What I'm really trying to say

Okay first of all, I just now realized that I can have one link (kneveland.blogger.com) and just have my separate blogs as like subtitles sort of. I'm still new to this so don't judge me, but at least this way I will be able to coordinate my different blogs in sub-categories if you will.

I'm pretty glad that I figured that out, because now it will be easier for my teacher to view all my blogs that are geared for the class and then my more personal blogs can be totally separate. Like my last blog was about sex and relationships and we can all be sure that education and sex are pretty separate.

I really wanted to write this extra blog along with the last one because I honestly didn't like the work I did. I felt like it was too jumbled and just all over the place. I was trying to squeeze so much into one blog, make it educational, while also trying to make it interesting. So on this blog I am writing, I want to put it more like my views and how I truly feel in my heart towards the education system. Rather then me throwing quotes at you, or names of people that you have no clue who they are, this one is something that I think everyone can relate to or just freely read. Capeesh?

I always like to state this, but I will do it again. This is MY BLOG, some personal, some not so personal. If you don't like what I write then don't read it, but I definitely appreciate comments and feedback, even if you disagree with me or find flaws in how I think/what I write.

That being said, I just want to get into the nitty gritty of it. When I think about my own education that I received, for example. I am from a small town, that really is able to sustain through the college that is there. If there was no college, my town would be much much smaller. My graduating class was about two hundred-ish and quite frankly, I only talk to about 5 people from my graduating class. That's okay though I'm not really worried about it. My dad always says it's a great place to be FROM.

You know what the really interesting thing about a small town is? People want so badly to become something more than just the small, farm town kid they were raised to be. I can vouch for that too, because I wanted more than anything to get out of the town. So I did, and came to college here in Carbondale. However,  I have a friend that does't seem to think that education beyond high school is necessary. Okay, so that may or may not be possible but we always hear how you have to have a degree now a days to do anything. Did you know, that only about 30% of all citizens in America have a degree? A lot smaller than I originally thought, especially because there is so much pressure for us to go to school. Why is that?

In one reading from my class, it talked about President Bush visiting a middle school, of prodominately black students. When he asked the class who thought they wanted to go to college, every single student raised their hand. That was eighth grade. In high school, the dropout rate increases, and by the time the hit that last year, if they even get to the last year, the percentage that still wants to attend college is quite the contrary. Am I the only one that is deeply saddened about this? Like really, isn't that sad to think that kids (at some point in time) are really interested in going to college but then that falls through.

We are taught our whole lives that if you can dream it, you can achieve it. Chase your dreams right? Anything is possible! So are our schools setting us up for failure? No, I don't think that's the point but the harsh reality of it all is that our system is just one big cycle. The top stay on the top and the bottom stay on the bottom. If you can't afford a private school does that mean your education should be compromised? Not one bit. If you live in an area, inner-city for example, and you don't have the equipment, safety, supplies and everything necessary for everyday schooling then there's really not much you can do. Resources are rationed in a way that is unjust and flat out not right.

Public education should not be swept under the rug, and if you want my personal opinion I think the No Child Left Behind Act was just a blanket resolution. It's like "hey, look at us we care about our education because we signed a piece of paper that says we care about education, so we are good to go!" Nonetheless, it's up to all of us to care about our children and their school conditions, as well as the education they are receiving.

Here's a couple random pictures of my favorite men in my life. My brothers and my dad are always here for me and I love them so much for that. 

Back to what I said earlier about my friend thinking he doesn't need college. That's fine and dandy and all, but why sell yourself short like that. I know we have all taken a few classes where we are like "Why the hell do I need this, I am never going to use this in real life." What I can tell you, from my own college experience thus far, is that it is always a great idea to take things like that in stride. Even if you don't ever use it in your life, at least you can have that knowledge because you never know when it will come up in conversation or be essential to something in your life.

Here's the thing guys, college isn't just about read this, memorize it, then regurgitate. College is to make you a scholar who is well rounded, prepared for the real world, and is a critical thinker as well as a problem solver. Although, I will say that some classes really are just memorizing things even if it's just temporary. That's what I'm getting at though, education should not be like that. It should be engaging you in real life, to empower you, to embrace the tools you have and what you are good at. Taking your talents, mixing it with knowledge and learning things related to that to further your set of skills.

