EDUC 2110-Lesson 1:

The Economics of Education

 

Overview Viewpoint:

Lesson one of EDUC 2110 focuses on barriers that schools and teachers may face. You will also read question and responses to the importance of getting a degree and graduating. This lesson is suppose to teach us how to overcome the barriers and how we might be able to help the student. The lesson also tries to make an understanding that what goes on outside of school can also cause problems for what goes on inside of school. It teaches us that we can help in a major way and not just in a classroom.

 

• Question #1

What roles do families and society play in the pressures facing youth? Describe.

            Families and society play a major role in the ways youth grow up. Youth see their family as the main people they want to be like or want to act like. Family play roles in how to treat others. If a child is living in a household where there is abuse then it determines whether they would allow themselves to be the abuser or the one getting abused. They also play roles in how you’re supposed to act and what their goals in life should be. If a child is in a household that drugs is the only way to make an income then a child would grow up thinking selling drugs is always the best way to make an income. Society plays roles in a youth’s life because it has to do with their values and traditions. If your brought up in a society filled with crime and poverty a lot of times that’s the path they grow up to go down. In today’s society, most people live through people they idolize and what they hear through music. A lot of music now a days talk about commiting crimes and doing drugs and abusing alcohol. Children start to think thats cool because everyone keeps talking about it. In today's songs they also talk about shootings and fighting which makes kids think that is the first solution for everything.

 

• Question #2

What can schools and teachers do about these external forces? Describe.

            Schools and teachers can help by setting up more programs for youth to help them know that life of crime and drugs is not a path they have to go down. Today, they have programs like D.A.R.E that creates awareness about drug and alcohol which makes youth make promises to not be under the influence. Schools should work more with parents who they know their child are in jeopardy of going down the wrong paths and also make that a priority. Schools and teachers should give them good examples of what school can do for them and how it is better than selling drugs or even selling their own bodies for money. They can help the older children get jobs or have them work at after school programs to keep them from getting out of trouble. 

 

• Question #3

Why is it important to graduate from high school and go on to obtain a degree? Describe.

            Depending on where you came from or the environment you grew up in some might not think getting a diploma or a degree is important. It is said that you will make more just by having a high school diploma then not having it at all. Graduating from high school creates more opportunities and better job securities. Many job do not hire many people who do not have diplomas and most of them are only paying at minimal wage. It’s important to obtain a degree because you make even more money than someone who is just a high school graduate. Getting a degree means you are trying to further your education which is a good thing. Having a degree helps you get closer to your dream job like if you wanted to be a doctor, teacher, or nurse.

 

• Question #4

What are some barriers to educational success in high school? Describe a few.

            In high school there is many barriers that one might face. For many children this is the time where they are trying to figure out what they want to be and what they want to do in life. A lot of times the run into a lot of problems in life around this time too. A barriers for a lot of high school students is teen pressure. A lot of times students like to follow and listen to others and it creates them to have a hard time in high school. Other times students have a hard time having success because of their home situations. Sometimes students have to drop out just so they can help provide for their household because their parent or guardian can’t work. Some other barriers would be because of society. A lot of time people hear rappers and singers say that they never graduated and they doing just fine and students start to say the same thing just because there idol did it.

 

• Question #5

Describe what you, as a teacher, can do to help reduce of eliminate these barriers?

            As a teacher I can help reduce the barriers by just being there as much I can for the student. As a teacher we are supposed to care about the education of our students and make sure that they take the right paths. A lot of times when a student is labeled at risk most teachers would give up on them but they shouldn’t. Most “at risk” students just want someone to know that they can do it. I would have to make sure that the child believes in themselves that they can do it. Me as a teacher i would also try to challenge my students because they need to know that to achieve something its not going to come easy. I would work with other teachers and check in to see how the the students i have are doing just to make sure that they are doing good and other subjects too becasue you need to be doing good in all subjects to graduate. 

           

• Summary

                I feel like the questions are mostly about what a teacher can do to make the students want to do better, but not all students want to do better. For a lot of them it really is too late and they are only going to follow what they see in their neighborhoods or lyrics in songs. One thing that I always find interesting are reasons why students don’t make it to graduating high school. A lot of times the make since and sometimes they don’t. I think the first step to having a successful students isn’t just to worry about their education but to worry about them as a whole. Answering some of these questions it has made me think of more ways to help a student that I never had thought about before.

 

• Research Question

How does a child growing up in poverty affect their education?

 

• Research Analysis 

 

                Families provide more than just food and clothes, they provide educational values also. A child living in poverty often worry about other things then their education. Children living in poverty tend to focus more on providing and working for their families. They start to feel like education isn’t as important because of that. So they drop out of school or barely come at all. Living in poverty effects a child’s behavior and their self-esteem. Some children get frustrated easily when doing work because they feel like they can’t do it and won’t be nothing. A lot of new teachers would call them bad or lack of manners but they have to understand why they act like that in the first place.

            To help a child in poverty you have to provide a good environment. You shouldn’t build stress on the child but use a challenging curriculum and help them with it so they know that they can do it. A teacher should provide tutoring and work to build the child’s skills. Most importantly the teacher will have to provide a way to let the student know that they care and also work with other teachers to make sure they stay on the right path. By helping a child living in poverty it could put a stop to a lot of things like teen pregnancies and drug use. It starts to provide them a good paying job and better everyday skills to help further them in life. 

 

• Research Summary

This article has taught me the importance of getting a student to trust you because it helps when trying to help them. Without your trust a student tends to think that you really don’t care about their education and they don’t really try. This article has taught me new things about identifying behaviors. It’s important for new teachers to know them because they usually just think that the child is disrespectful and just lack manners when there is more to it. I want to be a good teacher so I need to understand why some children act the way they do and the article provide reasons like their home situations and problems. When they have situations at home and other issues they get frustrated easy which creates problems in school. 

 

http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=psycd_fac