Angie put her finger on the crux of the problem:
On Scope
I like where we are going in this class in regards to learners taking an active role in their own learning, however, am concerned if this will ever become reality in our school systems. The curriculum is laid out, literally, day by day of what needs to be “learned”. I agree the state assessment is arbitrary, however, the state lives by it. Will it ever come to the point when our teachers are able to focus more on student need and interest rather than what the state wants them to “learn?”
This comes back to some fundamental questions about State-sponsored Education and underscores the importance of controlling the language. The curriculum cannot make demands about what may be learned. I don’t care what the school board says, it can only reasonably demand that such-and-so be taught. The imprecise nature of assessment means that our ability to measure with any reliability requires us to trivialize that which we assess to the point of being meaningless. Measures based on arbitrary fact recitation have not correlation to the ability of any individual to apply those facts in a meaningful context. Measures based on performance criteria are subject to the interpretation of the judges and the physical/mental condition of the performer. A “good” performance may not be replicable and a “bad” performance may not be representative. How much then of what we assess has anything to do with learning?
It reminds me of the old joke about the guy helping his buddy look for a contact lens on the ground under a streetlight at night. After several fruitless minutes of searching he asks, “Are you sure you lost it here?” His friend responds with, “No, I lost it down the street but the light’s better here.”
So the conditions in which you find yourselves working — and this is only marginally less true in post-secondary ed — include
- a complete disconnect between administrative demands and administrative mission (“Teach to this List vs Train the Next Generation”)
- performance measures based on outcomes over which you, as teachers, have only limited control (“Your students pass or we close the school”)
- absolute disregard for the humanity of your students (“All fourth graders must know X”)
- a confusion of Art and Science in the practice of Education (“Following this curriculum will result in that outcome regardless of the skill of the teacher, the condition of the learner, or the state of school.”)
So, given this reality, what are the likely results? How can we cope?
And how does any of this bear on the issue of the scope of distance education?
September 10th, 2006 at 9:57 pm
This past semester I completed my student-teaching and I was introduced to the “list” that must be taught to first and second graders to prepare them for the end of the year testing. I quickly noticed the norm, “You don’t have fun in school anymore! You lecture, complete worksheets, and take a test.” Often times, I had so many great ideas and information tools on the Internet, but was informed that I didn’t have the time to incorporate them into the class due to the “rush–rush” demand to check off everything on the list (I still incorporated as many as possible, but it became really difficult at times). The students jumped from one subject to the next so quickly that they often times didn’t have a chance to convert a skill to long-term memory unless they had willing parents that would help to reinforce the skill at home (for students that didn’t have this advantage, retaining the skills became a problem). Because of this fact, two weeks before the end of the year test I was provided packets of review for students to “drill” before the actual test. I was so frustrated seeing the bordom expressed by these students–gee, by the time the test arrived they were already bored out! Hopefully in the near future, I hope to come up with a way to grab student interest while teaching the “list” of required skills and a way to use distance education as a way to reinforce and build upon what is taught in my classroom. I am probably not one to offer any comment since I don’t have a classroom of my own–it is my goal though!
September 5th, 2007 at 9:38 am
[...] See “Reconciling Teaching and Learning”. [...]
September 5th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
When all is said and done, teachers have an impossible job. I like the idea of standards in so far as I think it is a good idea for my Algebra I students to learn the same skills as another teacher’s. And, truly, the state has not yet mandated HOW we teach said skills. So, tecnically, we should be able to do as we like in our classrooms. The trouble comes when we realize that there is simply not enough time to properly teach all the standards they have given us. And certainly no time for fun.
September 9th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
I agree, we have to teach what the State expects the students to know. But, it would take a level of commitment that is probably physically impossible to diversify our instruction that way it probably should. It’s like living in a fantasy world where you envision what you would really like to do and see but time just doesn’t permit this to happen. I think once you planned more engaging activities for every lesson for the year (assuming your principal doesn’t move you to another grade)each year following would become easier and easier to build on. But, just getting started on this daunting task is more than most can bear.