Annotation
Hoda Mokarian
Rebecca Yamano
English 101
November 16th, 2011
Critical Annotated Webliography
Research Questions: What kinds of school reform strategies have been suggested historically?
ANNOTATION #1
Source Information: Goodman, Paul. Compulsory Miseducation. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1971.
Paul Goodman suggests that in order to counter the strict, lockstep tendencies of American educational institutions, that universities as well as secondary schools devise strategies to encourage greater flexibility, creativity and independence for the student, without which full, adult learning cannot take place. Specifically, Goodman proposes that prestigious liberal arts universities institute a new requirement: students shall engage in a “maturing” activity for two years before matriculating. Examples of “maturing” activities are “working for a living [...]; community service, [...], volunteer service in hospital or settlement house, domestic Peace Corps; the army” (Goodman). This proposal would push up the average age of the entering student and make him or her more ready for academic work, such as anthropology or the physical sciences, which are better understood with “experience and judgement” (Goodman).
Goodman’s other proposal is that the elite universities should “abolish grading, and use testing only and entirely for pedagogic purposes as teachers see fit” (Goodman). He finds that grades are more of a status measure than a real reflection of understanding, and recognizes that the main objectors will be students and parents, both of whom see grades as a way to combat laziness. However, the proposal will bring greater purity and maturity to university schooling.
APPROPRIATION:
Passage #1:
“It is really necessary to remind our academics of the ancient history of Examination. In the medieval university, the whole point of the grueling trial of the candidate was whether or not to accept him as a peer. His disputation and lecture for the
Rebecca Yamano
English 101
November 16th, 2011
Critical Annotated Webliography
Research Questions: What kinds of school reform strategies have been suggested historically?
ANNOTATION #1
Source Information: Goodman, Paul. Compulsory Miseducation. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1971.
Paul Goodman suggests that in order to counter the strict, lockstep tendencies of American educational institutions, that universities as well as secondary schools devise strategies to encourage greater flexibility, creativity and independence for the student, without which full, adult learning cannot take place. Specifically, Goodman proposes that prestigious liberal arts universities institute a new requirement: students shall engage in a “maturing” activity for two years before matriculating. Examples of “maturing” activities are “working for a living [...]; community service, [...], volunteer service in hospital or settlement house, domestic Peace Corps; the army” (Goodman). This proposal would push up the average age of the entering student and make him or her more ready for academic work, such as anthropology or the physical sciences, which are better understood with “experience and judgement” (Goodman).
Goodman’s other proposal is that the elite universities should “abolish grading, and use testing only and entirely for pedagogic purposes as teachers see fit” (Goodman). He finds that grades are more of a status measure than a real reflection of understanding, and recognizes that the main objectors will be students and parents, both of whom see grades as a way to combat laziness. However, the proposal will bring greater purity and maturity to university schooling.
APPROPRIATION:
Passage #1:
“It is really necessary to remind our academics of the ancient history of Examination. In the medieval university, the whole point of the grueling trial of the candidate was whether or not to accept him as a peer. His disputation and lecture for the