Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work
1.) “As one child said, what you do is "store facts up in your head like cold storage - until you need it later for a test or your job."”
I chose this quote because it reminded me very much of exactly what I did all through school; and I don' think that it was just me. Going through school we seem to store up just enough of the information just long enough to pass the examination of the material and then we tend to forget about it. This quote is saying that kids know that they will need the skills that they are learning, but that they don't see the value in them now; they only think that they are important for the future.
2.) “Schoolwork helps one to achieve, to excel, to prepare for life.”
I liked this quote because it could and could not necessarily be true. I think that a lot of the skills we use to achieve an outcome will be of some greater value in "the real world" but I also think that a lot of things that we learn in school, depending on our career choices, may never be used again.
3.) "In the middle class school, work is getting the right answer."
I think that this quote perfectly explains the mentality of most students, including my high school self. Kids almost never really realize what they should be getting out of an activity and instead focus on being able to yield an answer. I don't think that this is the way students should go about learning.
Overall this piece was not hard to read and it was kind of interesting. I liked how it got me thinking about what I want the mentality of my own students to be in the future.
Meg,
ReplyDeleteI like how you chose quotes that are simple yet powerful. I connect a lot with the third quote because that what most teachers aim for. They focus more on getting the right answer, because the more right answers students get, the higher the probability of students getting higher test scores, which will make them and the school look good. It benefits the teachers and schools more than it benefits the students. To think that is more important than the learning of the students is beyond me.
I totally agree with your comment for the first quote. When it's time for a test or an exam for school I tend to cram in all my knowledge. For most classes it does not deal with knowing facts but rather memorizing them. Then days later they are all forgotten. I remember how in highschool after Christmas break I would be lost for a couple of days because I had forgotten everything. And after the summer was even worse.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your explanation of the first quote. You're other quotes were short but got to the essence of the article. This article also had me thinking of the mindset of my students and how I want them to actually learn the material and not just store it for later use on a test. This information could be useful some day...
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