Category: Revision One

Tell your fellow Americans that the school system is trash, and guess what most Americans will agree with your statement. There are a lot of reasons why in the United States K-12 schooling is low standard. Depending how you slice it, the public school education system in the United States conditions students to be gullible and mindless consumers. The consequences for both school and society shows that we students and teachers are potentially devastating in contribution to the system.

Someday people will cling to the hope that the school system will change, and view its service not as something that sucks and that they hate, but as something that is actually nice and that they don’t hate. In my life as I experienced K-12 schooling I noticed that when I was in middle school, each of my classes I attended we didn’t learn anything in class because the teachers couldn’t handle the students. There was only one particular class where the students didn’t misbehave and that was with our homeroom teacher.

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A lot of teachers in our schools don’t know how to teach and make the students enjoy school. Of course the students also need to cooperate with the teachers, however it is the teachers responsibility to guide and make the students behave in class. There are also times in school when students get bored sitting for hours just listening to teachers. As John Taylor Gatto the author of “Against School” states in his article, “One afternoon when I was seven I complained to him of boredom, and he batted me hard on the head.(1)” The author also says when he was in school he was bored just as most kids during school. This also shows why most kids during school don’t want to learn, and listen to the teacher. This leads to the reason why the students do whatever they want in class because they are bored, or not interested during class when the teacher is conducting their lesson.

The goal for schools needs to be making sure that our children who are the future that they are in good place where they learn and continue progressing in school. Construct a school system where students are enjoying school with activities that involve moving around and cooperating with other students. Sitting for hours in chairs is boring and make students sleepy. Create social efficiency, the purpose of education is not to produce citizens, but productive workers that can succeed in life.

As I quickly learned in my experience, schools throw in unnecessary exams, and focuses more based on tests instead of making sure students actually learn something. “We have, for example, the great H.L. Mencken, who wrote in The American Mercury for April 1924 that the aim of public education is not to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence…”(2)  Thus, Gatto states that the education system doesn’t fill our young generations with knowledge as an alternative, they give us pressure with passing common core, regents, or other exams. Therefore, the modern schooling needs to be modified and reconstruct how they want to test the students learning.

In our American public school system, schools make our students to be gullible and mindless consumers. If the system would change and try to make our children into real thinkers who will benefit later on effectively is just a hope. Of course there are some people who benefited from our schooling, however there have been more who dropped out of school too. The change would help make students not being bored in classroom, but being involved in activities, and develop skills like teamwork and social efficiency with other students. Taking out of unnecessary exams that pressure students into passing them instead of testing their real knowledge. As a change this will only be a hope that our future won’t stay gullible and mindless consumers.

Saalik Jackson

 

      School is stupid. There is no better way to put it. It is outright ridiculous. Now you’re probably wondering to yourself “Oh my God how could you make such a claim?”. Well  pay attention. I stated that school is stupid, not education. Education is something very important in society. People must learn in order to contribute to society and function in the real world. However, although I education is necessary, some of the ways it is executed are not. It has many flaws. These flaws in the education system cause students to care less about learning and more about passing.

      School and education are often two things that go together but are not the same. Education is the process of learning anything. School happens to be society’s attempt at teaching people. At times this works, but other times it proves to be ineffective.Typically students attend school the same time each day for 5 days a week attempting to learn about things they don’t care about. After a while it starts to feel forced . At the end of the day school’s like prison. No seriously take a moment to think about it. A group of people are confined to one building each day.These same people are forced to endure whatever is thrown at them. In my experience that’s what it felt like. When I was in high school some teachers did not seem to reach students. It’s not like they never wanted to connect to us,however, they could have done more.the forced schooling and condescending authority make school and prison alike. That’s what it felt like to endure the monotony that was throughout high school. School is a regime that society has begun to condone. Imagine only being able to use the restroom at the leisure of someone else. On top of that, teachers and staff take on a roll similar to that of correction officers. The students are expected to take whatever negativity or disrespect from those authority figures. That’s pretty messed up right? These qualities are what makes school so ridiculous. The most ludicrous thing about school is that curriculum is forced upon them. High school should be slightly more like college. Students should have more of a choice of what to learn while at the same time learning the basics of certain material. For example,if a student does not wish to have a career that requires the use of mathematics, then they should not have to do a lot of math in school. They should only have to learn the core and most essential part of a subject that is not prominent in their careers. Students should not have to learn prodigiously about things that do not and most likely will not pertain to them. It starts to feel forced and therefore unappealing to the students. It actually is not fair. There should be different programs for different students. These programs should serve as something that guides students in their part to a successful career in what they are interested in.

