Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Jack McNulty
Professor Rodrick
English 115
22 October 2017
While observing the typical high school classroom, one will observe a dreary room thats
isolated entirely from the real world. A system provided by the school allows little to no freedom
in what you can study. You are forced by the school to study what they want you to, or risk
failure. Students need to be ready for the world once they graduate, and having their identities
shaped by a conformative system for the first seventeen to nineteen years of their life does not
help. The students are put into a biased educational program that favors some students, their
aspirations are ignored and instead of learning applicable skills they are forced to involve
themselves in learning that may not benefit them when applying for jobs. Students would get a
more to the point education if they were involved in the study of one subject from high school
through college. The typical US high school educational system is shaping young teens by
keeping them in isolated learning environments, forcing them to think a certain way, and failing
Taking a closer look at a typical US classroom, there really isnt much there. The walls
are covered in cheap educational posters and few windows allow light to rid of the dark
ambiance. The confined room is full of hyperactive teenagers and refusing freedom which
forcefully shapes them into model students through being exposed to such an isolated
classroom. The school does this on purpose to mold the students into accepting an isolated
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learning environment where creativity and freedom are not accepted. In Emily Corinnes article,
The Consequences of Discrimination in the Classroom, she shows how disruptions in the
classroom environment can lead to dysfunction of the student. She explains Previous research
has shown how fundamental attribution errors, and cognitive errors in general are due to
stereotyping and prejudices, which can cause discrimination that can negatively influence the
classroom environment. I agree with Corinne on nearly all points, except for she fails to
describe how the classroom environment can also have detrimental effects on students. The
classroom is there to give the students a safe space to learn in. However, modern classrooms are
small and limit the freedom of students to excel in learning by forcing them to be in
environments which lack the space for creative thinking. A learning space that supports creative
thinking would consists of bigger classrooms that allow for small group learning, technology
spaces for online activities that steer away from the fixed curriculum, and a more vibrant and
exciting ambiance that students will be excited to see and be encouraged to go to class. Modern
day classrooms lack almost all of these aspects unless they attend a private school, and most
families cannot financially achieve this. With no freedom in the classroom, the students identity
is changed to believe in a conformative environment as the societal norm for learning and for
future endeavors. This limits the amount of creative thinking and teamwork that can be achieved
through a less conformed learning space. Another problem in the classroom environment
consists of the spacing of the desk alignment in the classroom. Most modern day classrooms
have desks aligned in rows while facing the teacher, this limits the amount of interaction the
students can have with each other. More student interaction with their surroundings allows for
freedom in the classroom by enabling a more positive environment in which to learn in. The
school system aligns the desks this way in order to focus the students attention to the teacher.
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Although, over a large amount of time this task gets tedious and students get distracted easily
and they focus their attention on something else. Viewing this from a different angle, a
lifestyle in which they are all individuals. This is not applicable in the real world where most
jobs require teamwork. Giving students more freedom in their classroom will allow them to
flourish in their studies rather than be in an isolated learning environment where their
personalities and identitys are shaped into a conformed manner that accepts individual thinking
rather than group thinking. This environment lacks social interaction and creativity which can be
very helpful in future learning as well as jobs. This process shapes the
is not natural in the real world. Along with an isolated learning environment
Students are forced to study and think a certain way by pre-chosen courses. In high
school, there are subject requirements that you must complete in order to graduate and progress
onto college. However, this dilutes the non-conformative goal that some
students have. The closed off classroom and curriculum can be seen as a wall
between reality and what the school system wants reality to be viewed as.
Today, students are sat down in a desk and forced to learn subjects that may not benefit them in
the future. The school system has pre-set curriculums that put students on a path that will not
always be effective. This is done through credit requirements that students must complete in
order to move on to college. The reason for this primarily comes around to a goal for basic
knowledge on all subjects set up by most modern day school systems. A basic all around
educated student is able to know just a small amount of information on all topics. This is not the
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way things should be done. In a real world situation where these students need jobs, companies
look for the ones who have excelled in their studies towards a certain subject rather than an all-
around knowledge basis. The school system supports this wide basis of knowledge because they
think a well-rounded student will contribute to a society. They are shaping these students
identities to believe that only a little is enough, an identity that lacks determination for a common
goal by depleting their drive for academic and future success. These are new times, times where
job availability is scarce and only the students who are on top will have a shot at the best
opportunities.
