Education in America

My choice of topic for this paper is a very important one; it is the purpose of education in America. This is one of the most important issues in our country right now. I am going to discuss what I believe should be being taught in our educational institutions and why I believe it is not being done. One major reason I chose this topic is because I am a product of American education and I am one of the lucky people who was intelligent enough to learn beyond what was being provided to me in school, so therefore I was able to prosper in life. So many people seem to look over this problem and that is a huge problem in itself. What I am saying is, if a mother is taught to think the same way that her child is than it would be nearly impossible for her to see a problem with this. This is stated in The Seven-Lesson Schoolteacher when author John Taylor Gatto states "No middle-class parents I have met actually believe that their kid 's school is one of the bad ones. Not one single parent in twenty-six years of teaching. That 's amazing, and probably the best testimony to what happens to families when mother and father have been well-schooled themselves, learning the seven lessons."(177) When he says this, I feel this is an important wake up call for all of America because who is going to recognize the fault in these learning institutions if the parents don 't. \ Feldmann 2 My idea of what the purpose of education should be is not a difficult concept to understand, it is actually quite simple. I feel that education should be taught to give children the skills and intelligence they need to understand the world and how the world works in order to survive in it. It is important that I stress the word "world" because I feel one of our main problems is that America only likes to make children concerned with their country and no where else. I feel that this is why many children leave high school with such a stubborn and ignorant attitude towards the rest of the world. Michael Moore states in Idiot Nation "A nation that not only churns out illiterate students but hoes out of its way to remain ignorant and stupid is a nation that should not be running the world, at least not until the majority of its citizens can locate Kozovo (or any other country we 've bombed) on the map."(154) Michael Moore goes on and on to support my same beliefs about the problems in America 's education. I feel that children should be given a requirement in their history classes to have a well in depth understanding of the world surrounding them. I feel that if more children who than become adults understood the true values and cultures of the rest of their world it wouldn 't be easy or maybe even possible for their commander in chief to lie to them about why we have decided to bomb them. Education is so important to the survival of this world, and of course country. So many people just go on with their daily routines believing that everything is beautiful and we have this great opportunity of going to school. In so many ways this is true but does that mean that it is a great opportunity. I mean of course learning is something that should always be valued but if you the material