        John Taylor Gatto In his article presents the idea that school isn’t as wondrous as many people may think. There are flaws in the Education system . At times teachers don’t perform to the best of their ability or do what they should. This includes reaching the students . When I say reaching the student, I mean actually trying to get them to learn. This does not mean it is entirely the teachers responsibility. There are times when students do not want to learn. However, it is up to the teacher to make them desire to learn. As teachers, they should be making their best effort to reach students.They should make an attempt to find ways that make learning a good experience for them. A way to make learning a better experience for students is to give them an incentive. The incentive serves as motivation for the students. If the students lack motivation then they will not learn. A perfect example of an incentive for students is extra credit. In addition to giving an incentive, teachers should also show students how relevant the work is outside of a classroom. Teachers should use the work to show them how they can use it in their daily life. For example, I was taught an equation that teaches people to calculate how much exercise they need to do in order to burn a desired amount of calories. Things like that should be taught in school rather than the things that can not be used outside of a class room. This was one of the only things I learned in school that I found was something meaningful.  I was able to see the value in what I learned because I could understand it’s relevance in people’s lives. This just goes to show that if teachers make it clear to students how the work can be used in their lives, then the students will start to see the importance in it. Once they see the importance in the work they will most likely be more motivated.

  To summarize, education is something very important in society. As people we all make erroneous assumptions and have questionable actions. It is our imperfections as humans that make it vital for us to learn. Students tend to learn most effectively when they know it is something they need. The education system at times fails to reach their students because they do not motivate them effectively.  That’s why although school may be stupid, education is not.

 

      

Kristopher Baptiste

Carrie Hall

English 1101

April 4, 2019

In today generation kids are basically going to school just to be given unnecessary information that will not go no where in life. Parents should start taking action in trying to change this corrupted school system because teachers these days preferably the teachers in high school cause that’s where its really noticeable. Parents should go up to the school and talk to the principle about their child’s education because they are basically wasting there time coming to school and learning literally nothing that will help them in life. students should also stand up and say something about this problem before it gets even worse than it is right now. Students aren’t getting the proper education they deserve in today’s society. It could be both the students and teachers or just the students or just the teachers on why the students are not getting the proper education they need in order to make the right decisions when they get older.

The school system in this new generation is corrupted we have teachers that are out here rubbing there ideals to gullible young consumers that don’t really much about the world as yet. Some teachers would tell us her ideals and her opinion about the things happening and the young gullible kids agreed on the things she was saying even though we didn’t understand what she was talking about. In the article “Against School”, John Taylor Gatto expresses his point of view which it shows how the American schooling system seems childish. According to the article “Against School” by John Taylor Gatto it says “My own experience had revealed to me what many other teachers learn along the way, too, yet keep to themselves for fear of reprisal”. Additionally if a student was to corrected a teacher by telling them your not suppose to be teaching students about her religion, or her ideals but it can backfire because some teachers hate to be corrected so they might try to do something to the student like fail him or give extra homework.

The other problems that are shown is that certain teachers don’t like there job or they don’t like work load they are mandatory to do. Some of the teachers don’t like dealing with students especially the ones that don’t listen to there instructions. There are teachers that are lazy they would just give the students work without even caring if they did well or not. They don’t like the fact they have to set up test, grade the test, create homework and also correct it, and the biggest one of all is giving up there free time especially there off days to come to work to help students graduate, obtain credits or give them an opportunity to pass the class and with that they would have to prepare work for them. This then has an impact on the students because they not getting the full help they really need or they just end up getting work without even getting it looked at.

