Response # 4: What's Wrong with Education Anyway?

In the growing struggle of educational reform in the United States and other parts of the world, children are the ones that are damaged. While we sit in our classrooms, and listen to our lectures, public schools are struggling everywhere. Educator Ken Robinson point out the reason education has failed us, in his lecture Changing Education Paradigms. Robinson has many good points, and delivers them in an interesting way. However, another viewpoint on the educational crisis comes from John Bellamy Foster, the editor of the Monthly Review and Professor of Sociology at the University of Oregon, his article Education and the Structural Crisis of Capital: the US case, presents information about how the schools are in a crisis as far as government funding is concerned. Each of the professionals takes a different approach to presenting the truth about American education, and the growing strain that is felt by everyone that is involved.

Let us begin with Ken Robinson’s view on why the schools are currently failing to meet the educational expectations of many of their students. Robinson talks about the struggle to find places for our children in an economy that cannot be predicted. How can someone place children in the economy if we are unsure as to what our economy will look like when they reach adulthood? We cannot, because for all we know, the economy as we know it could bottom out by the time our children reach adulthood thus driving the ever-growing poverty level to astronomical proportions. Foster, agrees, and goes one-step further with his assertion that schools are being used as means to generate revenue for big corporations that have their hands in the proverbial “pockets” of education. Foster focuses on the capitalism of education.

Another viewpoint Robinson has is the “production line models of schools” meaning schools have a factory like quality about them, essentially producing students as the man product with teachers as the workers who shape said product. Foster agrees in this assertion, “Schooling, therefore, is meant to service production, and replicates the hierarchical division of labor of the productive system. 7 Hence, both the dominant purpose of elementary and secondary schooling in capitalist society—the formation of workers or labor power for production—and the labor process internal to schooling itself, as carried out by education workers, are fundamentally conditioned by the relations of production in the larger economy.” So if schools are “factory like” and educators are “factory workers”, then is there any wonder that public education is suffering?

Both men agree that the current educational system fosters inequality among pupils. Robinson talks about the difference between the two norms of people, “academic” and “not academic”, he explores the fact that while non-academic people are just as smart as others, they are made to feel inferior because they are forced to take menial jobs.  Foster approaches this as follows, “Working-class students and those destined for working-class occupations are taught rule-following behavior, while those arising from the upper middle class and/or destined for the professional-managerial stratum are taught to internalize the values of the society.” With that taken into account, why are millions of children being forced into subservience by school systems because of their backgrounds, and or income? That is at best wrong, and unjust, why should anyone be denied a proficient education based on trivial status issues?  Foster goes onto explain that elite private schools provide higher education to those that can afford it, while public education is subpar at best. That has to enlighten us to the differences of class in the American society.

Furthermore, both agree that standardized testing is wrong. Robinson feels that standardized testing is a blame for the failing of education, and the increase of medications prescribed for ADHD among adolescents today. Foster, on the other hand, asserts that standardized testing is a means for the government to gain more control over public schools. He uses George W. Bush’s NCLB (No Child Left Behind) as a means to explain his point. While NCLB was designed to help under educated children meet goals, the real truth is that school are penalized by low scores, which could support the fact that standardized testing is at fault as Robinson said.  Here is look at what schools face if they fall below the “educational standard” set forth by NCLB.

 (1) All states were to develop their own tests and three performance levels (basic, proficient, and advanced), with proficiency determined separately by each state. (2) In order to receive federal education funds, states were required to test students in grades three to eight annually for proficiency in reading and math, and to disaggregate the scores in terms of low-income status, race, ethnicity, disability status, and limited English proficiency. (3) Each state was to provide a timeline showing how 100 percent of their students would reach proficiency by 2014. (4) All schools and school districts were ordered to demonstrate adequate yearly progress (AYP) for every disaggregated subgroup toward the goal of 100 percent proficiency in 2014. (5) A school that did not achieve AYP for all subgroups would be subject to onerous penalties increasing in each successive year. In the fourth year, the school would be subject to “corrective action,” requiring curriculum changes, staff changes, or a longer school year. In the fifth year, a school still not making AYP would be ordered to “restructure.” (6) A school that was ordered to restructure was allowed five “options,” all amounting to essentially the same thing: (a) change to a charter school; (b) lay off the principal and staff and replace them with others; (c) hand over control of the school to private management; (d) relinquish control of the school to the state; or (e) “any other major restructuring of the school’s governance.”

