On education

I really have nothing to say other than I completely agree with Ken Robinson. If you want to start a debate over what he says by all means do, but I really have nothing to contest or add to what he said:

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Enjoy.

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

I pretty much agree with him too. Much of my life was wasted because my parents tried to force me through an academic education and into a science degree, when they should have encouraged my dreams and talents. I hope I do not make the same mistake with my child.

I was waiting the entire talk for any points he was going to make, but it turns out he didn't make any. He hardly seems to have an idea (at least, judging from the talk) about how exactly education should be "revolutionized" or where his empirical evidence is that his proposed reforms would lead to "better" education.

Originally posted by Starrman
I pretty much agree with him too. Much of my life was wasted because my parents tried to force me through an academic education and into a science degree, when they should have encouraged my dreams and talents. I hope I do not make the same mistake with my child.

Do you think you'll trust your kids to be schooled in the "normal" way? What do you know about Sudbury type of schools and the Summerhill School?

I think that being aware that your child wants is more important than what you want is a very important first step. I just hope I can remember that at all times for my own children...

Just as long as they don't want to be philosophers, that is... 😵 😵 😵

Summerhill school...what a wonderful idea. I wished I'd gone there.

Until they get rid of high-stakes "standardized" testing and the related bogus bell curves, as well as fund education, you can't improve education. Potential teachers go to college full of dreams and ideals, and they leave ready to do great things, and then they're told that they can't, because their only job is to get the kids to pass the tests. Then they/we get blamed for crushing children when we aren't the ones who made the rules or refuse to protest the rules; we're just stuck enforcing them. As long as you believe those tests are about teacher accountability and a good thing, you're perpetuating the problem and all the babbling in the world isn't going to change that.

The result of this year's budget cuts? Our school will not have so much as ten minutes of a music education program this year. It won't be a school of 900 students sharing one teacher; there will be no teacher. We already don't have PE, art, or computers, and only get to use the library once a month. We would LOVE to do all the things we know will awaken a child's inner gifts. We're just not allowed to.

Originally posted by pawnhandler
Until they get rid of high-stakes "standardized" testing and the related bogus bell curves, as well as fund education, you can't improve education. Potential teachers go to college full of dreams and ideals, and they leave ready to do great things, and then they're told that they can't, because their only job is to get the kids to pass the tests. Then the things we know will awaken a child's inner gifts. We're just not allowed to.

A few comments.

I'm a science teacher. I love standardized tests. The specific tests we use may not be perfectly designed but they can be improved over time. Standardized tests are the left brain side of education. I think too many teachers are right brain oriented considering the money is mostly in math and science.

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they leave ready to do great things, and then they're told that they can't, because their only job is to get the kids to pass the tests.

It sounds to me like the tests need to be redesigned to measure "great things". Any recommendations?

Then they/we get blamed for crushing children when we aren't the ones who made the rules or refuse to protest the rules; we're just stuck enforcing them.

I 100% agree.

I also would like to point out the off topic point that police have exactly the same problem. Everyone blames the "pigs" for the laws the voters and their representatives chose.

As long as you believe those tests are about teacher accountability and a good thing, you're perpetuating the problem and all the babbling in the world isn't going to change that.

There are a few ideas mixed in there. I think the tests are a good thing. I believe they are about measuring students' learning, not teacher accountability. I don't see this topic as perpetuating "the problem". "The problem" is mostly cultural conflict in my opinion; not only ethnic but even more so class based. Tests can be designed to control for such things.

The result of this year's budget cuts? Our school will not have so much as ten minutes of a music education program this year. It won't be a school of 900 students sharing one teacher; there will be no teacher. We already don't have PE, art, or computers, and only get to use the library once a month. We would LOVE to do all the things we know will awaken a child's inner gifts. We're just not allowed to.

I agree that public schools are inadequately funded. This is part of class conflict. It is also part of our economic reality at the moment...recession and all that.

I want to emphasize that not having funding for something is not quite the same as not being allowed to do something.