Alexah Mellis

5/3/16

Final Paper: Education vs Schooling

Dr. Barnes

“Education is liberating. It opens minds, encourages intellectual curiosity, inspires creativity, and
contributes knowledge and skills for informed decision-making. It values risk-taking for learning's
sake; it is living. It transcends racial and gender boundaries. On the other hand, schooling is
oppressive. It discourages open minds, filling them with “'inert ideas–ideas that are merely
received into the mind without being utilized, or tested, or thrown into fresh combination”
(Whitehead, 1929, p.1)1. Schooling is harmful because it limits students' cognitive abilities and
ways of being in the world within the context of their racial identity and language.” (Barnes,
2001).

As an aspiring elementary school teacher, I always find that when I learn something new

I think about the impact that the new information is going to have on my future. I loved learning

and being at school when I was young and I always knew there was something special about

being a teacher. Although, I began to lose interest in school and learning in middle school and

throughout high school because what I was learning did not always feel pertinent to my life.

Nearly finished with my first year of college, and I have gained my love for education back in

some of my classes. This quote really resonates with me because I truly feel a difference

between schooling and education. Schooling breeds ignorance and intolerance, while education

opens people’s minds to understanding themselves so that they can turn around and share their

knowledge through teaching in any and every aspect of life.

The flaws of the American education system still revolve around the teaching practices

that pass down the myth of having racial equality in America (Barnes, 2001). America’s

traditional norms revolve around being white. Being a White, Anglo Saxon male makes you the

poster child for America. Being schooled with this mindset as a teacher, puts one in a situation

to teach this idea to one’s students and pass on America’s traditionally taught history. The

lesser known history of America actually presents a more multicultural and accurate description
of our nation’s belief system and social hierarchy that favors Whites. Racial matters are

continually school and societal issues because teachers do not have enough knowledge of their

own racial identity before passing on their previously learned schooling to their students. White

teachers with the belief that they are “color blind” and do not understand their own racial and

cultural identity are the roots of these persistent issues.

From White America, the definition of “equality” transformed into “equality of

opportunity”, mostly relating to having equal opportunity to go to school (Spring, 2013). This is

interesting to know because even though America seemed to try to promote equality, it never

added up when looking at the social hierarchy, average incomes among races, or the fact that

discrimination still continues in today’s society. Blacks, are still among the lowest in the social

hierarchy while whites dominate the top. It may not seem like it now because the differences are

more subtle than previously in our history, but White privilege dominates our society and

teaching standards still. This quote, for me as a teacher, shoes me that I have option when it

comes to the relations that I will build with my students. The well beaten road is the path that

ignores race as an issue in this country and tries to bury our discriminatory history behind all the

white success that this country has had. The slowly growing path that educates future

generations with a multicultural lens, is the path that promotes self-identification. It promotes

educating one’s self on the social inequalities that are faced among discriminated groups.

Whites, as the dominant group, tend to lack this education more than any other group.

The idea of the seeing through different lenses is based off of how people are socialized

in their culture. Socialization is how one learns how to abide by the rules of society and

behaviors that are norms in that particular culture (Sensoy, DiAngelo, 2012). The way one is

socialized tends to refer to the frame of reference “glasses” that separates the social norms that

everyone is taught from the individual differences unique to each person. Having an

understanding of the relationship between the two mindsets (on a macro and micro level) helps
to better grasp one’s racial identity in relation to what is normal for society. Western societies

tend to focus on the individual growth of each person instead of looking at group differences

(Sensoy, DiAngelo, 2012). For example, Whites in America tend to not see the racial problems

occurring when they feel offended as an individual for being grouped with whites as

discriminators towards all minority groups in America. They believe that there is racial equality

because they are not racist or because they do not discriminate. This is where the problem is

huge and where teachers tend to pass down the same beliefs.

Teaching is not just a simple history lesson about discrimination and white privilege that

has dominated social status in the U.S. since its beginning. As a teacher, I want to teach

students how to grow with positive self-identification and an unbiased understanding of their

race, gender, sexual orientation, and ability/disability. To do so, I have to conquer my own

understanding of my place as a White female in America and my beliefs of being White in this

country. This reading about education versus schooling, as well as my learning in my RCI class

has been the initial step into my gaining a better understanding of my own racial and cultural

identity.

