The Broken Model and Short History of American School

 Chapter 2: The Broken Model & The Short History of American 

Author: Salman Khan 

Argument: This author Khan argues that shifting the focus of education from tests to a more creative thinking environment can be beneficial to the careers in our society. Khan understands that it would be impossible to change the whole system, but he wants his audience to understand why certain policies are the way they are. For example, we took inspiration from Prussia’s system and in that moment they needed more strict rules and structure. He makes the point that there are a lot of factors that could affect a test score and the grade from it only assesses how much you know in a short time. He makes the point that our society calls for creative thinkers in the workforce, where test scores are unworthy of assessing. 

hyperlink that school limits creative thinking

Reflection: With my parents always putting pressure about me in school I have always been introspective of the system put in place in school. A common thing I thought, similar to a point Khan made, “was how fair I got no credit when I made a mistake in the moment when I knew the concept”.  Another thing I noticed with my peers was the ones that were not performing well in the class were treated differently by the teacher. Last semester I wrote an essay about how teacher expectations can inhibit or enhance students' potential. This reminded me of what Khan was saying about how structured tests and how students being discouraged by grades can make them fall short of their potential and limit their creativity. School makes it feel like these grades are everything to the point where they are not even learning for the love of learning anymore. Instead, they are struggling to make sure they perform well on tests. In eleventh grade, my math teacher changed my idea of learning. He told me he noticed his students' motivations all rely on grades and getting the right answer. However, what I learned is, it is not just about the right answer. It is about the struggle, the journey, and the connections you build with people along the way.

Privileage, Power, and Difference

 Privilege Power and Difference 

Author: Alan Johnston 

Reflection: This article primarily focused on the idea of privilege and how it is a social construct. Meaning, certain concepts like “racism” are not real, rather created from the minds of the dominant individuals. One of his points particularly stood out to me because I felt like I could relate to it. He mentioned that  (and other minorities) have less necessary basic principles to succeed than a man. He also mentions that there are rarely female politicians because some people take them less seriously (intentionally/unintentionally). And it's not only politicians it applies to other careers as well. I have some friend

s in engineering and computer science classes and they tell me that their male peers expect less of them. This happens in the real world too with professional jobs. At my job, I would have to work as a minigolf shed to pass out golf balls and clubs. It is also our job to fix batting cages which break all the time, very similarly to mechanical engineering. When I work with a white male coworker, the typical white male customer will disregard me even if I am standing closer to them and ask the male for help. The man skipped over me almost like I was not as capable to fix something as a white man was. Those moments stick with me. In a psychology class I learned that how people perceive you, can play a huge role in how you see yourself. That can apply to this situation because subconsciously I feel subordinate to the male in competition. Another example of a minority that he exclaimed was homosexual individuals. I still remember my elementary school friend wrote me a Google Doc about her coming out. I was shocked it took her so long to say this to her best friend of almost 10 years, but then I realized something. I thought to myself how I would feel if I had to admit to the world I was gay and I would feel uncomfortable doing so. In my mind, I would imagine people treating me so differently for something that should not negatively affect other people's lives.