Potential Paragraph Responses
[These need to be really focused, well-developed paragraphs of 7-9 sentences. You will complete five on the test and choose from 6 options.]
- Explain how elenchus is the cornerstone of true education, according to Socrates.
- In his article “Dehumanized,” Mark Slouka argues that our current educational focus undermines civic life in America. What is his problem with current educational trends and what does he propose to do to reverse them?
- Explain how Paolo Freire’s “subject-object” metaphor drives his beliefs about education.
- How, according to Jonathan Kozol, does the belief in “adequacy” undermine the promise of Brown v. Board of Education?
- Both John Dewey and Kenneth Robinson discussed the futility of trying to prepare students for specific jobs. Why does each believe this cannot succeed?
- Summarize Sol Stern’s critique of the Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
- How can the work of Eric Hanushek from Stanford improve American schools?
- Explain Paolo Freire’s banking metaphor and summarize why he thinks it damages students.
- Why does Nicholas Carr believe that the Internet is damaging our ability to think?
- “Waiting for Superman” argued that charter schools offer better education because they faced less restrictions and interference from unions. What are these restrictions?
Potential Essay Topics
[Each of these will be answered with a thesis and 3 paragraphs] You will complete two on the test, and choose from three choices.
- Using at least three sources, make an argument for how schools can achieve the ideological goals of deschooling without eliminating the schools.
- Using at least three sources, make an argument for public education not being focused on vocational training.
- A number of the articles and videos we have watched suggest that public education depends on tracking at the least, and failure of some students at the worst. Analyze this argument and defend, refute or qualify it, using as much evidence as you can.
- Defend, refute, or qualify Jonathan Kozol’s argument that American schools are engaging in “apartheid.”
- There are two schools of thought about curriculum reformed we have discussed: programmed learning, like the KIPP schools and individualized instruction, as promoted by George Siemens and others. Using multiple sources, make an argument that one of these approaches is likely to be more effective.
