Twitter Book Club: @alfiekohn (2004) What Does It Mean To Be Well Educated? - One:2

One: The Purposes of Schooling
2. Turning Learning into a Business

"the tacit message—the hidden curriculum, if you will—is that test scores are a useful and appropriate marker for s... http://tl.gd/9n2g67less than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
anderscj

Very important question. Lets repeat it:

"the tacit message—the hidden curriculum, if you will—is that test scores are a useful and appropriate marker for school quality. Who has an incentive to convince people of that conclusion?" Kohn

"With such pressure to look good by boosting their test results, low-scoring districts may feel compelled to purcha... http://tl.gd/9n2ienless than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
anderscj

When is someone going to bring a lawsuit against these testing companies who on one hand lobby and convince politicians to give them hefty contracts to test children while on the other hand exploit them by selling their schools scripted curriculum designed to lead students to be better at taking their tests? This should just scream conflict of interest. Teachers Unions, where do you stand on this? I am not sure a legal battle could be fought in courts and won with this argument. There is nothing legally wrong about a company, for instance, selling both chewing tobacco and tooth paste, but this battle could be fought in the congress. Bills can be passed.

"Even more disturbing than having public schools sanction and expose children to advertisements is the fact that co... http://tl.gd/9n2killess than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
anderscj

There is a solution to this problem:

"The problem is that people in the public sector are uncritically adopting the worldview of the private sector—and ... http://tl.gd/9n2n5dless than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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"It is those who sell themselves skillfully, not those who are especially good at what they do, who tend to succeed... http://tl.gd/9n2p0eless than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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"Many of us defend 'partnerships' between schools and businesses, willingly 'align' our teaching to uniform state s... http://tl.gd/9n2tigless than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
anderscj

Lets repeat that one and reflect on it a moment:

"Many of us defend 'partnerships' between schools and businesses, willingly 'align' our teaching to uniform state standards, shrug off objections to advertising in the schools, refer to learning as 'work' or schooling itself as an. 'investment.'" Kohn

"when business thinks about schools, its agenda is driven by what will maximize its profitability, not necessarily ... http://tl.gd/9n30quless than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
anderscj

Exactly the problem I have with P21 and programs like Project Lead the Way. It is also a concern that I had from Governor Mark Dayton's inauguration speech where he addressed schools by saying that he thinks businesses should "adopt" and partner with schools to overcome budget shortfalls. While this might keep schools open it also opens the door for all kinds of nastiness.

"While 'social skills' are often listed as desirable attributes, business publications never seem to mention such q... http://tl.gd/9n32o4less than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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"it isn't much of a mystery why a five-hundred-pound gorilla is invited to sleep anywhere it wishes. But that doesn... http://tl.gd/9n33toless than a minute ago via Twittelator Favorite Retweet Replyanderscj
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