Goldfarb, J. “The Student and Society: An Annotated Manifesto”
(sections 4-8)
What is a democracy? A democracy is a system
government in which power is vested in the people, who rule either directly
or through freely elected representatives.
Evaluative Statement:
I disagree with the “they make democracy unlikely” part of the
text because I love the ideas that are discussed and have hope that one day
schools will run somewhat like that. It is enlightening to hear that a
teacher’s authority rests in his or her special knowledge or ability, not in
his power over students. It is most definitely a negative aspect of occupations
when one feel superior or more powerful then others, because eventually that other
person with the proper education can potentially be more powerful then the
current person in power. As a leader and educator I will personally commit to
always giving my students the power to make their own decisions and have them
be involved in-group decisions. It is so rewarding seeing other people who have
leadership and feel important, especially when current leaders give the
patience and support to them.
For Authority addicts, it is true that for the majority of our
school life they shape our time just as much as we shape their time by being
apart of it. The majority of people have been through classes where they stay
up for all night for a project or exam, even though nervous for what is to come
after it is over, it is still a feeling of accomplishment and pride. “As we
free ourselves from work in the traditional sense, we have the opportunity to
lift our heads up and to look around; we become more free to create our lives
rather than undergo them.”
The compulsory schooling most definitely makes it seem like
school is imprisonment. Being locked up all day and not being able to make any
huge decisions besides the occasional picking of topics or colors to color with
is depressing. Personally I always said that it was like jail, and I don’t
think children should live thinking they are in jail. We teach children to go
to school to get an education so they can live freely and happily, but if we
start off with the sense of no freedom then how can they think independently
and curious of what the future is capable of. One essential characteristic of a
good school is the freedom to establish its own direction. It is important to
have students be involved in what they are learning and give some feedback
about it. Not only do we need autonomy and democracy in schools, we also need
individuals in a school to create their own learning structures without being
pushed around and standardized through testing and administrations.
School is looked at as some kind of favor that society is
granting us. The condition for continuing to receive this favor is if we accept
the terms of the rightful education. If we don’t behave in these privileged
schools then the privilege can be withdrawn for us. What we get in return of
behaving and giving up an enormous amount of our precious time is an access to
a certain income bracket and all the material possessions that go with it. The
power that we have as humans, as students, as individuals is the power to say
no. Society is in dire need of great students to make this an well-rounded
functioning society, so they are going to do everything within their power to
keep us in school, and we need to do everything within our power to reform the
schools.
Interpretive Question:
When the author says if schools were autonomous, I would
expect our rigid system of educational levels to weaken does he mean that
because the schools would have individual control of the curriculum that it
would weaken? I see where he is coming from with that, but on the other hand
charter schools are ran independently and through personal experiences through
shadows they seem to be running better then some public schools. I think that
less strict rules about curriculums give teachers a better chance of teaching
the most important content that children need to learn. It also gives flexibility
to teach more then just subjects.
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