"We are teaching children that every question has four possible answers"

Twitter Book Club: @alfiekohn The Schools Our Children Deserve (1999) - Ch 3

Getting Teaching and Learning Wrong:
Traditional Education and Its Victims

"The result of grade-by-grade standards, with their willful disregard of individual differences, is that some child... http://tl.gd/7hnlscless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"it is the capacity to acquire and use information that matters more than the information itself." Alfie Kohnless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"Everyone accepts that starting with the basics is just plain common sense...Everyone, that is, except those who ha... http://tl.gd/7ho2p3less than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"In academics, too, we learn most readily, most naturally, most effectively, when we start with the big picture—pre... http://tl.gd/7ho75nless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"If I don't understand how to do something, making me do it repeatedly is just going to make me feel dumber or angrier." Alfie Kohnless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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These next few tweets were part of an exchange on Twitter that took place right before I sat back down to finish this chapter. But, coincidentally, I came upon the most perfect quote in the book to fit the topic of discussion. Would we call that a "Tweetable Moment?" :-)

@TeacherReality Accountability for teachers but not for Wall St. execs who destroy other people's lives. Madoff lives.less than a minute ago via webDiane Ravitch
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@DianeRavitch @TeacherReality Problem with "accountability" is accountability for what? (1/2)less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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@DianeRavitch @TeacherReality accountability for transmission of information or for fostering learning? For maintenance or fecundity? (2/2)less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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@anderscj Accountability for every little thing their little minds can think of....including the ills of poverty.less than a minute ago via webTeacherReality
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@TeacherReality @dianeravitch when do we get to hold those accountable for their silence and compliance who know the damage it causes?less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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@teacherreality @dianeravitch "Teaching sometimes resembles a caricature of American tourists in Europe: there are ... http://tl.gd/7ia9urless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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I just love this quote, lets repost it in it's entirety:

"Teaching sometimes resembles a caricature of American tourists in Europe: there are only x days to see y countries, so the rental car screeches to a stop in front of a famous ruin, the family jumps out and snaps pictures, and the children are herded back into the car....What drives such teaching is the imposition of long lists of standards along with demands that students and teachers be held accountable for covering all of them, however superficially." Alfie Kohn

@anderscj Yes, a drive-by education that is monitored & evaluated with drive-by evaluations by drive-by principals who get moved around alotless than a minute ago via webTeacherReality
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@alfiekohn would you categorize "the transmission of cultural heritage" as akin to "delivery of instruction" or "transfer of knowledge?"less than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"First of all, most of us have sat and listened to teachers lecture at us year after year, so we naturally think th... http://tl.gd/7ian03less than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"The idea of a teacher with a ready-made course just waiting to be taught makes about as much sense as a single per... http://tl.gd/7iao7iless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"it's not accurate to complain that students forget what they learned. Why? Because they never really 'learned' it ... http://tl.gd/7iaq91less than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"Howard Gardner has a nice line: he says if we ask our kids what they did in school today and they reply 'Nothing,'... http://tl.gd/7iaupmless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"It doesn't take a suspicious mind to conclude that relegating children to such a passive role—treating then as obj... http://tl.gd/7ib0q3less than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"No narrowing of the curriculum will prevent her from seeing a math problem through the filter of her interests and concerns." Alfie Kohnless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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Twitter Book Club: @DianeRavitch (2010) The Death and Life of the Great American School System - Ch 11

Lessons Learned

"We have known for many years that we need to improve our schools. We keep stumbling, however, because there is wid... http://tl.gd/7epingless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"A democratic society cannot long sustain itself if its citizens are uninformed and indifferent about its history, ... http://tl.gd/7epjhpless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"The great challenge to our generation is to create a renaissance in education, one that goes well beyond the basic... http://tl.gd/7epkguless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"Our schools will not improve if we continually reorganize their structure and management without regard for their ... http://tl.gd/7epmrtless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"Our schools will not improve if we continue to focus only on reading and mathematics while ignoring the other stud... http://tl.gd/7eppceless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"If we do not treasure our individualists, we will lose the spirit of innovation, inquiry, imagination, and dissent... http://tl.gd/7epqn0less than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"Charter schools should be designed to collaborate with traditional public schools in a common mission, the educati... http://tl.gd/7epthsless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"Everyone involved in educating children should ask themselves why we educate. What is a well-educated person? What... http://tl.gd/7eq2tqless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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Exactly what has been my mantra for the past year!

