School Domination

School is an institution that is very dominant in every child’s life. Kids spend the better part of their lives in school and doing school related activities. But in reality people are never really free of the lessons and attributes of school. School teaches kids to become mindless and obedient workers and that is very important in our society. Emerson once said that in our society “the virtue in most request is conformity”. This can be seen as one of the main underlying lessons schools teach. Schools may boast about how they teach kids to become free and critical thinkers who will be able to think for them selves and become their own self. In reality as these words are spoken, their actions are a completely different matter. Schools have methods in which kids are taught to not think for themselves but to be dependent on the teacher figure to relay information on to them and to be plots waiting to be cultivated. Schools create a façade in which students are brought into a false sense of security where it more easily hides the underlying theme of creating perfect robots to be controlled. The students never know it because they are more then happy to believe the mask the school has put up then to change their role and break out. 

Maybe in some ways this is what the school wishes to succeed in, to have students not care to break out of something that is ultimately taking away their right to be independent. During some research John Gatto (winner of the New York City teacher award) figured out this math about how much time his students actually have to be themselves:

·      Out of 168 hours in each week my children sleep 56. That leaves them 112 hours a week out of which to fashion a self.

·      My children watch 55 hours of television a week according to recent reports. That leaves them 57 hours a week in which to grow up.

·      My children attend school 30 hours a week, use about 6 hours getting ready, going and coming home, and spend an average of 7 hours a week in homework, a total of 45 hours.

 

During that time they are under constant surveillance, have no private time or private space, and are disciplined if they try to assert individuality in the use of time or space. That leaves 12 hours a week out of which to create a unique consciousness. Of course, my kids eat, and that takes some time–not much because they’ve lost the tradition of family dining, but if we allow 3 hours a week to evening meals we arrive at a net amount of private time for each child of 9 hours. (Teacher of the Year Acceptance Speech)

It is ridiculous that after conducting this research he came to the conclusion students only have 12 hours to create our selves a week. From a young age we are brought into these pens which confine us and are never really free until after 13 years of our lives to then only be put into more box's where we lose the right to be individuals and are rewarded to be more like robots following the same pattern. Gatto even says, "The truth is that schools don’t really teach anything except how to obey orders." This is true. For all the years in school, students are taught to listen to teachers and to obey orders. Often in schools there are bells to signify when a class is over and to stop work, there are hand gestures and songs when teachers want us to be quiet. We are being taught to follow specific patterns like when people train their dogs and like dogs we will carry these lessons with us for the rest of our lives, bells will always signify that something is over and something new should be worked on. This is what they want to prepare us for. In society it is much easier to work with people who are already familiar with following orders and to not question or speak out.

America, our nation is supposed to fulfill dreams and to be a beacon of freedom. Now for the younger generations it is only a machine to better shape us into "model" citizens so they can work us until we grow old and retire or die. Real life lessons and adventures only exist in dreams or pages of books, no longer are children "allowed" to run free and discover new things, instead they sit confined for 6 hours a day in cells being taught to obey and get rid of their independence. Students are only given information, which they must commit to memory and then recite later on, never grasping the full picture of anything. Keeping the ideology that we are indeed ignorant and that we need the teacher to educate us and pass their knowledge onto us is a trap where we do not see the power in ourselves to be something more, to actually learn more then what we are being taught and actually obtain something meaningful in our bleak lives. There is also the connection between the humanist and the way SOF deals with educating kids. Though often times at most I see both ways of teaching. In most cases there is no strict boundaries between teacher and student, one is no more knowledgeable then the other. Though as much in any case there is the sign of clear respect and role of teacher pupil. But nothing along the lines where the students are completely ignorant and the teacher is the savior who will teach them everything they need. Though in classes like math and science I often see the narrative way where we merely sit there and they deposit information into our brains to store and catalog for later.

John Freire wrote in his book that "the more completely they accept the passive role imposed on them, the more they tend simply to adapt to the world as it is and to the fragmented view of reality deposited in them." Students not only do not do anything about the fact that they have little room to be free to be themselves, they allow it to be done when every day a bit of their individuality is taken from them. This causes us to be the oppressed where the oppressors do not wish to see the world transformed or revealed to the students so they use education to keep these from us. This is because schools have made them quite adapt. Instead of breaking free and changing how things are, the students will merely adapt and change themselves to how the world is.

