Summary When Stacey Bess gets her first teaching job, shes shocked. Its not at all what she expected. Stacey (played by Emily Van Camp) is assigned to something called The School with No Name, a space in a homeless shelter thats supposed to be a classroom. The children are all ages, many from broken families, thrown together in a classroom lacking essentials like desks and books. Stacey must tackle her own fears and insecurities as she works to gain the attention and respect of her young students. Using compassion and determination she takes on both nervous school board officials (Timothy Busfield and Treat Williams) and apprehensive parents. Eventually she transforms the barren space into a warm, comfortable environment where the children not only acquire knowledge, but also self-respect and a measure of dignity. Stacey Bess is an award-winning educator with great insight into the hearts of children in need. This movie storied about how a junior teacher that just graduated faced the students that never experiencing real learning process before. Besides, the room she is given as a classroom has none of the proper amenities, but is more a rat-infested trap than anything, and her repeated calls to the powers that be go unanswered. Stacey Bess faced challenges with the lack of classroom equipment and facility such as books, tables, classroom building and others that give hard time for Stacey Bess proceed with the learning process. With a bundle of courage form her husband, Greg and children, Stacey Bess takes pain continue her responsibility of teaching even though it was hard for the first time as a teacher. EDU 646 CURRENT ISSUE IN EDUCATION 2
She believes that love and kindness the way to most effectively teach children any subject is to treat them. Community around the nation has discovered the treasure of Stacey Bess and the magic she works with children. Bess began her teaching career at the school with no name located inside the Salt Lake City shelter where she taught math, reading and self-worth to homeless and transient children. Ever since she can remember Stacey has aspired to be a teacher. It was her dream. She always did well in school to the point of it becoming a haven from a home-life that was anything but happy. Years later, her decisions led to her quitting high school and struggling to finish her education. Eight years later at twenty-four, Stacey (Emily Van Camp) is a mother and married to her high school sweetheart, Greg (Steve Talley). Juggling a personal life, she has finally achieved her degree and now wants a teaching position with the New Mexico public school district. Even though she is hired, she is given a job teaching the homeless children that no one else cares about. Excited about her dream being realized, Stacey did not expect what she got. Being shoved off a on shelter school, the directions she was given to her new employment seem to lead to nowhere leaving Stacy overwhelmed and maybe even a bit prejudiced towards the people when she arrives to find that the shelter director has no time for her, the temporary she is replacing merely recommends playing movies and the parents do not take an active interest in their childrens education. Determined to make things work, Stacey uses some of her long-suffering gumption as she continues to devote much of her time to her class of twenty hurting but clever students. Pouring her own money and time into resources, Stacey eventually makes it into something resembling a school room - a better learning environment but in order to make it complete she must get the superintendent (Treat Williams) to take notice of the work she is EDU 646 CURRENT ISSUE IN EDUCATION 3
doing and the progress her kids have made. By the end of her first term she was discouraged and often distraught by the circumstances facing the children who were so easy to love, but whose lives were so insecure. Often she wanted to give up, but decided the children deserved her best efforts. While working at the school with no name, Bess chronicled the heart-wrenching stories of her students so she would never forget how far these children had come. A heartbreaking, tender story demonstrating some of the small ways a person can make a big difference in others lives, Beyond the Blackboard is a wonderful, inspirational (true) story that teaches a form of mutual respect and I had recommend anyone try to watch it especially teachers or educator.
