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Running head: PUROSE OF SCHOOLING FINAL PAPER

Purpose of Schooling Final Paper Emily Trujillo Colorado State University

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PUROSE OF SCHOOLING FINAL PAPER 2 Meta-Reflection Comparing the purpose of schooling pre-write with the post write it is not hard to tell when each paper was written. Just at a glance, the pre-write is shorter with no citations. The post write contains eight citations, and is lengthier. The pre-write contains many emotions, and ideas. The post write is more educated and has educated statements supported by material from the classroom and from other online sources. The pre-write answers are surface level, especially when the third and forth umbrella questions are analyzed. Overall, both the pre and post write contain the same general information. They both have hopes of creating the best possible educators, by taking time to reflect on American history, and where we are coming from. While they both have the same information, it is not hard to tell that the understanding that is in the post write comes from class and hands on experience.

PUROSE OF SCHOOLING FINAL PAPER 3 Intro Through learning how to be an educator, it is essential to see where you come from, in order to have a clear future. To be the best possible educator, you have to teach with a heart, and stand up for what you believe in, not necessarily what has been done in the past. By looking at four over arching umbrella questions, you are more able to understand schooling. Umbrella Question One Originally, the purpose of schools was to educated children. Most of the history that was taught was framed to benefit the appearance of the United States. Factual information of racism, slavery, and wars are sugar coated, and do not do justice to the events. “… My early formal education experiences not only failed to help increase my knowledge of sensitivity to the types of problems and oppression African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Latinos/Latinas historically experienced in this country, but they also reinforced the negative images and messages I received earlier,” (D’Andrea, 39). D’Andrea was one among many who received this filtered education, and unknowingly became racist and biased because of the way history was taught to him. The purpose of schooling now, is to teach to the test. Funding from the government is distributed based on the proficiency of standardized tests. So, in order for schools to receive the money they deserve they need all of their students to score well to reflect positively back on the school and teachers. This is creating anxiety and stress for students (Strauss, 2013); if stress is prolonged, this can be very damaging. When you are stressed, you release a hormone called cortisol. The cortisol damages the brain, which limits the ability to correctly manage stressful situations. If you are unable to process stress, you are more likely to become more stressed than necessary, releasing more cortisol and falling into the downward spiral, (Berger, 2015).

PUROSE OF SCHOOLING FINAL PAPER 4 The purpose of school should be to create relationships with students, create a positive environment for students to come when life is challenging, and to celebrate victories. Educators should have an overwhelming amount of passion for children and for education. “A teacher with an open heart can be warm, alive, spontaneous, connected, compassionate. He or she can see the language of the body and hear the feelings between the words,” (Kessler, 200). A classroom should not be constricted to teaching through lecturing and testing. Learning should be hands on, interactive, engaging, free, and be facilitated by the teacher. If a teacher is mentally not present then children cannot be expected to mentally be checked in either. Umbrella Question Two My role as a teacher is to be a reliable source for students. To bring life and hope into the classroom and pass it on to the children I share my room with. If I am an inspirational teacher, and teach with a heart, the students that go through my classroom will be more than students. They will become people that I have a relationship with; we will have a connection and know each other past a surface level. By building a relationship with my students, we will be able to teach and learn together instead of dominating the classroom. They will be curious, and feel confident enough to come to class with questions. I will be able to share advice and discuss current events, and social issues. “Most of the people in the United States today do not participate in their own governance and seldom exercise their democratic rights either in national affairs or in their local communities. From our perspectives as teacher educators, we believe that the absence of dialogue in traditional education is a primary cause for this lack of democratic participation,” (Fernández & Marshall, 1994). If I am a teacher that creates a place for communication in a classroom that is natural, it will have the opportunity to be filled with the voices of the students. By recreating traditional classrooms and not having the teacher talk for a majority of the class, students have the opportunity of being heard. It is essential to educated

PUROSE OF SCHOOLING FINAL PAPER 5 children at an early age to discuss and research current events, especially when it comes to political decisions. As this was the first year I was able to vote in the presidential election, I was unaware of how to sign up to vote or where to find non-biased information regarding candidates. I believe that school should be a place where students learn more than a math equation. We should educate children where to find and use resources to vote, to pay bills, to pay taxes and how to be an active member in society. In other words, not teaching to the test. Umbrella Question Three When it comes to gender in the classroom, schooling continues the existing order greatly. To this day, there is still research that proves teachers and the general public subconsciously talks to boys and girls differently. “Sitting in the same classroom, reading the same textbook, listening to the same teacher, boys and girls receive very different educations,” (Chapman, 2005). Teachers need to be very aware that boys and girls notice social gestures and the difference in communication for genders. Our culture is reinforcing the gender gap, instead of making an effort to strive for gender equality. We are also continuing the existing order by allowing pre-conceived notions regarding children in poverty interfere with teaching. It is often easy to overlook the daily struggles of children in poverty, or the addition struggles they may face. “Instead of accepting myths that harm low-income students, we need to eradicate the system wide inequities that stand in their way,” (Gorski, 2008). It is a complete myth that poor people are not educated, and lazy workers. Therefore when you teach children of a low socioeconomic status, you must challenge your beliefs, and work with the children and families to disprove this myth. We still have a long way to go regarding this, and there is always room for growth.

