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I always find it interesting that people can "loathe" books. But, it's true - even books meant for little kids. This article from The New York Times really made me laugh-cry. I personally believe that books have great power, but I can never understand those people who think particular books can do great harm to children.
Students from the Bronx Lab School are blogging about their trip to China. Well worth the read.
I just finished John Dewey's Democracy and Education. Light reading it is not, but I felt that I was definitely overdo in reading it.
There are many things to take away from this seminal education text, but one of the things that is most influencing my thinking at the moment was his focus on education as growth, rather than preparation for some future event. Often, educators tell students that something is essential for them to get a good grade on a test they have to take, or to get into college, or to get a scholarship, or because their future boss will want them to be able to do it. I've given this rationale many times, but Dewey's text has made me rethink this.
Education, says Dewey, should focus on the growth of the individual in the here and now. Education should not be preparation for something:
Children proverbially live in the present; that is not only fact not to be evaded, but it is an excellence. The future just as future lacks urgency and body.
He goes on to explain what follows if educators do emphasize the future and education as preparation for some aspect of the future:
The future having no stimulating and directing power when severed from the possibilities of the present, something must be hitched on to it to make it work. Promises of reward and threats of pain are employed. Healthy work, done for present reasons and as a factor of living, is largely unconscious. The stimulus resides in the situation with which one is actually confronted. But when this situation is ignored, pupils have to be told that if they do not follow the prescribed course penalties will accrue; while if they do, they may expect, some time in the future, rewards for their present sacrifices. Everybody knows how largely systems of punishment have had to be resorted to by educational systems which neglect present possibilities in behalf of preparation for the future.
How many times have you thought (or said), "Why can't these kids think about their futures? Don't they care?" I know I have several times. But, let's think about it. How many adults do you know actually think in depth about their futures? How many would make huge sacrifices now to get some benefits in the future? Not a lot. Probably more than you would find in adolescents, but we've had the experiences to realize that it pays off.
Adolescents, young in age, think about the here and now. Whether that is right or wrong, I don't think that it has ever been that different. Some may be really driven, but that is usually the exception, not the rule. So, given that human nature is what it is, shouldn't we account for that in our curriculum and methods and make their learning relevant for their lives now?
Whenever I give students a choice in reading or writing topics, they always pick something that interests them now. Very few will choose a book because they think it will be useful to them in college or choose a writing form because it will help them in their future careers. In those assignments, I see students put more work into the activity and have a higher turn-out rate when the assignment comes do. I doubt that this is any different in any other classroom.
I know what critics will say: The kids don't know what is coming for them and we do so we have to prepare them. We (adults) know better and we have a responsibility. We are doing what is in their best interests even if they don't understand it right now.
I would answer that learning about the here and now is important and is in their best interests. Dewey says:
If education is growth, it must progressively realize present possibilities, and thus make individuals better fitted to cope with later requirements. Growing is not something which is completed in odd moments; it is a continuous leading into the future. If the environment, in school and out, supplies conditions which utilize adequately the present capacities of the immature, the future which grows out of the present is surely taken care of. The mistake is not in attaching importance to preparation for future need, but in making it the mainspring of present effort.
We should keep an eye on the future, yes. We do have the responsibility. But, this does not mean that we make it our focus. Our focus should be on the concerns of our students in the present. As they grow, so will their concerns and step-by-step they will become prepared for their futures.
One of the things that convinced me to try blogging again was that I became involved with another blog, The Teacher Research Blog.
During my hiatus, I became the co-chair of New York State English Council's Standing Committee on Teacher Inquiry. Our goal is to promote teacher researchers among ELA teachers in New York State. We started the blog several weeks ago and I just finished posting my first post on Scientifically-Based Teacher Research and Teacher Research. The work made me realize how much I like blogging.
Go check out the blog and make sure to add it to your Bloglines or feed reader.
The break I took from blogging could be over. I've been thinking about getting back to blogging and I think I'll give it a try - maybe making a commitment to post, but do it less.
Why the break? I posted about the fact that I was feeling the need to post less and less when I switched schools. My new school was very collaborative and we reflected a lot on our teaching and our work with the students. Suddenly, I didn't feel that I had anything to say on the blog -- okay, and I was sick of thinking about my practice (there is such a thing as too much!).
But, nothing stays the same. During my hiatus, I decided to go back to school and begin my doctoral studies in English Education. I'm very excited as I received a three-year fellowship to do my coursework and to work on a research project with a professor in the program. I'm definitely looking to my classes starting right after Labor Day. I can see this blog becoming an outlet for me to talk through some of the thoughts and ideas I'm having surrounding my coursework. I also hope to use the opportunity of the blog to connect what I'm learning in my coursework with what happens in the classroom.
Of course, full-time doctoral study means that I will not be teaching - either at the high school or at the graduate school (where I'm now a student again). For the past several years, I've really defined myself as a teacher and so it will be weird to NOT be a teacher. I'm looking forward to it. To be honest, I'm ready for it. I will miss the actual act of teaching and the students. What I don't think I'll miss is the school system. NYC is beginning testing all grades four or five times a year. I had successfully avoided teaching years that are tested because I hate what tests do to students and teacher. Worse, the DOE announced a program to pay students for taking tests and getting good grades on them. (This absurd idea will surely be a topic of a future post as it makes me so angry!!) Through my doctoral work and beyond I hope to continue my contributions to underachieving adolescents.
