Talking Points #5

“Teaching to Change the World” by Jeannie Oakes and Martin Lipton

This article is about…

Myths
Metaphors
Rules
Power
Government
Education
Social class
Schools
American schools
Children
Parents
Perception
Profit
Competition
Testing
Future
High performing


Author’s Arguments:

Oakes and Lipton argue that our educational society bases our education system on myths and metaphors of what education should look like. Education is supposed to be for every child and that everyone can succeed, but the system guarantees that some students won’t.


“Americans can love all their children and want them to prosper while maintaining institutions and social structures that guarantee that some students won’t.” pg 18

“It had become clear that regardless of their merit, some people could never overcome the disadvantages with which they began.” pg 20

“Many well-off Americans saw ‘the problems’ as poor people themselves rather than the social and economic conditions that made them poor.” pg 21.



To be completely honest when I was reading this article I highlighted a few key points and sentences, but I don’t really think that I got the point of the article. I feel like it said a lot of stuff and I only pulled out that throughout the years we have become so competitive as a nation, whether economically or socially, that it has carried over into academics and is becoming increasingly harder for not only minorities to get into good schools of higher education, but people of the main ethnicity also. The academic standards are set so high that it is guaranteeing some students to fail and not succeed like they should in the public’s eyes.

This might be completely off the topic, but school is not for everyone, and this society has made it possible that now not even a college degree can guarantee you the dream job. Now it is required to get a masters degree and a doctrine, and whatever else they can come up with. When will all of the schooling be enough? There is only so much school a person can go through before it is time for them to go out into the real world and gain some experience. You could have all of the degrees in the world, but if you don’t have experience out there in the real world, then what good will it do. Society thinks that making it more challenging to get into school is better for us in the long run, when it is really hurting society because some either can’t afford it, or are not good enough based on these perfect standards.

I am pretty positive that I just went off on this big rant of basically how expensive school is and how if society would lower their standards a little they might see more success stories then failure. I think it will be interesting to see what my classmates have to say tomorrow, because I have no idea what this article was trying to say.