tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698774596246611749.post7837226583815249023..comments2023-03-30T15:56:50.994-04:00Comments on Education: In Search of Reason: Conservative Pedagogy, Liberal AssessmentJason O. Braiman, Esq.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13127952576066942139noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698774596246611749.post-6917459226308872262007-08-22T13:48:00.000-04:002007-08-22T13:48:00.000-04:00Well said. The popular caricature of the public sc...Well said. The popular caricature of the public school teacher has unfortunately become that of the lazy, bitter, "overpaid," incompetent, teachers-lounge gossip-monger, (as described in the initial reply by anonymous), who only cares about his/her union protections, entitlements and "perks" at the expense of the schools and the students. Teachers seem to rank just slightly behind the workers at the Department of Motor Vehicles in terms of public respect for their authority and expertise.<BR/><BR/>One will always have to contend with the non-teachers and others who insist that a "good" teacher can get any child to learn, the way a "good salesman can sell snow to an eskimo." Even if that's true, one problem as I've pointed out repeatedly is that the methods and techniques that actually make learning occur tend to "hurt the kids' feelings," and we can't have that either. <BR/><BR/>I've said it before and I'll say it again: You can't get kids to learn and safeguard their fragile self-esteem at the same time. One MUST cancel out the other.Jason O. Braiman, Esq.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13127952576066942139noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698774596246611749.post-54970308687777147392007-08-21T12:22:00.000-04:002007-08-21T12:22:00.000-04:00It should be noted that 40 percent of teachers lea...It should be noted that 40 percent of teachers leave the profession within their first five years. As Diane Ravitch puts it in regard to this fact, "It's not as if there is a failure to weed out ineffective teachers." That is to say, a good many of them who can't cut it are eliminated by their own doing, so to speak. And a number more (I don't remember the exact figure) are indeed terminated every year by unsatisfactory ratings. Most of those that remain are hardworking and committed. It is time to stop blaming teachers and the curriculum. Let's have a look at students who are (zombie-like)more enthralled by their cell phones and ipods than by the epics of Homer, shall we. And let's not say, well, then teachers fail to motivate students. I'm sorry, but when the role models of success are Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and that other one that ended up in jail or rehab again, and when society fails to properly revere educators and learning, then teachers can't be entirely faulted for students' lack of interest in school. The teacher's challenge in this cult-of- celebrity and gadget-craving society of ours is enormous. Let's give the teacher a little more credit for even taking on this challenge.MBressihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04695182775309017262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698774596246611749.post-70307402294035600882007-06-01T14:58:00.000-04:002007-06-01T14:58:00.000-04:00Well, good--that is rare.I'm guessing you then und...Well, good--that is rare.<BR/><BR/>I'm guessing you then understand where I am coming from with those views.<BR/><BR/>Have a good weekend.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698774596246611749.post-62054299117580106072007-06-01T14:17:00.000-04:002007-06-01T14:17:00.000-04:00Well, I am fortunate to be teaching in a school no...Well, I am fortunate to be teaching in a school now where the administration "gets it," and I am deeply appreciative of the principal here and particularly of my now-former A.P. (who recently moved on to greener pastures). The first high school where I taught, from 1997-2001, was similar. It reminds me that perhaps all hope is not lost.Jason O. Braiman, Esq.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13127952576066942139noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698774596246611749.post-64035891275433214322007-06-01T13:50:00.000-04:002007-06-01T13:50:00.000-04:00I agree, and I agree especially with the second pa...I agree, and I agree especially with the second paragraph and especially here:<BR/><BR/>"People like this drive good teachers away because they don't want intelligent, confident, independent-minded people; they want lapdogs who will fall into line, who they can control."<BR/><BR/>But that goes to my point:<BR/><BR/>Who are these lap dogs?<BR/><BR/>They're the very average, non ambitious 2.7 GPA students from state colleges who cannot find a job elsewhere, so they teach---and since they are more than happy to have a 36 week per year job that pays as well as most other state jobs, they become lap dogs, so as to keep their jobs...until they get tenure.