Just like a roller coaster, everyone has enjoyed watching our economy as it has followed its up and down, looping course. Wait, I have that wrong. Nobody has enjoyed watching what has happened to our economy. Even more than not wanting the roller coaster to stay on its current path, there is not a single person, to my knowledge, who has reveled in the budget cuts to which our county’s education system has been subjected.
Yes when one looks at the numbers it can be viably argued that the monetary value of the cuts made has been necessary. But, in my opinion, the government has not prioritized these cuts properly. At a time when everybody is looking towards the future, the State has been incredibly misguided in having chosen the education budget as the one to be cut rather than countless other budgets.
While it may be controversial to make the claim that certain budgets be cut more than others, in the long-run, cutting the education budget less will directly cause there to be less need for larger budgets in other areas. Take for example the projected Health and Human Services budget for California in 2010-2011. Currently there has been approximately $29, 792, 401 allotted to this department. While I firmly believe that it is important to put money towards health services, by putting some of this money into the Department of Education, I believe that the same end can be reached. In having a larger budget to put towards education, California schools will be able to continue employing its teachers and staff. By keeping people on staff, schools will be better able to educate their students on important issues, such as healthy eating and practicing safe sex. Thanks to being able to maintain a staff that can teach the state’s children in such subjects, California will be able to save money when it comes to health services, meaning that less money can be put towards this department.
There is no doubt that during the recent recession everybody has been strapped for money. But those of us living in California are also put in a tough place when our education is forced to take a massive hit because there is not enough money. I can only speak for myself and those I have talked to, but a slight increase in taxes to ensure that there is a future for California’s education system is something that is acceptable. By slightly increasing the amount of taxes paid to the state, thee will be more money that can be divided amongst the individual departmental budgets, in particular education.
The situation has become so dire for some schools, such as Carthay Center Elementary in Los Angeles Unified School District 4, that fundraising has begun within the school in order to be able to pay the salaries of some faculty members. The school needs to raise $20,000 before September 30 in order to be able to keep its librarian on staff. I ask the following to the state of California and those deciding the budget: is it really worth not providing schools with enough money to be able to keep a librarian on staff? Is putting money towards other things worth keeping children from learning to read? To me the answer to both of these questions is incredibly clear: NO!
It is true that during times such as now, when all pockets are feeling lighter, there is no doubt that it is difficult to decide where money should go and how it should be spent. However, as I have stated, it is quite possible to argue for certain aspects of life to be allocated more money than others. By putting more money towards education, California easily will be able to save money in other areas. But the state has to be patient. The state must learn to prioritize which budgets receive how much money. Maybe if we put more money into our education system, the government would have learned better and finally realize how important education is to our present and future.
Showing posts with label Education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Education. Show all posts
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
Parental Presence
When it comes to institutions of learning, there are countless players in the education of children. Of course there are the students and teachers themselves, and there are the school's administrators. A sometimes forgotten demographic,however, is that of parents. Without the parents, the children would not be in the classroom. This is true in the sense that if not for dear old Mom and Dad, that little student sitting at the cluster of desks in the left corner of the room would not even exist. But past that, it is because of the parents that the student is sitting in this particular classroom. The parents choose what school to send their children to, thereby becoming intricately involved in their entire educational career.
But what is the role of the parent past choosing the school that their children will be attending? Different parents take very different approaches to how they involve themselves in their children's classes. Some are the over involved parent, the ones who take it upon themselves to act as another, if not the primary, educator. This is the type of parent that teachers cannot stand! There is a reason that every teacher gets hired, a reason why they are the one up in front, running the class. Yes, this is often the predominant type of parent, but not the only kind out there.
Despite being a rare specimen, the helpful parent surely does exist. No need to be overly involved, no need to be telling teachers and administrators how to run their classrooms. Only an obliging volunteer when needed. These individuals are willing to take the necessary steps to enhance their children's experience while in school. It is these parents that all teachers wish to have in their classrooms. The parent willing to drive for field trips, willing to help out during the class bake-sale, willing to take home the class guinea pig for winter vacation.
This latter type of parent is the one that needs to become the dominant parental presence in the classroom. While the overbearing, overly involved parent is better than the parent taking no interest whatsoever, this demographic is, in some ways, just as detrimental. For the child of the overly involved parent, there is nothing more dreaded than the image of that parent walking through the classroom door. And when something so unfortunate happens for children at a young age, it is such events that these students associate with their education for the rest of their lives. When this happens, when, for the rest of their lives, students correlate their ever present parents with school, the desire to learn is greatly diminished.
