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SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Critical thinking is sadly lacking when it comes to education
A column in today's Globe and Mail perfectly illustrates why our mission (to significantly improve student learning in Canada) is so hard. Usually sensible and well-informed, Gary Mason lauds the BC education minister's plans to de-emphasize facts in favour of those more important problem-solving skills (a false dichotomy, if I ever heard of one).
It's amazing. Most people appear to think that kids still sit in rows and are force-fed facts for subsequent regurgitation. But this hasn't been the case for many decades. The emphasis on higher-order skills that Mr. Mason is so starry-eyed about has been in place since at least the seventies. It didn't work well then, and it still doesn't.
That's because, contrary to Mr. Mason's bromide that an emphasis on facts was put in place back in the days before it was understood how people learned, it would be more accurate to say that an emphasis on problem-solving skills was put in place back in the days before it was understood how people learned. Dan Willingham has written two important articles on the relationship between cognition and knowledge. here and here The bottom line: "The ability to think critically...depends on domain knowledge and practice."
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Hooked on Phonics
We who have taught, or love children who have been taught, know this is funny!
From the diary of a Pre-School Teacher:
My five-year old students are learning to read. Yesterday one of them pointed at a picture in a zoo book and said,
"Look at this! It's a frickin' elephant!"
I took a deep breath, then asked..."What did you call it?"
"It's a frickin' elephant! It says so on the picture!"
And so it does...
" AFRICAN Elephant "
Hooked on phonics! Ain't it wonderful?
Live Well, Love Much, Laugh Often
H/T LL
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Chicago, Chicago, that toddlin’ town
In Chicago, the teachers are in the second week of their strike. According to this article, the majority of the public in Chicago support the teachers. As JE points out, it's noteworthy that the Chicago teachers were able to get the public on its side, whereas the Ontario unions appear to be going in exactly the opposite direction. Perhaps the Ontario teachers' unions should take notes.
Jay Greene makes an interesting point when he observes that Chicago charter school students are doubly fortunate. Not only are they not affected by the strike, but also they are learning more.
In any case, it's hard to see how striking teachers are good for kids.
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Don’t let your kids be used as pawns
GUEST BLOG BY NANCY WAGNER, SQE TREASURER
It seems from recent news coverage, that more and more Ontario students are being affected by teacher-union "work to rule" actions. In my local paper today, one parent expressed his frustration on finding out that his daughter's grade 8 grad has already been cancelled. This on top of the cancellation of all school sports! The parent stated that he would usually have sympathy for the teachers, but is now angry and offside.
When teachers fought against previous governments (remember "cuts hurt kids", and "teachers working conditions are your child's learning conditions"), many parents were onside. This is no longer the case. Families have been dealing with cutbacks, downsizing and frozen wages for some time now. There is little sympathy for employees in sectors protected from the effects of an underperforming provincial economy. And that lack of sympathy will quickly turn to resentment if tone-deaf union leaders don't wake up!
Meanwhile, we still have students who will miss out on the extra-curricular activities that keep them engaged in their school careers. There isn't much parents can do to replace the loss of sports teams. Apparently, regulations require that a certified teacher be on hand to coach. But when it comes to events such as class trips and grad dances, parents could and should get together and make these things happen for the students. For instance, a class trip to visit the parliament buildings (now cancelled at one local school) can still happen. Parent volunteers can book a bus and schedule the trip on a Professional Activity day.
When my oldest was in Grade 8, his end-of-year class trip was cancelled by the principal, due to misbehavior on the part of a couple of the students. The class teacher thought this was an over-reaction and totally unfair to the majority of the class. He quietly let it be known that he thought parents should take over and continue with the plans. For obvious reasons, he could no longer be involved.
So that is exactly what we did! The trip was to a Blue Jays game and took place on a Sunday. It was a resounding success!
Parents, if your child's grad has been cancelled, form a committee of volunteers, book a venue, and hold a dance for your kids. Do not let anyone use your children as pawns!
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Sunday at the Movies (Testing)
In this clip, TVO explores Ontario's testing process. All of the panelists do a good job, in my opinion - especially David Johnson (who is heading up our study of Edmonton student achievement, btw) - except for the representative from a faculty of education who, if nothing else, demonstrates the heart of the problem. link H/T DW
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
The devil is in the details
There is an editorial in today's Mop and Pail regarding a request from conservative Muslim and Christian parents that public schools accommodate their religious faiths by exempting their children from various programs, such as sex education, environmental worship, and values-neutral education. The Mop opines that this is a reasonable request for certain topics, but not for others. What a can of worms that is! For example, who is going to arbitrate which topics are off-limits and which aren't? The Mop and Pail? Really?
Adding to the confusion is the problem of how the various topics are treated. It has been my observation that the kinds of teachers who are attracted to teaching contentious topics - sex ed, environmentalism, ethics - are not necessarily the sort of people I want broaching such sensitive topics with my kids. For example, while I am very tolerant of various sexual orientations (I mean, really, who gives a damn?), I nevertheless deplored the way this topic was treated at my children's school - you know, now children, homosexuals are GOOD. I felt such emphasis gave sexual orientation hugely greater importance than it warrants in the overall scheme of things. So I would have much rather the school had minded its own business (that would be the three R's, in case you hadn't guessed). And I wasn't thrilled by the teacher who taught my son how to shoot up (true story) or the teacher who took it upon herself to teach my too-young daughter very graphic sexual details, scaring and horrifying her.
The comments to the editorial tend to be quite hostile to the request from the conservative Muslim and Christian parents. The commenters are obviously assuming that the public schools will treat sensitive topics in a reasonable, responsible manner. And of course, most teachers will. But some teachers are jerks or incompetents, and they seem to disproportionately enjoy teaching sensitive topics. Children are in school for something like 14 or 15 years, meaning the odds are pretty good that every child will encounter at least one of these lemons. Do we really want to give these folks permission to mess with our kids' minds?
