Stereotype Threat

Why must we categorize people into particular groups based upon the stereotypes in which is perceived by society? Where and how did this idea of categorization arise? Do we place ourselves in these subgroups? Is it our choice of interest or do we evolve amongst these categorizes based upon what we are exposed to in our lifestyle? If this being the case, does this affect the way in which we are positioned in life? Can we avoid this stigma?

Stereotypes can be a threatening and problematic concern for individual’s intellectual learning and development. In terms of gender stereotypes it is believed that men perform better at mathematics than women do. This can be a threat for the performance of women in mathematics, as society has this fixed notion that this is a male orientated subject (Steele, 1997). I noticed this at my high school; where in the top mathematics class there was a domination of male students and during the course of the year the number of female students declined as the year progressed. Did this threat of stereotypes in society of males performing better than females have an impact on the way in which the overall female students performed? Possibly?

Schools are filled with vast arrays of many different subgroups; it’s almost impossible to ignore. Stereotypes are largely factored through the media and social networks, which have an impact on the way in which people’s opinions are formed and created.  Social media clouds people’s judgments influencing their decision-making and thought process of particular events or individuals. Rizvi (2005) discusses the implication of Islamic religion as a result of after the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York City in 2001, where heightened fear of those of an Islamic background were represented as dangerous and untrustworthy. These reports in the media created negative characterizations of Islams, which resulted in harmful dispute and segregation of all Muslims in society.

It’s a shame that people make assumptions about people based on how their stereotype is categorized in society. A representation of someone is much deeper than their outer physical appearance, it goes beyond this; their personal values, beliefs and attributes. However this is a visible characteristic that can be collected from a first encountered glance.

Yat-Sen Li (2013) accounts for such stereotypes of him being of Asian decent, where growing up in the 1970’s was different in comparison to his peers. He was called names based upon his race such as “Ching Chong Chinaman” and categorized into this group based upon physical assumptions and differences because of the way he looked.  He did not fit the same stereotypical physical characteristics to his peers. Australia today consists of a much more wide spread diversity of cultures and are more accepting. By saying Australia is much more diverse now, will this impact Yat-Sen Li schooling experience if he were to attend school at this time in today’s culturally diverse society? Such stereotypes still exist and I believe will always be a part of society. They may be modified in terms of social power or domination, but these stereotypes will always linger on.

Resources

Yat-Sen Li, J. (2013). Being Australian is not about the colour of your skin, The Sydney Morning Herald, 30 August, <http://www.smh.com.au/comment/jason-yatsen-li-being-australian-is-not-about-the-colour-of-your-skin-20130830-2sv06.html>.

Steele, C M. (1997). A threat in the air: How Stereotypes Shape Intellectual Identity and Performance, American Psychological Association, Vol. 52, (6).

Rizvi, F. (2005). Representations of Islam and Education for Justice. In C. McCarthy, W. Crichlow, G. Dimitriadis, & N. Dolby (Eds.), Race, identity and representation in education (2nd Ed.), (pp.167-178), New York: Routledge. 

Lets talk about My School!

So first and foremost, what is my school? Its basically a website that allows anyone to access information about all schools in Australia. This information can be found through a search by school name, location and different forms of Education. This is run by The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) The website provides profile information on the schools.

You can see anything thing from a schools population, it mainly gives away different levels of SES, providing us info on whether a student is indigenous, their language background (other than English) and even attendance rates.

Not only that they also reveal the Capacity or Capability (which is a no no) giving us the, again, type of school, the year range, student and staff numbers, school financial information, and location. 
But Myschool doesn’t reveal everything in a school, but it expands. 

But in a more colloquial sense, the school allows themselves to write a brief description of the school (the only optional thing available), my school talking a lot about how we had disadvantage.

In most cases a link to the school’s website is provided so that more information about the school community can be gained. 
For each school, My School compares NAPLAN results for other schools across Australia similar in terms of their number of students. They even show how much funding the school has! These data include recurrent income and capital expenditure, broken down by funding source, for all government and non- government schools for 2009, 2010 and 2011.

I mean the Myschool has some advantages.

