I feel like most of this is slightly above me in terms of parsing contradictions and the logic going to the end. BUT ....I either disagree with #7 and #8 or I don't understand what you are saying..... If teachers are well trained then it is entirely possible to teach math and reading while also giving them a rich curriculum in science, social studies and the arts. And if anything teaching social studies, science and the arts can motivate children to mastery. Also there is a wealth of studies that show that learning music and drawing end up increasing core skills in math and reading. So teaching music is not taking away from learning to read it might actually help (especially a dyslexic student) master reading. Learning about Apollo 13 might inspire students to master solving difficult problems in mathematics.
On a separate note Roen's reading seems to be doing a good job of incorporating all sorts of other topics like social skills, literature, art into learning core skills in reading and math. They are using a new curriculum based on the science of reading called Amplify CKLA and so far I have been pretty impressed with what I have seen come home.
Teachers are well trained in something called "teaching," which in America is an ideology-based technic entirely separate from imparting knowledge about math, science, and reading.
When I became a teacher, I learned the truth of #29-36. Before I became a teacher, I worked for 7 years in the tech world. What struck me when I transitioned to be a teacher was that everyone I met suddenly assumed they knew how to do my job--knew what it was to be a teacher--because they'd been a student. Even those that theoretically respected teachers and teaching believed they knew how to teach (they just chose not to). They'd witnessed teaching for at least 13 years of their lives, so they'd gotten the gist. But I was a teacher, and I learned even *I* don't know what it is to be a teacher somewhere other than the two schools and communities where I taught.
Another thing that struck me: There are more than 3.8 million public school teachers in the US. Any education policy that relies on superstar teachers to succeed will fail. You can't incentivize your way out of that conundrum.
I agree with you, Megan. Everyone thinks they understand what teaching is because everyone was once a student. They don't. It is more complicated. And every time I step into a different teacher's classroom or read about another teacher's approach, I learn something new about teaching.
I also like your point about superstar teachers. Real teaching is not Robin Williams in Dead Poet's Society.
I love your comment, Lauren. One could make a list of unbearable school movies where the hero steps into class and does the magic. Coach Carter. Dangerous Mind. To sir, with love. Radical. Even "documentaries" like Alphabet (the hero is a non-teacher but still, someone who has *all* the answers), Young Plato, and more. I really think they make a very bad service to the debate around education.
But there a few good ones too, I appreciated e.g. La Classe entre les murs and Detachment as being more honest and not stripping the reality of all complexity.
I enjoyed the great writing here and appreciate the focus on complexity and acceptance of the contradictions as a starting point to elaborate solutions. I teach math in Germany, I can recognize very similar issues and dilemmas, in spite of the different cultural and social context. I like the discourse here, being honestly sick of the oversimplifying didactic "concepts" being sold in Germany to young teachers. I will stay tuned! I love teaching mathematics, not having been a good mathematics pupil and having discovered it gradually with increasing fascination (not yet done!)
P.S. I have been teaching my first 8 years in a ghetto-school. It really *is* a tough environment, being so far away from the premises of #54 (safe and reasonably happy) that all those contradictions I meant earlier just crush everybody, students, teachers and the whole school staff alike.
A lot of food for thought, and a good synthesis of "obvious" truths that are difficult to acknowledge for systemic reasons. However, you mention "small schools" several times here. Would you actually say that "small schools" are one of the few things that WOULD work? That, say, it is better to have five high schools with 200 students in each than one huge with 1000 students?
What I'd say is that if you want to have a school that is "unconventional" then small size is DEFINITELY easier than a larger one. Is that better? Well, I don't know -- it's certainly more expensive, which in the public system definitely introduces more problems. But you would be able to potentially have different ways of putting the educational pieces together.
I don't disagree enough to fight but here are a few thoughts.
Also I'm reading Someone Has to Fail right now, ironically. Maybe I'll have an ed history hot take out soon.
People in education are really bad at cause and effect. Your thoughts on parents are a good example. I agree, but the effect of parents is diffuse and hard to measure so it gets missed. I don't know that we'll ever get better at cause and effect, it's hard for all humans. You could describe the failure of a lot of education reforms as people confusing correlation for causation.
