tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19457872.post368694346549363894..comments2024-03-26T23:57:42.268-04:00Comments on SpeEdChange: The Big Lies (Part Two)irasocolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01412837280249622430noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19457872.post-42465486984376590612011-03-08T14:10:27.649-05:002011-03-08T14:10:27.649-05:00Ira,
Great conversation.
What resonates most is h...Ira,<br />Great conversation. <br />What resonates most is how the idea of Common Core gets conflated with the reality of implementation. If anyone ever looked at the list of should-knows's from E.D Hirsch's "What a 5th grader should know" and so on, it is mind-boggling - leaving no room for any extra breath from a student, or a teacher. <br /><br />While it is hard to disagree that our students should learn a common standard of content and skills- who doesn't want our students to have an understanding of who our founding fathers were, the conflicts, who was involved in WWI, where Pakistan is located on a map, some back-story on China and Japan, etc. (which we can't even agree upon, plus taking into consideration the changing nature of those "facts"). We cannot agree even remotely on the best practices for math education - everyday vs. singapore anyone? Or, reading - whole or phonics? Give 'em skills - collaboration!, but fight tooth and nail vs. your fellow classmate for a grade. We talk about content and rigor, and yet we know our students can't even put major events in any coherent chronological order. Extreme ideology at play. Who will be making these decisions? <br /><br />We did a humor piece which still has teeth to this chat - it is satire, which may be due here, from our resident critic, Dr. D. Rigour, in "Commie Core Standards":<br />http://www.thedailyriff.com/articles/state-governors-have-convened-again-275.phpCJhttp://www.thedailyriff.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19457872.post-35538730575011810452011-03-08T13:55:33.658-05:002011-03-08T13:55:33.658-05:00Ohmigod. I just read "Ed Reformers for Illit...Ohmigod. I just read "Ed Reformers for Illiteracy" and I think my internal processor has frozen. Reboot! Reboot!<br /><br />I think this is where my system froze:<br /><br />"Vander Ark is obviously a smart guy. But his vision for education is all about delivery systems. Like many would-be reformers, he tacitly endorses a false and content-neutral, skills-driven notion that how children learn is more important than what they learn."<br /><br />I don't understand how we can educate a generation that will have to deal with rising oceans and the disappearance of the coral reefs in 25 years, when we teach under that philosophy. <br /><br />Sorry, I have to power down now.<br /><br />LisaLisa Cooleyhttp://mindsofkids.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19457872.post-3809154278264043912011-03-08T13:30:24.551-05:002011-03-08T13:30:24.551-05:00Shelley,
I tried to separate out individual inten...Shelley,<br /><br />I tried to separate out individual intent from corporate intent in my thoughts on Teach for America, and I will agree that you are right, there are all sorts of intentions. I will say though that in my experience with TFAers (mostly in Chicago), the adoption of the "Missionary Position" is "even greater" among TFA corpsmembers than among the traditionally educated teacher. But that problem - the belief in conversion - is hardly possessed only by the TFA cohort.<br /><br />- Ira Socolirasocolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01412837280249622430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19457872.post-85254233014485676832011-03-08T13:26:59.051-05:002011-03-08T13:26:59.051-05:00Lisa,
"Common Core" proponents like
Ro...Lisa,<br /><br />"Common Core" proponents like <br />Robert Pondiscio insist that those of us against their program are "for illiteracy" - <a rel="nofollow">http://blog.coreknowledge.org/2011/03/08/ed-reformers-for-illiteracy/</a> - but they cannot come up with any defense of their ideas except they believe what they claim.<br /><br />That is, "Common Core" is a "faith-based" system. It turns education into a religion designed to perpetuate a canon of stories and beliefs. Their canon is no different than the canonical texts which form the New Testament. Gospels were not chosen for inclusion based on historic accuracy or to include diversity of opinion, but rather to promote a certain belief system. This is true for everything Mr. Pondiscio and Dr. Hirsch are selling as well. Their goal is to establish their own stories as the cultural law of the land, and thus to preserve their position, and the inherited position of their children, within our society.<br /><br />As I suggest above, the issue with "Common Core" is not that it doesn't "sound nice" to superficial thinkers, but that we (a) have no way agreeing on this common core reasonably, and (b) that even if we could, giving all people in society the same education is not a path to progress, but to stagnation.<br /><br />When people with diverse backgrounds, different knowledge bases, and diverse intellectual traditions meet and join together... that is where creation and problem solving happens. It is why the great cities of progress are the diverse ones - New York, London, Paris - rather than the monocultures Pondiscio and Hirsch would want you to live in.<br /><br />So, for me, the trick is diverse paths traveled as diverse learners need to travel, leading to secondary schools and universities which are places of debate, doubt, engagement, and creativity.<br /><br />- Ira Socolirasocolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01412837280249622430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19457872.post-43400057351346178762011-03-08T12:38:52.886-05:002011-03-08T12:38:52.886-05:00Ira, my school district is seriously planning a mo...Ira, my school district is seriously planning a move to a "standards-based system" and I have embraced the change as it moves from the "seat-time" model to one more open to different ways of teaching and learning...opening doors to more PBL and out-of-school activities, etc. However, my Super. is very big on the Common Core. I'd like more background on the problems with Common Core. I'm not sure I followed your reasoning, although I have never really understood what "compare and contrast" meant when I was a kid, still not sure now!<br /><br />Also, I'm going to search your back posts for anything on the Marzano/RISC model, but any resources you know of would be appreciated too!<br /><br />Thanks much,<br />Lisa CoolyeLisa Cooleyhttp://mindsofkids.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19457872.post-44317997532328747062011-03-07T17:33:18.951-05:002011-03-07T17:33:18.951-05:00Ira- Thought-provoking as always--I learn somethin...Ira- Thought-provoking as always--I learn something new each time I stop by here. Looking forward to the rest of the series.<br /><br />Shelly- Well put. Whole comment.<br /><br />ChadChad Ratliffhttp://venturepragmatist.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19457872.post-75918053244613192592011-03-07T15:57:22.921-05:002011-03-07T15:57:22.921-05:00I suppose, if we absolutely MUST have a common cor...I suppose, if we absolutely MUST have a common core curriculum (if we are forced to speak the newspeak language of school reform) then why not take Neil Postman's suggestion at the end of Technopoly and push for Semantics, Histories, and the Arts as the common core subjects?<br /><br />-Loving this series Ira!Carl Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07539544230024970483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19457872.post-38144695562174709272011-03-07T12:51:48.250-05:002011-03-07T12:51:48.250-05:00Hey Ira,
Two things (one not quite with ya, one q...Hey Ira,<br /><br />Two things (one not quite with ya, one quite with ya): <br /><br />1) I think you are painting the sorts of students who actually attend "elite" schools with a bit too broad a brush. Likewise the folks who go through TFA. You and/or I may disagree with the ways and means and purposes of TFA, but in my experiencing working with a bunch of TFA folks in Baltimore, there are myriad reasons why they decide to join the program and myriad realities they all represent. The statistics tend to blanket that all out, just like standardized tests tend to blanket out the realities of what our kids really "know".<br /><br />2) I've never understood why game theory and risk analysis, innovation and entrepreneurship, free improvisation and non-idiomatic problem solving, conflict negotiation, and community service aren't at the heart of the "Core Curriculum". I'm getting kinda bored of the usual "English", "Math", "Science" rigmarole. Oh, wait a second...<br /><br />Education is the product of Education. Whatever that is.<br /><br />ShellyAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14091328599818819777noreply@blogger.com