Discussion 2 – race
Discussion 2 – race
How does race affect the political, social and economic goals of public education? What are the affects of racial prejudice on the biases (stereotyping, cognitive bias, affinity bias, complexity bias) of teachers and of students. How do the affects of racism play out in the current, high-stakes testing model of education?
* Cite the three sources (the article by John Ogbu and the other is the article on Stereotype and Scientific Racism).
Before writing the discussion be certain to read the articles, Especially by John Ogbu titled Adaption to Minority Status and Impact on School Success.
Use APA form to cite sources, but no reference information page is required.
The posting should include a paragraph of 4-5 sentences for each set (political, social, and economic) of goals (3 paragraphs total).
Write a respond to the two other postings. Each response should be a paragraph of 3-5 sentences.
First post (for respond)
Race unfortunately has a large impact on the political goals of public education. The basic goals include but are not limited to; teaching a common set of political beliefs, learning to obey the law by obeying school rules, providing an equal opportunity, and emphasizing voting as the key to political and social change (Spring, 2016). The main issue politically is racial prejudice, mainly stereotyping African Americans as criminals or drug addicts. This has become so common, that in schools and everyday life there are biases; when something goes missing or there are allegations of drug use, most often the first suspects are African American students and staff.
The social goals of public education are described as; reducing crime through moral instruction and character education, providing health instruction, and creating a sense of community through after-school programs and extra-curricular activities (Spring). Due to racial segregation of schools, even today, these goals are not being met. For example, creating a sense of community through after-school programs and extra-curricular activities is not typically plausible in segregated black schools due to a lack of resources. Also, the entire community is typically segregated, and in order to create a sense of community across racial lines, students would have to be in integrated schools and classes.
Many of the issues regarding segregation are results of economic issues. For example, the economic status of a parent is typically reflected in the child as well; therefore, African Americans have more depressed incomes due to the prevention of African American participation in the mid-twentieth-century free labor market (Rothstein, 2017). The economic goals of education are described as; educating students for work in the global economy in the hope of resulting with economic growth and helping the United State compete in the global economy. However, the high-stakes testing model shows that minority students almost always have lower performance on such tests. Most of the explanations for this focus on factors inside the school, inside the family, or on the biography/biology of the individual child (Ogbu, 2001). Meanwhile, the main issues regarding these results have to do with the limited resources available to minority students in low-income districts.
The second post (respond)
The political goals of education are to teach a set of political beliefs, learn to obey laws while following school rules, and having equal opportunities for all students. Race effects this is many ways. Minorities do not recieve that same equal education that is described in the political goals of education. Minorities are less advanced and do not do as well on the high stake tests. This could be because of their underclass status, or it could be because they are not granted the same opportunities as children who are white and in middle class neighborhoods. They are lacking the cultural capital, not because they do not have the desire to succeed, but because they do not have the same chance as other students.
The economic goal of public schools is to prepare students to enter the work force. This goal is very hard to met due to sterotyping. The threat of stereotyping has a role in these student's performance. It causes them to self doubt and have anxiety, which weakens their grades and test scores. It effects a student's intellectual ability, which makes it harder for them to succeed.