White Students At Berkley High example essay topic

Analyzing the Multicultural School A. School Enrollment Asian 10% Hispanic 9% White 39% Black 35% Mixed 7% B. Analysis of Conditions Condition #1: Contact should be sufficiently intimate to engender knowledge and mutual understanding between different ethnic and racial groups that have been isolated from each other. Positive Factors: There are positive factors showing there is some intimate contact between isolated groups. Some teachers influence students to talk about their feelings. Students are able to meet at that very basic level of a class and discuss the isolation of different racial and ethnic groups. There is also an attempt by the administration of Berkley High to de-track the English and History classes for freshman. This de-tracking shows the administration and some teachers want students to meet on the most intimate level: a class.

One of the students asked this question: "How am I supposed to get to know people of other races when I never see them in class?" Another positive factor is students of different racial groups come together at parties and through the use of drugs (mainly marijuana). The intimate contact here allows students to drop some of the guards that make isolation a way of life. Though the use of drugs should not be condoned by the school, there is something to be learned from this. People meeting together at all is a positive factor for intimate contact of isolated groups. Students need to have ways to come together. The Balls and Proms in the video showed many different races and groups mingling.

This doesn't happen in the lunchroom or classroom, so it is evident these party atmospheres allow students the chance to interact and gain more knowledge about races other than their own. Negative Factors: There are a number of negative factors hurting the intimate contact between isolated groups. The first negative factor is human nature. Teachers and students both hinted or admitted outright this is how people are.

Most individuals, whether they are adults or adolescents, like to live and hang with people much like themselves. This fact hurts the accessibility of everyone. There are many people are not tied to mingling with people that are like them. However, most students at Berkley High are a part of a friend group.

Most of these friend groups isolate students, so it is hard for the groups to get together and engender knowledge and mutual understanding between each other. Another factor that makes interaction between groups difficult is the size of the school. Giving students the chance to talk in groups small enough where they feel comfortable sharing and receiving knowledge would take an enormous amount of planning and coordination. The school has security issues, so if there was going to be a plan to facilitate the kind of contact described in this condition, security and organization would have to be top notch.

Any confusion could lead to fights, cutting, and general loss of educational time. Therefore, the administration has two choices: they have to do the intimate group contact throughout the curriculum or after school. Only offering these mixtures after school would hurt attendance at such events. The last factor that would make it difficult to bring intimate racial to the isolated groups at Berkley is the animosity that already exists between the groups. Students from the different groups already fight each other on sight. This possibility of a racial riot in one of the most liberal college towns in the United States would scare any administrator or teacher.

That means intimate contact has to be very controlled. When educational institutions try to hard to force intimate contact between racial and ethnic groups, the results range from forced and worthless to disastrous and explosive. This threat from the students, though not voiced, hangs over the head of whatever the educators at the school attempt to do to initiate contact. Condition #2: Members of various ethnic and racial groups should share equal status. Positive Factors: There are positive factors displaying equality among students at Berkley High. At the eighth grade orientation, students from all races and ethnic groups are told college is expected for all students.

The administration continued to echo this sentiment through the documentary. The administration even made the bold move to de-track the freshman classes. The commitment to treating all students equally and without discrimination is a highlight for the school. The school also gives most racial and ethnic groups a day for a school-wide assembly. This could also be viewed as negative as some groups (mixed heritage or whites) are either excluded from having assemblies or feel oppressed because of the content of the assembly. Many white students voiced frustration at always getting bashed at the different assemblies.

Some of the teachers even made comments about the discrimination against whites at Berkley High. It seems to be an assumption all white students at Berkley High are, by definition, equal and do not need any special assemblies, classes, or groups. The administration also allowed a couple of disruptive activities to promote equality. The first was the Hispanic walk-out. The principal even attended the anti-Berkley High meeting after the walk-out. One of the Hispanic group's biggest complaints was about existence of the African-American studies department and how the Hispanic students wanted to learn about their culture through a special studies department.

According to the speaker, 150 students signed up for Hispanic Literature, and the school only offered one class for thirty students. When 150 students wanted self-defense, the school offered three classes. In addition, there are two separate graduations in addition to the regular school-wide one. These graduations are encouraged and recognized as equal for Hispanics and Blacks to get together as a separate community. This shows Berkley High has equality in its dealings with student groups. That is a positive factor.

Negative Factors: The first negative factor is the number of Ds and Fs Hispanic and Black students get compared to Asian and White students. Hispanic and Black students are disproportionately placed in remedial, lower-tracked programs. The school is trying to rectify this inequality by de-tracking students during their freshmen year. This de-tracking program has met with stiff opposition from the parents and, to a certain extent, students. The existence of a Black Studies department is unequal. Hispanic, Asian, and mixed races do not get their own department.

Even Caucasian groups might want separate studies to further their understanding of being white. The school only favors the African-Americans in this case. The students are aware of this. That inequality is not lost in the shuffle. Finally, all students, regardless of race, feel they are treated different. Whites, African-Americans, and Hispanic students all feel they experience marked discrimination.

The school must find a way to change the perception of students and parents. A Hispanic parent told an Assistant Principal her Senior Class Co-President son was a target of the white administration. African-American students throughout the documentary are complaining about why the school treats them badly. Finally, white students voice their concerns in classes and extra-curricular activities like Crew. Some of these charges may be rubbish, but this recurring theme must have a kernel of truth. The truth is Berkley High is unequal.

