well within the public school system. Some children need more individualized attention and a different learning environment than public schools can offer. I don't think public schools should emphasize civic duty and value as much as this article is stating. The individual student is extremely important in creating an education system that is effective. I believe there's a way to balance the needs of public education for greater society while tuning into the needs of each child.
Reading this article gave me a new prospective of competition in the public education system, just like verity of choices in the grocery supermarkets we have today. The authors metaphor regarding public education and grocery markets was a great example of comparing the two systems in this country. It was nice to see that he separated them out towards the end, by stating, “schools create public goods when they balance individual interests and preferences with the common goods of protecting our shared liberties.” He also mentioned that we can all work together to change how the educational system is. We can recreate and reestablish with lasting civic values together. This is not individualistic, this is working together and making a beneficial system for all. It was a very interesting article to read and to see how these system lead out current society in their own ways but how much similar they are.
ReplyDeleteReading this article provoked a lot of thought. I have never thought of our education system as a market-based education that can be defined using an economic based definition. It's odd to shift my thinking into believing education is an economic incentive that has a competitive approach where the main goal is to produce the highest quantity of students. Public schools represents the shared interests of a community and promote ideas of democracy. Public schools also allow for a more diverse community. Defunding public schools would be awful and cause more damage then good.
ReplyDeleteThis article definitely surprised me A LOT. It absolutely blows my mind that there are people out there, like many of my fellow classmates said, that actually WANT to defund public schooling??? That is crazy to me. It is also upsetting that people like the Ohio senator in favor of defunding public schools, are ones who are in the positions to make decisions but have no clue what it is like to be a teacher or someone in the education system. The grocery store metaphor is not ideal at all; school isn't something that should be shopped for and treated as such. What needs to happen is NOT a complete breakdown and rebuild of the education system, but the appropriate funding and resources needed to make the current situation more suitable and equal for everyone. Students are not just a product made to be stamped and shipped out once they are out of school. The economic benefit should be the least of people's worries when considering what a quality, thorough, and meaningful education should be/look like for a child.
ReplyDelete- Tirzah
This article really shocked me. I can't fathom the fact that they're people out there who think that defunding public schools would be okay and would fix the problem with education in our country. On top of that it's people like the Ohio senators who aren't even inside the public schools that are making decisions whether it is a good idea to defund public education. They really don't know what students need because they're not in the school or classrooms with them. I have also never thought to compare our public schools and education to a grocery store or super market. A good education that serves peoples individual needs as well as all the other peers needs is what we really need and I don't think rebuilding the entire system is the right way to go about it. I feel that people in the government see students and education as a economic benefit and they try to put us into the work force with credentials as fast as they can but education is so much more than that. This article was not what I was expecting and it threw me off.
ReplyDeletecereal analogy was interesting. I liked the point brought up about private schools. While they might be able to provide sound education, most are founded on more secular views and therefore do not align with public school curriculum all the time. They also separate students (whether intentional or unintentional) based on intelligence, social class, and religion. Thats why public schools being defunded would not make sense. That way people would have to begin to choose what schools to put their children in but some may not afford it.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I though was really odd was how limilted private school education can be. I would have thought that it would be a lot more than that comsodering you are paying to go there and they can hire more qualified teachers that know and can teach a lot more. Another thing that I absolutely found shocking was that some schools were being defunded and these children were not getting the education that they needed to be successful in life.
ReplyDeleteMichelle: My interpretation on the metaphor of the supermarket makes the education system made me think how unfair it is. It’s concerning that there are people out here considering to defund public education, which makes it difficult for people who live in low income areas. I think instead of trying to shop for school and making it difficult for everyone, why can’t education just be funded more? Which, really makes me think, rich wealthy people really want this country for themselves, rather than growing together. Which also brings the point of why we rank so low in the education compared to other countries. I feel like we compete within the country rather than other countries. For example, Finland rank higher in education than the USA. Schools are all funded by the government and are successful in math, reading, and science. And I know this is kind of off topic, but these are real concerns that came to mind when thinking about the supermarket metaphor.
ReplyDeleteI think that the concept of viewing school as a public good disregards the idea that students should pursue an education because they want to learn about the world about them. I do believe that the communities and individuals do benefit from educated citizens, however that should not be the only motivations for public schools and education. In regards to the grocery store metaphor, I think that students should have the ability to choose education that is best to them, however defunding the public school excludes families who do not have the financial ability to accommodate private education. I think that public schools should be designed for every student to have the resources they need in order to succeed.
