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Last Post/Reflection
17 years ago
3 comments:
I recently watched a film called "Secrets of the SAT" and it just reminded me of how applying to college made me feel as if my whole life had been a preparation for this application. College applications ask you to put your life into three or five pages. What kind of norm are we fitting ourselves into? UCB values intelligence, and "overcoming adversity", to name a catchword. Is this wrong? Is there another way we could have lived that would also bring us happiness?
haha...in soc 150, social psychology, we learn that the majority of people think they're above average...but by definition of average, the majority of people cannot be above average...
i just thought of that because berkeley is a place where students are supposed to be "above average" whether in terms of academics, extracurriculars, personal fortitude, etc.
there's a quote, "when everything is superfluous, everything is mediocre."
well this is the spontaneous section, so i make no claims that this made sense.
The SAT is a good example of institutional power in the sense that those creating the exam have the “knowledge power” – that is, they decide what is considered “intelligence” - and those taking the exam are in some way conforming to what is expected, to the “norm”.
In Gramsci’s concept of hegemony the dominant class presents its interests as the interests of all. Similarly, the SAT is prepared by the culture in power, the dominant culture – white, privileged, perhaps mostly male - presenting his/her view of the world in the construction of the exam.
There is the issue of cultural bias – certain concepts, or an analogy that cannot possibly make sense to a kid that has never had experiences outside of the ghetto…what the hell is “crewing”?
It would be a wonderful thing if these tests could measure the intelligence of this kid based on the culture of his/her world.
I wonder what Durkheim would have said about SAT scores? Do they measure one’s “natural abilities” or do they measure access to the best prep schools in the country?
They can only make sense and be truly fair if each person taking the test has had equal access to the best education possible. I am optimistic that we will begin to get a little closer to leveling the SAT playing field with the Obama administration.
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