>From what I have seen in some 20 years associated with public schooling in
> the USA, this is also a large part of why our schools fail so many kids
> (not as in "failing grade", although that's often true also, but as in
> "fail to educate well"). Conformity is valued far more than any sort of
> evidence of "genius" as used in these articles.
SOAPBOX ON
With two kids still in "the system", I've definitely got my own set of
observations about this. The school district we're in is certainly a
"middle of the road" one when it comes to education. In fact, they
have to work hard to bring a couple items up to minimum standards.
While the school excells in music and sports, it fails in other areas.
Our girls started out going to a private school, and then we home
schooled (using the excellent K12 curriculum), then we had them in the
Grinnell school system (which was one of the best in the state), and
finally here where we live now. The K12 program was TOUGH and is said
to be about three semesters ahead of the typical public school. I
don't dispute that at all, because when we they went to Grinnell, the
first year was entirely review. Going from Creston to here was another
year setback. So, from K12 to current school is no less than a two
year delta.
Both girls are pulling in around 3.90-3.95 GPA and would have a solid
4.00, but there literally are classes where the teaching is so bad
that they aren't getting it at all. We've personally interacted with
these teachers and fully understand why "Johnny can't read". They have
passion for teaching, but no skill. Others have skill, but no passion.
That doesn't matter, though, when the student is passionate about
learning because the student will still learn if the material is
presented accurately. As both of our girls are in the top 5% in the
standardized tests, we know they're smart enough and hard working
enough, so when we see a test result with a "D" on it, we know there
is a problem. We know there are a number of teachers with inadequate
knowledge of the subject being taught.
In my day job, I'm responsible for knowing my subject matter. That
requires a constant learning and growing. Knowledge is not static. If
I knew 100% of everything there was to know in my job, within 18
months, I'll know only 50%. That's why I spend an average of 10 hours
a week learning. Unfortunately, in the teaching profession, I believe
few teachers understand this themselves. The longer they teach, the
less they know. XX years of experience is a bad thing in my opinion,
if the teacher isn't constantly learning.
SOAPBOX OFF
--
Ken Norton
ken@xxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.zone-10.com
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