Experience of School Compare with Coates’ Impressions of it
On pp. 22-27, Coates explains that he felt “shackled” by the schools, whose primary purpose was to instill discipline and “[drug] us with false morality.” How does your experience of school compare with Coates’ impressions of it? Do you feel college is different? In an ideal world, what should the purpose of an education be? Why?
What does Coates say about interrogation and information in this passage? What is, for him, the value of asking questions? The value of research? Summarize his opinions on these topics. Do you agree? Explain your reasoning.
On p. 32, Coates describes the disconnect between what the schools taught him to celebrate about his history and what he saw in his daily life. Many of us have encountered a similar disconnect between how our identities are represented and the reality of our experiences. Describe a situation where you encountered a representation of some aspect of your identity (religious, racial, ethnic, national, sexual, etc.) where the representation didn’t match your experience. How did this make you feel?
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Response
How does your experience of school compare with Coates’ impressions of it? Do you feel college is different? In any real world, what should the purpose of education be? Why?
Well, my experience of school is quite different but there are instances where I feel are similar to Coates’ impression of it. The first thing that makes it different is that today, teachers are more open about the issues that are happening in the world. Teachers are not trying to hide anything from the students and are in fact engaging the students more and answering their questions. Students are free to ask the ‘whys’ which Coates says were not allowed and went unanswered during his time ins school. In our class, for example, we have had debates on certain issues that are happening in our country today. Teachers have been bombarded with questions and students never seem to relent especially when it appears like the teachers are trying to ignore them or brush their questions.
However, there are similarities to Coates’ impressions of school. There are instances where I found myself wondering why I was in class for some subjects. Coates remarks that “I remember sitting in my seventh-grade French class and not having any idea why I was there” (26). I found myself in such situations and with such a question because I was neither interested nor ever saw myself pursuing anything close to what I was taught in some subjects.
I believe the purpose of education should be to help students develop a desire and ability to think, learn, and discern the world around them. I believe that schools today focus on the nonessentials and hence the reason why some students drop out of school. Students need to learn about their world. By learning about their world, students become better at adapting and living within their means and resources made available for them.
What does Coates say about interrogation and information in this passage? What is, for him, the value of asking questions? The value of research? Summarize his opinions on these t...