Response # 6: Essay #1 Proposal: Gender as a Meme

Philip Oliver Roibas Sharkey

Eng 102 – Benton

Essay #1 Proposal: Gender as a Meme

Our society lives under a flawed belief system; this is evident in the way people interact with each other, choose to express themselves, and the way in which social norms construct people’s beliefs.  One of the most poisonous and emotionally hazardous flaws is gender.  From the time we are born we are formed into stereotypes; our guardians and primary school teachers manipulate our behavior by reprimanding and punishing us to better fit into the preconceived notions of the way a man or woman should behave.  This behavior should no longer be tolerated, because it is promoting sexism and restricting progress in our culture.

I want to start a balanced discussion within my essay about the ways in which gender archetypes are hurting our society and, using examples of other culture’s gender roles, I would like to apply the theory of memes to the evolution of gender roles.  I will be trying to persuade my audience into understanding for themselves the ways in which community and social constructs affect the way we perceive the world; ultimately making the argument, that sex should not define ones gender and that we should rid ourselves of outdated and misconceived notions that gender idiosyncrasies can in any way benefit our culture.

It is imperative that we do so, so that our culture can evolve and we can push ourselves towards a more equal world, a world where people will not be discriminated against due to their emotional characteristics or gender particularities; to lead us towards true personal freedom.  Gender equality in the work force, something we have not yet fully accomplished, is only the tip of the iceberg. We need to start thinking about the ways in which we affect others with the limited scope from which we view our world.  Ultimately it will be for the good of all mankind that we try to look at the world from multiple perspectives, polylogical discourse is the only way we can create a more balanced and fair world to live in.

I will be constructing my argument in a way that would make it suitable for a publication like The New York Times.  I will be doing so because it is one of the few newspapers that would accept something so progressive.  At the same time, I would like to make my essay unbiased enough that anyone reading it will find at least some of the things it discusses relatable.  Gender roles affect everyone to some extent and I feel that it is important that we look at the subject from this perspective, regardless of how comfortable we feel in the role society has placed us in.

To support my thesis, I will be primarily using the sources in the works cited section at the end of this proposal.  I have chosen these sources because they discuss this subject from multiple vantage points and I would like to make my argument as fair and balanced as possible, so that it speaks to the multitudes instead of a selective few that are particularly affected by gender stereotypes.

Works Cited

Barnett, Rosalind C., and Caryl Rivers. Same Difference: How         

            Gender Myths Are Hurting Our Relationships, Our Children,

and Our Jobs. New York: Basic, 2004.

Brannon, Linda.  Gender: Psychological Perspectives. 3^rd ed. Boston:

            Allyn and Bacon, 2002.

Cudd, Anne E., and Robin O. Andreasen, eds. Feminist Theory: a

            Philosophical Anthology.  Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2005.

            
Roe, Anne. “Evolving Gender Roles Explored at Anne Roe  

            Lecture: Harvard Graduate School of Education.”  Lecture.  

            Harvard Graduate School of Education: To Prepare Leaders in

            Education.  Harvard University, 24 Nov. 2008. Web. 12 Sept.

            2011.http://www.gse.harvard.edu/newsimpact/2008/11/evolving            

-gender-roles-explored-at-anne-roe-lecture/.

Respose #5: Educational Structure: in Crisis and Near Collapse

Philip Sharkey

Eng102 – Benton

Educational Structure: in Crisis and Near Collapse

            The main argument proposed in John Bellamy Foster’s “Education and the Structural Crisis of Capital,” is that the privatization of the American Public School System and the Capitalist structure of American primary and secondary education has led to its current failing condition.  I have held a similar view for much of my life and it will be my intention in writing this response to expand on this focus, using personal experience and more traditional sources. 