How do you see #31 as intersecting with the administrative vs child-centered strands of progressivism?
The Kirabo Jackson paper is fascinating. No one who has influence in education will ever care about those things but more people should.
#47 is interesting to me because of two things. First, the obsession of some people with Bloom's two sigma effect. Second, the way that schooling was initially conceived not to maximize learning, but to instill a sense of citizenship and common purpose for democracy.
I guess it's tempting to say that best practices are a descendent of the admin strains, ala the whole work-efficiency movement, but weren't the child-centered progressives also really into scientific best practices? So I see it more as a faith in science of the type that blossomed after WW2 and is still with us today.
Re 47: I think you nailed it. I think sadly we're not in an age that valorizes common purpose and citizenship, but there are contemporary values that school is supposed to incolcate, even for the wealthiest families. We might disagree a bit on what they are, but the ability to navigate social relationships with peers and superiors *is* the training. There are practically no careers in today's age that are just brains at work.
Nice. I like Labaree but another lens to apply to the contradictions of education in the English speaking countries is Kieran Egan’s.
And much of what is written here is shaped by the unique US education system, highlighted in Robin Alexander’s Five Nations study. Getting out more, experiencing education in different countries is very instructive.
I don't have any first-hand teaching experience in high-poverty schools. Though look back at that Chalkbeat article about Success' high school. It starts with Eva Moskowitz explaining herself to a group of parents.
You'd like Steven Wilson's forthcoming book about No Excuses charters. (Success Academies an outlier, perhaps *the* outlier). The others (KIPP, AF, DP, etc) went through a reckoning. Steven's take: What parents wanted was some version of "Work hard, be nice." High bar, strict rules from caring teachers...and wanted the large test score gains that their kids saw. Those parents were trampled. The 23 year old teachers didn't want that anymore ~2015, neither the inputs nor the outputs. Both the culture and results are largely gone now.
There's too much take on, so I'll disagree with 6. The US spends a vast amount on education: far more per pupil than most other countries. Some of the most expensive school systems are the urban worst. Washington, DC, nobody's idea of a good place to educate kids, spends $27,425 per pupil.
If anyone is interested in why American schools are bad, read Richard Mitchell.
Indianapolis Public Schools spends. $17,858 per pupil. Here's one example of an IPS high school:
Math proficiency: 1%
Reading proficiency: 10%
Science proficiency: 2%
Graduation rate: 83%
Such a school is not rare, and this is after the students have spent more than half their lives attending schools. That such a school can exist in a country is proof that neither the people nor the politicians give a damn about a well-educated population. This who can send this kids to private schools, and that includes a lot of public school teachers.
Based on this excellent list, I would expect you to be an advocate of school choice. Yet your references to education and school seem to assume public schools as the default system. Given your apt points about how much disagreement there is about the substance of what an education should be, and how small schools with aligned parents can do things different, this is exactly what choice is allowing to happen. With an estimated 20 million students having access to ESAs in the coming years, real choice is happening at scale. In ten years states with ESAs will see a very different educational landscape.
I appreciate this post. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. If you've never read it, I recommend the book, "The End of Education" by Neil Postman. It explores the underlying philosophy and problems with our education system.
I feel like most of this is slightly above me in terms of parsing contradictions and the logic going to the end. BUT ....I either disagree with #7 and #8 or I don't understand what you are saying..... If teachers are well trained then it is entirely possible to teach math and reading while also giving them a rich curriculum in science, social studies and the arts. And if anything teaching social studies, science and the arts can motivate children to mastery. Also there is a wealth of studies that show that learning music and drawing end up increasing core skills in math and reading. So teaching music is not taking away from learning to read it might actually help (especially a dyslexic student) master reading. Learning about Apollo 13 might inspire students to master solving difficult problems in mathematics.
On a separate note Roen's reading seems to be doing a good job of incorporating all sorts of other topics like social skills, literature, art into learning core skills in reading and math. They are using a new curriculum based on the science of reading called Amplify CKLA and so far I have been pretty impressed with what I have seen come home.
