Journal CI 8904: March 12, 2013

For this Week's Class, I was asked to lead a discussion surrounding the issue of State Sponsorship and School.  Each class member was asked to read one item from the list provided (see below) and then I led them through a series of subquestions which led to a bigger conceptual discussion.

Our Agenda:

Class 5 Overview and Discussion

1.     Introduce Schedule for the Discussion

2.     Ask who read what text, record names.

3.     Ask each person to summarize the text they read in 1 minute.

4.     Ask them then to share any insights that they had while reading, or share what they have written in their journal

5.     Ask the questions for the week through the lens of what these texts have to offer on the subject

6.     What is missing?  Anything to add?

7.     Why should we, in the FYC track, need to know about state sponsorship and schools?

8.     Anything to add?

Session 5:

State sponsorship and schools

Assignment:

Why do states support schools?

What values and priorities, what interests are reflected in state-sponsored schools?

1.  Choose at least one reading from the following list.  Be prepared to orally report your findings and to share your insights regarding it in class.

2.  Write in your journal

Belt-Beyan, P. M. (2004). The emergence of African American literacy traditions: Family and community efforts in the nineteenth century. Westport, Conn.: Praeger. Chapter 3.

Cooper, J. (1996). The child in Jewish history. Northvale, NJ: J. Aronson.  Chapter 3 & 5.

Getz, L. M. (1997). Schools of their own: The education of Hispanos in New Mexico, 1850-1940 (1st Ed.). Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press.

MacDougall, P. (2004). The Penobscot dance of resistance: Tradition in the history of a people. Durham, NH.:  University of New Hampshire Press, Pgs. 125-149.

Sarangapani, P. (2003). Constructing school knowledge: An ethnography of learning in an Indian village. New Delhi; Thousand Oaks. CA: Sage Publications.

Thogersen, S. (2002). A county of culture: Twentieth-century China seen from the village schools of Zouping, Shandong. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Chapters 3-8.

In the end, the discussion rallied around a theme of control.  The group concluded that states (or other governments) sponsor schools as a form of control over money, curriculum, the cultural status quo, and policy making.  It was a very administrative and policy-maker oriented perspective, where students are not the focus, but rather control of said students is.

I agreed with some of the things that were discussed, and bristled some at others.  Although I agree that ultimately metrics and policy determine dollars and flow in public education these days, I am also aware of movements both within and outside of the k-12 system that are trying hard to bring focus back to today's student, and how they learn, what they expect from themselves and their educational opportunities, and where their place is in the community.  This is the focus of my personal research, and so I look forward to our further discussions on the subject of public education and sponsorshop.