Umbrella Questions Revisited

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Umbrella Questions Revisited
By:
Erich Hoffmann
Colorado State University
Umbrella Questions Revisited
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Introduction:
There are many differences and similarities to the way in which I have twice answered
the umbrella questions. ne of the ma!or differences is that at the be"innin" of the class my
answers were all o#inion based. $y answers had no scholarly basis to them. It was !ust what I
thou"ht at the time. %fter ta&in" this class thou"h' I feel that I can more a##ro#riately answer the
questions in an educated way. Some of the more "enerali(ed umbrella questions thou"h still have
the same underlyin" answer. I am !ust now able to bac& my thin&in" with credible resources
versus my o#inions.
The #ur#ose of schoolin" has chan"ed drastically throu"hout the history of Humans.
Schoolin" was e)clusively for wealthier white males only *Huerta' +.' ,--./. The students were
basically only tau"ht readin"' writin" and math as these were the s&ills needed to run a business
or to continue whatever trade your family was &nown for such as a doctor or a lawyer. It was not
till much later in our history that anyone other then white males were allowed to "o to school.
nce minorities were finally "iven the ri"hts to "o to school their education was very limited and
focused mostly on the basics as well as their deculturi(ation *S#rin"' 0.' ,-12/. In today3s society
thou"h schoolin" is much different then what it has been. %ll students in a class receive the same
treatment and have access to the same material as all the other students in the class do. There are
currently far more sub!ects that students are e)#ected to learn then the three basics of readin"'
writin" and math. The education system today is still very different then when I was in school.
4ith the im#lementation of 5o Child 6eft Behind *5C6B/ it seems that more and more teachers
are becomin" limited in the ways that they teach and are teachin" towards the tests and not
sim#ly tryin" to teach the students the materials that they may want their students to &now. This
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is currently hurtin" our education system I thin& and thin"s needs to chan"e. Schoolin" should be
about learnin" no matter the format of that learnin". 4e as teachers should be able to create a
learnin" environment of our choosin" and as lon" as students are showin" #ro"ress in our classes
by im#rovin" on their #rior &nowled"e of our content areas then their education is bein"
successful. There are so many other ways out there to assess learnin" then to ta&e a standardi(ed
test. These tests "ive some "eo"ra#hic areas an unfair disadvanta"e due to low fundin". The
"overnment will then #unish the school for lower score and all that does is hurt the students even
more.
I thin& that there are some ways that I as a teacher can hel# move my students so that I
will not have to teach for the test because they will be en!oyin" themselves so much that learnin"
becomes easy. 7irst off I want to have a class room environment that is &nown as a safe and fun
#lace to learn. The statistics on bullyin" and school violence are !ust a##allin" for this day and
a"e and thin"s li&e the Columbine shootin" are sometimes very #reventable if teachers and
administrators are creatin" a safe o#en environment *8vos&in' 0./. By facilitatin" this &ind of
environment' not only in my class but throu"hout the whole school' it is ma&in" a much safer
learnin" environment with little to no stress. %nytime that there is stress #laced on a student it
#hysically shuts down the brains ability to learn *4illis' 0.' ,--9/. By reducin" stress and
creatin" a very safe' secure environment for the students and staff that is when true learnin" can
ta&e #lace. I am a firm believer in the idea that there are other ways to see if students are
learnin". There are students that I &now of that no matter how well they &now the material when
it comes to ta&in" a test they always do #oorly and do not show their true #otential. If a test is the
only way that an education system is measurin" learnin" then there is somethin" wron" with the
system. $any educators will fully ac&nowled"e the e)istence of $ulti#le Intelli"ences and teach
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a lesson that covers as many of these intelli"ences as #ossible *Cambell' B' 1..1/. If we are
teachin" lessons in this manner why are we not testin" students in the same manner: If students
learn the material differently should they not be tested in a way that would best fit their learnin"
style: This is somethin" that I am really "oin" to be thin&in" about when it comes to the tests for
my classes in the future. If the "oal of education is to learn then I am not "oin" to try and focus
so much on the assessment but the #rocess of learnin". By creatin" a better learnin" environment
that is stress free my students will have the best o##ortunity to learn and ho#efully will en!oy
learnin". To the #oint that we will not have to worry about the standardi(ed tests because the
students have actually learned and retained the material not !ust memori(ed it for re"ur"itation
on an e)am.
