Dissertation: notes 4

Hey Readers,

I finished reading Denise Clark Pope's book, Doing School: How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed Out, Materialistic, and Miseducated Students (2001).  Overall it's a quick read.  The 1st chapter is a profile of a high school, and chapters 2-6 are student profiles/ethnographies.  The last chapter is Pope's summary and analysis. 

Pope argues that the US school system's emphasis on high grades may be "promoting deception, hostility, and anxiety" in students.  For students to cope with high expectations, they learn to use various techniques: establishing allies and treaties, multitasking, cheating, and bursting in sporadic anger (150).  These frustrated students would fall in the "grade trap," which according to Pope, was the belief that high grades resulted in future success (153).  However those who fell into this trap, most likely ended up stressed, burnt out, and disengaged ( from genuine learning ).

If students were to make it out of high school and enter college, most are convinced that life inside and outside academia ( the "real world" ) is all quantifiable.  The problem arises, however, when these students encounter situations that are not easily quantifiable: situations that are not simplified ( for example, the notion of writing as a process ).  What happens then when these students' old techniques of coping fail them? How will they fare when they encounter a grey world that is not as clear-cut as black and white?

Prior to reading this book, I thought that students were being too serious when they focused solely on getting the high grade.  They were so serious that rather than playing the game, the game played them.  In most games, players learn the rules and bend/break them.  Their play is a type of exploration and rehearsal that enables them to practice without fear of consequences.  Playing the game of "school" on the other hand ( as observed by Pope ) becomes a way of conformity: learning the rules in order to operate within its confines.  This type of play is more like evasion and avoidance with fear of failing to meet status quo.  Students, who don't conform to this game, face the consequence of a low or failing grade and its concomittant effects of shame.