 Even when students are finally allowed to return home or set free for the day, most children will run to the TV and watch shows for hours until their parents yell at them or they spend hours on home work. No one is allowed any free time. Weekends are merely facades where children wont complain about going to school every day with no breaks even though sometimes weekends are only spent on homework and school related activities. Though everyone can try to escape from the chains and cages, which entrap us, it is ultimately impossible to be completely free. There will always be cases in which the school’s teachings will find its way back to you, either through your own actions since is has been drilled into you or through another source. In the movie the Dead Poet’s Society, there was a teacher who tried to break his students out of their roles of obedient students and to open their eyes to the world around them. The teacher did many unconventional activities such as ripping pages out of textbooks, standing on the teacher’s desk and writing and reading poetry aloud for everyone to hear. The lessons he hoped to confer to his students were for them to strive to find their own voice and to look at things in different ways. Though while he was teaching them these ideas on transcendentalism, the school was the very opposite. They imposed and were strict about rules and following them. The school and the boy’s parents were the oppressor’s, oppressing on them their views on life and how things should be done. So many things were expected of the students and they never knew anything else but to follow along with what they were told. This all changed as they began to understand the lessons their new teacher was teaching them. One boy even disobeyed his father and went to act in a play. He took up his own interests and dreams in life and made them real. He created his own identity separate from what his parents and the school created. Although at the end he forsakes his identity and allowed his father to put chains on him. Though he did take matters into his own hands and killed himself as a way to escape. But couldn’t there have been other ways for him to be his own person, besides giving up and killing himself? Is that the fate that awaits all of us? Is there no hope to find a resolution? Is there only to swim with the stream and to make the best out of what you got, instead of trying to create something new?

There is no clear solution to being free of school’s oppression and domination. Though I do not see that many students will take the same road the kid in the Dead Poet’s Society did and kill themselves. Although in all likelihood, the students now are hardly aware of what is happening to them. But is it better to not know of what’s going on if there is no hope of escape? Won’t we be saving countless disappointments of hope when students find it is much harder to create a separate mind outside of what society wants of them? Maybe students have already discovered this fact and so have decided to “bound their eyes with one or another handkerchief, and attached themselves to some one of these communities of opinion.” (Emerson) School teaches students to adapt themselves to the ever presence and facts of life. Students will forever be constantly struggling with creating identities while trying to keep their identity separate from those around them. Conformity is the key concept every school wishes to imprint on their students. The schools do such a great job of it that because students have no separate identity outside of “student” it is easier to confer information and not be troubled about the importance of the facts of its meaning because the kids will not even dig any farther then what is given to them.

50-

John Gatto: Teacher of the Year Acceptance Speech
Gatto begins his speech with his concern of the school crisis. He connects the school crisis to our social crisis and says we have come to lose our identity. After conducting research Gatto figured out that his students only have 122 hours a week to fashion themselves. Most of the other time is consumed with school and school related activities plus the occasional TV watching. He continues to say "We live in networks, not communities, and everyone I know is lonely because of that." After 1850 when the compulsory method was introduced it has become much more wide spread. This has only taught the students to obey orders as well as decreasing literacy levels which never again after 1990 was above 91%. "Schools are intended to produce through the application of formulae, formulaic human beings whose behaviour can be predicted and controlled." It is not the fault of the teachers that students are producing such bad grades and behaviour problems, it is the system of education that has caused this difference in how education is being taught, where teachers are merely the messengers and the students the ones being delivered the package of not so much great knowledge but knowledge for society where individuality is taken out and conformity is taught as a good thing. Gatto argues that this concept of school has to be argued and redefined and fixed or merely broken where then students can be home schooled.