Parents must start asking their kids hows school going or if the teachers are doing a good job teaching there kids. If not parents must take the initiative and going to the school to see what exactly is the problem on why there kid is complaining about the teacher. If after the parent talks to the teacher and there is no change in the class then the parents should go straight to the principle and report the teacher about how they are not doing there job properly and there not teaching there kids the proper information needed to make proper decisions for there future. Parents these days shows no interest in there child’s education all they care about is that they go to school and that’s it but there child. When my high school had parent teacher conference there were barely any parents showing up to see there kids report cards or talk to the teachers to see how there kid is doing in that class or if they are behaving good or bad in class. Some parents have to change so they can keep there kid on the right track

Therefore in conclusion students need the proper guidance in order for them to take on the obstacles ahead of them in order to have a full filling life. Also parents need to start taking the initiative in making sure there child is getting a proper education and not wasting there time in going to school for information that will not help them in there lives in the future. Additionally I agree with Gatto argument because I believe that students need an education in order to make the proper decisions in life. Students need all the help they can get in order to full fill there goals and achieve their goals.

Raymond Rambarose

Dr. Carrie Hall

Eng 1101

Publication: The New York Times Opinion Section

Just Try: College Isn’t too Hard For You

The statement that “the transition from high school to college might be difficult” is a huge understatement for me. It might be for you as well. I went from almost failing high school and thinking that college was going to be a breeze to dreading having to go to class every day. One day I decided to take a step out of my paranoid mind and saw things for how they really were. College wasn’t as bad as I had thought it was. I was risking more by not going. I had to at least try it before I judged it. Yes, college is hard, but it is not too hard for you.

When you hear the word “college” what do you think of? Some may think of college as being a gateway to many opportunities. Others may think that it is not worth the time, stress and effort. Based on my college experience I have held both views. In high school I didn’t take it very seriously. I was very laid back and procrastinated frequently. When I was at my final years of high school I rarely went to class and when I did it would only be for about a day or two a week. I didn’t understand the point of going to high school and learning all this useless stuff. I did not realize that high school was my preparation for college and school is what you make it. While reading the article “Learning (Your First Job)” I found that Robert Leamnson has some pretty good points about school and learning. He states that “…learning is not something that just happens to you, it is something that you do to yourself” (1). He also says that “…you do want to learn something while getting a diploma” (1). From this information I take away that you must be willing to learn in order to do so and you need to be engaged in the journey in order to get to the destination. Yes, we might not agree with all the things that you have to learn in school, but enjoy the things that you have been interested in while in school otherwise you will be stuck in the position of wondering what it is all for, like I and many others have done. High school isn’t there just for doing tasks and getting grades. It is to prepare you for college. It is there for you to learn how to learn.

So, what is learning how to learn and how does this have anything to do with college? Well, when I first entered college I was overwhelmed with work and would overthink the simplest tasks. This reflected my high school performance. Since I didn’t attend high school very often, I did not have the experience of a school environment. I didn’t have the drive or study practice that would transfer from grade to grade. I was so focused on the useless information being taught that I did not realize what mattered most. It may sound simple, but just practicing doing work in general is very important. When you don’t do your school work for a long while you start to get too comfortable. Everything is fine until you are presented with a task. You are very capable of doing that task, but are forced out of your comfort zone and into uncharted/abandoned territory. By simply going to school and getting into the habit of completing tasks you are more well off than someone who hasn’t. I know that I’ve been talking a lot about high school, but learning and practicing learning doesn’t stop with high school. It travels through college and life afterwards as well.

Speaking of learning, you don’t just learn your basic subjects in school. You learn, or in another word, gain certain important skills such as social skills. While in school you have to communicate with others frequently. Some people do not agree with this view that school can help build these skills. While reading the article “Against School” by John Taylor Gatto he makes a claim that accurately displays this view. He states that “… if children could be cloistered with other children, stripped of responsibility and independence, …they would grow older but never truly grow up” (5). In Gatto’s claim he talks about children being “cloistered” up with others and how this is bad. From my perspective, that “cloistering” is just students grouping up which is very beneficial. When children are put together, they share ideas from different perspectives, build communication and leadership skills. While in seventh grade I had to do a group project about volcanoes. I was always the quiet type and didn’t speak much out of my circle. As my classmates and I were doing the project we shared many different ideas from different perspectives. It was much more efficient than doing it alone and it helped me to practice talking to new people, just like you would as an adult in society. This experience also helped me with leadership skills at the time because everyone recruited me to lead the presentation, which I was very nervous about. I pushed myself through it and found out that it wasn’t so bad. I do not know where I would get this practice if I wasn’t in school at the time. So, it turns out that school is pretty beneficial, but why do we still not enjoy it?

