Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Student Achievement
After reading Chapters 8 & 9 of Nieto/Bode, discuss one of the explanations of student failure (deficit theory, social reproduction, cultural incompatibility, cultural ecological theory, etc.) that stood out to you as a best argument for explaining students lack of success in school (and a 1000 point bonus if you can figure out which one I think explains it best :). Next, and more hopeful, describe one of the avenues that Nieto and Bode mention in either Chapter 8 or 9 that you think might best be traversed toward improving student achievement.
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8 comments:
I just finished chapters 8 and 9. If I had to guess Adam's theory I would be torn between 2, Economical and Social Reproduction and Cultural Ecological theories. I really think that all the theories interact in the teaching at our schools today. The deficit theory that identifies standard english. Do we really teach standard english any more. When we tell our teachers not to look at spelling when grading portfolios. In this world of Text messaging language we are all getting away from standard langauage and involving into a technical world. Economical & Soacial Reproduction. That we "tend to serve the interests of the dominant classes". Adam says this daily. That our education system is geared and supported by big business and seems to ignore the suppressed and lower income or disadvantaged students. It identifies how we sort our schools and and studnts in them. Sounds awful familiar. Tracking comes to mind. The "cultural class" pg 277what we are teaching does not take into account the cultural experiences, values and skills of all the students that we are here to help succeed. We need to address the dominant culture theories and bring about reform so that the contribution of all cultural history is intertwined to make the whole.
We (the dominate white male)did not make history alone. All cultures in this country have been involved in the making of our history. Look at telll tale signs. WHen it took an female indian to direct Lewis and Clark. The Chinese that built the railroad system with an income of pennies versus dollars a day. The hispanic communities that feed us because we are to good to get our hands dirty and are worth more than the pay they recieve. Martin Luther King and others that fought for the equality of blacks and other minorities in this country. But before him the underground railroad to free slaves. We must get past the cultural differences that shape our education system.
I thin the theory of combining prespectivies is the mo0st relevant in this chapter. We can use it to address the issues like cultural differences and social and economic inequities in the classroom. This theory discusses social reform in our environment and addresses health care, nutrition, housing and unstable families and the effects that brings to the classroom. It points out that we need to be a integral part of this reform. I partically liked when Nogueres states thhe "reducing poverty and improving schools should not be treated as competing goals."
Adam this is definitely you.
I agree with Linda… Nicely put! I think Adam feels economic and social reproduction is the theory he feels describes our problem best. In fact, we have discussed these same factors in class on many days. I feel JCPS and Louisville in general is a shining example of this. “Excuse me, what high school did you attend?” after more than 20 years later is just odd to me! Combining the cultural compatibility theory creates a well-rounded theory as to why groups of students have a harder time succeeding in school.
One theory that I have not thought about as much is the resistance theory. These students tend to refuse to learn by resisting their education in various ways. They are the students we often label as troublemakers and violent. Often they are the students that teachers do not want to end up their classes. Many drop out, but many continue to attend class daily disengaged and discouraged. These are also students who attend classes and do not show their “entire potential.”
Neito feels one probable element for this resistance is a “school climate that rejects students identities.” The backgrounds of the students are often ignored and not respected. Often teachers do not understand or respect the cultures of their students. It is impossible to think that teachers of certain cultures can only teach students from the same cultures. But, it is possible to think they can research and find ways to reach these students. The case studies show us the importance of caring teachers who take interest in their students.
While I tend to agree with you all on how Adam views the problems, again I come from a unique teaching perspective in that I deal with 99% white students. Class generally becomes the issue there, but oftentime I see the students pulling the "resistant theory where they simply refuse to learn (I've witnessed both the passive "I just won't do anything" resistance and the agreesive "I'll cause trouble and talk out whenever I can" resistance). What my students don't realize is they are not hurting the institution they fight; they're hurting their chances for a better future byt refusing to expand themselves, they're hurting me as the teacher since I can't get accomplished what I need to since I'm CONSTANTLY getting on them, and they're hurting their peers who want to participate and learn. This is I feel is entirely upon the students, especially when I ge the parents telling me "I don't know what to do with them." It frustrates me since it's their child and they should be able to give me some insight, but they never do.
