I liked this article for two reasons, One) That this study reveals what I believed all along; That Teachers working within the same school district, and from the same textbook, teach Affluent Students differently from Middle-Class Students, as well as from Working-Poor Students. Two) That some teachers who have lost their Love of Teaching, revert back to Strict Discipline in classes, when they feel that they can no longer hold the interest of the majority of their classes.
I know that not every teacher can keep the enthusiasm for teaching like Hilary Swank's role in Freedom Writers. I have teachers in my own family, who are different stages of their careers. I even have a who is suffering teacher burnout, and fully recognizes that it is time to either change careers, or to just retire. When they talk at the table, they all start sharing their success stories about classes where they have achieved amazing results with working-poor students, or students from transient homes. After they have exhausted their successes, they will slowly start talking about their bitter disappointments, such as a favorite student who has come so far, to be shot in a senseless drive-by shooting or suddenly have to move away without explanation, or a gifted and talented 16 year old become pregnant and drop out of school, and not know how she later fared in life.
I like how Finn as a new teacher followed History in England over a hundred years after the printing press was invented, when it was illegal to teach people below the rank of yeoman to read the Bible. I am sure that they "thought" that they had a good reason for holding people back way back when, but this would be a criminal act against humanity if this were to be attempted today. Somehow it was considered dangerous to society to teach someone below their station in life the ability to read to keep the working classes in their place. I am glad that we are living in an age of enlightenment, where we are all obligated by law to continue our education at least up to the age of majority or 18 years old.
I enjoyed how Finn discussed how during the American Labor Movement during FDR's New Deal, that the "Labor Organizer" was the first one on the scene to help working people realize, organize, and harness, and use their power. [This was when we were also changing from an agrarian society to an Industrial one] Later, after WW II, the "Community Organizer" appeared on the scene, as the more affluent Americans fled the cities, leaving the poorest among us behind. This is when the Community Organizers started helping the working-classes adults and students see that literacy and school knowledge could be a potent weapon in their struggle for a better deal in life for them and their families. I like to compare these articles to situations in my own life with members of my family. In this case, my Mom always resented that she was a good student and liked school, but at age 16 had to quit so she could go to work in a sewing factory to help support their immigrant family of eight, of which she was part of. Similarly my Dad had to quit after the sixth grade for the same reason to help support his immigrant family seven people. Those were tough times and I asked why they never did return to school later on in life? They both answered that the war started and went from the factory into a branch of the service, and after the service got married and all quickly had families of their own. I can understand their situation during those times, My Mom was born shortly after My Grandmom got off of a ship from Sicily, on June 29, 1929, which was four months to the day before the Wall Street Crash and the beginning of the Great Depression, which some say lasted ten years, but for immigrant families lasted until World War II actually broke out. My Dad was born three years earlier, but he tried to sign up for the Draft using his older brothers birth certificate on December 8th, 1941. The recruiting officer called over the other officers at the Induction Center and said this young man is so patriotic that he has signed up for the Army twice today? They sent my Dad home after they asked why he wanted to get into the war so bad? All of my brothers have signed up and I am left at home with my baby sister. I want the fight the Japs like my three brothers. That was a different time and while I understand it, I like the times that we are living in today, specially for getting an Education at any age, not based on color, race, creed, but opportunities available for everyone.
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