Political and economic analysis of your personal experience

Political and economic analysis of your personal experience

Using the theories from the first part of the semester and original research, write a political and economic analysis of your personal educational experience. What were the policies and economic realities which shaped your educational experience? Cite current data, government approved or peer-reviewed journal articles, books, or reports. (1,000 words)

I found it so interesting that Althusser and Marx questioned what people learn at school.  It pretty much came down to them saying that students learn the know-how, rules for good behavior, how to talk properly while ordering others around, and the dominant tasks. Students learn how to become the exploited (proletarians), the exploiters (the capitalists), and the auxiliaries pf exploitation (supervisors) they refer to schools as a reproduction system. They believe that these techniques are completely detached from real life. Althusser thinks that school cannot shape society and that school will be determined by the dominant mode of production in the social formation.

I work in an area where I constantly have to teach good behavior, respect, self-control, and life skills. Many of my students have no rules, guidelines, or adult in their life to teach them these things outside of school. Many of my student’s parents are still children themselves. Their parents are either still in high school or under the age of 18 and haven’t experienced adult life themselves and therefore cannot teach their child about life skills in a work like environment. I believe I am shaping them for society and although Althusser may be right about we are shaping the typical social formation, I disagree that these skills are completely detached from real life.

Ouch! He thinks that no matter what schools do, we will never change the society we live in. Ouch again. I do see his point but I would like to think I can make a difference in children’s lives and education within the classroom.

During a video on Bowles and Gintis, there was talk about the views of the Liberal Progressives on education. Liberal Progressives believe when one obtains higher education, you have more equal distribution of resources. Schools help create equality in society by developing individuals to have the skills necessary to succeed in today’s economy. They believe that Higher Education = Income Distribution. I would love to think that this theory is true but the more continued education I take seems to dig me into a deeper hole. I am either over qualified for many jobs or I am under qualified. I feel that many jobs depend on who you know and that paves the way for higher pay most of the time.

Bowles and Gintis wanted to debunk this view by saying that school has nothing to do with shaping the distribution of wealth and people do not develop personal skills for functioning successfully in the economy. Schools only prepare us to become laborers for wages. They also thought that schools teach rules that correlate to corporate wage labor behavior. It’s hard to say what side I am on here. I believe there are many good points between both sides. When I first started this I believed that Freedmon made points that made the most sense to me. I quickly reminded myself to think deeper. Many of Freedmon’s beliefs are exactly how the education system runs today. For example government being involved in the education system, GERM, and neighborhood effects. I also believed in the Liberal Progressive views on education. Liberal Progressives believe when one obtains higher education, you have more equal distribution of resources. Schools help create equality in society by developing individuals to have the skills necessary to succeed in today’s economy. They believe that Higher Education = Income Distribution. Isn’t this what teachers are taught their entire educational career? The more you know the farther you’ll go!? Becoming educated makes you a valuable member of society. I still believe this. But I have three degrees and am working on my master but am considered over qualified and am not by any means making large sums of money. I don’t believe the Liberal Progressive view that education makes income distribution more equal.  But then again you have my father who has no education, didn’t even finish high school, worked his butt off but has created a life of luxury for himself… I feel that in this day and age an education is a must for people to even look at your job application to consider you for the job. Is Marx, Althusser, and Bowles and Gintis right? School only prepares us for labor force through rules, roles, and know-how?  I do not agree with the theory that teaching methods are detached from real life. As a teacher these theories make me question what I am doing in the classroom.

Working at a charter school is an interesting experience. I feel that charter schools had a good idea in mind when created but aren’t successful. Many charter schools are shutting down due to failing test score and many more reasons. The State of Ohio’s Charter school closure law, passed in 2006, says that The 2006 law mandates that any charter school that has received the state's Academic Emergency rating or been placed on academic watch for two out of three years will be shut down. (The ratings are based on state test scores.) “The closure is another blow for the children of this fading industrial city, where a third of all kids live in poverty and about a quarter of high schoolers fail to graduate. It's a scenario becoming familiar to thousands of families in the nation's poorest neighborhoods as more and more districts start cracking down on low-performing charter schools, which get public funds but operate without the usual bureaucratic constraints.”(Time Magazine) 

Last school year, the charter school I work for closed 4 locations around Cleveland. Job security is a constant scare for everyone who works here. Every fall, enrollment plays a major factor in whether or not I will have a job. Last October, our faculty told the staff that our Charter was way over budget and jobs were to be cut. In the end the jobs that were cut were custodians, aides, office personnel, and some teaching positions. It is so scary not knowing whether or not I will have a job in the coming months.

Cited Sources

Butrymowic, S. (2012, January 31). What Happens to the Kids When Charter Schools Fail?. Time Magazine. Retrieved from http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2105733,00.html