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Tuesday, January 15, 2013
March 21...Relating the Interviews to the Theory
Think
about your mini-interviews.Can you see
any ways in which the theory we read illuminates your participant's comments?
Are there any ways in which your participant's comments contradict the theory
we have read?Any surprises?
My participant went along with Labree's Theory of social mobility and social efficiency. They talked about how education is a tool for not only the students but for the country as well. I thought it was especially interesting when they mentioned that because the wealthy control the government they control the schools which in turn controls the students. They then stated that this is not necassarilly a bad thing because funds are needed and the values/lessons schools teach students are very important in their lives. I think it is amazing for a teacher to respond in this fashion because it showed that they had been thinking about it for a long time and drawn a detailed conclusion from it with both positives and negatives. The other interesting thing I found that was repeated a lot was that schooling can only do so much. Much of the responsibility is on the parent and the student. This response could be due to blaming of teachers or the fact that a child isn't a student till about five or six years old in which they have already had plenty of influence from their parents. Another fact is the students are only at school for about seven hours a day. That leaves 17 other hours they are influenced by other things than teachers. All in all the interview was successful, deep and let me see a side of my participant I had never seen before.
With the exception of social mobility, my participant's responses did not really match up with Labaree's theories. Instead, he went into more detail about how schools should be used to motivate kids to learn more about the world around them, and enjoy the learning and discovery process as a whole. He also brought up that he feels that one of his main priorities as a teacher is to help his students and his parents in any way he can and be a figure of guidance to them. However, I also got the sense that he felt a little "stuck" especially when it comes to using standardized testing as measuring student progress. He believes that there should be another way to show that students are learning at school, but he stated that he doesn't quite know what to do about that. Also, he did state that with his accelerated and advanced students especially that many of them seem to be too concerned with getting the right answer so they can get the grade, rather than enjoying the process of learning new information. My participant also address social interactions in school and how he tries to get the point across that school, just like life, is all about collaboration, even if it means working with people you don't necessarily like. He even addressed how schools have to deal with the fact that there are so many students who come from so many different backgrounds, and some students will always have more advantages than others, and that's something that teachers and students will always have to deal with. He talked about always adjusting to and coping with different student needs and how that's shaped the way he's sees things. Basically, from his point of view, school consists of a broad spectrum of students and teachers, and teachers have many responsibilities such as trying to impart knowledge, help kids develop socially, etc. Interestingly, he brought up the idea of the tension that exists between what the federal government tries to impose on schools and what the localities want to do. He stated that with all these reforms that come up, he doesn’t like how they are always changing, or sometimes, one reform comes in, and then it gets shoved aside as quickly as it came in. He thinks that something good needs to come in, and then we should stick with it for a long time. Finally, he felt that sometimes critics of public school don’t really get the big picture of what teachers and students have to go through, especially if they are not educators themselves. Overall, I thought my participant brought up some really interesting points. It was nice seeing him again, and he was glad to see me again as well.
The participant had mixed responses in regards to the theories we studied about in class. Her view on schooling was heavily influenced by the diverse population of the school. She tended to focus on diversity and mentioned how schooling has become a tool to compartmentalize student's into the work force. The student's willingness to learn resulted in the potentials they had, therefore predisposing them to a specific area in the real world. In accordance to Labaree's perspective on schooling, my teacher reiterated how classes should not revolve around grading. However, grading is the most efficient tool to assure the student body gets the most out of schooling. If there were no grades, only a small minority would actually want to learn for the sake of expanding their thought processes. Most students are obsessed with numbers,as they have developed to equate knowledge with grading. She mentions that she tries to use non-traditional methods to extract the most a student has. For example, rather than presenting a powerpoint then giving a multiple-choice exam, as many instructors do, she prefers for the students to engage in group activities and assigning them projects. This way the students can showcase what they have learned and not feel constricted in the presentation of their knowledge. Tests tend to serve to certain purposes, like showing the school board that the teachers are doing there job. Yet, they don't serve the purpose of schooling, as it limits what the teachers can teach. Standardization engulfs majority of the year and instructors are given defaulted materials the students MUST learn in order to advance. She wishes there was a better way, but there isn't. It was interesting to see her perspective, because she teaches a marketing class and a lot of her responses were reflective of the business world. For example, she mentioned how in the business world there is a heavy focus on interpersonal skills and group work, which is often ignored in schools.
My participant presented several examples of Labree's theories. The two that were prevalent were social mobility and social efficiency. The participant said school was a tool to change social status, get into college, get a good job, fill voids in the job market and keep society progressing. I think it was very interesting to find all these ideas in the interview. My only fear is if I shaped the interview due to me knowing about Labree's theories and being the interviewer.
My participant was absolutely all about democratic equality. He really felt like schooling should be about making people better at existing in society, and that's what he focused on. He was adamant that school sometimes got in the way of his education (and he quoted Mark Twain for that one) and that the system was flawed. But one topic that he talked about that I found interesting was standardization. He discussed how unfair standardization was, and how it seemed rigged against someone from a less educated, poor background. He named his own struggles, being born in a different country, and growing up in a spanish-speaking family, and how he often felt that standardize tests should have been easy for him, but were geared against ESL students. Yet, he then turned and agreed that standardization was necessary to maintain a balance and a level of quality in the schools. It was very, very interesting.
