Overview
SOC 535
Chapter four assignment
Please respond to the following in paragraph form, providing an appropriate level of detail and specificity. Your submission should be a minimum of five well-developed paragraphs. Spelling, grammar, and punctuation count. Be certain to proofread prior to submitting your work.
Reading fifteen (Learning the Student Role: Kindergarten as Academic Boot Camp):
- You were previously asked to think about whether schools serve a conservative, liberal, or radical function. The introduction (p. 149) indicates the following: “New initiates to formal schooling learn the expectations of school so that they will fit into the educational system and later into the world of work.” Based on the introductory quote cited above, your reading of Gracey’s article, and his exploration of the dynamics of the kindergarten classroom, which of the three options seem closest to what Gracey describes? How so? Be specific.
- According to the author (p. 153): “While children’s perceptions of the world and opportunities for genuine spontaneity and creativity are being systematically eliminated from the kindergarten, unquestioned obedience to authority and rote learning of meaningless material are being encouraged.” How are children who conform to these demands defined? How are children who do not conform to these demands defined? Do you think children should conform to these demands? Why or why not? Be explicit.
- Why is it defined as unacceptable for children to “discover a universe of discourse of their own” (p.153), something they create and control independent of the teacher?
Reading 15: learning the student role: Kindergarten as Academic Boot camp by Harry l. Gracey page 149 of the book.
Schools and Society: A Sociological Approach to Education by Jeanne H. Ballantine (Editor), Joan Z. Spade (Editor), Jenny Stuber (Editor)