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Please complete the following discussion post for Wednesday, 10/4.
First, actively read and be prepared to discuss in class “A Talk to Teachers” by James Baldwin.
Next, write a blog post of AT LEAST 300 words. I want you to write about the following:
In “A Talk to Teachers,” James Baldwin writes:
I would try to make [the student] know that just as American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it, so is the world larger, more daring, more beautiful and more terrible, but principally larger – and that it belongs to him. I would teach him that he doesn’t have to be bound by the expediencies of any given administration, any given policy, any given morality; that he has the right and the necessity to examine everything.
First of all, what do you think of what James Baldwin is saying? What do you think he means when he says “the world is larger, more daring, more beautiful and more terrible, but principally larger”?
Secondly, what do you think YOU have the “necessity” to examine or the obligation to learn more about? To put it another way: What do you wish had been taught to you in school that wasn’t? Why do you want to know about these topics?
I can infer that James Baldwin is saying that students are far more capable than they think. The knowledge they have access to is more than just what is taught in schools, and they shouldn’t be limited by that. I fully agree with him, schools pick and choose what we are taught to keep us ignorant and in the dark about our histories, I do believe we should look for sources of education outside of schools. When he says the quote “the world is larger, more daring, more beautiful and more terrible, but principally larger” I believe he is trying to say that we shouldn’t conform to the paths that others like our parents or teachers may set for us. He is saying that the world is bigger than we think and its up to us to see all it has to offer.
In schools i wished they offered financial classes, like that help you build your credit score and teach you about taxes and how it differs state to state because im 18 and I have absolutely no idea about taxes. And its not really adding a class but I wished they had given us more control over what classes we took in highschool, I was forced to take living environment and psychology classes when I really wanted to take the marine biology and forensic classes my school offered, I would have actually enjoyed going to class if that was the case.
I think you have a strong grasp of Baldwin’s meaning. Good work.
A lot of students were saying they wished that they were offered financial classes. I still don’t full understand credit scores.
I feel like James Baldwin is trying to inspire whoever is reading this. He says that even though American History has its good and bad its still on a broad spectrum and that it depends on where you look at it and what point of you you see it from. When he begins to talk about the world being larger and daring but overall just larger, i believe he is trying to say that the world is huge. There are opportunities everywhere in the world and its filled with bad things and things that can be good to you, but overall the world is just grand and and to figure out how big you must explore it.
In schools I wish they taught us more about the human mind. Knowing how we think would better allow us to evolve and possibly know what others are thinking. Having this clarity would help because why would you fight a non sensible fight if you have the knowledge and control over your own mind to say otherwise. People who are more intoned with how they think will better improve themselves.
You can definitely do something related to the human mind for your unit 2 assignment!
After reading the passage, James Baldwin is trying to reach students and inform them that they have potential and are capable of doing anything they put their minds to. He beings to mention the knowledge that is beyond the schools and what we are taught, this world is full of opportunities and you shouldn’t limit yourself to what you are taught and decide your own path. When James Baldwin says “the world is larger, more daring, more beautiful and more terrible, but principally larger” he is informing the readers that nothing is impossible to accomplish living in a world full of opportunities and it comes with the good including the bad. I agree with James Baldwin because I feel like you can be successful without a higher education like a college degree and schools should teach students more about being an adult in life.
I wish in school we learned lessons on credit, taxes you pay, buying a house, and starting your own business. These topics I feel like should be lessons spoken on more in school because it helps to know what you’re expecting when becoming an adult, I feel like some of the stuff we learn at a higher level is not necessary in the real world and should be replaced with the topics we need to become a successful person. School should prepare you for a successful life and not to work for someone your whole life, I think schools should offer an entrepreneur class to students that want to take it because I’m not the only student that thinks schools should give more lessons on how to be an entrepreneur.
I like the way you interpret Baldwin here. I think you are right. There are so many opportunities to learn about the world outside of college. College is certainly not the end-all-be-all of education.
I assume that James Baldwin is saying that though horrible things take place in our world and though our society’s structure is built around a specific group of people, as conscious human beings, we have the power to change that. After all, he mentions that the government is the people, and the people is the government, therefore, if you recognize that something needs to be changed, you should speak up because your voice matters, your thoughts matters and there isn’t a single thing in the world that cannot be examined and changed based on people’s feedback. The problem with this is that Baldwin mentions that people are taught to follow rules and not question them. Baldwin is trying to say that we’re being fooled and that we forget about our power as a society.
One thing I wish I learned through school was financial advice in general. I hate the idea of students being thrown into the real world without any type of prepping. We were not taught how interest rates work…we were not taught how to invest…we were not taught how to do our taxes… Personally, I’m fortunate enough to have always had my parents teach me everything they know about money, but I often find friends clueless about anything related to finance out in the real world. We were taught that we must go to college after school, and that we must work a certain number of years to achieve “freedom,” which really is not freedom as you do not even get to enjoy these last few years of life due to age. Everything that is related to money is not taught in schools and the reason might be what James Baldwin said: “What societies really, ideally, want is a citizenry which will simply obey the rules of society”.
