We have been reading and discussing Bob Herbert's opinion editorial about racial profiling. Below is another op-ed by Herbert. Please read and respond in no less that 150 words with your opinion of his argument. Please make specific reference to his language and how it helps or hinders his opinion.
Due Saturday Feb 27th by midnight.
February 23, 2010
Op-Ed Columnist
Where the Bar Ought to Be
By BOB HERBERT
Deborah Kenny talks a lot about passion — the passion for teaching, for reading and for learning. She has it. She wants all of her teachers to have it. Above all, she wants her students to have it.
Ms. Kenny has created three phenomenally successful charter schools in Harlem and is in the process of creating more. She’s gotten a great deal of national attention. But for all the talk about improving schools in this country, she thinks we tend to miss the point more often than not.
There is an overemphasis on “the program elements,” she said, “things like curriculum and class size and school size and the longer day.” She understood in 2001, when she was planning the first of the schools that have come to be known as the Harlem Village Academies, that none of those program elements were nearly as important as the quality of the teaching in the schools.
“If you had an amazing teacher who was talented and passionate and given the freedom and support to teach well,” she said, “that was just 100 times more important than anything else.”
This emphasis on program elements is one of the main reasons it has been so difficult to repeat the successes of outstanding schools. As Ms. Kenny put it, “They were trying to replicate programs instead of trying to develop people.”
It’s not that the program elements are unimportant. When I visited a Harlem Village Academy middle school on First Avenue, the first thing I noticed was an apparent paradox: There was a great deal of energy and excitement in the school but not much noise, not even when children were changing classes. The school day is longer. The curriculum is carefully thought out. And discipline is obviously important. Youngsters are not allowed to make fun of one another. And there is no fighting.
When I asked one boy why there were no fights in the school, he replied, “Because it’s not allowed.”
Ms. Kenny’s point is that these programmatic, structural elements in the schools are just the starting points, the foundation that supports the essential mission of any school: to teach.
“I became obsessed with how to develop great teachers,” she said.
The first step in that complex, difficult process is to create a school environment that has standards high enough and challenging enough to appeal to very good people. “You put all of your focus on finding great people,” said Ms. Kenny, “and you establish a culture that helps them constantly learn and grow and become better at what they do. You have to provide a community in the school that supports and respects teachers. And you have to give them the kind of freedom that allows their passion for teaching to flourish.
“We’ve created a culture that brings out the passion of the teachers and they bring out the passion of the kids.”
Charter schools, of course, can fire teachers for poor performance. “Obviously, none of us should be allowed to be in front of children if we’re not doing a good job,” Ms. Kenny said. “But the threat of being fired if you don’t do a good job is not what makes a teacher great.”
Ms. Kenny has established two middle schools and one high school and is in the process of creating three elementary schools. Her track record has been extraordinary.
The majority of the youngsters come into the middle schools performing at three to four years behind their grade levels. Within a very short time, they are on the fast track toward college. In 2008, when the math and science test scores came in, Ms. Kenny’s eighth graders had achieved 100 percent proficiency. It was not a fluke.
What’s ironic is that the teachers are doing everything but teaching to the tests. Ms. Kenny’s goals for the youngsters in her schools are the same as those that she had for her own three children, who grew up in a comfortable suburban environment and are now in college. Merely passing a standardized test was hardly something to aspire to.
“I had five core things in mind for my kids, and that’s what I want for our students,” she said. “I wanted them to be wholesome in character. I wanted them to be compassionate and to see life as a responsibility to give something to the world. I wanted them to have a sophisticated intellect. I wanted them to be avid readers, the kind of person who always has trouble putting a book down. And I raised them to be independent thinkers, to lead reflective and meaningful lives.”
It never crossed Ms. Kenny’s mind that a rich and abiding intellectual life was out of the reach of kids growing up in a tough urban environment.
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Bob Herbert's approach in this article is very similar to his approach in the article directed about racial profiling. The way in which he appeals to his readers is by arousing their emotions. I believe that this is indeed a very skilled way in writing, because whether or not people question the logic behind it, the majority may agree based on emotional feelings. In this article, Bob Herbert discussed the way that a teachers passion and drive for her students led them to be very successful on standardized tests. There was also mention of the teacher instilling positive and uplifting qualities in her students such as perseverance and strive. According to the teacher these students ability to focus despite living in a tough urban environment led to their success.