            Growing up in the United States, I have had the privilege of experiencing several educational orders.  I have enjoyed the freedom of Montessori Schools, the repressive nature of the Catholic School System, the over-standardization of Public Schools, and I have been cultivated into a product by magnet programs. While the paradigm of the Public School System in America is universal, private institutions do not always follow the same strict format. Take Montessori schools for example, while they do have some of the same foundations as public schools they also encourage students to supplement their education with independent learning and thinking; as their mission statement clearly states, “Aiming to develop independent and self-thinking individuals who help create a better world for themselves and others.” (http://www.international-montessori.org)

            Although my time in the Montessori School System was probably the most profoundly influencing over course of my education, the most notorious public program I was involved with was The Academy at Henry Clay High School.  At a mere glance magnet programs like The Academy; seem to be advantageous to outsiders. Sure the students within such programs are more likely to succeed, they get better scores in class, standardized tests and college entry exams like the SAT; but what people fail to account for is the reason these programs exist in the first place.

            The main priority of such programs is not to provide the best education for their students, but to off balance the poor testing results of the rest of the school.  As I was constantly reminded during my time in The Academy, it was the duty of myself and my classmates to do exceptionally well on the nationally issued standardized tests.  It was the funding the school acquired through our scores that paid for new sporting equipment, books and other school property.  We were pushed through the program on the grounds that we were the most capable of academic achievement.  Sure they would help us apply to schools when the time came, but we were really a product; something to be developed so that when we were used or ‘sold’ every spring, we could create the most profit or the highest scores possible.

            Montessori Schools taught me how to be a contributing member of society in extreme juxtaposition to magnet programs within the Public School system, which only fed a more primal competitive nature.  What I found to be the most troubling and socially destructive flaw within Magnet Programs, is the disproportionately high level of attention school teachers focus on their students.  It seems to me that this behavior, in many ways, led to a belief held by many students in such programs that they were somehow better than the rest of society.  We are the students that are supposed to make the most money, hold the most power and influence. “The crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism. Our whole educational system stems from this evil. An exaggerated competitive attitude is inculcated into the student, who is trained to worship acquisitive success as a preparation for a future career....  A planned economy, which adjusts production to the needs of the community, would distribute the work to be done among all those able to work and would guarantee a livelihood to every man, woman and child. The education of the individual, in addition to promoting his own innate abilities, would attempt to develop in him a sense of responsibility for his fellow men in place of the glorification of power and success in our present society.” (A quote from Albert Einstein found in http://monthlyreview.org)

            It is time that we separate ourselves from these ridiculous notions that any man, no matter how great, is better than another.  We live in a society that values equality and so we should try to make a more equal society, starting with education.  We should not be separated from the time we are eleven or twelve into tiny factions that are designed to stimulate educational growth among the most elite.  Most people have the same level of ability at such a young age and we should be trying to help each individual student, not just those that show the most ‘promise’ for success. In conclusion the capitalist structure of Public Education is leading to its demise, although it is not too late to fix it.

Works Cited

Foster, John Bellamy. "Education and the Structural Crisis of Capital :: Monthly Review." Monthly Review, An Independent Socialist Magazine. Monthly Review, 1 July 2011. Web. Sept. 2011. <http://monthlyreview.org/2011/07/01/education-and-the-structural-crisis-of-capital>.

"International Montessori Schools & Child Development Centres | Mission Statement." International Montessori Schools & Child Development Centres | Home. International Montessori Schools and Child Development Centres. Web. 19 Sept. 2011. <http://www.international-montessori.org/mission-statement.htm>.

Response #4: The Evolution of Education in Contemporary Society

Philip Oliver Roibas Sharkey

ENG102 – J010

The Evolution of Education in Contemporary Society

            The problems with the American educational system are varied and expansive; affecting everyone, even those who have not been in a school system for decades.  The misallocation of school funds and constant lowering of standards has lead to America’s educational decline. In comparing the RSA Animate – Changing Education Paradigms by Ken Robinson and the MSNBC Video: Matt Damon Rewrites Attack on Teachers from The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, it will be my ambition to support these claims.