We might not enjoy something because it is outside of our normal routine. When we are not used to something, we might be uncomfortable. You can combat this through practice. Just attending class and doing your work increases how comfortable you are in a college environment. Robert Leamnson builds on a concept similar to this buy saying “In short, neural circuits that get used become stable, those that do not get used fall apart. …Without rehearsal, that fantastic circuitry that enabled our understanding will gradually disintegrate and we can no longer reconstruct what we once understood” (3). I believe that the same thing applies to college. When we haven’t consistently taken classes or done assignments, we might get used to not doing them. Afterwards, a task in school might seem more foreign to us that before. If you are uncomfortable switching environments don’t panic. Just try and through practice you will get use to it. That is one mistake that I made during college. I was so comfortable with the way things were at home and suddenly, I was ripped away from my relaxing life to go to school fulltime. I would worry about every aspect of class to the point that I wouldn’t go at all. Eventually I had taken too many days off and was afraid of my professor confronting me and the work that was piled up waiting for me. I ended up lying to my family that I was going to college, but instead I would go to the building and sit down trying to build up the courage to go to class. I did this for one semester and at the end I confessed to my parents what I had done. I then went for my second semester and did the same thing all over again. I tried to apply for jobs, but wasn’t accepted by any employers. I was on the verge of being kicked out of the house because I wasn’t going to school and didn’t have a job. Thankfully, my mother drove me to her friend’s house for her to talk to me. I’ll never forget the words that encouraged me. “Just try, don’t quit before you even try”. Those are the words that I have to say to you as well. Just try, and before you know it, that trying will become your normal and comfortable routine.

Also, don’t be afraid if you make mistakes. In college there is more room for error than outside of college life. It’s not the end of the world. Just learn from them. As I read the article “The Importance of Dumb Mistakes in College”, Jim Reische restated a quote that is very accurate to this. He says, “Miles Davis left behind a quote that I think captures the beauty of a world in which mistakes are natural or even valued: ‘It’s not the note that you play that’s the wrong note-it’s the note you play afterwards that makes it right or wrong.’ Our children deserve the opportunity to play the music for themselves” (3). Basically, don’t worry about the mistake or what’s in the past. Make the right decisions moving forward in both college and life.

Well, you’ve heard a small portion of my story. I’ve messed up and made the same mistakes repeatedly, but after I just tried and put a little effort into college everything has been running smoothly. I know that there will be bumps in the road, but I’ve been through a lot and it all shows me just how capable I really am. If I apply myself even more, I can be even better. The same goes for you. College and life as a whole may hold uncomfortable experiences, but if you don’t at least try you won’t know how amazing you are as well. Learn how to learn, practice and don’t quit before you try and you will succeed.

 

Works Cited:

Reische, Jim. “The Importance of Dumb Mistakes in College.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 9 Dec. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/12/09/opinion/sunday/dumb-mistakes-college.html.

Against School – John Taylor Gatto, www.wesjones.com/gatto1.htm.

 

VICE:    In the “OPINION” category.

All my life has consisted of me being in school 5 days a week for 8 hours a day for the last 12+ years. I’ve experienced what it’s like to be in private school and what its like to be in the public school system as well. Even though both experiences were very different the outcome was the same, my teachers didn’t seem to care about teaching or helping students. In Gattos article “Against School” he speaks about how corrupt the school system and isn’t truly effective. Now i don’t entirely agree with his logic but i also believe a lot of what he says is true, he might be onto something.

       The Idea that schooling can make children gullible and mindless doesn’t surprise me. Almost my entire life of being in school, being constantly told  to sit at a desk all day. Being told what to do and what not to by all your teachers every second of the day, than they go home to do more work that they’ve probably already forgotten all the material they learned that day can be really stressful. I know as a child who has grown up like this, this has put a lot of stress on me and my fellow classmates. I’ve never been an A student and sometimes i wasn’t a B student either, i struggled in some areas more than others but i tried about as hard as a child usually does. Which is trying hard once- I fail- and i give up. Meaning that i put effort into once and once i fail i have no motivation to want to try again. And when i did fail most of my teachers growing up never really noticed or some just didn’t care to help. Now i’m not saying every teacher out there is like this, I’ve had many teachers that i looked up too and will forever remember them.

