Education In Marita's Bargain By Malcolm Gladwell

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A parent’s first priority in life is to ensure the safety and well-being of their children. Education is the most important factor in a child 's life; it controls their future, quality of life and impact in which they will leave for the next generation. However their education is limited by the quality of schools in which they will attend. This is the biggest component to making sure they receive the best education possible. The New York Times bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell delivers a radical idea for educational reform in his non-fiction book Outliers. In chapter nine titled “Marita 's Bargain” Gladwell describes the KIPP Academy as an experimental public school founded in the mid 1990 's. These schools are strategically placed in poverty …show more content…

Public school systems should embrace KIPP Academy’s educational experience; this in turn will allow children to have their willpower and grit tested with the diminishing of their social lives, but with also the chance to escape the poverty they were born into, while being helped graciously by the amazing teachers. The opportunity created from the KIPP Academy has its draw backs. While education becomes the highest priority for these children, it also reduces their ability to socialize outside of their schooling. Gladwell emphasizes this departure of socializing by summarizing Marita’s average day. Marita 's daily schedule consists of starting the day bright and early at 5:30 a.m., to attend school which finishes at 5:00 p.m., to which she then heads home. Her day is not even close to being finished yet however. Marita starts her homework as soon as she gets home and can finish as late as 11 p.m. depending on her homework for the day; her normal routine of course. As expected with this workload, Marita did not have as much time for lollygagging with friends resulting in the loss of friends while only maintaining …show more content…

The students, or 'kippsters ', obtain highly sought after education for their area. Students fully indulge themselves with the school 's motto of 'Knowledge is power ' while teachers truly believe all of their students are capable of obtaining this knowledge through the process of learning. Their goal is simple in theory; to help all of their students achieve the highest personal academic scores possible to propel them towards college education. Marita fully absorbed this laborious opportunity to which the school provided along with the help and adoration of her wonderful teachers and staff teaching at KIPP. The non-profit public broadcasting television distributor PBS created a documentary showing the diligence in which KIPP operates and why it is such a pristine learning environment. PBS described this phenomenon of humanitarian grace contrived from the teachers as “that sense of urgency drives the teachers at KIPP who must sign a contract pledging always to be available to their students” (PBS). This dedication for students helps the student 's moral. This similar experience of Marita reminds me of my cousin Cati who also attended a school with goals and aspirations such as KIPP. Cati explained to me how her school has, still to this day, impacted her educational strive for perfection while influencing her personality for the better. Cati never hesitated to ask a question

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