As those involved in the field of education, it is our responsibility to not only advocate for the helpful classroom parent, but to assist in training this breed of parent. Not only does having parents willing to help make things easier for the teacher, but also makes the entire learning experience infinitely more enjoyable for the students. To all you parents our there, take an interest in your children's education, but do not assume that it is up to you to provide them with their formal education.
But what is the role of the parent past choosing the school that their children will be attending? Different parents take very different approaches to how they involve themselves in their children's classes. Some are the over involved parent, the ones who take it upon themselves to act as another, if not the primary, educator. This is the type of parent that teachers cannot stand! There is a reason that every teacher gets hired, a reason why they are the one up in front, running the class. Yes, this is often the predominant type of parent, but not the only kind out there.
Despite being a rare specimen, the helpful parent surely does exist. No need to be overly involved, no need to be telling teachers and administrators how to run their classrooms. Only an obliging volunteer when needed. These individuals are willing to take the necessary steps to enhance their children's experience while in school. It is these parents that all teachers wish to have in their classrooms. The parent willing to drive for field trips, willing to help out during the class bake-sale, willing to take home the class guinea pig for winter vacation.
This latter type of parent is the one that needs to become the dominant parental presence in the classroom. While the overbearing, overly involved parent is better than the parent taking no interest whatsoever, this demographic is, in some ways, just as detrimental. For the child of the overly involved parent, there is nothing more dreaded than the image of that parent walking through the classroom door. And when something so unfortunate happens for children at a young age, it is such events that these students associate with their education for the rest of their lives. When this happens, when, for the rest of their lives, students correlate their ever present parents with school, the desire to learn is greatly diminished.
As those involved in the field of education, it is our responsibility to not only advocate for the helpful classroom parent, but to assist in training this breed of parent. Not only does having parents willing to help make things easier for the teacher, but also makes the entire learning experience infinitely more enjoyable for the students. To all you parents our there, take an interest in your children's education, but do not assume that it is up to you to provide them with their formal education.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Education Evolution
The question of what a public intellectual is happens to be rather interesting. What makes an individual a public intellectual? What is the function of the public intellectual? What is it that these individuals provide the public? In his blog post The "Decline" of Public Intellectuals?, Stephen Mack introduces Jean Bethke Elshtain's version of what the function is served by a public intellectual. As put forth by Elshtain, it is the function of the public intellectual to provide criticism. It is up to these individuals to look at aspects of society, discover what is wrong with their area of study, and finally to propose ways to correct the issue, whether in a public forum or to specialists.
In virtually all professional fields it is possible to find at least one public intellectual. But in order to truly understand how a public intellectual functions in and contributes to society, it is important to not attempt to look at a vast array of individuals. Rather one must spend time studying one individual, so that it is possible to gain an understanding of the work of a public intellectual. To accomplish this end, this blog post will be focusing on the great educator and education theorist E.D. Hirsch.
Hirsch spent the majority of his adult life in classrooms. Until his recent retirement, he was serving as a University Professor of Education and Humanities, as well as the Linden Kent Memorial Professor of English Emeritus, at the University of Virginia. As a professional educator, Hirsch was given the opportunity to take an extensive look at the methods employed by educators. In conducting his studies, Hirsch developed his own theory of education.
At the center of Hirsch's educational theory is the belief that students must be taught a "lasting body of knowledge". It is from this base, core knowledge that all other learning is able to take place. While it is much easier to simply view education as multi-faceted, as an aspect of our lives that is built of multiple pieces, Hirsch proposes that the process of learning should be studied as, what he refers to as, "learning builds on learning". What Hirsch discovered is that the more knowledge a person has already acquired, the more that person will be able to learn. In a way, one's education is like a LEGO set; before the piece at the top of the tower can be put on, a foundation must be created that is built upon.
It has been a common held belief that anyone has the ability to teach. It is presented in Hirsch's educational theory that the anyone can teach principle is true, as long as a few guidelines are met. He states that to be a successful teacher, one must only be competent, which stems from having a good deal of general knowledge. In order to gain this general knowledge, to build the necessary foundation for all future learning, an emphasis should be placed on a common curriculum focusing on core knowledge. From this belief, Hirsch developed his Core Knowledge Sequence. This method of education is implemented, at any level, in 1120 schools throughout the United States.
