Krista - Blog 6

Chapter 6 this week discussed different aspects/components of socialization in school. Socialization starts off with two major types: primary socialization, which occurs at home and within the family, and secondary socialization, which occurs in social institutions like school (161).

I think almost everyone has commented on the concept of streaming, which is when students are placed or “recommended” to take certain courses/classes based on their ability and capacity to learn. I think this is a very dangerous turf to step onto as educators. I was definitely a product of streaming in high school and I can attest to the disappointment of not being able to take a course that I was interested in, and that I blame the pitfalls of me being so insecure when it comes to taking math. I honestly believe that had I been able to choose to take pre-calculus math as opposed to consumer/applied math, I probably would have been more confident because I would have taken a math that I would be interested in and struggled through because it would’ve been a choice *I* would have been able to make! I also remember being teased in high school because I was in the “easy” math. If I remember correctly, consumer math was not at all “easy”, and in fact, I barely passed that class with a 52%. I graduated high school not passionate about what I just learned in consumer math and to this day, I still cannot calculate mortgages or my taxes. I get professionals to assist me and I struggled through Applied Finite Math two years ago with the help of a tutor. I ended up with a B+ as my final grade. I think streaming is playing with fire, especially when it concerns the self-esteem of our students.

I remember dress codes being another “first world problem” in school. In fact, if I remember correctly, I was sent home because I came to school wearing the same pants three days in a row. I had these blue flared jeans with sparkles and a fancy design on the butt, and I guess one of the resource teachers noticed that and asked me if I wore them the previous day. I was hesitant to tell her, so she grabbed my arm and said, “Come with me. We’re calling your parents!!” This was a memory that I remember that was sort of traumatic for me. It’s not that my parents were poor and couldn’t afford laundry. I was just a lazy teenager who didn’t feel like dressing up in the morning, haha. I could go into a whole rant about what I think about dress codes, but my main argument is, if it covers your boobs and your butt, I’m not going to worry about it. I get that our summers can be hot, but as an early years teacher, I don’t think I would need to worry about dress codes unless I was in a K-8 school where there are girls developing in there, and I mean, they would have to be dressed really poorly for me to even give it a second thought.

Question: The textbook talks about peer victimization and rejection (185). How can we, as educators, make ourselves more aware of these two problems in school and ensure that our students don't fall victim to these problems?