Another aspect of the US education system that shapes students identities is through
standardized tests. Standardized testing puts a higher emphasis on memorizing the subject at
hand rather than actually understanding it. This process accepts students who are good at
memorization and excludes the hands on learners. If testing methods were more hands-on and
less focused on memorization, then students would be more likely to understand topics.
Understanding topics is a lot different than just knowing them, when a student understands a
topic they can attack a problem that relates from all angles. Memorization tactics used in
standardized testing allows students to know how to attack a problem from only one direction.
This limits the ability of that student to succeed in circumstances that hold more real-life
application. The school system supports standardized testing on the grounds that the students
memorization of the topic enforces their understanding of it. This is false on the point that
students are more likely to understand a topic not through memorization, but through hands on
learning. In Greg Jouriless article, Here's Why We Don't Need Standardized Tests, he explains
the cons of standardized testing; that this form of testing highlights the information students
already know and only requires the student to memorize the topics rather than comprehend what
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they mean. Jouriles says Standardized tests are unnecessary because they rarely show what we
don't already know. Jouriles, throughout the essay, points out that standardized testing merely
reports the obvious. However, by taking this a step further, we can assume that the tests are
basically another biased obstacle that students need to pass in order to graduate. The test can be
seen as a checkpoint for the students memorization on a specific topic. The questions are based
on finding the answer through a specific task on the grounds of the students memory. This limits
the need for creative thinking and shapes the learning capabilities of them to a very close-minded
view. Their identity is changed to view situations in only one way which enforces a single-
minded outlook due to the school systems goal of a well-rounded basis of knowledge. Sadly, the
students who understand this and refuse to follow the guidelines of the conformative system will
most likely fail due to the way the system us set up.
If you dont conform, you fail. The way the school system is set up forces students to
conform to a certain way of learning through essentially useless acts. If a student fails to conform
and change their identity to fit the system, they will most likely fail. This process of student
learning focuses on a fixed curriculum around a basic set of overall skills and a less determined
pupil through negative learning environments. A system that has a fixed curriculum can have
negative effects on a students ability to succeed by involving them in situations where they are
set up for failure. It singles out the kids who dont succeed in all of the required courses even if
they dont necessarily need the knowledge from those courses in their future career. The current
system set up in schools is constructed using a biased learning environment that affects students
who are not naturally well-rounded in their education. David Edwards is a professor at Harvard
University in the History of Science department. In his article American Schools are Training
Kids for a World that Doesnt Exist Edwards emphasizes that the faulty curriculum that schools
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have set up is abolishing the chances of student success. Edwards explains Failing to create a
new way of learning adapted to contemporary circumstances might be a national disaster. This
quote backs up my argument on how the curriculum of modern schools is not applicable and I
agree with Edwards on all points. For years now we have been allowing the same system to
prepare students for the world without realizing that generations are changing. This now biased
learning curriculum focuses on students who are naturally well rounded in all of their studies
while leaving the others behind. The modern system for learning set up in schools is constructed
using a biased learning environment that denies some students based on the fact that they are not
The typical US high school classroom is shaping young teens by keeping them in isolated
learning environments, forcing them to think a certain way, and failing them if they dont
conform. Young teens are shaped from the very beginning by being isolated in a room that does
not allow creativity and freedom of their knowledge. This shapes their identity to one more
focused on individual achievement rather than group teamwork applicable later in life. Through
standardized testing, memorization is essential rather than understanding topics which creates a
less informed pupil for job opportunities. If the students do not conform to this biased style of
learning while having their identities shaped by the system, they will most likely lose their drive
or fail out of the system. The shaping of teens in the high school educational system needs to
change and adapt to allow them to acquire an advanced set of skills that will be used for their
future career rather than forcing them to take classes that will be irrelevant as they progress into
college. Allowing the students to acquire advanced knowledge on the subject they are interested
in from an early stage in their life will produce smarter citizens that can contribute to our society.
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Works Cited
http://www.personal.psu.edu/bfr3/blogs/asp/2013/03/the-consequences-of-
Edwards, David. American Schools are Training Kids for a World that doesnt Exist. Wired,
2017
Jouriles, Greg. Here's Why We Don't Need Standardized Tests. Education Week, 6 Oct. 2017.
2017.
Zyglis, Adam. Square Peg, Round Hole. Surge, Orlando Sentinal, 9 Mar. 2015. Accessed 23
Oct. 2017.