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Students Today. L. Larsen EDU 548 FEBRUARY 21 2013 . Chapter 7. Chapter Overview.
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Students Today L. Larsen EDU 548 FEBRUARY 21 2013 Chapter 7
Chapter Overview • This chapter highlights the important role that students play in the impacting, molding, and shaping of a productive school environment. It also emphasizes the many challenges that school-age children face on a daily basis as well as research that links lower IQ scores to malnutrition and poverty. • This presentation will pinpoint various theoretical views about the types of students found in every school setting, influences of peer culture, and ideas to help students, teachers, families and communities set the tone so meaningful teaching and learning can take place.
POVERTY STATISTICS • Public schools today have high poverty levels. • Some describe children in the United States today as the “age group most at risk of impoverishment in the United States”. • Nearly 17 percent live in poverty, well above the national average for all age groups (12 percent) • The poverty rate among African American and Hispanic children is even higher according to “Rank” , over 40% • Because poverty and race have such strong correlations, Hispanics and Blacks are much more likely to attend schools with poverty than white students • Only 5% of white students attend schools where more than 75% of students live in poverty. In contrast, 50% of Latino and African American students attend schools with such high concentrations of poverty. • “Rank” also states that consequences for children who grow up in poverty are life-threatening, and affect their ability to learn and be successful in school. • Research suggest that these children have more than likely had instances of malnutrition at some point in their lives and less likely to receive immunizations and dental examinations.
Consequences of Poverty • According to Rank, children who live in poverty, are likely to have experienced periods of malnutrition which are likely to affect their ability to learn and be successful in schools. • Because of the insecurity about food and other basic survival needs, families tend to have ongoing disputes. This causes financial strain on a household, and children miss out on “educationally stimulating activities”. • Rank suggest that poverty causes children’s growth to be stunted. Research shows that poverty depresses IQ scores by six to nine points with a corresponding decrease of achievement scores. • Poverty not only affects a child’s physical and intellectual well-being, but it also affects emotional health. This causes many children to feel depressed. • Poverty is mostly seen among children of color and attend school with other disadvantaged poor children. Opportunities for supplemental enrichment activities are limited. • Drop out rates tend to be higher among children of color and approximately half of African Americans, Hispanics, and Native American’s graduate on time. • The sad truth is that because of these school drop-outs, these children are more likely to be unemployed, in prison, or living in poverty.
Allen (1986) wondered if students come to school with some sort of agenda? How did they come to understand how they are to behave in classrooms. What were they really looking to get out of school. He set out to conduct a survey that would answer his question. He concentrated on a population of about 100 9th grade students and four teachers who focused on Agriculture, Spanish, Health Education, and English. Here are his findings. 1. The students had two main classroom goals, socializing with other students and passing the class. In most cases, students had an initial “feel out” period, where they would test there boundaries with each teacher. They wanted to determine the amount of socializing that would be tolerated and the amount of work that had to be accomplished. 2. Once routines were set, the students sought to achieve the goal of socializing and giving the work the teacher wanted. 3. However, when the teacher’s agenda conflicted with the students, students increased their efforts of socializing due to boredom which caused defiant behaviors. The Influence of Peer Culture
Overall, Allen’s views about how students perceive school were consistent with attitudes from Ericson and Ellett and others. He concluded that based on his study, clearly making the most of an academic opportunity was not on these students’ agenda. Canann (1987) examined teenage cliques in school and also provided evidence of the challenges that peer culture poses to instilling and developing values of academic excellence among students. His study involved upper- middle class suburbs and focused on junior and high school students.
The cool group is made up of boys and girls who are athletically skilled and socially capable. These consists of Jocks and Freaks. Both types usually don’t admit to liking school or getting good grades. The Jocks excel in extracurricular activities and exhibit appropriate behavior to adults during the week. They cut loose on the weekends. The Freaks defy adult values in and out of school. The middle group tries to be like those in the top group and the low groups do not conform with proper school actions.
Conclusion • Powerful forces exist beyond the immediate control of schools and teachers that affect student learning. As Ericson and Ellett suggest, students today focus more on obtaining the certification symbols-grades, transcripts, and diplomas instead of on getting superior scholarly achievement. However, students may not be as far fetched from reality as we make it seem. With all the mandates of the NCLB initiative, students are forced to learn the necessities just enough to get by, inadvertently forgetting what teaching and learning is all about. • “ IF WE CONTINUE TO DO WHAT WE’VE ALWAYS DONE, WE WILL CONTINUE TO GET WHAT WE’VE ALWAYS GOT”
Conclusion • Children are like sponges, eager to absorb all the information that is made available to them. However, without the right motivation and techniques, children lose out on valuable and meaningful opportunities that help to shape their future.