      The idea that going to school five days a week for 8 hours a day for 12 years+ straight doesn’t always guarantee success. What i mean by this is that all our lives we are taught that education is the most important thing which yes essentially it is important, But it always isn’t the case with some people. There are many people in this world that are living proof of that, people like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg succeeded beyond reach and barely had their foot in the door. Again disclaimer i also don’t believe the same rules apply for everyone obviously, if you want to be a doctor you have to go to school for it there’s no exception. But higher education isn’t for everyone, back in the day around segregation going to university was considered a luxury because the only the rich white people could afford it because there was rarely any colleges accessible for people of color. It’s a beautiful thing that it is accessible in America now as it wasn’t back then, but standards for success is to overwhelming. In 2019 seeking higher education is a necessity to get any job, even Mcdonalds requires some college experience.  

    The whole point is that the pressure of going to college has significantly grown and it has almost been made impossible to succeed in life without going to college. I’m not trying to paint college as being entirely useless because it isn’t. Certain career paths due require college like being a doctor or being a lawyer etc. Those who want these types of jobs need college there’s  no question. But more social media jobs or entertainment jobs such as acting or dancing doesn’t require college experience. Thousands of students have college debt but most of those students don’t even have a job in that career after graduating. The idea that college can guarantee success isn’t wrong, but it isn’t the only option for all students its possible to have great success without the college. And those students shouldn’t be turned away from those opportunities because of the “no college experience” burden on there shoulder.        

Hadeel Abuhamda

April 3, 2019

English 1101

Publication for The New York Times:Education sections

Education is definitely important in anyone’s life. A gift of knowledge can bring us to the top of our dreams. It leads us to the right path and gives us a chance to have an amazing life. Education makes people capable of doing new and interesting things that can go a long way to improving human living conditions and standards. The key of success for our future is education, and education plays a very important role in our society. But first let’s start with the problem of our current educational system. The biggest problem is, it did not motivate kids. Millions of kids do not know any purposing of going to school, except obligations. How should we take school seriously when half the teachers don’t take teaching seriously? I personally feel like I have been robbed for my education throughout my four years in high school.

What if your little brother or sister comes home from school one day and tells you that he or she does not want to go to school anymore because they aren’t learning anything. The teachers in their school doesn’t teach. At first, you might think they’re simply being stubborn and lazy, but really—think about your experiences at school—what did you actually learn there? In John Gatto’s article “Against School”, he argues that the American public-school system conditions children to be gullible, mindless consumers. Looking back at my four years in high school, I realize I agree with him. In my experience, high school teachers care more about how students were behaving than what they are learning. When I was in high school, I was thrown a textbook by my Global Studies teacher, Mr. Severin. He would always say…”read page 554.” Then go in his little corner, kick his feet up and go to sleep. Teachers like this that’s in our educational system truly need to go. That’s one reason that the educational system is failing. The teachers in the educational system need to motivate the students to do better.

Another reason I feel like the educational system is failing is because some schools are overcrowded. If you have a small class, it’s better for the students learning experience. A study by the National Center for Education Statistics found that 14 percent of U.S. schools exceed capacity. My high school for example, has three different schools in one building. And if you thought that was enough, the part of the high school I attended brought another school. So, my high school was basically half a hallway. At a time where children need more attention than ever to succeed, overcrowded classrooms/schools are making it even harder to learn and harder for teachers to be effective.

In college, we have to read the material, and actually try to understand what the professor is hinting at, not like in high school where you can just be cool with the teacher, not do any work, and they will pass you. I actually have experienced that before; you just had to be friends/cool with the teacher, and they’ll pass you. This one teacher in my high school During high school, I did not have to study as hard as I do now that I am in college. Usually, I would be able to study the day before the test and score a hundred percent.

Our educational systems unfairness is holding our students back from reaching their full potential and holding the younger generations back from receiving the best education they can get. If education were treated as an investment into the future of a country, investors would not hesitate to do their part in planning ahead and securing the future of a nation. As adults, educators, lawmakers, parents, and lifelong learners, we are responsible for the education our children are getting. Some of these reasons are well-known and long-standing issues. However, others are new and even somewhat unexpected challenges. The nature of each issue does not matter. All of them are standing in the way of our becoming globally competitive.

