Field Work Essay Example For Students

Field Work Essay For my field work project, I chose to do an observation of a public high school and a private high school. The schools I decided to observe were Tottenville Public High School and The Francis School, both of which are located in demographically similar neighborhoods. The purpose for choosing two schools with similar characteristics was to have schools with equal social and economical factors encompassing them. This, I felt would make my findings unbiased within the scope of the project. My rationale for choosing this was to comparatively analyze the differences and similarities between both of the schools, and also to see just how true the stereotype is that private schools are better than public schools. My first visit was to the Francis School, one of the most distinguishable schools I have ever visited. The school, attended by a mere 200 students, ranged from grades 9-12. It was very clean and freshly painted. When I first walked in the front door of the school, I noticed a large, beautiful mural of the ocean and a lighthouse with what I later learned was the school motto Create the Vision worded across it. I then met with the principal, who informed me about the school. I learned that this school consisted primarily of under-achieving students. Most of the parents chose to send their children there because of their sub-par performance at their prior public school. For a school made up of primarily underachievers, oddly enough, 43 of 44 of last years graduates went on to pursue their post-secondary studies. Comparatively, that is a much higher percentage than the 60% of Tottenville graduates who went on to college last year. What is it that is making this school more successful aca demically? I asked the principal, who taught for 20 years in public school, what she thought made her school different and, if anything, better than public school. She said there is only one difference and that is control. She explained that they had a greater amount of control on many different levels that public schools do not. The private school has the right to control who stays in the school and who is expelled for failure to adhere to its guidelines. This is not the case in public schools. Another area of control was the fact that the principal as well as all of the staff were required to know every student on a personal level. Because the school is so small, it is easier to regulate what is going on with all of the students as a group as well as on a personal level. She said you can pick any student randomly when the bell rings and I or any other staff member could tell you who they are, what grade they are in, what their family life is like, what their strong qualities are a s well as what their week qualities are and how well their grades are. Because of the abundance of students in public schools, this type of control is virtually impossible. This particular type of control to me also allows for a holistic approach to education which I will later discuss. She also explained that in her school there is more control over the lesson plans than there are in public school. For instance, if there is something major going on in the media that they feel is important, the teacher will discuss it with the class. The teacher has more freedom to deviate from the planned lesson. In a public school teachers are not given this type of freedom because their curriculum is regimented. Another important area of regulation, one which I never thought of before was the control of hiring and firing teachers. If a teacher is not doing that great of a job and is not getting through to the students, they let the teacher go. This is not as easy to accomplish in public schools. The teachers in this school are also given performance-related raises unlike public school where their are standard salaries for teachers at certain levels. Performance is not valued in the public-school pay scale she explained. I found this to be very interesting, because not only do the students have to succeed, but so do the teachers. This idea to me put the teachers as well as students on a more equal level. This level of control allowed for a holistic approach to teaching which I will later discuss.. After my discussion with the principal, she took me on a tour of the school while classes were in session. Of all the classes I peeked in on there were no more than 20 students in any of them. There were no playing fields, sports teams and no technical labs except for one computer lab. It didnt seem to me by appearance to be the most exciting learning environment. The bell rang and students came shuffling out of class going to the next laughing, yelling and disorderly. With the exception of uniforms, the students seemed and acted like any other public school students. Transformational acting EssayNow here you have a school with unlimited resources for preparing students for future careers, but lacking the capabilities of unleashing each students spirit. Without a focus on the heart and soul it seems these resources are useless. Because of the control the Francis School has in many areas, it makes it easier to focus more on the heart and soul of each student, something Tottenville as well as public schools in general are neglecting.. I am not trying to say that hands on experience is not important in education, but from my experience here I am learning that when a student is encouraged to put their heart into something, the rest will fall into place. Like something as simple as the girls working with the principal on ordering the teddy bears. These girls were not involved in a business class and did not have this high tech vocational business lab like Tottenville, yet with some encouragement and teamwork they acquired the necessary business skill s. This project started as a goal within their hearts and then trickled down to using their heads for the business decisions and received hands on experience for the procedure of purchasing. They did not need a lab to gain this type of experience. This leads me to believe if you encourage students to put their heart into something, they are more than likely to give it their best effort. Either way they learn something from the experience. Although you cant make a student enjoy every class and everything theyre required to learn, if you encourage them to create their vision, they will do whatever it takes to get there. Even if it means succeeding in classes that are preliminary to their achieving their goal. Gaining control by knowing each student as an individual is possible to obtain in a public school setting. I believe this is the most important approach to a successful education. I will apply this lesson when I myself will be teaching in a public school. I will make it my every mission to give individual attention to all of my students. Although I will have a lot more students, and this task will be difficult, it will not be impossible. It will just take more time and work. I will make every effort to focus on encouraging all of my students to ?create the vision?. Education Essays