Blog Post #2

 The Broken Model 

Reflection

The first few paragraphs in The Broken Model introduce us, and explain the 'Normal' and although not specifically stated it can be assumed that this is referring to the United States as they use terms / references that are utilized in the United States. Such as High School, Middle School, and later goes onto to describe the 'normal' for day to day life schedule, such as when we eat at breakfast, and how lunch in America has created whole businesses whose sole priority is to serve working Americans at lunch and so-on. The paper later goes on to discuss the education system - in particular that the system is stubborn and uniform. It talks about the evolution of the education system but corrects this by saying while the system does evolve it doesnt necessarily evolve in a timely manner. This reminds me a lot of my childhood especially in early middle school, and early high school where I felt almost trapped in the system of my hometown highschool - especially during COVID-19 and like i was trapped in a box. My highschool functioned on a very structured basis for example you have your core classes and unless you were already on a 'advanced' track in middle school you were pretty much stuck with the same classes and even if you  were on that 'advanced' track from middle school you were only offered 'enriched' classes. Each student was given two electives, each ran for a half semester but the choices were limited to a few art programs, one or two music programs and then some business classes. There was no diversity in student schedules. If you talked to someone who was a senior, your freshmen year theyd likely tell you they took the exact same classes but maybe swap the art class around etc. But this kind of structure, when implemented was beneficial. When these kind of extremely structured schedules became popular it was preparing us for the 'real world' in particular office jobs. The same could be said during the 1980s when classes like woodshop, or home-ed were taught because for alot of people high-school would be their last stop and college wasnt necessarily popular. Highschools act now as the before college because the percentage of students that go onto college is much greater. This schedule sets students up for that college curriculum but even then its timely and outdated which i think The Broken Model highlights very well during those introductory paragraphs. 

The video A short history of public schools goes onto explain the educational system in the US from very early on prior to the mandatory education young people recieve now. It explains that the system was shaped around the industrial period and helped set children up for that kind of work-style. But if we look at how classes are now - specifically the schedule we get the  same idea of this system still being in effect. So how come almost 200 years later is this same exact system still in place? How does it make any sense when that  kind of lifestyle is not very prominent anymore? In my opinion its not, the current system is outdated and weighs heavily especially on students who are neurodivergent and may have different needs then neurotypical children. For example our elementary education feels incredibly outdated - why are we making a bunch of 6-10 year olds sit at tables and chairs all day? While its good to instill in children the ability to be patient, and be able to sit and observe its also important that we arent stifiling their childhood and this kind of education system is especially harsh on neurodivergent children. Elementary Teachers in many classrooms have taken steps to lessen this kind of thing, such as providing quiet corners, or fidgets in class and this itself is even a bigshift from when i was in elementary school. We used to have these little seatcovers that youd put on the chairs which would help children who liked to fidget and move around in their chairs. But the fact itself is that the teachers are having to make all of these changes - changes are not being made to the curriculum. 

This photo may be more relevant during the COVID-19 lockdown, but it shows some methods of helping children who may fidget, or are unable to keep still focus during class.

Reflection

One point I'd like to share in class is that its important to analyze our own high school expierence, its also important to analyze others. For example while mine may of been very structured, and with very limited diversity in classes this cannot be said for all high schools in Rhode Island itself. I know many other friends, family who had very different highschools. Alot of these factors can depend upon a schools budget, and class sizes. So while I think overall the curriculum itself needs work - no matter the school it may be better in some places versus others.