For your new blog response, read Jonathan Kozol's excerpt and then answer the following question:
"What specific things in the article might help you to address the question of causes of/solutions to specific problems in modern education?" (this is the same question we've been exploring for the past few class meetings) Keep in mind that we've already read Jean Anyon's excerpt and we've raised a lot of interesting points in class discussion so far. So try to think of specific things that this article ADDS to that conversation.
Due: Before our next class meeting
Length: 1-2 well-developed paragraphs
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Kozol focuses his article on the problems in education all being caused by one main idea: resegregation. I don't feel like he proposes many solutions to this problem, other than to inform more people of this and hope they too get involved to advocate for the poorer children and fix this problem. He feels very strongly about all of this but it seems like all he does is complain about it. In thinking about what solutions we could implement, I'm not sure there's anything we can do about the segregation part. People have their own opinions, beliefs, morals, and wants. If a parent wants to send their child to a predominantly white school (right or wrong) they are going to do that. If they don't want their child to go to school in a bad neighborhood, no one is going to tell them they must. So the "resegregation" problem is somewhat inevitable in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there should be something done to improve schools in bad areas or poor neighborhood, regardless of what color the majority of students are. Every child deserves an equal education, a clean learning environment, and they need to be treated like human beings, let alone children. The Skinnerian Curriculum, although somewhat beneficial to some schools, is not the right way to go about teaching and enforcing rules. It's not the military, it's elementary school. Equally as important as the set curriculum, is a clean and usable environment and work space. It should never be about what color the students are. We are all one race, the human race, and every single child deserves an equal opportunity to strive, grow, and explore their full potential.
In the article, Kozols main focus is that the problem with the education system is the resegregation. This is a very interesting point that he makes. However, I believe that is is not the REAL cause of the problem (poor education). I believe that the problem really is the parents. The parents don't have the time, the money, or the energy to really care where their kids are going to school, all they know is that they are going...
ReplyDeleteIn Jonathon Kozol's article "Still Separate, Still Unequal " argues that schools all over America are still segregated. His purpose was mainly to inform his audience that segregation still exsists in schools and schools in working class areas are poorer and usually have less money for schooling. I think the whole essay was directed for causes, which he clearly states that with not enough material kids can not succeed the way kids would in higher income cities. He interviews many schools and his outcome was that if you're living in a higher income area, your child will have the adequate material in all subjects, which was usually white dominate schools.
ReplyDeleteKozol's main focus in "Still Seperate' Still Unequal", is segregation. He states that thirty years ago we used to be segregated. He then says we are still being segregated all over schools in the united states. He calls this resegregation. He does not focus however on a solution to this problem. He mainly addresses the problem and his interviews with individuals makes us aware of what is still going on today(segregation between the poor and the rich). The cause for segregation is that Those who are less fortunate, and or colored, are recieving a lower education compared to those who have more money and who are white. Even the classrooms, resources, bathrroms, and kitchens are not the same withen these two areas. The whites go to a school that offers a better education and those of color have no choice or money other than sending their kids to the les fortunate schools. Overall the more money you have, the better education your child will recieve which is unfair.
ReplyDeleteJonathan Kozol in “Still Separate, Still Unequal” discusses the problem of racial segregation in schools still today. This is a problem that he believes isn’t given the proper attention and concern. One problem is that government officials, and even the media, just gloss over the problem of racial segregation instead of trying to overcome it and to improve education.
ReplyDeleteKozol also discusses many other problems that accompany the resegregation of schools such as deteriorating and overcrowded classroom conditions, untrained teachers, and horrible teaching practices (the Skinnerian approach for example). This way of education is impersonal and does not benefit its students. Rather than instilling its students with the love and want to learn, students dread going to go school because of the hardships and humiliation of being treated like animals instead of human beings and of being excluded by others (whites).
In order to improve education in America, Kozol believed that each child must first be seen as having value and as being able to make something good and prosperous from their lives. Each child must be seen as equal, regardless of their social back round or race. The education of each child should be invested equally with the proper funding, time, and care, producing hope in their lives for a better education and for a better future
In “Still Separate, Sill Unequal”, Jonathan Kozol speaks about the educational conditions that poor minorities go through. He said that schools have been this way 3 decades ago but describes that the segregation still exists today which he terms, resegregation. Throughout the article, Kozol elaborates on all the different schools that he has visited and how bad their conditions are. I couldn’t find any solutions that he might have been able to propose, but on the other hand, I found a few causes but mostly just a lot of information on the current situation of segregated schools. The statistics really prove the point that many schools, like the ones in Chicago or St. Louis, are either 95% black or 95% white. But I think what Kozol is trying to get at is, why do people look down on minorities when it isn’t their fault that they are given little to no resources to further their education. For example, at Fremont High School, the students are given vocational classes that are keyed to low-paying jobs. In contrast, a “white” school in Beverly Hills has a wide range of electives such as broadcast journalism, advanced computer graphics, and residential architecture. Also, these urban schools may have leaking roofs, not enough restrooms, and sometimes, no air conditioning. How can these children concentrate? Of course these factors will result in bad test scores. If the administrators don't care, why should the children? It would be nice if all schools ran the same regardless what race or class the students come from. But like we all know, money can get you far.
