Monday, December 23, 2013
Section 2 Of Reading
I meant to comment earlier on part 2 of the reading but for some reason I could not figure out how to post. Anyway, I really enjoyed this section, especially the topic of geniuses and people with high IQ's. I have a fascination with people that are this smart, and I think society does as well. However, Gladwell's explanation of these geniuses do not seem nearly as fascinating as you would expect. I loved this section of the reading due to the relatively simple explanation Gladwell makes for the success, or lack of, for geniuses with abnormally high IQ's. Depending on if these geniuses grew up in household where speaking one's mind was encouraged and social skills were developed early on, then of course they would be successful due to the amount of intellect AND social skills that they possess. But, depending on their background, like Chris Langan, who obviously was not raised in a stable household, and learned early on not to trust adult figures. It's actually pretty sad to think that such a profoundly intelligent mind could go to waste just because Langan did not have virtually any social skills that could have kept him in college.
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I agree, it's terrible to think that there are so many people born with such great capabilities, but their environment while growing up didn't allow for their intellect to blossom. True, Langan says he's happy with where he is in life, but with such a high intelligence, he could have gotten much further and could have gotten a better career. But I guess it's partially about choices too, people might have the capability to go further but they don't want to.
ReplyDeleteIn one of my previous posts I said that section two seemed not as interesting to me initially, but once I got further into it, there was more that connected to me. Martha's Bargain was a chapter I could connect to. This girl was only in fifth grade and she was staying up late, reluctant to stop studying for dinner, and she even went to school on weekends and in July. Getting up at 5:45 in the morning would be a struggle for most kids, but she never complained about it. I always believed this idea, that there are kids we see at school who hate getting up early in the morning, who hate going to class, who hate doing homework, and so on. But that's because they've heard their friends saying that they hated certain things, and the level of dislike escalated until everyone dislikes doing anything educational, it seems.
But kids like Martha at the KIPP school have lived with working hard for their entire short lives. They realize that it's an honor to go to that school and succeed better than their parents did. They have a chance to shoot for their dreams. I doubt that there are any kids at KIPP who complain about their work. That's how it should be. It's an honor to go to school and be educated and be given a chance at success, but many average kids don't realize that. They just want to have fun. The idea of having fun has been instilled in so many kids' brains, and the idea of education was entirely lost. I found it quite relieving to read that chapter, to know that there ARE schools like that.
I agree that the KIPP school was great for Marita and others who given that chance for social ascension, but I question whether this manner of education would work for everyone everywhere. For one, I bring up the concept of "over-study" as established by the educational reformers of the early 1900s. While I do agree that students are under worked in many public schools, 12 hours of work every day for 5-6 days a week is more than the average adult works, therefore way too much for a developing child. From experience, it seems to me that a child in middle school needs at least some free time throughout the week for emotional and social development, and so there needs to be a balance found between the KIPP school hours and public school hours.
ReplyDeleteSecond, it would take a major overhaul in the way our teachers are trained and employed to accommodate adopting the KIPP system. Remember that it is an experimental school, and as such it is more likely to attract teachers with a taste for innovation in education and dedication to students. It would take quite a bit of money to retrain all teachers around the country to adopt that KIPP mindset (of course many already have it, but not enough), plus salaries would have to be raised to attract more competent people from other alluring fields.
Finally, I question whether the KIPP system will turn everybody into successes. The students who went there, despite their poverty, still had parents who at least encouraged them to take this advantage. There will always be families who, for some reason or another, have no desire to push their children towards success, or engage in a victim culture that blames their failure on others. For them, KIPP schooling will be a waste of time and money if the children are not motivated by their most influential source (family). They may have the opportunity to be outliers, but if they don't take advantage of it than what is the point?
While I like the idea of the KIPP school overall, it would take such an overhaul of culture and priority in the country to even make the steps in the right direction towards better American student performance.
(Unfortunately my initial response didn't get posted for some reason, I'll have to try and add all the points I wanted to make.)
ReplyDeleteIt's true that some students simply aren't willing to take the challenge of going to a school like KIPP. Some parents aren't as eager to push their kids to be the best students they can be, either, and in those cases, going to a school like KIPP would be more of a waste than an advantage. It's definitely not for everyone. But I think that having middle schools available that have more rigorous classes and more homework could be beneficial for many kids who find that they are getting bored in regular public schools. It's like how we had the choices of WHS, Grosso Tech, Ledyard High, and several other schools when we transitioned from 8th to 9th grade. If a school like KIPP would be available for students to choose to go to as they transition to middle school, more kids will be more satisfied with having had the choice of where to go. With just one school, it feels mandatory to go there, but with a choice, there's more freedom and more can be achieved. Plus, for teachers who feel that they can take on the increased requirements of work, they can teach at the new schools, while teachers who already have busy schedules can stay at the regular schools. There's more freedom of choice overall.