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wilbjammin · 10-19-2004, 07:11 PM

So, this has been troubling me for a while, so I thought I'd bring it to the boards. My hope is that this becomes an open discussion, and I'll be glad if this goes far from the thread's original guiding comments.

I'm a first year teacher struggling to figure out exactly what my philosophical role as a teacher should be. In simple terms, I know that it should be somewhere along the lines of preparing kids to be adults in the world we live in. Though what that really means, I don't know.

I find myself stuck between my beliefs that there are many things wrong with our society that should be challenged, and yet having strong convictions that there are great things about our society that we should value and embrace. I don't like our rampant consumerism, lack of long-term thinking, building our social structures around divisions in wealth/class, lack of connection with the environment, the tendencies of so many kids to spend so much time to emulate characters in movies and television, among other things. On the other hand, I have a deep respect for the tradition of our country to use our government to solve problems, the belief that people can pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and there are so many examples of people going out on a limb to try to make a difference in their communities, state, nation, and the world.

I'm a conflicted person, being an American that is critical of our society and sees a lot of problems, and yet loves our society. And it gets me into trouble, particularly when kids ask those random questions along the lines of "what do you think about ____ ?" It gets worse because I'm a social studies teacher, and I have some very strong opinions on politics. I don't know what to say, and I usually come off sounding like a politician that doesn't want to say anything wrong that could get me into trouble.

Unfortunately, I find myself listening to kids talk and thinking "oh my god, do people really think that?" more than I thought I would. I can't believe the amount of racist and homophobic comments that are spewed from the kids mouths in a joking matter. Each day I find it so hard to believe that kids are so disinterested in talking about the society that we live in, addressing the issues that are in the news, and sharing their opinions. I teach at-risk high schoolers and the bulk of their conversations deal with the subjects of drugs, sex, and conflict between students.

I try so hard to encourage critical thinking, active learning, and just caring about the society that we live in. Despite everything, I find myself leaning more and more towards the thinking of, "ok, what's the bare minimum amount of knowledge that the kids need to make it after high school to get a job that will support them?" It is a disillusioning process, esp. after today when several students got expelled for getting caught smoking marijuana by the superintendent. I want to believe that the best I can do is more than just get these kids through with enough skills to fill out a job application and trudge through the rest of their lives.

I'm sensitive to the socialization process that school is, but I'm not sure to how I should go about trying to affect it.

The questions then are: What should the role of education be? What should teachers do to achieve the goals of education? At bare minimum, what should students know and be able to do by the time they graduate?

10-19-2004, 07:11 PM	#1 (permalink)
wilbjammin * * *	The Role of Education So, this has been troubling me for a while, so I thought I'd bring it to the boards. My hope is that this becomes an open discussion, and I'll be glad if this goes far from the thread's original guiding comments. I'm a first year teacher struggling to figure out exactly what my philosophical role as a teacher should be. In simple terms, I know that it should be somewhere along the lines of preparing kids to be adults in the world we live in. Though what that really means, I don't know. I find myself stuck between my beliefs that there are many things wrong with our society that should be challenged, and yet having strong convictions that there are great things about our society that we should value and embrace. I don't like our rampant consumerism, lack of long-term thinking, building our social structures around divisions in wealth/class, lack of connection with the environment, the tendencies of so many kids to spend so much time to emulate characters in movies and television, among other things. On the other hand, I have a deep respect for the tradition of our country to use our government to solve problems, the belief that people can pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and there are so many examples of people going out on a limb to try to make a difference in their communities, state, nation, and the world. I'm a conflicted person, being an American that is critical of our society and sees a lot of problems, and yet loves our society. And it gets me into trouble, particularly when kids ask those random questions along the lines of "what do you think about ____ ?" It gets worse because I'm a social studies teacher, and I have some very strong opinions on politics. I don't know what to say, and I usually come off sounding like a politician that doesn't want to say anything wrong that could get me into trouble. Unfortunately, I find myself listening to kids talk and thinking "oh my god, do people really think that?" more than I thought I would. I can't believe the amount of racist and homophobic comments that are spewed from the kids mouths in a joking matter. Each day I find it so hard to believe that kids are so disinterested in talking about the society that we live in, addressing the issues that are in the news, and sharing their opinions. I teach at-risk high schoolers and the bulk of their conversations deal with the subjects of drugs, sex, and conflict between students. I try so hard to encourage critical thinking, active learning, and just caring about the society that we live in. Despite everything, I find myself leaning more and more towards the thinking of, "ok, what's the bare minimum amount of knowledge that the kids need to make it after high school to get a job that will support them?" It is a disillusioning process, esp. after today when several students got expelled for getting caught smoking marijuana by the superintendent. I want to believe that the best I can do is more than just get these kids through with enough skills to fill out a job application and trudge through the rest of their lives. I'm sensitive to the socialization process that school is, but I'm not sure to how I should go about trying to affect it. The questions then are: What should the role of education be? What should teachers do to achieve the goals of education? At bare minimum, what should students know and be able to do by the time they graduate? __________________ Innominate.