Melissa Lambrecht - Blog 6

Blog 6: Socialization in the School Process

I would like to start this blog with an anecdotal experience, which I found myself considering when reading the section on the dimensions of socialization. The texts defines "behavioural conformity as a type of self-regulation of the body that a student must control in order to fit into the school environment" (163). This requires students to sit quietly during lessons and raise their hand if they want to ask a question. I do not remember the experience I describe below, but have been told by my mother, who still remains outraged by the events that took place one day when I was in pre-kindergarten. I was a chatty child and was excited about learning everything I can. As my mother describes it, I drove my teacher nuts with my chatter to the point where she actually duct taped my mouth shut to keep me quiet.   When my mother came to pick me up and saw that tape still stuck to my face, she quickly withdrew me from the school. (This was in 1992). Another example when I was a social deviant, was in grade 2 when I did not conform to the classroom expectations of sitting quietly at my desk. My teacher had written in my report card that I was "a good student but that I talked to much in class and therefore was disruptive to others." After being punished by my parents for these report comments I learned very quickly to behaviourally conform to my teachers expectations.

Another section of this chapter that relates to my experiences was on streaming in education. The text describes streaming as "the series of courses a student should take that best matches his or her abilities and aptitudes" (167). This is typically applied by splitting students into ability groupings. When I was in high school I was placed in several advanced course that were aimed to challenge me. However, based on Boudon discussion of secondary effects on educational attainment I would argue that my educational attainments had little to do with the influence of my family. The text suggests "that a major influence on course selection comes from parental education and... [whether] parents had post-secondary qualifications" (169). In my case, neither of my parents attended post-secondary education (my father's formal education ended in grade 8). Of course, I am in no way suggesting that I am in any way the only exception to this (or special) but wanted to point out that there are cases of resistant children that strive for and value higher education. That being said, I would also like to state that while I took english and science honours classes and pre-calculus in high school, because I was told if I wanted to go to university I had to take pre-calculus, I feel that I missed out on valuable aspects of mathematics that were only offered in consumer math (the students in my high school called it "dummy math"). In my adult life I have found it difficult to understand how income tax system works exactly and feel that aspects of consumer math, such as personal banking and finances, should have been taught to all students.

Discussion Question:
When considering the positives and negatives of streaming in schools, do you believe that students should continued to be streamed based on academic abilities?