Education is definitely important in anyone’s life no matter what age. A gift of knowledge can bring us to the top of our dreams. In my opinion, the educational system will never be close to perfect. We must make our voice heard. I believe that our education system is necessary to give children an education to hopefully improve their lives and their future.

work cited:

1) “Against School” by John Taylor Gatto

2) 390, et al. “18 Reasons the U.S. Education System Is Failing.” The Edvocate, 3 Apr. 2017, www.theedadvocate.org/10-reasons-the-u-s-education-system-is-failing/.

3) Cox, Abigail, and Abigail Cox. “The Current Education System Is Failing Our Students.” EdSurge Independent, EdSurge Independent, 9 Mar. 2018, edsurgeindependent.com/the-current-education-system-is-failing-our-students-b35614943541.

Mia Carter

 

A Lab Rat in your classroom

 

Ever feel like a lab rat? When it comes to anything you do in life does your life feel like an experiment and you always have to test everything out. Or the things you do or been in are testing you. I know when I was in school grades k-12 I felt like a lab rat. When you were in school did you ever feel like a lab rat? When I was in middle school the principal and some other people would come into the classroom for the whole period and watch everything that happens. That made me feel like a lab rat. That my teacher was the scientist and I was the rat being used for the experiment. That was the idea schools are like science labs they study students and use students as experiments to see how the young minds will act by being drilled with information, habits, and attitudes. That they believe we will be used in society when we get older. Always feeling that you have to show off and make yourself and the teacher look good.

 

When I went to school it always felt like we had to put on a show. To make sure that you and your teacher looked good. I feel that schools do this on purpose for us to learn to work in a situation that would happen in the future while working. However when this happens kids feel like they’re doing something wrong. Seeing the person write on their clipboard and not say a word to you. But when they do talking to you they ask you questions like “do you understand the topic? Is the teacher helping you? Can you explain the topic to me?” And at that point, you wonder what should I really tell them. The true on whether I understand or not and is it going to get me or my teacher in trouble. Kids in this situation don’t know what to do. They feel under pressure to say the right answer. Is this suppose to be teaching or Preparing them to be scared when asked a question or on telling the truth.

 

Kids shouldn’t be lab rats. They’re there to learn not to be used as a experiment to see how well the teachers are, the types of teaching strategies they use or the main fact is did you learn something new and can prove it by taking a test. This is not teaching kids young minds information, habits and attitudes that they believe kids will be using in society when we get older. They’re teaching kids that everything in life is a test. Whether you like it or not you will always be tested. Making you out to look like those lab rats. Always having something new being tested on you whether you like it or not. That you have no say in what happens but that’s not true. Have a say in anything you do and that’s school. You have a say in how you want to learn, on how your teacher teaches you the topic on things that would help you understand it.

 

This is the truth when it comes to John Taylor Gatto’s article “Against School,” where he rates public schools intentions and there effectiveness of their education. As a teacher in the New York City school system were he grows to believe that the school system makes children oppose to education and preparing them to be responsible adults. Gatto mentions in the article, “ First, though  we must wake up to what our schools really are: laboratories of experimentation on young minds, drill centers for the habits and attitudes that corporate society demands.”(5) Based on this statement, the public school system is the place were kid go to be brainwashed by the educational system. Drilling habits and attitudes that we would need in society. Schools are like science labs they study students and use students as experiments to see how the young minds will act by being drilled with information, habits and attitudes they think that will be used in society.   

 

School is the place to learn not to feel scared that you are wrong for something. Students aren’t lab rats they’re kids. Just wanting to have fun while at school. Not wanting to feel scared that they will be watched or be affected if they answer with the wrong question. This is the time for kids to speak up and say how they feel and what they want from their education system. That they don’t want to feel wrong when answering a question with their true opinion feeling that it will affect someone badly. School is a place to speak your mind and to talk with other people about it. Not a place to feel trapped, iceolated or being able to tell the truth.

 

Works Cited:

Against School – John Taylor Gatto, www.wesjones.com/gatto1.htm.