The coolest thing for me as a college student, is to have my classes and the material connect. Honestly, it's like having a light bulb go off in your head. Then you think, man look at me all smart and edumacated. I know that even if my future doesn't hold what I think it does, then I will be prepared to for whatever else is thrown at me. In my perfect world, I want to go abroad and teach, or really just help in some kind of way. If I die knowing that I have helped at least one person in my life, then I will die happy.

Enough about college though, let's talk about our youth. You know how it goes, build from the bottom up. It's the same with our kids. A child's brain is so absorbent and learns so quickly, which is part of the reason why I chose early childhood education as my major. Birth to around age 5 is the most crucial point in our lives. Now with that being said, why do people seem so incredibly unaware of the fact that they can't spell? I am not the best speller, which is something I need to work on if I want to be a teacher, but I mean come on people!!1

There is a difference between TO, TWO, and TOO. There is a difference between THEIR, THERE, and THEY'RE! I learned this in second grade and it has stuck with me ever since. So when I get on Facebook and see people spelling simple things like that wrong it makes me wonder what happened. Education is like building blocks. If you miss the first two rungs of the latter, then the next few steps become incredibly hard. It's SHOULD/WOULD/COULD  HAVE, not should of.
Sorry… unnecessary rant.

I guess what I am saying is that we need to raise our standards so that we can create these students who are resourceful, thoughtful, intelligent, well rounded people that can be an enhancement to our world. Part of what I mentioned in my lost blog is what our instructor asked us.. what is 'becoming'? What is 'having become'?

As I said, I will let you ponder that for yourself.

In my perfect world everyone would have access to the same education, where it is equal. Which is part of what a democratic school system consists of. Unfortunately, that's not the case. It takes everyone to care and put in the effort, not just the educators. I feel like people view school as a place to drop your kid off at, and they learn there and then just go home and that's it. It's not like that. Not at all. It takes parents and community members to further a students studies, to push them into learning more and doing more.

For example, when I was interning with a third grade class there was one student in particular who told me that his mother did not read to him, or was too busy to help him with his homework. Because of this he really struggled to do his school work and really didn't have much drive to put the effort in. It was heart breaking to see a young child with so much potential give up for no reason. Is that how it goes though? I mean I didn't know his home life. Maybe his mom works two jobs and doesn't have time for him. Maybe she really just doesn't care.
That's the thing though, education goes beyond the walls of a school. It goes so much further than that, and quite honestly he was being set up for failure. Sure he has just as good of a chance to escape that as any other kid, but he is also already in the cycle. He sees what his mom does and maybe thinks that he will just do the same. He was a really special student and had the biggest heart of any 10 year old I had ever met, not to mention a great sense of humor. Getting to know those kids and spending a whole year with them was the best thing I've done with my life so far.
I could go on and on about that third grade class and my experience. It did open my eyes to a lot of things I would not have known, had I not taken the internship.
Mr. Frances was my teacher, neighbor, mentor and really like a father figure to me. I appreciate him and all of his help, and really I aspire to become a teacher like him some day.

I don't know if I'm allowed to post these pictures, but I suppose I will take the risk. This was the wonderful 3rd grade class of Mr. Francis. This was my senior year. 

This was my buddy when I did the pre-school program offered through our high school. My junior year.    

Needless to say, I spent the whole last day crying and reading letters that they wrote. It was really touching to know that I effected these students lives so much, and that they appreciated me. The appreciated me not only as a teacher, but a friend. I know for sure that this is what I want to do with my life.
 

In this picture, you can't really tell but we were crying and hugging and then immediately had to turn on a bright happy smile.

So anyways, I will end my blog on that note. If you read this all I really appreciate it and hope you leave comments or feedback! Ps sorry that the pictures are staggered all weird, like I said I'm still learning.

Stay beautiful

Democratic Education

Hello to my readers,
First I would just like to thank everyone for the positive support and feedback I have been getting about my blogs. It is pretty cool to have people read something you write, especially because some of this blog is personal.

Here's an adorable picture of me and my brothers, because why not? Thought I'd spice this blog up a bit.

Anyways, I have some awesome news to share. I discussed my blog with one of my instructors (and this is someone that I have a lot of respect for and really appreciate the fact that I have him). He and I talked about me creating blogs that relate to the class. How cool? If you know me, even if it's only a little bit, you would know how passionate I am about education, and when I have a few "apple ciders" in me, I will just not shut up about everything I have been learning in my class. I'm going to leave out the dirty details but just know that some of the information I will share with you is so important to me, and some of if will also be really specific towards something you may not agree with at all. But as I always say in every blog I write.. it's mine, so if you don't like it or don't agree that is completely fine with me. I would really appreciate comments made on this as well because I would love to hear what you think after reading any of my blogs.

