Education Essay Research Paper School the great

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Education Essay, Research Paper

School the great Equalizer

In his essay, I should have never quit school , D. DeMott rejects the myth that all social

classes receive the same education. He supports his essay by denying that the stating line is the

same for all students in the American educational system. DeMott begins his essay by giving us

an example of the mythological belief that school is a fair institution where everyone begins at the

same starting line. Next, DeMott gives general ideas about the American publics denials, and the

educational system, provides for students. To support these denials DeMott gives us some

assumptions of the general public s beliefs on education.

The first assumption is about intelligence, an individual is college material, intellectual

because he/she was born smart and it s up them to take advantage of it, and that teachers see this

genetic trait. According to your intellectual level the school system will see this and place you in

the proper educational training which best sues you.

The next assumption is that your community motivates lower class students to attend

institutions of higher education by providing them with financial assistance. The difference of the

social economic level of the community abilities to provide for the student differs in how much the

town can invest in your education. The inequality differs in the sense that wealthy communities

see as smartness as a gift. Your occupation is determined by you level of intelligence. Poor people

don t share these ideas. The rich believe that if they tax themselves heavily, they will produce

better quality of students, they call this fairness.

DeMott then analyzes American education by its beginnings and how this question of

education being equal came to be. The belief that immigrants saw that in order to be Americans

you needed an education, therefore there are many different ways different people from different

backgrounds apply the education system, and that one system is better than the other. The

education systems are divided, and approach different views between the rich and the poor.

Autonomy was the question and education give autonomy to individuals.

To gain an autonomy that was best suited for the new immigrants two developments were

to be discussed. The rich cowed the schools and therefore were biased. The other was that

schools were un-coerced by societies powerful and was fair.

To support the first development; education was not design to be equal for all but it

supported its purpose, high school educational success was due to social nurturing, people who

could afford to stay out of the manual labor market, could get a better education.

Although education was provided there wasn t any change in privilege.

The second development is supported, by the triumph of social science. In order to have

the triumph of social science; social conflict was extricated from school. These led to the

foundation, which claims education advancement to be the cause of justice. Supported by mass

intelligence tests during, World War I. The use of this new approach was used to revolutionize

and find fairness.

DeMott, then discredits these developments and abandons these myths. With researches

done over the last recent years. The Coleman report for example, showed that class status

determines a student s achievement from start to finish, American education doesn t complete its

mission as an equalizer.

Even when schools begin to do their job they didn t allow lower class students to achieve

their highest intellectual ability. Well off students with weak academic records was still far off

more likely to attend college than poor students with strong academic grades.

The idea that only for minorities school was seen as an alien culture. This approach of

fairness had an education problem. Public education institutions are largely attended by children of

higher social classes, therefore under privilege students tend not to take advantage of an education

because they seem not to understand the greatness of an education.

DeMott then gives examples of how teachers tend to prefer rich students to poor or

minority students.

The mythology of school and life being fair concerning education is clearly stated by

DeMott as unrealistic. We all begin the race towards an education some are motivated towards

achieving an education while others are not. Wealthy people have the clear advantage over

disadvantage people, and minorities.