March 17...Relating the Interviews to the Theory
Think about your mini-interviews. Can you see any ways in which the theory we
read illuminates your participant's comments? Are there any ways in which your
participant's comments contradict the theory we have read? Any surprises?
Lindsay Meredith
ReplyDeleteMy participant was my boyfriend who is an engineer and has not thought a lot about this side of education before. He definitely supports the idea that education should be used to make people "less stupid." Exact words. After laughing, I thought about this and asked him follow up questions and what he was really getting at was creating better citizens.These citizens would vote more intellectually, would participate in their government and local areas, and they would have a basic information about the world around them. I think his ideas seem a lot like Thomas Jefferson's beliefs and obviously fit into goals of education we discussed in class.
I wasn't really surprised at his lack of ability to articulate exactly what he saw as the goals of education because he isn't an educator. He was only every the "educated" in the population, he has never been on the other side as an "educator". I really enjoyed his point of view though and after this interview do greatly look forward to interviewing my teacher.
Shane Perry
ReplyDeleteMy interviewee (an elementary education and history major), at the onset, explicitly identified three purposes of schooling: to educate, to prepare students for adulthood and life, and for socialization (meaning: acquiring social and communicative skills while being exposed to numerous cultures). “Education” closely mirrors the transmitting of information that Dewey talked about and that a social constructivist such as Vygotsky might summarize as, 'the transmission of sociocultural values, knowledge, and skills, to include that of subject-matter.' “To prepare students for adulthood and life” most closely mirrors Labaree's social efficiency in that it involves vocational preparation and the educational-economic stratification, but this also involves learning the values of “being a part of society,” meaning that it ties in democratic equality. Socialization is more of a new one, similar to what we talked about in class with regards to the social withdrawal and isolation from diversity that home-schooling can signify; this purpose is about being acquainted with many cultures and types of people, as well as being a well-functioning adult, all of which can play into vocational success and democratic equality, but can also play in to personality development and “happiness.”
She added to these three purposes that, at present, there is a large push for test-taking (which she half-jokingly proposed as a purpose), which, she noted, is probably resulting from the education system's emphasis (aim) on economic competition and dominance on an international stage. She hinted that this focus on competition (on an international stage) and the resulting policies, have a trickle-down effect (PUN INTENDED) that makes education competitive on many levels (state v. state, school v. school, class v. class, and individual v. individual). This is straight-up social mobility, but it also takes into account the international nature of our focus on competition, while still noting the historical roots for this state of education in America of Protestant Work Ethic, pull-yourself-up-by-your-own-bootstraps, and high capitalism.
She added that enabling students in dealing with change and encouraging a more globalized, pluralistic society could be two other aims. The former I take to mean that schools should or are acting to promote adaptability; to enable students to be able to work through all of the economic, technological, social, and cultural changes that will confront 21st century humans faster and more deeply than all preceding generations. These purposes are not particularly ones that we have talked about, although some of the writings of WEB DuBois might exemplify the latter in their focus on equality. However, I think that these two (at least the latter) reflect more of a contemporary viewpoint like those of Multicultural Education scholar James Banks; to value and act upon a multiplicity of cultures on non-superficial levels and to understand changes in cultures. As a counter-point to these purposes, she noted that although this is the goal for some, many are not working towards this; they are instead pushing a more conservative, “patriotic” (more clearly, majority-centered and revisionist) curriculum. Her important point from this is that there is not necessarily a one-size-fits-all set of goals for the education system, since there are a lot of cultural, political, and demographic differences within the education system (not to mention the student body).
Erika Morck
ReplyDeleteI chose to interview someone who grew up in the private education system and entered the workforce directly after high school to get a different perspective of the purposes of education. During the interview it seemed like the majority of the responses about the purpose of education were similar to Labaree’s social efficiency and democratic equality approaches to education. The interviewee believed that while it is the purpose of education to prepare students for ‘adult life’ and the responsibilities associated with adulthood such as establishing a meaningful career and paying taxes, it was also the responsibility of educators to support students and their individual abilities.
Individualized instruction was very important to the interviewee. I had initially interpreted individualized instruction as more of a means to educational goals as opposed to being an actual educational goal. However, after further reflection, individualized attention could be a purpose of education to aid in meeting some of the students basic attachment and belonging needs.
