Zachery Westdyke

Professor Henne-Ochoa
EDUC 101
Vision Statement
In sum, the subject matter, the learning process, the classroom
discourse, the cafeteria menu, the governance structure, and the
environment of school teach students what kind of people to be
and what kind of society to build as they learn math, history,
biology, literature, nursing, or accounting. Education is more than
facts and skills. It is a socializing experience that helps make the
people who make society (Ira Shor, Empowering Education :
Critical Teaching for Social Change).
The problems with the American education system are practically endless. Perhaps even
more problematic, many of them are disagreed upon by policymakers, teachers, parents and even
students. As a result of this, we have a ton of problems with, essentially, no specific set of
answers that are absolutely the correct ones. My analysis of the works we have read throughout
the semester organized into a prezi presentation aims to identify some of these problems and
provide ways in which I believe I can help fix them, or ways in which I believe they can be
fixed. Some of the problems I identify can be corrected on the teaching level, whereas others are
rooted much deeper in the system, and will take much time to fix, if they ever are at all.
I begin by identifying a few problems that I, as a teacher, can fix at least within my own
classrooms. One quote from William Ayers introduces an obvious problem with many teachers
in our society today: The problem is that most teachers are simply not up to the challenge. They

are slugs: cynical, inept, backward, naive, hopeless. (pg. 201). While this is, obviously, not an
issue I can fix on a large scale, it is definitely something I can help with on a small scale. I can
help with this by being, at the very least, the opposite of a slug: optimistic, progressive,
passionate, and hopeful. I understand that teaching is not easy, and I refuse to be anything but
the absolute best I can be, for my students.
I next pull out another quote from Ayers that describes one result of poor teachers and
poor curricula: One result is that students graduate without knowing how to think in whole
systems, how to find connections, how to ask big questions, and how to separate the trivial from
the important. A good teacher encourages students to often take big steps back and look at the
big picture. Making connections is one of the best ways to really learn something and to be able
to apply it to something else. In my opinion, students must make connections not only between
course subjects, but more importantly between their personal lives and what they learn in the
classroom.
This leads into the idea of critical pedagogy and the idea that education should be
centered in the interests of the students. As Bobbie Harro states, we are each born into a set of
social identities: things which we have absolutely no control over but still affect us profoundly
throughout our lives. A big part of teaching is understanding this, and making sure your students
understand this as well. While I cannot level the playing field for my students in terms of
socioeconomic status, I can do my best to eliminate any forms of prejudice and discrimination.
In terms of socioeconomic status, I can do my best to make sure every student has equal access
to resources and tools.
In my prezi, I then go on to quote Denise Clark Pope when she says that we need a new
vision of what it means to be successful in school and what it means to be successful in

America. Personally, I couldnt agree more. Right now I feel like most kids are raised to
believe that success can be equated with monetary wealth, and this is a problem. We are stifling
childrens imaginations and passions the things that we should really be encouraging them to
follow. My personal belief is that being successful is directly related to being happy and loving
what you do in life. If this could be the standard definition of success in schools and in America,
then I feel like we could start to make some progress in reforming the system.
I then give a quote from Nel Noddings about teaching with care and about the importance
of moral education in school. I believe a personal connection with each one of my students is
crucial to their success. It reduces the need for standardized testing, and encourages the student
to perform to the best of his or her ability. Unfortunately, not many teachers take the time or
effort to do this. This is another problem with the education system in America, and it ties into
the next quote about having an engaging curriculum. As Ayers also believes, I think it is crucial
to develop a curriculum that is engaging, inviting, and also open to change. It must be centered
around what the students find to be most important to them, while still containing the basic
knowledge necessary for the students to succeed in their respective subjects.
My next few graphics show a brief idea for how we can continue with reforming the
education system and how we should go about doing so. It shows that, currently, reformation
ideas are based off of the decisions, ideas, and interests of policy makers and administrators, but
that it should actually be quite the opposite. In order to properly reform a broken system that is
supposed to be centered around the education of students, we need to go to the students. We
need to first and foremost take their opinions and ideas into account see what works and see
what doesnt. Then we must go to the teachers and the parents, all before we talk to policy

makers and administrators about what actually can plausibly be corrected. No matter what
ultimately happens, however, reforms to our educational system must begin at the student level.

References Cited
Beginning: The Challenge of Teaching William Ayers
Caring in Education Nel Noddings
Education is Politics Ira Shor
Liberating the Curriculum William Ayers
The Cycle of Socialization Bobbie Harro
The Predicament of Doing School Denise Clark Pope
What is Education For? Orr