Some of the catch phrases I've heard a lot in the past few years include differentiated instruction/ learning, best practices, collaboration, concept mapping, remediation, scope & sequence, benchmarks, core curriculum standards, rigor, strategies, individual learning styles, inclusion, accommodation, modification, interdisciplinary approaches, and so many more. And don't get me started on the acronyms-- ADA, ADD, ADHD, AP, ARD, ADA, AS, AT, and that's only part of the A's!
I can't tell you how many times I sat through inservice training and workshops attempting to understand this foreign language educators were supposed to be fluent in. And I don't meant to discount the effort the trainers put into their latest methods or programs or gaggle of new buzz words and phrases they've adopted to cure our education woes. But much of it is so far removed from real life and meaningful conversations, and especially the process of preparing kids for life.
c. Donna Van Cleve
Can you imagine a high school or college team-- or especially a professional team functioning like this illustration? And yet we see this every day in education. But does real life use these terms and practices? Very few companies will modify their employee job descriptions to accommodate what's lacking in our children's knowledge, skills, and abilities, and yet in education we make those modifications daily for students to be able to pass courses and especially standardized testing. So are we truly attempting to prepare children for life or are we simply attempting to appease the NCLB* god? Check off all the requirements down the assembly line, slap a diploma in their hand, and boot them out the door. Done.
Thanks to so many required mandates outside of local control that have little to do with actual teaching, our teachers are given an impossible job that eventually drives many of them out of the field, or lessens the quality of education because of the unattainable requirements burying them. If they want to have a personal life, or be a mother to their children or spouse to their mate, or have time to get involved in community, charitable, or church activities, something has to give. Otherwise, the demands of the public education professional is all-consuming. I asked a number of teachers to think about how much of their day (and a teacher's day goes far beyond that last bell) is actually spent teaching or facilitating learning, and the results were from 20 to 50%. That wasn't a scientific study, but it does tell me that teachers who are passionate about teaching are frustrated with all the record-keeping and modifications and behavioral issues they're required to document daily that steals time away from actual teaching.
And since most classes have a wide spectrum of students at different levels of learning and styles of learning, teachers have to differentiate every lesson to include accommodations for visual, kinesthetic, and auditory learners, as well as simplify tests and lessons for those students with learning disabilities. And again, it all has to have a paper trail. It exhausts me just to think about it, and yet teachers are doing it every day. I don't know how they keep their sanity and health maintained, or even have a personal life. I have to tell you that some have very little life outside of school. They're on campus at seven and work until seven at night. Then they are asked to work extra-curricular events in the evenings and on the weekends. The teacher/coaches work even longer hours. And the band instructors I know have a monster schedule of before and after school practices as well as regular night and weekend events. I marvel at their accomplishments, but I know, too, that it's taking its toll on them.
I'd like to resurrect some old terms for today's schooling. Getting back to the basics is a good phrase. I think we ought to cut out half of what we're requiring kids to learn (much of which they don't remember anyway until it's applicable to them), and focus on mastering the basics. Can they read and comprehend well? Can they communicate and write well enough to make an impact on their world? Are they capable of solving real-life problems? Have they been exposed to other cultures and ways of thinking? Have they learned to take risks and to persevere and to think creatively? Do they know how to give their best effort regularly, and to take responsibility for their learning? Do they appreciate the efforts of those who came before? Do they know how blessed they are to live in a country where its Constitution protects their freedoms? Do they know where they've come from? Have we prepared them to not only survive in life, but to thrive well enough to help others along the way? Are they healthy and know how to stay fit? Have we taught them to think and act beyond their I-me-world? Has school prepared them well enough for them to know what they want to do with their lives?
Common sense and the freedom to use it is another phrase I'd like to see used again. Local control is something else that needs to be reinstated. Too much of what educators are required to do is mandated from outside the school district. And I understand why, but trying to fix a problem in a weak district by piling more directives on every district tends to create unintended consequences of pulling down the whole education system. NCLB started off with good intentions, but we've all seen it weaken education in general when school systems are forced to teach to the test to maintain a standard based on the results of that single test.
Low student-to-teacher ratio is another phrase I'd like to see in our public schools. And a secure plan to fund education along with the freedom to use it as they see fit. Since when have we seen that in place? But along with adequate funding, the powers that be must allow school districts the freedom to do things differently if what they're doing is not working. Freedom is another word I'd like to see in our school systems. I'd like to see the freedom to act, speak, or express one's opinion on a school campus without fear of reprisals. Can't tell you how many times I've seen just the opposite of that in the education environment.
But I've gone to meddling now. I'll expound more about that in novel #9...
*No Child Left Behind
No comments:
Post a Comment