The Learning Approach According to Pestalozzi, every individual had the ability to learn and the right to an education. Based on my review, the approach that has been used by Stacey Bess is Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi theory. Pestalozzi sought to develop school that, like loving family which is will nurture childrens development. Pestalozzi believed that education should develop the powers of Head, Heart and Hands. He believed that this would help create individuals who are capable of knowing what is right and what is wrong and of acting according to this knowledge. Thus the well-being of every individual could be improved and each individual could become a responsible citizen. He believed that empowering and ennobling every individual in this way was the only way to improve society and bring peace and security to the world. EDU 646 CURRENT ISSUE IN EDUCATION 4
Pestalozzi agreed with other theorist, Rousseau that human are naturally good but were spoiled by a corrupt society. It had been showed in this film when all children were come from negative background families that require them into social problem such as smoking. As an example, student such as Maria, really interested to learn and gain knowledge but stunted because of her father problem. She cannot learn it until Miss Stacey Bess come teach to the shelter house. Furthermore, Pestalozzi believed that school, if properly organized, could become centers of effective learning. From the film, as we can see at first of teaching session happen, the shelter house was lack of classroom equipment such as books, chairs, tables and the class is too messy. As a teacher, Miss Stacey had a problem to start the learning process. However, she not give up but try other opportunity to make sure the class run smoothly which is she start the class with a test to grade the students level because in her class, she have many students from different levels of studies. He was especially dedicated to children who were poor, hungry and socially or psychologically handicapped. For example, if children were hungry, Pestalozzi fed them before he attempted to teach them, if they were frightened, he comforted them. For him, a teacher was not only skilled in instructional method but also capable of loving all children. In fact, Pestalozzi believed that love of humankind was necessary for successful teaching. Pestalozzis approach has had massive influence on education, for example, his influence, as well as his relevance to education today, is clear in the importance now put on: EDU 646 CURRENT ISSUE IN EDUCATION 5
The interests and needs of the child A child-centered rather than teacher-centered approach to teaching Active rather than passive participation in the learning experience The freedom of the child based on his or her natural development balanced with the self-discipline to function well as an individual and in society The child having direct experience of the world and the use of natural objects in teaching The use of the senses in training pupils in observation and judgment Cooperation between the school and the home and between parents and teachers The importance of an all-round education an education of the head, the heart and the hands, but which is led by the heart The use of systemized subjects of instruction, which are also carefully graduated and illustrated Learning which is cross-curricular and includes a varied school life Education which puts emphasis on how things are taught as well as what is taught Authority based on love, not fear Teacher training Based on the approach above, we can see Miss Stacey applied most of the approach. (1) The interests and needs of the child: Miss Stacey fulfills her students need and interest by giving them breakfast and so on.
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SOCIAL CONTEXT IN EDUCATION Children in the United States come from a variety of family situations, income strata, and cultural backgrounds. As a result, U.S Nations schools are faced with unique challenges as they strive to provide equal educational opportunities to all students. (1) Factors such as family income, family structure, and parents education have been shown to influence a childs educational opportunities. Today, of the 4 million babies born each year, nearly one out of eight is born to a teenage mother, one out of four to a mother with less than a high school education, almost one out of three to a mother who lives in poverty, and one out of four to an unmarried mother. (2) These conditions have been shown to be associated with children experiencing problems such as repeating a grade, requiring special education services, and being suspended and dropping out of school. (3) Students from racial/ethnic minority backgrounds and low income families are more at risk for poor school outcomes and are becoming an increasing share of the student population. (4) Since the mid-1960s, studies have linked the educational disadvantage of minority students to a combination of out-of-school factors, many of which center on family characteristics, such as poverty and parents education. (5) The data contained in this report highlight similar findings. Changes over time in the composition of students in terms of factors such as student English language proficiency, family income, parents education, and family structure affect the social context of education. In the essay that follows, associations between these student-level social factors and different indicators of educational access and progress are reviewed. For each student background factor, the essay will point out how these factors have changed for families and children over time, as well as how they affect various racial/ethnic groups. EDU 646 CURRENT ISSUE IN EDUCATION 7
The social context of schooling is also a function of how students with various characteristics are distributed across schools. The last half of this essay examines differences in school climate and human and financial resources in high and low poverty schools. The data on these factors reflect changing conditions that schools must confront in order to be effective. In order to provide equal educational opportunity, policymakers must be aware of differences in the background of students, as well as differences in the climate and resources of schools.
