-What I can't understand and wonder about is how they can allow people that aren't certified teachers teach students in the inner city school where Lonnie goes. This cannot be beneficial to anyone except the person who is teaching because they get a job. What does this say about the expectations from the school about the students?
-Besides the racial differences in Lonnie and James, they are essentially the same type of student. Both of them are highly intelligent students that want to excel in school because they have goals of going further with their educations and achieving their dream jobs. Their environments affect them by making these goals harder or easier to attain. Lonnie has the misfortune of being in such a learning environment where it is difficult for teachers to teach and for students to learn because of underqualified instructors are and how easy the work can be whereas James has highly qualified teachers and students that are there to learn. This is not equitable for Lonnie because James has more opportunities to achieve his goal of becoming a veterinarian.
-The differences between the two schools are that Lonnie's school is in a poor neighborhood while the school that James goes to is in a better community. Opportunities differ because in Lonnie's neighborhood, he doesn't have the resources and promotion of education that James does. Lonnie goes to a school where classes are taught by people that aren't certified teachers, and this leads to schoolwork that causes students to be bored because it is too easy. Teachers at Lonnie's school don't expect as much because they are just trying to keep their jobs instead of worrying about how they can change their curriculum or make it better like the teachers at James's school. This greatly increases the achievement gap.
-Students from Riverdale might be more likely to succeed because they have more opportunities, support, and resources outside of the school that promote learning and good life choices. James was able to spend time at the community center while Lonnie was just able to play video games or go play basketball in the street without any role models. As the video progressed I could see how Lonnie was getting fed up with school because he was not being challenged and it showed in this grades. If a child does not see the point in an assignment or other schoolwork, they will be less motivated to do it and will probably not do it.
The thing is, it didn't seem like the science teacher even wanted to be there (he made it quite clear that he didn't want to continue teaching science). I was amazed that the system hired teachers who were not certified. The science teacher said that he had some experience with teaching but that was in swim lessons and dance or something (those skills won't really help you in a science classroom). They interviewed some man who mentioned that the fact that unlicensed teachers were hired was sort of setting up the kids in the system to fail. If the kids don't receive a good enough education, then it will become increasingly difficult for the students to succeed and perhaps get out of poverty. Yes, the school is poor and low on resources; however, I don't think it's fair or makes any sense to then give such a troubling school these teachers who aren't qualified or able to teach in such a school setting. The school needs to seek out individuals who are going to push the students and be motivated to teach! I feel like the students need and deserve that kind of a teacher.
ReplyDeleteI agree that how can a school get by with not having certified teachers? It does make it seem like the school doesn't have high expectations for their students. I agree with Megan, they need teachers that are going to be supportive and that can motivate the students to stay school and want to learn.
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