Hannah Kennedy’s Blog: March 2025

Tuesday, March 25, 2025

Hannah Kennedy | FNED546

“First, there is empowering education, which leads to powerful literacy, the kind of literacy that leads to positions of power and authority. Second, there is domesticating education, which leads to functional literacy, literacy that makes a person productive and dependable, but not troublesome.”

I really like this quote because it divides the education into two types, empowering education and domestic education, empowering education and domesticating education. Empowering education is when students are given the tools to gain influence and power in the world. On the other hand, domesticating education is when students are given the tools to be obedient workers who don’t question authority. This goes hand in hand with Finn's beliefs about the education system. Finn believes that the education system creates more division between social classes, as he believes that wealthy people receive education that fosters leadership and control rather than the domesticated education that lower classes receive.

“We don’t worry about a literate working class because the kind of literacy they get doesn’t make them dangerous.”

This quote emphasizes the point I made in my previous explanation, that education prioritizes the wealthy class while disadvantaging the lower classes. According the Finn, the lower class is ignored because the education system doesn’t want them to excel in the same way they want the higher classes to excel. The higher class is given more opportunities and more tools to succeed, which makes them more successful. On the other hand, the lower classes are not given those same tools, which causes this division to continue in social classes. This quote highlights the inequality in the education system and how education can be used as a system of control. This upsets me because the education system should be supporting everyone equally, and shouldn’t be viewing people by their social class. As a teacher, I want to make sure I am aware of this.

“Teachers who see themselves as allies of their working-class students can help their students see that literacy and school knowledge could be potent weapons in their struggle for a better deal.”

I absolutely loved this quote because I feel like, as a future teacher, I really want to make a difference and change this cycle. This quote from Finn tells us that he believes that teachers are the ones who can change this cycle. Finn believes that if teachers challenge students with educational literacy and teach them to advocate for themselves instead of just teaching them how to read and write, we can encourage them to make a difference for themselves and those around them. I also like the school because it goes along with Finn’s idea that education should be used as a tool for change rather than just a place that perpetuates power structures. Overall, this quote makes me realize how big of a role teachers have in not only the education system, but in their students’ lives. I hope as a teacher, I can help foster a more equitable and equal educational society.

Great article for further reading on how to practice literacy attitude at home: https://markhampubliclibrary.ca/blogs/post/loveliteracy/

"Unquestioning deference to authority is the requirement and the expectation of schoolwhere adult directives replace children's own desires."

This quote highlights the idea that schools tend to prioritize obedience over children's creativity, autonomy, and curiosity. This is something we have talked about multiple times in class. This quote emphasizes the point that schools focus more on compliance within its students rather than teaching and encouraging independence, self-direction, and creativity. It is so evident that the educational system focuses on the wrong things, and it is so important that we change this. This seems to align with the main idea of the books theme, based on what I have read so far, that the educational system tends to marginalize the children that do not align with these rigid expectations. It also emphasizes the fact that children who do not follow these expectations are typically labeled as troublemakers and disobedient, which leads to more behavioral problems within the classroom.

"The child who deviates, who refuses to be-power like everybody else, may be telling us-loudly, visibly, and memorably-that the arrangements of our schools are harmful to human beings."

This quote follows up on the idea from the last quote that kids who do not follow the status quo of the educational system are typically labeled as troublemakers. This quote talks about how society should take the "troublemakers" as a sign that the current education system is harmful. Basically, when there is a "behavior student", I as an educator should look at the behavior and reflect on what deeper issues could be causing the behavior within the system. The education system is not "one size fits all", as every child is different and has different needs and aspirations. This quote is super important because it challenges the current practices within the education system, and challenges educators to think about how the system can be harmful to human beings (our students). Sometimes, children are not just disobedient, they are a sign of systemic harm.

"Thus, the withholding of education is a political tool used to maintain and ensure an economic and social underclass."

This quote is super important to what we have been learning in class. This quote emphasizes the idea that schools and educational systems give disproportionate discipline to marginalized communities and students of color. This eventually leads to long-term disadvantages both economically and socially. This can be extremely harmful to the educational system and communities everywhere and it is super important that this practice is recognized and changed. Basically, this quote is saying that education purposely does this as an educational tool to ensure that economic and social underclasses continue to exist. Overall, schools play a crucial role in racial and economic oppression, and there needs to be a change. The educational system should not be used as a political tool in any way.