Doing School : How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed Out, Materialistic, and Miseducated Students

by Denise Clark Pope

• ISBN13: 9780300098334
• ISBN10: 0300098332
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2003-01-11
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

This book offers a revealing--and troubling--view of today's high school students and the ways they pursue high grades and success. Veteran teacher Denise Pope follows five highly regarded students through a school year and discovers that these young people believe getting ahead requires manipulating the system, scheming, lying, and cheating.

Author Biography

Denise Pope is a lecturer at the Stanford University School of Education

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Acknowledgments	xv
Welcome to Faircrest High	1	(6)
Kevin Romoni: A 3.8 Kind of Guy	7	(22)
Pleasing Dad: The ``Good'' Student
Getting Furious: The Competitor
Motivated By Passion: The Engaged Learner
Eve Lin: Life as a High School Machine	29	(21)
``Going for the Maximum''
Survival of the Fittest
Enjoying the Process
Teresa Gomez: ``I Want a Future''	50	(31)
Dancing as Engagement
``Wanting More'': The Search for Engagement
Michelle Spence: Keeping Curiosity Alive?	81	(36)
An Alternate Course
``Sacrificing Academics''
Learning by Doing What You Love
Roberto Morales: When Values Stand in the Way	117	(32)
Diligence
Anxiety
Playing by the Rules
Stress
``Fun''
The Predicament of ``Doing School''	149	(27)
``Doing School''
The Grade Trap
Constraints of the School System
We Get What We Bargain For
``If Only Things Could Be Different''
Epilogue	176	(11)
Appendixes	187	(2)
A. General Information about the Students in the Study
B. Common Student Behavior Exhibited in Pursuit of Success
Notes	189	(18)
References	207