I think the biggest point I saw was culturally responsive teaching in a way that allows teachers to work as "creative intellectuals". We need the curriculum choices to come back to us. I'm all for some sense of what gets taught when (as a military brat who saw several things more than once I can empathize with Ron Morris-case study). But we can each teach differently and we can allow each lesson to unfold differently based on student experiences. My students respond to creative activities, things that force them to use multiple intelligences. By allowing them to use their experiences, they can draw themselves into a text or discussion, but I can still teach them the skills necessary for "school-based success" and "workplace success". This freedom of curriculum also allows a window for teachers to care. Caring works. I had one young man my first year teaching that hated reading with a passion. At the end of the year, I had them complete a book project on a book of their choice. He was one of those that "couldn't find anything". So we spoke and I discovered he was interested in war stories, so I immediately introduced him to Tim O'Brien. Within two weeks, he walked into my classroom carrying four (4!) books under his arm and a grin on his face. "I just didn't know they wrote about this stuff." I watched him graduate this summer, watched him continue to be successful in his classes, including English, beacuse I had that chance to show him someone cared. This is our huge step toward making things right. From there, we can draw students in with interesting activities tnhat allow students to build on their experiences from their lives and teach how to use those experiences to expand their horizons.
I agree with Nieto and Bode, that there is not one theory that explains why students aren’t successful in school. Like we said in class, if it were that simple we would have solved all the problems with education years ago. I think it is more likely that student failure is caused by a combination of several theories.
I believe the deficit theory impacts student learning and success in schools. Not because I think that minority students actually come from inadequate home lives, but the majority of the conversations that go on in our teachers’ lounge and faculty meetings lead me to believe that most of my colleagues do believe that. If most teachers place more value on one type of home life and child rearing practice, many students will feel inadequate and inferior. The more we and teachers become educated and aware of our students individual home lives and surroundings, the more we can and should use this information to guide our instruction. I think it is important that we as teachers begin to realize that our students don’t come to us with no life experiences, they just may have had different life experiences than we had.
I also believe that the economic and social reproduction theory impacts student success in school. I believe that it benefits the people who are in power to maintain the status quo, and manipulating the education system is the perfect way to do that.
I think these two theories are very influential in students’ failure at school. However, I do not think these are the only reasons. I believe all of the theories represented in the text are applicable to some degree, as well as many other factors.
As Nieto and Bode suggest, and as we have mentioned many times in class, the best thing we as teachers can do to make our students successful is to care about them. Students are more successful in classrooms where they feel respected and cared for.
As for the 1000 point bonus -- I am going to go out on a limb and say that Adam leans more toward the economic and social reproduction theory.
I look forward to seeing you all in class tomorrow to discuss these theories more. See you tomorrow.
After reading the chapters I agree with everyone in saying that Adam’s view probably leans towards economic and social reproduction theory match his thinking. This theory is what puts teachers in the “buffer zone” that we discussed earlier in class. We are expected (even though unwritten) to keep the students in their “rightful” place in the world. I believe as teachers though we should encourage the students to be the best they can be and provide a variety of experiences and allow the students to make their own decisions in the world. They may find a hidden talent they didn’t even know they had.
