Outline
Educational funding is an issue that has been sought to be addressed by the various activists; most of these people have different views on how the same impacts the success and future of the students. It has been observed that the standards of education mostly in public schools have continued to deteriorate. This has made the parents, especially those of the white race transfer their children to private schools with the hope that they will perform better. This has further led to intensified negligence of these schools with an external pressure on them to conform to a certain system. Unless such issues are adequately addressed and the necessary changes are made, the quality will deteriorate further.
Memes concept
Memes, according to Dawkins have been described as cultural units that are able to replicate into other productive units. The name was derived from a French word meme which may translate to something that can be remembered and transmitted from generation to generation. Examples of memes may therefore include; different fashions of cloth, tunes, making articles such as pots, ideas, sayings and proverbs to mention but a few. Memes are considered to be the original or traditional way of doing things that are transferred from one generation to the other. According to Dawkins, there is nothing new that is being invented (Dawkins, 2006). Everything that is coming up is just a new form of what was once into existence. The old ideas usually come as new ideas after the mind has received a certain kind of stimuli. The stimulus comes when there is need for a certain change due to the environmental factors.
One approval of this fact is that artists, poets and songwriters are usually inspired by the ideas in their minds. They have to pay attention to what their minds are manufacturing for them to come up with a piece that will probably inspire many more people. Most of these inspirations are usually a reminder of what happened in the past. The only difference here is usually the style of presentation that has to be adjusted to fit the current environment.
Meme has been identified to replicate just the same way the genes do. It is transferred through biological means where the child inherits from the parent and so forth. It is probably the reason why the children of singers will become singers at certain stage, those of doctors to be doctors and so forth. However this is not basically the way meme survives, it may also survive through inspiration where a certain happening will inspire the others through it. An example of this can be related to the earlier Christians that were martyred strengthened the Christian faith. Meme’s ability to replicate is determined by how accepted and appreciated it is by the others rather than the owners. When it is appreciated and accepted it will be replicated into many more different forms and vice versa. It therefore doesn’t matter whether something has a positive or a negative impact; its ability to spread depends on its acceptability.
In as much as the meme may not be up to our current standards we need to apply them for the product to have taste. Memes, just like genes, are invisible and are transferred through mediums that can not be eradicated. These mediums include songs, sayings, books, our minds and so forth.
Kozol’s concept
Jonathan Kozol is an educational activist who insists on the importance of providing equal opportunities for education to all children. Through the written materials and the lectures, he insists that the standards of education have continued to deteriorate due to the unequal opportunities in schools. The systems of education have also changed so much and the kind of education being offered to the children is more of quantity than quality.
One of the issues affecting schools is being condemned by Kozol is segregation. He observes that what used to happen in the earlier years has resurfaced; most urban public schools have been left to the Latinos and the black students with a very small percentage of the white people. The reason for this happening is the substandard facilities that the schools offer. The schools have been extremely neglected by the government that the white shy from taking their children there. In order to accommodate such students the government needs to invest funds to adequately equip these schools.
Education funding has largely been left under the control of the local authority rather than the federal government. It has been difficult for the schools to access adequate facilities through such an initiative due to the different needs of the states. The funds distributed to these states have also not been equal thus affecting development activities. Kozol suggests that the federal government takes on the full responsibility of funding schools so that they can know how much funds are required to fund each school. Kozol in his book supports an amendment to be done in the current constitution where all students will receive equitable funding from the government.
Current schools are more concerned about the children getting higher scores than having the practical knowledge. This has gone to such extent that the schools that have not recorded a high performance for their pupils in examination, hire companies so that they can provide an examination passing tuition to their students. The teachers are now spending most of their school time drilling the kids to make them score higher marks.
The other challenge that has faced the schools with poor children is that the teachers and the principals are put under pressure to offer their students the education that has entry levels as their desires. Most of such pressure comes from the businessmen and companies. These tycoons mount the pressure on the school superintendents who pass it on to the principals and finally to the teachers.
