" Great Educator"

     The educational problems and possibilities that a teacher could be presented with, from the children's family, neighborhood, youth culture and media influences are the different languages spoken in families, the ethnicity of the children, and the cultural differences of the children. Some families could be immigrants moving from one country to another, values and customs,  their educational knowledge, learning differences and economic differences could present problems and unknown possibilities for diversity. The teacher will need to learn all she can about her students in the classroom. I don't really see many problems developing from the cultural context of teaching in a diverse classroom. If a teacher considers their position as a  professional with continued training, professional development and remembering their pedagogy, their attitudes and ideology for professional teaching should help prepare a teacher for any problems and challenges that might come from the diversity of students and their families.  A teacher's experience especially should be helpful, if they have taught several years will help contribute to the success of the learner and the environment students are accustom to. Because they have acquired the skills and the knowlegde to work with students in their classroom with multiple learning styles and the teacher has designed an enviroment to accommodate diverse student learning that can be used from a students previous school, their education and the students previous experiences for learning.
    
Tozer, et. al., (2009) School and Society, Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, introduced some of John Dewey's perspectives about the teacher and student in a progressive era. I admired and agree to the definition John Dewey had for progressive education that could be effective for teachers as educators in the classroom to use today. On pg. 153, Dewey's primary meaning of "progressive" education was that it marked an arrangement of student activities that grew progressively out of the students's interests and past experiences, leading to new experiences and new interests in a continuous and progressive cycle. Furthermore, Dewey's perspective for pedagogy, is the relationship between two key ideas: experience and interest. Dewey argues that the task of the teacher is not to "sugarcoat" the curriculum to try to make it interesting to students, but to start with the interests of the students and help them shape new learning experiences that are chosen and guided in accord with those interests. Well chosen experiences (Tozer, et. al., 2009).

     The difference teachers can and should make to learners if schools are secondary to a wider society in their influence are to ensure values and customs are not left out when teaching students of diversity. I am using the word diversity, because the majority of students in the classroom or attending schools in different enviroments are basicly different students, with different backgrounds and all students are not the same and should not be taught the same way. Each student has his or her own unique style as a person.  Recognize students for who they are, learn as much about their families and their backgrounds. Commit to working with parents of these children by communicating with them and keeping the communication open for clarification about their child's progress.

     Teachers should stay informed about the community, their neighborhoods students live in and the activities surrounding their students culture and customs. Participate and acknowlege the heroes in each students culture. Use them as positive role models for the student to relate to with positive behavior and rewards. These are just a few of the differences and why teachers should make every effort to support students and their families. Teachers should also remember they do not teach part of an education to students, it is a whole package that involves the students parents. This is also a way of excepting the student whether they are poor, middle class or rich. The students socio-economic background of their parents should not be a part of how students are educated. There are schools in neighborhoods and communities that  seem to express the type of school students are attending, when you see some of them in poor neighborhoods with working parents of low income, it is simple and plain not much color. Sometimes it might remind you of the Davis School that was similar to my description of a low income community. This should not make a difference to how the building looks on the inside or the outside whether the parents have low income or high income to make sure their school is built to be exciting and colorful for students. All students deserve to attend a school that is well kept and beautiful to promote a students pride and commitment to want to attend  their school every day.   

"Hidden Curriculum"

