ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE CITY
Educational inequalities
Education should be a right, not a privilege. We need a revolution in the way that the United States funds higher education.
-Senator Bernie Sanders
-Senator Bernie Sanders
Saima Sawan
Introduction
In today’s society, I been growing up, we tend to communicated in different ways that shapes our cultural mindsets and exalts gender roles. One way we tend to interact is through the labeling theory, an example of a micro-level theory. Labeling theory is when we impose on others serve to shape other’s sense of identity. It has to do with gender expectations, economic statuses, living up to expectations and others, which comes into conflict with social norms. For example, in education labeling theory plays a role in determining student’s progress and academic success. Personally when I was in high school, my teachers had an expectation that, my race being Asian I was smart in math. When in reality that was not the case because I struggled in trigonometry, and when my teacher seen my test grades she wouldn’t bother helping me, but ignore it and when it came to questions I would ask she would just laugh it away or look at me as if I am stupid. Therefore, in the middle of the semester I stopped going to that class because I really thought I was a dumb enough not to capture the information like other students, when all I needed was individual attention and a little push. This shows, my identity of race determined my education level by my teacher when that shouldn’t be true because its stereotypical and not everyone is perfect, there are some weaknesses people have that we don’t know about.
PoliticalDo You Know Whats Happening Politically in Education?
According to The Washington Post,"Funding for college work-study programs would be cut in half, public-service loan forgiveness would end and hundreds of millions of dollars that public schools could use for mental health, advanced coursework and other services would vanish under a Trump administration plan to cut $10.6 billion from federal education initiatives."
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SocietySocial Class and Education Inequality
Kids being raised in a poor neighborhood may not have the same education experience compared to a kid being raised in a rich neighborhood. Like for example, the school in a poor neighboorhood may not have the supplies their kids can have access to compared to the wealthy school who have variety of opportunity. More sociological research is needed in the issue of public school inequality. Inequality in our schools affects students, families, teachers and administrators. If sociologists could focus on researching what is causing such inequality on a massive scale, we may be able to find the answers needed to make drastic changes. Perhaps Vermont’s idea of equal funding is a good start to a solution. Another aspect is equal pay for teachers throughout the country, or pay based on the success of their students.
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ECONOMICS
Empirical data suggests that more schooling is associated with higher earnings, that is, high school graduates earn more money than high school drop outs and college graduates earn more money than high school graduates, (Ladson-Billings, 2007). In part, because of the cycle of public school funding the wealth gap between whites and minorities in the United Sates is much larger than just the simple gap in wages. The wealth gap has implication for the social positions of minorities that go far beyond household incomes. Wealth is a source of political and social power. It influence access to capital for new businesses and provides insurance against fluctuation in labor market income (Ladson-Billings, 2007).
Conclusion
"I do believe that when we face challenges in life that are far beyond our own power, it's an opportunity to build on our faith, inner strength, and courage. I've learned that how we face challenges plays a big role in the outcome of them."
-Sasha Azevedo
Upon first reading this quote, I was quickly reminded of the challenges we face to accomplish our educational goals and how it builds our faith, inner strength, and courage to continue. I have learned that how I face my educational challenges will play a big role with my educational success. I have chosen to succeed those challenges, establish goals, and become someone in this world that will make a positive change to our society. Looking back, I would not be the person I am today if it weren’t for the encouragement, family values, and dedication my family has instilled in me. Over the course of my life I have strived to become a devoted student, wife, and employee. These attribute arising from my personal experiences that I have gained in life. It has been through my journey in life that I have learned that having determination in what you desire is the key to success. Never giving up on your goals and what one dreams of doing is essential in surpassing the bumps along the road to success. I have gained many experiences throughout my life and look for the positive aspects of any situation so that I may better myself in the future.
What New Yorkers think about inequality in education?
