Lexi Valcourt - Blog 6

In regards to the topic of streaming, while I agree streaming is beneficial for children displaying academic “promise”, these abilities are not always visible. The chapter writes that “recent immigrant youth may also be placed in lower tracks due to their English language skills, rather than their overall academic ability” (168) Also, those who are not streamed into higher academic groupings can suffer from low self-esteem and lack of motivation. Working for the Manitoba School Improvement Program at Gordon Bell High School, I worked with kids who would be seen as being streamed into the “lower tracks”. These students are newcomers to Canada and have limited English, if any, and are usually bilingual or even trilingual in many cases due to the many dialects and languages spoken in their respective countries. These are some of the most intelligent, creative, and motivated students I have ever met. And to think that they would be streamed into “lower tracks,” I believe would be unfortunate. I believe we need to only stream children when it is benefits both them and the other students in the school.

On page 165, it reads that socialization and the essential features of schools “frame behaviours in a manner such that they produce obedience to authority.” Even though this sounds quite awful, I think it is necessary in that to actually teach and learn in the classroom for both yourself and your students, order needs to be maintained to produce an environment which is conducive to this learning. Perhaps the part where it states “schools that frame behaviours in a manner such that they produce obedience to authority” could be viewed as framing behaviours in a manner which encourages mutual respect between the teacher and students and between students as well. Lastly, the chapter summarized how socialization in the schooling process works to encourage the “ongoing process of learning the expected behaviours, values, norms, and social skills of individuals who occupy particular roles in society” (161) Primary and secondary socialization through the systems interaction with each other is the grand outcome of the socialization of children in schools today.

Discussion Question: What do you think you think of streaming in high schools?