Group 5 Questions

(I don't know if we had to post questions this week, but here they are, just in case)


As this class comes to an end, we are asked to think about our "endgame". As educators, what is our objective, what is our responsibility to our students? As I was working on my final project, this question presented itself multiple times, and despite all the research and hours of thought, I have found no easy answer. The article by James Baldwin (1962) discusses many of the inequalities in our educational system. He points out that our society moves along a predetermined path where we are expected to pass certain stages in order to succeed. This "formula for success" is unfortunately only accessible to a small percentage of our society. Statistics show it. People form minority groups and from a low SES perform more poorly in school and in standardized assessments. Yet another problem, that I also analyzed in my final project, is that our current education undeniably favors certain intelligences over others. A selection of fortunate students possess the favored intelligences, but others' are neglected and undervalued. The latter's case creates an even wider divide between the student body. The question we as educators have to face is, therefore, two-fold:

1). What can we do to decrease the gap between the students who possess the tools for success and those who are deprived of them? How much can we do?

2). Should our endgame be to ease students' path through the "formula for success" and perpetuate the current educational system, or should we find a way to challenge this system that consistently pushes a significant percentage of students out of the race for success?

In the second question, our goodwill leans us towards the second option. But now we must ask ourselves how we can challenge a system so ingrained in our society. What tools do we need to change our social contexts and build a successful pathway towards social l justice?