The suburban schools on the other hand are free from such pressures. They aim at providing quality education to their students accordingly. The principals in the urban schools are forced to work against their principles and conform to the desires of these companies. Most of these principals take earlier retirements to escape pressure and also to protect their principles. Many of the graduates that are sent to such schools for practice, usually come back annoyed. They are put under the same pressure of training the student to pass rather than equip them with the basic knowledge. As such many give up on their teaching career simply because they can not conform to such pressure.
In as much as the teachers and the principals will get annoyed and even quit their jobs, the poor kids are the ones to bear the consequences. They are denied the chance to take up courses of their choice and instead take up what is dictated to them. This usually marks the beginning of discrimination in the job market and the general society. They may not have the ability to attend technical institutes as their counterparts in the suburban schools. This will in turn affect their ability to reason and take up challenging roles in future.
Kozol goes ahead to define the measures and means that can be employed by the principals and teachers of these schools to offer their students quality education. One of the ways he suggests is that when giving the tests to the students, the teacher needs not emphasize that the outcome of the results will determine how bright they are (Kozol, 2005). The principals should also ensure that the test exams do not interfere with the learning process. They should also avoid putting such pressure on the children to start preparing for their exams early and ignore other educational activities.
The principals and the teachers of these schools should not necessarily conform to the demands of these selfish individuals; after all they are defending the future of innocent beings. They ought to do everything in their capacity to ensure that the pupils are equipped with the knowledge that is going to be of benefit to their future. Forcing a kid to meet the immediate requirements of passing their tests and ignoring the fact that they will have to face bigger challenges that are beyond their tests is subjecting them to torture.
Comparing the two concepts
Meme and Kozol have different views of how the concept of education is evaluated. According to Kozol, it is what is planted in the minds of the children that will affect the general way of their future. In the meme concept it is what is inside an individual’s brain that is going to determine how far they go. Meme looks at the environmental factors as inspirational means that will stimulate an individual either to the positive or to the negative. Kozol strongly feels that the success and general conduct of an individual are affected by the environmental features that they are frequently exposed to. According to meme, it is the determination that an individual will have despite the environmental surroundings that will push him further.
In both concepts however the environmental influences play a major role in shaping a person’s future. Looking at this in relation to education funding is that the student, according to meme, is able to perform pretty well if they are meant to despite the kind of facilities that are available in the school. The facilities available and the environmental pressure are meant to inspire the pupil to work extra hard to achieve his targets. According to Kozol, no matter how much ambition that a kid has, the fulfillment of such depends on how and who molds them towards it (Kuhn, 1996). If the environment is not inspiring enough then such dreams will die and they will be forced to take up what comes their way.
Meme differs from Kozol and believes that once there is a dream or an ambition in somebody’s mind, it will remain to be there no matter what he is subjected to. Even though the dream may take a longer time than expected to be fulfilled, it will reach a certain point of life where the individual will have no alternative but to be subject to the pressures of his mind. When these two concepts are combined in a certain way, then the standards of education can be maintained no matter the environment of the student.
In achieving this, the principals of all schools especially those that are segregated need to stir up their pupils not to undermine themselves. They should not allow the dreams and ambitions that are planted deep with their students’ minds to be affected by the kind of facilities that are available in the school. With the help of their teachers they should in fact help the students identify the areas of their biggest interest and mold them accordingly. They should refuse to be part of those that dictate the future of their students just because of who they are.
One thing that the teachers should understand is that there is nothing as strong and important to their students as their dreams and what they desire to achieve. When they are given the chance and the motivation, they will always work hard towards achieving them. The obstacles at their lower levels of education are not necessarily going to hinder them from moving on (Kozol, 1991). They only need the assurance at such a tender age that they have the potentials to be what they desire. When they are fully grown and able to make decisions, such words will ring into their minds and they will surely strive for success.