ReplyDeleteWhether a not a person believes that this method of appealing to emotions is right or wrong, I believe that many may be in agreement, that the method is effective. Lectures and speeches that have that amen affect, tend to be very effective. Bob Herbert tends to state observations within a general population, and direct it toward people who may be affected,so they are generally prone to agree. Even those who are not directly affected by these issues may even agree due to the persuasive and emotion arousing language. Therefore, this method is very effective.
-Lorina Kegler
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBob Herbert is in support with Ms. Kenny that good, supportive teachers are '100 times more important than program details' and the foundation for thriving, successful schools. The author points out that one of the main reasons that some schools overall standardized test scores of students are lower is because administration is busy trying to 'replicate programs than develop teachers. Herbert uses detail, syntax and pathos to help express his opinion. The title of this piece, "Where the Bar Ought to Be" explicitly expresses that the bar is too low. However, it also implies that the current standards that control regular public schools are not just bad for our children, but a hindrance for our youth (especially those in 'tough urban communities').
ReplyDeleteHerbert is very precise and particular in his choice of detail as he uses it to persuade his readers. Herbert pairs his usage of syntactical structure with pathos and arouses the emotions within his audience. He states "When I asked one boy why there were no fights in the school, he replied, “Because it’s not allowed.”A sense of finality is evident within this choice of evidence that makes the implication that the validity of not only Kenny's schools, but Herbert’s op-Ed is incontestable. I agree with the assertion that a successful school needs passionate teachers to not only ‘raise test scores’ but also to instill interdisciplinary qualities within the students that will be useful outside of school grounds. Herbert was successful in choosing the right evidence and appeals. I understand how some may find fault with his editorial because it is expresses one particular side, however,one will not be as successful in convincing an audience by employing circumlocution in writing, or presenting other evidence that conflicts with the initial argument. It is important know how to use manipulation of rhetoric and language and employ pathos to be effective convince readers.
Bob Herbert’s argument in this article is very similar to, “In America; Hounding the Innocent” in that neither are based upon logic. However in the article on racial profiling Herbert heavily utilizes pathos, whereas in this article ethos is Herbert’s most powerful means of persuasion. This is evident in Herbert’s constant reiteration of Deborah Kenny’s merit, to the point that the article’s focus seems to be her rather than her actual charter schools. This effect was achieved through Herbert’s use of words like “passion” and “extraordinary”, and his decision to position Kenny’s quotes as the body of his article. While this writing style is does emphasize how integral character and personal investment are to the success of these schools’ curriculum, it does cast doubt on whether this school system will be able to be replicated, as the title “Where the Bar Ought To Be” suggests it should, because Herbert makes it seem as though the schools’ success hinges on Kenny’s involvement.
ReplyDeleteJust as he did in his article about racial profiling, Bob Herbert uses pathos in this article to appeal to the reader. The title of the article automatically brings the reader to think of the way their children should be taught and how high the “bar” should be set for those students. It does express that those students in charter schools are doing well because they are taught differently than the public school students, meaning that the public schools don’t have standards as high as the charter schools. Herbert seems to be a big fan of pathos and uses words like, “passion,” and “phenomenally” which appeal to a reader’s emotions almost instantly, especially when speaking on such an important issue. The quotes that Herbert takes from Ms. Kenny is also a use of pathos because it makes it easier to relate to Herbert’s article since there are direct quotes from the woman who has created these schools that Herbert is speaking of.
ReplyDelete-Adia Brady
Just as Bob Herbert did in his article about racial profiling he uses pathos, instead of basing his argument on logic to persuade the reader. As implied through the title of the article, “Where the Bar Ought to Be” Herbert believes the standards in school must be higher, just as Deborah Kenny. Ms. Kenny is the founder of the Harlem Village Academies, schools in Harlem that instead of focusing on programs to help the students learn, it provide them with talented, and passionate teachers which in Ms. Kenny’s words is “…100 times more important than anything else.” Seldom providing facts or assertions that are very general, such as providing good teachers but not explaining what makes the teacher good or their teaching style, Herbert persuades his reader with pathos. Assertions like “We’ve created a culture that brings out the passion of the teachers and they bring out the passion of the kids,” persuades are reader based off of the emotions evoked from hearing that teachers are happy to teach and kids are happy to learn. In actuality, this statement provides no information about how the kids are taught or how the teachers illustrate passion in their lesson plans.
