Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Finn Article: Connections with Kozol/ Argument

Connections & Argument

Finn seems to have the same philosophy that Kozol has; change needs to happen from the bottom up in order to change the inequalities regarding class and race. “Grass roots activism around schools is springing up all over the nation (Finn Preface XII). What both authors are saying is that we as teachers need to empower our students to value literacy as a way to change the injustice of inequality. We need to change the working-class student population of literacy and school knowledge. This reminds me of the ‘Obama test score effect’ we discussed in class on Monday: Children need to be motivated to want change and positive role models are a powerful motivator.

The other connection that both authors have is that they refer to inequalities, but slightly differently; Kozol’s being ‘savage ’ and Finn’s being ‘subtle’(Finn Chapter 1: P.1).

Finn and Kozol also refer to the problem of inequity and the following quotes demonstrate this: “teachers with seniority had the higher classes” (Finn. P.3) meaning higher ability, Kozol states: “desperation strategies come out of the acceptance of inequity. If we did not have a deeply segregated system in which experienced instructors teach the privileged and the less experienced are sent to children of minorities…”

Both authors refer to teachers who set low expectations of their students which projects a sense of ‘this is all they are worth’. I think if you set the bar low then yes, it is true that most, if not all children can reach that level, but the message you are giving these children is that they are not worth it. Finn encourages us as teachers to empower our students by providing them with equal literacy opportunities so that they can understand and therefore be players in the world of privilege, and in turn be a part of changing the injustice that exists.

Lastly, Finn calls teachers to action in his quote: ‘No matter what the solutions are, it’s hard-bitten school teachers who will need to implement them’.

1 comment:

  1. I was having a conversation the other day about inequalities in education and how they still exist and what I found is that it's hard for people outside of the field to believe that in 2010 inequalities exist. Experienced teachers do often teach to the college-bound or higher- skilled students while less experienced teachers "get stuck" teaching to students who don't believe in themselves and who have probably never had anyone believe in them. Unfortunately these are only some inequalities that exist and it's a good thing that people like Kozol and Finn research these matters and bring them to the surface. As teachers we don't always have the solutions but we can try to spread the word to better inform people if change is to happen.
    ~Kelly

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