Entries Tagged 'Media Reviews' ↓

The Huffington Post reported the Romney campaign’s reaction to Hilary Rosen’s insulting  comments about Ann Romney:

. . . Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg told The Huffington Post in an email, “Moving welfare recipients into work was one of the basic principles of the bipartisan welfare reform legislation that President Clinton signed into law. The sad fact is that under President Obama the poverty rate among women rose to 14.5 percent in 2011, the highest rate in 17 years. The Obama administration’s economic policies have been devastating to women and families.”

Why did the Romney campaign bring up the 2009 economy?  They must think we can’t remember back to the crisis created by eight years of a Republican administration.  (Remember the housing crash?  Your house is still worth less than it was in 2007.)

So, if it is a sad fact “that under President Obama the poverty rate among women rose to 14.5 percent in 2011, the highest rate in 17 years;”  it is another sad fact that it would be remarkable, if the poverty rate among women were not the highest rate in 17 years.  We were looking over a financial precipice as President Bush left office at the end of 2008.

I remember eight years of Republican policies driving us to the brink of financial disaster.  I remember the look on Hank Paulson’s face. I remember Alan Greenspan (the Roseanne Rosannadanna of economics) saying, “I was wrong.”

My rallying cry for a better future is, “Remember 2000-2008!”  Thanks for the reminder, Ms. Henneberg.

This question is the headline for a Bridging Differences blog.   Diane Ravitch discusses two social science studies of what teachers want.  According to her, the MetLife Survey of the American Teacher “showed that teachers across the nation are demoralized and that their job satisfaction has dropped precipitously since 2009.”  She asked,

What has happened in the past two years? Let’s see: Race to the Top promoted the idea that teachers should be evaluated by the test scores of their students; “Waiting for ‘Superman’” portrayed teachers as the singular cause of low student test scores; many states, including Wisconsin, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio have passed anti-teacher legislation, reducing or eliminating teachers’ rights to due process and their right to bargain collectively; the Obama administration insists that schools can be “turned around” by firing some or all of the staff. These events have combined to produce a rising tide of public hostility to educators, as well as the unfounded beliefs that schools alone can end poverty and can produce 100 percent proficiency and 100 percent graduation rates if only “failing schools” are closed, “bad” educators are dismissed, and “effective” teachers get bonuses.

Is it any wonder that teachers and principals are demoralized?

Another survey, released about the same time, has not gotten the attention it deserves. This one conducted by Scholastic and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is called Primary Sources: 2012. It contains valuable information about what teachers think.

You can read the studies, or bemoan low teacher morale; but skip the commentaries at the end of these blogs.  Even though commenters want to improve education as much as I do; they wage war on each other, instead of bridging differences.  (I love the irony.)  These “Comments” illustrate what we get when we believe pride is a virtue and humility a vice.  We can’t even  talk with each other because we are so damn proud of ourselves.

To hear what teachers want, go to my video interviews with teachers.  There you will experience the beauty of humility, instead of the ugliness of pride.

From the Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St. Paul):

The number of elementary schools nationwide offering classes in visual arts, drama and dance has declined in the past decade, according to a recent report from the Department of Education. Some cite budget cuts and a greater focus on reading and math for the reductions of such courses.

Political Spin

(next sentence –>) Education Secretary Arne Duncan said, however, that the data show arts classes still are common in elementary schools, and there has been no reported decline of arts education in middle and high schools.

Cut the Crap

Drinking fountains, cafeterias, and media centers still are common in American elementary schools, too.  If we were a third world country, that would be comforting.

Secretary Duncan’s “spin” demonstrates the vices needed to be appointed to political office.  His statement missed the point of the report (ignorance and intellectual incompetence). He failed to admit our test-score obsession hurts students (weakness and fear of truth).  And he reminded us that we are not a third world country (pride in America).

I am not surprised.  If Duncan modeled the six virtues, he would not have been appointed.

Duncan’s statement demonstrates that the relationship between “educated” and democracy works in one direction.  Educated people are needed to make democracy work; democratic governance, however, does not necessarily produce ”educated” Secretaries of Education.

But Secretary Duncan is safe in his job.  Americans don’t believe in the six-virtue definition of the educated person.  Instead, some believe there is no universal definition of the educated person.  Others believe “educated” means getting high test scores. Mostly, though, Americans don’t think about what it means to be educated. We say we should improve public education, but we ignore the most important question of all. Exactly what do we want to improve?

Psychologese Crap

News flash for teachers and parents:

Students learn when they are engaged in their lesson!  You can watch the two-minute video yourself.

Students learn when they are engaged?  I am glad a psychologist revealed that (sarcasm).

Cut the Crap

In common language, students learn when they put their mind to it.  They learn when they bring understanding, imagination, and strong character to the lesson.

We can pretend psychologists offer insight, or we can keep it simple: Just model and teach the six virtues!

Richard Tabor Greene identified 48 capabilities of the educated person.  Does his research answer my question about what it means to be educated?  Or is it another list of desired qualities that is neither useful nor inspiring?

Cut the Crap

I tried to read the explanation; but it’s an example of why philosophers get a bad name — discussing esoteric topics in tortured language.  Greene conducted social scientific research to answer a philosophical question.  He provides charts and arrows to illustrate what he found.

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Concerning ways to help students succeed in school, Benedict Carey, (NY Times, 9/6/2010) wrote:

Advice is cheap and all too familiar: Clear a quiet work space. Stick to a homework schedule. Set goals. Set boundaries. . .

And check out the classroom. Does Junior’s learning style match the new teacher’s approach? Or the school’s philosophy? . . .

Such theories have developed in part because of sketchy education research that doesn’t offer clear guidance. Student traits and teaching styles surely interact; so do personalities and at-home rules. The trouble is, no one can predict how.

The last sentence applies to all psychological and educational research.  If, unlike natural science findings, social science findings can’t predict how people will behave, how helpful are they?

Cut the Crap

Concerning how we learn academic material, Carey put it this way: “The more mental sweat it takes to dig it out, the more securely it will be subsequently anchored.”

It is simple — just model and teach the six virtues, the third of which is strong character — the topic of this article.  Those who know the six virtues of the educated person don’t need to read it.

In a Chronicle of Higher Education article, Colleges Should Teach Intellectual Virtues two Swarthmore professors say colleges and universities should teach five intellectual virtues: (1) Love of truth, (2) Honesty, (3) Courage, (4) Fairness and (5) Wisdom.

As explained in TSVOTEP, virtue lists are helpful when they are conceptually consistent, comprehensive and concise.  And, as explained elsewhere, the value of every virtue list is in the answer to: “Why these virtues and not others?”  If that isn’t answered we are looking at a random set of virtues, which is not helpful because we already know people should develop virtue.  It’s in the meaning of the word, “virtue.”

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PBS asked this question about PS 1 in New York City.

At the end, according to John Merrow (end of transcript):

So, what do you think? Is PS-1 a good school or a bad school? You may have already made up your mind, but the people who make decisions about budgets, about who gets hired, who gets fired, they rely on test scores.

Merrow confirms what educators bemoan, but have not been able to convincingly argue against.  Test scores define “educated” in today’s public schools.  That should be troubling to every philosophical person in the country.

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Arthur Costa and Bena Kallick believe schools should teach 16 habits of mind.

In their words:

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“The Benefits of Failure” is the headline for an Education Week blog suggesting we teach young people to learn from failure. You don’t have to read it.  Just teach the six virtues.

Or you could follow the blog’s suggestions without teaching understanding, imagination, strong character, courage, humility and generosity.  But then students wouldn’t learn how to benefit from failure.  How could they?