     The relationship between the meaning of hidden curriculum and the role of schools in cultural hegemony are the same in my opinion. Neither topic viewed students with low income working parents to have equal education in public schools. Students with high income working parents or in an elite group were given priority. The hidden curriculum concerning literacy in the schools for Goodlad et al. was the great educational darkness that was concealed for depth and pervasiveness far too long for political hypocrisy in the common schools of the country (Tozer et al., 2009). Further the practices in the school without any one knowing what was going on was a lack of citizenship and self-government (Tozer et al., 2009). In other words teachers were not teaching their students to think critically during any discussions in the classroom. The students only answers to a question were yes or no, right or wrong. Goodlad et al., also talked about teachers having some control to even determine who would succeed or fail and teachers felt they did not have the power to question the authority of their superiors. I also agree with Goodlad et al., teachers are not trained to teach students to think critically in the early years and today. Students are expected to conform to the rules of their institution and classroom. Linda Darling-Hammond of the Rand Cooperation wrote an essay "The Great School Debate" (Tozer et al., 2009) made some important points about the schools testing and the format of taking teachers away from teaching students how to write, problem solve and read real books. Furthermore the hidden curriculum has overcrowded classrooms and students are still grouped for slow students.
     The role of schools in cultural hegemony was just about the same or worst in my opinion. Equality was not prevalent in early years and today. Quality and equal school education is a continued battle for all races of students and especially those with low income. There has been too much politics when it comes to educating our students. The role in schools by Jean Anyon (Tozer et al., 2009) involve compliance, unequal hierarchical of power, the assigned student work, student grouping for skill level, IQ scores, age, classroom behavior, different income groups, different races and the content of school curriculum material.  Furthermore free market does not exist in the United States, because of slavery and the abuse of immigrants, women and children that existed in the early years (Tozer et al., 2009).
     Cultural hegemony can affect what happens in public school classroom, when negative decisions are based on income and race of a student. Racism has been around for many years and even though many may not want to admit it, it still exist to some degree or more in our schools today. When students are grouped and placed in tutoring classes, the majority of students are the minority. When behavorial students are disciplined, it is the minority. When scores are given, from a test the failure is with the minority, assessments are given for the minority. Students are still grouped in the classroom for slow students. Students with the most money for supplies and resources are still given priority in the school.
     Understanding the concepts of cultural pluralism and assimilation and how it can impact education and marginalized groups in a contemporary society is awful and degrading for different cultures in our society. Pluralism was in fact the good side of culture. Pluralism did believe in valuing and maintaining cultural and linguistic differences within a society, but assimilation was the opposite, it believed that diverse cultures of immigrant, racial, ethnic, and linquistic minorities should alter their customs, habits, and languages to be completely controlled by a dominant culture. I can not understand how one culture can take control of another culture as dominance, for example, of the Native Americans. They were not only forced to take the roles of a dominant culture, but was also forced from their lands and beliefs in their world as Native Americans.
     It still exist in my opinion, a force that still shakes its ugly head to dominant the different races and culture even in a contemporary society. Women have also been pushed to believe they are less than equal and dominated in a contemporary society.  Some of the ways I see disagreement being played out in society in today's educational environment are some schools are built better and look better than schools in low income community, most minorities are grouped in low income schools with little resources for all students, the funding for schools with the most money are schools with high income working parents. Some schools pay teachers more money at one school than another school. There are more extracurricular activities at a high functioning school than a low functioning school. Students are still being grouped for testing and tutoring. Classrooms are still overcrowded in low income schools and the moral of students are not built up enough for high self esteem to achieve at their best potential. The problem of not letting our students be critical thinkers in school, believing they can achieve the impossible and allowing teachers to make critical decisions about student failure instead of student success will lead toward more and more school dropouts and less achieving students in our school system. Of course the blame is not entirely the fault of teachers but the politics of the school board and  administrators in the school district need to make a change about their view points for teaching students.

"School Reform"

       Since the beginning of time, the school reform process and the many voices considered in making decisions came from leaders in government ( Tozar, 2009).  The majority of their decisions were made for minorities and women in society. The government was influenced by white men with an elite status, Europeans, a supremacy group and a group called the Ku Klux Klan wanted to remain the dominant race and most intellectual group in America by keeping control of schools and the society of business. Each time progress was made in a small way for African Americans, Native Americans, women and other races for education was set back because of those forces who did not even consider minorities as citizens to have equal and fair education.There were many different opinions about the way minorities could attend school and perform academicly which lead them to  school reform. In the early years a reform was created in the schools to function with a certain amount money in every school, especially for those students with higher income and better schools would recieve more money than those with parents working with a low income. The reform involved creating a curriculum to reinforce the separation of white boys from girls and minorities. The leaders also made decisions for women, that a girls place in society was in the home or working a job  as a secretary (Tozar, 2009).

