Arianna sat down to "tawk" with Fran Drescher on Tuesday. The former "Nanny" star recently launched her eponymous (and phonetic) "Fran Drescher Tawk Show."
Drescher's first question was about Arianna's strong positions and the reactions she gets.
"Especially women, they love it when you speak your mind," explained Arianna. "All of us as women have grown up with this desire to be constantly approved, and our fear is about expressing ourselves. When one of us does it, it's really validation for the rest of us. I feel that you can do it with grace and you can do it in a way that just makes it clear 'this is my truth, this is what I believe.' It can be about everything. You can have strong opinions, as I do, about politics and also about sleep. I'm a big believer in sleep!"
That kicked off the wide-ranging conversation. Along with politics and media, Arianna tackled education and had high praise for Michelle Rhee. "She's acting like a mom worrying about her own children," said Arianna while recognizing Rhee for bringing a sense of urgency to education.
WATCH:
This is one aspect of why Michelle Rhee's plans will not fix American education, or any other ailing institution. Policies that threaten to fire 10% of a group of workers each year do not foster the kinds of behaviors that produce strong institutions. Instead employees who labor under this kind of heavy-handed tactic are motivated by fear, and collaboration is thwarted. Collaboration is a key component within successful schools.
Please refer to www.voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/research/will-firing-5-10-percent-of-teach.html
This article offers a well-thought out presentation of some of the pitfalls of this "get tough, competition is always good" approach.
This tactic, when employed in the corporate world, has produced immediate short-term apparent improvements, but is devastating in the long term.
This approach has no place in education. It saddens me when I see intelligent, thinking, progressives advocating such shortsighted approaches, or praising the efforts of persons who advocate them.