“Standardization Will Destroy Our Education System, If It Hasn’t Already”
Sheninger, E. (2012, July 25). Standardization Will Destroy Our Education System, If It Hasn’t Already. Retrieved from Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-sheninger/standardization-will-dest_b_1703357.html
This article from June of 2012 is very similar to “Project Classroom Makeover”. Author Eric Sheninger discusses how education has become standardized to the extent where students are not being motivated enough as a result of the type of material being fed to them. One term he touches on multiple times is a “linchpin” -- a term discussed by Seth Godin (who is also cited in “Project Classroom Makeover”) referring to people who do their own thing and let their own wants determine what actions they take, or in the case of the education system, the material and style in which teachers relay information to students.
“‘Just Another Brick in the Wall’: Standardization and the Devaluing of Education”
Rubin, D. I. (2011). “Just Another Brick in the Wall”: Standardization and the Devaluing of Education. Journal of Curriculum Instruction, 94-109.
This report by two doctoral students from New Mexico State University discusses the negative effects of the standardization of the education system. The authors note that the “process of teaching and learning is predetermined, pre-paced, and pre-structured…there is little room for originality or creativity on the part of teachers or students” (Rubin/Kazanjian 94). The report details the increasingly narrow curriculum being taught in schools, how it is detrimental to students who don’t naturally catch on to this curriculum (or are educationally disadvantaged in other ways), and how the current state of the education system is contradictory to the true purpose of education.
“Project Classroom Makeover”
Davidson, C. (2015). Project Classroom Makeover. In R. E. Miller, The New Humanities Reader (pp. 48-68). Stamford: Cengage Learning.
As we all know, “Project Classroom Makeover” discusses the progression of the education system since the birth of America. For years, the purpose of the education system was to prepare kids for work in industrial jobs; but now, in the much more digital 21st century, to prepare kids for jobs in such an outdated field highlights the standardization of the education system as a very negative thing. Also, Cathy Davidson discusses the dependence on standardized testing in the American education system as a heavy issue, as kids’ intelligence is labeled by the number that appears on their tests, which ignores kids’ talents in fields that are not tested upon.
“The Naked Citadel”
Faludi, S. (2015). The Naked Citadel. In R. E. Miller, The New Humanities Reader (pp. 73-103). Stamford: Cengage Learning.
In “ The Naked Citadel” by Susan Faludi, the negative impact of standardization as a failure to adapt to modern society is also highlighted. In this essay, Faludi describes the backlash from the all-male military academy The Citadel when a female recruit is accidentally admitted. The failure of The Citadel to adapt to the increasing rights and roles of women in today’s society is similar to the failure of the education system to adapt to new skills being more valued in today’s society.
“Biographies of Hegemony”
Ho, K. (2015). Biographies of Hegemony. In R. E. Miller, The New Humanities Reader (pp. 166-186). Stamford: Cengage Learning.
In “Biographies of Hegemony” by Karen Ho, the idea of a lesser dependence on the skills focused on in the standardization of education is evident in Ho’s description of the process by which one develops a career on Wall Street. Ho discusses how more than just test scores are focused on; she says that “‘smartness’ means much more than intelligence; it conveys a naturalized and generic sense of ‘impressiveness,’ of elite, pinnacle status and expertise” (Ho 167). According to Ho, what is more important on Wall Street is to possess a broad range of skills that can help people solve any number of potential financial problems that could come their way.
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