Chapter 6 Reflection-Rethinking Education

"We are now entering the lifelong-learning era of education, having experienced the apprenticeship and universal-schooling eras." (page 91)

I never knew that there were three different eras in education.  I like the lifelong-learning era that we are in now.  I think that it is a good thing for everyone to constantly be learning even after their school years are behind them.  There are many older people now a days that are continuing to go to school in their 60s and above.  Many say that it helps to keep them on their feet.  I also think that its great that we have moved onto the era where students can pick what they want to do in life and are no longer limited to what their parent did  for a living.  It has also allowed for men and females to switch the roles around in the job world.

"After the Industrial Revolution, one of the main arguments that Horace Mann made was that education could bring everyone up to a common, high level of success." (page 93)

I agree with this quote that education can help to change the level of success that you grew up in.  Every child has the chance to move up in the social class through education.  Some children will have an easier time at moving up than others, but they all have the chance to.  Even though you can move up, you usually end up making around the same amount of money that your parents make.  So even though children don't have to follow in their parents foots steps job wise, they will usually stay in the same economic bracket as their parents.

"With the advent of universal schooling, children and their teachers only meet one another on the first day of class.  They are strangers at the outset.  Though many teachers develop bonds with their students  they do not have the time parents have to develop a deep understanding of their students' personal needs and abilities." (page 102)

This quote shows how important it is for teachers to also form a good relationship with their student's parents.  Parents can provide the needed insight as to why a child may be acting out so, which could be from a new baby being born and all of the attention going to the baby and not the older sibling   Parents can also alert teachers about circumstances that could cause a child to be upset or with drawn from the class; a pet or close relative dying could be affecting the behavior.  It is also extremely important for teachers to be in contact with the parents of children of special needs.  These parents can give so much helpful information to the teacher since they know everything about their child.  Teachers need to do their best to form positive bonds with all the parents of their students.