Progressing Into Practical Diversity, Essay Example

Education is filled with mistakes; it is a human process. Even though many critics of the modern educational system have offered suggestions for addressing these mistakes, the lack of consensus only seems to make the plight of the confused school administration and other faculty members even worse. Moving forward requires a critical examination of the literature, a search for the common ground of need in schooling. This paper combines information to provide such a big picture across the boundaries of different experiences and perspectives. In the process, the differences which seem to separate views will be combined into keys for growth.

In Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom, Hooks argues that education is more than a system of acculturation; education provides for certain moral, spiritual, and intellectual gaps in a larger understanding. (13) He still appreciates the diversity of viewpoints which have the opposed opinion conveys in an otherwise decayed educational system of beliefs, which Hooks calls a ‘banking system’. (13-14) Blaming a divided system which places teachers as lower in importance, the author accuses colleges and universities of ignoring spiritual and intellectual education. (17) Hooks’ view of the mind, body, and spirit together criticizes current practices but offers little hope and no realistic plan but writes of ‘engaged pedagogy’, which depends on a professor’s dynamic personality and much patience. (20-21) If such teachers existed in abundance, then there is no serious obstacle and the students would feel so much better. Still, the barriers to learning, which Hooks exposes, highlight the needs for less divided approaches to education at all levels.

Rodriguez questions the availability of willing students, writing that his speeches usually identify a rare few students to engage with his discussion of success in a modern world—at least not discussions which noticeably lacked mentions of current celebrities. (15-16) Even among these select few, Rodriguez points out that eager-to-please students may err in their totally obedience, becoming “an imitative and unoriginal pupil”. (16) Thus, in a such transformative atmosphere, the student and teacher both transcend the everyday classroom through educational interchanges which raises a student’s awareness of educational value. Rodriguez emphasizes the practical uses of education but still closely examines a concept of intergrity, comparing educational attainment with his own experiences of accomplishment and culture (17) Rodriguez admits that his familial support system contributed to his accomplishments while simultaneously creating a separate life as an American. Many students do not have that support system or do not embrace their heritage or their new cultural setting. Rodriguez suggests for students to talk about uses of school but mentions nothing of the potential good it could facilitate in parent-teacher communications.

Communication plays a key role in education and can influence students not to speak up in class. Graff writes that the expectation that formal discussion forces students to use an unnatural vocabulary which most of the time does not bring across their whole meaning. (24) In doing, teachers value presentation over content and critical thinking, keeping the students from participating in discussions which require them to speak in “effete and sterile…stilted and hollow” phrases. (24) This requirement seems especially odd considering how Graff himself became interested in literature through exposure to critical debates. (24) Since students enjoy talks and debates with rules set out, bringing such cultured and educated language into everyday language combines the insights of literary critics with the realistic approach needed in the modern classroom. Furthermore, Graff recommends that such debates be grounded within a wider view of history and culture. (25) This proposal contains obvious advantages but also overlooks the learning styles of the students who want to read more than they want to talk about the debate. For Graff’s plan to work, the teacher must actively guide the ‘translation’ of academic language into relatable terms.

For English- language learners (ELL), the challenges of communication are great. Much of communication is non-verbal, and the teacher requirement for high language often hideks the visibility of facial, vocal, and bodily expression. Engstrom focuses on education in two languages, commenting “Bilingual jobs commonly pay about five to twenty percent more than their non-bilingual counterparts.” (170) Adjusting to the demands of language acquisition becomes a matter of a family success when not all can speak more than one language. So Engstrom suggests that bilingual education overlaps the fields of education and social work. This plan recommends greater resource availability outside the school and greater accommodation for bilingual education and best practices of the relevant social work within the school. Even though maximizing the profit which each worker can earn ultimately benefits the nation and state, Engstrom forgets about the hesitancy which governments have with their money and with changes in educational curriculum. With the rise of standardized testing, the school with bilingual outreach and education programs can work together through the use of federal funding incentives or bars.

Brice, Miller, and Brice agree with Engstrom, pointing out the availability of speech-language pathology (SLP). Brice et al. focus almost only on the need to integrate English into everyday language. While this is crucial, cultural integration speeds this process and aids in longer memory for words and other things learned. This should not stop educators from changing their lessons to help more cultures and to see the confusion which some specific vocabulary is likely to create for ELLs. (242) Their topic of language problems in ELLs describes many things which are forgoteen in inclusive and general education classrooms. ELLs are special population within the student body and the importance of the differences of each student’s situation are important in the debates over SLP. (241-242) Brice underestimates the costs of such services. As Engstrom wrote, many ELLs comes from families which do not have the same opportunities or money.

Even with the different strengths and weaknesses of the schooling system, the authors all think that current practices do not fully engage students because they do not use schooling as a useful part of working life. As the picture of the hands with the world shows, there are lines over these changes (Hooks). Hooks argued that close attention could help the mind, body, and soul together. Rodriguez wrote about the weight which usefulness and purpose carried with student dedication; Graff talked about the use of high language; Engstrom wrote about schools and how they didn’t adapt to students learning English. Brice et al. wrote that special therapy should be available to all Englishlanguage learning students—and to those facing big language barriers. Communication fell because of the lack of adjustment for personal interest, cultural familiarity, or motivation, and Brice suggested five ELLfriendly communication actions in their article. Students coming into any level of American schooling are aware of this unequal gap- even though many other nations throughout the world teach English through the majority of the students’ early education. Creating more communication and encouragement for students from all types should be the biggest top priority and should help get higher test scores, better citizens and students, and a greater appreciation for the many values of education. So in a such culture-mixed society, educational systems cannot continue to ignore the diversity of students if progress is made.

Works Cited

Brice, Alejandro E., Kevin J. Miller, and Roanne G. Brice. “Language In The English As A Second Language And General Education Classrooms: A Tutorial.” Communication Disorders Quarterly 27.4 (2006): 240-247. Academic Search Complete. Web.

Engstrom, David. Bilingual social workers: language and service complexities. 1st. 33. San Diego: San Diego State University, 2009. 167-185. Print.

Hooks, Bell. Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. Routledge: New York, London: 13-21. (1994). Print.

Rodriguez, Richard. “Scholarship Boy”. From Inquiry to Academic Writing: 15-18. (2008). Print.

Graff, Gerald. “Disliking Books”. From Inquiry to Academic Writing: 24-25. (2008). Print.