Excluding Beauty

The following quotes are taken from the book The Shame of the Nation, written by Jonathan Kozol.

“Do kids who go to school like these enjoy the days they spend in them? In schools, for most of them, a happy place to be? You do not find the answers to these questions in reports about achievement levels, scientific methods of accountability, or structural revisions in the modes of governance. Documents like these don’t speak of happiness.” Chapter 7, Page 163.

Children are required to take practice and take standardized tests day after day. These tests do not measure if a child is happy or stressed. More focus needs to be put on the kids not on the tests. It is important for children to learn by having fun and in a safe environment, but this does not occur in urban classrooms. Teachers should provide lessons in language arts, though words, art, and reading to help kids express their feelings. For some children this is the only place where they can be “just kids”, home life could be tense. By providing more emphasis on the students, children will feel safe and open up to learning.

“Even with the serious infrastructure problems that then principal had pointed out, it was more cheerful school, by far, than any I had visited in recent months. The instructional approach in use within the school, which was based upon a body of ideas called multiple intelligences.” Chapter 7, Page 168.

The multiple intelligence theory is one that every teacher should use. It provides music, body movement, art, mathematics, nature, and more in lessons. Children learn in different ways, so it provides opportunity for all to gain new experiences.  Students will have time to explore new ways of learning and will also provide fun in the classroom.  In the quote above it states the children were more cheerful, this is what kids need in schools to learn, grow, and gain confidence in positive ways.

“Among the items documented in court papers, according to the Sacramento Bee, were chemistry labs with no chemicals at all, literature classes without books, computer classes where according to one student, we sit there and talk about what we would be doing if we had computers. There were classes in which students were forced to stand or to sit on bookshelves, cabinets, or window sills because there were more kids than chairs.” Chapter 7, Page 171.

How are children supposed to learn when they are not provided with, books, computers, and most important desks? I feel so bad for these students who don’t have the materials they need to learn.  What is the administration and district doing for these students? One of my thoughts was that the community should donate or set up fundraisers for the school, but if the schools are in low income communities, families might not have money to donate. Again, I wish there could be an quick solution to these problems in urban schools.

“Several students spoke then of a problem about frequent substitute teachers, which was documented also in court papers. One strategy for staffing classes in these three-and-four-track schools when substitutes could not be found was to assign a teacher who was not “on track”-that is, a teacher who was on vacation-to come back to school and fill in for the missing teacher. Just yesterday I was subbing for a substitute who was subbing for a teacher who never shows up, a teacher told the ACLU lawyers. That’s one scenario…” Chapter 7, Page 180.

How can teachers not show up to school!? Students need routines and structure in school. It is the one place where they depend on routine because outside of school their home life might be disorderly. If students are expected to show up to school every day, shouldn’t the staff have the same expectations? This is how teachers lose students respect because clearly they do not care how they do in school. Administrations need to check backgrounds of people before they hire them. I strongly believe that all teachers should be certified and dedicated to their job.

“Students who needed to use the library to do a research paper for a class ran into problems because the library was often closed when it was being used for other purposes such as administration of examinations, typically for make-up tests.  In all, according to the school librarian, the library was closed more than a quarter of the year.” Chapter 7, Page 182.

A lot of students in the book are from low income communities. Most families probably cannot afford to buy computers. If the library is closed for weeks at a time, how are students supposed to complete assignments on time? As I read Kozol’s book, he talks about schools being overcrowded, so it’s possible there might be no other place to administrate the tests. But other students are suffering because they are not able to use the resources available in the school.

The most coherent sentences was by Fortino, “I don’t have to go all into detail. I think it’s a school that is in deep shit overall….The biggest problem with Fremont is over population. Teachers are pushed so far that they just give up on their students. Others try to keep up the fight, but they are losing slowly.” Chapter 7, Page 184.

This statement says it all. First a student is aware of the problems that are happening in school. It saddens me that teachers are giving up on their students. I admire the ones who are still fighting and that are not giving up easily. Teachers need help and support from the community. Conditions in urban schools need to change, things are already bad and they arel only going to get worse if something is not done immediately.