The site should allow schools that underperform to be able to lift their game and provide a better education in the future. By testing nationally, the MySchool website provides an opportunity to allow for Australian Schools to learn from each other, to help insure that every child in every classroom receives a high quality education. The goals for accountability, transparency, choice and quality ensure schools are able to set a national standard, and give a goal for students to strive for. The benefit is that it gives parents scope to compare schools beyond merely listening to other parents' opinions or reading brochures.

But I think its more bad then good.

You cannot assess a school’s performance based purely on tests that comprise of 40 questions focused on literacy and numeracy asked every two years as the NAPLAN does. Schools should provide a lot more than literacy or numeracy skills, but how well they do that cannot be reflected in MySchools. There are many other questions parents should be asking about schools they plan to send their child or children to, including how do they teach about the world? How do they generate learning plans to meet the needs of individual students? How do they engage with the arts or music? How do they engage with their community?

This is just an attempted to become a market based school isn’t it? How can we grow if we are constantly watched?

 References:

Jensen, B. (2011, March 15). MYSCHOOL 2.0 SHOWS IMPROVEMENT BUT COULD DO BETTER. The Australian, p. 12.

Mills, C. (2012). Implications of the My School Website for Disadvantaged Communities: A Bourdieuian Analysis. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 13, 1-13.

Moore, T. (2011, May 11). After MySchool comes the real revolution. The Australian, p. 4.

Who Needs Homework?

Who needs Homework?

Well Finland surely doesn’t

And you know what? Their education system is much better than ours according to the ongoing PISA results

OK I guess we are doing quite well compared to America and the UK

And yet…

We follow their way of teaching…

It’s a bit obvious that we follow a very westernised way of teaching, who can blame us? Our culture is basically run by these instances but we really have to think, is it really improving us as a whole?

Lets direct our attention back to Finland and how amazing and booming they are compared to us

Not only are their PISA results outstanding, two out of three students would go to collage, not to mention their graduation rate is at 93% and 99% finish (or Finnish) compulsory basic education (Sahlberg, 2011), compared to Canada which is only 78% and the US 75%

Now why is this?

It because of Dedication

A large number of a student’s willingness to learn comes from the teacher, I personally believe this because a good lecturer or tutor or teacher in general can really change the attitude of a student.

In Finland only the best of the best teachers get to mentor the students, allowing only the top 10% of graduates being accepted into teaching programs, those who also have their masters. Not only that the title of being a teacher is massive, ranking as high as doctors and lawyers.

Respect can really change a man, I mean my friends admitted that they don’t even recognise that teachers are actual people! Earning the powerful titles of “Teacher” can even have you gain more respect from students.

Not only are the teachers in Finland brilliant, they are given the correct environment with students that a teacher needs, have a 1 to 12 ratio of Student teach, unlike in places like New York City it is 1 to 24!

Smaller classes mean more quality time for students, a larger want for group discussion and much easier to monitor students. One of the main problems, in my school at least, was that our classes were too full. My teacher had to teach a class of 30, it’s too much for one to handle!

As for the students they don’t get as much pressure as the kids in Australia have, they are more time to be kids receiving around 75 min a day for recess, plus, as the title reads NO HOMEWORK! (At least until 16).

Not to mention their limited need for standardised testing, allowing the kids to gradually learn at their own pace, instead of pressuring them to remember everything.

Now I’m really questioning why we don’t follow Finland’s way, it’s so obvious that we need to implement some of these ideals because Education is the foundation of everyone’s future. Once schooling improves, so will everything else!

Thankfully UNSW at least has upped the ATAR score needing more dedicated students to get in, students who want to teach, students who want to inspire.

References:

Sahlber, Pasi (2011) Lessons from Finland: Where the country’s education System Rose to the Top in Just a Couple Decades, Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed for Quick Review p.18-24

What are we testing?

What are we testing?

