Ten obvious truths about educating kids that keep getting ignored
There is no end to the debate about school reform, but there are certain things about education that seem like no-brainers. The problem is that they continue to be ignored by policymakers and in schools. Alfie Kohn lists 10 of them in the post linked with the heading above, which he first published in the American School Board Journal in 2011, but which holds as true today as it did then.
... If we all agree that a given principle is true, then why in the world do our schools still function as if it weren’t?
Do we agree? Let's look (Shine style!)
1. Much of the material students are required to memorize is soon forgotten
Of course it is! Remember cramming at Uni for exams? Yes. Remember anything that you crammed. Not likely!
Shine reminds: Teach students how to think, not what to think! Remembering and knowing at at the lower end of Bloom's.
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2. Just knowing a lot of facts doesn’t mean you’re smart
See number 1 above! :) Plus... knowledge is pretty useless if you can't apply it.
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3. Students are more likely to learn what they find interesting
Were children born knowing how to play Minecraft? Need I say more!
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P.S. Interest bolsters motivation. Motivation bolsters achievement/success. Success bolsters esteem. Esteem bolsters confidence. This fulfils Shine's Concept of Sustainable Learning
® and ™ (I trademark that just in case!)
I heard (and probably blogged at least once about) a quote along the lines of "You can't teach a student something they don't already know" - which I translated as meaning that it is our job, as the facilitator/curator of learning, to set them up with activities they find interesting that make them believe they discovered it/thought of it themselves.
4. Students are less interested in whatever they’re forced to do and more enthusiastic when they have some say
Ever actually tried to force someone to learn something... the only thing they will actually learn is TO HATE IT and detest/resent doing it (and probably you as well!).
This is why negotiated rubrics bolster motivation.
Imagine student motivation and enthusiasm when they feel they have ALL the say...
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5. Just because doing x raises standardized test scores doesn’t mean x should be done
TICK.
P.S. Can I have a hallelujah on resenting the fact that in NZ we are now in the position of doing all sorts of circus type manoeuvres to blend motivating, contextual and government requirements into our daily programme (more time in the day anyone?!)
6. Students are more likely to succeed in a place where they feel known and cared about
This has been a biggy for me in recent years being the ONLY successful strategy to engage a particular set of severely at risk/disenfranchised students. It was a hard road with far to many disapproving looks - but all worth it to see a change in attitude and "success" (both national standard wise and confidence wise (I could easily digress on this one for quite some time!).
So.. yes... TICK!
7. We want children to develop in many ways, not just academically
Holistic education - YOU BET! Integration is a NZ teacher's best friend for many reasons! Get those values and key comps in there! Use those ICTs and recognise those Multiple Intelligences. Foster that Growth Mindset!
Many roads lead to Rome - Rome being the goal of education (which is in my opinion to produce an individual that is happy, confident and sustainable.
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8. Just because a lesson (or book, or class, or test) is harder doesn’t mean it’s better
This one caused me pause momentarily - positively meeting effort, persistence and challenge are the building blocks of a happy confident person. However sustained 'rigour' or rigour just for the sake of constantly pushing a learner (or actually any time I hear the word rigour) is not something I feel good about. In the very least it needs to be very carefully implemented so...
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9. Kids aren’t just short adults
Indeed they aren't - they much more confident, playful, enthusiastic, kind, creative, resourceful, unbiased, friendly, tolerant and masterful at problem solving. LOL!
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10. Substance matters more than labels
I turn to the article to explain this one...
A skunk cabbage by any other name would smell just as putrid. But in education, as in other domains, we’re often seduced by appealing names when we should be demanding to know exactly what lies behind them. Most of us, for example, favor a sense of community, prefer that a job be done by professionals, and want to promote learning. So should we sign on to the work being done in the name of
“Professional Learning Communities”? Not if it turns out that PLCs have less to do with helping children to think deeply about questions that matter than with boosting standardized test scores.
The same caution is appropriate when it comes to “Positive Behavior Support,” a jaunty moniker for a program of crude Skinnerian manipulation in which students are essentially bribed to do whatever they’re told. More broadly, even the label “school reform” doesn’t necessarily signify improvement; these days, it’s more likely to mean “something that skillful and caring teachers wouldn’t be inclined to do unless coerced,” as educational psychologist Bruce Marlowe put it.
In fact, the corporate-style version of
“school reform” that’s uncritically endorsed these days by politicians, journalists, and billionaires consists of a series of debatable tactics — many of them amounting to bribes and threats to force educators to jack up test scores. Just as worrisome, though, is that these reformers often overlook, or simply violate, a number of propositions that
aren’t debatable, including many of those listed here.
TICK!
So... I agree. Have I convinced you too? If not, go read the supports on the actual article and maybe then you will!
Can we start doing them more overtly now please?!
