Finn

Quotes

1. The United States has developed two kinds of education, “First, there is empowering education, which leads to powerful literacy, the kind of literacy that leads to positions of power and authority. Second, there is domesticating education, which leads to functional literacy, literacy that makes a person productive and dependable, but not troublesome (Finn, Preface IX & X).”

This quote is in the introduction to his book. It is a powerful statement saying that we educate our children one of two distinct ways. Our children will be educated to have jobs of an elite status or they will be trained to be the obedient works of those who have power. He is stating very clearly that the expectations and pedagogy that we use to teach our children is a large indicator in terms of how successful they will be later in life. Those who are taught to a higher caliber will earn more money and be looked up to as people of authority. The other children who are taught through more traditional methods of textbooks and lectures will be the average worker doing as they are told.

2. “We wanted our students to succeed and move ahead, just as many of us had. We believed they could do it if only they would try (Finn, 7).”

When looking at this quote, I think a variety of things. The first thing that made me notice this quote is that Finn is making an argument that if we do not change the way that we educate our children, they will most likely stay in the same social class for the rest of their lives. He says “just as many of us had” which makes me think back to how being a teacher is not an elite position. It is a position that is well respected, but is not in the top 10% of incomes in the United States. It is the middle class. I was raised in a school that is eerily similar to the one that he outlined in Anyon’s study. It would not be a surprise to Anyon or Finn to learn that I became a teacher when my educational experiences were indicators that I would find a middle class job. Secondly, this quote also makes me think about how many teachers are too willing to blame their students for their lack of effort or being lazy. Many educators are eager to point their finger at their students rather than taking responsibility and changing their pedagogy and classroom repertoire. This point of view relates to Finn’s argument that teaching needs to be meaningful and interactive. When students are challenged to be creative and think critically, there are far less issues concerning behavior and work completion.

3. “I’d like to hope that a child’s expectations are not determined on the day she or he enters kindergarten, but it would be foolish to entertain such a hope unless there are some drastic changes made (Finn, 25).”

This quote is extremely powerful. There is significant evidence that Finn sighted stating that the teaching practices in a given school are indicators of future success for children. He wants to hope that a child’s possibility for growth is not stunted before they enter kindergarten, depending on the school they attend, of course. He wants children to learn and grow while they are in school, which I believe every educator wants. There are research based teaching methods that work better for students. I wonder why we are not implementing these more often across our schools. He ends this quote with a harsh statement. He is stating that he is silly to believe that a decent education can change a child’s path unless our teaching styles, materials, and expectations of the children change.