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robinvoyager · 2 years ago

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Writing Log #1: Purpose of Public Education

My maternal grandmother has told me stories about practicing duck-and-cover drills during the Cuban Missile Crisis and the sounds of her classmates’ screaming when they learned that John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. My parents vividly remember where they were and what they were doing during events such as the September 11 attacks, the Columbine High School massacre, and the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Sometimes, I wonder what I will say when my children ask me where I was and what I was doing when a mob of Donald Trump’s supporters attacked the Capitol Building. After reading this week’s materials, I feel like the number one thing that I am going to pass on to anyone that asks me about the Capitol attack is: “[the attack] demonstrated several individuals failing to think critically.” That is what my mind kept wandering to when I read Henry A. Giroux’s Rethinking Education as the Practice of Freedom and James H. Shott’s The Value of Public Education is Under Attack, and Sinking.

It’s disappointing that Giroux’s journal is the first time that I’ve heard of Paulo Freire and critical pedagogy. Several aspects of the journal inspired me, but I was particularly moved by the section that read: “Universities are now largely defined through the corporate demand that they provide the skills, knowledge, and credentials to build a workforce that will enable the United States to compete and maintain its role as the major global economic and military power. Consequently, there is little interest in understanding the pedagogical foundation of higher education as a deeply civic, political, and moral practice.” (Giroux 715)

The fact that schools often prioritize securing students a stable place within the American economy may not sound like such a bad thing. After all, schools do want to see their students become successful in the professional world. However, failing to balance academic instruction with pedagogical foundations is a massive threat to American society and prosperity.

Some individuals, like the Bluefield Daily Telegraph’s James H. Shott, believe that the inclusion of pedagogy in curriculums is the weapon of educational bureaucracy. Throughout The Value of Public Education is Under Attack, and Sinking, Shott condemns activities in American schools that he deems unacceptable: “There is strong evidence that some schools and school systems are teaching critical race theory; a system that classifies one race as oppressors and other races as oppressed. Gender fluidity is being taught in some schools in New York state. This encourages youngsters to question their gender and perhaps attempt to change it. The latter two topics are being presented to very young students, in elementary and middle school. These children are not old or mature enough to be presented with these topics, or to make decisions about changing their gender. Furthermore, none of these topics are officially part of the approved curricula; they are being added under the table.” (Shott, The Bluefield Daily Telegraph)

Everyone has seen those memes online that lambast what schools do and do not teach students. They usually fall along the parameters of sarcastically thanking schools for teaching students that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell … while failing to teach them money management, taxes, and retirement planning. I’ve seen these spread even further by students and parents condemning schools for not teaching students how to be in a healthy relationship or how to resolve conflicts without violence. The ironic thing is schools have been trying to teach students these things through the activities that Shott, and so many others, consider “unacceptable”

Schools do not include gender fluidity in their curriculums because they want every student to change their gender; they teach it because it encourages students to be accepting of those who step out of the perceived societal norms and be proud of who they are. Critical race theory does seek to shame white people as oppressors; it hopes that students will learn from history and will not make the same choices as those who came before us.

Of course, blaming events such as the Capitol attack entirely on American education is neither fair nor accurate. Schools and educators can only do so much with the time and resources that they are given; and if a student, the student’s parents, or their environment reject education’s materials … what is there left for educators to do? I am not demanding that American education be held directly accountable for all the problems in the world. I am, however, encouraging that schools continue to include pedagogy in their curriculums because it will further public education’s goal to create a more prosperous world … in both the professional and personal fields…

Works Cited

Giroux, Henry A. “Rethinking Education as the Practice of Freedom: Paulo Freire and the Promise of Critical Pedagogy.” Policy Futures in Education, vol. 8, no. 6, 2010, pp. 715–720.

Shott, James H. “The Value of Public Education Is Under Attack, and Sinking.” The Bluefield Daily Telegraph, 24 Jan. 2023, https://www.bdtonline.com/opinion/the-value-of-public-education-is-under-attack-and-sinking/article_6ca70c00-9b2d-11ed-a44e-db2f855370f9.html.

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