"You have to do what children do and breathe the air the children breathe. I don't think that there is any other way to find out what the lives that children lead in school are really like." (Kozol 163)
This quote from Kozol describes what is involved in really understanding any group of student's reality. You must spend time with these kids for a long period of time to get a real idea of how the live and what they go through each day. I think that because this quote is truth it gave me the understanding of how there are people that are not willing to do anything for these children and their education. I was able to realize that it is easy for people on the outside who do not do what children do and breathe their air to take away what they need or to not provide what is necessary. These people don't really know what their lives are like and what kind of people the students are because they have not taken the time to do that. They think of numbers and costs but not about what is the right thing to do for people and the children in these schools. Kozol clearly is one of few who are taking to time to see what is going on in schools across America rather than looking at statistics; those are not where the answers are.
"'I think it's a school that is in deep shit over all...The biggest problem with Fremont is over population. Teachers are pushed so far that they just give up on their students. Others trie to keep up the fight," he wrote, "but they are lossing slowly.'"(Kozol 184)
This quote is from a high school student that wrote to Kozol about the condition of his school. This student along with many others knows exactly what is going on around them. They know that it is not ok to be dealing with the conditions that they are put in. If it is so obvious to the students within these buildings then it must be clear to the adults that work there day in and day out. It is hard to put blame on a particular group because it has become so complicated and other problems seem to cause the next set of problems. For example as the student said the over population puts stress on the teachers which for some is too much and causes them to not be the best teachers they can be anymore. Instead of looking into the stresses that teachers and students are facing the blame by people above gets plopped on the teachers. The hopelessness that you can sense in the quote saddens me. It must be heart breaking to witness this type of environment or worse be stuck in it as a student just trying to learn and reach goals in life.
“Home economics courses taught cooking, household budgeting, sewing and scientific methods of cleaning. The goal was providing housewives with more free time for education and working to improve municipal conditions… A clean and cheerful house, it was believed, would reduce alcoholism because husbands would want to hurry home from work rather than stop at a tavern” (Spring 13)
This quote immediately annoyed me. I understand that these courses were created in the 1900s therefore it was considered progress for women to be receiving education, but I still feel offended that this addition to education was seen as such an improvement for women. This to me is adding to the already degrading view people had of women during this time period. To offer classes to women such as the ones listed is not offering them opportunity to really educate themselves freely. It is simply another way to limit women to their homes but make them more proficient at the only jobs they are aloud to have: serving their husbands. The second part of the quote I just laughed at because of how absurd it is! This is just one example of how women were blamed for problems that could not have possibly been under their complete control. Especially alcoholism! To accuse the wives of not keeping a clean enough house is the cause of their husband’s habit of drinking is outrageous. I do not feel that these classes should not be offered to women because of course there are people who are genuinely interested in doing these types of activities. The problem I have is how this was the only thing that was offered and that men were not considered to have these interests. These actions that were made early in our country’s history have set us up to have a continuing problem with sexism. Once something has been established as acceptable at one time it is hard to erase those mistakes when they have been instilled in so many people.
“To achieve these political goals, Fichte recommended teaching patriotic songs, national history, and literature to increase a sense of dedication and patriotism to the government. This combination of socialization and patriotic teachings, he argued, would produce a citizen more willing and able to participate in the army and, consequently, would reduce the cost of national defense.” (Spring 9)
This quote is an equation for the government to make more money! It is ironic that government officials are pushing the idea of being loyal to your country and patriotism when it all comes down to just making money. That has always and continues to be the main focus that America has rather than the people within the country like they want you to think is their goal. This all seems too tricky to me and that makes me uneasy to trust our country’s actions. So far the issues that we continue to learn about in this class has sucked the faith I have had in our country to make good decisions. The people in power still seem to have dollar signs in their eyes, as did Fichte in this quote.
To comment on the first quote, Courtney you made some good points. So true if you think of it, people are not in the school systems seeing what these students/teachers are going through on a daily basis. If you are unaware, or choose to ignore these facts, it is much easier for those who don't see the suffer. I admire Kozol for all of the efforts he puts in, seeing the raw emotions these kids face. It puts people into action seeing this, and I guess a good reason is they don't see what is going on to "really know" how bad some situations are.
ReplyDeleteIts hard to know if it is people's ignorance or if people understand and know whats going on but are choosing not to make the changes that are necessary. There are so many people that have strong feelings about what could be done to improve school systems that are failing. But a majority of these people can only do so much on their own each day. State requirements are becoming more and more limiting to teachers and administrator where it completely changes or hinds their true philosophies. This gives me some nervousness for becoming a teacher in the future. I want to be able to have guidelines not restrictions. This way students can benefit the most from my personal teaching methods that I am in tune with and have mastered unlike state curriculum lesson plans.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to quote #2, I think it is so sad, that kids and teachers have to work in conditions as bad as the ones that are faced by some. Adolescent years and getting through school is hard enough with out environmental distractions, some of which should be condemned. Reading about the dead rats and such in Kozol made me sick to picture, I could not imagine going to school and trying to concentrate in those conditions.
ReplyDeleteIt is unbelievable to know that there are conditions this bad that exist in school buildings but also that the children are exposed to it and it has become a norm to them. That tells us how long that students have dealt with it. If children have been adjusted to conditions like this what does that tell them? I think that makes them believe that that they don't deserve any better than what they are receiving. Which is not true! As educators we should be guiding and encouraging students into working to their best potentials but with an environment that is far less than acceptable these students are getting the wrong message.
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