Tuesday, September 08, 2009

School's Back!

http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/education/article/692177

I am always fascinated by "new trends" in teaching, and love to compare them with my education.

Of course, I remember the High Spots - gaining a love of Physics, Mathematics and Geography, also Chemistry from my high school teachers, and I tend to forget dropping History and failing English, taught by other teachers at the same high school.

Today I have arguably the best-stocked bookshelves on History outside the Etobicoke Public Library system, and read Richard Dawkins and Steven Pinker for fun. Go figure! I'm told I write good essays and poetry, but am as yet reluctant to let others see my books.

• "The children ... do not take a spelling test all year"

- spelling tests don't teach us how to spell, but they give us valuable feedback on whether or not we know how to spell. A standardized (at least classroom-wide) test gives us feedback as to whether we are falling behind society's standards, and to argue that society should not have such standards is to encourage confusion in communication and to deny the value of clarity.

• "... the school avoids all pencil-and-paper tests"

- and yet once out into The World all students will have to learn the truth - that if it ain't written down, it don't exist, and a refusal to commit an answer or a proposal or a contract to paper indicates an uncertainty and a desire for an escape route should things get rough. may as well start learning about commitment in the safe harbor of Grade 3 rather than at age 26 armed with an MBA and nothing else.

• " ...nor do they get assigned homework"

- which pretty well prepares them for a job driving a forklift truck or serving in a kiosk at the subway station. Further on in the article mention is made of changing technology. Get them used to it. One needs to do some reading and research outside the job just to keep up with the changing world.

• " .. some might consider coddling kids or even lowering the bar – using graphic novels instead of covering the classics"

- what else can you call it when one migrates away from society's accepted high standards and gravitates towards the low. Educational Entropy? It's hard work reading some good books, but that's because of the gap between my current knowledge and the level of Dawkins & Pinker. To et a glimpse of either one of those men I have to read, re-read, continually ploughing the field until all the clods (including me!) are friable. Rome wasn't built in a day. And THAT quote probably came from a classic ....

• "… the newest research on how to appeal to today's youth and boost not only their interest, but their achievement."

- but when I read "research" I see "government grant" and think immediately of someone who has not the skills to make it in the real world, but lives a life in university, whose income depends on convincing some committee that "more research needs to be done". My interest was boosted in high school by my mathematics, physics, chemistry and geography teachers. They appealed to my youth, my sense of self-esteem, and helped me get formidable grades in my matriculation exam (98% in the public and state-wide examinations in mathematics, for one example). Enthusiastic and dedicated teachers make the difference, not the course, not the research. I teach today and teach very well because I love what I teach. As did my teachers.

• "… many of today's schools are not holding kids' interest"

- and whose fault is that? The kids? I doubt it. A good definition of a child is "One who is not capable of making decisions that permit self-support". Show me a teacher who embraces the value of good communication, good spelling, and I'll show you a teacher who can churn out children with strong communication skills (probably even more important today with email and the reduction in face-to-face meetings). Show me a teacher who understand the necessity of physics in day-to-day living (or at least not dying in a car collision) and I'll show you a classroom of children equipped to understand the world. But don't put the burden on the kids. They need to know what our experts know.

• " …want their education to be relevant, and don't want to be simply regurgitating the facts"

Sure, but one has to start with some facts. Ideas or decisions that are not based on facts are without foundation and are destined to crumble. I frequently challenge people with "Define " when I think they are just rabbiting on. They stop dead, and are forced to admit that they don't know what they are talking about. But their ignorance sure sounded good. Until they were challenged for a definitive fact or meaning. Too there is a skill in finding facts, and it is more than searching the web. It includes an evaluation of the likely accuracy of any stated fact, and the skill set required to track down origins.

• "A few years ago, the school banned homework, arguing there was little evidence it helped boost student achievement and that it wasn't fair to assign such work to students with challenging home lives when others had two parents at home able to help them. After the first year, grades went up slightly and parents raved about all the family time available."

- to get a good idea of how short-sighted this is, look at the trigger and look at the conclusion: "We got rid of homework, and within a year everyone was happy that they had more spare time". The long-term solution which affects our nation and society is what happens down the road? What happens twenty years from now when we find that we have turned out a nation of people who think that it will be sufficient to chat about something to consider it done (Twitter anyone?). In the larger cities you only have to study the subway trains after peak-hour to witness the amount of time that has been spent reading the free 'metro" newspaper. No book reading, no preparation for the day, just a quick wallow in a cheap substitute for TV.

• "Today's learner needs fewer traditional tests and more "formative" feedback, ongoing discussion with a teacher, .."

– which contradicts everything I've learned about achieving success in projects. Projects need MORE frequent feedback, MORE ongoing discussion with the team until such time as the project can be seen to be running smoothly. This doesn't mean a 60-minute sit-down progress meeting every morning, but it does mean a brief written 1-line memo to each member indicating the top priority for today, this week, or the major problem confronting us all. Without that we are all floating around in the desert, assuming that somehow, someone will be able to make sense out of where we are, although we have lost touch with every other team member.

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