Those are some extreme consequences, if schools are punished by the government for the disinterest of students, then what hope do those of us that are interested in education have. Robinson explains that the disinterest is because “we live in the most stimulating era of all time”. We are distracted because of the vast world of media that we have at a mere touch of a button. If we have some much going on in our outside world, then why would we want to pay attention to an old fart bag telling us about 1776 England? Robinson also attributes this to the “fictitious epidemic” that ADHD is. 

Finally, the question is this: What does the future of American education look like? Will we continue to foster class differences among our students, or will we finally cut the divide.  Will schools continue to be modeled after factories, or will we finally shatter that age-old comparison and reform the way education is approached? Will millions of college students ever get out of the hole that is debt? Why can’t the American government follow the European countries that have provided free education to everyone? I think that the answer to all these questions is not NCLB, but NCIWE (No Corporate Interference with Education). If a true reform is to take place, then we have to shatter the entire foundation of learning in the United States. There is an old saying: You cannot polish a turd. America’s turd is the current Educational system, which to be reformed needs to be brought to its knees, and rethought from the ground up.   

                                                                Works Cited

Foster, John Bellamy. “Education and the Structural Crisis of Capital: The U.S. Case” Monthly Review 2011, Volume 63, Issue 03 (July-August) Web. Accessed 30 August 2011

Robinson, Ken. “Changing Education Paradigms,” lecture. RsAnimate.org Web. Accessed 30 August 2011.

Response # 3: Oh What A Mess We're In; a response to Someplace Like America

Someplace Like America by Dale Maharidge, takes a look at the troubles working class Americans are facing. I was shocked to read that people are driven into homelessness, and our government is doing nothing to aid them. I find that it is amazing that Middle America can bail out banks and Wall Street with their tax dollars, and yet we are forced into homelessness because of layoffs and businesses closing up shop. We as a nation should do more for each other instead of allowing thousands of people to be homeless or on the brink of homelessness.


 This makes me think of the situation in New Orleans with hurricane Katrina. FEMA and other government assistance branches did little to help the people of New Orleans. What was once a beautiful, thriving, historical city is now reduced to condemned buildings in parts, with thousands of people still not in their own homes.  When the author talks about the government failing the American citizens, I agree. We have always been an economic powerhouse, because of the working class of people that built this country, yet the very country can cast them aside and favor bankers? How does that make sense? This “Great Recession” has reduced us to nothing, and is continuing to destroy the working class.


 Bailing out banks is not the answer, moving corporations overseas is not the answer; the answer is providing a sound way of life for all of the people of this country. We focus on our humanitarian efforts in other countries, yet ignore our own struggling public. With the unemployment rate rising, and the use of public assistance rising wouldn’t you think the government would try to put some form of safeguards in place to protect us? I don’t understand why the working class has been ignore in favor of the rich, but I believe that change is in order.


We should focus on trying to rebuild our economy instead of simply bailing out Wall Street. We should focus on providing more jobs for those in need, and focus on education. Education in America is lacking, colleges are somewhat jokes these days, with people attending only to get money in order to have some relief from the economic burden placed on them. The amount of children that graduate from high school without basic reading and math skills is astounding, and the government does nothing to provide an answer.  


As the author portrays this has been happening in America for thirty years, thirty years of debt building, and the working class living in squalor because of lay-offs and out searching.  Where I am respectful of the author of Someplace Like America, I would like to say that writing a novel does little more than open the eyes of the people who aren’t affect…yet. This novel can be seen as a warning to those of us that aren’t affected, take heed, just because it’s not you doesn’t mean it won’t be in a year.  We as a nation, should demand more of our government, and demand that they assist the homeless in OUR country first.


