What should we do on educational inequality? To answer this question, let us make an analysis on factors of educational inequality. School appears to be the first factors of educational inequality, --we always discuss segregation and desegregation of our colorful children. However, it is not the main factors. We cannot ignore affects of family and community on a child’s development. To some extent, these factors are even more important than school. Just as professor Gary Orfield, who recently does researches on the integration of children from working-class families with those of middle-class and higher incomes in a public elementary school in Florida, says, "The middle-class family is basically the strongest educational institution in this country by far. Their destiny is less determined by their school than their family and their network...The kinds are getting a log of education at home".
Therefore, even some day we arrive on finally desegregation, we realize "multiple intelligences"(Howard Gardner), it is still important for us to treat our children individually. To treat our children individually means, we teach them in school, according to their different background, which may related to their home and living community. We must treat them individually, because the highest level of civilization is respect, and the greatest respect to our children is to admit that they are unequal. Educational equality does not mean our children reach the same achievement, that is what NCLB want and is also why it fails, but mean our children can realize their colorful achievement. We want to build a garden with all kinds of plants, rather than only roses. Take the case of "Pre-K Education", there are many rich children with an extra 3 or 4 preparation for schools that poor children do not have, giving some former children an advantage on the very first day of school. In that case, it is actually unfair to desegregate and to set the same assessment for those poor children.
So what should we do on educational inequality? My answer is, to know what our children actually need in their individual development and then to satisfy them.
1 comment:
An interesting point. At different times in my thinking I have believed that there should be more individualization and less individualization in order to improve our current inequality. My big issue with your analysis (and I'm curious to hear your response) is that I believe that all students will be judged against each other as part of their post-high school lives. In everything from college admission essays to job interviews students need many of the same skills and I'm not sure whether we'd be doing a diservice if we did not at least try to give them an equal education.
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