In the Los Angeles Times an article written by Joy Resmovits titled, "Better pay, more time to plan and one other thing teachers want from you"(http://www.latimes.com/local/education/teachers/la-me-edu-center-for-american-progress-teachers-time-money-story.html), addresses some of the concern about the education system and how it is not up to par. Let's be honest, we all know that teachers or professors do not get paid a whole lot for the work they do even though the work they do can greatly impact and shape generations. The value of education needs to be readdressed by all. The article states that in the state of California there will be a shortage of 21,482 teachers. Joy also interviews a teacher from East L.A. who when hired explained how she felt unprepared for the job because she didn't know the curriculum or the grade level and she wasn't given enough time to prepare. A common theme among the article was that teachers aren't given enough time to prepare the curriculum they would like to treat. What is interesting in this article is that one of the teachers talked about how she believes the perception of teachers is now glorified babysitters.
Looking at this from a sociological perspective, one must question why things like education for the youth must take a hit when those in power have the ability to change the situation. We talk about the forms of capital someone may have and one of them was culture capital which involves knowledge and education. Obviously, not all areas of states suffer from a lack of passion from teachers but it is often the areas that are experience some form of stratification who struggle with the aspects of education and seeing the value of it. Often these areas that experience racial stratification have trouble with school funding and support from the government. People say that values is a determining factor of whether or not the person wants to succeed in school but when within the school there is no support or funding to make the school a place that is fun and a good environment for learning it makes it hard for someone who has many other struggles in life to deal with to think of education has a priority. Of course, it can be done but often times it is because an individual or group have taken it upon themselves to motivate and inspire despite the situation. Movies such as Freedom Writers (2007) have been made based on true stories of individuals who decided to act on making sure that those stereotypes of kids in bad areas not thriving in school didn't come true. Another example was Stand and Deliver (1988) based on a true story in which a teacher in East LA did not allow his students to fail in his math class and gave them confidence and hope in school. In both these movies, it depicted a ever real situation that often teachers are unmotivated in these situations and the higher administration isn't able to help out due to low performances in the classroom and lack of extrinsic motivation.
Teachers should be empowered and assisted. Teachers can inspire and shape generations of students in a positive manner. But it isn't solely just only teachers, it is also on the community to step up and give their support and voice it to those in power. The community isn't just responsible for supporting the teachers, but to make the job better for teachers, communities need to support and encourage students to be their best. That enthusiasm from community members, can have a positive effect on the students who can then be excited about school which well hopefully excite the teachers to teach. An example of this was in Detroit,( http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/local-news/17546138-story#) where a group applauded students on their first day of school, encouraging students to be A-students.
Education is KEY and if those trying to teach aren't giving their best or aren't supported how can those being taught grow or be excited about school. School shouldn't be a dreadful time for students, they should be excited and happy to be in school.
Looking at this from a sociological perspective, one must question why things like education for the youth must take a hit when those in power have the ability to change the situation. We talk about the forms of capital someone may have and one of them was culture capital which involves knowledge and education. Obviously, not all areas of states suffer from a lack of passion from teachers but it is often the areas that are experience some form of stratification who struggle with the aspects of education and seeing the value of it. Often these areas that experience racial stratification have trouble with school funding and support from the government. People say that values is a determining factor of whether or not the person wants to succeed in school but when within the school there is no support or funding to make the school a place that is fun and a good environment for learning it makes it hard for someone who has many other struggles in life to deal with to think of education has a priority. Of course, it can be done but often times it is because an individual or group have taken it upon themselves to motivate and inspire despite the situation. Movies such as Freedom Writers (2007) have been made based on true stories of individuals who decided to act on making sure that those stereotypes of kids in bad areas not thriving in school didn't come true. Another example was Stand and Deliver (1988) based on a true story in which a teacher in East LA did not allow his students to fail in his math class and gave them confidence and hope in school. In both these movies, it depicted a ever real situation that often teachers are unmotivated in these situations and the higher administration isn't able to help out due to low performances in the classroom and lack of extrinsic motivation.
Teachers should be empowered and assisted. Teachers can inspire and shape generations of students in a positive manner. But it isn't solely just only teachers, it is also on the community to step up and give their support and voice it to those in power. The community isn't just responsible for supporting the teachers, but to make the job better for teachers, communities need to support and encourage students to be their best. That enthusiasm from community members, can have a positive effect on the students who can then be excited about school which well hopefully excite the teachers to teach. An example of this was in Detroit,( http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/local-news/17546138-story#) where a group applauded students on their first day of school, encouraging students to be A-students.
Education is KEY and if those trying to teach aren't giving their best or aren't supported how can those being taught grow or be excited about school. School shouldn't be a dreadful time for students, they should be excited and happy to be in school.
This article resonated a lot with me as someone really interested in learning more about the education system in the United States. I particularly liked your paragraph about how these systems stay the same even when people in power know that they should be changed. This is exactly related to C. Wright Mill's article on "the Power Elite." Something I am interested in learning more about is why unmanageable or unproductive educational practices stay in place while at the same time the media constantly emphasizes the importance of education and never fails to mention how the United States seemingly "lags behind" other countries' educational systems. Many other social systems are NOT changed because they simply do not receive coverage time in media or the issue is adjusted or skewed to seem trivial or minor by news stories. How can it be that something as critical and as well-known as education have the same thing done to it?
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