By showing to the readers that he was once a public school teacher it helps them see him as an expert giving his own expert opinion. He stresses that the public school system is doing the youth of this generation an injustice. He does this through analyzing the goals of education, not schooling. He uses the third goal a lot which is to make each person their best that they can be. He also says the today’s school system suppresses the word genius.
I agree with what Graff says and also agree when he says, “The challenge, as a college professor Ned Laff has put it, “is not simply to exploit students’ nonacademic interests, but to get them to see those interests through academic eyes” (p.302). I strongly believe this is true, I wish teachers would really take this into consideration. The author also reminds us of his own adolescent experience. Graff was anit-intellectual as a young student until he entered college. Graff disliked books very much and only cared for sports.
Unit one also taught me to reevaluate how important certain priorities when it came to writing. I learned from the other unit one authors, Joseph M. Williams and James E. Porter, that when an essay is read by someone who is looking for grammatical error or plagiarism instead of content, they will often find the error and ignore the content. Although I do still know the importance of grammar and originality, this class and the grading style has let me put those constructs in the back seat until the editing process, instead of making them something I had to constantly worry about. I don’t believe that good writing revolves around grammar, but rather how well your words can convey a message to the intended audiences.
P A R T I V Communicate Your Ideas ome students will be surprised to find the subject of communication included in a book on thinking because they assume that the two subjects are unrelated. In reality, they are closely related. To begin with, expressing ideas clari- fies them. As Mortimer Adler, an American philosopher, explains: “Thinking tends to express itself in words, spoken or written. The person who says he knows what he thinks but cannot express it usually does not know what he thinks.”* In addition, the kinds of ideas we are concerned with in this book—solutions to problems and issues—are most meaningful when they are communicated to other people.
The hidden curriculum has a big influence on pupils, its one thing to teach the child educationally but if the child is treated unjustly (no voice) by the school system then a much more negative message is given to those pupils about the nature of society. According to Functionalists, meritocracy exists in all of society. Parson (1961) believes in the wider society everyone is treated the same and that your position is determined by your effort and your will to achieve. So society is said to be meritocratic, as everybody can achieve if they want to. Durkheim (2002) Believes that there are fixed rules for all and by transmitting the norms and values across society, it is then fair and meritocratic.
Many teachers do not like “catching plagiarists and bringing them to academic justice.” As she states, it is not hard to just cite the author that originally had the information you are using (Bojar). Plagiarism is becoming a big problem in the school system. Many students do not understand what needs to be cited and what does not. The school system should teach students the proper way to cite, and they should teach them that copy and pasting is not writing a paper. According Bojar to students at the community college have a hard time juggling classes along with his or her family and a job.
It appears that testing is a waste of time, but in reality, it prepares students for future success. Another question that occurs is: What are students gaining from these different tests each year? Many people debate whether the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is considered to be pointless. Maybe these tests are teaching students accountability and responsibility, two vital tools for success in life. Within in the article, “No Child Left Behind: Test-Obsessed Education Won’t Move Us Ahead” the author, David Marshak, slashes the No Child Left Behind Act.
International Baccalaureate Essay Strengths and Weaknesses I believe that I, as a student, am open-minded and principled. As an open-minded student, I am capable of perceiving and realizing my flaws and open to perspectives, as well as values, traditions, comments and suggestions of other people and other individuals. With this, I’ll have this as an advantage for me, in a way, due to the fact that I have sought and evaluated various point of views in which allows me to grow and be a better man for others. As a principled student, I see myself being responsible, honest and respectful. I feel that I am more than capable of shouldering my responsibilities, as well as the consequences along with it.
In this essay you will see my findings on my particular learning style, personality type, and how I can now benefit by knowing this and how to expand my knowledge in implementing other way of learning. “Overall, learning is a blend of various styles.” (Pheifer, 2009). I discovered that my style of learning is that I am a visual learner! This came as a surprise to me since I always thought of myself as a hands on learner. Although in reflecting on this for a bit I realize that I do visualize and retain more information by reading and studying material, not just the hands on approach.
Individuals define right and wrong through learnt behaviour we are not born with such values and beliefs. These believe and values are a constraint on the individual by extended influence. These constraints aren’t written in stone nor are they legally binding yet play a pivotal role in moulding our behaviour. The status we have in society is governed by the role