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Analysis Of Boodega Dreams

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Reinforcement: Positive vs. Negative – Striking a Balance

According to the University of Michigan, the average student grades 1st through 12th goes to school for approximately 32.5 hours per week, additionally spending 4 hours per week on homework outside of the classroom (Swanbrow). When considering those numbers it’s without a doubt that school makes up the majority of a child's life. Therefore one can see the potential for a teacher to be a hugely influential force on adolescents. In the story "Bodega Dreams" by Ernesto Quinonez portrays the extremes of the student/teacher dynamics with two very different teachers. On one hand, there's Mr. Blessington, a mean-spirited, tough teacher that is constantly putting the kids down and telling them they'll never be more than criminals. On the other, Mr. Tapia, a nice, gentle and motivational teacher who is building kids up. After Mr. Blessington pushes a kid to the edge and there's an assault, Mr. Tapia helps to cover it up because he doesn’t want anyone to hurt their futures. Even though both these teachers were extremes on both ends of the spectrum, it raises good points about teaching styles and how to handle children/students. When it comes to teaching and fostering children's learning after seeing both sides that a happy medium of positive and negative reinforcement, nurturing and tough-love is needed to create a healthy compromise in classrooms. In “Bodega Dreams” one can see how Mr. Blessington goes from verbally abusive to eventually become physically abusive later on. His students didn’t like or respect him; they hated and feared him. In a study published in the Contemporary Issues in Education Research titled "Comparison of The Frequency and Effectiveness of Positive and Negative Reinforcement Practices in Schools," it explores these questions. They bring up a point made by P. Methuen who said: "Spare the rod, spoil the child" (qt. in Dad et al). This study suggests that to not use negative reinforcements to drive a child in the right direction would spoil that child. In contrast to that, A.E. Woolfolk, a psychologist who specialized in child education as a professor at the Ohio State University at the time of publication, says that “punishment is, at

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