Every graduated student in New South Wales has undertaken the annual national assessment- the Naplan –( The National Assessment Program- Literacy and Numeracy) that assessed our academic progress every 2 years, from year 3 to year 9. However what began as a simple test, has drastically transformed into a competitive and ‘prepared’ assessment that doesn’t truly examine the students in their natural state. The problem begins with the concept of “my school” and schools hoping to outdo one another  in terms of school ranking and student performances. It seems that schools have lost its focus on the student’s individual growth but rather wanting to be recognised as a ‘r educational environment and a school that’s recognised for its academic success.

As a result, schools have started to take on a different approach to the NAPLAN. What was originally designed as a ‘diagnostic test’ where students are tested as they are, unfortunately has become a ‘high stakes test’. It is quite normal to see primary schools and high schools preparing the students in advance for the exam. They would focus on specific areas that are expected to be tested in order for students to achieve high outcomes.  Educationalist, Ken Robinson states that standardised testing is “strangling… what really matters in education” [1](Graham and Reid et al., 2010) which indicates that the NAPLAN has become a ‘results’ driven assessment. That many schools have forgotten that the students are the main purpose and it’s ultimately about the development of the student.

Many people are brain-washed by society’s expectations and have the mind-set that ‘academic success’ is about high results and attending a state/ society recognised school. However, wouldn’t it be more meaningful as parents and teachers to see academically struggling students improve their results each year? Shouldn’t even the slightest increase of results compared to their previous year be considered great success? Lobashcer states that this form of ‘high stakes test’ “they carry serious consequences for students and educators…”. Why? We must understand that based on this ‘pre-rehearsed’ assessment and their results, it strictly distinguishes the ‘good’ school from the ‘bad’.

Furthermore for teachers it becomes an issue as they may only focus their teaching and classroom activities based on the NAPLAN, as they tend to ignore and forget other critical learning areas as it won’t be assessed or seem less important. This may include social interaction amongst students and just building on the foundations of basic educational knowledge.

We must understand that this situation of the NAPLAN most likely won’t improve as our society focuses more on accountability and the need to be recognised for outstanding results. In the end, it brings us to the conclusion that our education system is being driven by a higher force that undoubtedly treat education as a form of economic produce. That the NAPLAN is just another part of producing successful individuals that benefit our economy and the sad reality that this problem won’t or can’t be solved.

So we ask ourselves, what exactly are we testing?

Graham, J., Reid, A. and Wu, M. (2010).Professional Voice - The NAPLAN Debate. 8th ed. Australian Education Union Victorian Branch, (Accessed : 25/10/2013)

 Lobascher, S. (2011). What are the potential impacts of high-stakes testing on literacy education in Australia?. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/article/Literacy-Learning-Middle-Years/259959922.html [Accessed: 14 Oct 2013].

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That 'SCALED' Me!

That ‘SCALED’ me..

“I want to do hospitality but I heard that the scaling is so crap that even if you get 80, it gets scaled down to 60…” and “ I heard that unless you’re confident in doing really well, you shouldn’t do it because it might end up scaling you down…” Sound familiar? I’m sure that many would agree with me if I said that subject selection as a fresh senior, preparing for the final years of high school life is one of the most hardest but crucial decisions any high school student makes. ‘What subject is my forte?’, ‘what do I enjoy?’, ‘what do I need to boost my ATAR?’ or ‘that subject is interesting but the scaling…’ are undoubtedly some of the many questions students can’t help but consider and ask themselves during this time.

The HSC is one of the most important stages of a teenagers/students life as many dedicate two full years of intense studies and individual development. This is where scaling plays a significant role. For many students, scaling is the biggest factor that leads them to make the decision to either take-up a subject or sacrifice a subject. Let’s be honest. Many students no longer choose a subject because they are attracted to the content they will learn but rather the harder the subject, the higher the scaling.

 Students have changed their attitude and standards towards subject selection as they pick up subjects based on how well their results will be as long as they make an effort. It is sad to see that many students today would take up a subject and push themselves to study something they can barely tolerate. Just for the scaling.

It seems that students think that the only way that they can achieve an average ATAR of 95+ is by choosing high scaling subjects like, extension English, extension maths, physics , chemistry and many others. It’s the pressure that they must do well, especially with high scaled subjects because that is what determines your ATAR and what you’ve been working to achieve up until then. Students stress themselves out as they try and avoid subjects that might ‘scale them down’ despite their desire to really study it.

