Paper 1-Education

Karla Fauver

Education Reform: possibility/probability

Education reform is a campaign strategy.  Politicians boast that they will implement their ideas for change in America’s education system for the simple purpose of convincing as many registered voters as possible that he or she intends to pioneer some groundbreaking course of events that will strengthen our current system, however the problems that plague our education system are far too great for swift, noticeable results.  After browsing through the written promises and ideals touted over the past two decades by random political officials, it seems apparent to many that there has been little action taken toward true reformation of our system of education within the confines of our very own culture boundaries.  The article written by Paolo Freire, The Banking Concept of Education, describes in detail some ineffective, yet commonly used methods of teaching.  In the article Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work, Jean Anyon outlines the unique differences found in the daily educational techniques used by teachers in schools of various financial standing.  These useful articles indicate that basis of the main problem our society in facing as far as education is concerned is that the goals and priorities of education are skewed based on financial status of the student body.

        Almost every political leader, whether they claim to be republican, democrat, left wing, liberal, or otherwise, has attempted to introduce some level of commitment to an overhaul of the American education system.  Not one has offered any all-encompassing change.  The use of assessments and tests to determine the level of learning that is taking place in the classroom is, no doubt, the fruit of the tree that sprouted from what Freire describes as the “banking concept” of learning. This is the most commonly found teaching model in America.  As the students sit dutifully in a chair amongst other students, the teacher stands in front of a classroom spouting facts and dates and names, maybe he or she will put a slightly personal note here and there to lighten the mood or just to see who is actually listening, and subsequently tests are given accordingly to allow the students to regurgitate the memorized facts and figures onto paper for their teacher to analyze.  This is a typical description of the average American classroom.  How much learning can really be done? True learning is defined by psychologists as a ‘modification of behavior’ according to Pavlov during his quest to understand human behavior.  To understand something new causes a person to think differently, and therefore behave differently.  Absorbing information allows a person to make different choices based on a new perspective.  

Jean Anyon outlines a viewpoint of education and its relationship to social class.  She explains that schools in specific geographical areas tend to allow for only certain fields of study to be focused upon, depending on the earning capacity and social status of the community members.  After observing five different elementary schools over the course of a year, she concluded that “fifth- graders of different economic backgrounds are already being prepared to occupy particular rungs on the social ladder” (Anyon 5).  The areas with more economic flexibility tend to have better curriculum available to the student body.  Wealthier school districts are more apt to offer field trips, they can afford to pay teachers who have studied and adopted more broad–minded techniques and philosophy.   In the ‘Executive Elite’ school, teachers help the students develop leadership qualities and reasoning strategies.  Parents in these areas are generally more educated and therefore are expected to be more encouraging and involved in their children’s educational experience.  The idea here is that the students will need to be forward-thinkers and develop skills which are considered necessary for more affluent career choices and social settings. However, in the poorer school districts, she claims the teachers “rarely explain why the work is being assigned…connect to other assignments or what the idea is that lies behind the procedure…” (Anyon 3) and it seems textbooks are not readily available to each individual student.  The emphasis in these types of schools is placed on following steps to complete procedural tasks, rather than grasp concepts found in the material itself.  This teaching style is geared toward following directions, but seems to inhibit the individual growth of a child’s use of critical thinking.

             Our government has essentially assembled a caste system within the bounds of our society by using our education system as a placement process.  As Anyon points out, the schools located in areas of ‘blue collar’ industry where you find mostly factory workers’ children in grades k-12, are seriously underfunded and these children are left with a less than forward-thinking curriculum from which to learn, essentially crippling the learning possibilities for this sector; it teaches them to stay where they are in the scheme of things.  The same can be seen with the teaching techniques found in the affluent, professional schools.  Self expression is encouraged in this setting.  “The relatively few rules to be followed regarding [student] work are usually criteria for or limits on, individual activity.” (Anyon 6) it stands to reason that children who are taught that their ideas can be formed into structured ideas will grow to manipulate the world around them more readily than children who grow up learning to follow the directives set forth by someone else with little, if any input of their own.      

            Overall learning and improvement in education can indeed be achieved not only by testing regurgitated academic knowledge, but also by personal growth and maturity.  The teaching style differences outlined by Anyon are directly linked to the outcome of any given individual student’s learning experience. 

Freire’s banking concept is evident in the teaching technique I have encountered during my life experience as a student, but also as a teacher. In 1998 I was trained, certified and employed as Group supervisor/teacher assistant in a private kindergarten and pre-k program.  Our school was a small, private, tuition-based program which offered before and after school care as well as an excepted kindergarten curriculum.  The social status of the majority of our students ranged from fairly poor, to what is considered the middle class.  None of the parents were extremely wealthy or affluent.  Few, though not all, of my fellow co-workers were considered to be good teachers by the parents and the other staff members.  The best teacher in our school, the one who actually helped the small minds in our care to grow and expand was a very scatter-brained woman who had an actual 4 yr teaching degree.  The parents complained that she was sloppy, disorganized and flighty.  She was known to take the children outside in the mud to look for natural animal habitats, she would have the boys and girls put on plays for each other, and they would have to come up with their own lines.  After watching the difference between the way the children responded to this teacher and myself, I realized that what I was doing was babysitting.  What she was doing was teaching.  As Freire says,” Education must begin with the solution of teacher-student contradiction…so that both are simultaneously teachers and students. In an effort to help students learn about nature, colors, plants and animals we had animals in our classroom: two birds, a rabbit, three hamsters, and a turtle.  The children were assigned duties to care for the animals and they learned so much in regard to responsibility as well as natural habitats of other species.

As far as the social class and demographic influence on our personal learning environment, it was indeed noticeable to an extent, as we had parents who could not afford to allow their children to participate in certain events as well as children from more financially endowed families who had regular exposure to the world, but not nearly as much as it is for the public school system.  The government-funded public school system is at the mercy of the area and the funds available to offer a broader, more interesting curriculum.  The more affluent schools have more tax money available to them, and therefore they can offer a broader teaching canvas, for example the use of computers in the classroom.  Technology is expensive and it is a huge part of American society therefore it needs to be included in public school training.

  It is unfortunate, however that due to the priorities of our culture by design, there does not seem to be a fool-proof method to apply to the overall education system that will address the problems entirely, without causing more problems to erupt in its wake.  For instance, if we insist on more funding for depressed areas, who is going to pay for it?  If we employ new policies to encourage the use of what has been considered unorthodox or alternative teaching strategy until this point, where will draw the line?  Will parents become more involved? And if they do, who gets the final say as to what will need to take place in the allotted time for a school day?  The debate concerning education reform will remain at an impasse until clear terms can be established in our country.  Instead of politicians using the words ‘education reform’ to generate voter support, we should force them to specify the method they intend to use and the steps they plan to take to bring valid ideas to fruition.