Reflective Essay In Education Template (Page 4 of 9) in pdf

Reflective Essay In Education Template Page 4

SERVICE LEARNING: ERIC

was the faculty’s collective assumption that high school was not

the end of a student’s career. The fact that teachers talk with

students about what will be expected when (not if) they go to

college is significant. That kind of positive language, which I

heard many times at Waverly, most certainly affects students’

sense of themselves as achievers. In this case, Eric was not

Gibson analyzes

her evidence to

preoccupied with worrying about whether he wanted to go to

draw a broader

conclusion.

college or would be accepted; rather, he mentally prepared

himself for the time when he would actually enroll.

According to education researcher Jean Anyon (1981),

This section bridges

academic theory

“Students from higher social class backgrounds may be exposed

and personal

experience.

to legal, medical, or managerial knowledge . . . while those of

the working classes may be offered a more ‘practical’ curriculum”

(p. 5). I do not see this gravitation toward social reproduction

holding true for most students at Waverly High School. Waverly’s

student body is a mix of social classes, yet the school’s

philosophy is to push each of its students to consider college.

Through its curriculum, its guidance department literature,

and its opportunities for career field trips, Waverly is opening

doors for all of its students. In Eric’s case, I also observed the

beginnings of a break in social reproduction. From the start of

our tutoring sessions, Eric frequently mentioned that neither of

his parents went to college (Gibson, journal entry, March 14,

2006). This made me wonder how his parents talk to him about

college. Is the desire to go to college something they have

instilled in him? Have they given him the message that if he

works hard and goes to college he will be successful? If that is

Source: Hacker Handbooks (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011, 2007).

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