For the most part, I have to agree with the critical theorists: learning barriers do exist. In

Education is a fundamental aspect of any civilized nation. The goal of public education in America is to turn uninformed children into knowledgeable citizens who are fully capable of participating in a society driven by democracy and economics. Students drop out every year by the hundreds of thousands, and those who remain receive a less than satisfactory educational experience due to lack of funding, inadequate teachers, and flawed educational strategies. Americans must improve school funding and increase teacher pay to ensure all students receive quality primary and secondary education as well as reduce remediation and drop out rates through improved learning standards, effective assessment tools,

Bell Hooks, shares many things that I can relate to in Teaching to Transgress, from the perspective as a father (teacher), husband (teacher), Uncle (teacher), Cousin, etc. Growing up in Philadelphia, I did not know how underprivileged my family was, since we were affluent in additional areas, it did not matter. However, I noticed it my second week of high school. Knowledge opened a completely new world for me and forced me to think critically and challenge everything that I read, hear, touch, and even taste. As a husband, if I am unable to lead, my family will perish. If I do not show enthusiasm while doing school projects with my 13-year-old, she will not have passion to pull from, and ultimately not succeed.

These combined factors greatly undermine the social, economic, and political potential of minorities in America. I am developing myself professionally and through academic studies to develop comprehensive plans addressing school improvements, enforcing civil rights, and equitable access to resources and higher education for all people. Through HGSE I will expand my network of professionals that understand the achievement gaps and collaborate to not only ask the daring questions but be agents of change. I plan to become a leader whose future work is never displaced from the community I serve. After graduation my true desire lies to straddle both the hands-on forefront of the classroom and the transformative policy and administrative lens. My ideal position enables me to only to hear the voices and see the needs of the community I impact but also take the theories into practice to ensure that all students are prepared for a 21st century global society. Though my role is multifaceted; from a role model, artist, and educator, being a leader that demonstrates a commitment to equity and excellence comes

I learned that I will need to understand the issues facing my students inside and outside of the classroom. By having this understanding, I hope to be able to form real relationships with my students, make learning relevant to each student, and be able to provide the necessary support to make them successful learners. I want to be a resource and/or participant in my students’ life rather than just a spectator and/or teacher teaching about diversity. I realized that my previous perception would have left some students struggling in my classroom. I would have overlooked students’ needs if I only concentrated on teaching diversity in my classroom. I believe that this experience has made me grow as an educator and made me realize how I need to understand the complexities faced by my students in order for me to become successful in the classroom and to become an effective teacher.

As teachers, we operate in a world of assumptions about the communities that we work in, the students that we serve, and ourselves. Most of us live in a world where the assumptions remain a hidden subtext in our lives, as something that dictates how we interact with others but yet does not actually come to the surface. Because we are not critically aware of these forces, we assume that this is the way that things are supposed to be, never asking if this is working to oppress other people. Unfortunately, because teachers are not critically aware of the damages that these assumptions, in the form of biases and privilege, can cause to students, they allow a cycle of oppression to continue when do not fit into the ‘perfect student’ ideal. When

“When government accepts responsibility for people, then people longer take responsibility for themselves.” George Patak. Right now, America’s employment rate nationwide is in the same state that it was in the late nineteen seventies and the early nineteen eighties. We as a nation are going downhill. we have to give back to the community and create jobs. It's not just the government’s job, it's ours. we need to go to college, get an education, start a business, hire people, and then you'll be a help in your community. Education, one of the main building blocks of our society. We need to be sending students to get educated and to stay in school. Kids nowadays, always talk about how they're going to drop out and how they don't care at all. Teachers aren't coming alongside students Students and bringing them along, giving to work at dropping them off. Students, On the other hand, are not taking the initiative needed to work hard and figure it out on their own. They're being taught the basics, but nothing in advance to see how far they can actually

I was born in a city with one of the nation’s worst public school systems. The District of Columbia Public School district has been under an education reform for the past decade and there has been a lot of work to bring justice to the students there. That is where I started – and from there I still found myself enrolled in low performing schools without a solid budget or plan. Regardless of the status of my school and the budget it’s district has created, I was able to graduate from high school and attend a four-year university in one of the most ethically diverse cities in our country. This is the kind of opportunity I want for all children that come from the city like me. I have been inspired by all of my educators to pursue a career in teaching and I am motivated to create this opportunity for all students in my classroom.