Yes–Baldwin was definitely very concerned about the ways in which people were blindly following the rules and beliefs of society.
SO many students want to learn more about finances!
After reading the passage, I believe that James Baldwin is trying to tell students that school do not teach you everything and often hides things from the students. The school system and its education is trying to make a citizen, who follows and obeys the rules of society. James Baldwin is trying to tell you that the purpose of education is to “create in a person the ability to look at the world for himself, to make his own decisions “ He believes that education should help you answer questions about the world instead of making you another cog in the machine. I think when he says “The world is larger, more daring, more beautiful and more terrible, but principally larger” He is trying to say how the world is a lot bigger than we think and there is so much we do not know. He is saying that the world is filled with different opportunities and you have to go out and learn.
There are two things I wish the school had taught me. I wish they had taught me more about finance. I wish they had taught me about taxes and credit. Now that I am getting a job I have to worry about taxes. I have no clue about how taxes work and how much I am supposed to give or where I even do them. Another thing I wish they told me about was credit score. Growing up everyone told me “Do not use a credit card you are gonna go into debt” without really telling me how it worked. I think if schools taught us more things like that we would be better equipped for the real world. I also wish schools taught you more about mental health. Growing up a lot of the people I knew in my school had some mental issues. I think that if they taught you more about it then more people would know what to do.
I think you are exactly right that Baldwin believes education should NOT just make people another “cog in the machine.”
I agree about mental health education in schools. It is sorely lacking.
In the passage “A Talk To Teachers” by James Baldwin he talks about the education system and how it connects to society by controlling the way kids view their lives due to the racism they face. In which he tries to encourage kids to help change the oppression of society by being able to make their own decisions since the world is filled with opportunities to learn from that are not taught in schools. When James Baldwin says “the world is larger, more daring, more beautiful and more terrible, but principally larger” I think he is trying to say that the world can be much bigger than we can imagine and it is up to us to explore more about it whether if it’s good or bad since he believes that “it is you responsibility to change society if you think of yourself as an educated person”.
One thing I wish had been taught to me in school that wasn’t is compound interest because now that I am older and will begin to face the real world I need to know how to better manage my money and make my money grow faster with the help of compound interest. Which is the interest you earn on interest.
I agree with your point that Baldwin wants people to see the opportunities that exist to learn outside of school.
Yes, compound interest is…confusing.
In this section, James Baldwin is saying that the world is much larger than just America and its own societal morals. He is also saying that the up-and-coming generation shouldn’t be bound by the values of society and the rules they follow according to each institute and walk of life. He is saying that in the position of a mentor or elder, he would encourage the ignorant side of the youth and tell them to explore and look closely at the world around them. When he says, “the world is larger, more daring, more beautiful and more terrible, but principally larger”, He is saying there is more to this world than what we think of it coming from the viewpoint of where we are from and physically much larger than America. He is freed from the thinking of the people who have oppressed him and his ancestors and wishes to convey the importance of that freedom to the younger generation who must operate very carefully even still.
In my opinion, the things I think I have to examine or that I’m obliged to learn more about are the freedoms that define our society and the way in which people interact amongst one another in freedom. Many Americans still live in disbelief of certain freedoms they have, and the way society functions according to them. Many may disagree with one another and have disdain for other groups and concepts created by others, but living in freedom has evolved into freeing ourselves from judgment and the codes that draw the fine line between chaos and order. It is important to understand the thought process of society when living under such loose conditions by knowing what we are free to do and not do. I live in the very same society which makes me obligated to know. I wish schools would have taught the fundamental flaws of the systems that govern us and how we should navigate under them. The importance of knowing where the people stand with the government and the circumstances in which opposing is ok and not ok are not conveyed enough in educational settings; we just learn fundamentals, review and keep it moving until we officially join society.
I think this line of yours is really great: “He is freed from the thinking of the people who have oppressed him and his ancestors and wishes to convey the importance of that freedom to the younger generation who must operate very carefully even still.”
This is a great interpretation of Baldwin.
What I think James Baldwin is trying to say is that we should not limit ourselves when trying to be successful. We are taught specific subjects throughout our school journey but we are not being taught the full picture of those subjects. We are also told to aim for higher education from the pressure of teachers and parents, that pressure make some people follow a path that they will regret in the future. James Baldwin is saying to not succumb to that pressure and learn the knowledge that you was never taught and use that knowledge to change the issues of the world.
I wish I was taught more about the law and ways to protect my rights if I am in a situation where my rights are being violated. Also I hoped to learn about financial knowledge, like how to file taxes and learning about APR and interest rate to become aware of banks who try to catch people off-guard. Because when it comes to those subjects in my school it wasn’t in-depth like other subjects. I feel like schools prioritize those subjects because it worked back then but the world changing and they need to teach students the important things that they will face once they become grown-ups and be prepared to face them.
