Fremont High School by Jonathan Kozol In Jonathan Kozol’s report titled “Fremont High School” he discusses many things he observed when visiting the school in Los Angeles, California. He starts off by giving basic information about the school such as “...enrolls almost 5,000 students on a three-track schedule, with about 83,300 in attendance at any given time.” but as he continues he discusses the many problems the school faces. In his text he discusses a variety of things that are wrong about the school such as the number of students that drop out rate, how crowded the classrooms are, how difficult simple things such as lunch and using the restroom are at the school and etc.…
In John Taylor Gatto’s essay, “Against School,” Gatto writes about his perspective on the American public school system that he believes is not as beneficial as it is expected to be. He begins by explaining that teachers and students are bored inside classrooms simply because students are not taught better qualities such as critical thinking or curiosity. Instead, they are “schooled” rather than “educated” so students only learn how to conform. Gatto goes on to describe the goals of school as, “making good people, making good citizens, and making each person their personal best” (117). He later comments on Inglis’ interpretation of the functions of modern schooling.…
Gladwell defines activism as either being strong tie or weak tie. He describes strong tie as being heretical and unified. If someone messes up it could cause the whole matter to go wrong. People with strong ties though are more likely to stick through and not give up because the issue affects them directly. While low-risk activism is defined as a network that everyone has an equal say in.…
Kipp Schools that have longer school days, shorter summer vacations, a solid protocol, and plenty of homework produce successful students. The author, Malcolm Gladwell grew up in rural Ontario, where he was born to an English father and Jamaican mother. Malcolm Gladwell is also the author of some bestselling books. Malcolm Gladwell did experimental research called the Kipp Academy in one of the poorest areas. In Kipp schools a lot of students will attend private high schools and college.…
Morgan Sweeney, the writer of “Schools Finding Problems with Longer School Years, Extended Class Time.”, discusses whether increasing the school year may have positive or negative effects in students academic achievement. Sweeney states that NCSL’s survey of the research finds “no conclusive proof it’s effective overall”. She provides an example of economist Caroline Hoxby whom studied New York charter schools, she found they were “more effective than traditional schools in closing achievement gaps.” Hoxby also claimed that the “strongest predictor of high student performance among charter schools was a longer school year.” Sweeney…
Malcolm Gladwell’s “David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants” is overall about how disadvantages can be advantages and vice versa. I think one purpose of this story was to provide the audience with a new perspective of how to face hardship and challenges. To inspire people to view obstacles and challenges in a different way. Malcolm Gladwell starts the book by retelling the bible story of David and Goliath and how it affected our view of what it takes to defeat a “giant.” In this case, a giant can refer to any obstacle, for example a disability, misfortune, or some type of oppression.…
Countless students and teachers go to school every day and work very hard to meet what is asked of each of them. Teachers work more than 40 hours a week, especially when there are events going on throughout the school year. Students go to class to earn an “A,” not to learn what the teacher is teaching the class due to the fact that students were taught to contently earn a letter grade in that class. However, teachers are not at fault either because the school board and administrators give the teachers a timeline of all the curriculum the students must learn to a certain point in time of each marking period. In “Against School” by John Taylor Gatto, he describes how numerous students and teachers go to school and they are just dullness is so…
Outliers Essay It’s time for a change. The U.S. public school system was established almost 200 years ago and based on current thinking at that time (Malcolm 252). Considering Illinois just became a state, 200 years ago, I believe that it is time for a change in regards to the school system. After reading chapter nine of the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, I began to question the school system that I have been a part of for the last 10 years.…
Although the adults place blame on the children, they “recommend history to the kids but rarely consult it” themselves, and are living examples of the situation (Barber, 2014, p. 212). Although the adults are arguing for the betterment of education, they do not demonstrate how education benefits the life of a student. Instead, the adults live out the problems they accuse the education system of having. Barber also implies that due to this hypocrisy the children do not care about their education: “The children are onto this game. They know that if we really valued schooling, we’d pay teachers what we pay stockbrokers…if we valued children, we wouldn’t let them be abused, manipulated, impoverished, and killed in their beds by gang-war cross fire and stray bullets” (Barber, 2014, p. 212).…
The Benefits Year-Round Schooling Since the beginning of time, teaching and learning has been a detrimental part of what makes us able to innovate and experience the world around us. A form of schooling introduced in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s was a year round school system (Pedersen, "The History of School and Summer Vacation"). This system allowed for more days within the learning period and allotted for students to get more out of their education. Research from all the way back to a hundred years ago has shown that students tend to lose information and their footing during a traditional summer vacation (Fairchild, "Why and how communities should focus on summer learning."). The current system most public schools within the…
The Power of Pathos In the words of Vincent Van Goh, “Let’s not forget that the little emotions are the great captains of our lives and we obey them without realizing it” (Guillemets). Emotions guide people through life like a compass in a similar fashion to how a compass guides a sailor on his voyage. This emotional compass leads us in the path of an ultimately unknown yet assumed destination in life and we follow it blindly every day. In the good times and the bad, emotional experiences and relationships tend to be more memorable and important to people than those with less emotional connections.…
When I read, “The Sanctuary of School,” by Lynda Barry, starting on page 721 and ending on 725, I realized that she and I share many views and experiences regarding the power of the education system. I agree with Barry that school is a safe haven for children all over the world, that art provides the intimate power to heal, and that budget cuts are essentially hurting students in their education. I am currently a high school student taking rigorous courses, and Barry’s article truly connected with my experiences through school. The first thing that sparked my interest while reading Barry’s article was the strong emphasis she pushed on her opinion that school is a safe haven for children, especially those who experience hardship in their personal…
Mike Rose author of “Why school? Reclaiming Education for All of Us” informs readers about current issues in schools today by gathering information from his own experiences and others to display in his book. Throughout the book Rose talks about politics, culture, race, linguistics, labeling, poverty, school business etc.because they are roles that play in schools. Rose’s style of writing gives the reader the chance to question themselves, the school system and where they stand as a student if they are current students. Although Rose emphasizes many issues through out the book poverty stood out the most.…
Lynda Barry the author of “the Sanctuary of School” and the creator of her own comic strip, reminisces about her childhood and how school was a safe haven from her home and hardship filled family. She said that she was a child with the sound turned off and the only time that she was noticed and she felt she mattered was at school. Education was an important part of her childhood, some days she did not know where she would be without her teachers and the oasis of school. Other authors including, Leslie Baldacci author of “Inside Mrs. B. 's Classroom: Courage, Hope, and Learning on Chicago 's South Side”, Cindy Merkovsky quoted in “Hempfield school directors urged to save arts programs”, and Christina Fisanick editor of “Introduction to Has No…
In his article “The Naked Face,” Malcom Gladwell outlines Ekman’s psychological view of face reading. The well renowned psychologist believes that the face is the best evidence a person has to offer about their emotions because most facial expressions are not made consciously. The face can be unpacked by every separate expression that pertains to a universal meaning. On the other end of the spectrum, the semiotic view proposed by Wierzbicka’s sees the face as a network of signs. And while there can still be universal meanings in facial expressions, this view is more aimed towards how the signs of the face interact with each other and the environment to create a unique meaning.…