HSBurke's blog

Through our upcoming visit to the high school, I'm hoping to expand my ideas of what a typical public (albeit specially selective) high school looks like. Because my own school was very unique -- predominantly Asian/Troy Tech IB program -- I look forward to seeing and experiencing a different atmosphere. Along this same vein, I think that the students' attitude here will be different than those back home, and I have some questions. How do they percieve the education they are getting versus what their friends have at other schools? Where is college on their radar? Is it something that everyone is working toward to just a select few? What do they like best about the high school that is unique to their school? Do they feel like this should be implemented at other schools? And finally I would like to see their impressions of us. What they expected from us and whether we met those expectations. 

While I have a lot to take from the students, I'd also like to give them some background into my own educational experience. If I am asked to delve into my own high school experience, I will admit that it was a priveledged one filled with many opportunities to grow. However, I will also touch on the fact that it had its faults, and those faults ended up being a downer on my four years. I hope that I don't see those same issues within the high school, and then I can convey how comforting it is to me to be in a highschool enviroment like that. 

What determines the answer to this question is whether we all have equal access to education, and the answer to that is no. It is impossible for education to level the playing field if not everyone has an equal chance to get there. I like to think of the SAT as an easier way to explain how access can be a hindrance to the possible equalizing effects of an education.

The SAT can be seen as a sort of microcosm of access and equal opportunity in the education system. The most accurate indicator of a student’s SAT scores the family’s income bracket. This means that if someone has enough money to pay for an SAT tutor, it is likely that he/she will score higher than a student who could not afford help.  In the long run, the student with a better score – and the bigger bank account -- has a higher chance of being accepted to college. The word “standardized” in SAT suggests that scores are an accurate representation of the intelligence of the students who earn them. However, as we can see from the example, this is not the case. Because test outcomes can be changed based on financial ability to pay for a tutor, the SAT is not a level playing field for students, although it is advertised as such.

To use Bryn Mawr as another example, while we as Mawrters are extremely lucky to be here, not everyone can attain a liberal arts education. This may be to due to monetary, social or personal factors; but either way, if all the players don’t have access to the field, how can the game be fair?

After my conference with Anne today, I realized that I tend to overgeneralize things in my writing, trying to make them applicable to a whole group of people because I thought this was the only way to be analytical. Who am I to say that my own personal experience doesn't help prove that a theory is valid. Where before I was scared to use the word "I" in my writing, I am now truly using my own personal experience to help support a text (yay, Dewey!). It's also a lot easier for my to write just because I don't have to change my experience to try and fit into something that I think the rest of the class has experienced, too. So sorry guys if I was unintentionally putting thoughts into your head in my writing, it won't happen again! 

Hayley 

Hey guys, I've seen this ad in the newspaper and I think it looks interesting every time, so I'm here to share. NYT is putting together 400 world leaders in education to have a debate/discussion on the importance of technology in education. This is the first year that it has happened and it's a very interesting and informative talk. 

It's a live stream, and it will be going on until about 6:15 tonight, so try and catch a bit. 

Here's the link: http://nytschoolsfortomorrow.com/

 "Despite having every opportunity to grow and excel in my rigorous academic studies, now that I am away from this environment, the lesson that has stuck with me the most was the education I wasn’t receiving. Now that I’ve arrived at Bryn Mawr and become exposed to the diverse viewpoints and backgrounds of my peers, my awareness of how cloistered my high-school experience was has increased ten-fold. The most important part in my journey towards higher education was realizing that school work isn’t that only type of education that is important to attain.  My access to education was colored by the fact that now I realize my past schooling experience wasn’t without its faults. In this essay, I will mainly be speaking about academic education as it provides an avenue toward social, physical and emotional education. Through our progression into higher education and experiences within classroom environments, our increased academic development provides access to continued growth socially, mentally and physically."

Sorry the picture is sideways, but here it is! Also, I changed my username, but this is Hayley. 

After writing my education autobiography, I realized that my feelings toward high school are stronger than I had previously thought. I received a very rigorous academic education, but the lessons that stuck with me are actually what I learned on a social level. My experience had less to do with class, and more to do with competition and the actions of my fellow students. While I've realized that this education had a negative effect on me overall, I am now able to look into my future at Bryn Mawr in a positive way, because I know that what is to come will be better that what has happened in the past. 

I'm not sure if this is where we are supposed to introdice ourselves but I guess I'll go ahead. My name is Hayley Burke and I grew up in the town of Chino Hills, outside Orange County. My primary education was what I would describe as normal, but I attended a magnet high school where people travelled for up to an hour and a half each day just to get to class. Although it was difficult, high school is where I realized that I wanted to become a social worker and where I could particpate in programs that would help me on my way. Just a fun fact: I have really crazy knees that actually bow quite a bit backward when I stand.