Thursday, January 31, 2013
Edumacation
I've ALWAYS admired teachers. Even before my mother was a teacher, I felt like teachers were the shit. Don't work any nights or weekends, vacations like crazy (alllllllllllll summer), and you get to hang out with cool kids like myself for 7 or 8 hours a day. I never pursued a career in teaching until 2 years ago when I went back to school. The more insight I got from teachers about teaching and the more I learned about the education system I was turned away from that profession; actually I was disgusted. My early childhood education was not exactly the same as my neighborhood friends I grew up with. I went to the local elementary school, but being that I was in a "gifted" program I was often in classes with children from different races and cultures. That in itself was culture-shock for me, and my school was like 7 blocks from my home. Hearing an Asian kid with a Brooklyn accent and sounding like me was bananas, especially since he liked playing basketball and trading cards. Being that the program I was in was for "gifted" chiildren, the cirriculum was actually helpful. I learned things the kids in my grade had no access to via school, even the trips we went on were different or exclusive. So when I reflect and RE-evaluate my schooling, the school system was grooming us to be the people in society who succeed and be in charge. The way we learned was different, the skills they equipped us with we different, the way they prepared us for the next level was different. The playing field was not fair and those peers of mine in regular classrooms were already behind the power-curve and haven't even step a foot into the real world yet. I now see this on a larger scale where the gifted program has become somewhat extinct and there is now the gifted or priviledged district. Gifted or priviledge school in a pool of schools destined to fail because of the lack of impetus to make sure those children are getting a fair shake at life. I sit back and get upset about shit like that to the point that I don't want to be a teacher, I want to open my own damn school. Then I sit back just a little bit further and realize, somebody has to cook the fries at McDonalds for this capitalist society to thrive. We need uneducated people for this world to function, unfortunately... I'm 100% NOT condoning this practice, but I need some help from You guys. I need ideas on how we can combat these issues and save Our babies. Peace!
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3 comments:
I'm a talented learner and a teacher by nature, so my actions and insight reflect that. So I often get the "Charles, why dont you become a teacher?" My response is "hell no!!!"
Not because I don't care about the education of the kids in my community, but because the problems faced originate OUTSIDE of the classroom.
The system sets up people to fail. Not even because resources are unavailable or inaccessible. But because so many resources are unknown or deemed unimportant......to certain people. That's the strategy.
I remember back in the day when kids who were in the gifted programs were made fun of and picked on because they were somehow different. As in some twisted society where genius potential is some kind of embarrassment. Thats the plan.
I remember as an adult being mad and my mom and grandmother for not exposing me to all the great things I could have access to and learn. This is NYC dammit. Why didn't they? The response was "I didn't know" or "what u need that for?" The typical expected attitude. All according to plan.
I don't think our kids (and adults) are intellectually unequipped because they dont have the potential. Its because they don't value that ability (sinking a jumpshot or running fast is way more valuable than being able to read or think/analyze critically, therefore they don't understand you can apply intelligence to sports via strategy). This attitude cannot be simply combated by putting more teachers inside the classroom. It has to be done on the same front that establishes this mindset in the first place.
Also when you don't understand the real world, or have a extremely narrow view of what that may be, you have no idea when your children are "behind the power curve" and often times, it stays that way.
My perspective is that there's nothing wrong with starting at a low level in the capitalist structure. The problem is that people are conditioned (both in mind and ability) to STAY there. If I start my own business and I grew and needed help, I'm not bringing u on as a co-owner. You're a worker, which is fine. What's NOT fine is 5 years later being that SAME worker. You should be moving up and expanding yourself in preparation to start your own (or at least be co-owner of this). I worked the register at Macy's, as well as other small jobs, while I was in school to help pay for my expenses and help out at home. I was damned if I was gonna stay there though.
If only "uneducated" was just a stage, and not an end state for many people.
One idea I had, which I want to work on sometime in the near future, was to create a small business incubator. Kinda how they do for the tech startups. Help small businesses get started (or stay in business) and teach them, as well as the young adults and teens, whats necessary to run a successful business.
Begin to illustrate the benefits of independence, as well as the realities of it (You not droppin $1mil in profit for Week 1 just because you have your own company) Begin to define healthy perspectives of success, etc.
Its not like I'm trying to compete with anyone, so if you want to implement this idea before I get a chance to, have at it. We as a people can use all the help we can get.
I have ideas, its just the schools dont prepare kids for the real world its just take this test and make this grade. Psychology should be teached, it helped me alot, and money management should be mandatory which is not.
On the flip side if the kids have bad parents(not bad but parents who arent parenting right)theres no hope anyway and yeah I said NO hope, because I see it with some of my family.
I see these Chinese familys have these restaurants, I mean they come from a whole another country and they are making it better than us black folk, why is that? Why cant black folk make something in their own country instead of working for somebody else, and the ones that do make it they don't bring no one up with them or pass on the knowledge.
If school is the the only place kids get educated and expect to get educated or parents let them get educated then they are fucked, cause this world is real its not recess and cartoons everyday.
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