Real quick I want to share with you some things about my instructor. Not only did he help me arrive at this idea of a blog series for my final project, but he encouraged me to do so. Of course I am going to jump at the opportunity, and now I can share some (I think to be) important and necessary information about education. I won't say my instructors name, because quite frankly I don't feel that I am in a position to call him out in such a public way. Just wanted to say that he is great teacher. He challenges us as students to think in ways that we probably would not have originally, and he pushes us into finding answers that may or may not be concrete but are able to critically think about. I told him he is like the annoying 4 year old that asks "Why?" to everything you say. It's sometimes frustrating but I know that he does it for a reason.
Warning: Don't ever say "I don't know" in front of him, he will say "yes you do"and make you regret even uttering those words. He does it from a good place, however, and only has our best interest.

Now, to get down to why I'm really writing this. As I pondered a title for this thing, I was thinking really hard about how to make it general and geared toward everyone, rather than a specific type of audience. How does one make the study of education sound appealing for every kind of person? Do you think you have to be a parent to care about the education system?

I want to share with you guys what I have been reading, and discussing in this class for the past nearly 8 weeks. What I would really like to stress in this blog, is the argument over democratic schools. No, I am not referring to politics when I say democratic, I am however talking about school settings and whether or not they are democratic. By this, I am talking about a range of things schools do to be democratic in their own way, but essentially part of this blanket theory of a democratic school is that we come together as students, educators, parents, and a community in order to make our schools the best place to teach our young learners how to critically think about things, and apply those to their real world situations (preparing us for the real, cruel world we live in).

James A. Beane and Michael W. Apple are the two authors of this book I will mostly be referring to, Democratic Schools, Lessons in Powerful Education. Now, I will tell you guys that I have already written a 7 page paper on this book and the implications of what it means to have a democratic school, but I will try and water it down as much as possible so that you aren't stuck reading all that (it is only a blog after all, and I don't want to lose your attention).
 If we were to just talk about the word democracy itself, you would make the assumption that it has no place in a school setting, but really it has everything to do with how school systems function. As far as Apple and Beane are concerned, a democratic school is one that is a process, and quite frankly it doesn't just have one definition. "...But beyond them lies the possibility for young people, professional educators, and citizens to work together in creating more democratic schools that serve the common good of at the whole community" (Apple and Beane 2007). As far as the curriculum is concerned, it is to be considered "hidden" in which the students learn lessons about justice, power, dignity and self-worth.

Here's a snap chat my friend sent me once, just trying to make sure you're still paying attention!!!!!!!

HERE'S THE BIG PICTURE GUYS
I know some of this seems like a lot, especially for someone that has no experience or knowledge in this specific topic, but what it's all about is preparing our children for the current state of our world, and to raise them so that they can be productive and influential citizens. Do you want to just be stuck in a cycle where the poor stay poor and the rich get richer? I mean, I can't be the only one that feels this way right? The way our system is set up is so that the bottom stay at the bottom and the top stay at the top. Is that what we want in our society? Should we just teach our kids that if they don't have the access to a good education, a safe building, books that are in one piece, school supplies that are actually usable- that that's all they will ever amount to and there is nothing they can do to change that?

Let me ask you this- do you feel you were given the best education you could have received? Maybe you weren't able to go to a private school that cost thousands of dollars each semester, so does that mean your education is less valued? Why would anyone deserve anything but the best, just based on their social class? For example, in one of the chapters of this book, there is in example of a school where in one particular classroom the teacher was able to co-create curriculum with the students in order to bring about change to their school. How you ask? Well I shall tell you..

It is called Byrd Community Academy, and these 5th grade students had horrible circumstance as far as their environment was concerned. I'm talking huge problems, problems they couldn't even fit all on one letter. Things like restrooms that we so filthy they weren't usable, broken sinks, bugs, leaks, no hot water, and temperatures so cold the students had to wear their coats in the classroom, and their gym was across the street. ACROSS THE FREAKIN STREET PEOPLE! Hello, let's never take PE for granted again, and that wasn't even a gym that belonged to the school. Man doesn't that just make your blood boil? That we, as American citizens- Land of the free and the home of the brave, but screw our schools! This is unacceptable, and it's not just this one school, this happens all around us.

