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Kassandra Medrano
Prof. S. Huerta
English 1T, Puente
3 March 2015
What kind of students are we creating?
In our society many are told that to get far in life you need an education. Without an
education one has no worth, and falls into the uneducated category, a category that is branded
with a scarlet letter and is looked down upon. What many dont realize is that not having an
education doesnt mean you are a bad person. It just means you have to work harder for your
money. The fact of the matter is that a large percentage of the people in the uneducated category
are people of color. Due to the uneducated being a large percentage of our population this faces
us with the cold hard truth. The truth is that since many are uneducated they are unaware of the
faults in our education system, and about the statistic they have become. Throughout history,
there has been a struggle for equal education for people of color. Many ignorant or uneducated
people believe that all of the pats problems are gone. Claude Steele, a highly respected social
psychologist. In one of his most famous works, thin ice: stereotype threat and black college
students writes about stereotype threat, a constant hidden fear that you will be judged based on
the color of your skin or where you came from rather than you, the individual. This is definitely
evident in the education system, it has had detrimental effects of students where they turn their
whole lives around to form around a concept that others have told them they are, and they isolate
themselves from others and learning opportunities and in turn lose their academic identities. The
culprit to blame is society and our education system, and the lack of awareness of students and
parents.

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After hearing you cant do something all ones life she begin to believe she cant and
wont. Claude Steele references a term called self fulfilling prophecy this is the ideas that once
you have an idea of something in your head you will eventually fulfill that idea or prophecy. It
will never escape ones mind if she is in a structured, harmful environment. Such an environment
would be one that Jean Anyon, a researcher and professor did deep research on in her text
Social class and the hidden curriculum of work. Jean discusses the differences between
working class schools and the elite, and the main difference she finds is the allowed thinking
processes, the procedure is usually mechanical, involving rote behavior and very little decision
making or choice. The teachers rarely explain why the work is being assigned, how it might
connect to other assignments, or what the idea is that lies behind the procedure or gives it
coherence and perhaps significance(Anyon.78) . With no discussion and no encouragement,
how is a student supposed to grow and become a creative individual in order to succeed? When
one has a concept about herself, they are at constant battle with their mind, which is one of their
only allies. How can one succeed if she doesnt even believe in herself? She doesnt, to have
success she has to believe that it will happen. This reflects a person who doesnt do well in
school; little does one know the inner workings of another person.
In a text called the Mexican American struggle for equal educational opportunity in
Mendez v. Westminster: helping to pave a ways for Brown v. board of education Richard R.
Valencia a professor at the University of Texas speaks about the Mendez v. Westminster case
which was a case based on the segregation of Mexican students from whites. Not only was there
segregation but there was unequal treatment when it came to educational opportunities. Mendez
v. Westminster was the first case to bring into court the mental well being of the students from
the mistreatment and segregation this innovation opened the eyes to many of the harsh reality of

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segregation, Segregation, by its very nature, is a reminder constantly of inferiority, of not being
wanted, of not being a part of the community. Such an experience cannot possibly build the best
personality or be the sort of person who is most at home in the world, and able to contribute and
live well.(Valencia.57) Valencia directly quotes the cases transcript, this text definitely reflects
what happens to a student when self doubt or stereotypes take over a mind. When there is this
constant reminder that they are not good enough a student will lose who she is and not want to
participate or even care to, they lose their purpose in being a student. Through isolation, how can
a student contribute to their educational journey? They cant and wont if they stay in a harmful
situation.
[S] He who looks outside, dreams, [S]he who looks inside, awakens. (Carl Gustav
Jung) this quote really speaks to the majority of the people affected by unequal education. Many
times the people that are most affected are immigrants who bring their children to America in
hopes that they will achieve the American Dream. But they never look in, they never question,
because they dont know, they dont know their children are getting dealt bad cards in the
education realm. One solution to the problem is bringing awareness that stereotyping exists and
creates a toxic learning space, also bringing awareness to the resources available to them. Paulo
Freire, the Author of The Banking Concept of Education spoke throughout his text about
making the unconscious, conscious many do not question the education system and what we
are being taught but Freire challenges his readers to step out and question everything he says,
changing the consciousness of the oppressed, not the situation which oppresses them(3). He
wants the reader to realize that there is not going to be an automatic change in your surroundings,
but now that the person has become aware she can consciously make decisions that will help her
in her journey, rather than her choices being made for her.

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Humans are relationship orientated beings, that being said humans crave acceptance and
someone to be there and tell them you got this. School can be very scary place, many can look
back at the first day being left at school by their parents and being scared and maybe even
crying. The crying eventually stopped because we became familiar, but for some the crying in a
metaphorical sense kept going inside. Some students didnt make connections with other students
and faced and still face this. There is a simple anecdote, a relationship, one theyre not getting
from the other students, can be filled through a student teacher relationship. (NEEDS
QUOTE????)
A student cannot succeed in a dark and structured classroom. A student needs and
expressive, free, comfortable place to build them up with no judgments. This idea is called
organic learning. Organic learning can help any struggling student, but it is especially great for a
student who self doubts and fills their mind with other ideas. In organic learning students are
encouraged to be individuals in thinking but to work together and uplift one another rather than
bring down and fill with stereo types. To reference Jean Anyons research of the different
schooling based on social classes, she speaks of the affluent school, Work is creative activity
carried out independently. The students are continually asked to apply ideas, and concepts. Work
involves individual thought and expressiveness, expansion and illustration of ideas, and choice of
appropriate method and material. (Anyon.82). Anyon speaks of the Hidden Curriculum a
curriculum that she says that this curriculum is based on which economic class you are in and
this curriculum prepares you for the jobs that are associated with that group. Now affluent
schools are the highest she sees, these are mainly white collar workers. If their curriculum calls
for creativity and individuality we should take notes, because this way of education has created
some of the most influential people.

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There has to be a willingness to change for change to happen. The time is coming for a
difference to be made in our education system. Too many students have faced tough journeys
based on how other people have perceived them, which has created harmful mindsets that haunt
them throughout their lives. This makes them lose who they are and the miss out on
opportunities. But there are ways we can make strides in making a change, by bringing
awareness many will call for things around them to be made different. Another solution includes
the interactions between students and their teachers, also the whole learning styles. Change cant
come immediately but with constant and numerous assistance can be reached sooner rather than
later all through the assistance of the average Joe.

Works Cited

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Anyon, Jane, Social class and the Hidden Curriculum of work, Journal of Education
1980. Print.
Freire, Paulo, The Banking Method of Education. In R.P Yagelski (Ed.), The Thomson Reader:
Conversation in Context (pp. 166-177). Boston, Massachusetts: Thomson Wadsworth.
Gustav-Jung, Carl
Steele, Claude, Thin Ice: Stereotype Threat and Black College Students, Atlantic Monthly
1999. Print
Valencia, Richard, The Mexican American Struggle for Equal Educational Opportunity in
Mendex v. Westminster: Helping to pave the way for Brown v. Board of Education, Teacher
College Board Record
2005.Print