    The voices of those considered in the process of school reform today, in my opinion were created to make a difference for all races of students. I would favor the teachers, students, then the local school board members. Why? because I favor teachers and their working experience. I believe teachers can control any personal bias they may have about other races and cultures of students they have to teach. Teachers are more suited for the job of planning and creating policies in reference to the school curriculum and vocational classes for students ready to work right after they graduate from high school. Students would be the next group to help teachers if they could voice their opinion for extra curricular activities they would benefit most in their school. Students would be able to develop high self esteem, leadership skills, communication skills, written and verbal skills, many other skills if they are aloud to participate in the different areas of their education and if they are the participant they could view their education in a positive and rewarding attitude. You never know this could be a way for less truancy and dropouts in high school, when you allow students to be a part of the school system they can believe in. Furthermore, the local school board would be next in line for this well developed school reform to contribute their expertise to create better policies and help teachers enlist voters for their policies.  The local school boards would have a stronger and better membership if they would work with teachers to build a strong coalition for what is best in their school and districts. Furthermore the order I am taking to ensure important groups are not left out of making a school reform that will work for everyone, will also include the federal government.  Funding is an absolute priority for schools  and school districts to function at its best capacity. Funding would not be limited to the schools in service and would be provided whenever needed.  An infrastructure to build more and better schools for every student attending schools will have adequate equipment, computers, resources and extra curricular activities needed for advancement to teach students. The state will also need to be a part of this new school reform in order to pass the votes to support the teachers and students with their policies and issues that can only be handled by the state legislature. But they would not have complete power to restrict the policies the teachers and students would ensue. Furthermore, all groups would have an intricate part to perform in the school reform with teachers and students being the armor and shield to create school reforms and protecting those students with different cultures and values. With these two groups in place there would be minimal or no use for further labeling of students in school, because student participation would be an intricate part of the school reform for teachers supporting and building their future. Furthermore it would be difficult to leave any one group alone to handle all the important aspects of education and this is why involving the community leaders and members would be an important part of the school reform and  an asset to assist students with vocational courses and job trainings in the community. No one group or person has all the answers and this is probably why education is still needing voices to preserve the process of creating a better school system for all students and their culture.

     The level of impact each stakeholder has on the system as we know it today, involves
influence from the state and federal government. The local school board and principals have some power to fight and create new policies, but teachers, parent, and students have less or no power to persue school issues at their level. Community leaders also have more power when they are members on the local school board.

     The moral, philosophical and social ramifications of their power is increased or enlarged for state and federal governments when they pursue and create policies for the interest of better schools. Local board members and administrators can share the power if they know when to jump in and pursue policies that would benefit their school districts if they work together as a team.

     The present voices at the David School, who were involved with monitoring the students progress, offering support, help when needed, encouraging students with high self esteem and independence was their principal of the Alternative High School, Mitzi Crisp (Sakar, 2004). Furthermore, Ms. Crisp was often pictured in her office discussing the students progress in person with her students and she always gave the impression she really cared about her students in school and off campus. The teachers working at the Alternative High School were involved in assisting the students with ideas, classwork and student projects, but they were shown with little involvement. There was an incident involving Chris and a girl student getting in trouble over drugs he gave her at a wild party. I do not approve of drugs, but to me that was an escape from all the family drama and project failures Chris had to endure in school. He just made a stupid mistake that could have cost him the education the school was offering him. The point is Ms. Crisp did tell Chris after discussing this problem with the Superintendent and other teachers he would have another chance to stay with the school (Sakar, 2004).  Furthermore the administrators and teachers did have a voice in the decision making to keep Chris in their school.

