Quotes: When School Reform Gets Personal [Parental]

There are a lot of powerful folks right now who are advocating for a pedagogy that they do not want for their own children...[and] tend to get upset when asked about the disconnect, saying that that question is off limits. -- SLA's Chris Lehmann (Educational Colonialism)

Comments

[CarolineSF]

Oh, I think most of them start filing their nails and whistling into the distance when asked that question. It was Rahm Emanuel who went ballistic on a reporter when asked.

I haven't actually seen any "reformers" with the cojones to try to defend the disconnect, though -- has anyone?

[Paul Bruno]

One wrinkle here is that there appear to be a sizable number of parents who actually really do want this sort of pedagogy for their kids and it's not at all clear from the research literature that an "inquiry-driven" pedagogy would be better for them, particularly if they are younger and/or lower-achieving.

[CarolineSF]

I agree that there's some validity to that. Still, in the abstract -- in the big picture -- the widespread, popular view in the "reform" sector is that schools serving low-income children and youth of color should be the "no excuses" model, emphasizing drills, rigid timing, chants and test prep.

By contrast, the widespread, popular practice in the personal lives of those in the "reform" sector is to send their own kids to private or high-end suburban schools that shun such practices in favor of creativity, enrichments, flexibility, critical thinking and leadership skills.

Do any of the "reform" promoters ever send their children to the schools they create for poor kids, or to schools that resemble them in any way?

So even though there's some validity to the view that some parents want the "no excuses" model for their kids, which makes it complicated, I still question the morality of the "one model for THOSE kids; a completely different model for MINE" view promoted by the "reformers." Is their only defense "this is what THOSE parents want?"

[Paul Bruno]

No, I think another part of their defense is, "Different kids need different things, so the best model for my rich, high-achieving, socially high-status kid might not be the best model for a poorer, low-achieving, low-SES kid."

That's not to say that the archetypal "inquiry-driven" model or the archetypal "no excuses" model is really the best model for any kid at all. But there's nothing incoherent about claiming that different kids have different learning needs. (We even have a name for it when we try to deal with it within a classroom: "differentiation".)

[Bruce]

Differentiation of educational opportunity is a bad principle for a democracy.

[Michael]

With the invention of the internet and social networking, cultural events and ideas are digitized, transported, and disseminated instantaneously around the world with lightning speed. These cultural events and ideas impact everyone, from the types of cars people drive, to the types of foods they eat. Today, we live in a global village (Merriman and Nicoletti, 2008), and our education system is increasingly becoming more sensitive to the differences in cultures around the world. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2010), already in the nation’s largest 60 school districts, the population is more than 75% non-white with no single ethnic group comprising more than 40% of the school population; and nationally our schools are already almost 45% non-white. Morrell & Morrell (2012) points out that early childhood education professionals not only have to account for racial and ethnic diversity, but also religious diversity, socioeconomic diversity, diversity of family and home life, and diversity in language and country of origin-to name a few. Noddings (2003) believes education nurtures a depth of being and flourishing of human spirit. It helps individuals to realize their full potential and also to become productive members of their communities, contributing citizens of a nation, and responsible citizens of the world (Suh & Samuel, 2011). Read Entire Article at: www.allstudentscanlearn.weebly.com