The Five Models of Failure-A Critique
November 24, 2004
I hate playing what appears to be a blame game in our Sociology of Education class. Lately, we’ve been discussing the Five Models of Failure, and each model has a different idea of who is at fault.
Our initial idea was that the individual was to blame for his or her own circumstances. As expected, this didn’t fly for very long. After all, how much influence does one person possess when it comes to dictating how the country is run? The answer is one vote out of approximately 30 million. From where I stand, those aren’t very good odds. The only thing that one might seriously control is our outlook on life, and this may influence where we end up in the end.
Then we moved to saying that some kids fail because of troubled family backgrounds. We all come from dysfunctional families on one level or another, so who are we to pass judgement? Most parents do the best job they know how to do, and we can expect nothing more. If we look to point fingers, this is definitely the wrong direction to be facing.
The next target was the culture in which some kids were raised. As someone who has never thought about becoming a member of the KKK and pledging white supremacy, I vow to never fall victim to the culture of poverty idea that says your language or beliefs are wrong because they do not conform to upper class ideals. Every culture has value and deserves to be maintained at all cost. I believe it is possible to teach people what they need to know without resorting to forced assimilation.
The last model we looked at before the end of class dealt with class structure. It basically said a family transmits a distinct set of values to their children. Ultimately, this limits them to the occupational level of their parents. Even though my parents raised me with a strong set of working class values, I desire more than that. I have already obtained a higher level of education than anyone else in my family, and want to establish a career for myself before having any children. Of course, this is all foreign territory to my parents, however they respect my decisions, and I respect theirs.
So far, I have managed to find exceptions to every one of these models. What I find funny is that we have yet to discuss the teacher’s role in the failure of a child. Since society expects the schools to train the up and coming generation, why hasn’t the finger been pointed this direction? I’m sure teachers’ attitudes affect a student’s performance. After all, I remember blaming bad marks on the fact that certain teachers really didn’t like me.
I hate playing what appears to be a blame game in our Sociology of Education class. Lately, we’ve been discussing the Five Models of Failure, and each model has a different idea of who is at fault.
Our initial idea was that the individual was to blame for his or her own circumstances. As expected, this didn’t fly for very long. After all, how much influence does one person possess when it comes to dictating how the country is run? The answer is one vote out of approximately 30 million. From where I stand, those aren’t very good odds. The only thing that one might seriously control is our outlook on life, and this may influence where we end up in the end.
Then we moved to saying that some kids fail because of troubled family backgrounds. We all come from dysfunctional families on one level or another, so who are we to pass judgement? Most parents do the best job they know how to do, and we can expect nothing more. If we look to point fingers, this is definitely the wrong direction to be facing.
The next target was the culture in which some kids were raised. As someone who has never thought about becoming a member of the KKK and pledging white supremacy, I vow to never fall victim to the culture of poverty idea that says your language or beliefs are wrong because they do not conform to upper class ideals. Every culture has value and deserves to be maintained at all cost. I believe it is possible to teach people what they need to know without resorting to forced assimilation.
The last model we looked at before the end of class dealt with class structure. It basically said a family transmits a distinct set of values to their children. Ultimately, this limits them to the occupational level of their parents. Even though my parents raised me with a strong set of working class values, I desire more than that. I have already obtained a higher level of education than anyone else in my family, and want to establish a career for myself before having any children. Of course, this is all foreign territory to my parents, however they respect my decisions, and I respect theirs.
So far, I have managed to find exceptions to every one of these models. What I find funny is that we have yet to discuss the teacher’s role in the failure of a child. Since society expects the schools to train the up and coming generation, why hasn’t the finger been pointed this direction? I’m sure teachers’ attitudes affect a student’s performance. After all, I remember blaming bad marks on the fact that certain teachers really didn’t like me.
posted by Chantelle @ 1:28 PM
2 Comments:
At December 19, 2004 9:49 PM,
Robert said…
Of course, pointing the finger at the teachers was the ultimate punchline of that series of lectures. Ultimately, we have to take the blame if a significant portion of our class fails to succeed.
At December 19, 2004 10:01 PM,
Robert said…
Of course, pointing the finger at the teachers was the ultimate punchline of that series of lectures. Ultimately, we have to take the blame if a significant portion of our class fails to succeed.
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