Thought's on Boyce, Large, Gilyard, and Aronson

-Jerry Large has some very interesting points in his article. He found that students that were very academically stressed in middle school did not do as well when they got to high school. He believes that middle school is prime time for building character, but the character needs to be developed at school, not outside of school.  At KIPP academy the students were under so much stress because of the possibility of failing that they really didn’t focus on building the traits and building character. At Riverdale high school the students worked hard, but they were more successful later on because of their comfort in middle school.  He thinks teaching at home is the most important, that is where the learning, and growing start.

-Keith Gilyard writes about how humanities courses greatly affect how the student does in school, and later in life. Humanities classes are extremely important when building character and personality. If students don’t know how to deal with real life situations, how will they survive when they grow up and start working a job and living on their own? Being able to communicate with your classmates and let your creative side free is important

-Barry Boyce’s article talks about how humanities classes should be required at schools. It gives students a chance to take a break from their day, and focus on communicating with their peers. Barry Boyce thinks every student needs to be able to cope with their emotions, and find peace within themselves.  “Mindfulness is not just a series of practical techniques. It helps us have the ethical character we need to live in the world. It carries with it a world view of not harming others”. He thinks working with the student’s parents to also improve the student’s life at home is also important to the student’s success.

-Deb Aronson’s article was the most interesting to me. She talks about how the program she started, The Mexican American Studies Program was banned by the government a couple of years ago. The program focused specifically on educating blacks and Latinos effectively. She used many articles and books by Chicano authors, and as a result the students were extremely successful. 97% of the students participating in the program graduated high school, and 70% went on to college.  Even though the program was a major success it got shut down because it was said to be plotting against the government. Just as the black and Latino youth start to get more educated, the government gets scared and shuts the program down. The point of the article is that the government controls everything that schools teach. If the lessons are geared towards certain individuals, it is simply unacceptable.