Connection to other readings
I was able to see a connection between Kozol's and Finn's article.
The first thing that came to mind is, The rich keep getting rich and the poor keep getting poor. The education described in Kozol's article, closely match the one in Finn's, in the sense that the lower class students are not worth the time, money or resources to receive a quality education that will allow for success in the future. In both articles the lower class children receive a poor education. As the child's socioeconomic status increases so does the quality of their schooling. It shows that money will buy you a better education, which will allow for a better, higher paying job. The same goes for the lower class. They will continue to have to take sewing classes instead of the classes that prepare them for college and they will continue the family cycle of working in a factory, receiving minimum wage.
In Finn's article, He discusses Anyon's study of the different types of schools, ranging from working class to the elite schools. I tried to determine which type of schooling I received. I think that the middle class school closely matches the experience I had in school. There wasn't a lot of creative thinking and everything was taken from the text book. What I found interesting was that Finn said that most of the middle class teachers grew up in the same city where they teach. Almost all of my teachers in high school lived in the same city and probably received the same type of education as I did. Does this mean that this is what a teacher may know about educating a child ? The same goes for the teachers in the district I am teaching in now. I would say 90% of the teacher's grew up, attended and now teach in the same school.
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Great connections Mary! Money does seem to be the deciding factor in education, not only by means of social class but in terms of government funding as well. Look at today's society and all of the budget cuts that are occuring. There are hardly any teaching jobs, as they continue to close classrooms and schools. Class size gets larger, and it makes it harder for the students to get a high quality education. They try to take programs away from the children like the arts and sports. How do they expect children to "enjoy" school, if they keep taking most of what they enjoy away?
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