<BR/><BR/>The intelligent, passionate teachers no longer go into teaching as they used to. And the ones who do, like you, leave---and good for you for doing so, and going to a job where your talents will be recognized & rewarded, Mr. B.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698774596246611749.post-72880150153844879442007-06-01T13:04:00.000-04:002007-06-01T13:04:00.000-04:00By "political correctedness [sic]" I assume you me...By "political correctedness [sic]" I assume you mean hyper-sensitivity, of which PC is a part (it's not "<I>politically</I> correct," for example, to give a marginally-competent essay an A just to avoid hurting the child's feelings). But I'm not sure I can agree that teachers "bow" to that because they are weak or incompetent. They "bow" to it because their supervisors force them to, because they fear reprisals from administration and especially from parents, and they are more willing and able than I am to adjust their thinking and approach to the environment they're in. <BR/><BR/>Principals and supervisors will always, if they can, work to get rid of teachers who are intelligent, experienced and dedicated but who don't "play ball." It's easy to label a difference in approach and philosophy as "incompetence," especially if you're one of those people who thinks there's only one proper way to teach. I've been on the receiving end of a psychotic, delusional principal drunk with power. People like this drive good teachers away because they don't want intelligent, confident, independent-minded people; they want lapdogs who will fall into line, who they can control. <BR/><BR/>I'm not sure what "revamp the curriculum and get back to basics" means, and I hear that a great deal as well. I don't think the content or design of the curriculum is necessarily the problem; I do think, though, that curriculum should be dynamic rather than static. (See: Applebee, <I>Curriculum as Conversation</I>) I think the "basics" we need to get back to are the ideas that students need to do their work and be held accountable for not doing it; that we need to have consistent, objective standards and assessments; that we should recognize actual excellence, and give rewards and praise only where they are justly earned.Jason O. Braiman, Esq.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13127952576066942139noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698774596246611749.post-21940679089753557342007-06-01T12:19:00.000-04:002007-06-01T12:19:00.000-04:00Fairly put.More importantly, political correctedne...Fairly put.<BR/><BR/>More importantly, political correctedness dictates the "personality" the teacher must exhibit in the classroom. So if you want to stop patting kids on the back, we need to revamp the curriculum and get back to basics. I'm sure you'll agree there, but an issue is that underwhelming teachers will be more likely to relish following the status quo as they lack the brainpower to plan sagaciously for students---therefore, they will bow to the PC plans, leaving students thirsty for the quality education I'm sure you give them.<BR/><BR/>See the connection?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698774596246611749.post-29791683043650208162007-06-01T11:39:00.000-04:002007-06-01T11:39:00.000-04:00I don't really see a connection between anything I...I don't really see a connection between anything I've written and the need for any of these things. In fact, the perception that teachers are "incompetent, overpaid, lazy [and] bitter" actually drives a lot of the wrong-headed thinking I've been discussing; e.g., people don't trust teachers' judgment or expertise in evaluating student work and so substitute their own and/or dismiss it as "subjective." <BR/><BR/>The other items you mentioned are political, not educational, issues and are outside the scope of this blog. I really don't think they do or would have any effect on the educational philosophy and counter-intuitive policies I've described. Vouchers and merit pay would not by themselves change the fact that the schools' primary goal is preserving the children's self-esteem. Charter schools can do that just as well as any other, sometimes even more so. <BR/><BR/>I've heard these ideas before as the cure-all for all our educational ills. I just don't think that sweeping political change is the answer. The problem, as I see it, is much more fundamental than that. We have come, in my view, to grievously misunderstand and mischaracterize the fundamental role of students and teachers in an educational setting. A redefinition of the political climate will not change that.Jason O. Braiman, Esq.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13127952576066942139noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4698774596246611749.post-87044765373691095452007-06-01T11:09:00.000-04:002007-06-01T11:09:00.000-04:00All very true, sir. This why we need charter schoo...All very true, sir. This why we need charter schools, vouchers, merit-based pay, tenure extension and an eradication of teachers unions. All these forces, and incompetent, overpaid, lazy, bitter teachers, work together to destroy public education.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com