Our children are the most important resource in this Country. Our way of life could forever change, by the changes that are put into our schools by the federal government. The decline in meaningful learning because of the many standardized tests mandated, first accepted into our state from the federal government, which can degrade the lifestyle we enjoy today. “Standardized Tests measure only a small portion of what makes education meaningful”, and they are taking too much out of the learning time. This is detrimental to our children’s Education. Retired teachers and grandparents in a group called United Women’s Forum, meet every week. They are working to improve civic issues regarding the Education of our children. There is need for more

First, in realizing equal opportunity and narrowing the wealth gap education is the major challenge to overcome. The reasons for the gap might be family matters or structure, educational background, talents, innovation, technology, technical skills and the like. An article entitled, “Does Anyone Believe in the American Dream Anymore? “states that:

As a teacher, I aim to instill a sociological imagination in students that encourages critical thinking and evidence-based analysis. My research demonstrates that social context plays a key role in life chances. As a result, an important challenge for me as an instructor is to have students look beyond their own individual experiences and individualistic explanations when they explore social problems. The classroom offers a unique opportunity to accomplish this goal because each student brings a different set of social contexts to the class. I capitalize on this diversity through active learning techniques that place students at the center of teaching. Sometimes this forces students to – at least temporarily – adopt a view they would not normally

Nearly 45% of the predominately white families within my school district qualify for free or reduced lunch. That means about 45% of these families’ annual income falls below the poverty line. These families are in desperate need of being educated on the bigger issues in the world and how they can empower themselves to make changes within their lives and families. Education can be used to educate these families to understand the world’s injustices, such as poverty, illiteracy, and unemployment that affect their future, and how they can carefully examine these social problems that continue to oppress their community, while seeking to find solutions to fix the flaws of society. Without this education, history will continue to repeat itself for this community. Until someone learns how to take a stand and end the inequalities that afflict this small

Education is accessible to everyone through the availability of student loans, just about anyone can get student loans; and for those that are unsure of how to go about it there is plenty of aid in the process. Even if one is not raised within the linguistic capital to encourage certain behaviors and certain linguistic capabilities, this can be achieved through the process of education. The UNC education system is useful in attaining my goal of educational capital, there is no double standard, especially online. In the online environment I have no race and in my case minimal gender. You have no idea how many times that a professor or student has referred to me as Thomas. The only obstacles in life are self-made. If we look hard enough we can find disparity in any situation, however, that is not always the case. The apparent criticism by Blunden of Bourdieu in respect to cultural appreciation is that Bourdieu reduces it to nothing more than a status game (2004); in essence it really isn’t much more than that. Work harder, be better, improve and improvise, that is the American spirit. Everyone has that ability, one just has to possess the drive and desire to succeed and the determination to see past the wall of one’s own

There are a couple of differing theories on the role of education in our society. The Functionalist Theory focuses on the ways that universal education serves the needs of society. Functionalists like to view society in, well, “functions.” Functionalist think everything serves some type of purpose or function. “They perceive five different functions to be: the economic role: teaching skills work, the selective role: choosing the most able people for the most important jobs, the secondary socialization role: teaching norms and values, social control: teaching acceptance of rules and authority, and social cohesion: learning about other cultures.” Functionalists tend to think we all have the same opportunities from the start of school, and that it is up to the individual on what he or she decides to with those opportunities. Thus, in a functionalist perspective, inequality is not an issue; a functionalist would say you have the same opportunities whereas

Over the last eight weeks, we have visited and deeply discussed many topics that surround social justice in the classroom. These topics have ranged from social justice in the world to how to create a socially just classroom and everything in between. In class, there has been a few times where it has been uncomfortable because the topics can bring out many opinions in the room. Many people in the room shared their opinions, including me, which brought up many other discussions. In this essay, I will be discussing our navigations through the social justice issues that classrooms face by talking about the key points of our class throughout the last eight weeks.

America is often enamored of itself as the champion of equality in every aspect of its society; however, this is often not the case. This is true in every aspect of life, but is very evident specifically in the American education system. Although America claims to give an equal education to all, regardless of any external factors, economic class often plays a role in what type and how good of an education a student may receive. Since education is the basis for future success, this inequity resulting from socioeconomic status implies that this is where inequality in everyday life starts, and that the system generates this inequality. If this is true, then one might ask, what then is the purpose of education? If economic class predetermines