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Someone Has to Fail
By Brittney Brown, Mathematics and Science Faculty Member
Someone Has to Fail
Faculty-Submitted Note: This essay was to examine how St. Mark’s fits in with the trifecta of aims (social mobility, social efficiency, and democratic equality) that David Labaree described in his book “Someone Has to Fail”.
St. Mark’s, an elite private boarding school that proudly believes in their slogan “Intentionally Small, THINKING BIG,” claims to help students “develop a spirit of independence, innovation, and discovery” that prepares “them to lead lives of consequences” (St. Mark’s School, n.d.). For a school that was initially focused on the idea of social mobility, the expansion to include themes of democratic equality and social efficiency have not been implemented in the most beneficial way. When reading Labree’s Someone Has to Fail, the quote “the American system of education is highly accessible, radically unequal, organizationally fragmented, and instructionally mediocre” reminded me of St. Mark’s (Labaree, 2010). By attempting to encompass all the values of democratic equality, social mobility, and social efficiency, St. Mark’s appears to be subpar at all three.
One of St. Mark’s biggest selling points is centered around the idea of community. Creating a community that allows for a range of different perspectives also ties into the goal of students “living lives of consequence,” or gaining the skills necessary to participate in communities outside of St. Mark’s. Democratic equality, defined by Labree, “sees education as a mechanism for producing capable citizens” (Labaree, 2010). With a focus on community and being open to different perspectives is key to St. Mark’s approach to democratic equality. There is ample opportunity for students to gather together given that we meet as a whole school every school day. We give opportunities for students to participate in global studies with the goal that they become global citizens or gain a global perspective. There are community and student centered gatherings, such as Gray Colloquium (a speaker series with a discussion theme each year), or Community and Equity student meetings (where different topics are discussed), that give students the opportunity to participate. These are opportunities, not requirements, so every student is embodying a different interpretation of what it means to be a capable citizen. Without these requirements, how effective is the claim that students will gain a global mindset?
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Drawing on Our Brains: How Neuroscience and Art Can Teach Us About Learning
By Gabe Brower, VI Form
Drawing on Our Brains: How Neuroscience and Art Can Teach Us About Learning
I have yet to meet a single student at Saint Mark’s that has never crammed for an exam. They fill up their brain temporarily with information for an upcoming test in a vain attempt to not fall flat on their face the next day during their test. To be honest, it sometimes “works”, as defined by a good score, and I can speak from experience in this area. However, that doesn’t mean cramming is effective. It is the result of disengaged students and ineffective teaching methods that culminates in temporary information retention, and over the long run the crammed information isn’t retained. Therefore, no valuable learning takes place. (more…)
Racial Integration at St. Mark’s: The Experience and Legacy of Ethan Anthony Loney
By Joey Lyons, VI Form
Racial Integration at St. Mark’s: The Experience and Legacy of Ethan Anthony Loney
On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that segregation in public schools deprived minority children of equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment.[1] The Court’s decision in Brown repudiated the “separate but equal” principle, a principle that had prevailed in the United States since Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). In his unanimous opinion, Chief Justice Earl Warren stated that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”[2] After a second decision a year later, in Brown II, the Court demanded that public schools integrate “with all deliberate speed.”[3] However, the desegregation of public schools proceeded slowly, particularly in the South, which engaged in “massive resistance” and passed laws declaring the Brown decision invalid.[4] Unlike southern states, northern states did not reject the Court’s ruling outright. Instead, northern school boards drew school zones that reflected white and black neighborhoods, thus maintaining segregated school systems.[5] (more…)
St. Mark’s Wartime Views
By Wendy Hirata, VI Form
St. Mark’s Wartime Views
With St. Mark’s School’s emphasis on service, the St. Mark’s student body shaped its wartime views based on the general atmosphere of World War I and the Vietnam War. Such student perspectives did not always agree with the general views of the public. Both St. Mark’s students and the American public showed less support for U.S. war effort from World War I to the Vietnam War. St. Markers shared the patriotic national preparedness and humanitarian mission with the general public during the World War I, but had more of an aloof, elitist attitude towards the Vietnam War and the anti-war movements of the time. (more…)
George G. McMurtry and the Lost Battalion
By Jack Wood, VI Form
George G. McMurtry and the Lost Battalion
The Medal of Honor is an award issued by the President of the United States that is given to an individual for his or her bravery and selflessness of during war.[1] In World War I, arguably the most deadly and brutal of all wars, there were 122 Medal of Honor recipients in the U.S. Army.[2] According to the award criteria, each one of these men “distinguished himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.”[3] One of these recipients, George Gibson McMurtry Jr., was a student of the class of 1896 at St. Mark’s School.[4] His military service included acting as captain of Company E of the 308th Infantry of the 77th Division of the U.S. Army during World War I.[5] This infantry division is known as the famous Lost Battalion, a group of U.S. soldiers who were pinned down by German forces in the Argonne Forest in France in late 1918. George McMurtry’s steadfast leadership and courage helped the Lost Battalion survive five days of combat behind German lines. While over one hundred U.S. soldiers died in this engagement, many more would have lost their lives were it not for McMurtry’s ingenious thinking and optimism. (more…)
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