Posts from — September 2007

It’s still hard for me to imagine with everything we know about how the brain works and how learning happens that we as a society would continue to perpetuate the model of public education we have today. I know there are pockets of people all over the country doing engaging, experiential, project and brain based learning activities. However the majority of the education that is taking place in this country is NOT education at all – but schooling.

Given the brain research and the knowledge that all people learn in their own unique ways, it is no wonder there are so many young people ‘failing’ this current system. It would be too simplistic on my part to suggest the solution is simply that many of those failing the system simply learn in a different manner and the educators working with them haven’t taken the time to find that style and work with it.

I just read an article about a conference held in South Dakota in which the topic/focus was strategies for teaching Native Americans. As one might imagine some people argued for a strict disciplined approach to academics while others argued for a more culturally sensitive approach.

I had been thinking a lot about educating native peoples – even before I read this article. My intuition has been that putting native people in a classroom, sitting them in rows, forcing them to sit still and then pushing content at them is just wrong. This ‘style’ or ‘method’ of teaching/learning does not take into consideration the cultural background let alone the learning style of the learners.

It appears to me that the way this subject (educating native people) is being approached is a perfect example of forcing a way of working (learning) onto people instead of designing a system that works for the people in it. I can imagine, if we really cared about the education of Native People, that we would design something completely different from what we see today.

Here is the article:

Varied Strategies Sought for Native American Students
Some focus on culture while others emphasize strict academic approach in raising achievement.
By Mary Ann Zehr – Rapid City, S.D.
Educators working to improve the performance of Native American students are struggling to find the right balance between core academics and attention to native culture as a way to help engage and motivate children, according to those at a multistate gathering on the topic here last week.

I find it quite interesting that the intended goal for the education system was to provide the poor people in the US a way to learn discipline, order and just enough of the ‘basics’ (reading, writing, and arithmetic) in order to be good citizens (and reduce crime).

The unintended consequences of creating the free public school system is the dumbing down of the majority of the population rather than improving the lot of the minority of the population. Literacy levels in this country have actually declined since the introduction of free public schooling. Why is that?

I remember reading a book by John Gatto (former teacher of the year) called Dumbing Us Down: the hidden curriculum of compulsory schooling). I’m sorry to say that beyond ‘getting it’ on a superficial level I really missed the point that John was making.

Schools are designed to confuse, and to ‘school’ people – not educate them!

Duh. I guess I really am a slow learner. It brings tears to my eyes to re-read some of what he wrote in that book. The book I wanted to write has already been written!

Here’s something that is just so classic for this day and age.

As I’ve mentioned before there are so many contradicting studies showing results for (or no results) for various aspects of the education system. Here are two studies – one showing improvement in achievement when merit pay plans are used. The other shows that incentives don’t keep teachers from being absent from school.

I’ve argued previously that incentives are NOT good for schools. I believe that incentives, merit pay, pay for performance, and other such measures are a clear signal that there is something wrong with the education system. These measures have been used in business for years and there as well I see them as a sign that there is something wrong with the way the business is managed and run.

Why is it that the Education System is just now grabbing on to these methods? I believe it is because making real and substantive changes are NOT part of the plan nor interest of the people involved in education and education policy. Using incentives and the like are just one more distraction from actually doing something useful to help young people learn.

Study: Student achievement improves under merit-pay plans
Student achievement improves when their teachers are paid for their performance, according to an analysis published in the September issue of the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. “The evidence certainly suggests when you offer incentives, you’re likely to get better results,” said co-author Michael J. Podgursky, a University of Missouri-Columbia professor of economics. ScienceDaily (9/4)

Florida incentive programs don’t keep teachers in school
Florida schools aiming to curb teacher absences through incentives found that sick days actually increased at most schools. “Teachers tried very hard about being here because it puts more work on them when they’re out of school,” said elementary principal Helen Gleicher. “When you have a staff that big, things happen.” The Palm Beach Post (9/3)