By doing this, the teachers will discover that they are not only imparting wisdom to a single generation, but their words will be passed on to the other generations which will later change an entire society. When the principals encourage the environment by conforming to the pressures that will jeopardize their students in the name of them having no control, it means that they are more concerned about their well-being rather than fulfilling their obligation of providing quality education. What the school heads and teachers need to understand is that the future of their students is not in the hands of the tycoons or any other individual with selfish interests, it is up to them to understand what their students require and deliver it to them, ignoring the other demands.
The current approach to funding education as a paradigm
In the current society education has been viewed as an asset that needs funds to improve its standards. It is how much funds you invest in your child’s education that will determine their future success. This is the main reason why the parents that have an interest in their children’s education will take them to expensive schools because they believe that is where quality is. Those who cannot afford such kind of education simply take their children to other schools so that they may be equipped with the basic knowledge. Such an attitude has made the parents who can not afford expensive schools lose hope in their children’s capability, they see no need of instilling further confidence in them as their future is detected by the schools they attend.
To ensure fairness and the capability of these students to adequately compete with their counterparts, educational activists have insisted on the importance of the government funding the public schools to ensure that they enjoy similar facilities. One of the reasons why this may go further to improve the education standards is not merely the equipment. It is the confidence that will be instilled in the students that they have all it takes to succeed. The students in under-equipped schools may not be keen to succeed in their academics with the excuse that they are not well equipped.
Referring to memes concept, the potentials of an individual are inscribed deep within his mind yet he requires some external inspirations to put them into practice. When the schools are therefore adequately funded and equipped, it will make them more innovative. Even though the dreams will not completely die in the minds of the children in the under-equipped schools, they will remain dormant and may resurface at a future stage that may be rather too late (Heubert, 2000). By denying such students the facilities to excel, the country doesn’t know what they may be killing in terms of talent. A school is a place where the children get to realize their potentials and exercise their capabilities, when all the facilities required are available, then the students will exploit each and every one of them to realize their interests.
It is to be noted that the kind of funding for these schools should not necessarily be class-oriented. Most of the time, funding of schools emphasizes buying study books, writing materials, transport and meals for the children forgetting that that provides only a small portion of the student’s academic success. Success to the students should not be merely viewed at the school level. There is much more to a child’s success that goes beyond his or her class. A school is mainly a foundation that the life of a child is built on and it is this that will reflect the decisions he makes for his future.
Education funding should therefore include the facilities that are fundamental for the child’s mental and social growth. Facilities such as swimming pools, basketball pitches and the rest have been view by some schools as a luxury they may not be able to maintain, they fail to realize that such sporting activities may be the foundation of a child’s career life. With a diversity of activities around us, it is currently unrealistic to mainly focus on education as the basis of a child’s future success. Among the important features that ought to be provided to a student while in school is the confidence to face the challenges that come with life and equipping them for such challenges.
When funding schools for education the government should therefore consider all angles that will ensure they are adequately equipped for their future. The government should also ensure that they employ and equip the teachers on how to identify the capabilities in their students and provide them with the environment that will shape them accordingly. Interactive sessions like debates should also be encouraged in this paradigm to enable the students to have the ability to express themselves.
In conclusion, it can be suggested that it is the diligence of the concerned parties in providing the much-needed facilities for education that will determine the magnitude of the children’s success. The burden of funding education has been left entirely on the shoulders of the government. Those that give up on waiting for the government to improve such facilities will transfer their kids elsewhere not knowing that they can personally do something to improve them. Instead of leaving these schools at the mercy of a government that seems not to care, the parents should work hand in hand with the local communities to ensure that the needed facilities are provided. With such a joint determination, I believe the government will be challenged to make some contributions to it.
References
Dawkins R. (2006): The selfish gene: Oxford University Press.
Heubert J. (2000): Law and school reform: Yale University Press.
Kozol J. (1991): Savage inequalities: University of Michigan.
Kozol J. (2005): The shame of the nation: University of Michigan.
Kuhn S. (1996): The structure of scientific revolutions: University of Chicago Press.