I find it ridiculous that after conducting this research he came to the conclusion we only have 12 hours to create our selves a week. After taking a closer look and adding stuff I know me and my classmates do, that 12 hours decreases severely. In society we have lost our childhood. From a young age we are brought into these pens which confine us and are never really free until after 13 years of our lives to then only be put into more box's where we lose the right to be individuals and are rewarded to be more like robots following the same pattern. Gatto even says "the truth is that schools don’t really teach anything except how to obey orders." This is true. For all the years in school, students are taught to listen to teachers and to obey orders. Often in schools there are bells to signify when a class is over and to stop work, there are hand gestures and songs when teachers want us to be quiet. We are being taught to follow specific patterns like when people train their dogs and like dogs we will carry these lessons with us for the rest of our lives, bells with always signify that something is over and something new should be worked on. This is what they want to prepare us for. In society it is much easier to work with people who are already familiar with following orders and to not question or speak out.
I agree fully that the two institutions that control children and young adults lives are television and school. But in reality you are to learn much more needed knowledge then that of regular and basic skills. Not saying i agree with this but this is what our society has set up. Real life lessons and adventures only exist in dreams or pages of books, no longer are children "allowed" to run free and discover new things, instead they sit confined for 6 hours a day in cells being taught to obey and get rid of their independence. Even when students are finally allowed to return home or set free from the day, most children will run to the TV and watch shows for hours until their parents yell at them or they spend hours on home work. No one is allowed any free time. Weekends are merely facades where children wont complain about going to school every day with no breaks even though sometimes weekends are only spent on home work and school related activities. Its kind of sad to hear all this. America, our nation is supposed to full fill dreams and be a beacon of freedom. Now for the younger generations it is only a machine to better shape us into "model" citizens so they can work us until we grow old and retire or die.


Paulo Freire: Pedagogy of the Oppressed
Freire criticizes the "banking" education where the teacher is merely reciting facts and the students only memorize it but do not take any thing significant away from it. They are not really learning to fully understand what is being taught to them they are only there so remember and recite the lessons taught to them. The students are nothing more then containers for the teachers to fill with knowledge. The teachers then become those with higher knowledge and the students are the ignorant people who must depend on the teacher to gain knowledge. The teacher then has a set purpose in life and is expected to fulfil it not only by the students but by the administrators who control the education. The oppressed with little thought for change will learn to adapt to their situation and can lead for them to be dominated later in life when they learn to not change the situation but to change to it. The humanist is another method to teaching where both teacher and student are more like equals and both have something to offer to help the other grow and learn.

This also connects to what Gatto was saying about students being mindless impassive people who are let out into the real world. "The more completely they accept the passive role imposed on them, the more they tend simply to adapt to the world as it is and to the fragmented view of reality deposited in them." In both arguments, the students are not taught to think for themselves, they are only given information which they must commit to memory and then recite later on, never grasping the full picture of anything. This causes us to be the oppressed where the oppressors do not wish to see the world transformed or revealed to the students so they use education to keep these from us. Keeping the ideology that we are indeed ignorant and that we need the teacher to educate us and pass their knowledge onto us is a trap where we do not see the power in ourselves to be something more, to actually learn more then what we are being taught and actually obtain something meaningful in our bleak lives. There is also the connection between the humanist and the way SOF deals with educating kids. Though often times at most I see both ways of teaching. In most cases there is no strict boundaries between teacher and student, one is no more knowledgeable then the other. Though as much in any case there is the sign of clear respect and role of teacher pupil. But nothing along the lines of the students are completely ignorant and the teacher is the savior who will teach them everything they need. Though in classes like math and science I often see the narrative way where we merely sit there and they deposit information into our brains to store and catalog for later.

Lisa Delpit: Power and Pedagogy
Delpit contrasts two reading programs where one took forty lessons to learn the same thing the other lesson did in only one sitting. Though the first method was proven to be well founded and excellent with certain kids for others it took them longer then the fist sit in to understand everything because at home they were not given any knowledge to better suit their understandings. Kids who had some more background with these types of ideas excelled fast since they brought some knowledge with them and the lesson only increased it further. But the kids with no previous background the second method which would consist of forty lessons was better where the kids could learn from the beginning. Both methods are good but depending on the student it will work for them or against them. The culture of power is also brought up where kids of minority and of color and poor are taught different codes and those differ from those the dominant culture of power have. She insists that the appropriate education can only be found when those of the same community come together to talk about the changes that need to be made instead of middle class whites making the decisions.

