Public Schooling

This course has really made me think about schools in a different way. Many discussions we have had in class have shed light on various aspects I had never thought of. On factor that I thought came up in class were the out of school factors that effect students. It is very hard to motivate a child when you have no idea what is going on in their world. Teachers need to get to know their students on a personal level before they will let you in to start teaching the curriculum. The idea of involving the family in the class/schools is also key to success. Families need to feel comfortable with the teacher so both parties can work as a team. I believe home visits are one way to improve the relationship between parents and teachers. Parents feel threatened when they come to school for many reasons, but when you take time to come to their home it put things in a different perspective. Home visits are another thing to load onto the teacher’s schedules but could change students’ values about school. It will also strengthen communication between home and school.

As I think about what we discussed this last 10 weeks I think it comes down to two main things, out-of-school factors and school funding. Our whole concept of public school is awful in this country. As a country, we need to rethink our idea of schooling. One of the first weeks of class we defined schooling as a process by which a society achieves a desired outcome from the youth of their population. Currently in the US we have standards the students should meet but do not support them to achieve these standards. How can we expect children to reach standards when we are not supporting them in the process we want them to achieve? The community/society also must take responsibility for the out-of-school factors that students come to school with. Some of them are community problems that could be minimized if the whole community worked towards the goal. Especially low-income families are not receiving the support they need to take care of their families, therefore they are living in inadequate housing with violence around them all the time and may not have the funds for healthy nutritious eating habits.

Communities/society needs an overhaul of public schooling in the US.