Schools: Shaped by ???

“Culture of Schooling”-not a concept I’ve considered in quite this way before, but definitely worth examining. The example of the teacher referencing something completely foreign to students and expecting comprehension was spot on. How often do people do this, assuming a familiarity that their audience, whoever it may be, may not have? Though many things go into forming a school, the environment crafted in that school should be comfortable, challenges based on subjects, not communication. What shapes schools, be they urban, rural, or suburban, and what should shape them?

Ok, so this my somewhat flat, organized attempt at formulating my thoughts: Schools are shaped by both external and internal factors as well as the interaction between the two. By internal I refer to the actual structuring of the school, the curriculum as it is executed, the students, the teachers, and the organizational structure. By external I refer to the community that the school serves, politics, cultural values, the pool from which students and teachers are pulled, and the location of the school relative to the outside world. Not all of the concepts that I have listed fall strictly into one category. More often than not one factor will exist as a function of another, or an alteration in one will have a cascade effect on the rest of the scheme.

Since the shaping of schools is actually a fairly convoluted process, my best shot at organization may be to begin chronologically, with the formation of schools. As mentioned by Fructer and by Anderson and Summerfield, our vision of schools is rooted in our idealized recollection of the past. In the case of the United States, rural schools represent this past, our agrarian values and the natural state of education. As stated in “Why is Urban Education Different from Rural and Suburban Education?”, those responsible for curriculum and organization value community, common sense, self reliance and simplicity (p. 36). Rural schools originally encompassed these values. However, as the world advanced technologically and urban centers of society spread, rural schools and their scope of education became too limited. In our modern era, while the small size of rural schools appeals to educational reformists, realistically, what we need in order to prepare students for the future is a more modern approach. While local culture is a big factor in shaping schools, and I plan to discuss this further, I predict or at least hope for a greater influence from global demands.

What I found especially interesting was the role assigned to the anti-desegregation movement in the formation of suburbia. The ways in which whites migrated to the city fringe in an effort to remain separate and the role of these antics in the rise of inner city versus suburban culture was an eye-opener. As I understand it, as people moved out of cities, primarily middle and working class whites whom banks awarded preference in terms of mortgages, the poor, immigrants, and minorities were in effect stranded in what became an otherwise abandoned city center. The children of this culture are the ones who fill the inner city schools.

To me, the heart and soul of a school should be the students. Unfortunately, schools are shaped more universally. Because we live in what we consider an integrated society, and policy makers often adopt a “one size fits most” attitude towards education and school organization, what works in the idealized, homogenous model is not always successful in reality. Communities, past history, parents, teachers and social mores can take the best (worst, so-so?) plans from the head honchos and ensure that chaos ensues through no fault of their own.

Urban schools are a difficult community to define. By their very nature they are diverse places, integrating many cultures, yet possessed of a culture unlike that of the rest of the nation. Family values shape students’ attitude towards education. However, that shaping can be to conform, as seen with one individual in “Urban Schools, Public Will” or to rebel. Parental involvement can be likewise efficacious. Community values play a role-military bases tend to produce achieving students, despite the fact that instruction methods are diverse. Conversely, in an inner city school where drugs and money occasionally reign supreme, even the brightest may find this lure tough to resist.

Schools, whether rural, suburban or urban, are shaped by the physical, social, temporal, financial and political environments in which they exist. They represent our youth, who are our nation’s future (total cliche, I know). Creating a culture of schooling in which students of inner city schools can learn and achieve universally while embracing the unique culture of that student body would be a terrific way to shape a school. The question remains how to do this when many teachers are not from the communities they teach, and how are values from local areas translated to comply with government regulated standards? Education can be improved, but the process is daunting. Teachers must be oriented not just within education, but communities as well, and curriculums must be likewise adjusted to reflect the values and limitations of the population served.