ReplyDeleteIt seemed that the main problem or causes in the current deteriorating state of schools is racism, lack of funding and teachers not being allowed to teach in a 'better way'. This racism doesn't allow all children to have at least the possibility for a higher education because the schools are not given the funds to provide that opportunity. Another cause is the teachers are forced to train the children as if they were less than human by obeying mere hand gestures. It seemed that racism and the learning technique that the schools had were the main problematic issues to public education.
ReplyDeleteIn Kozol, " Still Separate, Still Unequal" he discusses that in most public schools in America segaration still exists. Kozol states how public schools named after civil rights activist are placed in an fairly mixed nieghborhood and white people have their kids take buses to out of the city schools, which is contradicting the plan to place the schools named after civil leaders in mixed neighborhoods so that the schools will be mixed; desegargeted and equal. Leaving the public schools filled with Blacks and Hispanics.
ReplyDeleteKozol aslo liberates on how in those public schools filled with mostly Blacks and Hispanics the have strict rules and force students to obey without talking back, asking why, and/or debating. Students are being taught to obey and not think.
In the article "Still Separate, Still Unequal" by Jonathan Kozol it talks about how racism and segregation still exists today. Kozal interviews and visits different schools in different areas. He explains how working class schools in poor areas had dirty and crowded classrooms, not enough restrooms,horrible resouces, and horrible teaching. Students of color such as Black and Hispanic were taught to follow orders rather than actually be taught how to learn, while white students were taught with respect and given a high education.
ReplyDeleteI feel like there should be alot of solutions made towards these lower class schools. Everyone deserves the same equal education. A persons race should not be a reason to be treated differently, especially not with something as important as education.
After passing laws which gives all students the right to choose their school, the author, Jonathan Kozol believes that students of color are "still separate and unequal." Segregation is the leading cause of the poor education given to colored students today. Not only are the materials used for learning inferior to the whites, but even the teaching styles are poor. Students are being taught from a young age their low value as a human being.
ReplyDeleteIn the article "Still Separate, Still Unequal" by Jonathon Kazol he argues that schools are still segregated and in fact that they might be becoming more segregated. I agreed with a lot of statements Jonathon presented but I do not think that schools are actually becoming more segregated. In fact its getting much better than the past and we'll continue to get less segregated. All Kazol did was bring up schools that the majority of that population of that school was black and hispanic. This had nothing to do with the school but everything to do with the neighborhood. The schools that he pointed out were in the center of a black based neighborhood. If he were to bring up randomly picked schools im sure he would have found that schools have been becoming less segregated over the years not more.
ReplyDeletein the article "still separate, still unequal" had some interesting point of view, but i cannot agree with his perspective. He marks that still in modern education is segregated and unequal. However, no matter where you come from if your focused and have the right guide(parents) you can still succeed in education. Because parents are too busy working and making money, students are off focused and not informed with the importance of education. It is not the fault of school system.
ReplyDeleteKozol's article brought up several problems and solutions of modern education. I found it shocking to hear of these problems that Americas still deals with. I was naive to the thought of segregation in schools still existing. I have been to scools where I think the mix of people is typically normal. I would have never thought that there were schools that were actually 97-100% one race, typically being black or mexican.
ReplyDeleteI think the problem is people aren't ready for change. The families in those neighborhoods don't want to be the first to put their foot on the ground and have their child go to that school. I think these ghetto schools would get more students of races if they had the money to remodel them and provide them with adequate learning and learning materials.
Kozol raises the problem of resegregation in schools and views that they have lack of funding through the trash canned ceilings and long corridored bathrooms. This being the cause of deteriorating education, he proposes solutions to have better teacher morality and more parent involvement.
ReplyDeleteThe article mentions several schools that are located close to different ethnicities of people or had names of people who strived equality, but the schools were mostly black and hispanic since parents of other ethnicities went out of their way to enroll their kids into more white schools. Since kids don't really get much of a choice where they go to school i believe it is the parents fault that schools are being resegregated. Since most black and hispanic families don't make a lot of money they don't contribute much funding towards the school which leads to the school having less equipment for learning.
ReplyDelete