An analysis of a case study shows that learning may be enhanced through attending private school versus public. The study is done on a twelve year old boy [nicknamed] Baha who displays interest in many disciplines and yet has difficulty with attending classes and getting higher grades. Through his experiences of learning in both public and private schools, Baha has seen both negatives and positives of the methods used by the respective schools. In The Anti-Education Era: Creating Smarter Students Through Digital Learning, James Paul Gee presents an argument that criticizes the current state of formal and institutionalized education. Shakespeare’s Henry IV also features teaching and learning between characters, which will be used to compare …show more content…
Baha as a former student of a public school disagrees with such opinion. Public school can be fine for some kids, but definitely not for all. Baha recalls that he had difficult time in understanding subjects, how it was hard to get personal attention from the teacher. It seemed that teaching students to love learning was far less important than teaching students how to score well on the test. Students in public school were focused on memorizing textbook definitions and not actually learning the subject material to increase their knowledge and wisdom. Sure, this might result in receiving higher grades and satisfied parents, but not in enhancing learning and …show more content…
The class environment is not conducive to learning and student achievement: students who are quiet and shy hardly take up space or raise their hands to ask questions, and finally become disengaged with school and learning (B). Baha was less than sufficiently challenged to excel and develop his knowledge and skills in a larger classroom environment. While in private school because of smaller classes it's very difficult to hide or just be a number. Baha became a better student thanks to teachers who were very qualified and experts in their fields, and many had master’s degrees. Because private schools often have selective admissions processes, they are able to choose students who are highly motivated. Many private school students want to learn and that creates good class environment. Because private schools don’t have to follow state laws about what to teach, they can offer specific programs. Many private schools also offer specialized programs in areas of interest to the student, such as arts, music, or sports. Private schools also focus on personal development so students emerge from school with both a degree and some great purpose for their lives and understanding of who they are.
In the article “Against School”, John Taylor Gatto urges Americans to see the school system as it really is: testing facilities for young minds, with teachers who are pounding into student 's brains what society wants. Gatto first explains that he taught for 30 years at the best and worst schools in Manhattan. He claims to have firsthand experience of the boredom that students and teachers struggle with. Gatto believes that schooling is not necessary, and there are many successful people that were self-educated. He then explains the history and importance of mandatory schooling.
Thomas Jefferson was a man who believed that all American citizens need to be educated so that they may exercise their rights. He saw public education as essential to a democracy. One proposal he made for public education would guarantee that all children could attend public schools for three years. However, much like other early school reforms, this proposal received much rejection and was never brought into being. Despite this rejection, Jefferson still believed that America needed public education. Eventually, he opened the University of Virginia. Even though his bills and proposals to benefit public education never saw the light of day, he still made many contributions to public education by providing the foundation on how a democracy should handle educating its
The average human would think that going to school and getting an education are the two key items needed to make it in life. Another common belief is, the higher someone goes with their education, the more successful they ought to be. Some may even question if school really makes anyone smarter or not. In order to analyze it, there needs to be recognition of ethos, which is the writer 's appeal to their own credibility, followed by pathos that appeals to the writer’s mind and emotions, and lastly, logos that is a writer’s appeal to logical reasoning. While using the three appeals, I will be analyzing “Against School” an essay written by John Taylor Gatto that gives a glimpse of what modern day schooling is like, and if it actually help kids
John Taylor Gatto, who was a teacher at the public school for twenty-six years, and the writer of the essay “Against School” that first appeared in Harper’s magazine in 2001, censures and blames the American public school’s educational system in his argumentative essay with various convincible supporting ideas. Gatto argues that the demands of public education system’s schooling are essential problems in “Against School”. Gatto shows some positive examples of the educating without forced schooling and shows models of the ‘success without forced modern schooling’. Indeed, the writer insists that historically forced schooling is not related to intellectual and financial success in American history. James Bryant Conant, who was the twenty-third
In Dorothy Sayers essay “The Lost Tools of Learning” she observed that the modern education system has been successful in teaching subjects but failed at teaching students how to think and learn for themselves. She connects this failure of education to change that took place at the end of the Middle Ages in which the education system changed course from its true purpose. She proposes several questions for us to ponder this loss of education in today’s society: the modern custom of extending childhood, the lack of ability to recognize fact from opinions, unproductive debates where questions are not answered or even argued. One doesn’t need to look further than the current news media to see that her claim holds merit. Children are leaving schools
When one examines the history, the quality, and the long-term effects of public education, and compares them to the history, quality, and long-term effects of other education methods, such as home-education, public school is found lacking. Although it may be simpler to merely follow the modern status quo of sending one 's children to public school, it is imperative to thoroughly research other available options to determine if public school will provide more benefit to an individual family than it does harm to both one 's family and society as a whole. In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true
Education has become stagnant. Intelligent individuals are still being molded, but the methods of education are creating individuals who lack free will. Through deep analytical understandings of education, both Walker Percy’s essay, “The Loss of the Creature,” and Paulo Freire’s essay, “The Banking Concept of Education,” have been able to unravel the issues and consequences of modern-day education. Despite creating clever people, Percy and Freire believe that the current form of education is inefficient because it strips away all sovereignty from the students and replaces it with placid respect for authorities, creating ever more complacent human beings in the long run.
