Patrick Finn's Literacy with an Attitude
Overview: Patrick Finn's work in this article describes the idea that working class people get a better education due to it being domesticated. The domestication of the education brings students to being able to read and understand at a basic and "passable" level. However, being in the upper class of society provides better education systems, including better reading and understanding levels that develop much more intelligent students that bring out their potential. Finn also discusses his experiences with working with students in the working class level, and brings a personal insight and how he has developed due to the students teaching him.
Extended Comments:
When reading Megan's blog on Patrick Finn, she uses quotes that describe her points well, with an example being when Finn was teaching in Chicago. She uses a quote discussing how teachers try too hard to be the dominant figure in the classroom rather than the supportive, respected figure that is suppose to show them the right path. In addition to this, she transitions into Lisa Delpit who has a similar quote to relate to how the students also have powerful, useful knowledge that needs to be taught. She further adds that working class students have good knowledge on individual and cultural background, which are both absolutely true. Megan also adds that the information these students have are useful to removing barriers in the classroom setting.
In her second paragraph, Megan mentions how middle and upper class school systems have curriculums and procedures, which allows for more freedom for both the teachers and the students. However, Megan claims that in working class school systems, teachers and students do not have the freedom to improvise. There is also not a lot of creativity, room for error, and stricter, less understanding teachers.
Thoughts: When reading Megan's work after Finn's, I agree with the analysis Megan has on the article. There are important differences school systems that have different economic and societal class systems that vary the excellence in the education those students are being provided.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/nov/21/english-class-system-shaped-in-schools
I love the overview and your analysis on Megan's blog post and how you noticed she used examples help back up her claim.
ReplyDeleteYou are dancing around the edges of many of the really important issues here. "Patrick Finn's work in this article describes the idea that working class people get a better education due to it being domesticated." -- Do you mean "better" or are you trying to tease out what makes domesticating education DIFFEREnT from empowering education? And how does it impact kids in different social classes?
ReplyDeleteYour image is great I've seen this picture many times before I think it really depicts equality.
ReplyDelete