Subscribe to our Blog
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Some housekeeping notes today
We have had to institute moderation for our blog comments, as the spammers have got out of hand. This means that you will have to wait for Doretta or me to okay your comment before it will appear. We will of course try to do this asap. We apologize for the inconvenience.
There was a prime-time Fareed Zakaria education special on CNN last weekend, and it will play again on CNN this Saturday at 8:00 pm and 11:00 pm ET.
SQE is holding its annual general meeting on Saturday, Nov. 26 at 11:00 am in Mississauga, ON. We don't have anything special planned but, if you are interested, you would be welcome to sit in on our meeting. Lunch is provided. For more details, ask me or Doretta.
I thought I'd give you a quick report on what we've learned so far from our survey (if you haven't taken it yet, you can do so by clicking on the pop-up on our home page). The majority of respondents are parents, with a sizeable percentage being grandparents as well. We actually had representation from every category listed, with the exception of "education bureaucrat". Most of your students attend(ed) publicly-funded schools. You are overwhelmingly interested in how to teach fundamental skills. Your political affiliation is primarily Conservative, but runs the gamut. The majority of you would like to see SQE pursue research studies, and so we will plan to do this (we are hoping to fund a comparison of Edmonton students with other Alberta students, for example). And very few of you suggested articles for our newsletter, alas. Thank you for your feedback. We take it very seriously.
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Brought to you by your mother
The latest addition to our lending library is Willpower: Rediscovering the greatest human strength by Roy F. Baumeister and John Tierney. Drawing on cutting-edge research, the authors explain that willpower has a physical basis and operates like a muscle: it can be strengthened with practice and fatigued by overuse. Willpower is fueled by glucose, and it can be bolstered simply by replenishing the brain's store of fuel. As a result, proper nutrition and adequate sleep actually help people resist temptation. And while there are natural limits to our self-control, these boundaries can be manipulated, as this excerpt (p. 252) illustrates.
- "Another simple old-fashioned way to boost your willpower is to expend a little of it on neatness. As we described in chapter 7, people exert less self-control after seeing a messy desk than after seeing a clean desk, or when using a sloppy rather than a neat and well-organized Web site. You may not care about whether your bed is made and your desk is clean, but these environmental cues subtly influence your brain and your behavior, making it ultimately less of a strain to maintain self-discipline. Order seems to be contagious.
- "Watch out for other kinds of cues, too, that can influence your behavior one way or the other. Bad habits are strengthened by routine: The doughnut shop you pass on the way to work, the midafternoon cigarette break or chocolate binge, the after-work drink, the late-night bowl of ice cream while watching the same TV show in the same easy chair. Changing your routine makes it easier to break these habits. Take a different route to work. Go for a midafternoon stroll. Schedule a session at the gym after work. Eat ice cream only at the kitchen table, and switch to doing sit-ups during that TV show. Do your Web surfing on a different computer from the one where you work. To break a really entrenched bad habit like smoking, do it on vacation, when you're far away from the people and places and events you associate with cigarettes."
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Literate people are not easy prey
There's an article in today's Globe and Mail deploring provincial governments' inaction in teaching students about financial literacy, with the result that young people are incurring unmanageable debts. Many tonnes of computer ink have been spilled about overburdened curricula and the unreasonableness of expecting schools to solve all of society's ills, and I will not add to the spillage.
Instead, here is an excerpt from our newsletter archives, adapted with permission from The Graves of Academe, 1981, by Richard Mitchell.
- "There is only one remedy for ignorance and thoughtlessness, and that is literacy. Millions and millions of children would today stand in no need of sex education or consumer education or anti-racism education or any of those fake educations, if they had had in the first place an education. An excellent model of the genesis of all these fake educations can be seen in the trendy and popular consumer education.
- "We are told that we need consumer education because people are easily duped by misleading advertising, cannot figure out the per-ounce price of Ketchup, and imagine that they can live on Twinkies and Coca-Cola. But the consumer who is duped by misleading advertising does not need consumer education: he needs to know how to read.
- "The housewife who can’t figure out what Ketchup costs does not need consumer education: she needs to know how to cipher. And as to those who want to live on Twinkies and Coca-Cola, frankly that’s their own damn business and we ought to leave them alone, but we might legitimately provide them with knowledge about biology and chemistry first and then leave them alone.
- "Our problems come not from ignorance and thoughtlessness about sex any more than from ignorance and thoughtlessness about Ketchup. They just come from ignorance and thoughtlessness, which are preserved and nourished in our schools by those whose profits lie in ‘solving’ the problems they have created.
- "Literacy is not, as it is considered in our schools, a portion of education. It is education. It is at once the ability and the inclination of the mind to find knowledge, to pursue understanding and, out of knowledge and understanding, not out of received attitudes and values or emotional responses, to make judgments.
