Teaching to Change the World By: Oakes and Lipton

This article has many interesting points, I feel however the most important points are:

• Ambition


• Class


• Social Structure


• Government


• Privileged


• Success


• Progress


• Age


• School Assembly Lines

This article tells us about the basic principals that the American schooling system was founded on. The major idea in this country is "my child can grow up to be anything he/she wants to be" and according to the reading this is called the Myth of Merit. The article tells us that this myth is a source of immense pride

"forged in a fair culture in which individual ability and determination,rather than wealth or personal connections, hold the key to sucess and upward mobility."

The education system, the writers write,is called an educational playing field. they write:

"It was as if they were playing on a field tilted in there opponents' favor-they might kick or throw farther and run faster, but their efforts reaped fewer positive results because the work was uphill"

This section writes about how the educational system has always been tittled so white middle to upper class children can suceed. This is the uneven playing field. However this does not register with the majority of America, because the field is tilted in their favor. Because of this many Americans do no believe anything is wring with education.

The text later goes on to talk about schools as an assembly line...many schools are like this today, I belive for the sheer fact they have to be. If they do not have particular classes or particular curricualem or particular teahcers, the students will not succeed. I belive this is a sayetemic problem, and is somehtign that will take a long itme to fix in our school systems.

Something that the article writes about is the idea of "Throwing Money" at the schools and districts. However I feel that thsi is a good point, i believe that thsi can be a good thing, lettng schools have money to fix anythign they need to and possibly upgrade facilites. I belive that this can be a good thing, by fixing facitities and things of that nature can produce pride in ones school. And i belive that thsi is key to a schools sucess and priosperity as a place of education.

One major point was fear of the reast of the world. The courty is loosing ground, as was written in "A Nation at Risk" This is somethign that americans so not want to see happen, reports like thsi create fear and instead of being a string nation we become a fearfull nation.

This article opened my eyes to many things, There is much more i would write, but its time for class...maybe after class ill add more!