We should demand that the government and Wall Street watch their spending. We should demand that the American culture not be destroyed over the actions of a few bankers, and real estate companies. WE are all we have, and the lack of companionship amongst the American people is partially to blame for the homelessness and welfare increase.  Would it hurt for companies to extend a hand to those in need? Perhaps offer jobs, offer something to combat what has been ignored? Our government is clearly not going to help, so what is stopping the public?  I think that the author hits the nail on the head when describing some of the issues that we are faced with, and I hope that with his work, we can see that our future is bleak if changes are not made.

Response # 2: Why Men Are Fooled By Corporations

          Reading the articles compiled on Dialogic, I decided that the simplest way to show a good example of framing/propaganda would be the article “Wealthy, Handsome, Strong, Packing Endless Hard-Ons: The Impossible Ideals Men Are Expected to Meet” by Greta Christina, because of the extremes that the male is faced with as far as expectations from the media are concerned. They are essentially taking the good idea of fitness, and making it something vastly unattainable and wrong. Corporations sell this image of a well-sculpted body, with a huge pecker in little white briefs and tell the common person, “You can have this! You can be a beautiful man, with insane muscle definition and a huge package if you EXERCISE!

However, as the article really shows the world of fitness modeling has a dark underbelly. According to the article fitness models undergo crazy rituals to make muscle definition more prominent than it actually is, through dehydration and alcohol binges the model attains the unattainable results that the common man will never see. Because the “common man” does not know that fitness models essentially try to kill themselves for the sake of a fucking picture. Men are also subjected to various other unrealistic expectations such as the need to be wealthy, and handsome. For as long as men have been alive, they have tried to attain this goal of “perfection” they want to be something that other men are jealous of and that women readily want to go to bed with. However, the sad fact is that you cannot be prefect. You must accept what you are, and who you are for that matter.

Big corporations are going to try to force these ideals down your throat, and you are going to be miserable if you are naïve enough to buy into them. That is why framing is essentially so important in the media world, they can wrap a turd of shit in a pretty package and some fool will buy it. All you have to do to sell anything controversial would be package it friendly, meaning you shouldn’t except something with a negative correlation to do well. For example stem cell research, has been a huge controversy because of the implications of “playing god”. People are against harvesting embryos to supply the cells needed for this type of research, so the companies involved now harvest from adults, and umbilical cords. They are still doing the same thing, but the package has changed, thus eliminating the entire argument of “playing god” as far as those are concerned that are opposed to killing fetuses, or what have you.

To sell the turd you would have to rename it, make the box pretty, and flavor it up a bit, essentially removing the aspects that are commonly associated with shit. Much like the use of dehydration, alcohol binges, and Photoshop do for the fitness magazines, diet companies, and not to mention Gatorade. They produce the ideal that you have to be healthy, to be successful. They clearly do not expose the truth behind the “health” removing all negative associations mentioned above. The typical human is geared to buy into anything that is pleasing, be it that sports car, dream home, or diet product that promises insane results. As long as others are seen endorsing or benefitting from a product, fad, or otherwise, middle America will be draw to it like flies to offal. 

However, that entire concept can be at fault for the downfall of American health, you take a McDonalds commercial, you will see an actor having the best time ever with a McChicken and maybe an apple and assume that McDonalds isn’t that unhealthy, I mean look at that actor! They are having a great time; they are so vibrant and pretty… I need to run out and buy some. Then after about a year of those catchy commercials, you are ready to jump into a diet that promises you will look like Brad Pitt naked in Legends of the Fall.  Thus returning to the entire argument that men should be something they are not.  

An example of propaganda associated with “fitness models” would be the misleading nature that companies present the models. They never disclose the true nature of the actual career as a fitness model. They just use the models as the prototype male figure; making thousands upon thousands of men generate more revenue for their companies. If they present something that builds off the already bruised male ego then they are going to see many males striving to fulfill the requirements that are placed upon them.

