“A child's learning is a function more of the characteristics of his classmates than those of the teacher.”
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The present structure of rewards in high schools produces a response on the part of an adolescent social system which effectively impedes the process of education.
Cultural dominance of middle-class norms prevail in middle-class schools with a teacher teaching toward those standards and with students striving to maintain those standards.
As an example, one of the schools I have been studying is too small to compete effectively in most sports, but participates with vigor each year in the state music contests.
In the United States, we spend millions of dollars on sports because it promotes teamwork, discipline, and the experience of learning to make great progress in small increments. Learning to play music does all this and more.