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
The EQAO Results in Perspective
GUEST BLOG BY PETER McLARTY, RETIRED TEACHER, SAULT STE MARIE
A news report regarding the EQAO test results for the Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board (my former employer) leaves me speechless. http://www.sootoday.com/content/news/details.asp?c=47060
How can the board brag about these results! How long is the public going to put up with these pathetic results? All of this testing and analysis and still more than one-third of the students are not making the standard....especially in mathematics. And yet students continue to be pushed along.
One of my greatest regrets in teaching senior level chemistry was that most of the unsuccessful students failed not because of their lack of scientific knowledge but from their inability to do the applied mathematical problems! Sadly, I see little hope for change because all those now employed in education are products of this disfunctional system. A little harsh, but that is the way I see it.
I have moved away from educational conflicts and am enjoying more rewarding persuits. I have totally lost faith in public education.
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Sunshine on unions
Not much talked about, at least in my circles, is a bill before the federal parliament (having passed second reading) that would require all Canadian unions to disclose how much of their members' union dues they spend on political activity. The amount of money in play is significant - $4.5 billion every year, representing about two weeks' pay for each union member. more
My hope is that the bill would also force the unions to disclose how much they pay their staff. I think union members and the public in general might be gobsmacked by how much the union bosses pay themselves - both in terms of lavish salaries, benefits, and pensions, and also fabulous travel perks, vacations, and other goodies of that nature. They are definitely living the good life.
If the unions didn't have something to hide in terms of how much they spend and on what, they wouldn't be fighting Bill C-377 so hard. I say - let's find out what they're trying to hide. H/T JE
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Gamification, Part II
GUEST BLOG BY TOM BEREND
I'm now two weeks into the free Coursera gamification course. It's as rich and demanding as any graduate course I've taken at York, and the level and quality of participation in the discussion groups is amazing. Of course, you only get out what you put in, and I'm working hard, but I'm shocked at how excellent that course is. (I'm not sure why I'm surprised - this course is from the Wharton School of Business after all. I guess it's because I merely signed in and started taking free courses).
Now the bad news: 13,000 students (of more than 76,000) completed the first assignment, which was sent out for peer-review this morning. I have reviewed 10 of them (I only had to do 5, but the course encourages you to do more). I cannot do justice to how poor these submissions were. Eight of them are in the category "didn't read the question, or didn't understand the question, or didn't answer the question" (it's hard to tell which). Another was disorganized and poorly drafted; it answered the question but the answers were not recognizably drawn from the course materials. The last one was borderline acceptable for college or university work - this one at least attempted to answer the question and provide supporting reasons. What is going on?
Here's my analysis. The final enrollment was over 76,000. Only 13,000 handed in the first assignment - about 1 in 6. The rest were likely tourists - people who signed up, watched a few minutes of video, and got bored. Perhaps there was a slice of non-English speakers who are engaged but could not write the assignment, but I think that group would be vanishingly small.
Only a small number - my crude guess is 100 or less - are 'fully engaged' at the academic level of a Wharton MBA course, putting in the work and getting the full benefit of the course. I count myself in that group; I am as attentive as if I was actually enrolled at Wharton, tracking down outside readings, and engaging peers in forum discussions and private emails. I have a notebook already half-filled with lecture notes and ideas for the specific design project that I hope to try these techniques on. I am organizing a meetup specifically to brainstorm real-world projects with fellow classmates. Perhaps another 2,000 are 'interested-practitioners' - perhaps teachers looking to improve their classrooms, HR managers looking for motivation tips, and web designers looking for ideas. These students are taking the course seriously, employing study habits that enable them to absorb the materials, and engaged in the forum discussions. At the end, they will have a broad understanding of the subject and their practice will benefit. Perhaps these are the life-long learners that our society so badly needs. The rest aren't getting any benefit from the course. The 63,000 who signed up but didn't last to the first assignment can be dismissed. That's not a problem, as there was no cost in serving this group; they did not even load on the peer-marking resources. Perhaps some got a general idea of what the course was about.
The other élite students are discussing the reasons behind the poor quality of most submissions. Here's an interesting comment. "It is exactly this mentality that has created a generation of unemployable kids who don't know how to motivate themselves or apply themselves. They expect their employer to make things fun for them, and cannot be content with entry-level jobs. I speak partly from experience. I was used as part of a classroom experiment involving games and 'making education fun'. Re-entry into the real world was like ice water in the face. It took me years to teach myself all the skills my teachers neglected. I think the problem has gotten worse since then - the teachers are less inclined to take responsibility, the parents are more inclined to justify their kids' laziness, and the job market is less forgiving. I would not want to be a coddled student entering today's job market."
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Who’s in charge of Ontario?
I'm sorry to keep on harping on this, but I am still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that the teachers' unions determined the outcome of last week's bye-election in Waterloo and thus denied the hated Liberal government its longed-for majority. Today, I pass on an e-mail message from a teacher in the Waterloo riding.
"Teachers are instructed to follow the union's directive tomorrow to wear black (arm bands, T-shirt etc.) and cancel all extra-curricular activities (including Grade Nine nights, except for parent/teacher meets) for one day to protest the Liberals' legislation that would suspend collective bargaining. And, as a 'show of solidarity', teachers are encouraged to meet collectively and leave the school at the same time - wearing black of course.
"Is this an example of bringing politics into the classroom, do you think?
"Also, a student, according to what she had heard, told me that if the Liberals had won the bye-election in Waterloo, there would be no school plays etc. But since the NDP won, a play is now possible..."
If the teachers' unions get their way on this issue, they are more powerful than the premier of the province.