On page 29, I find it interesting how the author had laid out all of the ways people/students learn and then asked the question "why do schools standardize the way they teach and test?"
This questions should not and could not be answered by teachers, we want to/and do teach other ways, we want our students to be successful, but when March rolls around, our students lose that opportunity to show us what they've learned in their own way and they have to show us on a test that carries a lot of weight on it....I think the people who should be answering these questions are the ones who upholds these rules! And I think they owe our students the explanation!
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On page five, the authors also say "the way we measure schools' performance is fundamentally flawed." In the notes at the end of the chapter, they state that no country has been able to come up with a universal way to test students and their educational system as a whole. Nor is there a test that tests levels of creativity at the same time. They also state that no nation has been successful at educating each and every one of its citizens.
ReplyDeleteIt's easy to make these sweeping statements, even if they are true or true in varying degrees. If we don't educate everyone, who do we decide to leave behind? Who isn't worth the effort? The financial cost? And NCLB...I agree that the test is flawed even if the intent was good. What can we use to replace it? Do we need a "universal test?" Have some teachers brought this upon us all by not doing their jobs? Should a national education system be held hostage because of the sins of a few?
I'm thankful that we live in a free nation where these kinds of questions can be uttered and a nation that is free to be creative, as creativity flows out of freedom.
Interesting discussion today, but we need to be very careful to not use our socio-economic issues as an excuse for not educating our students! I'm very excited about the idea of student-centric education! What might seem like an impossible job could become possible through the use of computers!
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