'class' Category
Reclaiming Education
Dissent Magazine kicks off a series of articles on education with this one from Susan Harman and Deborah Meier:
No matter what the question is, these alarmists have the answer. Why is the economy in bad shape? Look at the lousy math scores of U.S. students in the international competitions. Why are so many young African-Americans [...]Shock Resistance
I’m reading Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine, and I see the standards movement in US education policy now less as an isolated case, that is, isolated to the US and education in particular, and more connected to events in the larger world of politics and economics. It’s good to have a frame of reference for what [...]
Expectations
My sixth-graders this year showed me something about how the “staus quo” is maintained.
A counseling intern working in the building did a weekly series of lessons on goal setting with my students. The kids occasionally responded to little surveys she gave them on various topics, and they discussed their answer choices. Coincidentally, toward the [...]The Devil is in the Details
By coincidence, I finished reading Sizer’s The Red Pencil at the same time this new “Broader, Bolder Approach to Education” statement was released.
Not by mere coincidence, Theodore Sizer is among the dozens of signatories to the statement. Reading his book, and then the proposals advanced in the new policy statement, I have a hard [...]Carry it on
Listening to Utah Phillips, I heard the voice of a teacher.
From Democracy Now [transcript]:
AMY GOODMAN: …Over the span of nearly four decades, Utah Phillips worked in what he referred to as “the Trade,” performing tirelessly for audiences in large and small cities throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. His songs were performed by Emmylou [...]Class Not Dismissed
It’s been a week since school let out for the summer, and I’ve been been thinking about what happened in the classroom this year. Decompression - it happens every May. Long bike rides are key: 30 miles yesterday, 20 today, 50 miles tomorrow, if it doesn’t look too much like rain. Two-lane country blacktop with [...]
