Re: Reading and Writing

From: edequity@phoenix.edc.org
Date: Mon Feb 28 2000 - 11:29:41 EST


Dear Stepahnie: I am not an expert at anything in particular, just a
mother.
However I can tell you that there is nothing surprising at the way teachers
and students feel regarding particular subjects that they associate with
gender interests. Its the same old story of gender stereotyping that ocurrs
in all societies at large and which schools are nothing more than a
reflection of those prejudices with the more unfortunate fact that schools
are the place with the largest concentration of children
being exposed. If all classes in ALL subjects would be made less boringly
stereotyped and encourage true participation, inclusion and input of all
students perhaps one can begin to see a ''brake up'' of these long held
attitudes which are so harmful to children's positive academic experience.
As long as teachers stand in front of students asserting their authority,
expertise, and knowledge without allowing children to take more control of
what it is that they want to learn, or read or write about you have a
achool system that at the end has little academic value and less room to
allow human potential and creativity to develop. Resistance to learn
something outside of ''oneself'' or outside of what, for so many years one
has been told one has to learn, is a slow process and Iam afraid too many
of us find ourselves very alone out there looking at an educational system
that resists change. Often Iam told that ''I should take it to the
Education Dept. in Albany'' implying that ''changes'' have to take place
there but the fact is that teachers themselves are too unconcerned about
forcing their own state's Educational Dept. to promote end enforce those
changes. Their position is as good as mine or better ..but then their
children are not the ones being taught all the gender biased trash schools
teach so well.
Lesemann
C123S105L@aol.com



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