Leninger Module 1 Blog

First off I what to say I love history, I am even Co-teaching USVA for the second time this year! Because of this, this article was mostly a bit of a review for me, but it did go into more details about somethings that I never thought of before. I already knew that in the beginning Education was very much based in the dominant religion of the time( Christianity) and was mostly for wealthy, white males who would eventually go on to obtain major positions in the society. This left little room for women, Native Americans, or people or color to grow and develop. I would even argue that despite major changes, this still tends to be the case today. It almost instills in students that unless you are a white male with money, you are destined to a life a of mediocrity. It's not that they are necessarily being told that, but it is simply years and years of this belief that has just become a habit for our students. For example, I work mostly with multi-language learners and a vast majority of them do not see a future for themselves, especially the females. I talked to them about their plans after High School and they just seem content with working construction jobs (males) or being mothers (females).  Now there is nothing wrong with working construction or being a mother, but I often question them what will happen to them in the future when they physically can't do physical labor anymore? Do these jobs offer health insurance? Do these jobs offer retirement? They just look at me and say I get paid $25/hr and the conversation ends there. Why? Because that is what their family has done for generations and they can't see themselves doing anything else. It can be very frustrating trying to let these students see that they have infinite potential if only the reach out to take it.

This is what, according the article and history itself, states: unless you are a white wealthy male,  education is obtainable and therefore not important. Why go to school and take classes about Biology when I can skip class and take a temp job that pays $300? As the saying goes a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. It's difficult to instill in students that there are other options, when society and the government have basically built our education system around these  beliefs. Even when the government started getting more involved in the 1980s, and technology started becoming more a part of Education in the 1990s, it only seemed to improve the situation mildly. You still see the disparity between the haves and have nots( Mendez)

I could literally go on and on about this, but I can't help but feel a little guilty myself. When I was going to school, this concept never even crossed my mind because I was one of those " well-off" students. I come from a thoroughly middle-class family. Both my parents had decent jobs  and both went to College. I never really wanted for anything and it was instilled in me from an early age that education was a requirement, not an option.  Therefore it is very hypocritical of me to judge a system that I myself benefitted from. However, now that I am a teacher myself and see the impact that it has on my students who care deeply for, I am able to appreciate and understand these flaws in the system better. For this reason, I strive, and hope, that our country's education system can continue to improve. 

  However, I don't simply like the idea of handing out diplomas. In the article it states " A comparison of results from 2012 revealed that the United States, on average, scored lower on mathematics, science, and reading literacy than 18 other education systems (Kelly et al., 2013). " ( Mendez) It is very disheartening to see that the United States ranks so poorly compared to other countries of our stature. So, that is where I am at a loss: how do we make the education system more equitable for everyone while at the same time not losing a quality education? This is even more challenging when trying to overcome a history or discrimination. Whatever the answer is, I know it starts with us teachers advocating for our students and starting a new belief system in their families: that they too can be successful and obtain an invaluable education.