The Classroom as a Cultural Space

Excerpts from the Paper

The Classroom as a Cultural Space
     At one time, education- even the simple Three R’s- were limited to the wealthy. Children of the poor were either working in the fields in feudal times, or in factories since the Industrial Revolution. And the notion of a university education seemed reserved for the well-off and powerful, the peerage or those favored by The Church. Democracy, especially in the U.S., has made the class-room not only a living and breathing opportunity-filled laboratory that can separate the especially bright from the average as well as the slow learners; but it has provided insight into what makes our civilization literally a rainbow of colors, attitudes and aptitudes. The ivy-covered walls in this country and the...

.....osm of society as a whole with many of the positives and negatives apparent. There really is no such thing as a “perfect” classroom culture and those who seek it are deluded. Classrooms are for education and mental growth and often also for social intercourse and improved understanding of races, religions and genders. What a classroom is not and need not be is a pristine laboratory with the professor as sole arbiter of culture and/or progress.
Works Cited
Kinzie, Susan. “Campus Culture/Couture.” Washington Post
      17 Nov. 2007.
Martindale, Gayla. “Pop Culture in the Classroom.” College and University Blog. 14 Feb. 2009. State University. 27 Apr. 2009 <http://www.stateuniversity.com/blog/permalink/Pop-Culture-In-The-Classroom.html>.