Emily Garcia
ReplyDeleteI can definitely see ways in which theory we have read illuminates the participant’s comments. I interviewed my partner who thinks from a more theoretical standpoint than I do, and his answers reflected the theories of schooling we have reviewed. He mentioned how our education system focuses on social mobility and, specifically, social efficiency. A lot of what we have spoken about in class was reflected in the answers I received from him. I don’t think there were any surprises in the answers he gave; a lot of his thoughts reflected the theories we have read about and what we have discussed in class. He places a high emphasis on actually educating students and growth through learning. He didn’t mention much regarding democratic equality or how education should create better citizens, but focused more on the negatives of education, which reflect the social mobility and social efficiency points of view. He believes that the broken education system cannot be fixed until things change at a higher level in our society. He thinks highly of college and higher education, as he aspires to become a college professor and involve himself in the educational system, but still cannot ignore the major flaws within our education system.
Rachel Bennett:
ReplyDeleteFor the mini interview I interviewed my younger sister who is pursuing an elementary education degree. She was able to answer the questions thoughtfully because she was actually interested in the topic. She named one purpose of school is to give students experience with working with others. I agree with this and I believe we have talked about this purpose a lot in class. She believes that goal is somewhat being met in the current system we have, and I can agree with that. The next goal she mentioned is to expose students to many different types of learning. Even though there are many people who disagree with learning styles, we can all agree students learn in different ways. Overall, doing this mini interview was a great opportunity to gain experience for the real teacher interview.
Erin Casey:
ReplyDeleteI interviewed my husband for the mini interview project. My husband, with an educational background in Business Administration (Human Resources), worked incredibly hard to overcome challenges he faced in school. Growing up he had very little home support regarding education, yet he discovered a connection between education and success/happiness/livelihood through a few mistakes and a lot of hard work in the end. Because of his experience with school, my husband's views of education had a theme that reflected Labaree's social mobility purpose. Although he viewed the purpose of education as preparation for work (career), which could be tied to Labaree's social efficiency, his responses suggested education being more of a private good than public good. In talking about the views of education by others in society, he shared that many view it as daycare service. He felt that many parents do not see any long term purposes relating to school or education, at least as exhibited through their actions. His concern was how it would impact others, specifically his offspring.
After reflecting on the interview experience and transcribing what was said, I can see that I could have asked more questions to get my interviewee to elaborate more on his views. I did not want to lead him in any particular direction with my questions, so I tried to keep to the questions we talked about in class. I think this project gave me an opportunity to practice and prepare for the real interview. Nonetheless, I found it interesting to hear what someone without a background in teaching sees as the purposes of education.
I interviewed my husband for the mini interview. I was not surprised by his answer, because we have talked about education and views on it before. My husband is a network engineer, but also graduated with a business background. He focused a lot on preparing students for the future and also understanding our past. He said he doesn't believe education does a good job for preparing students for our economy. His responses sounded like he views education as a public good. He thinks education should prepare students financially for our economy and for a career. He talked a little about job preparation and teaching students to be social members of society. I thought it was hard to interview my husband, because I am so use to talking to him in a very informal way. It was difficult to not add in my opinion, but it was also easy to know what he meant because we are so close.
ReplyDeleteI interviewed my boyfriend for my mini-interview. He is a high school physics teacher, so his comments seemed to differ slightly from what we’ve talked about in class. It was interesting to hear him talk about school being, essentially training, for students to do things they don’t want to do. This has been an idea we’ve brushed over in class, but it was interesting to hear someone actually say it out loud. One idea he mentioned was the idea of giving kids more choice – this was an idea I felt like we talked about a lot in class. I also thought about how we had compared our educational system to other countries, and thought it was cool that those ideas came full circle during my interview.
ReplyDeleteElise Matsuura
ReplyDeleteThe person whom I chose to interview is a friend and a former high school economics teacher. While conducting the interview, I immediately recognized some of the theory we had discussed in class. When I asked my participant about what he viewed as the purpose of schooling, he thought people needed to go to school so that they can learn the necessary skills for the job market as well as social skills so that they can be effective members of society. One of the things that he emphasized the most was making friends in school. It was something that I hadn’t thought about much even though it is a highly important aspect of schooling. I think that this is something that is not emphasized enough in our education courses, children making friends and learning social skills, and is something that we should really think about as future teachers.
Julianna Lopez
ReplyDeleteThe person I interviewed was my roommate, who is in the graduate program for guidance counseling. During this process she joked that she had been asked similar questions throughout all her education courses, so her answers were somewhat rehearsed responses. In general, I will say she didn't say anything that was "new" to me, and most everything she said could be related to the theory we've talked about early in the course. Her answers were well articulated, but she didn't expand on her own ideas much, which may have been an error on my part with probing questions. Once I was more comfortable with interviewing I was able to direct the conversation better, and she gave responses that included more of her personal opinion and not just what she's been taught in school.