ReplyDelete-Kate
Defunding schools is a horrible idea and one that would cause more issues in the school system. The grocery store metaphor, I don't agree with, because school isn't something you pick and choose, either you must get a some sort of education. Instead of reconstructing public schools as all together, giving the schools more funding and see what great things they can add to make an overall better school system, by providing anything necessary.
ReplyDeleteI do appreciate that public schools represent diverse backgrounds because the issue with many private schools is the lack of diversity.
I think taking away the funding of public schools would take away so many opportunities for students to learn. While not every student is fit for a public school setting, and it can be thought that public schools are not doing what they should be. However, the solution is not to just take them away. Public schools are not where they should be, and in a lot of areas need to be improved, but taking them away would cause a lot of children to lose their chance at an education.
ReplyDeleteBeing able to choose an education is a really nice idea, but with how the education system is set up today is very much trying to fit students into a certain bell-curve and numbers for standardized tests,
One of the main things that stood out to me while reading was the supermarket metaphor. The idea of people choosing the schooling for your children the same way you choose a cereal at the grocery store is weird to me. The fact that people want to decrease the funds for public schooling really upsets me. The Ohio senator wanted to break down the public school system and rebuild it from scratch is stupid to me. There is a long history of public schools and it has come so far and I think starting from scratch is a bad idea.
ReplyDelete-Sandy
DeleteThe reading had a lot of information that surprised me, one of them being that many people, including strong leaders in the government, argue that education is an individual experience.This is crazy to me because there is so much evidence and valid studies that show that education focuses a lot on social aspects and functioning together as a society. It made me sad to read that there are people who want and believe in the defunding of public schools, and that they think that it would actually benefit our education system. I think its important for teachers to know about how their teaching can affect their students’ places in society. However, I think it is equally as important to teach how to function in those group settings as well.
ReplyDeleteThe whole idea of buying an education at the supermarket metaphor at first kind of put me off a bit, but then after our discussions in class, it made me realize the supermarket was exactly like what the voucher system is. People get these vouchers, or checks, so that parents can have the opportunity to take their child to a private school, but that voucher might not even be enough for an entire tuition to be covered. Also leaving out some children in public and some in private schools, just shows that paying more gets the better resources. Why can't we have the idea of private schools as our public schools?
ReplyDeleteI found it very disturbing for the Ohio state senator to compare the provision of education to shopping at a competitive supermarket. I feel like that showed how much of a concern education was for him. There are way more elements of the education system than it is to shopping at a competitive supermarket. Then the metaphor he made with giving families a credit card for them to shop for education like they do groceries makes me sick; like it is that easy and doesn’t contain a lot more content to the decision making. To me, the idea of the credit card and education screams DEBT to me. However, I love how the authors came back at the metaphor and broke the difference down between education and shopping for groceries and also gave example to elaborate how it would actually be if that’s how the education system was to reform.
ReplyDeleteOver the course of childhood and adolescence, students spend many hours in classrooms, extracurricular activities, summer programs, jobs, parent outreach events, and other opportunities for interaction of peers, friends, and their families. These settings typically change as students grow and gain capacity to handle more independent and complex academic challenges and social relationships. It uses theories of inquiry and communication to interpret and critique resistance theories in education. The senator of Ohio discuses education with a small group of citizens, and when the people asked him why he had supported many laws that may have weakened the states public schools, if he could, he would wipe the slate clean and start all over again to rebuild the educational system. I just don't understand why he used the supermarket as a metaphor
ReplyDelete-nadia
Madison Bray:
ReplyDeleteI think that the idea of education and different types of school being capitalistic is strange to me because when I think about education I think about the growing and development of young minds not the amount of money that a share holder and hard business men and women can make on the educating the younger generation and when they don't perform or have the money to put into a private education they get put in school systems that lack the financial ability to really be effective for the students that attend those schools and there is also a lack of passionate, dedicated teachers that struggle everyday to get their students to the next level while their are teachers that are being given more opportunities in school that are private or charter because they can get more support from parents, community, and the state because of the way that education functions as a whole with our society.