What does it mean to be a good student? There are many answers to this question, but what is the true standard of good students that society has set, and how has history impacted the idea of a good student? As well, who benefits from these good student standards?
So, how does society’s common sense impact the ideas of good students? Through Kumanshiro’s (2009) story of M, it is revealed that good students in society are ones who listen, make teachers’ lives easier, and follow the general norms of society. This idea of a good student is the standard from society, shaped by many aspects of history, religion, and time. In Painter (1886), this is much different because a good student is (to put the words bluntly) someone who is a wealthy White individual. Painter (1886) even states that some things are just “ … a blessing reserved for the hardier children of the West” while comparing different nationalities (1886, p. 20). By today’s standards, Painter’s ideas are wrong because education serves everyone. Even Kumanshiro’s story of a good student in today’s society is something to critique. These two ideas from Painter and Kumanshiro are even reminiscent of each other due to values in Christianity being present in Kumanshiro’s display of society’s standards and Painter’s aim of “ … a noble [manhood], whose highest exemplification, the ideal of all, is Christ” (Painter, 1886, p.2). From all this, society requires students to listen, conform, and be productive. This is not the complete idea of education, and if these core values are present in the hidden curriculum, it is still teaching similar ideas to Painter’s ideas in 1886.
Speaking of Christ, how do religious and historical factors impact the idea and common sense of a good student? The good student is shaped by historical factors because history shapes the acceptability of society, which means schools want to see and produce students that will conform and do well in society. If students are not able to completely conform, they will not be perceived as good students. Furthermore, society has historically been influenced by Christianity in European history, and European history is a part of Canadian history due to large amounts of immigration from Europeans with Christian values. As well, this is apparent whenever we compare Painter’s and Kumanshiro’s pieces because Christian values are still implicit in the meaning of a good person which would translate to being a good student. Kumanshiro (2009) spoke about the story of M and how M would not listen or do activities as they were supposed to, and other teachers would even “laugh in sympathy” (Kumanshiro, 2009, p. 19). In direct comparison, Painter had similar expectations and goals to today’s society: “Implicit obedience has to be the first lesson for the child” (Painter, 1886, p. ix). It was also a goal to “ … train the child into habits of conformity to the current religious view” (Painter, 1886, pp. vii-viii). These goals seem particularly close. This leads me to believe that society has slowly built away from this exact system of religion in schools, but still has the core values present.
How does this historical impact and implicit society’s acceptance of Christian values in a good student affect learners? The most obvious impact is that students of White background who hold Christian values will be seen as good students. The students who do not fall into this category will have a much harder time being perceived as good students, which might poorly affect their grades, development, and outlook on learning. Students do not deserve this unequal implicit barrier, so educators need to be conscious of this impact from religion, history, and societal standards to allow all students to learn as they deserve.
References
Kumashiro, K. K. (2009). Against Common Sense: Teaching and Learning Toward Social Justice. (Revised ed.). Routledge.
Painter, F. V. N. (1886). The International Education Series: A History of Education (W. T. Harris, ed.; Vol. 2). D. Appleton and Company. https://archive.org/details/historyofeducati00painiala/page/n9/mode/2up
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