I was really struggling with the probing part of the interview, and found that many of the probe questions I prepared we're not relevant to the actual conversation that took place. I had to make more suitable ones on the spot, which found me stumbling over my words and saying "sorry" at least a dozen times within one recording (I lost count when I was listening to myself on tape). It didn't make the conversation too awkward, because we are close as friends and we are able to laugh at my minor fumbles, but I definitely hope that with my teacher I can avoid these pauses as much as possible.
Lindsy Wyatt
ReplyDeleteThe person I chose to interview was my dad's girlfriend. Most of her answers corresponded with the theory we discussed. She focused mainly on the idea of school being about education. She did discuss the social concerns involved with school and how children should be attending to interact with one another. I found it difficult to come up with probing questions based off of her responses. I find that it is difficult to get insightful answers from people who are not in the education field. That being said, someone not in the field wouldn't have the experience to be able to think beyond basic responses.
Sarah Lisk
ReplyDeleteFor the practice interview, I sat down with my mom, a woman who has put her two children through both public and private institutions in Virginia. While she has been removed from non-collegiate school systems for awhile, she maintains constant connections with certain ones, particularly through my practicum work. Her answers to my questions weren’t surprising, very practical in style and to the tune of what I assumed she would say. However, we did get into a brief discussion about the role of the government in students’ homes, and defining how far down the administration ladder was “government” defined. This particular section of the interview reminded me of Labaree, understanding the roles in which we place education. Does the government inject itself into the classrooms in order to ensure societal profit? Our conversation left my mom unsure of what to say on the topic, which I believe to be a good sign – a way to open up conversation about the roles and goals of schools and its broader administration and truly question its purpose, both intended and that which we actually observe.
David Reams
ReplyDeleteInterviewing my girlfriend was an interesting experience, and one that I think will be significantly different from the one I will have when asking these same questions to a teacher in the near future. As a non-teacher/future teacher, she has understandably devoted less thought to the questions being asked of her than someone who has chosen the profession might. That being said, she is still a member of society, a former student herself, and prone to hearing me yammer on at times about education-related subjects, so she definitely still has some strong and informed opinions on the matter. In fact, her answers at times mirrored things we have been talking about in class, including her seeing education as both a public and a private good and giving all children basic socialization skills and the same core knowledge. One thing that will definitely be different, however, is that the level of comfort will not be the same when I later interview a relative stranger. Hopefully it will help keep me on my toes, because I did let the interview with my girlfriend move off topic for a while. I think having the practice interview experience will help me when I interview a teacher because I now have a better understanding of what to expect, what could go wrong, and how I should formulate probe questions.
For my interview, I interviewed a fellow graduate student in the Elementary Education program. I was not really surprised by her responses because we have been through a lot of the same classes together and we have learned about many of the theories that we have talked about in class. We also have a lot of the same opinions of the questions that were asked. It seems as though she sees education as a public good but could use some improvements to help the students develop life skills and problem solving skills. It seemed like she believed that students should not only focus on academics but they should also focus on skills that will help them become good citizens in the future. It was definitely hard not to add my opinion to what she was saying. I think that we could have had some great discussions about our opinions on these questions. That’s part of being a interviewer though! I think that by doing this mini interview prepared me for the next interview that we are doing. I’m excited to see more opinions on these questions.
ReplyDeleteCharissa Friske by the way!
DeleteAlexandra Hall
ReplyDeleteI chose to conduct my practice interview with my older sister. The interview was very quick as I did not ask probing questions to her responses. I was very comfortable conducting this interview, however I know when interviewing a former teacher I will be a little more uneasy especially when it comes to asking probing questions on the spot. My sisters responses were definitely in line with some of the theories we have discussed thus far. She talked about schools providing students with real life skills while also fostering their creativity. Another topic she touched was the lack of flexibility teachers have with the curriculum. I was surprised that she mentioned this only because sometimes I feel like teachers are the only ones that really stress over this.
Overall, I think this interview has helped me to better prepare for the upcoming interview.
Ciara Pinero
ReplyDeleteI noticed that the person I interviewed views education as a means to get good grades and personally excel in life, that would eventually lead to societal benefits. This fits in with Labarees ideas of social efficiency & mobility. She kind of molded them together to fit her own idea of what schooling should be in her head. I thought it was very interesting, especially because modern day schooling only really focuses on personal gains, and how those can possibly, maybe help society later in life.
Olivia Horne
ReplyDeleteFor this assignment I chose to interview my boyfriend. Other than his own personal education and what he has picked up from our discussions regarding my classes, he has very little experience or formal knowledge of the education system. Throughout the interview he was very reluctant to elaborate on his statements to provide more clarity. Seeing as how I’m familiar with his beliefs and ways of communicating, I was able to follow his train of thought and understood what he was saying easily so I didn’t see as much need to incorporate more probing questions. I can see how others may not find this as easy, which shows me that in the formal teacher interview I will need to do better about using probing questions to get an explanation of the participants beliefs instead of relying on inference skills.
