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Education
Course Connections | Outside Connections
Education Beyond the Classroom
The novel begins with the Nevels family residing
in the Appalachia region of Kentucky during World War
II. Prior to the
onset of the War, the children
had all attended school in a one-room schoolhouse. As the war required for
all men in the region to either fight or work in factories, there soon became
no one to teach the children formally. Therefore, Gertie takes over the responsibility
of educating her children at home through the use of their school books as
well as the bible.
“That’s right,” Gertie said, pulling her closer. “You’re a goen to learn
to read good, real good.” And she went on, pointing to words. Sometimes,
after looking at the picture and whispering to herself, Cassie gave the right
answer, but more often she did not… “Mom, mebbe if you tried that sample primer
thet teacher give us-” (Arnow 95).
Throughout the course of reading the novel one gets a great sense of the amount
of education that the children gather through their experiences working with
adults. There is discussion of how the children had learned from their uncle
prior to his death in the war as well as what they have gathered from working
the farm with their mother and seeing their father working on repairing machinery.
Urban Education in The Dollmaker
When the family moves to Detroit in order to be with their father as he
works in a factory, the children start attending a public school i
n the
city. There they become one of 40 or 50 children in a classroom. While
at home they had always been one of many students in the classroom, in
the one-room schoolhouse the children all were at different stages of their
education and the older children would work with the younger ones, helping
them through their various lessons. In Detroit, their education involves
more sitting at their desks and listening to the teacher talk and try to
work with each of the students to figure out their individual needs. School
in Detroit lacks the support of the older children helping the younger
ones. Rather, it becomes a matter of survival, assuming that a certain
number of the children will fail. “ ‘Well, what is the matter? Did you
child fail to pass? A percentage do, you know’ (Arnow 332)”.
Limitations on Urban Education in The Dollmaker
The school system in Detroit works much like a factory does.
There are a large number of children working their way through the system,
attending
classes in shifts to teachers who
see them only as a number. While Cassie’s teacher is very aware of her needs
as a struggling reader, Reuben’s teacher seems to be unaware of who he actually
is, informing Gertie that he must learn to adjust to the system. Students
from different
cultures and countries, speaking a multitude of different
languages comprise
the student body. For many of the characters in the novel Detroit symbolized
modern progress, yet the children encounter many
dangers in simply getting to school. The children must all leave between
specified times in order to
be able to cross the street somewhat safely.
River of Earth: Conflict of Home Necessities and Academic Pursuits
In River of Earth one gets an excellent example of education at the home conflicting with a more formal education when the teacher at the schoolhouse the children attend wants them to all bring lamps and other objects to help get rid of bats. The father though of the protagonist does not agree with the termination of the bats from the schoolhouse as he feels they do provide services, such as eating bugs and flies that would otherwise bother people.
The children in River of Earth do not attend school for the entire book.
Schooling for them was not as it is now, where children are expected to attend.
The mother sends her sons to the school in order for them to read, almost
as if she’s preparing them for a better life through education. The reader
is very aware that the mother does not like the mining life and wishes for
a different way. She very much encourages her children to learn as much as
they can from the teacher. She believes that one should be able to spell
and read the objects they encounter in their everyday lives. Education in
this book seems almost to be a way of getting out of one life.
Storming Heaven: Class Dichotomies in Education
Rondal and his brother as very young boys begin working in the mines with their father. He wants them there, he says so that they can help him to work off his debt so that they can start making some money. The reader is inclined instead to believe that he likes them there for the company. While Rondal lives at home with his parents he attends a local one-room schoolhouse run by the mining company his father works for. It seems that a great deal of his education though comes through life experiences and interaction with the various adults around him. Rondal loses his opportunity for education when forced to work the mines with his father. He is able to later pursue it again thanks to living with C.J. and his family. When Rondal finishes high school and is encouraged to pursue higher education, he opts to return to the mines. Rondal believes that as the child of a miner he would be in a better position working in the mines to do good for the miners than as an outsider with a fancy degree.
Carrie’s brother is able to attend college because of his father’s wealth. Education throughout Storming Heaven acts as a luxury, something attainable only to those in a specific social class. Carrie attends nursing school in order to pursue a career after she convinces her brother to finance the education. While education in the novel appears to be luxury for men, as it applies only to those who can afford it, higher education for women is even a greater rarity.
Trilobites & The Salvation of Me: Education
as an Escape
Colly seems to have the intelligence and ability to attend college, but
cannot motivate himself to do so. His ex-girlfriend attends school in Florida
and dates a successful, educated man. It appears that she has managed to
make it outside of their small, Appalachian community. While Colly claims
that he would like to do the same and makes big plans for himself, he seems
to be disinterested in acting on them.