This problem of scaling constantly leaving students in a perplexed state has been recognised by many schools. Therefore, in order to encourage students not to solely base their decisions on the concept of scaling, many schools have taken action by inviting parents to help their children to make decisions and inform them about the countless subject selections. Presbyterian Ladies College is an example of this as they aim to help students who struggle to make the right decision for themselves. They have information nights for students and parents as they give detailed explanations on the subjects to ensure the students have a better understanding of them.

It seems that students need to be educated on how the subject scaling system works because they must understand that “ it is not to reward people clever enough to choose the right subjects; its purpose is to ensure fairness in the competitive stakes of university entry”. (Parent Council NSW) In the end, it means that students should do the subjects they enjoy and feel comfortable doing rather than doing something they believe would boost their ATAR marks.

Refrence :

http://parentscouncil.nsw.edu.au/annuncements/scary-scaling-choosing-your-subjects-for-the-hsc

Racial Tolerance

Why is it that racism is a constant and on going heated topic of concern when we live in a society filled with many different cultural backgrounds? Reports have been filed concerning racial attitudes and discrimination based on the colour of our skin and cultural background. This year alone racial discrimination has increased from 50% in comparison to the previous year being from 12-19% (Baird, 2013). What a huge change in just one year! Where are we going wrong? Does racial tolerance need to be something that should be addressed at school from a young age?

It is arguably mentioned in Fozdar, Wilding & Hawkins (2009) that too often in society we assume that race is theorized by social constraints that we are exposed to in everyday life (p. 180), based upon ones identity in terms of their physical appearance, racial background, culture and socio-economic status. Stereotypes are formed around theses categories where many people make assumptions based upon how they are perceived in society; placing those in pigeonholes of what is expected or believed to be of the norm. Why is it that we must label people in these categories?

Racism is something in which is part of everyday life whether it’s done intentionally or unintentionally, but what difference does it make whether it is done unintentionally? Baird (2013) writes in her article about racial tolerance and makes a point about costume themed parties. How is it that society still has to deal with these stereotypical racial attitudes when it should have been something that we resolved a few decades ago? Brings up the question as to whether the issue will ever really be fully resolved?

As myself being a white Anglo-Saxon female, would I be considered a racist if I were to dress up as an African-American if the theme was as such, would this still apply if this was vice versa, myself being an African-American dressing up as a white female? Does the first scenario have more repercussion than does the second scenario? Based upon the history that delves back in terms of the social positions in society of the Africa-American’s, this is quite a delicate subject. How are we to implement some kind of action as to end or reduce these racial disputes from an educational perspective?

Where do we begin to implement racial concern into the schooling education sector? Each school may have a different approach as to another school based upon the students that attend the school; experimentation will be the key to success. Parks (1999) mentions that to reduce the effects of racism in schools, there must be changes made to the overall curriculum, addressing concerns of enhancing ethnicity and cultural diversity of the students by attending to those such cultural methods of learning and creating an overall competent learning environment for all students (p.16). The aim of this program will be to shift the focus from racial division to racial equality, valuing those differences between each racial group. 

As a nation we are made up of a diverse multicultural society, where our differences are what we have in common. If we were to build a bridge to resolve these issues would this actually achieve anything? By resolving these issues what would we have to implement and how will we get everyone amongst this? Can only educate society about these issues and raise an awareness, it’s not something that we can push on society. This is dependent upon the individual as to what their choice may be. Regardless of whether or not we integrate as a whole multicultural society there will still be barriers of difference encountered where clash amongst different racial groups will occur based on our categories of difference.

Resources

Baird, J. (2013). Racial tolerance begins in Parliament, The Sydney Morning Herald, 26 October, <http://www.smh.com.au/comment/racial-tolerance-begins-in-parliament-20131025-2w6p2.html>.

Park, S. (1999). Reducing the effects of racism in schools, Educational Leadership, April, ProQuest Central, p. 16.

Fozdar, F, Wilding & Hawkins, M. (2009). Race and Ethnic Relations, Oxford University Press, p. 180-181. 