- "Literate people are not easy prey. They know an inference from a statement of fact, and they are not easily persuaded by pretended authority. Literacy is like the kingdom of Heaven. Those who attain it will find that other things are added unto them."
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
The third way
Further to George (next-to-last posting) and in response to another reader who is interested in the "constructivism" (real learning must be generated by the learner) theory of knowledge, here is a link to a very important new study. The researchers set out to learn whether discovery-based instruction (the practical application of constructivism to pedagogy) enhances learning. Instead of confining their study to the usual two-way comparison between discovery learning and direct instruction, the researchers looked at a third category, namely enhanced and/or assisted discovery learning - in effect a combination of the first two approaches, whereby students are guided to construct new knowledge by means of such techniques as worked examples, scaffolding, feedback, manageable steps, carefully-structured homework, elicited explanation, and so forth. The researchers' two meta-analyses of the research led them to write the following.
- "The results of the first meta-analysis indicated that unassisted discovery generally does not benefit learning. Although direct teaching is better than unassisted discovery, providing learners with worked examples or timely feedback is preferable.... Furthermore, the second meta-analysis suggests that teaching practices should employ scaffolded tasks that have support in place as learners attempt to reach some objective, and/or activities that require learners to explain their own ideas."
Here is what John Mighton (JUMP Math) wrote in 2007 (The End of Ignorance: Multiplying our human potentialm, available from our lending library):
- "None of the ideas behind discovery-based learning are unreasonable in themselves. I believe very strongly, for instance, that teachers should allow students to discover things independently whenever they can. The teaching methods used in JUMP have been characterized by some educators as rote learning, perhaps because I recommend that teachers guide weaker students in small steps until they have developed the skills and confidence to do more independent work. But, as I will explain later, I always encourage students to take the steps themselves, and as much as possible help them understand why they took each step. This method of teaching, which I call guided discovery, is very different from rote learning. Even when students are capable of taking only the smallest steps, they are still actively involved in making discoveries and constructing their knowledge of mathematics, and are therefore led to understand math at a deeper conceptual level. As students gain confidence through their successes and as they become more engaged in their work, I encourage them to take larger steps and to work more independently."
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Sunday at the Movies (Malcolm Gladwell)
Here's a 15-minute talk by Malcolm Gladwell, always good value with his provocative insights, giving us a timely warning about getting too excited about gee-whiz technology. YouTube link
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Mathematically Incorrect
Dear Aunt Malkin,
I attended a workshop yesterday that promoted teaching math using an open ended, constructivist approach. We were told to draw a puddle on a piece of paper and figure out the area of it using any tool that we wanted on the table: tiles, ruler, string, grid paper. We were supposed to talk about the problem with a partner, and then present our solution to the class. Now I hardly ever teach math like this. I use a more direct instructional approach. This left me wondering what research there is to support which approach is more effective in having students learn the concepts and problem solve. Would you recommend any articles or books that explore the research?
George, Toronto
Dear George,
Here is a link to JUMP Math, a teaching approach which uses the method of "guided discovery". "In JUMP lessons, students explore and discover mathematical concepts independently in manageable steps, while the teacher provides sufficient guidance, examples, feedback and scaffolding for all students to meet their full potential."
The link references unbiased research that suggests that "unassisted discovery does not benefit learners, whereas feedback, worked examples, scaffolding and explicit instruction do". It also identifies barriers to student engagement in math lessons, many of which would be a problem with an open-ended constructivist approach - especially #5 ("The brain is easily overwhelmed by too much new information; math problems that are too complex or overly contextualized or texts that have too many new ideas on a page can discourage and confuse students.").
You may already have heard of JUMP; if you haven't, it's a great resource and based in Toronto! Its founder is a professor of mathematics at the University of Toronto. It's quite possible that someone from JUMP would be willing to come and speak at one of your workshops....
Hope this helps,
Aunt Malkin
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
First things first
Here's a letter to the editor that points out that omnivorous, voracious reading, especially in childhood and adolescence, is strongly correlated with adult success. The author of the letter appears to think that schools' over-emphasis on testing is inhibiting students from developing the reading habit, and this may be the case, at least to some degree. However, in my opinion a much larger inhibiting factor is schools' failure to teach so many of their students to read fluently. Maybe I'm missing something here, but it seems to me that kids who struggle with reading are highly unlikely to become omnivorous, voracious readers - whether or not they are allowed time to explore their own interests or provided access to a print-rich environment.
A knowledge of the powerful benefits that flow from voracious early reading adds to the urgency and importance of ensuring that all children are good readers by the end of grade 1. It's the least we can do for them.
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Let the Good Times Roll
How education New Orleans benefited after Hurricane Katrina.
This article makes the argument that having your school system wiped off the map opened up an opportunity that has been very successful for improving student achievement.
