Blogpost1-The Student and Society

Social Foundations of Education

Goldfarb, J. “The Student and Society: An Annotated Manifesto”  (sections 1-3)

https://davidbacker.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/studentandsociety1.pdf

Factual Question:
• What is the education method according to the text?
• The method that is going on in schools today is standardized, impersonal and coercive. 
• Evaluative Statement:
  • I agree with this article stating that it’s not what you’re taught that does the harm but how you’re taught. I thought it was very insightful and blunt for the author to say that we are taught to do what we are told in school. This was always a weakness for me growing up because being a student interested in the subjects and content of the learning, it would be hard for me to complete assignments that I didn’t full heartedly believe in or believe that it is benefiting me. Education stresses grades and college way to much that they can forget the importance of creating students that are intellectually curious, motivated and confidant all while maintaining a healthy stress-free lifestyle. I believe that people push us to get good grades and do endless amounts of assignments while threatening failure to make us stronger, while we should be teaching our students to be conscious yet worry free that they are doing the right thing by at least trying to do their best at getting an education. We loose to many children’s interest in education by this fear of being bullied or held back for not being the smartest in the class. “Persons who are unwilling to have their minds and bodies pushed around incessantly are less likely to get through and therefore tend to be screen out of the power centers; the persons who do get through are more likely to accept things as they are and to make their own contributions in ‘safe’ areas.” Considering most corporations and agencies insist on bachelor’s degree we are always looking for new ways to keep students interested in school so they can achieve the highest success. I don’t agree with the statement that schools exploit you because they tap your power and use it to perpetuate society’s trip, while they teach you not to respect your own. While some teachers are guilty of stressing that you have to respect them and that they don’t really care about us, some are really open to having students utilize their talents and in return it results in the schools respecting the students.
    I absolutely love the part of the article that questions what is the purpose of all the identical desk-chairs in schools that remind us of jail. School should be an innovative and exciting point in all of our lives where we learn so much about the world. In correlation to learning curriculum and subjects, we also need to learn about the human nature and how to socialize. Innovative ways to teach lesson plans have been making appealing rooms with different decorations and an open arrangement of desks.
    We absolutely need social changes to recreate our society with our ever changing technology and environment changes. We have the power to make students feel powerful, inspired, and educated so with the right awareness and balance of innovation and change I am optimistic in being apart of a societal change of the way we look at schools and education.
    Write an interpretive question about the text (no answer, 100-300 words)
• Interpretive Question: 
• When I read “school is where you let the dying society put its trip on you”, I think it means that as students we are continuing this “dying society” trend of letting education mold us when we should be speaking out more; but I’m not sure because schools have to be doing something right considering they made some of the most successful individuals. Yes schools teach us by “pushing us around” and I don’t agree with demanding, forceful instruction but still think that some instruction is a good way to guide students to learn. Not only can educators change things, but so can students.