Feldmann 3 you are learning are not the truth or not complete truths does that still have the same value. There is so much taught in school the way the teacher wants to teach it, or what is put in the text books that is monitored by the government that the teachers must teach. So how can we all really learn truth if our children are learning that Christopher Columbus was a good man and a hero. I mean we have a holiday for this man, how can this be. I find there to be so many problems with this and I don 't understand why so many people don 't mind that there child is being taught a lie about a murderer. Of course there are people who disagree with me, for one example the government. How scary would that be for a corrupt "democracy", to have a nation full of intelligent people who really understand the issues being discussed and the wars or attacks on other innocent countries? This would just be too much for the government to handle, because they would be overturned and all of them would be out of jobs. This is why for so many years you are being taught to think the way you do. You are being taught to not really care about anything that you discuss in class, because as soon as class is over you are taught to drop the subject and leave the class so that you are not late to your next class. A teacher of twenty-six years was willing to spill all the truth out about is experience in education in America. "I teach children not to care too much about anything, even though they want to make it appear that they do. When the bell rings I insist they drop whatever it is we have been doing and proceed quickly to the next work station. Nothing important is ever finished neither in my class nor in any class that I know of." (Gatto 175-6) This goes back to the teacher saying "well I would like to go further with this but we don 't have the time, and we have other things to cover." Who is Feldmann 4 the person that decides what really is necessary to be taught, because obviously it not important to care about anything that you might think needs to be changed. To get back to the subject of disagreement with my argument author Horace Mann wrote in From Report of the Massachusetts Board of Education, 1849 that "the common school, improved and energized as it can easily be, may become the most effective and benignant of all the forces of civilization."(142) He feels that the operations and reformatory that is provided in schools is very important for civilization and the stability of our country. He also feels that education is a means of removing poverty, and securing abundance. This is the way that he feels and I personally don 't agree with him for one major reason. This reason is that they are built as training grounds to shape you the way that the government wants you to be, and even by the way Mann speaks of them you can see how this is done. Mann isn 't even aware that he himself is a victim of these schools, and their ability to build you just the way they want you to be. If school was such a great reliance for job opportunities why do so many people drop out and still get good paying jobs. Just because you don 't work in some big name company or any other white collar job, this does not mean you have not succeeded. If everyone went to college and didn 't work blue collar jobs than whom would do our construction work, janitorial work, or pick who up our garbage. It may be surprising to some people but these are very well paying jobs. Our society tends to look down on these people because they did not attend college, but who do you think would do all of these jobs they help to stabilize our economy and country. I don 't think people like President Bush would jump at the opportunity of picking up someone 's garbage, so it is everyday people like you, me, your father etc. that work these Feldmann 5 important jobs and should not be looked down on for this but applauded and rewarded by society. These schools are training sites to make students think that there is no other way of life beyond college. This is a shame because so many people aren 't made for college or should I say don 't want to be there in the first place but are there only because of societies standards and the chance of feeling like a failure if you don 't go. I know from personal experience that in high school I was told if I didn 't go to college than I would have no future(indirectly), but this was what was implied but all of the staff at my school. I know many fellow graduates who went on to do things with their life, that make them happy, and these things did not involve college. Also who is to decide what is successful? How can someone decide whether you have succeeded or not, that is something that is up to you and only you. If you feel that you have done what you wanted to with your life, and if you are happy with what you have achieved than I feel that at the end of the day you can say you have succeeded. But society is built to make you think if you didn 't go to college right out of high school and get a big time white collar job, than you have done nothing with your life. I think as a society we owe it to the people who work these jobs that are crucial to our society some respect for the work they do and not disapproval. School should be an institution of choice, and opportunity to decide what you like to do and go from there. You should be taught the fundamental math skills you will need throughout life, a good thorough history of the world, science to a certain level. I say science should only be taught to a certain level because many people do not need science in their life, or the science that is taught is generally not something we use in our daily lives. This is where I think the student should be able to make a Feldmann 6 choice, if you feel you are interested in science once you reach high school than you should pursue it, if not do something that interests you or that might help you with your future. Isn 't that what college is all about? Once you get to college you really focus in on what interests you. So why not waste four years of high school taking classes that won 't apply to your future, and instead use your time wisely taking classes that you will enjoy and this way you might actually want to go to school. I can tell when I attended high school and even grammar school there isn 't much of anything that helped me in my college life. Anything that was important or necessary for college students is taught again or taught correctly once you get to college. To back my theory author Francesca Delbanco states in The Progressive Basics "The theory behind the Prospect philosophy was the students learn best when they study what interests them most."(274) There is also the obvious difference in schools when it comes to social classes. If you are someone of wealth and in the upper class you are more likely to attend a private school which will provide with much more learning equipment and a much better surrounding for learning. If you are a poorer person in the lower or middle class you are more likely to attend a public school in the city which will generally not provide the learning devices you need nor will they have the correct amount of staff to provide you with enough attention to help you do well in school. I think this is also a huge problem when it comes to the purpose of education. Does this mean that America is only concerned that the upper class students get a good education, so they can get good jobs and the lower class students will not have a good education therefore making it hard for them to get hired anywhere besides a minimum wage job. This goes back to our Feldmann 7 society 's tendency to make sure the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and I think the government uses education as a way to make sure this still exist. It may sound a little extreme but you have to think deeper when it comes to learning institutions because they are teaching your children what to be like, what not to do, who is good and who is bad, and these are very important lessons so wouldn 't you want this material to be monitored or justifiable. Jean Anyon wrote an article called From Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work she talks about the difference between these social classes and the learning institutions provided for them. She also speaks of the difference between the teachers at the different schools and how their attitudes and approach towards teaching the students is a lot different. I think that schools should be equal in every aspect no matter what social ladder your family falls on. I don 't think it is right to allow one school a larger budget or more spending money for things such as text books, or computers when it comes to students. Every student should be allowed the equipment that is needed for them to be able to learn to their full potential and teachers who can put just as much attention into one student as another. In our society people tend to think that school is essential for a child to get a job, which ultimately leads to them having a home to provide to their children and being able to take care of a family. I think that this is correct, you need a good education to understand people, society, the world, and you need it so that you are not an ignorant person throughout your life. What I do not agree with is what is being taught in these schools and the way schools are designed. I feel that there should be more of a welcoming feeling to school. You should be able to go to school and be happy, and be able to talk to your teacher, actually talk to them. It is said that teachers are the Feldmann 8 architects of your future, so if this is true why do they tell you to "shut up", or "keep your mouth shut" as said in Jean Anyon 's article of social class. (200) What kind of a teacher tells you to shut up when you want to voice your opinion or ask a question? This is in some ways a mirror of our society. If you learn in school that you should not speak up or speak against authority than when you get older you will feel these same rules apply. I think that this is why many people do not speak against the government or that they do no t question our schools and the many problems that exist within them. If more people could realize the real importance of education than I think there would be a movement to change the way things are done. "We all pass though our country 's educational system, and it is there that the seeds develop, and where they came from, is a key to understanding the argument culture and a necessary foundation for determining what changes we would like to make." (Tannen 254)

Feldmann 9 Works Cited

Moore, Michael. ‘Idiot Nation" Rereading America, Copyright 2004

Mann, Horace. "From Report of the Massachusetts Board of Education, 1848" Rereading America, Copyright 2004

Gatto, Taylor John. "The Seven-Lesson Schoolteacher" Rereading America, Copyright 2004

Anyon, Jean. "From Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work" Rereading America, Copyright 2004

Delbanco, Francesca. "The Progressive Basics" Rereading America, Copyright 2004

Tannen, Deborah. "The Roots of Debate in Education and the Hope of Dialogue" Rereading America, Copyright 2004

Cited: Moore, Michael. ‘Idiot Nation" Rereading America, Copyright 2004 Mann, Horace. "From Report of the Massachusetts Board of Education, 1848" Rereading America, Copyright 2004 Gatto, Taylor John. "The Seven-Lesson Schoolteacher" Rereading America, Copyright 2004 Anyon, Jean. "From Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work" Rereading America, Copyright 2004 Delbanco, Francesca. "The Progressive Basics" Rereading America, Copyright 2004 Tannen, Deborah. "The Roots of Debate in Education and the Hope of Dialogue" Rereading America, Copyright 2004