Their are many issues to consider when a student is in middle school, and how progress to creating a developmental concept that meets the needs of the "middle" schooler is needed. I went to a school that began as junior high, so i started their when i was a seventh grader. Then during the summer before 8th grade, the school was changed to a middle school. I would have to agree with William Alexander that there needs to be a recognized "in-between-ager" institution. Students emotions run are completely at all different levels, and a middle school is the level where they are supposed to be able to learn to manage their widespread maturity levels. Also these institutions are great for giving students an opening to working on "an individualization of curriculum." Opportunities are more accessable for students to better understand their roles in their social environments, what they bring to the big picture.
Middle school is also very important for keeping a student in line, or so that the student does not feel as though they are left out to dry. I say this because competition for jobs, with an emphasis on technology is at an all time high. Students need to learn the skills, or they will fail. Feeling like they cannot succeed causes many students to try other things, like drugs, alcohol and such. A middle school is an atmosphere that prepares students to be able to handle what is needed to succeed as an adult.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Anti-Oppressive Education
Oppression is proven in these first readings with terms such as “normal child” being a white, middle-class male and all others are seen as “deficient.” I do not like reading labels such as the youth all being stereotyped as “troubled.” All people are troubled, there is not a normal person around who does not feel troubled at one time or another. Educational reform needs to be less influenced by corporate businesses, because tracking and other similar practices have shown to actually hurt students educational opportunities rather than help them. Students who are not “troubled” but need extra attention actually do better in a classroom that is equally distributed between students on all academic levels.
Teachers need to be able to feel free from all the heavy pressures that can be burdened upon them and do one major thing, just teach. This seems to be becoming ever increasingly difficult because they rather have to teach to the test. Traditional teaching do strive towards equality in the classroom. The traditional practices each need to be heavily examined and the practices discussed in the reading that prove to aim towards emancipation of oppression, be kept. The only problem I guess with that idea is that only tests prove what works, so that would lead to teachers teaching towards a new test.
Kiroshimo’s reading was interesting but the use of “other” to marginalize many members of society discomforts me. It seems that this label will never leave our society social environment. Other being used in this reading is terrible, because of what I learned from a reading I had in the past written by a pre-k teacher. People are all individuals, in some aspect or another, it seems harmful for even the writer to label society as norm and other. If members are stereotyped, their individual needs are compromised. But like Kiroshima says, oppression is difficult to detect, and it is so easy to do, such as labelling someone. All students react to this in many different ways. An educator needs to be careful.
Teachers need to be able to feel free from all the heavy pressures that can be burdened upon them and do one major thing, just teach. This seems to be becoming ever increasingly difficult because they rather have to teach to the test. Traditional teaching do strive towards equality in the classroom. The traditional practices each need to be heavily examined and the practices discussed in the reading that prove to aim towards emancipation of oppression, be kept. The only problem I guess with that idea is that only tests prove what works, so that would lead to teachers teaching towards a new test.
Kiroshimo’s reading was interesting but the use of “other” to marginalize many members of society discomforts me. It seems that this label will never leave our society social environment. Other being used in this reading is terrible, because of what I learned from a reading I had in the past written by a pre-k teacher. People are all individuals, in some aspect or another, it seems harmful for even the writer to label society as norm and other. If members are stereotyped, their individual needs are compromised. But like Kiroshima says, oppression is difficult to detect, and it is so easy to do, such as labelling someone. All students react to this in many different ways. An educator needs to be careful.
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