It's a little interesting to read from Delpit's perspective. I'm not really sure if I'm reading from her opinion and views but it seems to me that unlike the other two previous guys, she has the idea that it is indeed the teacher who is full of knowledge and it is their job to share it with the less fortunate it (the student). Though she comes into an idea that the other two did not address. Culture of Power. That when students come to school, they should not just be learning about basic facts but about the codes for them to be able to thrive in the culture of power that is most dominant in our society. Though she comes off as a little bit racist, I just get from her that people of color and those who are poor are lower then the rest and do not know what is best for them since they come from a different road map of life. I'm not arguing that this is in all way wrong, I mean if you look at our society its the cold hard truth, but I guess my vibe is she truly believes they are lower and she is here with good ideas to raise them above it. She is the savior for the minorities and those who are poor and of color. Although going into her 5 aspects of power were very similar to those of the other two's articles and summed up nicely the key points in the view on education concerning power. And in life students and young adults have none.

Mr. Fanning:
Fanning has many goals for the high school at SOF. He wants the seniors to graduate, he wants his students to become "critical thinkers" and in order to accomplish both he wants students to create goals at the beginning of the year, and it doesn't have to be school related. The teachers are there to help the students achieve their goals and through working towards them, relationships are made where the teachers can easily connect to their students and can understand them better so they can help in more ways. Being a former teacher, he knows that education is very important and to be able to do good in life one must get the best kind of education. And not just sitting there mindlessly copying down facts from the board but to be able to think for yourselves and to be able to be critical thinkers who create new ideas all on their own. He doesn't want factory working students, he wants us to be free thinkers and be creative and independent and that's what SOF is there for. To help students create themselves and to not only to submit to other peoples authority of power.

I agree that SOF is one of the best places to allow us to do all the things he wants to see us do. But I also agree that in life its hard to outrun the mechanics of how education is in our society. He may not see it, but there are little traces here and there where kids forsake their independence and their drive to find themselves and create but instead open their minds to allow someone to pour information in their heads. As I walk down the halls, there is a mix of both kinds of students and those in the middle clearly not on either side. But whats happening to education and to students not much younger then I is frightening. I feel that we were lucky to be able to learn the things we did and to have the teachers who cared enough to help us grow and to nurture us and not only feed us facts. We are getting out just in time for the change in how things are done. Maybe a little dramatic but and not saying this is specifically SOF, but schools can only really go down hill. Education is getting less funding, teachers are being fired, students are cramed into bigger class sizes, music and art departments are being shut down. I mean our education system is a mess and all the previous people on this blog know whats coming and have the right ideas but they themselves have no solid and clear outcome or ways to save any of it.

49- films

Our section did not get to finish our film due to the fact that certain main characters were absent. Although we did not finish, the message was uncommon in the teacher/ savior unit because the teacher in our film really didn't save anyone. The students (protagonists) took their future and learning into their own hands since the teacher would not help them. The teacher was a jerk who played favorites and messed with the protagonists not caring that they were failing his class. He thought that they were failures and there was nothing for him to do to change it. Alex the protagonist, became very pissed and continuously walked out of class. After a confrontation in the lunch room with Casey (the favored student) Alex decides to take matters into her own hands and to actually form a study group with her friends to pass the up coming test. The teacher is very surprised to find that Alex and her friends have passed and is convinced they cheated so he made them retake the test. After the second time they passed the principle comes and congratulates the students and tells them how lucky and how grateful they should
be to have such an excellent teacher. Alex and her friends decide not to correct him and just walk away.

The odd thing was this probably would have been a really good video, especially since it was different. The teacher really had no part in effecting the lives of Alex's group. Instead they finally got their act together thanks to Casey who talks to them about how they don't have their lives in order. She was a snob but still had the resulting effect of causing a change which is usually the part the teacher plays. But we only actually completed one scene. Then some clips here and there. In the play I was the teacher's pet Casey. In the scene we did I was supposed to correct Alex's mistake and I stood her up (not sure right term) making my self seem so much better then her especially since the teacher favored me. The teacher besides hassling Alex always points out her lack of knowledge and shows it to the class by making her put up answers on the board that he knows she did not get right. This is where I would come in and correct it. But the basic key fact is that students do not always need to be saved by someone of higher authority like a teacher. Alex took it into her own hands to become so much better then what she was.

The tone through out the play changed as the protagonist changed her opinion on herself and how she wanted her life to go. In the beginning it was more aggressive and always constant fights between her and the teacher. Then towards the middle it was more calmed down since Alex decided not to be brought into the teachers of joy of making her feel stupid. Then at the end there was happiness and achievement since Alex passed the test and confounded the teacher. And I think it pleased her to know that he never changes by taking her achievement onto his own self teaching. Nothing in him changed and she would allow it to stay like that. She could move on and not be effected by him anymore but to know that the one who really learned something about life was herself and her teacher was still stuck in the same disillusion as when the video started.

