Week Two

 What does it mean to be a "good" student according to the commonsense?

I think commonsense paints the portrait of a "good" student under some strict discipline. People expect students to be well-behaved and showing satisfactory product of their learning, thereby becoming "good" students. The higher the grades meant the more they proved their learning. Kumashiro mentions two different students M and N. Student M is described as a handful while N questioned parts of education and parts of the teacher. Mainstream society pressures teachers to change students like M and N to fit expectations on behaviors, knowledge, and skills. Kumashiro says, "the insistence on 'meeting standards' is an insistence on complying with what some in society have defined as commonsense." 

Which students are privileged by this definition of a good student? 

I'm not certain that there are students who are privileged by the expectations of being a "good" student. Yes, students like M and N have unique learning styles, needs, and desires, and are thought of as challenging students, but all students should not be pressured into fitting the disciplined version society wants students to be. The commonsense is oppressive for all students. 

How is the “good” student shaped by historical factors?

In past civilizations, education and being "good" students meant certain things based on the values of their society. The Chinese empire, for example, held literature to the highest degree. Education to them meant wealth and political opportunity. The successful scholar was under heavy discipline and expected to recite characters of the book fluently. The image of a good student is shaped by civilizations like the Chinese empire. We adopt pedagogies across the world. Because students are disciplined in the ways of their environment, they start creating solutions not to be. They start trying to conform to the expectations set by their teachers so as not to be punished. From "A History of Education," we can see different nations' approaches to education, and I noticed a lot of historical factors were deeply rooted from religion. In many places, being a student was to be servant of God (or a god/gods). And even if religion wasn't the driving force, values were still important in the students' education. For example, the Persian empire trained self-control, truthfulness, and justice among other virtues. Or, an example that hits closer to home is the Residential School system. Being a "good" student during those days meant not being Indigenous. In short, the ideal image of a student comes from everywhere and any time.