Timeline

Timeline of Events that Influenced My Educational Perspective



Bibliography

Barrios, Patrcia G. and Marcia Egan. “Living in a Bicultural World and Finding the Way Home: Native Women’s Stories.” Affilia (2002): 211.


Bryant, Nick. “The Black Man Who Was Crazy Enough to Apply to Ole Miss.” The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (2006): 60-71.


Carilla, Juan F., Victoria-Maria MaDonald and Reynaldo F. Marcias. Bilingual Education. 6 July 2011. .


“Constitutional Law: Schools and School Districts: Power to Classify Chinese as Colored Persons.” California Law Review (1928):346-347.


Darling, John. “A. S. Neil on Democratic Authority: A Lesson from Summerhill?” Oxford Review of Education 18.1 (1992): 45-57.


McCarthy, Teresa L. and K. Tsianina Lomawaima. “When Tribal Sovereignty Challenges Democracy: American Indian Education and the Democratic Ideal.” American Educational Research Journal (2002): 279-305.


Ryor, John. “94-142 – The Perspective of Regular Education.” Learning Disability Quarterly (1978): 6-14.


Sadker, Myra and David Sadker. “Sexism in the Classroom: From grade School to Graduate School.” The Phi Delta Kappan (1986): 512-515.


Spring, Joel. The American School: A Global Context from The Puritans to The Obama Era, Eighth Edition. New York City: McGraw-Hill, 2011.


Stritikus, Tom and Eugene E. Garcia. “Education of Limited English Proficient Students in California Schools: An Assessment of the Influence of Proposition 227 on Selected Teachers and Classrooms.” Bilingual Research Journal (2000): 1-10.


Thernstrom, Abigail and Stephan Thernstrom. America in Black and White: One Nation Indivisible. New York City: Simon & Schuster, 1999.


Wright, Wayne E. “English Language Learners Left Behind in Arizona: The Nullification of Accommodations in the Intersection of Federal and State Policies.” Bilingual Research Journal (2005): 1-29.

Vocational Schools and Incentives

I tend to get the idea that vocational schools have a reputation of being out-dated and aimed toward underachieving students.  While that may be true (or may not be), I think there is a lot of value in the concept of vocational education.  Toya made a very good point when she said that it is something that should be optional.

We discussed in another class that a criticism of vocational education is that we cannot expect students to know what they want to do for the rest of their lives.  I definitely see how this is relevant, but I think there is still a lot to be said for teaching our students in a way that interests them.  If I am a student who does not succeed in the "normal" classroom setting, but I am activey engaged in a vocational setting, I am going to learn more.  Even if I do not stick with that particular vocation for the rest of my life, I still gained experience and learned more than I would have in a classroom.

I also wanted to address the idea of incentives.  I feel like I may have been a little misunderstood in class today.  Incentives can be anything.  For a child with a mom and dad who both work all the time, the incentive could simply be a promise to spend a Saturday with the whole family.  It could be a lollipop.  It could be anything. 

The point is most children are not motivated by "learning for the sake of learning."  We may wish that were the case, but we have to be realistic.  If you tell a 7-year old to learn his times tables because he will need them when he is an adult, that is too far out of sight.  If you tell him you're going to put a gold star with his name on it in the hallway when he learns his times tables, he has a more present incentive.  I do not think there is anything wrong with offering incentives, as long as they lead to a desirable end result. 

I also think it is very important for incentives to remain appropriate.  If a parent gives their child $100 every day to study every night, the child will always expect some sort of bribery, in all areas of their life.  However, if a parent says "we'll go to Cedar Point this summer if you only get A's and B's on your report card," the student may gain a better understanding of how working hard in many areas of life can lead to a positive aggregate outcome.

College-Bound

I can't stop thinking about the idea that our public schools are pushing for students to go to college.  I can think of numerous people who have led successful, healthy lives without going to college... I would also consider them to be very intelligent people.  So why do we push students to go to college?  How did this become the be-all-end-all of education?

I am in no way against getting a college education (clearly).  I simply cannot understand why we adopted this idea that it is absolutely crucial.  There are a million ways to learn and be mindful outside the classroom.  I think it's almost sad that we tend to associate a lack of college education with failure.  Some people just do not thrive in the classroom setting.  I do not necessarily think this means they are less intelligent, mindful, or capable of success.

I also believe it is possible we are moving away from this idea of college as a requirement.  As education becomes more expensive, I think college educations will become less common.  Employers who require a bachelor's today may have to "settle" for employees without a college education.  And they may learn that it's not the end of the world. 

Moving at the Speed of Molasses

Our discussion today really made me wonder what is taking so long for Americans to change our way of thinking.  I cannot understand why everything has to happen in such small doses.

For example, Puerto Ricans were granted the possibility of citizenship in 1917.  Native Americans did not have the same opportunity until 1924.  Same with African Americans.  And we are STILL fighting Mexican imigration.  Why is this such a slow process? Either we are a country that chooses to accept multiple cultures or we are not.

I've been thinking about this in other terms too.  The legalization of gay marriage seems crazy to me because I can't believe it is still even an issue.  We are a country that claims we do not discriminate yet we are telling people they can't get married because of their sexual orientation.  Is that not discrimination?  We are a country that allows for religious freedom.  So why are there policymakers citing the bible as evidence that gay marriage is "wrong"?

Americans are very hypocritical.  There is always a huge divide between what we say we believe and what we do.  We pick and choose too much.  If we say all men are created equal, let's treat all men equally.

I believe the end goal is that we are a country that chooses to be multicultural.  Now, let's get there!