Personal reflection - Essay Example

Dhinal Patel:- When I first started reading this chapter, many things came in my mind about all these issues those parents, teachers, and leaders have to face in everyday life. In all the case studies I have read, I have noticed a wide array of problems that can emerge in the complicated interactions between parents, teachers, administrators and legislators in the educational field. One of the fundamental problems, as noted in this article, is freedom. The article states that “the work of teachers is carried out in isolation, largely unobserved by administrators” and that schools themselves, due to “geographical separt[ion]” cannot be easily monitored on the district level.

This problem however, is not just limited to teachers, but also goes all the way from students to administrators. The negative effect of student’s freedom include hanging out in hallway inappropriately, being late in school, not doing home work, and not paying attentions in classrooms. For such things, there have punishment like calling their parents and inform them about the problems, detentions, or tardies. These punishments, however, usually fail to enact change in the student’s behavior.

To educate students and teach them how to operate in the real world, educators need to teach them that their behavior has consequences. Though it is tempting to always simply blame teachers and parents for students’ failings, one cannot find a solution without recognizing that students are sometimes a problem and need to be made a part of the solution. In the readings from Haller and Strike, the teachers were universally blamed for having students so far behind – yet only nine students were behind in a school with very difficult circumstances.

If teachers did not do their work then why were only those nine students so far behind? We need to teach these children that learning is valuable, and can be done anywhere, if you are devoted. You can learn anywhere like school in small town or in bigger city. While students must be made part of the solution, another part must be parents. It is often easier for them to attack teachers and administrators than take an active role in their children’s education. I believe putting students and parents in the centre of the educational system leads to better results.

I remember when I was a child in India, I started falling behind in the fifth grade. I told my mother that it was entirely my school’s fault, that my teachers were failing in their duty. Instead of complaining to the school administration, my parents had me get extra help after school, made me work harder, and focus more on my studies. I achieved results in this fashion, and I believe that schools would be better at educating our students if we provided resources for this kind of work rather than constantly re-adapting failing policy.

One of the fundamental questions in Heller and Strike was if children should be forced to repeat grades. I think the answer is no. If they failed to grasp things the first time around, repeating them again, with the same students, teachers and parents would not make a difference, as nothing has changed! The kind of bickering and infighting caused by these policies harms students, and the only solution is to change the game: bring in outside tutors, encourage students to help each other, reach out to parents to help them educate their children.