Purpose of Schooling

Katelin Mills

EDUC 275

Professor Pike

Reflection

My initial response to a lot of the questions raised in this class

was based primarily on my personal experience. In experiencing the

concepts, readings, and exercises of this class, I was exposed to more

overarching and founded discoveries regarding race, ethnicity,

socioeconomic status, political climate, funding, and other

characteristics that affect school systems and the characteristics that

affect them as well as the individual interactions within these systems

(whether that be teacher-to-teacher, teacher-to-student, or student-to-

student.) Its one thing to interpret schooling in the U.S. from my

standpoint, but this standpoint raises one of the core issues addressed

in this class: the issue of the single story. My story is not the story and

Ive learned that through collaborative work with classmates as well as

personal testimonies shared in class discussion, as well as in videos,

texts, and presentations given in this class. This class not only had me

reflect on my personal experience in the U.S. school system differently,

but more importantly it helped me look at how I want to change it as a

single educator. One sector of the educations system that really blew

my mind this semester was issues regarding socioeconomic status-

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especially poverty, and especially schools and school distrects that

have record-breaking low graduation rates. In learning about these

issues, I have become mindful of the climate I will be teaching in and

how I can implement change within the classroom environment I

generate.

Introduction

There are so many ways to be ignorant of the possible (and

inevitable) prejudices and biases both students and teachers enter the

classroom with. Its important to identity sociopolitical and cultural

characteristics to grasp the characteristics they encompass and ensure

equity is being offered to every student. Nieto and Bode write, The

sociopolitical context of society includes laws, regulations, policies,

practices, traditions, and ideologies (p.4). We see overlapping

characteristics in the definition of sociopolitical with that of culture.

Culture consists of values, traditions, worldview, and social and

political relationships created, shared, and transformed by a group

bound together by a common history, geographic location, language,

social class, religion, or other shared identity. (p.158) In listing these

characteristics, we get a concept of the many facets that compose an

individual and can enter the classroom more attuned to challenges and

backgrounds students bring to the classroom.

What is and What Should be the Purpose of Schooling in the

U.S.

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 The focus of schooling today revolves so much around

standardized testing and knowledge and intelligence. Intelligence is,

in fact, something that one cultivates, studies hard to attain, and

eventually achieves, (p.297). This is an important concept to

remember in a system that is so focused on success and progression

that it sometimes fails to reward process and failure. There is learning

in failure and there is value in hard work even if it results in an

incorrect answer. Resiliency and grit have proven to be strong

indicating factors of long-term success. Its important for future

systems of schooling to perpetuate learning even (and especially) if

that includes failure. Failure enables innovation and innovation and

creativity are going to be pillars not only for the twenty-first century

learner, but for the foundation of the creation of future careers.

The Role of a Teacher

Chapter 6 briefly talks about the importance of simply learning to

say a students name correctly (p.233). This small, but personal

strategy illustrates that you identify the student as an individual and

perpetuates the rest of the class to also identify that student as a

dynamic individual-perpetuating a positive and effective classroom

environment. On page 62, Nieto and Bode list discriminations: on

basis of gender (sexism); ethnic group (ethnocentrism); social class

(classism); language (linguicism); sexual orientation and lesbian, gay,

bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) identities (homosexism); age

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(ageism); and discrimination against Jews (anti-Semitism), against

Arabs (anti-Arab discrimination), and against people with disabilities

(ableism), among other differences. This list might seem excessive at

first glance but it identifies the many forms of discrimination that affect

nearly every child in some way. Only in identifying and being

conscious of these discriminations, can we, as teachers, ensure that

they arent being practiced in our classrooms.

Pedagogy also includes what teachers do to create conditions that

help students become critical thinkers and moral human beings.

The Existing Order

To achieve the full potential of the purpose of schooling and

foster critical multicultural education, it is essential to evaluate how

schooling perpetuates the existing order and to critically question how

we can transcend this and widen concepts of normal and in-group.

The existing order includes issues of culture, politics, economic,

environmental, and social conditions. The institution of school has the

grasp to spark a national change in regards to how society deals with

these issues. While everyone is entitled to their opinions, weve

learned in this class that acceptance and safety are irrefutably

necessities in a classroom (and even in a work) environment. These

issues of safety and belonging go as far back as Maslows Hierarchy of

Needs and have been proven to negatively affect and prevent

productivity and achievement.

