Beyond the Educational Frontier: The Great American Dream Freeze
Chapter 1
Factual Question:
What does reform mean? According to
Merriam-Webster dictionary, reform means to improve (someone or something) by
removing or correcting faults, problems, etc. To improve your own behavior or
habits.
Evaluative Statement:
I thought that this chapter started off very interesting.
The first statement of the chapter really sunk in, as I read it multiple times
as I thought about it. “Those who take the meat from the table preach
contentment…Those who eat their fill speak to the hungry of wonderful times to
come…Those who lead the country into the abyss call ruling too difficult for
the ordinary.” -Bertolt Brecht, 1937.
Comparing our twentieth- century with the nineteenth-century
of opportunity young adults had a variety of ways they could create their
lives. In the nineteenth-century young adults could venture west and make a
living in the frontiers, they could attend to the ever booming factory system,
or they could join the new and booming higher education system. Today high
school graduates decide if they want to go to college, to a tech school, work
full time, or a very select few that do nothing and live off of their parents.
No matter what time period it is, students are going to
school for reform. Highlights of successful educational reform included great
teacher quality, as well as educational resources and atmosphere. I agree with
the notion that reform and intelligence does not necessarily come from genes,
but in the attitudes, time perspectives, family patterns and values of the
poor. Interestingly enough both of my parents did not graduate from college.
Excitingly, I have one sister that already graduated from Kent State University,
one sister in college at the University of Toledo, two little sisters eager to
follow in their big sisters footprints and attend college, as I am working on
my Education degree at Cleveland State University. It goes to show that
everybody is different and makes decisions based off of their own attitudes and
beliefs rather then what they know or feel that they have to do. Even though
honestly, I feel a little more pressure perusing my college degree since I
already have two sisters that are doing or have done the same thing, I am still
perusing my own dreams and doing my own thing.
College is so much more to me than being intelligent and
well off financially. It is a lot of determination and belief in not only my
future, but in the world’s future. I am furthering my education daily, not only
for the good of myself but for the good of the world, for the belief in the
reformation of our society to make decisions based off of morally right instincts
and beliefs. The awful things that are happening in this society is not just
stupidity, but humans that were not given the right opportunity or chances to
thrive morally and intellectually. I swear some people, even adults should take
a course on how to believe in a more optimistic future, for optimism creates happiness,
and happiness creates success and a more peaceful society.
The article touches on the fact that the economic mobility
is independent of family backgrounds of individuals and it is not changing measurably.
Even though the number of students enrolling in college has been increasing, it
is still dependent on parental socioeconomic status as it was thirty years ago.
I think as educators it is important for us to change this number. We should be
encouraging students no matter what their backgrounds are to reach for the
highest education, and make them confidant in their dreams and success in their
future.
Interpretive Question:
When I read the poor are poor because
they are intellectually incompetent; their incompetence is particularly
intractable because it is inherited from their poor, and also intellectually
deficient, parents.” I think it means that they are talking about the poor
class, considering you receive your class form your parents but I’m not sure because
I don’t believe that all poor people are intellectually incompetent.
Rylie, you write " Even though the number of students enrolling in college has been increasing, it is still dependent on parental socioeconomic status as it was thirty years ago. I think as educators it is important for us to change this number. We should be encouraging students no matter what their backgrounds are to reach for the highest education, and make them confidant in their dreams and success in their future."
ReplyDeleteThe question in this reading is whether or not teachers and schools are the kind of institution that can do that. What Bowles and Gintis are arguing is that schooling does not improve overall socio-economic status, even though that's the central idea in the United States. While educational attainments have increased in this country for generations, economic mobility (people moving up income brackets, making more money) has stayed largely the same. The question is whether educators CAN change the number--and the authors argue that unfortunately, it's society and the economic system that has to change that number.