Teachers are well trained in something called "teaching," which in America is an ideology-based technic entirely separate from imparting knowledge about math, science, and reading.
When I became a teacher, I learned the truth of #29-36. Before I became a teacher, I worked for 7 years in the tech world. What struck me when I transitioned to be a teacher was that everyone I met suddenly assumed they knew how to do my job--knew what it was to be a teacher--because they'd been a student. Even those that theoretically respected teachers and teaching believed they knew how to teach (they just chose not to). They'd witnessed teaching for at least 13 years of their lives, so they'd gotten the gist. But I was a teacher, and I learned even *I* don't know what it is to be a teacher somewhere other than the two schools and communities where I taught.
Another thing that struck me: There are more than 3.8 million public school teachers in the US. Any education policy that relies on superstar teachers to succeed will fail. You can't incentivize your way out of that conundrum.
I agree with you, Megan. Everyone thinks they understand what teaching is because everyone was once a student. They don't. It is more complicated. And every time I step into a different teacher's classroom or read about another teacher's approach, I learn something new about teaching.
I also like your point about superstar teachers. Real teaching is not Robin Williams in Dead Poet's Society.
I love your comment, Lauren. One could make a list of unbearable school movies where the hero steps into class and does the magic. Coach Carter. Dangerous Mind. To sir, with love. Radical. Even "documentaries" like Alphabet (the hero is a non-teacher but still, someone who has *all* the answers), Young Plato, and more. I really think they make a very bad service to the debate around education.
But there a few good ones too, I appreciated e.g. La Classe entre les murs and Detachment as being more honest and not stripping the reality of all complexity.
I just resigned my leadership role. Now I know why.
Oh, I'm so sorry! That sounds incredibly stressful.
It was but it’s not any more. Sleeping like a baby. Back to English teaching.
I enjoyed the great writing here and appreciate the focus on complexity and acceptance of the contradictions as a starting point to elaborate solutions. I teach math in Germany, I can recognize very similar issues and dilemmas, in spite of the different cultural and social context. I like the discourse here, being honestly sick of the oversimplifying didactic "concepts" being sold in Germany to young teachers. I will stay tuned! I love teaching mathematics, not having been a good mathematics pupil and having discovered it gradually with increasing fascination (not yet done!)
P.S. I have been teaching my first 8 years in a ghetto-school. It really *is* a tough environment, being so far away from the premises of #54 (safe and reasonably happy) that all those contradictions I meant earlier just crush everybody, students, teachers and the whole school staff alike.
Safe and happy feels like it should be an easy bar to clear. And yet, so often we fail at even that.
#10-12 All discuss the many things schools are tasked to do. And then #13, "This is a strength, not a weakness, of schools."
I'd say it is BOTH a strength and a weakness of schools. Thank you for this post. Lots to think about here.
A lot of food for thought, and a good synthesis of "obvious" truths that are difficult to acknowledge for systemic reasons. However, you mention "small schools" several times here. Would you actually say that "small schools" are one of the few things that WOULD work? That, say, it is better to have five high schools with 200 students in each than one huge with 1000 students?
What I'd say is that if you want to have a school that is "unconventional" then small size is DEFINITELY easier than a larger one. Is that better? Well, I don't know -- it's certainly more expensive, which in the public system definitely introduces more problems. But you would be able to potentially have different ways of putting the educational pieces together.
NYC under Mike Bloomberg did have a whole "small schools" policy initiative where they did exactly what you're describing. I'm not sure what the policy researchers say about the measurable results of that...though there are a few positive articles around, so maybe it was good? https://www.chalkbeat.org/2019/4/10/21121033/new-york-city-s-experiment-with-small-high-schools-helped-students-stay-in-college-study-shows/
This goes straight to Mastodon and BlueSkyes. Thanks! But not really for my website. (I might rethink that)
Very good points to think hard about … and discuss. Maybe make your own list or a shared one.
I don't disagree enough to fight but here are a few thoughts.
