Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Post #3 Lets Change The Education System

After reading Costello’s writing I realized right off the bat that that the ever evolving need to be more educated is still affecting people today. How hard is it to get a job now a days? Without a degree from and institution of higher education it is extremely difficult to get a good stable job. This is the system that our schooling system was built on according to Costello (pg195) and I don’t see the ever growing need for specialization changing any time soon. I also agree with the statement that if children are in school then they are less likely to cause mischief but if they are struggling or don’t enjoy school why wouldn’t they just create mischief in the school environment.
The next point of interest was when Costello introduced Lightfoot’s research on the six successful high schools. When they talked about how well such a large school can do I thought to myself, if a school of 5,300 students can work together in a cohesive way with the faculty then why are their problems in other schools with more or less student. Shouldn’t it be simple enough to follow the model of John F. Kennedy High School?  I do tend to agree with the idea that school should be able to manage themselves instead of having many schools managed by a board or outside source. If a school is responsible for itself then there is no one else the school can blame when it comes to problems. If the school was invested more in itself then maybe it would be invested more in the students and involve them in the decisions that shape the school. On pg 199 in the scenario about Brookline High School they mention a “Fairness Committee” when students and teacher serve to handle disciplinary problems. This is by far a wonderful idea because it allows students to see the consequences of their actions from the point of view of their peers. If a student is like oh well I guess if bob and mary made up this punishment then it must be fair. This is obviously not a perfect system but I do believe that it is a good start to student involvement. 
I’m not so sure how I feel on the segregation of age and ability because I think that the grade system that is in place now is effective and I also feel that staying back and moving forward works well. But I do believe that students shouldn’t be in a group with just people of their same abilities because when students can go to each other for help it fosters interpersonal relationships and allows for students to become more involved in education. 
In conclusion I think there is a lot you can take away from this article when it comes to youth work. First I would like to say that the Youth in Action ideology is the only model that I have seen that comes close to Costello’s ideas. In youth work it is going to be important to make the youth feel as though they are a part of the group and not just a member. They are going to want to know that they are influencing what is going on around them and not just sitting through it. Youth will want to know that you are working with them and not just running things by yourself. If someone doesn’t feel comfortable then you’re not doing your job right and getting them involved is a great way to make someone more comfortable. 


5 comments:

  1. From reading your post I feel that you did great job at explaining the article and I area with your response to the reading. For example when you stated that: " If the school was invested more in itself then maybe it would be invested more in the students and involve them in the decisions that shape the school." I strongly agree with this statement. Many schools are so tied up with politics and they tend to forget that the real reason they are gathered is for the students and youth to prosper in their life.
    I also agree with how youth work should be all about: "the youth feel as though they are a part of the group and not just a member" mainly because if youth don't feel this way then they will most likely drop from the program. I had read group 3 section and that part was all most youths feeling welcoming and enjoying their program since they were their on a voluntary basis.

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  2. After reading your post, I couldn't agree more with a lot of the statements you made in this piece. To get the job of your dreams, you need the best education possible but sometimes the job description asks for more than you can give to them. For instance many jobs require that you have so many years of experience in the field of your choice but how can you have experience if everyone asks for this specific requirement? I also liked how you mentioned students and teachers should both get involved for punishments (or how I like to call it consequences) for the students misbehavior. This is the perfect way for students to see that they aren't getting a much harsher consequence for their actions if they have a student decide. Only thing is some students might choose something harsher for the student so a teacher would need to help on the choices a little bit more. As youth workers we need to help our youth feel like they are part of the decisions in their education experiences and can make a different in the communities they live in.

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  3. Zach I appreciate that you had the same concern regarding the age and integration issue. I hope to discuss this further in class to try and come to a better understanding.

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  4. I agree that youth (or anyone really) needs to feel that their involvement in something matters in order for it to seem worth it. Engaging the students and making them feel involved is extremely important to get them to participate in the classroom!

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