Weapons of Mass Instruction
Weapon: anything that serves to outwit or get the better of an opponent.
Mass: a considerable assemblage
Instruction: the process of imparting knowledge
Urban school settings provide a healthy dose of opposition. There are those in the community that don't believe low-income students deserve the best education possible. There exists a pervasive negativity and distrust of the school system as a whole. Teachers are, in many ways, weapons opposing those forces.
We are attempting to outwit all of that negativity; we are searching for ways to break-down the resistance towards what we know can set these students free--an education.
Our class sizes are increasing as our funding decreases. So, in many ways, the students assembling in our classrooms each day can best be defined by the word mass--as in, "the mass of people." We don't get to choose our students, and they don't get to choose us.
Instruction, or education if you prefer that term, is our goal. We are weapons of mass instruction.
posted by Mr. McNamar @ 1:54 PM
2 Comments
2 Comments:
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I totally agree. I have been fighting the History Channel hegemon in my class. We compared two competing views of history, one empowering, where slaves freed themselves, and another where Lincoln was key in the abolition of slavery. History Channel believes it was Lincoln, the kids were upset. The students want to feel empowered, not dependents to government. The story of our history is people pushing and fighting for better lives. History Channel makes it out to be people waiting for rights and freedoms. Weapons of Mass Instruction indeed.
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