Journal CI 8904: March 26th, 2013

Reading for this Reflection:

Blau, J. R. (2003). Race in the Schools: Perpetuating White Dominance?. Lynne Rienner Pub. Chapter 5. p. 97-132

Early and Advanced Capitalism and Schools

What happened in schools as capitalism developed from early mercantile stages to advanced industrial and post-industrial stages?

The biggest time of effect for capitalism in the school was during the post WW II dominance of US technology and the Space Race.  As more and more men returned from war and drowned the job market, and women returned to the home, there was a push in the schools for advanced science and technology, which would help keep America in control of world technology, and ultimately, world economy. The competition among businesses, new and old to produce new ideas to make live "easier" and more "advanced" pushed schools into preparing their students to be advanced thinkers, engineers, and literally, rocket scientists.

 What are the relationships between these occurrences in schools and capitalism?

However, when I say "students" above...I mean, only the male, white students.  Segregation was still in play, which meant that this space-aged, scientific and engineering curriculum was not one offered in the same way to African-American children, and in the same vein, girls were not needed to replace the fighting men in absence and were also not viewed as being in need of the same goals of overall student achievement in this brave, new curriculum world. Therefore, as the students afforded these opportunities, overall, gained those high tech and engineering positions, and in fact, did wonderfully contribute to the rise of this nation as a superpower, while at the same time,  the economic gap between the genders grew and poverty of minority races increased.

 What implications have these developments had for families, youth, and communities? 

According to the text, "Diveristy, consolidated inequality, and poverty together have powerful effects on the overall levels of community levels of adolescent deviance and on the likelihood that adolescents from different racial and ethnic backgrounds will engage in deviant practices" (121) or in other words,  drop out of school and "get into trouble" (121).

This reading talked a lot about how the dominant discourses of the status quo in education and in media, continued to perpetuate stereotypes for women and minorities and the perceptions the dominant culture had of them, which in turn also affected the perceptions they had of themselves. This would continue until the civil rights movement of the 60's, the feminist movement of the 70's and the gay rights movement of the 90's to the present.  

It is in these contexts that we need to understand the generations of messages and historical complications that weave into the present experiences of the families, youth, and communities we work with.  It is through this understanding, that we may be able to work with people as individuals instead of perceptions of people or stereotypes of groups, and therefore strive for equity in our current practices.