Elizabeth Vallance Journal Analysis

There are many controversies that American public education system does more harm than good. In “Against School” by John Taylor Gatto and “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work” by Jean Anyon, explains how school education destructively impacts us. Gatto states his experience as a public school teacher and why he “just can't-do it anymore”. He was tired how the schooling was programmed. He argues how school system are affecting students to be more like “childlike” citizens. Also, Anyon demonstrates her research on how there are many different kinds of education depending what “class” you were. She informs us that there is an inequality in “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work”. She tells us that this difference in

Over the years the role that teachers play in the child’s life has massively changed. In the late 1800s and early 1900s many children did not go to school, what they learned came from home, so when they did come to school, it was a shock. Many of the parents would send the children to school, and forget about them. Especially in girls, education has been the hardest from them over the years.

The author compares today’s school system to that of the past, which concerned itself with teaching students,

3. The author compares today’s school system to that of the past, which concerned itself with teaching students,

The hidden curriculum therefore consists of ideas, beliefs, norms and values which are often taken for granted and transmitted as part of the normal routines and procedures of school life. Bowles and Gintis argue that it is through the hidden curriculum that the education system prepares us for our future as workers in capitalist society.

Do teachers still teach what you expect the students can learn and remain in their social class or do you still teach them what will give them the flexibility to choose their path in life? According to Jean Anyon in the article “ Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum”, the Hidden Curriculum sets the students to remain within their economic class, which causes inequality in the society. Her findings challenged the work of sociologists who assume that the student's academic success depends on their self-motivation to succeed. I'm of the two mind that the more money you have, the better education your child receives. On the other hand, I also agree that the student success depends on their self-motivation. However, I don't concur that the Hidden Curriculum still exists in schools as at today because instructors are trying their best to rouse students towards achieving more prominent positions in life with the help of information technology, teachers also develop discipline in students and finally, education is reducing inequality in the United States. Therefore, I still maintain that the Hidden Curriculum does not exist in our schools as at present.

Education has had three phases of development according, to Van Krieken, 2013. Each phase being associated with a set of beliefs about the nature and purpose of education. Firstly, the advent of the modern system from the mid-19th century to World War II, influenced chiefly by liberal humanist ideas. Secondly, post World War II expansion into the late 1970’s was influenced by social democratic beliefs. Finally, the increased marketisation of education which has been influenced by neoliberalism since the 1980’s (Krieken, 2013, p. 149).

The essay ‘Against the school’ by John Taylor Gatto draws our attention on to all the cons of attending twelve years of high-school. Gatto has experience in teaching profession for twenty-six years in schools of Manhattan, he shares from his experience that he majored in boredom and could see that everywhere around him. He also points out the initial reason why schools came into existence and what the purpose it fulfils now. He also educates us on the fact that all the great discoverers never attended school and were self-educated.The main idea Gatto addresses in his article are that public schooling is doing the youth an injustice.He implies that the purpose of schooling, now is to turn children into good employes and someone who follows orders.

There are many controversies that american public education system does more harm than good. In “Against School” by John Taylor Gatto and “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work” by Jean Anyon, explains how school education destructively impacts us. Gatto states his experience as a public school teacher and why he “just can’t do it anymore”. He was tired how the schooling was programmed. He argues how school system are affecting students to be more like “childlike” citizens. Also, Anyon demonstrates her research on how there are many different kind of education depending what “class” you were. She informs us that there is an inequality in “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work”. Both authors depicts the reality and truth, that some people are unable to see. As a student, I’ve also experience this and support how school depicts how we are in the future. Moreover, there are many representations that explains why the american public education systems does more harm than good.

In the farming society of the early 1800’s, education was not possible for many children. Horace Mann, a farm boy himself and an early advocate for educational reform, saw the deficiencies in the educational system. He pushed for “common schools” that would retain local control, be co-educational and revolve around the agricultural year. Mann’s ideas began to be adopted around the country in the second half of the nineteenth century. By the start of the twentieth century, mandatory public schooling was the norm. This was the height of the industrial revolution. As Davidson notes in “Project Classroom Makeover”, “Public Education was seen as the most efficient way to train potential workers for labor in the newly urbanized factories (197).” Schools began to work like an assembly line with a focus on efficiency, attention to detail, memorization of facts and staying on task. Curriculum became standardized and states began to replace the local management of education. Critically thinking outside the box was less valued. Regardless of ability, children started school at the same age and were moved through their education in a regulated process.

To start off with, the majority of the schools in the 1840’s had an attendance as little as 132 days per school year. Similarly, only 59% of the population of kids in the 1840’s attended school. However, 1 teacher taught all the students of all ages. The youngest students would sit in the front practicing their ABC’s, while the oldest students would sit in the back learning about Math, English (reading and writing), and History (geography). In fact, the older kids would sometimes help the teacher teach the younger kids. Instead of using mechanical pencils and white boards, students would use slates and chalk to write on the chalkboard. Surprisingly, school ended for kids after 8th grade, which meant that they would graduate after 8th grade. In order to graduate, students need to pass a final exam that goes over everything you learned over your lifetime. In addition, another interesting fact is that teachers lived with their students’ families sometimes because they had nowhere else to live. Nevertheless, teachers had to follow rules that were set by the leader or the president at that time. The teachers had to attend church and were not allowed to dance during special

The current, yet archaic, education system is based on America’s agricultural and industrial era, which took place during the early 1800s. Horace Mann’s “common schools” included a three month summer vacation during farming season to allow farmers’ kids to receive schooling. Public

Schools also have a hidden curriculum in which values and norms of behaviour are transmitted. For example, wearing a school uniform and keeping to a set timetable can all be seen as activities that encourage particular standards of behaviour which could be viewed as producing disciplined future workers. Therefore the hidden curriculum implies that pupils not only learn formal subjects such as English or physics but also receive hidden messages about their class, ethnicity and gender from their experience of schooling. Through the choice of teaching strategies and characteristics chosen to be employed by educational institutions it indirectly conveys to students the norms, values and expectations. This is what we refer to as the hidden curriculum. As we will later explore there are many that argue the hidden curriculum and processes within schools help to produce inequalities between children of different social classes. Whitty and Young (1976) view the

School has changed tremendously over time. School was a lot different back then than it is today. Going to school was not offered to everyone. It was only offered to the upper-class. Boys and girls were schooled separately, but today our schools are diverse and have many different kinds of races. Technology did not even exist a hundred years ago, but today, we use technology everyday in our school work. Through the course of history, education usually matched the needs of society until recently where a gap has occurred between high school and the real world in what skills and content is taught versus what is needed.