Analysis Of Karen Ho's Project Classroom Makeover By Cathy Jackson

In any system in the world, there needs to be a way to run it that works and benefits the group wholly. When a group designs itself in a way that will conform to their specific version of success, they flourish. However, at this cost individuals may lose their sense of creativity. Karen Ho, the author of “Biographies in Hegemony,” explores how hierarchical systems are ever so present in top Ivy League institutions. The pressures to enter financial job markets are always pressed into the students. While she develops a negative connotation of these hierarchical systems, through her first-hand experience, “Project Classroom Makeover” by Cathy Davidson, illustrates the future in education if institutes actually learn to adopt a bottom up angle
Those outliers that are not benefited by standardized paradigms, or organization, may suffer at the cost. It may force an individual to recognize that they may have to choose between success and their own original ideas. One may realize that neither should have to be sacrificed, but once again, no matter what situation, not every individual can be catered to. With the constant pressure of needing to fit into the cookie-cutter lifestyle of standardization and hierarchy, there are those that are left behind. In Cathy Davidson’s “Project Classroom Makeover”, a little girl with green hair, unfortunately suffered at the cost of the narrow spectrum in school systems. Her passion for drawing had fallen back in importance behind the core classes taught in class. Because schools are geared, “implicitly and explicitly, to be college preparatory,” kids like her suffer the most (Davidson 63). Due to the sheer fact that a majority of the students will benefit most from a more standardized method of learning, she misses her opportunity to explore her own talents in regards to art. Furthermore driven into the investment banking career path, students in “Biographies of Hegemony,” are reminded that they are the absolute best, in terms of intellectual ability and social standing. He labels them as the, “cream of the crop,” and that they only “hire superstars” (Ho 174 and 175). For an anxious student worried about finding a job after college, entering an extension of Harvard or Princeton appears to be the best option for them. From there, they drop any previous dreams they had, and fully focus their attention toward attaining the lavish lifestyle they could easily have. By losing the motivation to be creative, Ivy League students and those that suffer at the cost of hegemony, both sacrifice their ingenuity to conform to the societal standards of hierarchy and