So you know what those kids did? They wrote a letter, with the help of their teacher, and sent it to the State Senator of Illinois. Not only did they do this, but the students themselves created a plan of action that was actually sponsored by the Constitutional Rights Foundation of Chicago, and the name for their plan- Project Citizen. There is no reason that we should leave these problems up to our government, rather it is a concern of every single person out there- you, me, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, neighbors, cousins, coaches, colleagues etc. "By embracing this meaningful problem, the curriculum became a catalyst for authentic, natural, and integrated learning to occur" (Brian D. Schultz, 2007)
THIS--------->is what I mean by democratic. Students coming together with their teachers, community, and government to create a project that directly impacts them, and think of a plan that will change this for the better. See what I'm saying now?

Here's a picture of my cat, just incase I was starting to lose your attention ;)

Another thing I would like to touch on is the vocational education side of it all, and by this I mean really gearing the curriculum in the field they are going into after they are expected to graduate. Apple and Beane state that most vocational education is preparation for an enhanced model of active citizenship in which all people are empowered to make important decisions. However, it's not just teaching future workers the flexible job skills supposedly needed for the twenty-first century, because unfortunately it is shown that a large portion of our modern jobs are creating low-skilled, part-time, and poorly paid (Apple 1996). This does not happen by chance, it is between the work of the schools, students, educators, and the community to come together for a common good and help teach our youth how to be important members of society when they grow up. Sometimes this work can be exhausting and honestly it is pretty harshly criticized because it isn't what we are used to. I could go on and on about this but my blog is already extremely long.

I recently talked to a friend who told me that he felt he didn't need education, especially for the field he is interested in. UHM WHAT? That's like saying, I'm done learning "I'm good for the rest of my life, check ya later bro" I was stunned and of course had my own little argument but really I don't think we should ever be done learning. We should never be done becoming a better person, which brings me to my next point.. This idea of becoming.

Our instructor asked us to think about the difference between 'becoming' and 'have become' like what a generally question. Think about it though….. take a few minutes and think of what it means to be 'becoming' verses 'having become' and just think as hard as your brain will go without blowing up. I'm sure you need a few minutes to absorb all you have read so far so I'll wait………

Okay, so it's been a few minutes now right? What do you think? (this is a part where you can make comments to me at the bottom on the page if you would like). What I took out of this was that we are always becoming, we are always learning, we are always evolving, we are always changing, but more importantly on a greater scale. Our WORLD is always changing, evolving, and growing, so it is up to the human race to take it and run with it right? Which is why we need educators to teach students how to do this developmental process. Kind of cool to think about in the grand scheme of things right? The saying "the children are our future" although incredibly cheesy, it is incredibly true. I'm sure there are exceptions to my feelings about education (such as Steve Jobs and other successful college dropouts), but we have to prepare the next generation so they are ready and knowledgeable of how to improve on what we left behind for them and so on.

So, by now I'm sure you are probably thinking…..

and if you have made it this far I really appreciate you taking the time to read it and it means a lot to me (even though I'm sure most of my readers are just my family, hi Nana and Grandpa Mike)

The last thing I want to touch on is a specific person that is incredibly significant to the education field, and that man is John Dewey, here's a picture of him..

What a little cutie right? He was very important to the education field and part of the reason we are where we are today. He was sort of the father for this idea of a democratic school system (not to mention a genius philosopher and psychologist. Part of what he believes is that rather shoving information into a students brain and expecting them to regurgitate it in a form of a test, is just really not very accurate or helpful in a child's learning. Dewey says that we cannot just feed them this information, rather that we will use all the tools from one student and use those to the full capacity when society if ready. So from "My Pedagogic Creed" there are 5 articles that are: 1. What Edication is 2. What the School is 3. The Subject-matter of education 4.The Nature of Method 5. The School and Social Progress (School Journal vol. 54, January 1897) I really wish that I could go into further depth about this, and because of that I have decided to hold off until my next blog to talk about Dewey because really I can't just chalk everything up into one paragraph. 

Next blog, I want to discuss something that might be a little touchy, but necessary, and that is segregation, and privilege. I will also discuss the No Child Left Behind Act, because again guys, I just have way too much to say on that and I feel like I have already exhausted this blog.

Thanks for reading and please comment or give me some kind of feedback!!!!!!! 

Stay Beautiful