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Conclusion

While there are a great many factors that affect our students, we

as teachers need to accommodate to these factors and perpetuate

acceptance and awareness. Only in exemplifying this will our students

create safe environments for learning. The existing order is

established by society but in educating future members of society we

can perpetuate a more accepting tomorrow. While we are individuals

in a system, we have a great capacity to implement change on a

personal level with out students and amongst our students. This is our

greatest strength and shouldnt be undervalued. Students are dynamic

individuals with the capacity to succeed and if not reminded by anyone

else in their life, should be reminded of this by their teachers. Learning

is attainable; it may require hard work, it may require varying levels of

effort, but the work put in will correlate with product achieved. This

class has given me hope that future systems of schooling will reward

process over product and encourage learning and growth over inherent

knowledge and intelligence.

References

Nieto, S., & Bode, P. (1992). Understanding the Sociopolitical Context.

In Affirmed Diversity The Sociopolitical Context of Multicultural

Education (Sixth ed., p. 4). Boston, Massachusetts: Allyn &

Bacon.

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Nieto, S., & Bode, P. (1992). Understanding the Sociopolitical Context.

In Racism, Discrimination, and Expectations of Students

Achievement (Sixth ed., p. 62). Boston, Massachusetts: Allyn &

Bacon.

Nieto, S., & Bode, P. (1992). Understanding the Sociopolitical Context.

In Structural and Organizational Issues in Classrooms and

Schools (Sixth ed., p. 124). Boston, Massachusetts: Allyn &

Bacon.

Nieto, S., & Bode, P. (1992). Understanding the Sociopolitical Context.

In Culture, Identity, and Learning (Sixth ed., p. 158). Boston,

Massachusetts: Allyn & Bacon.

Nieto, S., & Bode, P. (1992). Understanding the Sociopolitical Context.

In Linguistic Diversity in U.S. Classrooms(Sixth ed., p. 233).

Boston, Massachusetts: Allyn & Bacon.

Nieto, S., & Bode, P. (1992). Understanding the Sociopolitical Context.

In Learning From Students (Sixth ed., p. 297). Boston,

Massachusetts: Allyn & Bacon.

Beginning of Semester Response

Schooling in the U.S. alone is a loaded term to define, but to define

what schooling in the U.S. was, is to open up a conversation of a vast

series of events over decades of political, social, and economic change.

More recently in our history I would argue that it was to prepare

students to be productive and contributing member of society. What

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schooling in the U.S. is today is only slightly easier to address because

it is easy to conceptualize my personal experience with the system as

everyones experience with the system even though I know that not to

be true. Ultimately, in a time when getting a college degree is

common practice and the job climate becomes increasingly

competitive, my argument would be that at this point in our countrys

history it is the job of schools to prepare students for a post-high

school education, should they choose to pursue it. To address schooling

in the U.S., I think you can absolutely look at overarching popular and

accepted pedagogies of the time, but ultimately the topic is too broad

and ought to be narrowed to distract, school, and even classroom

scale. What should be the purpose of schooling in the U.S., ought to be

to encourage the learner to learn in an efficient way. I say efficient and

not right because there is no right or wrong way to learn but

there are absolutely tools to expedite and capitalize on ones

investment of time (and sometimes money) in their education and it is

the jobs of schools, of principles, and teachers that are the foundation

of the system, to implement, practice, and introduce students to these

tools so that they might prepare them for the widest variety of

avenues they might chose to pursue. At this point in a students life, it

is important of teachers to help them keep all doors open, and prepare

students with tools to be successful.

My job as a teacher would be to continue to grow in my own area of

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content so that I might have a more rounded and up-to-date

perspective on my subject area which, in turn. This would allow me a

window to better understand how it is my students perceive subject

matter and also to allow me to become more willing and able to not

only ask questions, but open up discussion. In addition, it falls on the

teacher to ultimately establish the tone of the environment and to

above all, create an environment in such a way that it capitalizes on

the learning experience of students.

Through teaching and schooling, there is the concept of creating

tomorrows generation and schooling has the power to alter the face of

tomorrow through the transformation of the existing order.