Why do we say the 'Pledge of Allegiance'? It is because we actually believe what we are saying when we recite these words, or is it just expected of us? Do we actually know what we are saying?
Some people believe that reciting the 'Pledge' shows patriotism for our country. Others believe that it is forcing beliefs onto us which goes against the constitution. The words "under God' are the usual controversy when it comes to the pledge because not everyone believes in God, or a higher power for that matter. I believe that saying the 'Pledge' should be done everyday but students should not be required to stand if they have valid reasons to not stand. I believe it is a sign of respect to our country and to what we try to stand for. It is the smallest thing we can do to show our respect for the people that fight for our rights everyday.
But what if a student didn't want to stand for the 'Pledge' because he realizes what he is saying and believes that it is not true. In this clip from CNN (in the link list above, video entitled 'Pledge of Allegiance'), a 10 year old boy doesn't recite the 'Pledge' because of the line 'with liberty and justice for all'. He believes that this is not true in our nation. Gays and lesbians don't have the right to be married, there is still racism and sexism, and other prejudices people hold against other people allowing them to have unequal opportunities in our country. Would you as the teacher let him stay seated with these reasonings? Can you really force him to stand up and say the 'Pledge' because it could be fought that he has the freedom of speech to not speak and that forcing him to recite the 'Pledge' is forcing your ideals and beliefs on him which is not to enter the classroom to be imposed on students.
The 'Pledge of Allegiance' will always be controversial until everything that is stated in it is truly reflected in our country's people. What do schools do then? I don't think anyone really knows and each situation gets handled differently. What would you do as a teacher or school official?
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Assimilation
As I watched to video about assimilation in preparation for Wednesday's lecture, one topic in the video really caught my eye. He was talking about the standards in schools. He showed an example of a script that every teacher for that grade level in the school district follows exactly on the same day. I didn't know there was this extreme of a strictly followed curriculum in some schools and it appalled me! Yes we have standards that we assimilate to for what knowledge teachers should be presenting to their students but does no one trust teachers enough to let them make their own decisions about how to teach a topic to their group of students. Using a script is a horrible way to teach kids because they all learn in different ways so a script will definitely not work for everyone.
I find it amazing that society is willing to trust doctors to tell us that we have cancer, need surgery, need a medication for the rest of our lives, but we can't even trust a teacher (who went to college for their career) to teach our children. Why is this? It just really bothers me that everyone blames the teachers for what is wrong with our education system. Maybe if the system actually gave teachers a chance, society would be proven wrong.
As far as assimilation, I think we need it to some degree. It provides structure and controls chaos in our society. I don't think we should force people conforming to a culture that isn't theirs so they 'fit in' better in our country. Yes people need to conform to some things in our society so they will not break a law or get in trouble but we do not need to take away their culture from them. This is what I think of when we assimilate but as Jim pointed out there are many things that we assimilate to. The example of us being late to class is one. But if we all just showed up to class whenever we wanted isn't that our fault and not the professors. We are responsible for our education and I think that if we care enough about our education we would show up to class on time. I don't know how many students would then actually show up to class but the only person they are really hurting is themselves. I think in school we have these standards that we assimilate to because people want us to do well so they set these expectations. The only question is how far do we assimilate?
I find it amazing that society is willing to trust doctors to tell us that we have cancer, need surgery, need a medication for the rest of our lives, but we can't even trust a teacher (who went to college for their career) to teach our children. Why is this? It just really bothers me that everyone blames the teachers for what is wrong with our education system. Maybe if the system actually gave teachers a chance, society would be proven wrong.
As far as assimilation, I think we need it to some degree. It provides structure and controls chaos in our society. I don't think we should force people conforming to a culture that isn't theirs so they 'fit in' better in our country. Yes people need to conform to some things in our society so they will not break a law or get in trouble but we do not need to take away their culture from them. This is what I think of when we assimilate but as Jim pointed out there are many things that we assimilate to. The example of us being late to class is one. But if we all just showed up to class whenever we wanted isn't that our fault and not the professors. We are responsible for our education and I think that if we care enough about our education we would show up to class on time. I don't know how many students would then actually show up to class but the only person they are really hurting is themselves. I think in school we have these standards that we assimilate to because people want us to do well so they set these expectations. The only question is how far do we assimilate?
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Liberal Arts education
Watching the video today in class about changing Liberal Arts education made me think about why I chose Liberal Arts education. To me, the point of Liberal Arts education is to provide opportunities for students to be exposed to all kinds of subjects and materials that don't always pertain to their core studies. Some people see this as a waste of time because why do you need to know more about religion, history, science, and math? But to me, why not know more. More knowledge never hurt anyone. Why wouldn't someone want to be more knowledgeable in certain areas because this allows one to have a variety of conversations with a variety of people and have some idea of what you are talking about. You have information to back up what you believe and think. I think this is a very valuable thing to have as a human being. Being exposed to a variety of topics can also help you because you never know what might come up at your job.
I agree with the video that Liberal Arts education needs to step away from the segmented education students are receiving and move to a more broader education of subjects. We are learning too much about too little, and it needs to be a learning a little about a lot of topics. If a student finds something interesting then they can focus more on that topic if they want to but the school should only require a broad knowledge of a variety of subjects, or enough knowledge that someone would be able to have an educated conversation with someone about the topic.
There is a reason that the US has a variety of colleges and universities because people want different things from their education. I chose to be required to take classes in a variety of topics so I can have a general knowledge because I believe that is important to being a citizen of this country and the world. Others just want to go to college to get their specific degree so they choose less liberal colleges and universities. There is nothing wrong with this, it's just what someone prefers and wants out of their education.
Liberal Arts education should be a little broader but I also think it can vary a lot from school to school because what people want out of education varies greatly.
I agree with the video that Liberal Arts education needs to step away from the segmented education students are receiving and move to a more broader education of subjects. We are learning too much about too little, and it needs to be a learning a little about a lot of topics. If a student finds something interesting then they can focus more on that topic if they want to but the school should only require a broad knowledge of a variety of subjects, or enough knowledge that someone would be able to have an educated conversation with someone about the topic.
There is a reason that the US has a variety of colleges and universities because people want different things from their education. I chose to be required to take classes in a variety of topics so I can have a general knowledge because I believe that is important to being a citizen of this country and the world. Others just want to go to college to get their specific degree so they choose less liberal colleges and universities. There is nothing wrong with this, it's just what someone prefers and wants out of their education.
Liberal Arts education should be a little broader but I also think it can vary a lot from school to school because what people want out of education varies greatly.
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