"If one wants to look at an example of successful school choice reform then I would recommend looking into the positive changes that are occurring in New Orleans, Louisiana. Before the devastation of Hurricane Katrina hit the city in 2005, over 66% of New Orleans public school students were attending failing schools, only about 2% of the students were attending charter schools, and only 79% of seniors in the city's public schools graduated.
"Five years later, in an effort to reform the destroyed public schools, educators and school choice leaders joined together to increase the quality of education in New Orleans. Now only about 33% of public school students in the Recovery School District are attending failing schools, 80% of public school students are attending charter schools, and an outstanding 90% of public school seniors are graduating. One of the key factors of the great success that has been seen in New Orleans is due to the expansion of charter schools in the city."
The author concludes, "It shouldn't have to take a hurricane to physically destroy schools for restructure to happen or success to be seen."
Let the good times roll indeed.
--------------
P.S. Don't forget to to take our survey.
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Parents as Partners? Really?
What has been your experience with school councils? SFT wants to know.
I thought I would pick up on yesterday's topic. They might be called by different names across the country, but essentially school and parent councils were supposed to be a way for parents to hold their local schools accountable for the children's education.
A year ago, I sat on a panel that was asked to discuss these questions:
Do parents have the right expertise to be partners? Or should we be thinking of parents' role differently? Some want parents to have more power; some want them to have less - why? What would be the most effective way for them to participate in their schools and the education of their children? What, if any, role should parents play in areas like curriculum?
(This is real parent power that I blogged about here.)
We'd like to know your thoughts on your own experiences and what can be done to improve how they work, if at all. Would you keep them advisory? Would you abolish school boards and let each council govern their own schools? Would you get rid of councils and replace them with something altogether different? Or, would you just give parents real school choice options?
So readers, what would your recommendations be if you could write a report?
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
The Truth About School Councils
"The purpose of school councils is, through the active participation of parents, to improve pupil achievement and to enhance the accountability of the education system to parents" - Ontario Regulation 612 (2.1)
When the school council was first inaugurated at my children's school many years ago, there were well over a hundred parents in attendance. All were hopeful that they could finally have some meaningful input into their own children's education. There were questions and advice about math programs; how French Immersion was affecting classroom space and scheduling; and how prepared our students really were for high school. Meetings were well attended and, over the next few years, parents like me tried, often in vain, to get effective reading and math programs in our school to make sure students were achieving to their potential. The pressure to continue a fundraising focus was always there and so eventually I became less involved as my children went through the school.
A few years after that, when my youngest was in Grade 8, I reluctantly decided to attend the first meeting of the new school year. I was shocked that I was only one of two parents in attendance besides the council members and principal. The discussion was all about fundraising. I never went back. No wonder parents were turned off and tuned out. It was disheartening, but not surprising.
The latest report on school councils is hardly earth-shattering news. The People for Education School Council Report 2011 recommends that the government change the councils' current mandate of monitoring student achievement to that of communication and outreach. To no one's surprise, councils are not doing a very good job at the former and are being encouraged to do the latter. It would be the final esmasculation of an ultimately powerless institution.
When school councils were proposed back in the 1990s, P4Ed was mostly against them. I recall a certain 1997 debate with Annie Kidder on TVOntario that I participated in. I was for them, Ms. Kidder was more tentative. Why were school councils so scary? The reason: because they would be populated by parents who could highjack the agenda and have too much influence at schools. As if. In hindsight, the educrats of the day were not going to let anybody have any real power over schools. Unless you were going to maintain the status quo of cookie-baking and fundraising, the message was: parents, don't rock the boat by actually demanding some accountability for achievement. Lo and behold, what does this latest report complain about? Too many school councils are spending too much time fundraising and not enough parents are involved with them. School councils were highjacked all right. My own experience bears that out.
The Ontario government has spent about $14 million to date for Parents Reaching Out Grants to get parents involved in school councils. People for Education themselves have received $47,000 in regional grants over the last two years from the Ministry to fund their annual conference (TVOntario, a branch of the Ministry of Education, televises the event online). Individual schools can get up to $1,000 to find ways to get parents involved at the school level. Here‘s an example from the PRO list of a school council parent involvement project:
"Educating & Engaging Parents -The Environment & New Technology--A series of information nights about how to care for the environment and embrace new technology in order to help our children better adapt in an ever-changing world."
Or, how about these school-based PRO events:
"Parents will be invited to a presentation by authors about literacy at home."
"Presentations by authors for parents, to emphasize the importance of literacy and creativity at home to support student achievement. "
"Multicultural math and literacy nights to help parents understand the curriculum and provide strategies to reinforce numeracy and literacy skills at home."
While these may be laudable information nights, readers may ask, "Why do we bother sending them to school?"
While at first we were cautiously optimistic, SQE predicted this state of events a while back. Here's our take on school councils here and here.
We know that meaningful parental involvement in their children's schools is an indicator of school success, but we also know that the best way to have real accountabilty is to give parents the ability to transfer their children to a different school.