#1 Gatto Against school 6- In this essay Gatto gives a history of mandatory and secondary schooling in the United States and talks about alternatives to what he describes as boring and unecessary. Gatto outlines the Prussian origin of the American education system and while doing that highlights the totalitarian nature of mandatory schools. Also Gatto seems to believe that children that are homeschooled have the potential to become far more inttelectual and develop into individuals instead of brainwashed consumers. Finally he lays out points for parents to prevent their children from becoming brainwashed. For example he says that parents should teach their kids to think critically, have an inner self as not to be bored, and take on material not often covered in school.
Overall I agree with Gatto's view. However I take issue with his view on modern day home schooling. One thing that school provides that can't be found anywhere else is an opportunity for children to socially grow up; to develop skills that aren't found in a university level economics book. As far as comparing historic figures that did not attend schoold to today is not comparable. For one thing many of these figures came from rich families that could afford a private tutor for all subjects and today those people would probably be at a bording school in Connecticut. However I do agree with Gatto that parents should play an active role in encouraging their kids to think independently and take an initiative for their own education.
# 2 Paulo Freirie wrote in his piece about the difference between the "banking system" of education and the "problem solving". First of all by distinguishing the common practice of memorization, teacher oriented homework notes quiz ect, as the banking system establishes that Freirie doesn't approve of it. The "problem solving" method which entails working in small groups and the students figuring things out on their own. Freirie also likens the banking system to oppresion and seems to believe that the standard Prussian system of education steals thought from the students. On the other hand Freirie is a big fan of the problem solving method and talks about how students learn best when they are put into small groups and figure things out on their own. Basically Freirie is what many what consider a member of the "groovy side" of education.
Personally I agree with Freirie in that students learn best on their own and hammering facts into peoples head doesn't make great minds, but on the other hand if the strict ideals of memorization and short term education seem to produce greater statistical results. I think that it's a matter of choice between learning and memorizing. Someone can be at college level when it comes to history but if the discipline to sit down and do the work isn't there then the odds are that the person that memorized the material will do better in class. I think that it's important to learn but it's also important to know what to do with the knowledge you gain. In other words someone can only go so far with just knowing stuff, there comes a point when we all have to buckle down and do work we don't want to do.
#3 Lisa Delpit interview: in this piece Lisa Delpit talked about her career as an educator and specifically what she's done with Children of color. One of the main themes of the interview was that the arts is essential in encouraging typically low performing students to become involved in things such as poetry and theater and other language based activities. Also the summary before the interview talked about how Delpit feels that there is often a disconnect between middle class white educators and lower class urban youth, particularly Afican Americans. She seems to feel strongly about the teacher student relationship and how that can serve to raise the student to new levels. Therefore she seems to be part of the wanna be jesus crowd.
Her philosophy on education reminded me a lot of the teacher savior movies that we watched. In particular Freedom Writers. I thought of that because she was educated at Harvard had the opportunity to go anywhere but choose to go into the urban atmosphere to try and save children of African American descent. Furthermore she also likes bringing art into the classroom and using it to make a point not only about caring more about school and getting better grades but to learn about themeselves and feel like they belong in a safe atmosphere. I think that in the type of environment that she teaches in she has a very good strategy. The reason I say that is because in that environment there seem to be a lot of outside factors working against performance in school as well as a lack of parent enthusiasm and teacher connection. Therefore to inspire the kids and create an atmosphere where the kids want to come to school and use school as a way to break free is quite an acheivement.
#4 S.O.F. educator Tim Manley: Mr.Manley seemed to have an interesting perspective on the schooling system. For instance he came from a very traditonal suburban school atmosphere and previously taught at a traditional "banking system" school but teaches in a very "groovy" laid back way. He said that he thought the most effective way to get kids to learn was to have them work in small groups and talk amongst themesleves about specific texts and so on. I think that for a subject such as English that is a very effective strategy. But on the other hand I don't think that you can implament that into a math or science class all of the time because there are certain skills that need to be established from the very begining.
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