The Broken Model
Argument
The author, Salman Khan, argues that the traditional school system is flawed because it forces all students to move at the same pace, leading to incomplete understanding and long-term gaps in learning. Khan’s main point in “The Broken Model” is that schools prioritize time and efficiency over actual mastery of material. Students are often moved forward even if they do not fully understand earlier lessons, which causes gaps in knowledge that build over time. He criticizes standardized testing for measuring short-term performance rather than true understanding. Overall, he argues that education should be based on mastery, where students only progress once they fully understand each concept.
Quotes
1. “Students move forward even when they haven’t fully mastered earlier material.” This means students often advance to new lessons before they completely understand the previous ones. Over time, these missing skills make more difficult subjects harder to learn, which supports Khan's argument that schools should focus on mastery instead of keeping everyone on the same schedule.
2. “Learning becomes like Swiss cheese—full of holes.” Khan compares learning to Swiss cheese because students may understand most of a subject but still have important gaps in their knowledge. Those "holes" can cause confusion later when new lessons depend on concepts they never fully learned.
3. “The system is designed for efficiency, not mastery.” Khan is saying that schools are organized to teach large groups of students quickly and on a fixed schedule, rather than making sure every student fully understands the material. This idea is essential to his argument that education should be based on learning at each student's own pace.
A Short History of Public Schooling - Excerpt From The Film Class Dismissed
Argument
The author argues that public schooling in the United States was created not only to educate children but also to meet the social, political, and economic needs of society by shaping responsible citizens and preparing future workers. The author explains that public schools developed over time to serve broader national goals rather than simply providing education for everyone. As the country changed through industrialization and economic growth, schools adapted to teach the knowledge, skills, and values that society needed. The video emphasizes that public education has always reflected the priorities of the nation, making schools institutions that both educate individuals and help support the country's social and economic development.
Quotes
1. "We have to set up a system of universal schooling in which we destroy the imagination." This quote suggests that the school system discourages creativity and independent thinking. It is important because it supports the author's argument that schools were designed to create conformity rather than encourage originality.
2. "The entire system is designed to regiment a large group of people and to get them all to do the exact same thing." This means the author believes schools train students to follow rules and behave alike instead of thinking for themselves. It reinforces the idea that public education prepares people to fit into society rather than be independent.
3. "They want children to take their place in society, be cogs, and keep this system going." The author argues that schools prepare students to become workers who maintain the existing social and economic system. This quote is relevant because it summarizes the video's main argument that public education serves society's needs as much as students' education.
Connections
“The Broken Model” chapter and “A Short History of Public Schooling - Excerpt From The Film Class Dismissed” video connect with other material from class. The video connects with the introduction “Creating Classrooms For Equity and Social Justice”. They both focus on what schools are meant to do, but they give different views. The book says classrooms should promote fairness, critical thinking, and social change. The video argues that public schools were created to train students to be obedient workers and follow social rules. Together, they show a debate about whether schools should help change society or help maintain it.
“The Broken Model” describes schooling as a one-size-fits-all system that moves students forward by time instead of mastery, which creates learning gaps. This connects to Allan Johnson’s Privilege, Power, and Difference chapters 1-3, where he argues that academic differences are shaped by larger systems of privilege and unequal access to resources, not just individual ability. Together, they suggest that school struggles come from both how education is structured and the unequal conditions students start with.
References
Au, W., Bigelow, B., & Karp, S. (2007). Creating Classrooms For Equity and Social Justice. In
Rethinking Our Classrooms (Vol. 1, pp. x–xi). Introduction, Rethinking Schools, Ltd.
Creating Classrooms For Equity and Social Justice
Class Dismissed Movie. (2015, August 18). A Short History of Public Schooling - Excerpt From
The Film Class Dismissed. YouTube.
A Short History of Public Schooling
Johnson, A. G. (2001). 1, 2, 3. In Privilege, Power, and Difference (pp. 1–41). Mayfield
Publishing Company.
Privilege, Power, and Difference
Khan, S. (2012). The Broken Model. In The One World Schoolhouse (pp. 61–101). Hachette
Book Group.
The Broken Model
