After reading the introduction and my assigned section,
Schools, in the Costello article it made me realize that there is a disconnect
between our students and the schools they attend. Like spoken about in the
introduction, in this country the bulk of funding that goes towards youth
welfare is focused on preventive or ameliorative programs. These programs are
very important but it does not target the needs of all the youth in the
community.
The key ideas in the ‘Schools’ section of the article is
that youths spend more time in school than any other organization. However there
is a conflict between the needs of youth and what schools provide. Similar to
the Prensky article, educators need to change with the needs of students they
are educating. This may seem like an easy task but educators have many people
they have to answer too and must also follow rules.
In each case study they spoke about how a certain school
overcame a certain category they had against them for example school size. Public
schools are usually large in size because it is cheaper to run and you need
less administers. But because of the large student populations it makes for a
less personal experience between students, teachers, the principle and administers.
Even though this may be true in some cases it is not true for all.
At the John F.
Kennedy High School in the Bronx has a student population of over 5,000
students. Out of the 5,000 students, 2,000 have an hour long commute, by choice,
and attendance rates are high. The principle of John F. Kennedy developed a
sense of community and belonging despite the size. This school is the perfect
example of overcoming the obstacle of school size and having a personal relationship
with students and meeting their needs.
What the case studies have taught me is that even when the
odds are against us they is always a way to overcome and push through those
odds.
From reading your post I agree that yes teachers have a lot of over head that they must report to, however, teachers and overhead have to realize it is not about them but their students. It was great to learn that: "John F. Kennedy school has over come this struggle by having a sense of community and belonging".
ReplyDeleteI feel that it is also student and teacher responsibility to make sure that everyone is getting the information across and understanding it. Therefore by having open communication between the two is a great way for a successful relationship and builds the community within a school.
Nice use of pics here :)
ReplyDeleteIt is true that the more students there are in a classroom the less they may feel included or like they matter. Nobody wants to feel like 'just a number'. As humans we are social beings and everyone needs attention to thrive, and in these classrooms not all the students are receiving the attention they need.
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