"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." -Albert Einstein
posted by ms. v. at 2:02 PM
Thursday, December 29, 2005
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9 Comments:
My favorite quote is by Dr. Linda-Darling Hammond...
"Bureaucratoc solutions to problems of practice will always fail because effective teaching is not routine, students are not passive, and questions of practice are not simple, predictable, or standardized. Consequently, instuctional decisions cannot be formulated on high, then packaged and handed down to teachers."
Educators like Dennis Sparks and Michael Fullan also conclude that unless teachers are part of the collaborative process, the problems will still exist.
"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice; In practice, there is."
Chuck Reid
I don't know who Chuck Reid is, but I love the quote. I'd like to send it to everyone of my Ed School professors...
"If we teach today's students as we taught yesterday's, we rob them of tomorrow."
-- John Dewey
Great quote! Timely also.
Okay, but remember that Darling-Hammond seems to have made it her mission to discredit Teach for America, a program that selects people based largely on their ability to fight through buereaucratic nonsense and other obstacles. Not that TFA is without its problems, of course, but still, a little ironic.
My quote from Darling-Hammond is aimed at NYC's DOE. I have nothing against TFA nor did I know of her study against TFA.
NYC has a program called "Teaching Fellows" that takes people from other occupations. They are also placed in low-performing schools throughout NYC. Some have stayed and some have not. But the problem is not the Fellow, but the lack of support for the Fellow by the school administration.
I looked up the study on the TFA website after your comment and learned that the study was on 1st year's teachers. I too was surprised by that since it is hard for any first year teacher regardless of their training.
However, Darling-Hammond has written and studied professional staff development in the school system. In areas where she has consulted, the teachers, not administrators, focused on what development was needed in order to raise student achievement. Those are the studies I am referring too. I have sat through too many extended Mondays that had nothing to do with the needs of the teachers or students because the principal refused to follow The Professional Development Committee protocol.
If Darling-Hammond wants proof of TFA's success, she just has to read Ms. Frizzle's blog.
Great quote. Unfortunately, there are some teachers using the same teaching methods they used twenty years ago. That doesn't cut it.
Another favorite quote is:
"It is better to teach deep than teach wide." (I believe this is the Japanese philosophy.)
I personally have been open to all kinds of methodologies that have come along. Some I like, some I don't and most I had to modify.
However, when a new program does come along, teachers need training rather than the "turnkey of the day" to take the place of real staff development. Teacher complaints with Lucy Caulkin's Reading and Writing Workshop is due to the lack of proper training. A few workshops is not the same as actually spending time at the Summer Institute each year and having the opportunity to observe other teachers using the process (and picking their brains). Reading books on the subject help, but is no substitute. (Of course principals using time clocks during mini-lessons would be a major turn off.)
There are teachers I know who swear by Open Court while others have reading programs that work for them. I did not like Open Court, but I can see why the Pre-K and K teachers do.
Our new math program isn't for all students, and I am always looking for ways to modify the lessons while the newer teachers just follow the script.
In many schools, teachers are not allowed to modify. Lessons are scripted and a Flow of the Day must be followed to the nearest second. Even the new E-Clas makes it impossible to teach to the needs of the students because it takes so long to administer (and that's done twice a year).
Children do not come in "one size fits all" categories and neither should a mandated curriculum.
Maybe if we could just teach instead of "teach to the test", children will benefit. Unfortunately with testing now in January and early March instead of April and May, the pressure is on to complete a year's work in a few months.
So much for "deep", go "wide".
Oh yeah, you can't substitute margarine for this one. Milk seems to work all right, though, but don't use skim. My mom has the footprint cookie cutter, too! She has several dozen cookie cutters, for every season and holiday you can imagine...
sajoo
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