Social bonding plays a very important role in motivating students because it increases students’ sense of membership and belonging. While discussing the importance of social bonding, Alderman (2008) mentions how essential it is that students believe that they are being treated fairly in comparison to their peers; children of all ages are aware of subtle inequalities and discrimination, both of which have a negative influence on an individuals sense of membership. Alderman asks, “To all students have equal access to resources and the best teachers?” (208).
When I read that question, it stopped me in my tracks. I think most of us who are involved in the American education system would answer a resounding “no” to this question. There are inequalities all throughout the education system, most of which related to socio-economic status. There are several reasons why lower-SES schools are typically underperforming. These schools often lack supplies and basic necessities, they have a difficult time recruiting high performing teachers, and when much of the school population is struggling to survive, school takes a lower priority. These reason were obvious to me, but it had never been quite so clear to me that the lack of fairness in lower-SES might play a significant role in the difficulties that these schools face. All you have to do is take a look at a school in an urban area of Denver and compare it to a school ten minutes away in the Cherry Creek School District and you will quickly realize that we are swimming in inequality. Kids are smart and they know when they are being denied a fair chance at resources. It is hard to develop a sense of membership within a school if students are feeling devalued in comparison to their peers who attend the school ten minutes away.
I certainly don’t want anyone reading this to think that I don’t believe low-SES schools can be successful because I know there are examples out there of excellent schools that have defied the odds. What are these schools doing right and how do we spread it throughout the nation?
Why does this inequality exist within our school system? Is it how we fund schools? Is it our class-driven society? Is it discrimination at work? More importantly, how do we begin to bring equality to our schools? How do we solve this devastating problem?
I definitely have more questions than answers this time
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Liz-
ReplyDeleteYou post interesting questions. There is a article that Sheila Shannon and Kathy Escamilla wrote about symbolic violence in our schools. The article is:
Escamilla, K., & Shannon, S. (1999). Mexican immigrants in U.S. schools: Targets of symbolic violence. Educational Policy, 13(3), 347-370.
I don't have a website or anything for it but maybe you could google it and find it. It's a very interesting read and it discusses some of the power struggles and inequalities that Mexican students face.
I agree that students understand when they are getting the raw end of the deal so to speak. I read another blog and someone said that they had a laptop for every student. I was blown away! I think about all the schools that struggle to get 10 new computers lets along one for every student. You are right about one thing: In this topic there are definitely more questions than answers.