The facets of Education in the society
Thesis Statement:
The focus is on the domain of education and that how should it be faring in any society. The main argument is on the two articles ‘A Defence of Reading’ and ‘Why Johnny Can’t Think’. The articles being upon two comparative perspectives on education; Marie Winn elaborates upon the effectiveness of reading experience in contrast to watching. Walter Karp makes the critical comments upon the prevailing system in American public schools and the degraded system of the education and the prison like structure.
Essay:
Marie Winn and Walter Harp address the society in ‘A Defence of Reading’ and ‘Why Johnny Can’t Think’; their respective articles. The common concern which both journalists cum writers have is the need of the effective education in the society. The central point of argument is education which should make the child grow intellectually right from the early years of the learning framework, yet there are two wide perspectives which have been brought forth. The critical reflections which have been made do complement each other in some ways that is, the role of the reading in the society, according to both the writers reading is something which is more subjective and independent activity which is undermined in the societies. Especially in the American Society according to Walter Karp is something which is being presented to the people with a malicious intent among the American educators. Karp also drafts the viewpoint of Ravitch who states that for more than three decades it has been observed in the public that American high schools have also preferred the children who belonged to educated families and the ones who obviously were good readers and the same was precisely a test among the children who had difficulty reading and belonged to ill-read or the ignorant families in the nation. Also, the first grade readers are categorised as the ‘slow readers’ if they struggle with reading habit initially and gradually they are declared as lagging behind in many other subjects too. It can be pointed out that reading is in fact used as a matter of discouragement in the American education (Winn, M, 1977, 1985 & 2002).
This concern towards reading has been differently projected in this article, on the other hand in Marie Winn’s article the concern for reading has been projected in a different light that is it highlights the importance of the reading and the wonderful activity which it is in comparison to the served palette of images which the television has to offer. The role of the reading according to Winn is that as an advantage to the learning of the child whereas the television has nothing to offer or enhance in terms of the learning experience. While reading she points that one can control the and can test the scope of the same concept many times by re-reading the same lines too whereas the television programs cannot be controlled with respect to the sequence and the pace. The arguments thus complement each other that both stress upon the potential effectiveness of reading and that how it is undermined to an extent.
The articles are mutually exclusive in more than one ways; Karp shows the concern towards education solely in the context of the American Public Schools which are sailing in darkness because they are highly dogmatic in their approach and too much involved into the politics. John Goodlad points that there is only a binary which decides the education in American and that is right or wrong, and that is how a student gets judged while answering the questions. The trend which the teachers follow in the American Classrooms is that they had no clue about teaching at a subjective level. Sizer’s research in the American school students is that the students are most of the time submissive and do not take any initiative when required. The view is that if the same sad system continues then the fate of the over-populous schools of the America would not change which yet would initiate the test scores system and this way the teachers would not initiate any non-tested activities like the reading of the books, the speaking and the writing skills (Karp, 1985).
According to Winn and Karp the education should be meant for effectiveness and the intellectual development and thus could be initiated by the use of the non-tested and the aesthetic activities in learning. This would be ensured by the encouragement which could be given to the children and that too by choosing the right mode of learning. In the former’s view, it is seen that reading acts as a building block in the education of the child which cannot be guaranteed by the technological dependence. The books are the ones which nurtures the sensibility of the child by boosting the competence of language and the power of the words, whereas watching is always less satisfying. The article exemplifies upon the Harry Potter book series and that how it almost carried away the children into reading that they almost skipped their favourite shows ads the characters were the ones to which they could relate and also it evoked many feelings in them. On the other hand the writer is of the view that once the visual versions come into play the, value of the books is somehow lessened but the fact which remains intact that the children/people who would ‘watch’ first and then would go on to reading they can never have the real experience of creating their own main character and being a part of the story as it moves on. So, this personalised feeling and sensation is what reading promises than a video does not. The same is seen as unfortunate for the growth of the children intellectually because the children who are week at reading find switching on the television as a better option, as they do not have to concentrate in it. On the other and television is something which is a non-verbal alternative and because of this, such children are also called as ‘lazy readers’ by the writers.
According to the other article which is written by Karp, it is brought that overcrowded classrooms is a degrading idea which only act as an impediment in the American educational domain. According to him the discussions cannot be effective in such class settings as they can only turn fruitful when occur in the smaller seminar rooms. Also, for education to be good enough for all the children the republican elements should be kept in mind, and the tight structures in the school which are almost like a prison would have to move towards reformation. The architecture which is made for the public schools also affects the sentiments of the children and should be improved to instil better education in the children.
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