As you may have noticed, education has become a hot topic of late. President Obama spoke to the nation's school children again this year. In Arne Duncan, we have the most activist Secretary of Education in memory. "Waiting for 'Superman' " and MSNBC's Education Nation have created discussions and debates that are, in theory, about education in this country. That should be a good thing. But it's not.
We should have a great debate in this country about education. Educational ideas are -- and should be -- controversial. The space between people like Alfie Kohn and Robert Marzano, between Deborah Meier and Ed Hirsch, could fill volumes. How we teach, what we teach, how we assess students... these ideas should be debated and discussed at dinner tables and PTA meetings across this country.
That's not the discussion we're having.
What is going on right now has little to do with education. We are having a labor debate masquerading as an education debate. And that's an important debate to have, but it's not really about education, and we should recognize that.
The conversation we should have is actually about education. Most high schools in this country are still structured off of the Taylor Scientific Method decades after business moved on. We still, in so many classrooms, put the desks in rows and put textbooks on the desks and expect learning to happen. In too many schools the innovations that have touched every other aspect of our society are absent. And in too many schools, the only thing that matters is how well students perform on someone else's test.
I say as both an educator and a parent -- we need a great debate about education in this country.
We should be asking ourselves -- what do we need our schools to be? What do we hope for our children? How are we going to modernize our schools so that they can change with the changing times? What do our children need from schools and how are we going to teach to meet those needs?
We're not going to get there if we expect the politicians and the media to start these conversations. These conversations have to happen in cities and towns all over this country. Parents and children and educators need to take the time to come together and have these conversations. We need to understand that without a vision of what we want our schools to be, reform is destined to fail.
So where do we go from here? What can we do?
We deserve a great conversation about education in this country -- better than the one we're seeing now.
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I don't think many reformers are that Machiavellian. Hopefully they see our kids as more than collateral damage in their labor war. They are the victims of "the Big Sort." They have no direct experience with poor schools, so they believe the type of PR campaign that acccompanies Oprah, Waiting for Superman, Education Nation, etc.
Sadly, if we continue to make failing schools the problem, we will continue to fight this blame game that worsens the Taylorism. If generational poverty is the problem, then could advance on all fronts with nonunion and union charters, community schools, diagnostic assessments as well as the testing that others want etc. If you have committed reformers who trust standardized test driven methods IN THEIR OWN SCHOOL, fine. Don't impose non-stop test prep on the rest of the nation which..
I hate hearing John Legend, who I admire so much, mouthing those soundbites. Can you get him to read thisweekineducation.com where he'll have access to an inner city teacher's hard-earned experience in educational politics? after he's read your posts,
An example. About a year ago, my wife and I were at the grocery store. Our two year old son was calling out letters he recognized. In the checkout line a lady mentioned she was impressed with his skill. She asked if he knew the full alphabet. We responded yes. She then said half of the kids in her Kindergarten class showed up to school not knowing the alphabet. She teaches at a typical suburban elementary.
I don't share this story to aggrandize my wife and me. We are doing nothing different than what many other parents are doing. But when half of the kids show up to school without knowing their ABC's it indicates that a majority of the problems in education are not the fault of the system or teachers or unions. It is with parenting. What we need is a national conversation on parenting. We can talk about teaching techniques till we are blue in the face, but if kids show up without basic skills, it will be for naught.
And I do believe that this conversation is overtaking the need for real evaluation and perhaps change in the American education system. HOWEVER, I do not agree with you, Chris, that the debate over such things as charter vs. traditional public schools does not need to happen. The idea behind charters is to evaluate the best way to teach children (your identified goal). Without trying new things, you cannot have proof. And repeating the same thing while expecting different results is insanity. Whether or not they truly work remains to be seen, but it was an effort to reach the same goal that we all want - to provide children with a better education.
I also believe that the media and politicians absolutely have a place in this debate. Whether or not you like them, they have a powerful voice and can spread ideas quicker than dinner table discussions (not to say that these aren't important). The trick is getting the voice from the people to the media. This blog itself is part of the media and look at the discussion it has already spurred!
Don't forget FLVS, the Florida Virtual School, down here. Nice article there old friend.
Thanks for the call to action.
theschoolprincipal@inthetrencheswithschoolreform.com
This is such an important message. Thank you.
Learning should be at the core of every school discussion. Good teachers know this. Now we need to spear the message to others.
Again, thank you.