Nathan Lazickas

12/14
Social and Cultural Foundations of Education
Final Paper
Teaching to Change the world

What is the purpose of education and schools in a democratic society? That question has

been asked by many over the past few centuries since schooling in America has been around and

the answer has been many different answers. Some believe that it should be to educate the

students about the country in which they live and how to live in it, others believe that the purpose

of schooling is to prepare students for the global economy and how to be competitive with in it.

The difference in opinions stems from the frame of reference of the speaker. Frame of reference

is a lot like a persons point of view, it is defined as a structure of concepts, values, customs or

views that shapes the way an individual thinks about and analyzes information and how they

behave. My cultural frame of reference and views on public schooling in a democratic society

has been affected by where I was raised as well as my experiences throughout my time in higher

education.

As a college student the large majority of my life has been set in an educational setting.

Fifteen out of the twenty years I have been alive I have spent in class. My early years of

education took place in East Aurora, New York, a small suburb of Buffalo. The town is made up

of mostly white people who often are wealthy. The taxes are high and our school district is well

funded to supply students with an education that aligns with state standards for education as well

as an exceptional amount of Advanced Placement courses. We were set up with knowledgeable

guidance councilors, efficient school administrators, better than average athletic equipment. I

came from a good school, the best in the area according to Buffalo Business First rankings

(Business First 2015). After graduation from this district my educational career continued at

Ithaca College. Surprisingly enough, Ithaca College was my first real experience with diversity.
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High School did not adequately portray what they real world was and when I got Ithaca College I

learned a lot about diversity and the experiences at IC and from East Aurora helped to shape my

cultural frame of reference. I will admit that it has changed as I have learned more about

diversity across all levels of education and society.

I used to view public schools much differently than I do know. While in a public high

school I believed that we were being educated to become a good citizen and to be a productive

member of our society. I did not think about what other people thought about education, people

who were outside of the bubble that was East Aurora, to people who were of different socio-

economic statuses or anything like that. In my school we were mostly taught about the world

through a lens I now consider to be historically oppressive and tends to be white supremacist. We

were hardly taught to question what the government did, we just learned it as fact with little

analysis. In English class we did look at different cultures literature and culture although we

looked at literature that written in a western manner with little appreciation for any cultural

significance. In my education I realize there was no questioning of authority or privilege. As

good as an education it was, I feel it did not prepare me to think as critically as I do now.

My college experience has taught me so much about how to think for myself. My major,

social studies teacher education has really played into this, both the history classes I have taken

as well as the education classes. The history course I have taken for the most part forced me to

examine history from multiple angles, not just the most prominent one. I have read books about

the revolutionary war that look at the war from the viewpoint of the British press, I have learned

Soviet history from the views of the government was well as accounts of the subjects. These

experiences have taught me to look at what a source is saying, why they are saying that and who
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Social and Cultural Foundations of Education
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benefits from it and who does not benefit. Being able to question means one can think critically. I

believe this ability to question and think critically fundamentally altered my frame of reference

because it has given me a new structure and way to examine and analyze the world around me.

Another thing I really appreciate learning from college is white privilege. It is a concept

that is so prominent across society yet itll often times go unnoticed or undiscussed. This idea of

identifying as white, realizing I do have a race and that it benefits me whether or not I know it

or asked for it really changed the way I look at everything. It has shaped my thoughts on public

schools in a democratic society enormously. It helped me understand the academic gap in our

nation. The gap in our country can be divided into two aspects, the achievement gap and the

educational debt. The achievement gap can be explained as the difference in academic

achievement between white students and students of color. This and the educational debt can be

explained historically, through the unequal experiences of groups in our country, economically,

through the unequal funding of schools that serve primarily students of color it can be explained

socio-politically through the historical and even present day difficulty of people of color being

able to participate and be represented in the political process. Gloria Gladson-Billings addresses

these issues and causes in her 2006 American Educational Research Association presidential

address From the Achievement Gap to the Education Debt: Understanding Achievement in U.S.

Schools. Her address discusses topics that many citizens do not recognize or do not know about.