In chapter 9 I found it particular interesting that students felt conflicted in schools about being able to connect with their culture and their true identity. I recently saw a special on MTV (just because I happened to be flipping through stations) about a student who was suspended from school because he refused to remove the flag of his home country Columbia. Did I mention he was the star of the soccer team? Anywho, the other students found out and the other Latino students found out and wore the flags representing their countries. In a class discussion about why they were wearing the flags someone said “If you love your country so much then why don’t you go back?” The teacher said nothing. Then in the lunchroom the quote was repeated by the same student and a scuffle broke out. During the scuffle the Vice Principal pulled out 4 of the Latino students and suspended them, but none of the Caucasian males or females were pulled out, not even the one who made the comment. Eventually, the parents called the media and the principal (who was out at the time) decided to take back the suspensions and it was decided that students could wear flags as long as it was on a t-shirt, but not just a flag pinned to anything.
This really made me think about culture in our schools and the message we are sending. If the star soccer player had worn an American Flag then nothing would have ever been said, but since it was the flag of another country it was a problem. And how come the teacher in the classroom did not address the comment made by the other student? And how come only Latino students were pulled out from the cafeteria? These students were obviously shown that their culture was not important in this school and the only reason there was a change was because the media got involved.
I feel that the fact the students can’t truly embrace who they are and that some believe schools were set up to “maintain the system” are the biggest problems we are having in our school today. That’s why they say the “poor get poorer & the rich get richer” because we are not allowing the poor population the chance to move up in the world. The only ones that do are the ones who make the most noise and they are allowed through only because it would cause less commotion to let one person break that mold. That’s why the higher ups make all of our decisions. Finally, since students can’t truly embrace who they are we are turning them into robots and we say that everyone must be a certain way. By doing this we are getting rid of the individuality, thus telling students that they as individuals are unimportant. We need to allow for the various cultures and allow students to be comfortable with their culture.
After seeing this program and reading the chapters I think the best thing we can do to improve the situation in schools is through caring and embracing everyone’s culture. I think if we as teacher’s show we care not only about the student, but also their culture we will allow for more open discussions in the classroom amongst students and allow for more parent interaction as well.
Am I that transparent?! :)
Excellent discussion, so far folks. Looking forward to working with you all and discussing tomorrow.
The thing that stood out to me in Chapter 8 was the “Trackton” study and the difference in the kinds of questions asked at home versus schools. And that the home questions were actually more in depth then the school questions. But the theory that I see the most is the resistance theory, I have a couple that just sit there and do nothing. Sometimes they get disruptive if you acknowledge their existence, but usually they just sit there in every class. I guess it is the one thing in their life that they can control. Unfortunately they get held back and are on track to drop out. I think that caring is very important, but it doesn’t seemed to have helped with those two. A line I remember hearing from a veteran teacher was “Kids don’t care how much you know, but they know how much you care.”
Chapter Nine talked some about extracurriculars and after school activities. At Highland we offer clubs from anime’ to yoga. It’s really a good program but kids have to have a ride home, there used to be an activity bus. Now their parents have to come get them or they ride the TARC, this excludes many of our west end kids.
I believe there are many factors that produce student failure of course, but the one that stands out to me is the impact of educators caring about their students. All students want to feel they belong. In chapter 8, a parent describes that a teacher does not have to hug a student to show he/she cares. All the teacher needs to do is to love their students with his/her eyes. The parent continued to describe that the teacher showed her love by giving encouragement and having high expectations. Care does not mean just giving a student a pat on the back.
If a student knows that their teacher cares then they will bring their “whole self” to school and most likely engage themselves in the learning. Students will feel comfortable in the classroom setting and open up because they feel respected instead of like an outcast especially if they are of a different culture or race.
For those students who are of a different culture and race, teachers should open up to their culture and show respect towards their culture and languages. Teachers should encourage parental involvement, and teachers should access activities based on students’ cultural backgrounds.
Students know if their teacher cares or not. When students come into the classroom at the beginning of the school year they are feeling you out. Get to know each student. The most important characteristic that students look for is caring. This can determine their success or failure. Nieto said that because teachers learned students’ languages or they became knowledgeable about and comfortable with their students’ cultures, the students felt this interest and commitment made by their teacher effected their lives in a positive manner.
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