There are a few ways in which schools continue the e)istin" order of thin"s in our
society. 7or starters there are many ne"ative stereoty#es associated with various minorities in
our education system. 4hat most #eo#le do not seem to ta&e into consideration is that these
students may be comin" from lower economic status. There is a definite hierarchy of needs when
it comes to life and if a student has to hel# their #arents #ay the bills' of course wor& is "oin" to
come before doin" homewor& and studyin" for a test. The reason that some of these stereoty#es
still e)ist in our education system is that #eo#le need to ac&nowled"e race or socioeconomic
level and not be ;colorblind< *Bur&holder' =.' ,-->/. This strate"y has obviously not done any
"ood so far' so somethin" needs to chan"e to end the cycle *Bur&holder' =.' ,-->/. %nother way
that the education system is enforcin" the status quo of society is the lac& of dialo"ue in the class
room' which can lead to a lac& of democracy *7ernande(?Balboa' 0.' 1..@/. %s functional as our
"overnment currently is' one can easily see that this lac& of actual dialo"ue in the class room is
affectin" the country. This is because nobody &nows how to !ust sit down in a calm collective
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manner and tal& about thin"s that are wron" or are botherin" #eo#le. 5othin" is "oin" to chan"e
concernin" all of the above issues if they are not addressed in schools.
4hile the order of thin"s is a sad one when you thin& about it' schoolin" is the &ey to
chan"in" all of it. The educations system is where so many students learn thin"s from actual
academic material to social s&ills. So why can we not chan"e the natural order of our society
around us: %ll that it would ta&e is bein" very #roactive about anyone of these above sub!ects
and society would start to chan"e in whatever direction the chan"e was wanted. Ta&e the
dialo"ue #eda"o"y' if we as teachers tau"ht how to have a real dialo"ue and #racticed it
frequently in the class room then when our students become adults and maybe become
"overnment officials dialo"ue would not sto# in the "overnment buildin"s *7ernande(?Balboa' 0.'
1..@/. It would be a win?win for #eo#le all around the country and maybe the world. There are
so many strate"ies out there on teachin" with endless ideas on how to teach materials in the
classroom *Colorado State University' ,-11/. $ore te)t should be available to future teachers on
the issue of race so that we are better trained on how to deal with this issue when it comes u# in
our classes. There is no one way to alter the way that society does thin"s or one direction that
everyone thin&s that it should be "oin". If it ever becomes an issue that the world wants to
address thou"h schoolin" is the #lace to start im#lementin" these chan"es to have the most
effect.
4hile there are no sin"le answers to any of these questions they are im#ortant thin"s to
thin& about as on #ro"resses into the career of education. Because we can im#act many as#ects
of the world around us. There are many flaws in the world and education still to this day but
bein" #roactive will hel# the situation. ne #erson will #robably not chan"e the world but we
could ma&e the difference for at least one student and that is what we should be strivin" for as
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teachers. If we can end the cycle of racism for one student or #romote one student to e)cel in
dialo"ue you never &now how that one student is "oin" to chan"e the world in their lifetime.
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Aeference
Burkholder, Z. 2!!7, "#tober 24$. Be#ause Ra#e %an&t Be '(nored. Education Week,
)). 2*+31.
%am)bell, B. 1**6$. Context Institute Whole-system pathways to a thriving
sustainable furute. Retrieved ,rom htt)-..///.#onte0t.or(.i#lib.i#27.#am)bell.
1voskin, 2. 2!!2, "#tober 16$. The Zero. Retrieved ,rom 3he "4#ial 5ebsite o,
6ndre/ 7a#hss- htt)-..///.va#hss.#om.(uest8dis)at#hes.dvoskin8inde0.html
9ernande:+Balboa, 2.+;., < ;arshall, 2. =. 1**4$. 1ialo(i#al =eda(o(> in 3ea#her
?du#ation- 3o/ard an ?du#ation ,or 1emo#ra#>. ournal of Teacher Education,
24+34.
@uerta, A. %. 2!!*$. Educational !oundation" #iverse $istories% #iverse
&erspectives' Boston- 5ads/orth.
B)rin(, 2. 2!13$. #eculturali(ation and the )truggle for E*uality + ,reif $istory of
the Education of #ominated Cultures in the -nited )tates' Ce/ Dork- ;#(ra/
@ill.
Universit>, %. B. 2!11$. &earson Custom Education' Boston- =earson.
5illis, 2. ;. 2!!6$. .esearch-,ased )trategies To Ignite student /earning'
6le0andria- 6B%1.