Know that I know about the reality of the achievement gap and educational debt I began to really

question the purpose of public schooling in a democratic society.

With the critical thinking abilities I had developed, what do I do with the

knowledge of unequal educational experiences in the country I began to ask questions. I started
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Social and Cultural Foundations of Education
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with basic questions, like for example what is the definition of a democratic society? In class it

has been defined as a society where citizens have the ability to vote for representatives in

government, where the people are protected equally under the law and all voices can be heard.

Most say a democratic society is equal. Although with the achievement gap and educational debt

in public schools, equality just does not make sense. Due to the historical disadvantage some

students and schools have had, equality sounds nice but it is not leveling the playing field. It is

like giving a ninety pound person and a 300 pound person the same amount of food, even though

the needs of the 300 pound man suggest he should get more food. If the 90 pound person and the

300 pound person were allocated food based off of needs, then it would not necessarily be equal

but equitable. That is the problem with a traditional democratic society, it is egalitarian but not

necessarily what is best.

What does that say about schools in a democratic society? Should their roles be as

Edward Ross says, to instill social responsibility and moral values for the state (Spring 2012

p. 32)? Is it as I said I previously thought to educate better citizens and productive members of

society? The government sets the standards of education for the schools, so what is the purpose

of public schooling? My cultureal frame of reference has made me aware of the privilege I have

had in school and the lack of equitable educational opportunities offered to the disadvantaged so

at the moment I understand and perceive the current purpose of public schooling to be a way of

perpetuation the power of privilege. Though I believe that in a true democratic society, public

schools should have both the purpose of providing an education that allows every student an

equitable chance at success and also the ability to think critically.

When I am an educator I will have to continually work on my frame of reference in order

to properly educate my students. When one does not continuously adjust the filter through which

they see and react to the world change is impossible. As an educator it is my responsibility to my

students to best prepare them not only examinations but the world. Schoolings purpose I believe

is to impart knowledge and skills that will not only benefit the student but help the student work

for the greater good of the society. Due to the ever changing world in which we live and the

increasing diversity in the student and general population I will always have to be updating my

cultural frame of reference, or more simply put broadening my horizons in order to teach to the

best of my ability. The proposed nature of my future pedagogy is in line with the IC TEPS

diversity standard, though the parallel is not just due to departmental standards or

professionalism it comes from a shared passion for equity in education and the concern and

caring for future students and the world.

As a white male, I have more privilege than any other demographic in the nation. The

effects of my privilege extend well beyond benefiting me all the way of negatively affecting

those not protected by that privilege. As an educator I believe it is my duty to recognize and

admit to that privilege especially when teaching a diverse body of students. Because of my

privilege I may be unaware of how to address certain things when it comes to diversity, for

example what to terminology to use about certain groups. I would never want to offend a student

so I plan on using Sonia Nietos method of choosing terms by basing the answer off the answers

to What do the people themselves want to be called?... What is the most accurate term? (Nieto

2004 p. 24). In using Nietos method I hope to create an affirming and welcoming atmosphere
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Social and Cultural Foundations of Education
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for all of my students. I feel this would be good practice in education because affirming, or

validating students will hopefully allow students to more comfortable in my classroom and

because they feel recognized will be able to learn to the best of their abilities. This is also one

method of practicing culturally responsive or competent teaching, another idea I will incorporate

into my educational philosophy and practice.

Culturally responsive teaching is also wonderful way to enlarge ones cultural frame of

reference. As Geneva Gay writes in Culturally Responsive Teaching, it is validating

comprehensive multidimensional empowering transformative and emancipating (Gay

2010). To adhere to these principles means as a teacher one has to be very culturally and socially

aware. How can a teacher impart transformative knowledge if they do not recognize oppressive

power structures or unequal privileges? Part of being able to properly teach a diverse class is the

ability to get alongside students to understand where they are coming from as students. In doing

so, one can change their frame of reference and teach effectively. As a social studies teacher I

will have to teach about the systematic racism that shaped the country into what it is today and

will most likely face many questions about why things like slavery, lynching and segregation

happened. I will have the opportunity to teach about world religions and hopefully in doing so

clear up any misconceptions or stereotypes that are associated with certain religions such as

Islam. By focusing on how to teach social studies in a way where it can be comprehensive and

not just taught to a state test or making my class one that is transformative to my students I feel I

can adhere to the standards set by both Ithaca College as well as New York and also be culturally

responsive. Even if my class entirely made up of one demographic, maybe white people for

example, I can use my content knowledge of social studies and passion of for social justice to
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help my students be able to empathize with oppressed peoples and hopefully inspire to work

towards change and equity.