As American’s we place a high level of importance on attending school and receiving a certain level of education. Across the world, the recommendations for attending school vastly differ based on the culture of the society. In America, we require our children to attend school until they are almost of legal age, push high school graduates to attend college and we constantly emphasize structured learning. Many children in today’s world lack many skills that would allow them to “teach” themselves outside of school leading to an increased interest in televisions, computers, and phones. Technology has taken away society’s attention away from independent learning such as reading, writing, and outside experiences. John Taylor Gatto’s emotional voice in his writing “Against School” has allowed me reveal my psychological voice regarding the educational system.
John Taylor Gatto, in his essay “Against School: How Public Education Cripples our Kids, and why”, argues that the contemporary purpose of education in public schools is to produce “harmless electorate,” “a servile labor force,” and “mindless consumers” (28). According to Gatto, he is blaming public schools by explain that the purpose of education is to shape students to certain expectations and habits without their interests. He argues that students “want to be doing something real” (Gatto 23). Also, He explains that they produce a manageable working class and “mindless consumers” (27-28). His point is that students want to learn something new that help them in their life better than actual books from school which don’t apply their interests and their experience (23). So he recommends home-schooling as option to schools (24). Gatto claims that contemporary schools “adopted one of the very worst aspect...
Public schools in the United States are provided by the state, and federal funding. More than 90 percent of children attend public schools. Private schools in the United States include schools in which religion is a priority. Clearly, public schools provide more education than private schools in the United States. Private schools are built were created for the administration, and parents to communicate, and a priority to involve parents in the child’s learning environment. From frequent parent-teacher meetings, social events, and family events, and fundraising initiatives, families become an important part of the child’s education. This also creates a strong bond between parent, and student. Also qualified teachers are making a difference
... Students who do well in a public school setting tend to feel better about themselves. They succeed because they want to, not because someone else forced them to. Whether someone prefers a public school or a private school, it all depends on the person.
Class Size is another issue. In private schools there’s usually smaller classes, so students are getting more attention. This makes it better for the students because if they need help, then it’s easier to get help from the teachers and to be more focused because of less noise and easier for teachers to control their classrooms.
Public schools have pros and cons just like any other form of education. One of the pros is that it is less expensive. Textbooks are generally provided free of charge and if something does require money, the child may have the opportunity to rent the item or have the fee waived due to financial restrictions. Another pro is that a child, especially during the high school years, can have a choice in what courses they take throughout the years of their educational career. The students can also drop out of the majority of the classes that are not mandatory and replace them with another class that they prefer or would do better in. Private schools are another option and the learning is more effective when compared to public schools, but not every family can afford a private school. Homeschooling is less expensive, in most cases, than private
Doing the weekly readings and watching the videos, my mind exploded with possibilities for change - not unlike Raphael’s “brain popp[ing] open” (Senge, 2012, p. 64). Senge brings to our attention that schools were organised due to the necessity of the industrial age. However he also states that it’s time to move on from this out-dated mode, as i...
There are many decisions for parents to choose private or public school for their kids. Every parent wants what is best for his or her child. A person's education is one of the most important aspects in determining whether or not they will become a productive member of society. Education is so important. We need to look at both public and private schools to find out if there is a difference. Private schools are a better choice than public school for many reasons. Private encourages strong quality teaching, encourages higher education learning, and inhibit the rampant of bullying.