Condition #3: The contact situation should lead people to do things together and requires them to engage in inter-group cooperation to achieve common goals. Positive Conditions: Students work together in the journalism class that produced this video. Students also engage in inter-group cooperation to achieve common goals on the football field. Another multicultural activity is the Winter Ball and Prom. Students dance, talk, and hang together at this dance. There are even a few interracial couples.

These are positive factors. The students also interact when a teacher gives a seating chart. Desegregation is forced, and different racial and ethnic groups mix. A seating chart also helps the teacher to better manage the classroom. The classes that are de-tracked can be aided by such a move. The class shown as a model of de-tracking had many opportunities for positive contact situations.

In a couple of the English and History classes, students talked about the school and its problems. Hispanic, Black, White, and Asian students all shared feelings of frustrations. It seems like a more diverse Advisory or Homeroom could facilitate more discussion like this. Fights are negative contact situations.

The combatants share common goals, however, trying to destroy the other person's face. Groups fight at Berkley High. It was captured on the tape. There are little or not chances for students to interact.

Fear, as displayed in the student video, runs rampant through the students. This is mostly due to lack of opportunity. The administration must be wracking their brains to find a solution. Sadly, they have not.

There just are not many places for groups or people to meet. Even the multicultural club does not facilitate cooperation between races. Whites are not allowed there. How can whites have a dialogue with other racial or ethnic groups?

Do they need to start a White Meeting Blacks club? Berkley has almost nowhere outside of occasional flash in the pan experience for kids to interact. Condition #4: There needs to be institutional support- an authority and / or social climate that encourages positive cross-cultural and interracial contact. Positive Factors: The administration of the school makes efforts to support racial / ethnic contact.

There are the assemblies, the creation of different racial and ethnic studies (though there need to be classes like this for all ethnicities), de-tracking, and social / sports events. The Principal voices a commitment to giving institutional support, but many of the programs do not get students to interact with different racial and ethnic groups. The commitment is good, but what would be better is follow-through. There was no actual position whose job it was to get students to interact. Many of the teachers even spoke out against the current state of race affairs at Berkley High. The teachers should be in-serviced on how to more effectively facilitate student interaction.

If this in-servicing is occurred, it needs to be more effective. Finally, almost everyone in the school realizes there is a problem. This, as Alcoholics Anonymous tells us, is the first step. Now, there needs to be a plan.

This is the administration's next challenge. Negative Factors: As mentioned above, Berkley High does not seem like it has anyone who solely is trying to get students to mix more. There are teachers, administrators, and counselors, but they all seem to be working almost separately. Most of these individuals are trying to do three or four other things as well as trying to promote interaction between the isolated groups at Berkley High.

There needs to be a contact person who does not only come up with a plan, but also carries out the plan. This person would also talk to parents and students who think they are the victims of discrimination. Like many schools who only modify the business as usual model, Berkley figures this will all work out in the end. The problem is the interaction of groups is not happening.

The hostilities are getting worse. It does not matter if the school is in one of the most liberal college towns in the nation. The problem will not take care of itself. The activities and opportunities are not enough.

There has to be more. The plan must be carried out efficiently and successfully. This is a major negative factor: no leader, no plan, and no improvement. C. School Privilege Most of the groups have some support in the school, but there is little support of the effort to bring the students of isolated races / ethnic groups together. The African-American students have the Black Studies classes. The White students have many teachers as well as almost all the administrative staff. The Hispanic students have some support, but not as much as the first two groups.

Hispanic, Asian, and Mixed students have the smallest numbers in terms of population, so the lack of support might be explained that way. Mixed and Asian students have little to no support. In terms of privilege and academic success, White students seem to have the most success and privilege, though privilege was not evident in the film. Asian students are second, percentage-wise in terms of success. Again, privilege is hard to measure, but Asian students get a large percentage of students into the higher-tracked programs.

The film did not mention the success of mixed race students, so I cannot comment on their privilege. Black and Hispanic students have the least amount of academic success, percentage-wise. It could be said these two groups have the least privilege. D. Recommendations I would do a number of things to support and interaction of all groups. Each racial / ethnic group would have an advisor in charge of that group's studies. Each advisor would be of that race. So, the Asian advisor would be Asian.

I would also appoint an assistant principal to meet with teachers and devise a plan to get the students or various racial / ethnic groups to meet together. Then, with the teachers' help, he / she would institute this plan. I would make this a top priority. If I could get a good person in this position, I would be able to address different issues myself than the current Principal, who seemed to be always handling issues of discrimination. I would also mix up Advisory / Homerooms to make them racially / ethnically heterogeneous. With my assistant principal, I would try to get the Homeroom teachers to facilitate discussion and mingling of students.

I would also encourage my assistant principal to try to find more clubs, social activities, and after school activities that would allow students to interact. I would also want students involved with the leader of the school's effort because they would have many good ideas. The University of California is also there, so that might be another avenue to get students together. College students, especially at Berkley, are pretty knowledgeable about interacting with people of other races / ethnic groups. Perhaps, students could have an college student as an advisor to talk through their feelings.

The advisors could give the students another perspective on the isolation problems at the school. These steps would help Berkley High become a less isolated, more community focused school. Based On Video "School Colors" from PBS.