After taking a closer look at the interview once it had been transcribed I began to see some raw ideas of what my boyfriend thought the purposes of education were. He seemed to be dancing around the idea of the purpose of schools being a means to prepare children for life after schooling. Specifically he talks about teaching children how to learn, think, and create their own opinions. I believe he is saying that schools should teach students to be capable of learning and thinking for themselves in ways that could innovate the future.
This mini-interview pointed out some flaws I need to adjust before conducting the formal interview but in general, it has made me more excited to gather information on this topic from veteran teachers.
Erin Luhmann
ReplyDeleteFor this assignment I interviewed my roommate Joseph. I was nervous that he wouldn't take this interview seriously because he is not an elementary education major. In addition, I thought that the questions would be rather difficult for him because he does not possess an education background. I was incorrect from the moment we began the interview because he provided thoughtful answers throughout.
From the answers provided it was easy to see that Joseph's beliefs about education stemmed for the fact that schooling is for preparing students to succeed in the future. Without an education background it was still obvious to see that he greatly appreciated education and realized how important it is for our society. He noted that education is better in some places like where he was raised but other places do not thrive as much because of funding and other factors. Also, he stated that better education results from creative thinking on the teacher's part and innovative thinking like using technology advances.
From conducting this mini interview I realized I need to be more prepared to come up with in depth questions to probe my chosen teacher for more meaningful answers. It was good practice to see how difficult it is to scribe at the same time as the interview and recording it truly makes a difference.
Amy Callaway:
ReplyDeleteIn interviewing my husband I found the theories and ideas we've been discussing come out a lot in his answers. He mentioned 2 goals of education: one being for job training (which lies under the social efficiency purpose) and the other being to give people a "well-rounded knowledge base," to know a little bit about almost everything in order to understand the basic principles and ideas that one might come across in just living everyday life (a more Jeffersonian idea, and alongside the democratic equality line of thought).
It is interesting to me that these are the only goals he feels are needed (if only they were being met, which he doesn't see happening), whereas it seems in our discussions we have come up with so many different goals and purposes, that it is hard to see how it could be so black and white, so straightforward as this, as education only serving these two purposes. However considering that my husband is very much a man of science and hard facts, and not as much one of theories and philosophy, I can see how these ideas line up with his personality, and don't involve so much of the larger, broader, and less tangible goals of education like to teach values and morals, to create a better society, and so on.
I think when asking these questions in our actual interviews it could make it a lot more interesting if we were to look at and think about our interviewee's personalities and interests, and try to see how these affect and are woven into their answers. Knowing my husband quite well explains a lot about his answers that might otherwise leave me wondering, and so I want to think how I might weave in some probing questions to get at a better understanding of the individual behind the teacher I am going to interview.
Madison here,
ReplyDeleteI chose to interview my dad, a teacher for 28 years. His responses were full of examples and honest feelings he has about the education system. Overall, his idea of the purpose of education is quite Jeffersonian. He feels strongly that school should absolutely be offered and available to all, but that really after about the 7th grade, we have acquired enough education in reading, writing, and math to pursue either higher academic endeavors, or developing a niche or trade we may have. He viewed the ultimate purpose of education to be equipping the public with enough knowledge that they can participate in voting, have an idea of what is going on within our government, and create for themselves a good quality of life, whatever that may mean for them.
“I think in America with a democracy that relies on its participatory government, you need to be able to participate. This is not a theocracy; this is not an autocracy or a dictatorship. The ultimate power rests with the people. If the people are uneducated, or uninformed, on a large scale, it doesn’t work. You have to have a clue, I tell my kids it’s very much like a sport. You can’t play football if you don’t know the plays; you can’t play basketball if you don’t know the plays. You can’t play baseball if you don’t know the signs. Can you imagine functioning in America if you couldn’t read?”
My dad went on to talk about the great joy he feels when he can spark the interest of a student who maybe didn’t think they had academic interests. He does not diminish the power educators have to enlighten and encourage students who maybe didn’t think their strengths or interests lied in the world of academia. He again focuses in on the idea that educations purpose now feels a bit cookie cutter, like a one size fits all approach where the hope is that more students come out of grade school with collegiate pursuits. But again, my dad feels strongly that college and academics are not for everyone and that that’s okay. But that we should spend more time helping students define their strengths, their niche in life and fostering this as opposed to forcing curriculum that they will so easily dismiss when their grade school days are over. He believes in trade and vocational schools as much as he believes in honors and international baccalaureate programs. His ideas and feelings also seem to connect well to Labaree’s social efficiency idea. Where the ultimate purpose of schools is to promote academic, trade AND vocational paths for students depending upon economic realities in the pre-existing society and also to promote adult-life skills that will benefit them again, in the pre-existing society.