PUROSE OF SCHOOLING FINAL PAPER 6 Umbrella Question Four Schooling is transforming the existing order by reaching out and changing our old culture and traditions and expanding them to all genders and sexes. Now, more than ever, there are more programs and opportunities for lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender, queer, plus (LBGTQ+) to find a place to be included. “Gender is flexible, and ‘in its elasticity it stretches and unfolds in manifold ways’ so that depending upon its contexts, including the life progress of individuals, we see it and experience it differently,” (Spade & Valentine, 2nd ed). Reflecting on the past, liking the same sex was seen as a sin, as a mental disability and other really obscure things. Therefore, I believe that schooling is transforming the existing order by creating programs and acknowledging that same sex relationships and questioning gender is not a disability, but rather apart of life. Conclusion The purpose of schooling has evolved greatly. We have progressed from single room classrooms, to teaching to the test… Progress still can be made, as there is always room for improvement. My role as an educator is to create a classroom full of communication and learning through experience as opposed to lecture. Schooling is continuing the existing order in regards to gender separation, and low-income families. But progress has been made in changing the existing order when it comes to supporting LBGTQ+ students and creating a space to intentionally welcome them, and make them feel safe and loved. Overall, schooling is a unique place where educators have the opportunity to touch the hearts of every student that walks through their classroom.

PUROSE OF SCHOOLING FINAL PAPER 7 References Berger, K. S. (2015). The developing person through childhood and adolescence. New York, NY: Worth Publishers. Chapman, Amanda. (2005). Gender Bias in Education. Retrieved November 7, 2007, from Research Room Edchange Multicultural Pavillion, 1-5. D'Andrea, M. (1999, November). The Evolution and Transfonnation of a "VVhite Racist: A Personal Narrative. The Journal of Counseling & Development. Fernández-Balboa, J., & Marshall, J. P. (1994). Dialogical Pedagogy in Teacher Education: Toward an Education for Democracy. Journal of Teacher Education, 45(3), 172-182. Gorski, Paul. (2008). The Myth of Culture Poverty. Educational Leadership, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. 32-37. Kessler, R. (2000, November). The Souls of Education: Helping Students Find Connection, Compassion, and Character at School. The 'Teaching Presence', 7-10. Spade, Joan Z. & Valentine, Catherine G. (2nd ed.) The Kaleidoscope of Gender. Prisms, Patterns, and Possibilities. Strauss, V. (2013, February 10). Test anxiety: Why it is increasing and 3 ways to curb it. Retrieved November 18, 2016, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answersheet/wp/2013/02/10/test-anxiety-why-it-is-increasing-and-3-ways-to-curb-it/

PUROSE OF SCHOOLING FINAL PAPER 8 Pre-Write As of right now, the purpose of schooling is to produce positive test results. Schools are so dependent on government provided money that they are forced to prove that they are better than the other schools. I do not believe that it was always like that, but that is where we have landed. Students are leaving high school not retaining the information that was once just handed to them in a textbook. They are unprepared for living on their own and they are lost. The purpose of schooling in the United States is to prepare students for the future. The schooling should teach them to read and write. But it should more importantly teach them how to be an honest person, how to find their passion in life, how to pay taxes, how to rent a house and how to live. School should be a safe environment for students to grow, and learn. Schooling should not be taught in ways that are incomprehensible to students. My role as a future teacher will be caregiver, friend, listener, educator, companion and the list goes on. I want to create an environment that is inclusive, and safe. I want the students in my school to always be welcome, and loved. I want to be realistic with my students, I want to talk to them and treat them like they are adults and not like little children who do not understand. I will teach them in new and different ways; in ways they can understand. My role as a teacher is to be present. To show a kind face and to be understanding and recognize where my students are struggling, and guide them. My role as a caregiver is to be the teacher I needed. In first grade, I told Ms. Waller, that I did not feel good, and that I wanted to go home. Instead of believing me, she told me to stop lying and go back to my desk. I ended up having phenomena, and missing school for a week. Ms. Waller received angry emails, and rightfully so. I want to be a teacher students can come to, and I want to believe them.

PUROSE OF SCHOOLING FINAL PAPER 9 My schooling was impacted by the culture and economically that surrounded me, in subtle ways that I did not notice until later in life. I lived in safe, mostly Caucasian area, and that is all I knew. As time went on, and I learned about different cultures I was in disbelief and never imagined myself there. The culture put a bubble around me. The school that I went to was fully funded, and I was never rich by any means but I always had everything I needed, and more. Money was never presented to me as an issue. Socially, I was influenced by the people in my daily life. I have three older brothers, and they were a large impact on me. I wanted to talk and act and behave like they were because I admired them. When I was younger my schooling was not directly influenced in politics. This semester will be my first experience where my schooling is directly involved with politics. This is the first year I can vote, and when I walk to class, numerous people approach you asking you questions about registration and voting. It makes me nervous, and honestly a little annoyed. I do not need people telling whom to vote for or why. I whole-heartedly believe that my vote is mine, and can be private if I choose.