Kozol, Chapter 4

“Work-related themes and managerial ideas were carried over into almost every classroom of the school.”  (Kozol, 90)

      Schools appear to be trying to get kids into the work force quicker than ever.  The “jobs” schools give students allow them to feel successful.  Though they actually have assigned tasks, these are mostly titles.  All of the titles given have “manager” in the name.  Though it is important for students to feel like a manager, not all students will become a manager.

“Turning a corner, I encountered a ‘Help Wanted’ sign.” (Kozol, 91)

      ‘Help Wanted’?  It is certainly odd for a sign of this nature to appear in the hallway of an elementary school.  According to the book, this sign was a request for ‘managers’ as listed in the first quote.  These positions are giving students responsibilities they may one day see in ‘the real world’.  These jobs were given based on applications which required recommendations.  It is odd that schools would be getting students to ‘apply’ for ‘jobs’ at such a young age.  The other half of the matter is that these ‘jobs’ require a recommendation to accompany an application.

“In the Columbus schools, as we have seen, children are actively ‘incentivize’ (this is another term one hears in many inner-city schools) by getting reimbursements for the acquisition of a skill in terms of simulated cash.” (Kozol, 96)

      This is one of my favorite things to hear and read about.  It bothers me that students are being rewarded for learning.  In the real world the reward for learning is the knowledge gained.  I always feel rewarded when I learn something new because I know something I didn’t before, it is especially rewarding when I share what I learned with someone else.  In the workforce you may receive a bonus or a raise for completing a task that you know, but, chances are that, that task may not involve learning something new.

“In the olden days, he said, ‘public schools prepared students for the workplace by teaching them to come to the same place every day,’ to ‘stay there for a prescribed number of hours’ and to ‘follow the teacher’s (boss’s) instructions.’” (Kozol, 105)

      When you think about this, it is really sad.  This is what many people end up doing with the remainder of their lives; waking up at 5:00 a.m., jumping on the train to New York by 6:00 a.m., into work by 7:30 a.m.—it is a repetitive schedule that takes place 5 days a week for most individuals.  I don’t believe that schools should be ‘training’ students for this because they could get jobs that don’t have a schedule like this.  I remember being in school and disliking the fact that I would have to wake up to be into school by a certain time, though as I look into my future, this will be a part of my daily activities for the next 35+ years.

“It is not unusual these days to come into and urban school in which the principal no longer even calls herself ‘the principal’ but chooses instead to be described as the ‘building CEO’ or ‘building manager.’” (Kozol, 107)

      This quote show how schools are turning into businesses.  Everyone, including the students, is given a title that is related to managing.  Not all students are going to go into business.  Additionally as a teacher, I would be offended to be called the Classroom manager’.  Sure managing the students in the classroom is a part of my responsibilities, but my main goal is to educate my students.  Schools are not businesses meant to make money, they are put in place to educate the youth of the communities.

“It is as if they’re looking back at an ideal of education that they valued deeply when they started on their career, and value still, but they feel they have to set aside in order to respond to the realities before them in the neighborhoods they serve and to deliver those empirical results that are demanded of them.” (Kozol, 108)

      Teachers are hired for schools to teach.  They are the one’s educating the youth of America.  As I look at toward the future I feel that the students are the most important thing in the classroom, and that I need to do everything I can to help them learn.  Unfortunately ‘doing everything I can’ will create some expenses; this leads to one of the example ideals I have.  The expenses required for the students to learn should be covered by the school, but sometimes teachers must draw finances from their own pockets to assist in the education of their students.  Though I don’t wish for this to happen, it is inevitable and something I will have to deal with.

*The above listed quotes are from:The Shame of the Nation by Jonathan Kozol.  The opinions of the blog author are only opinions and are not meant to offend anyone.