American Education Chapter 2- Education and Equality of Opportunity

          The beginning section of Chapter 2 focused a lot on the implications that democratic ideals have in the classroom and on education as it stands in our country. The authors try to break up each different interpretation of these philosophies into the common-school model, the sorting model, and the high-stakes testing model. In my experience as a student and as someone with observations as a teacher and coach, I think that it would be far more reasonable to assume that almost all schools in the U.S. are now using a mix of these three models. The most commonly used mix of these models would be the common school model along side the sorting machine model. The current push in most of our teacher education is to give students the most equal chance at success by giving everyone the same opportunities. In order to achieve this goal, most of us recognize that different learning styles and ability levels must be taken into account in order for most students to learn and develop to their most full capacity. Therefore, we are differentiating instruction in order to give students the best chance possible at succeeding.

            The problem comes when we recognize that most of this process is an ongoing evolution that we cannot simply take from a dogmatic standpoint. If we were to follow one model to the letter then the process would not necessarily be the most moral or good system, but the practicing behind developing that model as a social norm would certainly be easier. However, we do not live in a world where that is currently an option for us as teachers. Therefore, there has been (and will continue to be) a great deal of trial and error involved in the development of policy. In order to develop consistent philosophies and strategies for implementing those philosophies, people have had to make certain rules and choices. All of these decisions are influenced by people’s experiences and biases that cannot possibly be completely eliminated. People are a product of their societies, and since this creates a certain form of positionality even amongst the decision makers, the process (no matter how noble the end desired end result) will have its drawbacks and downsides. It is through this process that we understand how equality does not necessarily mean equity.

            Understanding how society’s accepted norms and value systems eventually breed inequality in our classrooms is paramount to understanding how we can use our classrooms in order to combat this process. However, this does make me wonder. If schools (and therefore classrooms) are a microcosm of society and how people interact with one another then will changing the microcosm really change society? As teachers we can at least hope that by addressing and correcting the problems that we can fix we are at least taking a step in the right directions towards social change.

            There are several statistics in Chapter 2 that address problems that almost everyone already perceives as true. Income and education are correlated, and minorities in American are typically given less opportunity and to achieve the most that they are capable of achieving. This is nothing new to those studying education or for anyone living in America to be honest. As a prospective teacher I do hope to address the inequalities that take place within the classroom as far as race and culture are concerned.Becoming “colorblind” is one option some teachers adopt. Others choose to recognize culture to an extreme level so that students can use their backgrounds to contribute to the classroom community. I think taking a dogmatic approach with either of these methods is dangerous. As with most others issues that we address, the middle ground is usually the best option. This implies that a case-by-case basis must be taken for almost every problem that we will encounter. The downside to this again is that choice and bias enter the equation. The most we can hope to do is to become educated about these issues and educate our students as well so that they understand the world that we are living in and how we are using to schools to try and rectify inequalities. It will be equally important to emphasize that this is a process that has never fully attained its goals. However, to be making decisions that we would consider morally good, we must continue in the direction of said goals.

            The part of Chapter 2 that was personally taxing for me was the issue of gender inequality in the schools systems based on future income levels. The authors state in a negative way that there are is an income disparity that has consistently existed in which men make more money over a lifetime than women do. The implication is that there is something that needst o be done in order to fix this problem. I think that this brings us back to the issue of the classroom being a microcosm of society. Americans typically value women as a strong part of society who can do anything that men can do based on a legal definition. However, allowing for this opportunity does not change the fact that women typically have a different role in society than men do. It seems odd to me that this grievance would be so greatly harped on without the understanding that women often play into this specified gender role. The majority of women still choose to engage in relationships where there are certain role. Women choose to be care takers and focus more on the emotional side of intelligence then men do in personal relationships. I am a true believer that how we do anything is how we do everything (from a psychological standpoint). Therefore, it would only make sense that these same gender roles would influence one’s perspective and positionality. To simply state that income disparity is a major issue seems a bit like coming into a movie during the final scene. We are discussing the problem without understanding the societal setup that we all knowingly participate in.

            To be sure, I am not suggesting that these are not problems that need to be fixed. However, it is easier for me to understand this specific inequality than it is for me to understand the complexities of racial inequality since I am a white woman. Racism and sexism are two powerful forces in our society that have been fully exposed through studies of education. The question of how to handle them should therefore involve a careful examination of the exact root of that problem instead of making short term solutions and assumptions about blame.