What does money really have to do with it?
⭒ ⭒ Unfortunately, money plays a big role in almost every aspect of our everyday lives. Having more money tends to give people the upper hand or advantages whether they deserve it or not. Money is the leading force of our society, economy, and even relationships with the people around us. Money involvement in schools is more evident than we’d like to admit. I’d love to live in a world where money doesn’t affect people’s opportunities but that is just not the case. William Parrett expresses that “low-income students often find themselves pigeonholed” because of their disadvantage. The fact that students are being marginalized at all, especially on something they cannot control, is ridiculous. Even if it is not on purpose, it is common for less fortunate students to feel unsupported and less than. ⭒
⭒ As teachers, I think it is especially important to be aware of personal actions and persona towards the students. Being in a position of authority, teachers are being looked at as the example and a comfort. Not only is it important for teachers to set that standard of respect, I think it’s equally as important to be approachable and make it evident that you are there to help. If other students notice special treatment towards a student or group of students, other students will start to treat those students the same way, leaving the minority group of students ignored or diminished. ⭒
⭒ Overall, I believe treating people equally in every situation is extremely important. Being a main person in a child’s life makes this even more important. As future teachers, we need to make it a point to be the support that all of our student’s need.
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Hi Hannah! I love your post and I think that you did a great job being sensitive to the fact that money can play a huge role in education. It is hard to know that the funding of our schools is out of our hands however, I do think that change is possible. Advocating for the lower-income school districts and the cases in place to give schools equal funding is the most that we as teachers may be able to do, but with enough of this advocacy, I do think that we could improve the equality and fairness in education. Do you think that if funding was equal between school districts that everything would be fair and square for every student? I love what you said about the importance of treating every student equally because I agree that teachers should all be held to that standard. I do fear however, that there are many other areas of reform aside from the funding issues.
ReplyDeleteHey Meagan! Thanks for your comment! I definitely agree that funding is a huge factor in the success or maintenance of the school environment. Personally, I don't think that giving every school district equal funding would fix everything. There's always going to be areas of error and room for improvement. But obviously this would be a great step in the right direction!
DeleteHi Hannah, I loved your post! I agree that in todays world, money is a big factor in this society. I feel that while we cannot control the corruption that money inflicts on this world, but money should not be a factor in the type of education students receive in the public education system. I loved the way you talked about how teachers should not be biased toward students due to their socioeconomic level. Especially when you said that by showing bias, students will treat each other differently. It is important that there is no bias in our classrooms as it will end up affecting each and every student in different ways but overall negatively. My question to you would be how would you go about assuring that there is no money discrimination within your classroom? If there was a child who needed extra help because they could not afford certain things, how would you help them without making it obvious?
ReplyDeleteHey Rylee! Thanks so much for your comment and questions! I think accommodating to every student's need is so so important. Sometimes, this can be seen as special treatment though. It's a tough situation to make sure that every student is getting what they need while not making other kids feel bad for not getting the same thing. Help looks different for every child. Sometimes the help a kid needs is to be left alone lol. But it's true. As teachers it's our job to figure out what are kids need and how to handle it appropriately.
DeleteHi Hannah! To begin with I really liked the way in which you talked about this topic.Secondly I definitely agree with you, the more money you have the more advantages and opportunity that will be handed to you. Money plays a huge role in our life in every aspect. But then again sometime it isnt just about money, its also about how teachers feel towards the students. Teachers should stay away from stereotypes and their biases. How do you think teachers can stay away from this? As teachers I think that we should be there and offer opportunities for the students regardless to their financial stability. Money should not define how far a students is able to go or the things they can achieve. As I read through your blog I noticed you mentioned the article from William Parrett, my question to you would be what were your thoughts about it?
ReplyDeleteHey Mariela! Thank you for your comment and questions! Whether we admit it or not stereotypes are difficult to stay away from. I think we can all agree that stereotypes have no place in education as well as all aspects of life. As teachers, it's inevitable that we are going to learn information about our student's life outside of the classroom whether we want to or not. I think it's important to know your students on a personal level but not too much. Personally, I don't think it's necessary to know how much money your student's parents make... Of course sometimes teachers don't have a choice in knowing that but I think unless it becomes an obvious problem for the student, it's not really our business to be interested in. Also, I think William Parrett did a great job at empathizing with lower income students and the affects they face. It was a great perspective to learn from!
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