@dianeravitch how is your vision for school (from ch11) anything but a reversion back to what schools were like before the reform movement?less than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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@anderscj No, absolutely not. Current "reform" movement demoralizes teachers, will close/privatize many public schools. Stop wrong-doing.less than a minute ago via webDiane Ravitch
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@DianeRavitch but isn't the current reform movement in response to a need for the system to change? Isn't the problem that we need to changeless than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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@anderscj Change in the wrong direction. Current "reforms" are failures. NCLB is a disaster. Charters set parents vs. parents. No results.less than a minute ago via webDiane Ravitch
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@DianeRavitch I agree. But what change do we need? Nat curr won't solve most of our probs, esp those of bias in schls toward 1 kind of lrnerless than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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@anderscj Highest performing nations improve education profession. They don't close schs, fire staff. They have protocol to help & support.less than a minute ago via webDiane Ravitch
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@anderscj High-stakes testing is at the root of many of our problems. Testing necessary, but shd be used for diagnostics, not reward, punishless than a minute ago via webDiane Ravitch
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@DianeRavitch btw, I loved your book. My ?s are serious ?s I am left with after reading it. I imagine they are the same ?s most ppl have.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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@dianeravitch just curious, have you ever been a teacher in a k-12 school? If not, how is your assessment of what i... http://tl.gd/7eqmh6less than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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@anderscj I have been a historian of American education for 40 years. I never tell anyone how to teach. I respect teachers' wisdom.less than a minute ago via webDiane Ravitch
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@DianeRavitch @anderscj RESPECT~missing piece in Ed. reform.The teacher is the stakeholder with the greatest investment ~their value system.less than a minute ago via webLorraine Mulick
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@DrLorMulick I agree, but so often that missing piece is the respect between teachers with different philosophies of teaching & learning.less than a minute ago via Mobile Webanderscj
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@dianeravitch don't you fear that a national curriculum might have the same narrowing effect as the testing movemen... http://tl.gd/7eqnl3less than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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@anderscj Natl curriculum in Finland consists of guidelines, not scripted lessons. Teachers have broad autonomy.less than a minute ago via webDiane Ravitch
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@DianeRavitch I am of the opinion that the only real reform is done 1 stdnt & 1 tcher @ a time. Its not scalable, has to spread like a virusless than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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@anderscj I agree with you. That's why education is of necessity a slow, incremental process. No miracles.less than a minute ago via webDiane Ravitch
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@DianeRavitch on the other hand, policy can be changed to make "true reform" possible. Problem always comes to contradicting perspectives.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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@DianeRavitch I think you might like this: http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2010/09/the-death-of-subjective-values.htmlless than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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@anderscj @ I've met hundreds of teachers and had little encounter with this as an issue. Most are too tired at the end of the day to judge.less than a minute ago via webLorraine Mulick
DrLorMulick

@DrLorMulick I've encountered it, many times. Usually it centers around students who are successful in one classroom but not another.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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@DrLorMulick When I taught in alternative schools this was an issue we were constantly fighting.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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@DrLorMulick while traditional teachers in our district blamed students for academic failure we found a different approach worked.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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@DrLorMulick when we found different approaches that worked our teaching was called into question & routinely suspect.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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@DrLorMulick what we were doing was viewed as showing trad teachers their weaknesses but what it really showed was a need for diversityless than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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@DrLorMulick I often have had the same issue working as an art teacher in traditional schools.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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@anderscj It's unfortunate that our profession thats ultimate goal is collaboration has fostered blame.less than a minute ago via webLorraine Mulick
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