Schools as damaging organisations - Reflection on reading.

I do have sympathy for the argument that schools are a 'vehicle for oppression', and think the brick in wall lyric from Pink Floyd might be appropriate but doesn't hit the nail on the head as forcefully as a John Lydon quote -

“They take your soul away. They take your brains away. They don't let you have an opinion that's different from theirs. You've got to think what they tell you to think. So when you leave school, your only future is getting married. And by the time you're about 29 you got two kids, and you just wanna commit suicide”

The article mentions Schooling as Violence and how the treatment of children harms society and I find this fits with my feelings of my Pratt results that I care more about nurturing than I do about society.

I'd also say the Lydon quote fits in with the notion of schools reflecting the inequality of schools.

I had bought into such things as letting boys pick a focus for a topic as they are less likely to do what girls want whereas girls don't mind if it's a 'boys' or 'girls' thing. This same argument seems to turn up regarding getting boys to read. I wonder if this is not utter rubbish? Is this just reinforcing the gender bias in our that woman are forced to put up with at an early age? Are we telling boys they are entitled to preferential treatment over girls who just have to be polite and deal with it? It does seem like yes, we do this because that's our society created and reflected in schools.

The observation that delineating 'success' means referencing 'failure' and therefore identifying and even demonising 'those who fail is brilliant. The idea that this may be at the heart of a continuing inequality does seem to ring true. There always seems to be an 'other'.

I can't believe I never considered the degree of economics effecting the ratio of pupil to teacher! How this dictates structures of hierarchy and discipline is also very telling.

The bit about teachers being bullied by the school system is interesting, and I can't help but think that despite my claims (and Pratt score) to be nurturing, I internalise a lot of annoyance at children I think misbehave, or don't pay attention, etc and this can surface through unhelpful shouting, or eventually lead to throwing out punishments more than rewards. I have been told that my manner does fit the more patient, or nurturing, persona, but I'm aware of my frustrations and have had a few instances where I've felt guilty for repremanding a pupil. Usually my frustrations come as much from feeling a lesson has been poorly planned/delivered/etc as much as they come from the pupil's behaviour.