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT Classroom management refers to the wide variety of skills and techniques that teachers use to keep students organized, orderly, focused, attentive, on task, and academically productive during a class. When classroom-management strategies are executed effectively, teachers minimize the behaviors that impede learning for both individual students and groups of students, while maximizing the behaviors that facilitate or enhance learning. Generally speaking, effective teachers tend to display strong classroom-management skills, while the hallmark of the inexperienced or less effective teacher is a disorderly classroom filled with students who are not working or paying attention. According to Moskowitz & Hayman (1976), once a teacher loses control of their classroom, it becomes increasingly more difficult for them to regain that control. Classroom management is closely linked to issues of motivation and respect. a) TECHNIQUE Preventative approaches to classroom management involve creating a positive classroom community with mutual respect between teacher and student. Miss Stacey used the preventative approach offer warmth, acceptance, and support unconditionally - not based on a students behavior. Fair rules and consequences are established and students are given frequent and consistent feedback regarding their behavior. The techniques also involve the strategic use of praise and rewards to inform students about their behavior rather than as a means of controlling student behavior. In order to use rewards to inform students about EDU 646 CURRENT ISSUE IN EDUCATION 8
their behavior, teachers must emphasize the value of the behavior that is rewarded and also explain to students the specific skills they demonstrated to earn the reward. As an example, Miss Stacey understands how students in the shelter school were raised by their parents, so she is cautious on each words she spoken out to avoid misunderstanding. Besides, even though there is a naughty students in the class that able to influence others but she never punished him on his bad action but she just reward for those that being in good manner. At the end, the naughty boy was trained to be a leader for the rest.
b) CLASSROOM SEATING ARRANGEMENT Studies have reported that seating arrangements impact the learning process. Students occupying the front rows are more attentive that those in the back. The students in front are the ones who generally answer questions asked in class. Classroom arrangement; from a students point of view, symbolizes their personality. Often, the diligent, focused students occupy the front rows, in order not to miss out any vital information whereas the laid back, more casual students opt for the back benches to avoid being noticed by the educators. Some students prefer sitting near doors and windows as it provides them with sufficient distractions to escape the monotony of lessons taught. Pranks, whispering, passing of notes, doodling, etc. is frequent among students who generally sit in the back. Therefore, seating arrangements may be a cause for the decline of student performance as attention span, concentration, comprehension and the retaining of information can be influenced by where the student chooses to sit. In the Beyond the Blackboard film, the teacher at the first used cluster style of seating arrangement. It is because of lack of facilities such as chairs and tables. This style was more on discussion type. The cluster arrangement is effective for cooperative or collaborative work, where a small group of student worked independently of the rest of the class but the students within the group interact frequently with one another. Then, Miss Stacey used row seating style in order to make easier for her to monitor her students. EDU 646 CURRENT ISSUE IN EDUCATION 9
COMPARISON BETWEEN AMERICA AND MALAYSIA EDUCATION SYSTEM
There is another difference between Malaysian and American education system, which is the existence of tuition culture. In Malaysia, tuition means supplementary academic coaching (Eduweb Technology, n.d.). Children as young as seven were sent to tuition classes after their school hours. Students attend tuition classes on their own and pay for the profit-oriented tutoring service. Typically, students are taught what have been taught in schools and they learn twice (Ganesan, 2010). Teaching techniques in tuition classes are geared towards helping pupils do well in the national exams such as UPSR, PMR, SPM and STPM. In tuition classes, the tutors teach and give exercise based on exam format and the sole purpose of meeting the exam requirement instead of teaching real knowledge. Students go outside and seek tuition classes because of their and their parents general opinions towards public schools in Malaysia that deemed them to be low standards in teaching. Students who are busy attending tuition classes tend to neglect their co- curricular activities. This is not encouraged as co-curricular activities help develop discipline, leadership and team-building skills which are important interpersonal skills. Many students in Malaysia are rushed to tuition class once they get off schools without any proper rest. This might cause the students unable to focus in tuition classes. Some students that are not doing well in their exams are forced to attend tuition by their parents, and this can cause the students to feel pressured when they are not improving after they went to tuition classes. In America, tuition is what people pay to a college or a university. Students do not attend tuition but afterschool activities, that are organized program which invites youth to participate outside of the traditional school hours (Mahoney, Parente, and Zigler, 2009).