My mother always talked about how history is like a pendulum, which swings to each extreme side. I have always taken that as encouraging. The other view is of a straight line that keeps heading in the direction we are going now (which is usually scary), or maybe of a circle, going round and round and round.
The advantage of perceiving life as a pendulum is that really most of the time things are somewhere in the middle, not very extreme in any way. Thus, when life gets a tad too extreme, and I start to worry about where things are heading, I just visualize a pendulum reaching its outer arc and beginning to swing back the other way.
Thus, I am starting to feel more comfortable about where education is going right now. It seems pretty scary right now, but I have faith that things are actually getting better. Proof? You want proof that it's getting better? How about the following:
Diane Ravitch, an original supporter of NCLB no longer supports it. Education think tanks are touting Finland as a model now instead of Japan. I think I like Finland, with its emphasis on providing strong education and practice for teachers, then assuming they can do their jobs without being micromanaged. Wow. What a concept. Finland also doesn't seem to expect miraculous results in three months. They have been working on overhauling their system for years (decades?), and knew it would take years. In the US, a long term goal/vision tends to be about 2 years, if we are lucky.
So the fact that people here are noticing Finland, and talking about it, gives me hope. Maybe the pendulum is starting its downward swing and things will get better. I sure would like to recommend teaching as a profession to my students again.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
What we misunderstand about education
Having been in the public school system for 25 years, I have noticed many things. I suppose you can summarize these as being prime examples of hypocrisy.
1. When education becomes a political hot button, students suffer.
Politicians need to create a threat in order to be the saviors. Thus, we have the crisis in American schools that needs fixing by people whose only real experience with teaching was as a student. With that logic, then I should be able to tell Apple what their problems are (do they have any?) because I have used Apple computers. Or, I can tell GM how to improve their bottom line because I drive a car.
2. Are American schools really so bad that they need a hurricane to wipe them out?
Over and over again the politicians who want media time shout about how bad American schools are. This hits home to voters, since pretty much everyone has some connection to schools. But, are the schools really that bad?
We often see results of surveys that show the America public is dissatisfied with the public schools. But when parents are asked if they are happy with their local schools, most say they are. Thus, it appears that most people are happy with the schools they have, but assume that all the other schools are doing poorly. How can that be? Maybe people are merely repeating what the politicians say about education. They assume the schools must be doing poorly elsewhere, because they hear it so often. I have a quote on my wall at school that says, "Just because a rumor is repeated often enough, doesn't make it a fact."
3. An apple-shaped plaque with #1 Teacher on it does not make me feel appreciated
We have a tendency in this country to extol the virtues of teachers in theory while at the same time belittling or denigrating the actual people who do the job. What makes teachers feel appreciated, and valued, is actually listening to them, and taking their ideas seriously. Right now any politician who listens to us, is considered caving in to the teachers (or soft on educational reform). Afterall, "those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." Can you say disrespectful?
4. We do the same thing to students
My dear friend who got me back to writing, always says:
"In America we know that every precious student is a special and uniqe individual, which is why we treat them all EXACTLY THE SAME." After all, how can we possibly respect each student as an individual, and then evaluate them all with the same standardized test. By definition that is not respecting individuality.
5. And THAT is the problem
Therein lies the problem. We are turning our backs on what made the US a strong country, our support of individuals and independent thought. People say we need to get away from the factory approach to education, that we do not need to produce mindless factory workers, that we need to create critical thinkers. But how do we do this by teaching to a standardized test?
1. When education becomes a political hot button, students suffer.
Politicians need to create a threat in order to be the saviors. Thus, we have the crisis in American schools that needs fixing by people whose only real experience with teaching was as a student. With that logic, then I should be able to tell Apple what their problems are (do they have any?) because I have used Apple computers. Or, I can tell GM how to improve their bottom line because I drive a car.
2. Are American schools really so bad that they need a hurricane to wipe them out?
Over and over again the politicians who want media time shout about how bad American schools are. This hits home to voters, since pretty much everyone has some connection to schools. But, are the schools really that bad?
We often see results of surveys that show the America public is dissatisfied with the public schools. But when parents are asked if they are happy with their local schools, most say they are. Thus, it appears that most people are happy with the schools they have, but assume that all the other schools are doing poorly. How can that be? Maybe people are merely repeating what the politicians say about education. They assume the schools must be doing poorly elsewhere, because they hear it so often. I have a quote on my wall at school that says, "Just because a rumor is repeated often enough, doesn't make it a fact."
3. An apple-shaped plaque with #1 Teacher on it does not make me feel appreciated
We have a tendency in this country to extol the virtues of teachers in theory while at the same time belittling or denigrating the actual people who do the job. What makes teachers feel appreciated, and valued, is actually listening to them, and taking their ideas seriously. Right now any politician who listens to us, is considered caving in to the teachers (or soft on educational reform). Afterall, "those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." Can you say disrespectful?