A key aspect of the Core Knowledge Sequence is how a teacher meets the needs of the class's individuals' This question can be approached in one of two ways: individual instruction or whole-class instruction. By employing the former, an educator is able to spend time with individual students, working on what the student needs the most help with, the areas in which they are weakest. However, there is an entire class that goes without instruction if the teacher spends the entire class period working with one individual. When whole-class instruction is employed, the entire class is able to receive the necessary core knowledge, from which all future education stems.
As previously stated, Hirsch's educational theory is strongly set upon the idea of a common curriculum. According to Hirsch, the importance of this commonality comes from the role that it plays in equalizing opportunities. By establishing a common curriculum, schools teaching students coming from disadvantaged backgrounds would be able to provide their students with opportunities similar to those experienced by their more well-off counterparts. In creating this equal level, through establishing a common curriculum to be put into use (something over 1000 schools have done thus far), Hirsch effectively changed the entire education system of the United States.
E.D. Hirsch has spent his life as an educator and an educational theorist. But does this make him a public intellectual? According to Elshtain's theory that a public intellectual is one who provides criticism, yes Hirsch is a public intellectual. He has studied to great lengths the education systems within America. He has discovered issues within the current system and the methods of teaching which are employed. Hirsch then went on to become a public critic of these issues and developed and proposed very necessary changes. With over 1000 schools now using the curriculum created by Hirsch, I would say that he is an incredibly successful public intellectual. Thank you Mr. E.D. Hirsch.
In virtually all professional fields it is possible to find at least one public intellectual. But in order to truly understand how a public intellectual functions in and contributes to society, it is important to not attempt to look at a vast array of individuals. Rather one must spend time studying one individual, so that it is possible to gain an understanding of the work of a public intellectual. To accomplish this end, this blog post will be focusing on the great educator and education theorist E.D. Hirsch.
Hirsch spent the majority of his adult life in classrooms. Until his recent retirement, he was serving as a University Professor of Education and Humanities, as well as the Linden Kent Memorial Professor of English Emeritus, at the University of Virginia. As a professional educator, Hirsch was given the opportunity to take an extensive look at the methods employed by educators. In conducting his studies, Hirsch developed his own theory of education.
At the center of Hirsch's educational theory is the belief that students must be taught a "lasting body of knowledge". It is from this base, core knowledge that all other learning is able to take place. While it is much easier to simply view education as multi-faceted, as an aspect of our lives that is built of multiple pieces, Hirsch proposes that the process of learning should be studied as, what he refers to as, "learning builds on learning". What Hirsch discovered is that the more knowledge a person has already acquired, the more that person will be able to learn. In a way, one's education is like a LEGO set; before the piece at the top of the tower can be put on, a foundation must be created that is built upon.
It has been a common held belief that anyone has the ability to teach. It is presented in Hirsch's educational theory that the anyone can teach principle is true, as long as a few guidelines are met. He states that to be a successful teacher, one must only be competent, which stems from having a good deal of general knowledge. In order to gain this general knowledge, to build the necessary foundation for all future learning, an emphasis should be placed on a common curriculum focusing on core knowledge. From this belief, Hirsch developed his Core Knowledge Sequence. This method of education is implemented, at any level, in 1120 schools throughout the United States.
A key aspect of the Core Knowledge Sequence is how a teacher meets the needs of the class's individuals' This question can be approached in one of two ways: individual instruction or whole-class instruction. By employing the former, an educator is able to spend time with individual students, working on what the student needs the most help with, the areas in which they are weakest. However, there is an entire class that goes without instruction if the teacher spends the entire class period working with one individual. When whole-class instruction is employed, the entire class is able to receive the necessary core knowledge, from which all future education stems.
As previously stated, Hirsch's educational theory is strongly set upon the idea of a common curriculum. According to Hirsch, the importance of this commonality comes from the role that it plays in equalizing opportunities. By establishing a common curriculum, schools teaching students coming from disadvantaged backgrounds would be able to provide their students with opportunities similar to those experienced by their more well-off counterparts. In creating this equal level, through establishing a common curriculum to be put into use (something over 1000 schools have done thus far), Hirsch effectively changed the entire education system of the United States.
E.D. Hirsch has spent his life as an educator and an educational theorist. But does this make him a public intellectual? According to Elshtain's theory that a public intellectual is one who provides criticism, yes Hirsch is a public intellectual. He has studied to great lengths the education systems within America. He has discovered issues within the current system and the methods of teaching which are employed. Hirsch then went on to become a public critic of these issues and developed and proposed very necessary changes. With over 1000 schools now using the curriculum created by Hirsch, I would say that he is an incredibly successful public intellectual. Thank you Mr. E.D. Hirsch.
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