My participant went along with Labree's Theory of social mobility and social efficiency. They talked about how education is a tool for not only the students but for the country as well. I thought it was especially interesting when they mentioned that because the wealthy control the government they control the schools which in turn controls the students. They then stated that this is not necassarilly a bad thing because funds are needed and the values/lessons schools teach students are very important in their lives. I think it is amazing for a teacher to respond in this fashion because it showed that they had been thinking about it for a long time and drawn a detailed conclusion from it with both positives and negatives.
ReplyDeleteThe other interesting thing I found that was repeated a lot was that schooling can only do so much. Much of the responsibility is on the parent and the student. This response could be due to blaming of teachers or the fact that a child isn't a student till about five or six years old in which they have already had plenty of influence from their parents. Another fact is the students are only at school for about seven hours a day. That leaves 17 other hours they are influenced by other things than teachers.
All in all the interview was successful, deep and let me see a side of my participant I had never seen before.
Craig Luskey
With the exception of social mobility, my participant's responses did not really match up with Labaree's theories. Instead, he went into more detail about how schools should be used to motivate kids to learn more about the world around them, and enjoy the learning and discovery process as a whole. He also brought up that he feels that one of his main priorities as a teacher is to help his students and his parents in any way he can and be a figure of guidance to them. However, I also got the sense that he felt a little "stuck" especially when it comes to using standardized testing as measuring student progress. He believes that there should be another way to show that students are learning at school, but he stated that he doesn't quite know what to do about that. Also, he did state that with his accelerated and advanced students especially that many of them seem to be too concerned with getting the right answer so they can get the grade, rather than enjoying the process of learning new information. My participant also address social interactions in school and how he tries to get the point across that school, just like life, is all about collaboration, even if it means working with people you don't necessarily like. He even addressed how schools have to deal with the fact that there are so many students who come from so many different backgrounds, and some students will always have more advantages than others, and that's something that teachers and students will always have to deal with. He talked about always adjusting to and coping with different student needs and how that's shaped the way he's sees things. Basically, from his point of view, school consists of a broad spectrum of students and teachers, and teachers have many responsibilities such as trying to impart knowledge, help kids develop socially, etc. Interestingly, he brought up the idea of the tension that exists between what the federal government tries to impose on schools and what the localities want to do. He stated that with all these reforms that come up, he doesn’t like how they are always changing, or sometimes, one reform comes in, and then it gets shoved aside as quickly as it came in. He thinks that something good needs to come in, and then we should stick with it for a long time. Finally, he felt that sometimes critics of public school don’t really get the big picture of what teachers and students have to go through, especially if they are not educators themselves. Overall, I thought my participant brought up some really interesting points. It was nice seeing him again, and he was glad to see me again as well.
ReplyDeleteNavami Ravindra
The participant had mixed responses in regards to the theories we studied about in class. Her view on schooling was heavily influenced by the diverse population of the school. She tended to focus on diversity and mentioned how schooling has become a tool to compartmentalize student's into the work force. The student's willingness to learn resulted in the potentials they had, therefore predisposing them to a specific area in the real world. In accordance to Labaree's perspective on schooling, my teacher reiterated how classes should not revolve around grading. However, grading is the most efficient tool to assure the student body gets the most out of schooling. If there were no grades, only a small minority would actually want to learn for the sake of expanding their thought processes. Most students are obsessed with numbers,as they have developed to equate knowledge with grading. She mentions that she tries to use non-traditional methods to extract the most a student has. For example, rather than presenting a powerpoint then giving a multiple-choice exam, as many instructors do, she prefers for the students to engage in group activities and assigning them projects. This way the students can showcase what they have learned and not feel constricted in the presentation of their knowledge. Tests tend to serve to certain purposes, like showing the school board that the teachers are doing there job. Yet, they don't serve the purpose of schooling, as it limits what the teachers can teach. Standardization engulfs majority of the year and instructors are given defaulted materials the students MUST learn in order to advance. She wishes there was a better way, but there isn't. It was interesting to see her perspective, because she teaches a marketing class and a lot of her responses were reflective of the business world. For example, she mentioned how in the business world there is a heavy focus on interpersonal skills and group work, which is often ignored in schools.
ReplyDeleteMy participant presented several examples of Labree's theories. The two that were prevalent were social mobility and social efficiency. The participant said school was a tool to change social status, get into college, get a good job, fill voids in the job market and keep society progressing. I think it was very interesting to find all these ideas in the interview. My only fear is if I shaped the interview due to me knowing about Labree's theories and being the interviewer.
ReplyDeleteCraig Luskey
My participant was absolutely all about democratic equality. He really felt like schooling should be about making people better at existing in society, and that's what he focused on. He was adamant that school sometimes got in the way of his education (and he quoted Mark Twain for that one) and that the system was flawed. But one topic that he talked about that I found interesting was standardization. He discussed how unfair standardization was, and how it seemed rigged against someone from a less educated, poor background. He named his own struggles, being born in a different country, and growing up in a spanish-speaking family, and how he often felt that standardize tests should have been easy for him, but were geared against ESL students. Yet, he then turned and agreed that standardization was necessary to maintain a balance and a level of quality in the schools. It was very, very interesting.
ReplyDelete