    

    

Gender Equity

     When I was a student in college during the early years attending classes on campus, if I can remember correctly, it was probably the girls that responded to asking questions and they were acknowleged more than the boys. The boys or should I refer to them as males would also respond to questions, but not as readily as the girls. I don't think the problem of gender bias has been overblown or underblown. Gender bias has been around for years. This is why a law for Women Sufferage was created for women to have rights to speech and job opportunities, because the population of men in the early years believed women had a place in the home for their children and husbands. They didn't have the opportunities in the workforce to work and receive equal pay as the men, the opportunity to attend college to receive a better education or to vote.
     I do believe there could be some merit to how boys are losing out as much as girls, but in different ways in schools today. When I taught a dyslexia class for more than 3 years, I always had more boys than girls. My class also had more minority students consisting of Hispanics and African American students. I remember in one of the classes I attended for Reading on a university campus, the instructor said boys are much slower to maturing than girls. And this often interferred with their education and learning ability in different subjects. When I taught a 3rd grade class in a charter school, I would assign students to groups or centers to work on projects and review different lessons I taught in the class room and I would notice the girls would take control of the group or centers leading the boys in the lesson. The girls would ask more questions about the lesson they were working on than the boys. I would have to assign or rotate the centers to make sure I would receive responses from the boys. Often times the girls would argue who was in charge of the group.
     I would approach the issue of gender in my school and district, by working with others on a special project, gathering data, working with teachers, to ensure there is equal amount of task given among the boys. I would speak up at district meetings or campus meeting to bring the attention of equal quality of education for boys and all students learning ability. The appropriate tools and research based resources, continued professional development for teachers to teach students and learn more than one way to reach all students and learn their culture. Because of the different situations and living conditions in the home of these students. Maintain a strong communication with all parents and keep resources and information available for parents to get involved with interventions.
     The issue of gender bias or lack there of illustrated at the David School from the Country Boys video is an example of boys failing more in the school system than girls. I did notice how many girls were present compared to the boys during their morning introduction from the principal. I noticed how the author used boys in this country town to illustrate the hardship in school with behaviors, disrespect for teachers, and their learning ability for subjects taught in school. I believe these examples were used to let the audience be aware of a growing problem in our society. I was sad in the video when the principal resigned from her position. It made me wonder if this principal spoke up about the school for her students and the improvements for the school at board meetings and district meetings with the Superintendent. She was probably a dedicated principal who did not mind coming out of the box. Perhaps she was forced to resign from her position, this was never mentioned in the video why she was leaving. The students Cody and Chris are having some difficult times with their life at home and the situations that seem to hunt them during their school time to improve their education and graduate.
      The video showe examples of the men as fathers in this small coal mining town that was at one time prosperous, but have become a regular small town with not future of growth for jobs. The fathers portrayed drinking  and not holding jobs to support their families and the women were the ones in the family being the backbone and supporters in the family for their children.

Rita

     The David School would be different if Rita was the principal of this school. Rita's experience and

 knowledge working with high and low income students in education will contribute a great deal of

enthusiasm in students to perform to the best of their ability. Rita's focus would be to think out of the

box to incorporate multiple programs to benefit their students in all curriculum requirements in school

 academics, grade level and appropriate classes (Kaprinski, pg.4). Their alternative school would be

designed to look like regular public schools with more buildings attached to it and not so plain as one

 building with dull paint. There would be adequate resources and a library for students to read books

or use a new computer for research and information for Chris to create a newspaper of the

school (Sutherland, 1998). Extracurricular classes and activities for students to choose from to learn

new skills and set goals to accomplish them. The outside area would be inviting and fun for students

 during their free time, instead of standing around and smoking (Sutherland, 1998).

     Professional development would be provided for teachers as ongoing to continue to improve their

 knowledge and skills to teach or coach students in different areas of education in the district and

schools. Board meetings would be created to fund the schools budget necessary to teach all students.

Every student would receive a fair and equal education regardless of the students culture, gender, race,

 or social-economic background. Rita would even involve the community and parents to help with

decisions on the board.

     Transportation would be provided to all students to ride a bus to and from school(Sutherland,

1998). Students would be proud to attend their school everyday. Teamwork would be encouraged

among teachers to work together for all students. Counselors would be assigned to students because of

 their various backgrounds of trouble to help guide them through school (Sutherland, 1998).

    

Assignment

I am still working on paper due Thursday, will finish soon.

This is Carolyn Passmore in EDAD 601