This class has provided me with new historical information about my social group as a

White and what it has always meant to be White in this country. While learning horrible acts of

discrimination that were put in place upon Blacks and other minorities in America I wondered

similarly about what was said in (Barnes, 2001) and why I was never taught the full truth of our

country’s success. How our country was built on slavery, forcing Native Americans out, and

social inequalities for everyone but the able bodied White, Protestant man. Learning these facts

really let me learn a lot about my group in this country and the different levels of deculturization

that define our Western norms. Knowing that I have privileges as a White that no other racial or

ethnic group has ever had in America is part of my identification to this group. Ignorance of my

position, especially as a teacher, would make me negligent to the individual lives of my students
that I may teach one day. Proactive involvement in social justice starts with knowing one’s self

on the micro and macro levels of society before trying to understand race as an issue in the

society. Learning about myself has been the best learning experience throughout this class

when it comes to my interest in teaching others in the future.

To be a teacher, is to understand that the learning process never ends. Every

experience is an opportunity to gain a new perspective on something important that is

happening in our world. As I continue my education, I intend to be open minded when trying to

understand other’s cultural backgrounds. As a teacher, I have to know where my students come

from economically, socially, cognitively, and every possible thing about them before I try to build

a lasting relationship as a teacher with them. Knowing my students will help me determine what

ways I need to support their differences in the classroom while providing an opportunity for them

all to feel equally competent and safe inside of my class. The hard part about doing this is that

each student comes from a different parental background with already preconceived notions

about certain racial groups that they were taught about. My goal to promote social change is to

provide a comfortable environment for my students to be curious about the differences they see.

Also, to find a way to promote differences in each individual without creating a bias that will lead

to negative attitudes later in life among and between groups.

An interesting take away that I learned from a reading (Kohl, 1994) was the concept of

not-learning. Students who cheat, fail, and refuse to participate in class do not always suffer

from failing to learn, but rather “not-learning.” This is a concept teachers need to be aware of

when assessing children’s behavior and grades in class. Not-learning can be a product of

challenges with family, identity, and respect of integrity (Kohl, 1994). For example, a Black child

in a class with majority White students may feel incompetent among the White students if

having a previous understanding that Whites are different and more powerful in society. When a

student begins to feel uncomfortable in school because of societal pressures of being a

learn, it means that the student is not in an environment where learning is fully accessible and

chooses to not learn from it. For teachers, it is important to be able to differentiate between a

student who is capable of learning but feels pressured to learn something, and a student who

fails to learn and might need extra assistance. This concept is very important for me as an

individual because I think it’s a gateway to understanding others and the different challenges

they face. Teachers need to be able to see their children in all aspects to be able to connect

with them to create a safe environment in the classroom.

Living in a racialized society affects everyone, but what is important is how it affects

each group differently. Knowing more about the different racial and ethnic groups that fit into

America’s social hierarchy would be helpful for beginning to understand the backgrounds that

the groups had in American history. For example, Whites have always been the dominant group

while Blacks and Latinos in America have been non-dominant minority groups. The differences

that these groups have experienced relies heavily on their experiences faced in society in

America. I would also like to learn more about cultures that didn’t originate in the U.S. and how

groups were forced to assimilate into American culture when being here to try to fit in. We

learned about Native American tribes that were forced into American schools and forced to

abandon some of their tribal customs such as having long hair and keeping their biological

names. As a White person, I cannot assume to know the struggles that other groups have faced

in this country because I have been taught a very biased American history from my schooling. I

wish to learn more about the multicultural American history to come to a better understanding of

certain groups that live in this racialized world.

Finally, I look back at this quote and think about my sole purpose for becoming a

teacher. I want learning to be as much of a positive experience on others’ lives as it has been

on mine. I want more teachers to learn how to educate their students rather than settling for the
easy route that doesn’t promote individual growth. This RCI class has really helped me begin to

learn about my identity and my role as a member of several groups in my society and culture. I

want this teaching experience to be passed on for others to open their eyes to and see deeper

than the skin of our cultural norms. I want my future students to be competent enough with

themselves to challenge norms that they don’t agree with. Questioning something is not bad

when it becomes a learning opportunity and a means of knowing yourself better. Education will

promote healthy decision making and will help our society evolve its social view to a less biased

view of certain groups. As a teacher, I want my students to feel equal among their peers without

having to worry about feeling lesser individuals just because of a physical trait attributed to a

group.

References

Barnes, S. (2001) “Who is Teaching the Teacher Educators? Why Didn’t They Teach

Me This?” http://www.lesley.edu/journals/jppp/8/barnes.html

Kohl, Herbert R (1994). I Won't Learn from You: And Other Thoughts on Creative

Maladjustment. Print.

Sensoy, O & DiAngelo, R. (2012). Is Everyone Really Equal? An Introduction to Key

Social Justice Concepts in Education. New York: Teachers College Press.

Spring, J. (2010). Deculturalization and the Struggle for Equality: A Brief History of

Dominated Cultures in the US. New York: McGraw-Hill.