What I see as a personal and institutional obstacle in teaching through diversity is the

idea that identity whether gendered or sexual is often left out of the discussion of diversity. Often

times I can forget that diversity is not just racial but with all identities and because I fall into this

trap it can be assumed that I am not alone. In order to combat I will have to continuously educate

myself on the idea of diversity and identity. Part of that is acknowledging the fact that I have a

tendency to be heteronormative and have to remind myself that while heterosexuality may be

personally meaningful, it can simultaneously function as an oppressive social institution

(Pascoe 2007 p.86). Because good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the

teacher, when I forget about gender and sexual identities when discussing diversity it is possible

to do the same as an educator and pass on compulsive heterosexuality (Bryan 2012, 318). In

order to prevent myself from perpetuating that institutional practice I should reflect on my words

before I say them when discussion diversity, whether I am teaching or just talking with friends or

colleagues to help engrain the idea that identity is a large part of diversity.

Teachers are role models to their students. Their ability effectively put into practice the

ideas of culturally responsive teaching, acceptance and equity for all will determine the future of

our country. If teachers are not effective the historically oppressive institutions of our world will

continue. If teachers are effective in their practices, students are socialized in a positive manner

and are able help shape the world to be a more equitable and accepting place for all.
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Social and Cultural Foundations of Education
Final Paper
Works Cited

Business First ranks WNY school districts. (2015, June 15). Retrieved December 13, 2015, from
http://www.wgrz.com/story/news/education/2015/06/12/wny-school-district-rankings/71109938/

Bryan, J. (2012). Personal and Professional Identity in GSD Education. In From the dress-up

corner to the senior prom: Navigating gender and sexuality diversity in preK-12 schools.

Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Education.

Gay, G. (2010). Pedagogical Potential of Cultural Responsiveness. In Culturally responsive

teaching: Theory, research, and practice (2nd ed.). New York: Teachers College.

Ladson-Billings, G. (2006). From the achievement gap: Understanding achievement

in U.S. schools. Educational researcher, 35(7), 3-12.

Pascoe, C. J. (2007) Dude Youre a Fag: Masculinity and sexuality in high school. Berkley:

University of Californian Press.

Spring, J. H. (2014). The social goals of schooling. In American education

(Sixteenth edition. ed., pp. 29-54). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Answering the Question (10%

Thoroughly addresses all aspects of Part I prompt.

Thoroughly addresses all aspects of Part II prompt.

My score 3

Presentation of Analysis (30%)

Provides a reflective examination of ones own experience and/or development of thinking in

relation to the course material.

Applies analytical frameworks/tools/concepts from the course

My score 3

Use of Course Content (30%)

Maximizes use of course material by o making substantive connections, artfully woven

throughout the paper; richly supporting thesis/main idea with relevant facts, examples, and

details; and providing nuanced analysis.

Outside sources, if/when used, are particularly well chosen, relevant, credible, and augment the

thesis, but are not relied upon as the sole source of information.

My score 2

Form of Writing (10%)

organization. Strong thesis, introduction and conclusion (or equivalent).

Carefully crafted language/project.

Meticulous attention to detail (editing, proofreading).

My Score- 2

Incorporation of Required Conventions (20%)

Adheres to guidelines of the assignment (e.g. for paper ~8-10 pages long, double-spaced, 1

margins, and standard font; must be typed; self-evaluation included).

All referenced materials cited.

Correct APA format for all cited materials used.

At least 5 appropriate class readings incorporated into the paper

My Score 2

Total 12