Through out the different videos we have seen about the teacher/ savior theme and how we perceive schools in our culture there are many differences and similarities between them. In the films it was clear that the teacher was the saviour and that the students were in such bad shape they didn't think they needed to be saved but soon warmed up to the teacher and came to resolutions where the students are able to raise above any challenge. Now in life we see little of this actually happening. Yes the teacher might think they are superior and are there for the benefit of saving the students from themselves. But when does this ever result in every single one of the students being saved and where the teacher actually knows anything to help them. In my experience you can not save everyone no matter how hard you try. You can think to yourself "o if i only did this or this", or "if I keep trying, I know I will help". Sorry but the world doesn't work that way. Not saying there arent teachers out there that dont help students. I know in SOF at least most of the teachers want to actually help and learn from us. There is a real community between the teachers and students like those in the movie. But unlike the movie there is no concrete problem where the teacher can save the students and its a happy ending. It just so happens that the teachers touch some of their students lives and they are better off for it while with others they tried but the student decided to turn their back on it. So in conclusion there is no real significant savior role in the lives of students at schools. No matter how much the teacher thinks so.

Treatment for Savior/ Teacher movie

scene 1

Camera pans over the front of the school where kids are just hanging out in groups then goes across the street (far off then zooms in) to the students (seniors) that are across the street hanging out but have more of an i dont care attitude. FInally someone tells the groups of kids on both sides to leave and they all go in a huff towards the school, mumbling that school is a drag.

Scene 2

Cut to the class room where the students are scattered around the room, some sitting in chairs while others are on desks or just standing against the wall. Most of the kids pay no mind when the door opens and a hippie looking english teacher walks in. He walks up to the front of the class room and calls for everyone's attention. Just as he is about to take attendance, two kids come in holding hands. The whole class room buzzs and is making loud kissy noises at the couple. The girl walks to her seat feeling embarrassed while the guy walks to his friends and gets high fives. The teacher coughs and tries to get the kids back into focus. He then proceeds to give an overview of what his class will be like and as he goes on the kids remain silent but pay little attention to him. As he is about to give a quiz to see what the students know, the fire alarm goes off and the kids make a hasty get away feeling relieved for once the stupid firedrill came in handy.

Scene 3

The camera follows the teacher into the small "teacher lounge" which just happens to be in the back of the supplies and office spaces. He pours himself a cup of coffee and takes a sip. He makes a face as he forces it down. Thinking to himself, (is this the best decision that I made?) He pours the coffee out and jumps with a start at a female voice.( Hey, Someone should have warned you about the coffee. Its the worst possible thing, everyone usually just goes to the corner store and gets it there). She gives him a smile as she makes her way over to a chair. He follows her over and he starts to go over what he hopes to get from his class. At the end of his speech she laughs and tells him that the kids that are in his class arent capable of learning or hoping to understand any of what materials he wants to teach. He thinks to himself (now i know this was a mistake coming here. Out of all the things I could have picked I had to pick teaching) He thanks the teacher and gets up to leave.

Scene 4

Camera cuts into the class room where the teacher is trying new methods to reach out to his students. The chairs are in a circle and everyone seems a little more comfortable with the open environment. He begins to talk to the students that starting today the room design will stay this way and that after readings the class will have open discussions on everyones views. Half the class moans while the others are betting on how long this teacher will last. The camera pans into one section of the circle where there are a group sitting and they seem glad for this change in teaching and look forward to the new term. Though after a couple of glares from the rest of the class, they all busy themselves with whatever is closest to them.

Class film preparation 1

- the class room and teaching should perhaps not only be held in the class room but in the park, or somewhere else, like field trips out side of the standard school setting (breaking out of boxes thing)
- I dont think the teacher should actually be the one to save the students, for the most part it isn't always true and not everyone is capable of being saved
- teacher and students can grow together, each helping the other out (community rather then the higher authoritative figure)
- probably needs a problem where everyone or mostly everyone gets around it (maybe the principle or someone steps in and tries to control the class)
- I agree with Henry, not just one class, should be a couple since most teachers have more then one class and yea they can save one but what about the others (something along those lines)

Research and Writing