In the story “The Salvation of Me” the protagonist makes the honor society
in high school and then begins community college in the hopes of studying
journalism and going to Chicago. The protagonist has large plans for his
life involving leaving his community and getting on the radio. When his girlfriend
becomes pregnant, he seems to lose the dream he had had to get an education
and work on the radio and move to Chicago. Suddenly, he’s back at working
at the garage, with a raise and full-time position, seeming to be settled
into this lifestyle for real. It seems that when his dreams were challenged
he became complacent in the life he leads and backed down from the fight.
Cold Mountain: Education Beyond the Classroom
In Cold Mountain education exists in a multitude of forms. Ada and her father are possibly the only two main characters who have received formal education. For Ada, that is quite revolutionary as during the Civil War women did not attain the education she has had. Ada is taught through school, private tutors and her father. She learns a great deal from her father’s books and her studies of nature.
Meanwhile, Ruby has probably never attended a formal school. She most likely never even went to a local schoolhouse as her father had no academic ambition for her. Yet, Ruby learned as much as she could from the world around her. She studied nature from her adventures in the woods and learned from experience. Ruby enjoys knowing the oldest people in the community as she believes that they have the most to teach her. Ruby seems to devour the knowledge passed on by other people. While Ruby uses things in life, Ada appreciates them. This relationship allows for Ada to share with Ruby the books that she loves as well as the lessons she has acquired in school.
Conclusion from Course Connections:
All of these stories seem to imply that for those without money, education was attainable, yet difficult for many in Appalachia. Education offered one of the few legitimate ways out of the region, but many never took advantage of it, choosing instead to stay behind and lead a different life. It seems that in Appalachia common problems facing education are funds, lack of teachers and the need for children to often be helping their parents with their work. For many of the children in Appalachia, it would seem as though education in the home is value just as much as education in the school.
Traditional School Systems in Appalachia
Formal education in much of Appalachian region through the elementary and
secondary years during the World War II era and before seems to have been
comprised of either a one-room schoolhouse or home-schooling. For the areas
with the resources where there were multiple racial ethnicities residing,
different schools were built for students depending on their racial background.
“Their (African-Americans) school was made of rock, where ours was wood.
They didn’t have but just one teacher in the school where we had eight. They
just went to the sixth grade where the country white school went to the eigth
(Gitlin 70).”
Educational resources available were also dependent on the type of community. For example, mining towns were different from normal communities in that the miners were paid with a sort-of monetary coupon that could only be used at their community stores. Additionally, the mining organizations provided a schoolhouse for the children of the miners as well as teachers for the classes. Like other schoolhouse throughout the Appalachian region, all of the children could attend these schools for free.
Restrictions on Formal Education in Appalachia
Many children through in the Appalachian region only attended school, if they did at all, for a few years. Often, as the children got older they would be needed at home in order to work with their parents and assist on the homestead. “See, I went to the third grade. Didn’t go through it, just went to it and quit. See, we had to work on the farm and raise ten acres a tobacker a year (Gitlin 21-2).” For many children, education came in the form of lessons learned from the elders in the lives. Often, children were taught by their parents, grandparents or extended families through stories passed down as well as through example in the field, household or place of work.
Effects of Those Migrating to Northern Cities on Public Schools
During World War II a large wave of people migrated from the Appalachian region to Northern cities such as Chicago and Detroit with the hope of finding work in order to support their families. “Between 1945 and 1965, the number of coal miners in the United States fell by three-quarters, while productivity tripled. The total population of Southern Appalachia… fell 3.4 percent from 1950 to 1960 (Gitlin xxiii)”. With so many families moving out of the Appalachian region in order to find jobs, public schools in many urban populations were inundated with new students. Class sized swelled and the ratio of students to teachers grew dramatically.
Differences in Urban Education for Social Classes
Poorer children attending urban, public schools faced a number of problems that rich children did not. Such as their schools were full of kids who spoke a multitude of foreign languages, creating language barriers in classrooms that lacked the resources to handle that. Additionally, as Gertie found, the parents of children in these schools had little leverage with the teacher if they had any problems with the education their children were receiving. “A poor kid don’t have the opportunity. They claim they do, but a poo kid don’t have the same privileges in school a rich kid does. A poor kid don’t get the same teachin that that rich kid does. A poor kid can ask the teacher a question, she’ll ignore it (Gitlin 203).” Parents who paid money for their children’s education or were of prominence in the community were better able to complain to school authorities about problems, whereas those from the Appalachian region who were struggling to get by often found themselves ignored.
The Role of Speech in Education
While the main features of Appalachian speech is similar to many working
class dialects within the United States, there is a standing societal pressure
for one to conform to a more acceptable dialect. Appalachian children, as
a result of their speech patters, are often penalized on standardized tests
when they go to apply the language that they have been raised to use. For
example, in many parts of Appalachia it is common for people to use a double
negative in order to convey a negative sentiment. Yet, on a standardized
academic test, this would count against them. Another example of a word common
in Appalachia that is not used in academia is the word: ain’t. Due to their
use of dialect, many children from the Appalachian region are considered
to have a learning or speech impediment (Bean 76-7).
-Leslie Baldwin
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