Also I'm reading Someone Has to Fail right now, ironically. Maybe I'll have an ed history hot take out soon.
People in education are really bad at cause and effect. Your thoughts on parents are a good example. I agree, but the effect of parents is diffuse and hard to measure so it gets missed. I don't know that we'll ever get better at cause and effect, it's hard for all humans. You could describe the failure of a lot of education reforms as people confusing correlation for causation.
How do you see #31 as intersecting with the administrative vs child-centered strands of progressivism?
The Kirabo Jackson paper is fascinating. No one who has influence in education will ever care about those things but more people should.
#47 is interesting to me because of two things. First, the obsession of some people with Bloom's two sigma effect. Second, the way that schooling was initially conceived not to maximize learning, but to instill a sense of citizenship and common purpose for democracy.
I guess it's tempting to say that best practices are a descendent of the admin strains, ala the whole work-efficiency movement, but weren't the child-centered progressives also really into scientific best practices? So I see it more as a faith in science of the type that blossomed after WW2 and is still with us today.
Re 47: I think you nailed it. I think sadly we're not in an age that valorizes common purpose and citizenship, but there are contemporary values that school is supposed to incolcate, even for the wealthiest families. We might disagree a bit on what they are, but the ability to navigate social relationships with peers and superiors *is* the training. There are practically no careers in today's age that are just brains at work.
Nice. I like Labaree but another lens to apply to the contradictions of education in the English speaking countries is Kieran Egan’s.
And much of what is written here is shaped by the unique US education system, highlighted in Robin Alexander’s Five Nations study. Getting out more, experiencing education in different countries is very instructive.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/0161-4681.00139
Quintuple like! Fantastic post. I'd like to double click on #20. Do you find this true in high-poverty schools?
I don't have any first-hand teaching experience in high-poverty schools. Though look back at that Chalkbeat article about Success' high school. It starts with Eva Moskowitz explaining herself to a group of parents.
You'd like Steven Wilson's forthcoming book about No Excuses charters. (Success Academies an outlier, perhaps *the* outlier). The others (KIPP, AF, DP, etc) went through a reckoning. Steven's take: What parents wanted was some version of "Work hard, be nice." High bar, strict rules from caring teachers...and wanted the large test score gains that their kids saw. Those parents were trampled. The 23 year old teachers didn't want that anymore ~2015, neither the inputs nor the outputs. Both the culture and results are largely gone now.
I can't wait to read! Ironically then an example of the weakness of parents and the strength of 23 year old teachers.
There are actually 57 of these (46 went twice) so you all got one for free. Bonus!
There's too much take on, so I'll disagree with 6. The US spends a vast amount on education: far more per pupil than most other countries. Some of the most expensive school systems are the urban worst. Washington, DC, nobody's idea of a good place to educate kids, spends $27,425 per pupil.
If anyone is interested in why American schools are bad, read Richard Mitchell.
https://sourcetext.com/grammarian/
Indianapolis Public Schools spends. $17,858 per pupil. Here's one example of an IPS high school:
Math proficiency: 1%
Reading proficiency: 10%
Science proficiency: 2%
Graduation rate: 83%
Such a school is not rare, and this is after the students have spent more than half their lives attending schools. That such a school can exist in a country is proof that neither the people nor the politicians give a damn about a well-educated population. This who can send this kids to private schools, and that includes a lot of public school teachers.
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/indiana/districts/indianapolis-public-schools/crispus-attucks-high-school-7259
Based on this excellent list, I would expect you to be an advocate of school choice. Yet your references to education and school seem to assume public schools as the default system. Given your apt points about how much disagreement there is about the substance of what an education should be, and how small schools with aligned parents can do things different, this is exactly what choice is allowing to happen. With an estimated 20 million students having access to ESAs in the coming years, real choice is happening at scale. In ten years states with ESAs will see a very different educational landscape.
I appreciate this post. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. If you've never read it, I recommend the book, "The End of Education" by Neil Postman. It explores the underlying philosophy and problems with our education system.
A fabulous book! Thanks for the reminder. Probably time for me to revisit that one.