            Education across the globe is undergoing major reform, although countries are not making similar educational decisions.  This is indicative by the varying levels of ability in the developed world, “The three-yearly OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report, which compares the knowledge and skills of 15-year-olds in 70 countries around the world, ranked the United States 14th out of 34 OECD countries for reading skills, 17th for science and a below-average 25th for mathematics.” (www.huffingtonpost.com)  these statistics show where America stands next to her competition and the results are startling. How can a country that prides itself on having some of the best universities in the world be so far behind in secondary education?

            I believe the problem lies with the use of standardized testing scores to allocate funding.  A school that has lower test scores should not be penalized by the government via financial cut-backs.  It doesn’t make sense that a school with lower scores should get less funding; on the contrary it should get them more money.  Perhaps the reason schools with low testing scores stay consistently low, is that they do not have the means to properly teach their students. “The persistently low test scores of TC Williams students have made the school one of the lowest achieving in Virginia…. Gregory Baldwin, a special education teacher, blames standardized tests mandated under "No Child Left Behind." The law was passed under President George W. Bush.” (http://www.voanews.com)  If text books or other learning materials are out of date a schools test scores, however low they may be, should not get in the way of their obtaining new classroom materials; we should be focusing on the schools with the lowest success rates.

In Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell Mr. O’Donnell explains that in his days of classroom learning students’ performance did not lead to the expulsion of educators, but to the failing of students.  He suggests that students’ performance relates more to their personal ability and work ethic, than to the educators’ ability to teach.  While I know that this is partially true, I also know that teachers greatly influence their students and that their ability to teach greatly effects their students’ education. 

A good example of this is how much farther behind some schools, usually in smaller communities, are from their sister institutions across county lines. Why are the schools in cities like Berea and Richmond so much farther behind their Lexington counter parts? This semester I am taking MA109, the last math class many students take in college, and I am shocked by how low the standards are; it is literally the same class I took as a freshman in high school.  I have friends however that are struggling so much with it that they are trying to find ways of bypassing the course. Everyone should know how to do algebra, and you should not need a college degree to solve quadratic equations.

Ken Robinson goes over a variety of subjects in the ‘RSA Animate – Changing Education Paradigms,’ but at one point he suggests that we should raise the standards in our educational system, even asking “Why should we lower them? I haven’t come across an argument that persuades me of lowering them.” When Matt Damon talks about educational reform in Mr. O’Donnell’s video, he extrapolates on the subject by suggesting that his professors would not have been able to give him the balanced and in depth understanding of the world he experiences without having been able to teach him whatever they pleased; that standardized testing is pushing back general education requirements and thusly lowering the standards for everyone. That these exams were not merely raising the standards in some schools, but lowering them in others; and maybe we should listen to him, he did go to Harvard.

In conclusion, it is my belief that legislation like “No Child Left Behind” mixed with the ineffective gauging of ability within the American educational system has led to its decline.  Hopefully Americans will decide to place a higher level of importance on education and try to fix these problems; it is our responsibility as a society to do so.

 

Works Cited

Alexandria, Penelope Poulou |. "Diverse High School Battles Low Test Scores, High Drop-out Rate | Education | English." News | English. Voice of America, 7 June 2010. Web. 1 Sept. 2011. <http://www.voanews.com/english/news/education/Diverse-High-School-Battles-Low-Test-Scores-High-Drop-out-Rate-95789904.html>.

O'Donnell, Lawrence. "MSNBC Video: Matt Damon Rewrites Attack on Teachers from The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell." Msnbc.com - Breaking News, Science and Tech News, World News, US News, Local News- Msnbc.com. Microsoft National Broadcasting Company. Web. 1 Sept. 2011. <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/43996175>.

Robinson, Ken. "RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms - YouTube." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. RSA Animate, 14 Oct. 2010. Web. 1 Sept. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U>.

"U.S. Falls In World Education Rankings, Rated 'Average'" Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Huffington Post, 12 July 2010. Web. 1 Sept. 2011. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/07/us-falls-in-world-education-rankings_n_793185.html>.