Good is what many individuals aspire to be because society has made it the norm to be good, and if you aren’t good then you are an outlier or do not fit in. There is a lot of pressure for kids growing up to be the stereotypical “good” that society stresses so much. Good students are the students who do not cause trouble or are the perfect student who does not cause modifications to the way teachers teach the curriculum. However, if a student learns slower this does not mean that they are not good, it just means that they learn differently. The perfect good student is not realistic whatsoever. The majority of students are not going to be the ideal perfect good student they are going to be unique and all different. Students have many different factors that shape who they are, and as future teachers, we need to recognize that everyone has different lives inside and outside of school.
Kumoshiro’s story shows the way that a student can be a bad student and showing the example of this bad student shows what a good student would look like. The historical facts of what a good student is reflects and can closely relate to what the opposite of the student in Kumoshiro’s story is. History shows that students who are quiet and quick learners are the good students that become successful and really do not seem to care about students who do not have these “good” characteristics. Teachers favor students who have these good characteristics and seem to like them more. This is a privilege for the students who are good because having the teacher favor you can lead to more benefits and opportunities.
In the Painter reading the author talks about knowledge is important for the mind like food is important for the body. This is true knowledge is important but not everyone will be able to obtain this knowledge the same way or in the same timeline. I want to emphasize this because it is important to not treat students like they are not good enough if they are not the stereotypical good student.