It only took Rhode Island teacher Steven Round less than seven minutes to sum up perfectly many of the things that are wrong with our education system today. Sadly, there are far too many school districts that are like this. Thankfully, both mine and my children's district are not.
His points below illustrate several things. First, trying to have a one size fits all approach to teaching children is an epic fail. If districts are going to chuck Carol Ann Tomlinson by the roadside these days, children are going to lose. Second, we are creating a nation of test takers, not learners and students with enduring understandings. As Mr. Round says in this video, they have no clue what the real world is like. Third, this lack of real world experience is compounded further by budget cuts which means no field trips. Far too many districts suffer these consequences.
This, of course leads to a larger problem which is a decided lack of socialization time for many schoolchildren of all ages. Having a conversation with fellow students on a regular basis is a very key element to development. Without it, another avenue of real world experience is lost.
Given how so many school districts operate like this one (see: mini-fiefdoms) I fear that Mr. Round is only the first of many abrupt departures.
8 comments:
You don't like this? Then you should be blaming the politicians who have supported nationalizing (vice federalizing) education. There is blame on both sides of the aisle for that.
Yo bitch-boy, no comment? You could even agree with me you know.
Markadelphia agree with a conservative? Never! He would (and has) disagree with himself before ever admitting agreement with a conservative.
Like conservatives I agree that:
1. Nuclear Power is a good thing and liberals are moronic for not wanting to pursue clean energy
2. Liberals are very naive about the world and international security issues.
3. Being PC (especially when it comes to sex) is complete bullshit.
Now, let's see three areas in which you agree with liberals (not you, juris, because I know you have plenty, being a libertarian).
So M, contemplate for a moment your hypocrisy. You love the federal Dept of Education - it is inconceivable to you that this country could survive without it and all of the money it spends on an annual basis. NCLB was a bi-partisan effort, so where is the criticism for everyone involved and not just Bush?
Yes, there was criticism for everyone involved and no, I don't love the Dept of Ed as much as you say. The problem is that there has to be both national standards and states/individual school districts should be able make decisions based on their individual needs without federal interference. So, the problem is much more nuanced than just saying total federal control or none at all.
I've been mulling over an idea that will likely become a post soon. Race to the Top is a good start but they could go even farther with it from a free market standpoint if they wanted to do so. I need to do some more research on Race first, though.
The problem is that there has to be both national standards and states/individual school districts should be able make decisions based on their individual needs without federal interference.
Wow. Usually it takes a couple of posts or maybe a couple of paragraphs for you to contradict yourself. Here you didn't even finish the sentence without doing so.
Yo M - did you see what you did? You said there has to be national standards that the locals can ignore. W-T-F???
You can't possibly be a teacher.
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