Reply to Schools prepare children to occupy particular rungs on the social ladder (Journal Article)

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I read the article earlier today and was trying to make sense of why the teaching methods are so different and it hit me that it has to do with student preparedness rather than a system that is trying to keep everyone in their SES  place.  If the student body is not prepared and doesn't have family support then the teachers and school will have to work to meet the needs of that population.  They can't ask unprepared children to contemplate higher level thinking activities when the kids don't understand the basics.  The teachers need to instill tight discipline as many of these kids don't have good role models at home and are more likely to act out.

On the other side, the super wealthy have generally speaking very well prepared children.  If a child struggles in an area, the parents generally have the education to help their children or hire tutors.  The teachers therefore are teaching to kids that have a solid foundation and are building upon the higher level foundation that the kids already have.

A good analogy is the difference between taking calculus class and an applied engineering class.  In the calculus class you are learning the basics. In the engineering class, you learn the why. However, you can not understand the why before you understand the basics.  Unfortunately for schools that serve poor children, they can never get past the basics.[/quote]

Hmmm.  But some of the posts here include examples of kids who are already excelling yet school officials steer kids in what are contradictory directions based on their achievement to date. That's what drives me nuts - these examples aren't kids with mismatched skills and goals - but a system that can't recognize their accomplishments and steer them accordingly.[/quote]

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