Shame of the Nation blog 1-6

5. Sentences on the Big Picture

In The Shame of the Nation, Jonathan Kozol shares of his experiences in a variety of inner city schools throughout the United States. Though heart breaking, his findings are enlightening in the fact that he hides no fact regarding the shameful situation in which underprivileged children find themselves daily in so many less than fortunate schools. His facts, figures, and observations are alarming as he informs the reader of how unjust the school systems of the nation truly are. Simply, segregation in the United States is still alive.

4. Key Passages

1. (18) “But token days are not the ebb and flow of life. They ease our feelings of regret about the way things have to be for the remainder of the year. They do not really change the way things are.”
a. This quote, made in reference to “interracial days” that were held in attempt to integrate schoolchildren, is a sad reality. Too often do higher-ups and officials think that putting together a small, short-lived gathering will give underprivileged children their fix. It’s as though they believe a small amount of exposure to white kids will make their lives better, but they couldn’t be any more wrong. For true integration, these children need to attend the same school and share the same advantages that childhood is meant to hold.
2. (20) “’Segregation, rarely discussed, scarcely even acknowledged by elected officials and schools leaders’ – an exercise in denial,’ they observe, ‘reminiscent of the South’ before the integration era – ‘is incompatible with the healthy functioning of a multiracial generation.’”
a. In relation to the quote from page 18, children must be together to be integrated. Too many children in the nation are at a school of children who, for the most, share the same skin color. Though it is managed in a legal manner so as not to outwardly rebel against the Brown v. Board decision, the schools are still segregated by race and, many times, by class.
3. (78) “’I want to change the face of reading instruction across the United States from an art to a science,’ said a top assistant to Rod Paige, the former education secretary in the winter of 2002.”
a. When I read this, I could feel my stomach turn. I’m biased, I suppose in the fact that I have a passion for literacy and the difference it can make in a child’s life. Reading instruction should be fun and innovative; it should capture a child’s heart and interest in order for him or her to truly love reading. Once a child loves reading, he/she can take it as an essential tool for the rest of his/her life.
4. (111) “The Chicago CEO, when asked how he had been attracted to the uniformity of this approach, said that he was first struck on the idea while scrutinizing training manuals for the National Guard.”
a. Once upon a time, schools were built upon the factory system; that is where the system of using bells and being accountable every day of class came about. Now, there is such a great emphasis on the management and correction of behavior, that schools resemble more of a prison system. Though students cannot be allowed to act as they please at all times, creative learning and limited privileges are what cause such behavior problems. When children feel respected, they will often give rise to respectful behavior themselves.

3. Key Terms

1. (115) “front-loading” - giving children everything at once with little to no instruction to the point that they cry and get sick out of frustration
2. (132) “testing juggernaut” - fictional character created by the stress and anxiety brought on by the expectations for achievements on standardized tests in the public school system
3. (85) “intellectual straightjacket” – the situation in which children are placed that refrains from creative thought and self discovery

2. Connections

1. (112) On this page, there is a section about Peoria, Illinois. I am from Peoria, and I have met children from Tyng Elementary, the school which they are talking about. As well, I know/ have seen kids who go to the high school that Tyng eventually feeds into and I have seen the lives of the students whether it result in gang violence, failure to graduate, etc. I have always thought that I truly knew inner city schools and what they are forced to endure; reading this excerpt gave me confidence in the fact that I am reasonably informed with experience and that I will know what to expect when I enter the work force in an inner city school.
2. (96) “They don’t engage in knowledge; they possess it.”
* I had a teacher (Fuller) my sophomore year of high school who did not care if we understood the concepts of chemistry and why the information that we learned worked. He marked down for definitions that were not written down verbatim. Even if the definition made sense and was accurate to the understanding of what a word meant, if there was a misplaced “and” or “or”, we missed the entire question.

1. Question

1. Have you ever experienced an inner city school with circumstances similar to those described in the book? How does/ did the exposure change your desire to teach?