Critique of Scholarly Theory
This is a combination of my own topic and prompt #3. I have pretty much no beef with the ideas behind the argument. It's convincing and I agree with most of it. My problem is the concept of some uppity academic with a Ph.D. telling the public school system how it needs to fix this problem or that. In the first suggestion she mentions textbooks and curriculum. Yes, the people who create these tools have power to present their point of the world to others. But most schools don't really have a choice in these areas. Or they don't have the money to change them even if they wanted to. Many textbooks are so old that they aren't even relevant anymore and there's no money to replace them. Curriculum can't be changed just because a teacher wants it to. Usually they have to get permission from their principal, who has to consult with the district about it (and then there's some stupid bureaucratic process that you have to go through and most teachers don't have the time to do it and adds even more stress an already high stress job) I realize that she teaches in the university realm and has probably faced money issues, but I've never seen or heard of universities having such issues as basic functionalities of the physical school due to lack of funding (I'm sure there's examples out there, but I doubt it's as bad as other public schools. And when was the last time you heard of people donating hundred of thousands of dollars to an elementary school like some people like to do with universities?). Sure, she has probably been through the public school system and has experienced first hand problems at public schools. And theory can be useful. I just really have a problem with someone who has never taught in a primary or secondary public school telling others how schools should be run (I am assuming that she wants her theory to be implemented as young an age as possible, since logically, in my head, that makes the most sense). Like I said, good ideas, but where the hell does she think the money is going to come from to change this?!? I don't think it's possible to address this complex of a problem with so little money and more pressing issues like building maintenance and having enough chairs for enough students and having rats falling out of ceilings (like at my old high school) and paper budget issues and dysfunctional kids that throw chairs at other students and have two alcoholic parents that are divorced and... I could go on, but need I say more?
posted by feebeef @ 5:18 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
I feel you don't give Delpit enough credit. She is currently Director of the Center for Urban Education and Innovation which deals with schools and communities working together to bring social justice and academic excellence to typically underserved children. Her involvement in the Center is based on her experiences in the classroom and her work on school-community relations. I believe she has a strong grasp of the funding difficulties and lack of support that many public schools, especially those in minority neighborhoods, face. Like Drew pointed out, she does not offer implementation strategies but rather an issue of which teachers should have a greater awareness. The purpose of her article is to raise awareness and I believe that with a little research one can find support for her credibility regarding education in primary schools.
What there really should be is instead of some sort of national testing is implemented, there should be a sort of national curriculum distributed, so that everyone in every school district is learning the same things, and no one is left behind just because of where they attend school and how much money that school has. The school shouldn't have to pay for the curriculum and textbooks, because if it's going to be a national standard, the federal government should pay for it. That's what they should put all that testing money into.
While I agree with Marilyn that Delpit's purpose was to raise awareness of an important issue in the classroom, I think you bring up an interesting issue here as well. Why are our public schools left with so little funding? I personally feel that we spend way too much money on other things (while I want to keep politics out of this as much as possible, I can't help but wonder what those billions of dollars we are spending on the Iraq war could do if they were spent on education) and not enough money on the things that matter. Is anyone else disgusted by the amount of money that professional athletes make, especially compared to the amount of money teachers make (and teachers are actually providing a valuable service to society!)?
My high school had money problems as well - not to the same extent as yours, but it was absolutely shocking to see how many (more) programs got the axe every year. If a new curriculum is to be initiated, progressing toward a better, more widespread student understanding of the language of power, the money's got to come first, and it needs to come from the government. Otherwise I don't see how it could work. (Where the money comes from is a completely different beast, of course.)
Marilyn...
I'd say that while someone can know about problems in schools, there is some animosity amongst public school teachers having "outsiders" telling them what to do. My mom is a first grade teacher, so this is where I'm coming from. I grew up hearing my mother complaining about the government and other group interfering too much with schools when they had little or no idea how schools run. While she may have second hand experience, I do not think that she can really understand the difficulties of teaching in a public school unless she has done it herself. This is the experience I was looking for and she doesn't have it. I don't really care what sort of foundation she has created, in fact, I would see that as another outside source trying to tell schools what to do. While some can and are helpful, many are just in the way. I did say that I agreed with her on her ideas, but that they are only ideas. To implement them is downright impossible without fixing some other problems first. In that aspect, to me, she seems completely ignorant of the state of our schools.
I agree with you about the money issues. Our whole education system could be very different in many ways, except that when budgets get tight everything but the basics are the first thing to go. We should have a bake sale, Delpit Style.
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