Timing is Everything

Timing is Everything
by:  Tammy Luce
EDU 6526:  Instructional Strategies
Meta-reflection
March 6, 2010

 

            It’s been said that timing is everything.   Winter quarter is coming to an end and I’m now writing my final journal posting for Instructional Strategies.  Coincidentally, two days ago The Seattle Times published an article titled “How teachers would fix America’s Schools.”   The article details the findings of a Gates foundation survey.  This comprehensive survey “looked at the challenges and frustrations of 40,000 teachers that underscores how deeply many care about their work.”  (The Seattle Times, p. B2).  What do teachers want?  “Supportive principals more than higher salaries.  Digital media more than textbooks.  Evaluations based on how much their students learn, rather than on principals’ observations.”  (The Seattle Times, p. B2).  These are some of the findings from what’s considered to be the largest ever survey of American public school teachers. 

            It’s interesting to me that so many people are interested in “fixing” American schools.   Every week there seems to be a book written by a prominent business person who has discovered a solution to our academic woes.  It’s also interesting to me that most of these self-proclaimed experts have never taught one day in a classroom.   In that respect, this survey is very different.  “Over the phone and online, about 40,000 teachers answered questions about what they need to help more students achieve.”   This gives the survey validity in my opinion because it’s a compilation of what real teachers, teaching in our classrooms today, really think.  Vicki Philips, the Gates Foundation’s education director summed it up best, “We wanted to put teachers’ voices front and center in the debate around education reform.  Teachers are on the front line of this work everyday…it doesn’t make sense not to be talking to teachers.” ( The Seattle Times, p. B2).      I believe this is a huge step for education reform.  Bill Gates is passionate about public education and he is blessed to have the resources to back his passion.

            So perhaps valid survey information such as this may lead to a new kind of education reform.  Not the kind that is legislated in our state capitals because that can’t solve everything.   To truly change our current system, we need a grass roots campaign.  We need to involve teachers, parents and our larger communities in the process.   How can the collective voice of 40,000 teachers from coast to coast be ignored or dismissed as not having the solution to our educational challenges?  Teaching is a noble profession and most teachers really do care about the success of their students.  We need to respect these teachers enough to allow them the creativity to do their jobs. The United States has the best educational system in the world and I’m glad the Gates foundation is on the forefront of coming up with creative solutions to keep it that way.  I believe it’s an exciting time to be entering the teaching profession because positive changes may be coming our way.  And after all, timing is everything.

References: 

Shaw. L.  (2010, March 4).  How teachers would fix America’s schools.  The Seattle Times, p. B2.

The Power of Expectations

The Power of Expectations

by:  Tammy Luce
EDU 6526:  Instructional Strategies
February 27, 2010

                                                                                    

            This week a school board in Rhode Island voted to fire all the teachers, and the administrators at a struggling high school.  They explained their actions by saying “it’s a dramatic move aimed at shoring up education in a poverty-ridden school district.”  (Kaye, Randi. CNN AC 360- online).  I don’t know whether or not this action was justified, but I do know this school, like many other schools in America, is facing a huge drop-out crisis.  Nationwide, there are plenty of people who could be blamed for this drop-out problem:  parents, teachers, administrators, etc.  However, playing the blame game will never do anything to help us solve the problem that many of our students are not graduating from high school.  Perhaps we need to look at our educational system through new eyes.  What if we started this process by altering our expectations of our students?

            In the book Strengths Quest, the authors discuss the power of expectations.  They cite an experiment within a public elementary school with approximately 650 students.  At the beginning of the school year, all of the students were tested with a standard intelligence test to determine who were “special” or identified as very bright.  Approximately 20% of the students were identified as “potential bloomers”.  The names of these students were given to the teachers and these teachers were told to watch their students’ progress because they were sure to succeed.   At the end of the semester, and at the end of the year, these same students were tested again with the same intelligence test.   “Both groups showed an improvement in total I.Q., verbal I.Q., and reasoning I.Q.  But when the two groups were compared, 47% of the ‘special’ students had gained 20 or more total I.Q. points, while only 19% of the ‘ordinary’ students gained 20 or more total I.Q. points.” (Clifton, Anderson, Schreiner, 2006, p. 227).  The catch to this experiment was that all of these students had been chosen randomly.  “The difference between the ‘special’ students and the ‘ordinary’ students was only in the minds of the teachers.”  (Clifton, Anderson, Schreiner, p. 227).

