Understanding and analyzing how we approach the educational system, curriculum, and students is crucial to reaching students’ needs. Michael Apple describes traditional education as “… not neutral. Rather, it is political, designed to advance the interests of the groups in power and privilege” (Steinberg & Kirylo 2013). A Critical Pedagogy of Resistance: 34 Pedagogues We Need to Know by Michael Kirylo disseminates various pedagogues and their arguments on how traditional education perpetuates issues in class, race, and gender in our society.
Class is an issue that is permeated and perpetuated through the education system. As teachers, we must be aware of how our instruction and educational system are built to hinder students who already face economic disadvantages. Several theorists believe that the current education system maintains and encourages the rigid class system of the United States. Antonia Daredo stated that the current education system must radically change towards a student-centered approach and move away from “hierarchies of workers to bolster a capitalist economy” (Steinberg & Kirylo 2013). The education system preserves the hierarchies of the capitalist economy through having systematic benefits to the already economically privileged. For example, Alfie Kohn specifically targets standardized tests and how they benefit the economically privileged students. It is Kohn’s belief that “Standardized tests measure upper middle class knowledge that is “owned” by those in power.” (Steinberg & Kirylo 2013). Our teachers are forced to change the curriculum and knowledge so the students will receive higher scores on the standardized tests. This excludes students who are not in the privileged status in the United States and harms their equal access to education. The cycle just continues itself with creating students who are trained to accept their economic status in the schools. Theorists, such as Henry Giroux, identifies how schools create a system that encourages compliance for their lower economic status. He states that “they are presented with procedural, skill-based curriculums, allowed fewer opportunities for critical thinking, and forced to adhere to more compliance- oriented school norms and culture” (Steinberg & Kirylo 2013). Some may try to argue that students could benefit from being steered to vocational positions. They could argue it would provide a skill and salary soon after graduating from high school, as opposed to needing to pay immediately for higher education. That does not match the reality, though. Wages increase significantly with higher education. In 2017, the average hourly wages for someone with just a high school degree is $17.83, drastically lower than the $32.40 for a college degree (Gould 2017). Moreover, Stanley Aronowitz points out that wages and conditions of children of the working class will only deteriorate as society changes. Industrial jobs are decreasing and there are great attempts to de-unionize throughout the country (Steinberg & Kirylo 2013). Unless we change how our educational system approaches economic disadvantages in our country, we will only continue to harm their future.
The innate problematic approach to how to teach issues regarding race in the United States is also an issue in the education system. Scholars, such as bell hooks, describe the state of classroom as “... generally from a patriarchal white supremacist perspective that fosters a banking approach to learning which ignores the presence and experiences of the students and even the teacher.” (Steinberg & Kirylo 2013). There are several causes in the current education system for this. There is a critically low representation of minorities in schools’ faculty and administrations. In 2011, 82% of public school teachers were white, which is a great disparity considering that 51% of public school students are not white (United States Department of Education, 2016). Studies show that students having teachers of the same race can positively influence minority students (Egalite, Kisida, & Winters, 2015). Due to the lack of representation, it inherently harms the education and curriculum of non-white students. Henry Gates argues that African American tradition and history should be taught on ‘its own terms’ and ‘in its own voice” (Steinberg & Kirylo 2013). There are several methods on how to approach and improve the current state of education in the classroom. Several theorists, such as Freire and bell hooks, believe that educators must put the voices and experiences of the students in the classroom. Teachers must be sure to give the students the space to share their stories, listen to others experiences, and utilize these knowledges and experiences to generate knowledge to embolden the students.
Additionally, as teachers, we must also aware of how we approach gender in the classroom. Often, without even realizing it, people can contribute to the societal influences of how we treat people. For girls, it can be projecting the gender-normative ways of how women and girls should behave in our society. These gender normative ways have ramifications for how women and girls act in the classroom and in society. Carol Gilligan is described of believing we should “analyze the societal forces that prompt adolescent girls to silence their inner voices and, therefore, “forget what they know.”(Steinberg & Kirylo 2013). Teachers must be aware of how girls act and are treated in the classroom to prevent the subjugation of women. Many small actions that may seem inconsequential, such as having students line up by their gender or partner with same gender, contribute to gender segregation that reinforces gender roles (Bigler, Hayes, & Hamilton, 2003). As teachers, we must work to identify which of these habits we include in our classes and work prevent them from happening in the classroom. bell hooks, a famous feminist-theorist, believes that “that part of the process of fighting sexism is to confront the sexism women have internalized and the patriarchal ways they may actually think and act”. (Steinberg & Kirylo 2013). Confronting these issues is not without ramifications for these girls. Carol Gilligan also described how that if the girls did not conform to the gender expectations placed on them in class and society, they “...were seen as risking psychological distress if, in an attempt to comply, they give up meaningful personal relationships, or risking being at odds with the powers that be if they engage in overt acts of political resistance” (Steinberg & Kirylo 2013). As teachers, we must be prepared and ready to try to analyze how we treat our students, confront the issues, and support the students if they struggle with the treatment.
In conclusion, critical pedagogues ranging from Paulo Freire to bell hooks identify and confront the issues maintained through the traditional education system. Economic status, gender roles, and race are not properly addressed in the education system and preserved as a result. Students are taught to accept their status in life, as oppose to analyzing and challenging these issues in society. Addressing the issues and confronting the issues directly is the only way to improve education for all in the United States.
References
Bigler, R., Hayes, A., & Hamilton, V. (2003, September). Gender: Early socialization | The Role of Schools in the Early Socialization of Gender Differences. Retrieved from http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/gender-early-socialization/according-experts/ role-schools-early-socialization-gender-differences
Egalite, A. J., Kisida, B., & Winters, M. A. (2015). Representation in the classroom: The effect of own-race teachers on student achievement. Economics of Education Review,45, 44-52. Retrieved from https://sites.hks.harvard.edu/pepg/PDF/Papers/Egalite-et-al-2015- FLTM_EER.pdf.
Gould, E. (2017, August 2). Wages for workers with a high school degree or less rose the fastest over the last year [Web blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.epi.org/blog/wages-for- workers-with-a-high-school-degree-or-less-rose-the-fastest-over-the-last-year/
Steinberg, S., & Kirylo, J. (2013). A Critical Pedagogy of Resistance 34 Pedagogues We Need to Know (Transgressions, Cultural Studies and Education).
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, Policy and Program Studies Service. (2016). the State of Racial Diversity in the Educator Workforce. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/highered/racial-diversity/state-racial-diversity-workfor
ce.pdf