ReplyDeleteAgain this is another article of Herbert's that is infused with pathos. But instead of the words coming from him directly, he uses the passionate thoughts and words of Ms. Kenny to express his own position to the issue. His ability to do this not only rouses the audience but makes me as a reader want t believe what he says without looking for actual evidence to support his claim.
ReplyDeleteIn this article Mr. Herbert makes the claim that passionate teachers are an essential part to creating excited and successful students. By using Ms. Kenny's schools and method of teaching youth, he makes some emotional claims as to why students are successful in school. He uses his observatory skills to paint a picture of a school free from educational problems and burdens and ready to teach these innovative ideas to other school systems. His argument is focused on his attention to words and as an emotional person; I feel that his ability to appeal to the emotions helps his argument tremendously. Maybe he could have added some numbers and statistics to this article but I feel that his argument is fine as is.
Bob Herbert's arguments concerning racial profiling and education are weakened by his explicit use of pathos. Although this is a smart move made by Mr. Herbert as it is his style of writing, it is also a slightly dangerous road to take. His use of pathos brings the reader in because he tackles such interesting issues, but after the reader has removed the emotional aspects of his arguments, they realize that he does not have many facts to strengthen his argument. Then the reader can begin to question his credibility and the validity of his statements, although he is a well-known writer from the New York Times. Using this tactic is both smart and dangerous. In the end, his use of pathos weakens his arguments because when the emotions of the reader are not involved, there isn’t much evidence that they can look at that reassures that Herbert’s point was valid enough.
ReplyDeleteBob Herberts approach in this article is similar to his of racial profiling in which he uses pathos or emotions to get to his readers. Bob Herbert support of good teachers who don't necessarily follow a program is what I agree with him on. I agree that teaching the love for learning to young students is more beneficial than teaching students based on a structured program. While I do agree with his claim and support for Ms. Kenny, I do not agree with his use of emotions to get to his readers. Using emotions to get to the readers may make Bob seem biased and very opinionated in his views.
ReplyDeleteIt is very clever how Herbert can disguise his underlying arguement. I believe that the bar is set slow for inner city students and that the bar needs to be set higher. However the excessive use of emotion deminishes his arguement. Don't get me wrong, I totally agree with Herbert but in order to provide evidence you need some facts rather just pursuading by emotion. Often times ones emotion and create a barrier between how we feel and the reality of a situations. If Herbert added some specific exaples or even some data to prove his thesis then maybe it would strengthen his argument.
ReplyDeleteBob Herbert takes the same approach to this article as he did in, “In America; Hounding the Innocent”. He uses pathos in order to appeal to the emotions of his audience without the use of any logic. Rather than him using his own words he uses those of Ms. Kenny in order to state his position regarding education. He uses words such as, “amazing”, “passionate” which automatically appeals to the emotions of the readers. The title of this article, “Where the Bar Ought to Be”, immediately brings the readers to the conclusion that their needs to be higher standards set for children. Also by Herbert using Ms. Kenny’s quotes throughout the article in order to make his claim makes him seem as though he is very passionate about the issue put forth. By Herbert taking this approach towards this article both helps and hinders his opinion. It helps it because it makes it seem as though he is feels very strongly about education and setting the bar higher for students. It hinders his opinion because there is no direct evidence as to how his claim is true.
ReplyDeleteRe'Nada Smith
In this article Bob Herbert is in support of Ms. Kenny in her belief that
ReplyDeletesupportive "passionate" teachers are infinitely more vital than programs focused
on formal standards and tests. The author believes that one of the focal
downsides to schools teaching methods, and the reason for their sub-par
standardized test scores is their focus on "replicate programs than develop
teachers." Just like Herberts other editorials he uses pathos to showcase his
opinion.
The title of the article implies that the standard or “bar” should be set much
higher for the average student. Essentially he is saying that public schools
have very low standards in comparison to those focused on in the article. He
uses words like, “passion,” and “phenomenally” to appeal to reader’s emotions
about the issue .