            Experiments such as this speak to the value and power of high expectations.   The “special” students in this test were chosen randomly.  They weren’t any smarter than any of the other children.  However, their teachers believed they had high potential for achievement.  “These expectations influence our actions, attitudes, motivation, and perseverance.  In fact, they influence every aspect of achieving, including whether or not we will even enter into activities where we can achieve excellence.” (Clifton, Anderson, Schreiner, p. 227).  What if all of us, teachers, parents, and administrators, approached every child as “special”.  Perhaps we could help all students realize they have the potential for success, and who knows, we might begin to lower the drop out rate at the same time.

References:

Clifton, D.O., Anderson, E. & Schreiner, L. (2006).  Strengths Quest.  New York, NY:  Gallup. 

Kaye, Randi. (February 24, 2010).  All Teachers Fired at Rhode Island School.  CNN AC 360.

Can Values be both caught and taught?

 

Can Values be both caught and taught?

by: Tammy Luce
EDU 6526: Instructional Strategies
February 12, 2010

            “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”   (Proverbs 22:6 ) These ancient biblical words express the importance of raising children.  What  children become as adults often mirrors the life they’ve lived and the values of important people who’ve shaped them.  Virtue and strong values are the most essential things we can teach our children.  Honesty, empathy, kindness, truth, and hard work are cornerstones of our society.  It matters how we treat each other.  It matters if we are ethical and honest.  It matters if we are consensus builders who are able to work with many different types of people.  In short, it matters if we are good citizens.

            In American schools today, there is a tremendous pressure to teach children more and more academics at younger ages.   For proof of this, a person needs only to visit the OSPI website and view the increased EALRS and grade level requirements that are added each year.  There is a current belief that if we can teach our kids more, faster, they’ll thrive and succeed.  But is this true?  Almost all children will learn to read, write and solve math equations.  But will most children learn strong values?  Who is responsible for this teaching?

            The world in the twenty -first century is moving faster and faster than ever.  Technology has made it possible to converse with people around the world, instantly, twenty four hours a day.  Through the internet, we have access to more information than we can comprehend.  When searching for answers, we expect quick results.  We’ve grown so accustomed to instantaneous answers that we often tap our fingers on our blackberries as we wait ten seconds for internet access.  In “Can Virtue Be Taught?”, Russell Kirk writes, “In no previous age have family influence, sound early prejudice, and good early habits been so broken in upon by outside force as in our own time.  Moral virtue among the rising generation is mocked by the inanity of television, by pornographic films, by the twentieth-century cult of the peer group.”   Our children need to be protected from this constant media exposure.

            Russell Kirk continues, “Boys and girls will model themselves, if they can, upon exemplars.  But what sort of exemplars?   Rock stars, and the fancied personalities of the heroes and heroines of the soap operas, have become the exemplars for a multitude of young people in their most formative years.  Rarely are such persons, or pseudo-persons, admirable mentors.”  This is where strong, moral teachers have the chance to affect a child’s life.  Traditionally, families, both immediate and extended, have been responsible for teaching children values.   However, in many American homes, the family unit has deteriorated or broken down.  Teachers have a chance to fill this gap or void at school.  Through literature, continuity and strong moral examples, teachers can help children learn important values.  This teaching may not be explicit, however, some of the most important lessons are learned implicitly..  May we all strive to be teachers of strong moral values, who make a positive difference in our students daily lives.

References: 

 The Holy Bible, NIV. Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Zondervan. 

Kirk, Russell.  “Can Virtues Be Taught” ( From class handout)