The Pupil

In the short story, "The Pupil", the student and teacher bond is focused on. Mr. Pemberton and Morgan have a deep respect and love for each other. Students have always been imprinted on by the beliefs of their educators. I took biology with Mr. Lavin last year. he regularly talked about his beliefs and feelings about things. We did not always see eye to eye but we always listened and thought about each others values. Mr. Lavin was an important person in shaping who I am. Making connections with educators is a key aspect of social/educational relations. Interaction with teachers and other students makes up 80% of our day. Education truly is a key aspect in social communications.

Analytical: Literature

“Harrison Bergeron” demonstrates a lack of individuality. The characters in the story are forced to be complete and total equals in every possible characteristic. A component of this is that no one is allowed to be smarter than anyone else. The main character Harrison Bergeron is much smarter than everyone else, so smart he cannot be inhibited. He is the only person in the story who demonstrates the ability to socially interact. This is because education is a way to enhance our ability to communicate with each other. In school, children are constantly in contact with one another. Social lives are highly comprised of friends and relationships found from school. John Dewey talked about “learning by doing.” Children must interact to more easily retain what they have learned. This involves talking with other students. Seeing people’s differences in how they understand problems is part of the learning process. In the short story, they completely eliminate differences making education and social interaction nigh impossible. Without education, a key component of the social lives of the citizens is lost. Education is one of the most powerful tools in creating relationships. In the story, “The Pupil” the main character Mr. Pemberton tutors a boy named Morgan. The boy lives an unhappy life because of his cruel family and heart disabilities. Morgan begins to have much respect and love for Pemberton. The relationship is created out of the tutoring lessons they have together. Morgan has never had a true friend until Pemberton. The bond that they share is powerful because education creates intricate relationships between people. Even though the story ends tragically the respect the two have for each other will never die. The mutual respect formed between the student and the teacher is the key social aspect of education. Involving social interaction with learning comes naturally to human beings. It will always be involved with the school system of the United States of America.

Harrison Bergeron

The story "Harrison Bergeron" takes place in a post-apocalyptic future where everyone is supposed to be equal. Inhibitors are placed on those who are gifted for physical or mental purposes. The main character in the story, Harrison Bergeron, is extremely smart and strong. He is put into custody for learning and becoming more intelligent. The strict rules imposed on education destroy all sense of personality in the citizens as exhibited in Harrisons parents. This leads to a theory I have that education is key to shaping someones personality. Dewey talked about society and education and this story is a perfect example of what happens when you neglect education.

Analytical: Background Information

Education has been a key aspect to the United States since its very establishment. Over time, many speakers have demonstrated their ideals on education. First of these thinkers was Horace Mann. Mann believed in public education. He presented his thoughts in many speeches about teacher’s pay, public education reform, and the nobility of being a teacher. Mann’s reform of education laid the foundation for other philosopher’s of education as well. John Dewey lived life by the philosophy that actions should be judged by their consequences. He applied this to education by reforming the social interactions created in learning. He founded multiple teaching methods, like “learning by doing.” His values on teaching are still practiced among teachers today. They can be seen in his book, “The School and Society.” Besides his book Dewey spent a ton of time spreading his beliefs. Without input from Dewey and Mann schooling probably would have looked very different today. Schools would have been much more privatized. Even now, there are many private schools. This leads to the topic of school choice. Educators believe by creating a separation between public and private schools students feel that private schooled children are superior. This could leave public schooled kids with a feeling of inferiority and detriment school work. Also the public school system is funded by the government so if people enrolled in private schools they could effectively dodge taxes. An idea proposed to counteract this would be tax vouchers. Parents of private schooled kids would pay a set amount of money to the government. School choice could also help students by providing a familiar social environment. Ethnicity-based schools could help students find their niche. This could cause problems as well, similar to the Ebonics incident in Oakland circa 1996. Students who spoke slang were supposed to be enrolled in a class were their English could be learned easier, similar to a second language program. Members of the black community demanded that their kinsmen be treated as normal students, not fully understanding the school’s thought process. Some ethnic groups understood what the school was attempting to accomplish and praised them.

Update: February 3rd, 2010

I have a ton of information and multiple other primary sources to get around to making entries about. I am defiantly heading in the right direction. The only part I'm missing is where I want to focus my topic on. Their is a large volume of information and it is difficult to choose one spot to research. Dewey and Mann are both interesting but I want to search more. What are some idea's people before me focused on in Education? Hopefully I will figure it out soon.

Horace Mann: The Case for Public Schools

Horace Mann presents a very clever point when he states "If one class possesses all the wealth and the education, while the residue of society is ignorant and poor, it matters not by what name the relation between them may be called; the latter, in fact and in truth, will be the servile dependants and subjects of the former. But if education be equably diffused, it will draw property after it, by strongest of all attractions; for such a thing never did happen, and never can happen, as that an intelligent and practical body of men should be permanently poor."(150)Mann is stating that if public education is implemented than the economy will strengthen. Smart people are better at earning money than stupid people. Education is an key component to the U.S. economy. Public education could only benefit the country. Mann's ideas made me think of Booker T. Washington for a moment. Both of them were clearly focus on relating the economy to their topic. The economy immediately grabbed the public's attention to their topic allowing them to spread their ideas. Mann used the economy to bring attention to his public education reform. He had an ingenious plan.
"American Reader, Pages 148-153"

Horace Mann

Horace Mann was a leader on public education. He originally wanted to bring his reform on public education to Massachusetts but ultimately brought it to the entire country. He greatly cared for teaching and preached its importance with his quote "Education . . . is a great equalizer of the conditions of men—the balance wheel of the social machinery." He fought to increase teacher's pay and to bring his ideas on public education to fruition. He organized many meetings to bring out his idea's, regularly attending his conventions for speeches. His thoughts on public education were the basis for american education. Without him the school system would have changed drastically.

McGuire, William, and Leslie Wheeler. "Horace Mann." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2010. .
"Horace Mann: quote on education." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2010. .

School Choice

Private and public schools have been around since we have been born. Parents always want to give their children the best opportunities, therefore the best schools. Private schools were created to satisfy this. Unfortunately, many educators believed that by creating a separation between private and public schools the students in public schools would feel worse about themselves. They also believed this negative attitude would detriment the students school work. Another aspect of school choice was magnet schools, schools designed for specific purposes like the arts. Also, taxes had always been used to fund public schooling so children attending private schools made taxes for schooling obsolete. This was corrected by having the families pay tax vouchers. The idea of school choice is still controversial today, bringing religion into the equation. This can be seen at our very own high school, with Holy Cross and Scheter.
"school choice." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2010. .

Ebonics

During 1996 a school in Oakland was facing difficulties with African-American students. The slang spoken by the students, labeled Ebonics, was causing problems with teaching standard English courses. The teachers compared it to immigrants learning language and went to the school board asking to recognize Ebonics as a language. They asked for this because than they could recognize English as a second language and provide better help for the students. When others heard the school was recognizing Ebonics as a language, they assumed it was becoming a taught class. Controversy ensued, not only for the incorrect assumptions but the fact young blacks were being treated as non-Americans. Many civil rights leaders became upset about the incident while others praised the school for striving to help the students and giving them and ethnic identity.
"Ebonics controversy." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2010. .