Male Privilege

Growing up, girls and young women are told that they can aspire to have it all-a good paying full time job, a household, babies, a successful relationship and look great to boot. However, while this  all sounds good and dandy, as a realist, I’m not sure it will be possible (at least not easily). Once the rose tinted glasses are taken off, reality hits you right between the eyes. More often than not, as a woman you have to make concessions and choose between one thing or another. I never really considered the idea of male priviledge until I recently read that Drew Barrymore said some of the most controversial words a woman can hear these days, “Women can’t have it all. I was raised in that generation of ‘women can have it all,’ and I don’t think you can. I think some things fall off the table.” At first I thought ‘What? Of course we can, because we’re women and women can do whatever we want! Isn’t that the whole point of the feminist movement and progress?’  But, in reality, over 80% of women realize that it is impossible to have it all without making sacrifices, as Drew realized and had to make career changes for her new child.

There is a conflicting message being sent to women. For so many years we have been and are still being told we can have it all, but now some women are beginning to realize that’s not possible.

Despite mobilising and advancing women, some criticise the feminist movement of the 1960s-70s for leading women to blame themselves “if they cannot manage to rise up the ladder as fast as men and also have a family.” (Slaughter, 2012). I argue however, that it’s too easy, too simplistic to issue blame on feminism and not consider male privilege and our current patriarchal society. McIntosh  speaks of unacknowledged male privilege and how men “gain from women’s disadvantages.” (1988, p.1).  

Male privilege has allowed men to exceed in the work force, which Henry (2012) refers to a “corporate apartheid” of the sexes. Gender apartheid according to Henry reinforces the idea that men are superior to women, they hold positions of power, “makes all the decisions about how other groups live and work, and distributes employment opportunities”. In the work force, particularly in the corporate field, women watch  “less educated, less qualified men get promoted” ahead of them (Henry, 2012). As a woman studying to be a teacher, hoping to be successful in my chosen future career, I’m angry and frustrated by this prospect. While there are more female teachers than male, it is the males that hold higher positions in the educational system. Am I setting myself up for disappointment?  Feminism has pushed ideas of gender equality and freedom to the forefront. Introduction of legislation such as the Sex Discrimination Act (1984), the Human Rights and Equality Opportunity Act (1986) and the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act (1999) coupled with education is thought to have improved opportunities for women in the workplace (Henry 2012). However, these ideals have yet to be truly “realised in practice” claims Fraser (2009). 

This comes back to male privilege and the importance of acknowledgment. McIntosh states that men deny or are unwilling to recognise how male privilege and hegemony has “opened doors for them personally…over [empowering] them as a group.” (1988, p.3). Women fear that they will be passed over senior positions if they fall pregnant or because of their young families – men don’t share this fear. Thus, in order to “redesign social systems” (McIntosh, 1988, p. 18), men must acknowledge this privilege and be willing to “give up some of their power.” (1988, p. 2). I think for instance, having paid paternity leave is a good example of recognising male privilege and where men have to “give up” certain entitlements. Paid paternity leave could allow women to enter the work force sooner and perhaps avoid demotion.    At school I had very inspirational female teachers, advising me aim high and never to compromise my dreams. I acknowledge however, that change in mentality and beliefs needs to be “translated into structural, institutional change” (Fraser, 2009, p.99) and we need to enlist men in this struggle. 

References

Fraser, N. (2009). Feminism, Capitalism and the Cunning of History. New Left Review 56, 97-117.

Henry. A. (2012, September 26). Corporate apartheid: a tale of two sexes. Brisbane Times. Retrieved from:http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/corporate-apartheid-a-tale-of-two-sexes-20120925-26j7y.html

McIntosh, P. (1988). White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming To See Correspondences through Work in Women's Studies. Working Paper No. 189. Center for Research on Women, Wellsley College, 1-20. Retrived from: www.iub.edu/~tchsotl/part2/McIntosh%20White%20Privilege.pdf

Slaughter, A. (2012, July/August). Why women still can’t have it all. The Atlantic. Retrived from: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/07/why-women-still-cant-have-it-all/309020/?single_page=true#