Mentor article

The Purpose of Education- According to Students. https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/10/the-purpose-of-education-according-to-students/541602/

Publication: THE NEW YORK TIMES

 

From the article “against school”, we learned about all the concerns Gatto had about schooling in general. From have to go through for that long time is very difficult and were basically setup by a system in order to take advantage of kids in the long run. Furthermore, he also expressed his concerns about school system and how kid are prepared for a future labor force. Is that true and how come the vast majority of kids are still applying to school? It is obvious that school is a very convenient way of success nowadays and the department of education and teachers put a lot of effort for kids to learn and become better tomorrow. School is a bigger path no matter what one is planning to accomplish in his life. However, public schools still have a lot to do in order to improve the overall learning experience. In my opinion, Gatto probably experienced some of the worst school systems and generalizes his opinion accordingly.  The way classes are dispensed can seem overwhelming and this may give some students very different thoughts about school. However learning can be more interesting if the department of education and the teachers load more learning topics because one cause of boredom is repetition.

In the article “against school”, John Taylor Gatto explains that public school system are meant to condition children to be gullible and mindless consumers. In my personal opinion, Gatto’s thoughts about school in general is exaggerated. Everyone has his own experience about school, and all I can say is that it is difficult and takes a long time. After all, there nothing easy about life and school is just one of the many paths available except that it is more likely “promising”. Not saying that one hundred percent of those who go to school succeed, but saying that they always get something out of it. They get education, they learn how to write and read they make friends, relations and many will build professional careers. As far as I’m concerned, schools, especially public schools need improvement. That is probably what Gatto should be expressing are way to make school more enjoyable for children instead of scarring young people. Gatto said that “School has done a pretty good job of turning our children into addicts, but it has done a spectacular job of turning our children into children”. In my opinion, this is a wrong perception of the main objectives of school. First, “addict”, I doubt that and considering how mature children get for going to school, it is safe to say that Gatto probably went  through some less common situation and it affected his opinion.

 

Furthermore, Gatto stated “Even if they hadn’t, a considerable number of well-known Americans never went through the twelve- year wringer our kids currently go through, and they turn out all right. George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln?”, like I mentioned before, school is not the only way to succeed, but one of the best ones. One may be successful without this world most basic knowledge (good reading and writing skills), he will still struggle and be dependent to other people who went to school. Imagine the struggle of someone who doesn’t have good reading and writing abilities in this world where everything tend to be on paper and on the Internet. The jobs industry is now equivalent to paper work and have been to school is not just an advantage, it is also a requirement. Most of those in todays society without jobs or decent jobs are those with lower academic background. Some of those people might also be complaining that the society does not take them into consideration. But the reality is that nowadays in order to be a professional, one needs to have the required diploma which is only available after career completion.

In my personal opinion, I think that school prepare children to be better tomorrow, by making them go through challenging experiences which can be seen differently from one person to another. School is also a sort of security to young people. By that I mean instead of hanging in the streets, if they go to school, they will have a better chance of success. I mean, if they don’t drop off. The school system is here to guide children, not to use them. In fall 2018 more than fifty six and half million students will attend elementary and secondary schools. This show how parents are really willing to engage into it no matter how hard it can get later on. I encourage the department of education to keep assisting students and improving their learning experience.  Gatto has his own point about school that I believe is exaggerated and I hope he does not spread those thoughts to children because it may affect their feelings about school which can lead to them adopting the same thoughts about school and that is not a good thing for upcoming generations “academic education” wise.

 

 

Publication: The New York Times-Education section

Michael Pagan

Dr. Carrie Hall

Are Robot Teachers Our Children’s Future?

Imagine a world where children and students alike would need a special barcode would be etched into their skin in order for them to be registered as a student. Imagine sending your children off to school, and watching someone scanning your son or daughter, like an item. But, every students “barcode” shows an extensive learning history of him/her. Their strengths, weaknesses, preferred learning methods, and an overall grade. A grade solely compiled of numbers, nothing more. It would not take progress, or the will to actually learn. Now, most would find such a system not only unethical, but possibly illegal. This “dystopian” world is not as far-fetched as it seems. Within the decade, multiple studies deemed “innovations” have been introduced within NYC Public schools. These innovations ultimately would take the teachers role in educating children, and determine how their child should be taught. Granted, there has always been a natural inclination to advance current technology, in order to make life easier for everyone, with the ultimate goal being to benefit modern society. But, there is a limit to how far-how much rather we should depend on said technology. Technology already drowns humanity out, it quite literally is addicting. But to replace hardworking, dedicated people who have made teaching their profession, is not only insulting, to teachers as well as the entire foundation to teaching, but to pretty much every student who would have never even pondered such a thing growing up in school.