The education system in New York is full of inequality. Some schools in certain boroughs such as Manhattan have better opportunities for their students as well as more tools available to their learning disposal whereas others are barely making it by, like in the Bronx. You can always guess what school is better based on its location, just because it’s an obvious fact that Manhattan schools will garner more attention and revenue than a school in the Hood. These underprivileged schools need to receive more attention, funding and care by both their community and their elected officials.
-Rupa Tharay
I think that unfortunately the quality of the education children receive in New York depends on the neighborhood they grow up in. While there are a handful of good schools in NYC, unfortunately most of the city's most at risk kids end up in underfunded, overcrowded learning environment. The quality standards of education should be raised in the whole city, but most especially in under privileged neighborhoods.
-Stephanie Anthro
I think the NYC education system is highly corrupted focusing on the administering of various standardized examinations. Teachers are rated on their performances in regards to students qualitative and quantitative data. Teachers can teach a class with up to 35 students making it arduous task to first teach curriculum that is continuously changing based on the NYS standards. Many students have various disabilities some with IEP plans and 504 plans. Teachers are faced with the task of differentiating based on all students needs and adhering to bilingual students who are nonnative speakers. We can improve our education system by minimizing the stakes of standardized testing, provide smaller class size and ensure teachers have resources to support their student performance and classroom.
-Anonymous
I believe it is not equal. Many things make it hard for students to balance schoolwork and extracurricular activities especially with classes starting so early in the morning and the long commute to school. To change this, we should aim to change the traditional classroom setting. Teachers who are passionate about teaching should make learning fun. Teachers who teaches a lecture class or some sort of course should might consider active learning so students can get engaged to the learning process. Students should look forward to coming to class and taking the time to comprehend what they are learning in class and take their time to study. Studying the night before a test shows that students never learned the criteria but just wanted to get over the test. In addition, textbooks are antiquated and not useful in the present day where students have shorter attention spans, requiring more stimulation to remain invested.
-Stephanie Mohan
-Rupa Tharay
I think that unfortunately the quality of the education children receive in New York depends on the neighborhood they grow up in. While there are a handful of good schools in NYC, unfortunately most of the city's most at risk kids end up in underfunded, overcrowded learning environment. The quality standards of education should be raised in the whole city, but most especially in under privileged neighborhoods.
-Stephanie Anthro
I think the NYC education system is highly corrupted focusing on the administering of various standardized examinations. Teachers are rated on their performances in regards to students qualitative and quantitative data. Teachers can teach a class with up to 35 students making it arduous task to first teach curriculum that is continuously changing based on the NYS standards. Many students have various disabilities some with IEP plans and 504 plans. Teachers are faced with the task of differentiating based on all students needs and adhering to bilingual students who are nonnative speakers. We can improve our education system by minimizing the stakes of standardized testing, provide smaller class size and ensure teachers have resources to support their student performance and classroom.
-Anonymous
I believe it is not equal. Many things make it hard for students to balance schoolwork and extracurricular activities especially with classes starting so early in the morning and the long commute to school. To change this, we should aim to change the traditional classroom setting. Teachers who are passionate about teaching should make learning fun. Teachers who teaches a lecture class or some sort of course should might consider active learning so students can get engaged to the learning process. Students should look forward to coming to class and taking the time to comprehend what they are learning in class and take their time to study. Studying the night before a test shows that students never learned the criteria but just wanted to get over the test. In addition, textbooks are antiquated and not useful in the present day where students have shorter attention spans, requiring more stimulation to remain invested.
-Stephanie Mohan
Make your voice heard
Reference
- Ladson-Billings, Gloria (2007). Pushing Past the Achievement Gap: An Essay on the Language of Deficit. Journal of Negro Education, (3), 316, Retrieved from http://elibrary.bigchalk.com
- Walcott, D. (2012). NYC about us. New York City Department of Education. Retrieved from http://schools.nyc.gov/AboutUs/default.htm.
- Strauss, V. (2017, December 12). Analysis | The best - and worst - education news of 2017. Retrieved December 15, 2017, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/12/12/the-best-and-worst-education-news-of-2017/?utm_term=.24a36184b0ff
- Personal experience
- Interviewing People