Sunday, June 5, 2011

Kozol: Quotes

Another great read!!  As I was reading I highlighted some quotes that made me think. 
“There is something deeply hypocritical about a society…………..robbing her of what they gave their own kids six or seven years earlier.”
This shows that each child, regardless of their ethnicity or demographic, should have the same access towards education.  This quote was discussing how children from different backgrounds have different opportunities when it comes to education.  Families that are wealthy can pay to have their kids enrolled in schooling before kindergarten.  The children that are less fortunate are robbed of these opportunities and will struggle for the rest of their school years, playing catch up.  There needs to be equal opportunities for all children so that they each can be successful throughout their years of learning. 

“It is one of the few classrooms I had visited……..at spontaneous emotion in the children or the teacher surfaced while I was there.”
This just makes me think of robots.  Children learn in various ways and learn from interaction.  This “teaching to the test” approach will help students to achieve on tests, but will deprive them of learning social and every day skills.  Students need to explore and discover things on their own and how to solve problems.  I understand the direct approach, but not being able to share feelings and ideas freely is just ridiculous.  I’m glad that this SFA approach was discontinued……all I could think of was Hitler when they were describing the “hand signal”.  Absurd!!

“I know that my teaching SFA is a charade…..if I don’t do it I won’t be permitted to teach these children.”
This shows a teachers love for his job.  He knows that teaching the “drill based program” is a joke, yet he follows the program to keep his job.  I feel the developers of this SFA had the right idea of direct instruction to help increase the scores within the schools, yet having not times for conversation and exploration is just depriving the students.  Each school/teacher needs to find what approach works best for them.  Maybe they need to have more conversation and explore so they can come up with successful ways to deliver important information.
Overall I learned some interesting facts from this article.  It was an easy read with good information.  I wonder if Mr. Endicott ever figured out his “professional ethics” on his problem………

1 comment:

  1. Hi Rebecca, I have to agree with you about the SFA approach. When I read the comment about how they silence the children I also thought of Hitler. It amazed me how these practices can be going on today when there is so much research out there that states children need to feel safe, nurtured, and free to express their beliefs in order for them to learn. I also wondered if Mr. Endicott finally stuck up for his views or continued to use the SFA approach. See you in class, Jenn

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