“Teachers are themselves products…trapped inside structures even more rigid than those imposed on the children.”(1) These were words written by John Gatto, author of ‘Against School’. Gatto doesn’t seem to be making the argument of technology over teachers per se, but is somewhat referring to teachers, as well as students, as zombies, or a robot of sorts. What Gatto is saying is that school is a factory, essentially, pumping out brainwashed, conditioned kids, by teachers who are just as bored as the students! Teachers who apparently have not much a choice.  Now, most people would scoff at such a statement. This is because most students who have made it as far as to college especially-would attest to the fact that they are in fact not zombies. Who could’ve guessed it?

I always considered myself a self-dependent student. I knew from a young age that if I wanted to get something done right, I had to do it myself. I didn’t really rely on other people to “guide” me. In high school, I had a teacher that truly opened up my eyes to the way I view not only education, but also how I viewed learning in general.  She showed me the true impact that a teacher can have on your life. Being “self-dependent” meant that I tended to not ask so many questions regarding material being covered in class. I thought I could figure it out myself. I figured if using this method got me through elementary and middle school, what would be so different about high school? Yeah, my methods had worked-at first. My “don’t ask now, and try to figure out” routine only got me so far.  See, there would be days when, for whatever reason, I wouldn’t get all of the key points mentioned in a lecture. Or, perhaps, we would be given an essay with a specific prompt that I wasn’t familiar with. It was at these times that I realized that the way I was reading these assignments, and school as a whole was distorted. So, I did something that I had not done in a very long time. I went to my teacher and asked her a question. And to my surprise, she wasn’t mad at me. In fact, she told me that she encouraged questions about a topic. I had explained that the reason I never really asked many questions was because I had thought that it would seem as if I wasn’t paying any attention during the class period. But, she told me that it showed her the exact opposite. She explained that it shows genuine interest, and that she actually takes them as compliments. When she told me this, it quite literally opened up my eyes to how drastic things can be in reality, compared to the so called “facts” you may have of something. She gave me a whole new meaning of perspective.

Like aforementioned, though I do believe that real teachers should always take priority over “robot” teachers; this doesn’t mean that technology doesn’t have its place. I was born in a generation where computers were integrated into school life from an early age. From desktops, to eventually SMARTboards, technology changed how we learned, for the better. In the article, ‘Learning (Your First Job), by Robert Leamnson, we are given a thought that pretty much every student can relate to somewhat. “…Learning is not something that just happens…You cannot be ‘given’ learning, nor can you be forced to do it.”(1) Now, Leamnson is making the point that it is up to each individual student whether or not they actually want to learn. You could have the best teacher in the world, but if a student is genuinely disinterested, all of the teachers efforts would be futile. But, Robert doesn’t seem to say anything about encouragement. Technology has been proven to generate interest into pretty much any topic. This is as long as it can be related to something thats actually interesting.

This paper might make it seem like I am bashing technology, criticizing the effectiveness of a real teacher, as opposed to a robot teacher. But, it is quite the contrary. I believe firmly, that technology has, and always will have a place in our daily lives, especially when it comes to schooling. But, there are boundaries when it comes to how we are teaching our children. Our children are not guinea pigs, testing new teaching methods, in favor of the ones that provide the best results. I believe that an ultimatum could be reached. One where we could use methods that these teaching programs utilize to improve students grades, and for teachers to  implement some of those same methods. If we use technology to our advantage, and don’t let it take over our lives, I think our future may be brighter than it seems.

Mentor Article:

Davidson, Cathy N. “What Role Do Teachers Play in Education?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 Aug. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/08/17/books/review/andrea-gabor-after-the-education-wars.html.

Works Cited:

Against School – John Taylor Gatto, www.wesjones.com/gatto1.htm.

Leamnson, Robert. “Learning (Your First Job).” MA, Dartmouth, Dec. 2002.