Leily
ReplyDeleteTher person I chose to interview was my 16 year old sister. It was interesting to ask her these questions because they are from the perspective of a student in high school. These are also things she never really thought deeply about or vocalized before. She primarily saw school as a way to get to college and get a degree and have a good job after college. She also thought that it was important for schools to focus on subjects that students are interested or subjects that they need in the future careers that they are interested in. We talked about how standardized testing and other state and national requirements get in the way of that. Overall it was a very interesting discussion.
Kasey McDonald:
ReplyDeleteThe first interview was with my 17 year old sister, and since I didn’t get much from that interview, I did it again with my mom. It was interesting to compare the difference between their answers because my sister’s focus was more on getting students ready for a future career, while my mom’s focus was more on getting a good education and being in a structured environment.
I’m not surprised by the difference in their answers; my sister is in a program at school in which she will be taking college leveled courses her senior year in order to finish college a year early. She’s been looking ahead to the future for a while. My sister’s ideas of schooling seem to match of with Labaree’s idea of social efficiency, which says that everyone benefits from more skilled workers and that education needs to be practical. Her ideas are also somewhat similar to Jefferson’s, who believed that education was a prerequisite for leadership roles. My sister probably wasn’t talking about preparing people to be leaders, but to be active members of the working class.
My mom, however, just wanted her children to be in a structured environment in which we learned what we needed to learn. This somewhat matches the idea of democratic equality (Labaree), which says that in order to create capable citizens, everyone needs a rich education; this is the only way for public schools to nourish a robust democracy.
Catherine Condrey
ReplyDeleteI interviewed my fiance, who taught at a vocational high school a few years ago. Our conversation was naturally steered towards vocational education, as that is what he is the most passionate about. During our conversation, he shared that he disagrees with society's perceptions of vocational education: "a lot of times, it is portrayed as you go to vocational school or you go to college- you can't do both." He also advocated for students in vocational programs, explaining that the work load between their typical coursework and their vocational program can be pretty hefty- and that we should structure it so student are able to be more successful in balancing a vocational program and work. Because our conversation was focused on vocational education, I felt that some of it aligned with Labaree's ideas about social efficiency.
He also shared that he feels students in secondary education aren't being prepared to become fully functioning people within our society (how to maintain your finances and how to get job). I felt that this aligned with Labaree's ideas of schooling for democratic equality, and helping students become empowered citizens that play a constructive role in our society.
Jessie Layton
ReplyDeleteThe mini interview was pretty easy to conduct. I interviewed my mom and she basically went on rants with the questions I asked. Her answers mirrored a lot that of my sister’s school experience and mine. The hardest part was typing it all up at the end. I had a hard time making sure I was portraying the ideas in a way that she said them. There is a big difference between verbal grammar and written grammar. A lot of my sentences were run ons and I had to find ways to insert punctuation and also get her ideas across in the appropriate way.
I interviewed my mom, a fourth grade teacher in NY. I enjoyed the interview because I was able to get some neat insight into my moms teaching practice. Their were some parts of the interview that were frustrating (maybe cause it was my mom) because I disagreed with what she was saying. I appreciated some of the discussion we had about my brothers educational experience as a student with dyslexia. She really feels that his teachers should have been held more accountable and was always frustrated that she had to supplement his education with tutoring and many outside resources. I found her comments about the lack of accountability in my brothers education interesting because she also spoke about being frustrated with the abundance of accountability measures she faces in her current job. As we have talked about in class, there needs to be a happy medium.
ReplyDeleteWorod Hamill
ReplyDeleteI decided to interview my friend Samantha who is a nursing major. She said that the purpose of school is for education and socialism. However, she seemed pretty unhappy with public schools mainly because of her experiences with her children's schools. She had a negative mindset towards society's schools and blamed it on the government and the way "the whole system is set up". Our interview touched upon a lot of things we discussed in class. It was interesting.
I interviewed my cousin and she feels as if she was not prepared for the real world. She was one that did not go to college and struggled for some time before finding a job without a degree. She does respect those that went to college, but also knows now that there are jobs obtainable for those that did not go to college. She actually wants to go to back *she dropped out* and obtain a degree. She feels as if she was cheated out of something and kinds "thrown into the wolves" because she didn't make "the right choice"
ReplyDelete