Uplifting Underprivileged Society Through Community Education - Essay Sample

Introduction

Pedagogy refers to the coming of theory and practices (Darder, 2012). Some of those who practice it calls it "community education." I believe that from the past, community education has been the only way of uplifting the lives of the underprivileged society. This fact disqualifies the notion that parents have, in the past, discouraged their children from pursuing education dreams. I think many have sacrificed their wealth and have struggled, toiled, and done hard work in the motive of paying college fees for their children. There has been a struggle to improve the way of education, trying to eliminate racism to enable everyone to have the same privileges. The rate of bicultural students who drop out of school is estimated to be 50 percent and sometimes higher than this.

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My point of view is that, of those bicultural students who make it to graduate and join college, less than 50 percent merely attain their degree. A report by Education Trust shows that although bicultural students have achieved more degrees, the gap between them and the whites has increased fees a lot. Even the difference between their incomes has doubled. I will say that I think this the main reason for this gap between these students (bicultural and the whites) is due to nature, that is genetics and environment. I believe that the fathers of philosophy were right, saying that every human was born possessing unique traits that define them.

In the United States, the gap between whites and their counterparts is due to environmental concerns. However, it is said argued that intelligence can also be inherited. Other philosophers, however, say that the environmental impact around them causes the underachievement of the non-white students. Both the genetic and environmental theories place the academic responsibility of the student. After several studies and efforts to liberate education, it is clear that a tiny percentage of bicultural students move a few steps higher than their low earnings, as indicated by 12.6 percent of the United States' white population was poor (Darder, 2012).

I think there were efforts made in the 1980s to liberate the inequalities facing opposition from the political movements. However, that period public funds embezzlement was the primary feature that crippled the inequity efforts. The American pedagogy falls into categories that are conservative and liberal, which emphasizes free education. However, this has caused isolation and economic imbalance. Conservatives are the ones that want the system to remain as it is, while on the other side, liberals are the ones who have seen the weaknesses of the system that need change.

The conservative educational discourse is the solemn aim of maintaining social and economic status based on institutional values and associations. A great value that uplifts several forms of inequalities is that of the current hierarchical structure of the community. It is the agreement that students from well of families will end up being successful compared to those from underprivileged families. In the USA, the most influential politicians are those who have a lot of resources and wealth. I think this is why most wealthy families ensure that their students become successful in school to be in a controlling position and to rule the less privileged. Also, it is the reason why bicultural students come to understand that in society, they will always be at the bottom of the dominant class/society.

The liberal education discourse strongly calls for equality regardless of race or social class. It terms the student as the primary participant throughout the learning process who is gaining skills and knowledge with a solemn aim of becoming a better person in society. Both the teacher and learner are manufacturers of values and truths. This discourse has brought up equality and justice, thus eliminating all the inequalities that were there in the system that failed to address the issue of equal opportunity to all students regardless of race and social class.

I believe the evaluation of the United States schools can't be complete without looking at the education system ways that were formed by the ancient pedagogical values. Different education practices have led to the failures of bicultural students. These practices made an effort to ensure that no child was left behind, ensuring every child should be given an education opportunity (Murray & Christison, 2019). Most of these talented students come from the dominant society that forms the basis of the skills a student must be successful as a person who deserves a present. The critic side of this is that it only focuses on specific colors, richness, and type of sex. It forms ways of how the dominant class controls the form of education and creates leadership vacancies for their student.

My point of view is that intelligence testing has primarily contributed to the failures of bicultural students. Besides, it helps to the coming up of value-free scientific tools to test intelligence. The data obtained from this test based on what students bring with them to the classroom has been used to control them and their achievements in U.S. schools. I.Q. has been used to determine the place of students in society. I will say that this has got most educators have fixed determination about a student's intelligence capacity.

I believe that tracking and ability grouping was a bad practice. It entails a cluster of students into different classrooms based on ability or. Without a doubt, monitoring contributes to the underperformance of bicultural students. It causes discomfort in the sense that it could place children from low earning society in one same class and those from high earning class in the other. ontrThis goes hand in hand with teachers' expectations. Teachers are more likely to have negative expectations for bicultural students than the dominant class children. In tests and examinations, the teacher may favor students from the dominant class and award them more scores while awarding low grades to bicultural students. Also, it influences how teachers' pay attention to their students. A teacher tends to give more and deliver more to students from the dominant society as compared to what they provide to bicultural students. The level of interactions also differs due to the expectations of the teacher. The teacher's negative expectations affect students at the bottom more than those in the middle and upper class

The traditional curriculum favored some form of knowledge and valued the dreams and desires of a group of students over others. It discriminated bicultural students based on their color and sex. The traditional culture only favored the dominant culture and its values. Students learn in community schools based on a set of laid ways that will give them skills-oriented outcomes. The dominant society makes steps in the knowledge that form the curriculum and how rewards and awarding is built on success.

The hidden curriculum materials were made in such a way that they influenced the dominant students to power. There have been political forces that have struggled to eliminate curriculum materials whose knowledge doesn't support or oppose the interests of the whites' society. The hidden curriculum portrays the view of students in schools and a society based on sex, color, and social status. Studies have revealed that social studies materials used in community schools contain content that hails the dominant culture. In Texas State, they changed the curriculum in such a way that in divides students into groups that favor those in power. Texas being among the large buyers of learning materials in the U.S., this change is likely to be implemented across these other states' learning materials. The amendment also saw the country being referred to as a republic rather than a democracy. The board of education made many changes since they had anonymous support in the board members having ten on their side out of the total 15.

It is saddening to note that despite the curricular content has been altered and changed, teachers still view and categorize their students in terms of social status and race. The era of Obama's rule has seen the state reach an after-racial stage where students from the oppressed societies have continued to underachieve more in various aspects. They still do low-earning works, and they are the ones that form a more significant percentage of the unemployed population. Additionally, the rate at which the bicultural and oppressed communities flock the prison cells due to many crimes is high. Some practices cause the widening gap between the educational success of the whites and bicultural students from the past, academic practices that have seen to cause inequalities to the American education system.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is because of the different teaching approaches that the students from the dominant class learned how to abide by guidelines where they challenge the teacher's teaching according to their view. In contrast, those from the low level, bicultural students, learned in a more challenging way by being given complex books, and their participation in class was mocked instead of appreciated. It is because of these practices that high earning bicultural students have not been recognized and have been not to relate with their kinds well, thus making them powerless in society.

References

Darder, A. (2016). Culture and power in the classroom: Educational foundations for bicultural students (pp. 1-23). New York: Routledge.

Murray, D. E., & Christison, M. (2019). English Language Learning Around the World. What English Language Teachers Need to Know Volume I, 40-58. doi:10.4324/9781351139847-4