Women are just as much victims as males, only to a lesser extent, magazines that show us beautiful men force us to think of males in certain ways, and we strive to obtain those men because they are what is “desirable”. We allow the media to oppress our general ways of thinking by invading us with images so far from reality that we will do anything to fit into a role they describe.

Another form of propaganda would be those companies that provide “enhancement” to men. They lie through their teeth and make bald promises that if you take a pill your penis will just become so enlarged that you will have all the women in the world knocking down your door. Those pills work no better than anything else that is supposed to “enhance” your member. Yet they show you these images of men sitting around with beautiful women, talking about how some pill changed their entire lives. Companies are aware of the insecurities that humans have, and they will exploit them at any cost. Even to go as far as making claims that a rational person should know to be false. 

Propaganda and framing are valuable to the media, not just to sell products but to sell general ways of thinking as well. Politicians use propaganda to smear the opposition, big companies will use propaganda and framing to destroy the “mom and pop” competition.  Hitler used propaganda to try to justify the killing of the Jewish people. Propaganda is always going to be prevalent in our culture; we just need to be more careful with what we will buy into. People on a whole are naïve, but when some trusted brand tells you what the “right” way to live/be is you need to think very seriously to see if they are forcing some rhetoric down your throat to generate revenue or gain something for them.

                                           Work Cited

Christina, Greta “Wealthy, Handsome, Strong, Packing Endless Hard-Ons: The Impossible Ideals Men Are Expected to Meet” http://www.alternet.org/reproductivejustice/ Web. Accessed 23 August 2011.

About Me

My instructor requested that I answer five questions about myself.

1. Where did you come from?

I was conceived, I was carried, I was born. My actual location of birth, Eastern Kentucky, is pitiful and not very opportunistic to say the least.

2. What are your experiences with writing?

I write in several different mediums. I have a journal, which I log different day-to-day concerns in, and I write for classes. I have like many other people my age experience with Facebook, and other social networks. I am one of those people that tends to enjoy writing and reading, which some see as a boring hobby.

 3. What is seriously important about my belief structure?

I have a somewhat strange belief system, sometimes I will see something as morally wrong yet turn around and praise it another day. I am not outwardly religious, and I do not see religion as many people do, I will never push a belief on someone else, nor will I condescend on those that are not religious. I have never called anyone stupid for not believing in what I do, nor have I told him or her that he or she are "going to hell" as many other people will.

I believe that the government is faulty, and that social uprisings are the only way to provide sufficient change. I do not think that people should sit idly by while the government "fucks them in the ass".  The main controversy that I face because of my beliefs would have to be my opposition to war in all forms. I abhor war; it’s an endeavor that will never provide solutions to conflict. Supporting war in anyway is like throwing your youth into the war machines mouth and praying that they survive. Why would anyone want to fight a battle that was started by some old bastards that will never set foot in a foreign country.

4. Why the hell are you in college?

I am in college because I want to be, not because anyone made me or decided it was best for me. I decided that I needed to further my education because I want to be more than what I am now. I have no trust fun to live off, and I really could care less about what anyone else thinks other than myself. I am trying to provide a future for my daughter. I would like her to reflect back on my life, and follow in my footsteps as far as trying to better yourself goes (if she did other things that I have, I would be forced to disown her).

5. What kind of culture do you consume?

I watch stupid shit on TV like every other American because I don't want a real grasp on anything that actually pertains to real life. I would rather watch Trueblood than the news because the news only showcases depressing aspects of our culture, the dirge within American society. I am rather fond of certain movies, such as: Kids, Until The Light Takes Us, and Funny Games. I am rather fond of director Larry Clark, even if most others would consider his work borderline pornographic. I listen to music, the type of which depends on my mood. I am a fan of Black Metal, yet I am also a fan of Soul. I will listen to Mayhem, and then turn around and listen to Johnny Farmer. Art is also a big part of my life, I paint and sometimes draw, artists that inspire me would have to be Van Gogh and Dali. I also like photograpy, I am rather inspired by the work of Erwin Olaf as well as many nameless photographers that I stumble across on the internet.