In school, whether it be at the high school or college levels, there are
usually lists of books thought as being essential reading. Arthur M.
Schlesinger, Jr.--a Pulitzer Prize winning historian--calls this list in his
book The Disuniting of America, a "canon" or "canonical literature." A problem
exists with this canon, at least Schlesinger claims there is. He states that
the canon is being used "as an instrument of European oppression enforcing the
hegemony of the white race, the male sex, and the capitalist class…" From my
high school experience, I believe this is not true. At my high school, teachers
encourage students to read not only standard English literature, but also to
study the great writers of other cultures.
There is a great deal of European influence in American society and in
American education. Some people, like the Afrocentrists, feel that this
influence is too heavy and that schools should also be teaching about other
cultures in their classes. Schlesinger states in his book that he "believes in
the importance of teaching Americans the history of other cultures—East Asia,
Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, Polynesia." Since we live in a
multicultural society, we should be teaching a multicultural curriculum.
At my high school, I feel as if I received this type of education. The
teachers encourage students to read not only standard English literature, but
also to study the great writers of other ethnicities. My high school is a
private college preparatory institution in San Francisco. Some authors whose
works we read in our English classes consisted of Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Jane
Austen, Ovid, Maya Angelou, Chaim Potok, John Steinbeck, Amy Tan, Chinua Achebe,
and C. S. Lewis.
This curriculum is not at all what Schlesinger claims to be the current
"American literary canon: Emerson, Jefferson, Melville, Whitman, Hawthorne,
Thoreau, Lincoln, Twain, Dickinson, William and Henry James, Henry Adams, Holmes,
Dreiser, Faulknner, O' Neill." We touched on most of these people also, but
not nearly as in depth as we did the other authors. Schlesinger's list seems to
point out his fact that the canon is being used for European oppression and he
deliberately chooses to add to his list only those "white male" authors. But
they are not the only authors we study, at least at my school. He deliberately,
or so it seems, to neglect current successful authors, like Maya Angelou- who is
both female and black- whose books, like her autobiography "I Know Why the Caged
Bird Sings," are being used in English classes all around the country.
Chaim Potok, another current author we studied is also neither European nor
Today education has an endless amount of definitions which are correct in certain aspects of society, but most leave out the one part of education that is truly vital. That is the concept of real life experiences. The debate on what it means to be educated has been going on for centuries, yet the answer isn’t esoteric at all! The scintillating Henry David Thoreau amazed scholars of his philosophy that one simply doesn’t just go to school to be educated, but one has to experience the world in order to be prepared for it. He lived in a small house on Walden Pond and lived off of the land. He quoted “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to
This causes each student to be treated the same, which eliminates the opportunity for them to become unique individuals. As a result, each student’s potential to develop an opinion and change society for the better is removed. The significance of teaching to individuals rather than the class is further described and supported by David S. Broder. In the article “A Model for High Schools,” Broder explains that “the challenge of a tough curriculum, backed by skillful teaching in small classes and plenty of personal counseling, can be a path to success” even for high school dropouts. By using an individualistic approach, “the [Gateway to College program] has been judged a success.
Marx, M. A., Crape, B. C., Brookmeyer, R. S., Junge, B., Latkin, C., Vlahov, D.,
in high school are all due to the fact of the most basic concept every teen know
...s passage he references “scientists” as the information source, but does not cite any specific people or research.
The realm of education tends to shine a negative light on younger generations labeling them as menace to society and ultimately excluding them without fair opportunity. Every child is different; some may require more attention from teachers than others. Schools tend to forget this unique characteristic of human life once standardized testing and grading comes into the equation.
Why do children graduate high school without fully understanding concepts that relate to the core subjects of Math, English, Science, and History? Because education is unequal in America. Sociologist Doctor James W. Loewen and award winning writer Jonathan Kozol agree that classism is to blame. Loewen also believes that history textbooks take some of the blame for the student’s ignorance of inequality within education, while Kozol believes it is ignorance from well educated people that are two blame. Although Loewen and Kozol are correct in citing classism as a problem in the education system, little is acknowledged about a solution.
Graff, Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel K. Durst. "They Say/I Say": The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing: With Readings. Vol. 2e. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2012. Print.
Our education is changing every day; students should take full advantage of learning to succeed throughout their career. Miller depicts several meaningful points that bring an agreement on education. Gabrielle Napolitano was suing Princeton University because of the accusation of plagiarism. Back to the article Miller states, “Students get a lower grade in a course than they think they deserve; they sue. Students graduate and fail to get a job, or as good as they expected; they sue.” This quote shows that students think that college will train them for employment, but instead, college is the time to learn and advance in education. Many students today worry more about getting into Ivy Leagues rather than learning and trying to get that learning to have a positive outcome for their own knowledge. The beneficial way into education is to learn more material for one self. For example, if a student is in a class and all they do is try to get everything done for the
Graff, G., Birkenstein, C., & Durst, R. K. (2009). The Growing College Gap. "They say/I say": the moves that matter in academic writing : with readings (p. 379). New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
Nevertheless, I will admit that I find myself struggling with educational elitism. I went directly from high school to a four-year university, and I believed that those who did not go directly to college or went to a community college instead were beneath those of us who did. All
I went to high school that was much more culturally diverse than any of the schools I previously attended. This is where I became more aware of my background and education. Before I thought my other school was physically ugly, but the education was still average, or so I thought. Moving to the south, I quickly found out the education was very behind, when I came to take my test to see what classes I needed to take for my new school, I tested into the the level of a junior in high school instead of a freshman. I have never been overly smart, always making average grades and average test scores, and coming into a place where I was above average was strange. At that time, I realized how far ahead the education in the north is compared to the education in the south. The idea of education varying within states stayed in my mind, I have always been curious about why it is behind and not at the same level as the schools I attended in
How do we get educated? To most, education is an arduous slog through school; starting with simple stories about naughty rabbits swapping bologna sandwiches. As we grow, we move on to more and more intellectual pursuits- onward to ancient kings being depressed. By the time we graduate we are ready for a life as a ‘productive member of society’. One may find themselves wondering where that shift is from ignorant to educated. Most people will tell you it comes when you graduate high school, some will argue that it will not happen until you become a parent, others will say it never happens. David Foster Wallace and Mike Rose believe that being educated is not a matter of how well you have been educated, but how you grow as a person. Mike Rose’s life experiences illustrate this perfectly.
This class showed me how inequality is the base of education, if it’s not about gender it’s about class or race, making it hard for a person that falls under this description to have an equal chance, yet our society train us to believe that education can change
Education has come a long way in the history of man, but has it come far enough? Education now days is getting more generalized and robotic; it is just memorizing specific facts for test questions. Although many believe students are getting a true and valuable education, many students would argue that America’s education system is profoundly lacking.