4. We do the same thing to students
My dear friend who got me back to writing, always says:
"In America we know that every precious student is a special and uniqe individual, which is why we treat them all EXACTLY THE SAME." After all, how can we possibly respect each student as an individual, and then evaluate them all with the same standardized test. By definition that is not respecting individuality.
5. And THAT is the problem
Therein lies the problem. We are turning our backs on what made the US a strong country, our support of individuals and independent thought. People say we need to get away from the factory approach to education, that we do not need to produce mindless factory workers, that we need to create critical thinkers. But how do we do this by teaching to a standardized test?
I AM a teacher
Education will probably be the most common theme in these posts, as teaching is what I do, as well as who I am. Literally. If you ask me about myself, the very first thing I will say is that I am a teacher. Although being a wife and mother are both important to me (as I love all my guys), they do not define me. In fact, although I dream about retiring as soon as I can, I am not sure if I actually would. OK. I may retire from teaching in this town and this state. I may even retire from teaching high school English. But quit teaching? Nope.
I have been a teacher since I was a freshman in high school. Really. Before I even went to college I worked in an after school program for elementary kids (they taught me how to use a pogo stick). I worked in a nursery for little kids whose moms were meeting with their social worker (they taught me I don't do toddlers). I worked in a first grade classroom (they taught me about tattling) and in a resource class for high school guys with learning disabilities (they taught me that school didn't come easily for everyone). I worked with college athletes who could play football or basketball (something I can't do) but could not write a complete sentence (they taught me to think about what was really important in writing).
Are you seeing a pattern here? I am. Although I have taught all these years, what has actually happened is that I have learned as much, if not more, as I have taught. That is what I love about teaching. It is as much about learning as it is about teaching.
Or at least it should be.
Good teachers keep learning. How can we talk to our students about becoming lifelong learners if we quit learning ourselves when we graduate from college? I have been reading lots of books, articles, and other blogs about education and have some ideas. Keep reading to see what I think.
I have been a teacher since I was a freshman in high school. Really. Before I even went to college I worked in an after school program for elementary kids (they taught me how to use a pogo stick). I worked in a nursery for little kids whose moms were meeting with their social worker (they taught me I don't do toddlers). I worked in a first grade classroom (they taught me about tattling) and in a resource class for high school guys with learning disabilities (they taught me that school didn't come easily for everyone). I worked with college athletes who could play football or basketball (something I can't do) but could not write a complete sentence (they taught me to think about what was really important in writing).
Are you seeing a pattern here? I am. Although I have taught all these years, what has actually happened is that I have learned as much, if not more, as I have taught. That is what I love about teaching. It is as much about learning as it is about teaching.
Or at least it should be.
Good teachers keep learning. How can we talk to our students about becoming lifelong learners if we quit learning ourselves when we graduate from college? I have been reading lots of books, articles, and other blogs about education and have some ideas. Keep reading to see what I think.
Let's Begin
For someone who loves words, and who taught journalism for almost 20 years, it is a crime that this is my first blog. I feel downright hypocritical that I am only now creating a blog. Why has it taken me so long?
~ Those 20 years I taught journalism absorbed my every waking minute. Heck, journalism absorbed my sleeping minutes as well, awakening me in the middle of the night with both founded and unfounded fears ("founded" is a word, right?)
~ I work for a district that, like many (if not most) school districts is paranoid. After being burned by journalism in this district, I was afraid to post anything online that may get me into even more trouble.
~ I have two sons, one with a learning difference that required quite a bit of my time helping him with homework (very willingly, I might add). Now that he is in college, and the other is an invisible 8th grader (living upstairs unless I force him to come down and join the family), I have time to write.
~ Finally, and maybe most importantly for me, I just couldn't see why anyone would care what I wrote.
But now I meet regularly with a good friend and her daughter (who was one of my stellar journalism students) to discuss their writing. They keep prodding me to make it OUR writing. So, here I go. Now I can tell them that I have writings to discuss as well!
~ Those 20 years I taught journalism absorbed my every waking minute. Heck, journalism absorbed my sleeping minutes as well, awakening me in the middle of the night with both founded and unfounded fears ("founded" is a word, right?)
~ I work for a district that, like many (if not most) school districts is paranoid. After being burned by journalism in this district, I was afraid to post anything online that may get me into even more trouble.
~ I have two sons, one with a learning difference that required quite a bit of my time helping him with homework (very willingly, I might add). Now that he is in college, and the other is an invisible 8th grader (living upstairs unless I force him to come down and join the family), I have time to write.
~ Finally, and maybe most importantly for me, I just couldn't see why anyone would care what I wrote.
But now I meet regularly with a good friend and her daughter (who was one of my stellar journalism students) to discuss their writing. They keep prodding me to make it OUR writing. So, here I go. Now I can tell them that I have writings to discuss as well!
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