this week i have been teaching from an article that i read on christmas day from the front page of the local newspaper.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/24/AR2005122400701.html in the article it stated that the literacy rates for adults have dropped, and the education gurus are stumped. they can't understand how college graduates can get a degree, but can't seem to follow an instruction manual or read basic prose and understand it.
as a teacher, i am starting to believe that this may be the single most important thing i have taught so far this year. when i read that the head of education statistics stated that he and others had no explanations as to why, i was angry. why isn't the reason obvious to these people? it is because all they do is collect numbers?
quantitative data rules the world. numbers win, learning loses. why? because we manipulate the numbers in education to fit what we see as the vision of literacy. however, those doing the number crunching, and those making the big decisions about the directions of the public school systems AREN'T IN THE CLASSROOM. what kind of business is successful when the people selling the "product" have no clue about it?
higher level thinking skills cannot be quantitatively measured any longer. why? because the way the public schools are set up now is to teach to the test. the skills needed to pass the test are mostly memorization. there is very little real learning occurring now, as students remember enough to pass the test, but don't really know what they learned or, better yet, how to apply it in the real world. students memorize things they don't think is necessary, and because they don't understand the connection to the real world, they reject it. there is very little joy in learning. what is worse, is that a student may have graduated from a school, and the "numbers" (G.P.A. or pass/fail of classes) supported it. however, the same student may lack the ability to think on her own because she doesn't know how to. sadly, in the public school system the student sits in a classroom waiting for an answer. she then memorizes it, regurgitates the info back on a test, and gets a grade, a NUMBER. and then we teachers move on to the next thing to memorize. there is no engagement with the subject, no application to the real world. but the numbers say the student is proficient. but is she?
how to fix this? my students and i are addressing, through journal writing and group discussions of the journal writings, problems in LEARNING and possible solutions that might motivate us all to do the hard work. i told them that their classes are the "vehicles" that are getting them down the road to graduation. they may like a cadillac over a volkswagen(one class over another), but it doesn't matter which one they take as long as they are learning. the teachers provide the "gas" in the car, and we can put in the cheaper stuff (memorization) or spend the money(time) and put in the high test (higher level thinking skills). but the problem is that we are expected to "arrive" at our destination on a schedule, and everyone is supposed to arrive. the school system is spending a lot of time dragging cars to the end of this road, and some of them simply shouldn't be getting there. but success is measured by the number of cars that get to the end of this road. it seems to be unimportant if these cars really deserved to have gotten there. if they are all there, the school system can say it did its job and those in the "ivory tower" of the school board office spend a lot of time trotting out their statistics to prove that the students have learned something. and because the "numbers" prove success, we keep on going down the road doing the same thing, which is turning out mediocre students who don't know how to think for themselves or are able to apply what skills they have to practical, everyday situations.
so what is the answer?
several things to consider: first, go back to the 7 period day when students see the teacher everyday for 50 minutes, vs. every other day (block schedule) for 90 minutes. teenagers and most young people have an attention span of about 50-60 minutes. the rest, as far as retention is concerned, can be a waste. we already know (ask the students) that the one everyday class they have is the one they are doing the best in. every other day block scheduling was introduced 10-15 years ago because parents wanted their kids to be able to take more electives. hmmm.
secondly, we need to reassess testing and what is happening as a result of the type of testing we do. The Standards of Learning test issued by virginia is a memorization, dit/dot test that in many areas isn't even centered around the curriculum offered in that grade. there has to be a way that the classroom teacher can reintroduce higher level learning skills back into the classroom via class discussion, creative projects, etc. as it currently is, very little of that happens in the classroom due to time constraints. there isn't enough time to be able to do this as well as cover the materials that students must memorize to pass the S.O.L. test. and this is where we as teachers fail. we have to give in to "get the numbers" from our students. our performance ratings are tied to the pass rates of our students.
teachers need to be more active in the decision making process that determines the direction of the public school. we are the ones in the trenches, who are doing the actual teaching. we know what students need much better than the people up in the "ivory towers." as is, this strange business is one in which the three levels (classroom, administration and school board office/board) have absolutely no connection. one does not move from one level to the next. the jobs are different. teaching is teaching. but administration is business management and the school board office is politics. the politicos dictate policy and spend a lot of time studying statistics and what the current college wave of education theory is. but theory is just that, and often just isn't practical in a real world situation.
parents have to become less "numbers" oriented and more concerned about learning. however, society does NOT play into that. as parents, we are influenced by a number of things. one, is we want our kids to go to college, and we expect the "numbers" i.e. grades to be high enough to feed that goal. we will fight tooth and nail over numbers and grades, and will go to any length to make sure our kids have them. to assure this, parents will argue with teachers, defend their children's poor choices concerning their own educations, and sadly send out the message that they will intervene on behalf of their child over ANY matter, educational or otherwise. students no longer feel they will have to work too hard or even defend their own choices. their parents are the ever present net below their high wire act, and they CAN NEVER FALL
how do we learn in life? by failing. if you rob a child the opportunity to fail, you rob them of the ability to make good choices further on in their lives. learning isn't just between the pages of a book. it is in life. the public school system is the perfect arena for teaching this lesson. but we have become a place where the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and we operate in the vacuum of worry over lawsuits. if a parent complains, we listen, and listen, and listen...and eventually, the disgruntled parent will get what he/she wants, regardless if it is the right thing for their child or not. education has become the politics of appeasing everyone. but in doing so, we water down the basic concepts concerning the value of education. we teach our children that there is a way around everything if you complain enough, and this is what they learn.
my goal with this homework assignment is to gather the information/ideas of my students and somehow present it back to those who might consider it and make a change that isn't rooted in making sure everything looks good. an apple can have no blemishes on the outside, but once bitten into, can prove to be sour, unappetitizing. in that case, the consumer will toss the apple. we need as a community to work at making sure that the apple isn't just a pretty illusion, that it has substance and "nutritional value." the choices are the same as choosing between a microwave dinner or a home cooked, nutritionally balanced meal. and sadly, in today's society, we generally go for the nuked food because we don't want to take the time to cook up what is really valuable and pleasing.
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