Influences That Shape Our Schools

Influences That Shape Our Schools

 

Many forces in society shape our schools. It is obvious that the physical environment helps to create and determine whether schools are urban, suburban, or rural. Although there are numerous factors that impact in particular, our urban schools, some seem to stand out more than others. I see the major influences that shape are urban schools to be history, culture, and government.

Our history of racism has always and continues to impact urban schools. Urban schools are made up in large numbers by black students who have been and still are clouded by a history of racism.  Slavery, race segregation in the schools after the Civil War, and failure to desegregate the schools after it was ordered by the Supreme Court, all still shape our urban schools and how we view urban schools. Both Fruchter and Anderson and Summerfield view history as a major factor influencing urban schools.

Fruchter discusses at length the history of the failure of America to desegregate even after the 1954 Supreme Court Decision Brown vs. The Board of Education, ordered desegregation of schools. He asserts that “what has resulted are urban school more segregated than when Brown litigated, and a  race-based achievement gap that doom millions of poor students of color to inadequate education and limited futures.”  It seems to me that the intent to desegregate was there, but it was never fully implemented, creating segregation, not by law, but a failure to enforce desegregation. Those who were opposed to integration, fled to the suburbs so that geographically their children would not be exposed to racial integration planned in the inner cities. Somehow the will of the racist minded has kept segregation alive in the schools .The very nature of segregation has contributed to our failure in effectively educating poor inner city black students. We tend to blame the failure of urban schools on the students and on poor physical conditions of the schools, rather than blame the effects of a history of racism.

Anderson and Summerfield discuss the historical myths regarding urban schools, which impact the way we view them. They are critical of the historical concepts that perpetuate the idea that rural and suburban schools are superior to urban schools. They refer to the negativity of describing rural schools as “natural”, suburban schools as “successful models”, and urban schools as “artificial” and not the “norm”. These and other critical labels regarding urban schools have historically helped to create the negative perception about urban schools. This is not so different from students who are labeled bad early on and proceed to live up to the expectations imposed on them. If they are told often enough that they are bad, they are bad. There is no doubt that urban schools are ridden with problems. There are however, many myths created that make matters even worse and help to create a perception of negativity. This perception impacts educational policies and programs and shapes the ability to reform urban education.

Urban culture reflects our history of racism and helps to shape our urban schools.  

Black students have been robbed of their historical culture and have been forced to replace it with their urban culture.  Fruchter quotes Randall Robinson, “you cannot rob people of language, culture, mother, father, the value of labor- all of that –without doing damage to the people.” Without roots to respect, how can black students respect themselves, let alone have a respect for learning. The schools have failed in motivating and teaching inner city students. With their culture being stifled and the constant reminder of their inferiority based on years of racism, they have been forced to develop their own urban culture. Our educational system seems to view them as a separate group, but does not recognize their separate cultural past. They are expected to conform to the ideals of a culture that has rejected them. Schools are trying to teach black students using the standards of the primary American culture, with little regard for their heritage or their new found urban culture.  To me this translates into a lack of pride for black students and creates behavior reflective of what black students have come to think of themselves. The urban culture that they have built in order to survive, impacts their schools and their entire educational experience.

Government policies and programs contribute to shaping urban schools. They determine many factors regarding school funding, teacher certification, curriculum, testing and graduation requirements, and measurements of accountability. It is commonly perceived, with criticism, that urban schools receive more wasteful government spending than rural and suburban schools do. Anderson and Summerfield point out that in some cases this is a myth, and not totally based truth. The intent of the government is to fund and provide fair an equal education to all students. In reality, government policies have failed in urban centers. They have as Chubb and Moe in Fruchter’s book states “imposed universal controls on all schools which eliminate the school-level autonomy critical to educational effectiveness”. Government policies and funding are meant to shape schools positively, but I do not think that their impact on urban schools has not been successful.

  Federal, state and local governments, cultural values, and history all influence urban schools.  The goals of the government to give fair and equal education to all students have not and are not always met. The cultural values of urban student, rooted in a history of racism are often in conflict with the governments goals for education.