What I can interpret when James Baldwin says the world is larger, more daring, more beautiful and more terrible, but principally larger is that the world we live in today can be two faced in a way. James Baldwin broke down what the education system today is teaching kids and he basically elaborates on how they try to cover so much on the history of black Americans. James also goes into debt on how the purpose of education is to “create in a person the ability to look at the world for himself, to make his own decisions’ ‘. What he means by this is basically to have your own purpose in life, your own contribution to society, not to be a “caged bird” or just part of a system that doesn’t look out for or help you. This also touches on what Baldwin said about people who were just taught to follow rules and not question them. What I can infer from this is that society is two faced. They want us to view them as pure, perfect and for the people but cover up the centuries and decades of messed up history behind it.
I wished I had the chance to learn about money more in school, more entrepreneurship and more about my country’s history along with the story behind it. I say money and entrepreneurship because that’s the career I’m pursuing and obviously I would want to learn as much as I can and I’ll be even more eager to learn more but I had to do all the work myself. As for the history of the country and the story behind it I’m speaking on all the covered up history that they don’t share in school. All the slaughters and inhumane acts they did and how cruel Americans were to other societies and how oppression still lives within us today. Why is racism still around after all these years those are the things I wished I learnt.
In the text “A Talk To Teachers”, I think that James Baldwin conveys to the reader that black people, precisely children, are taught that they should be shaped by how the American system views them. It’s as if black children are put into this box by learning about the history of slavery, and don’t get to expand their horizons based on what they are taught and what they unknowingly see around them. The education system paints this picture about all the bad experiences that blacks went through in history, and leaves out the more extensive aspects of what opportunities you can take from it. In my opinion, when he says “the world is larger, more daring, more beautiful and more terrible, but principally larger”, I think he means that the world is more than just the American history which leads people to think they should fit in a certain category, and that there is more freedom within the world that every student should get to explore.
In school, mainly high school, I wish I got to learn about finances such as taxes, credit scores, ownership, banking, etc. Most of the things that are important when we get older are not taught in schools, and I can’t even tell you how to go about buying a house or leasing a car. They should teach students how to manage their time and money in ways for which we can succeed in the adult world. Additionally, they should also build in/spread awareness to students that test scores aren’t what make someone smart or dumb. Everyone has their own creative mindset and the school system breaks that down by formatting students to be judged based on what they can answer right or wrong on an exam.
In this part of the passage, I believe that James Baldwin is telling us that, through his examination of American history, Baldwin has seen the oppression that comes with powering rules and regulations. Thus, there were people who saw solutions to these exploiting rules because they asked questions about our world and society through education. When Baldwin says, “The world is larger, more daring, more beautiful, and more terrible, but principally larger,” he views the hugeness of the world as an opportunity to find understanding because we are forever students that should not be bound by any policies that block us from staying curious. And we have the right and responsibility to further educate ourselves by asking questions and examining everything.
One thing that I believe schools should start teaching us is study skills, because they are a necessity in schools and a transferable skill to learn outside of them. If we want to be educated outside of college, we will want to learn life skills such as changing a tire, finances, how-to’s, etc. We will likely be alone on it, so it will be on our own accountability to learn. We do this through our motivation and the skills we learned in school. I feel that if schools teach us how to teach ourselves, we can use these skills to learn skills that we are interested in or not so interested in. Schools are the perfect way to strengthen these study skills because they are a safe place to practice learning subjects and skills. I can see that some classes put in this effort to engage students to be critical thinkers through discussion, but there are other classes where it’s just information dumping, and there are times where I have difficulty having the right study skills to connect my exposure to information to make sense of it.
In the passage, Baldwin emphasizes that the world is unbelievably vast and offers a lot of choices. This variety the world offers frees you from the chains of one policy or morality as he mentions. And I believe he did not mean traveling and necessarily seeing things in real life. The resources that have been available to us for hundreds of years could open our minds to new ideas, and better ways of thinking, and that help the others in our community. It is a saying from Dostoevsky that finds a good applience to this passage “The best way to keep a prisoner from escaping is to make sure he never knows he’s in prison”. I believe this is what Balwind meant that this is what they are trying to imply to different grounds of society.
I wish we had been taught more about finances and networking. Those fields can help you in any phase of your life. You can master both of those abilities and in my opinion, you can get anything you want in life. But something more important you could do is offer those same opportunities things to your community and make it better for everyone.
After reading “A Talk to Teachers” by James Baldwin, I think James Baldwin says that schools do not provide a comprehensive education and often conceal information from students. He suggests that the current educational system is designed to create obedient citizens who follow societal norms. Instead, Baldwin believes that the purpose of education is to encourage individuals to think critically and make informed decisions. When Baldwin asserts that “the world is larger, more daring, more beautiful, and more terrible, but principally larger,” he highlights the vastness and complexity of the world and the need for individuals to explore it for themselves.
Personally, I wish I had been taught that it is okay not to excel in every subject and that it is normal to have strengths and weaknesses. Constant reminders to achieve the highest grades can be stressful, and it would have been helpful to know that it is acceptable to fall short sometimes. Of course, this does not mean disregarding academics altogether but instead recognizing that lower grades are not the end of the world. Knowing this would have alleviated some of the pressure to strive for perfection constantly.