A Way to TRANSFORM Our Schools? Take a Look and Have a Say.

[teacher gal]

That's transform, not reform by continuing to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic.

This is from prolific writer, educator, and activist Susan Ohanian's website http://www.susanohanian.org/show_yahoo.php?id=530 She contributed to getting this book published:

NEWS RELEASE
DATE: March 20, 2010
SUBJECT: Educating for Human Greatness
MEDIA CONTACT: Anthony Dallmann-Jones PhD
PHONE: [phone]
EMAIL:[e-mail]

Every 100 years or so a book is published that can affect the strength and character of a nation. Such is the power of Educating for Human Greatness by Lynn Stoddard in alliance with a group of seasoned master educators and spearheaded by Dr. Anthony Dallmann-Jones, a professor of education and Director of the National At-Risk Education Network. The new book - a highly anticipated 2nd edition which has been fully updated and expanded by 50% - advocates a major paradigm shift in education to address two major problems:

1 - Nearly one out of every three students drops out from high school in our country each year. Graduation rates steadily rose from 1870 until they peaked in 1969 at 77%. Since then, the graduation rate has been in decline, to the current rate of about 70%. This is despite No Child Left Behind (on which the Feds spent 25B a year and the states an average of 25M annually). A recently released Whitehouse fact sheet documents that "Every school day about 7,000 students decide to drop out of school - a total of 1.2 million students each year! As a result of this "dropout crisis," a Whitehouse fact sheet states, "the nation loses $319 billion a year in potential earnings."

2 - The U.S. incarcerates more people per capita than any other country for a cost of nearly 50 billion dollars a year. Dropouts comprise 70% of the prison population and 81% of inmates are illiterate.

"Obviously, something is not working in education today," state Stoddard and Dr. Dallmann-Jones. "Having high standards and high-stakes testing for student uniformity in another form under the current administration will NOT fix it! We need a whole new way of looking at this VERY SERIOUS problem: We need an educational paradigm shift."

Educating for Human Greatness is a revolutionary book that calls for a new mission for public education: "We need to begin thinking of developing great human beings to be contributors, not burdens, to society. The proposed paradigm shift that has become known as Educating for Human Greatness began to emerge while teachers in five elementary schools over several years worked in full partnership with parents to determine and meet the individual needs of several thousand unique (aren't they all?) children. They discovered, over a period of time, this puzzling paradox: Students achieve more in curriculum when student achievement in curriculum is not the main goal. With this discovery, the authors became aware of a sobering thought: We may be impeding human development when we try to standardize students in reading, writing, math and other disciplines. We may actually be stunting their growth!

In the book, Stoddard and Dallmann-Jones relate what happens when the main goal is human development over curriculum development - a celebration of diversity rather than a focus on children's deficiencies. Student accomplishment in curriculum skyrockets as a bonus when subject matter content is used to help students grow in seven major powers:

1. Identity - The power of self-worth that comes from developing unique talents and gifts; 2. Inquiry - The power of curiosity;
3. Interaction - The powers of love and human relationships;
4. Initiative - The power of self-discipline and willpower;
5. Imagination - The power of creativity;
6. Intuition - The power of the heart to sense truth; and
7. Integrity - The power of honesty and responsibility.

The authors believe that if educational leaders are really set on having students achieve in curriculum, they will change from having curriculum as a goal to having it as a means of helping students grow in these seven dimensions of human greatness so they can be valuable contributors to society. One of the most noticeable results is how students learn the basic skills of reading, writing and math - as tools of inquiry and interaction, without pressure, each at the right time and with a love for doing it. One exciting message of Educating for Human is that Every Child Can Excel in something IF educators are willing to embrace diversity rather than see it as a hurdle. The book serves as a guide for parents and teachers to use in drawing forth the unique GREATNESS that lies within themselves AND in each amazing child.

Educating for Human Greatness comes off the Peppertree Publishing Press in mid-March and will be available on Amazon and through regular bookstores soon. Those wanting more information, or an earlier purchase, may go to: http://www.EfHG.org.

— Press Release
Educating for Human Greatness

http://www.EfHG.org

[underpants]

1. They already transformed the schools-"market based" reversal of Brown v. Board

with the aim of creating the management class (private schools) and worker bees

Great read. These kinds of works DO make a difference.

[teacher gal]

3. only if people believe it's possible and demand change n/t

[teacher gal]

2. I really hope people will take a look at this

and imagine the possibilities. Help me out with this thread if you're willing.

[BrklynLiberal]

4. K&R I hope it is not too late for what once was an excellent public education system

[LeftyMom]

5. I don't think that's feasible in an institutional setting.

[teacher gal]

7. What if they did some test pilots?

It SOUNDS good. I would think children would feel much more valued, that learning would be a happier experience, that motivation would increase.

[LeftyMom]

10. I don't see the point in treating kids like crash test dummies,

every time somebody comes up with a new jargony way to tweak a system we already know fails kids.

[Fumesucker]

6. A three year old's favorite or close to favorite word is "why?"...

The great majority of people by the time they have become adults no longer ask "why?"..

Some few though continue that intellectual habit lifelong..

Why is it that some people never stop asking why and at what age do the majority lose the habit?

[teacher gal]

8. Yes! "Why" and "No" !!

Great comments. We need people who can think and people who ask why to recover a semblance of democracy.

[Fumesucker]

9. Any idea what the answers to my questions might be?

Why do you think most adults have lost the habit of asking "why" about things they don't understand?

At what average or median age do you think those people lose the habit?

I'm seriously interested in your opinion on these two questions because I think the answers are an integral part of the solution to our problems in education.

[teacher gal]

12. You're probably right

and I probably don't have the answers! I can only speculate.

I'm not sure whether most people have stopped asking why. Often, when people are too much under the control of others, they do not even REALIZE there are other possibilities and even may develop a fear of their own independence and taking risks. Maybe it doesn't feel safe, sort of a learned helplessness I suppose.

There should be more inquiry in our schools, with students allowed to ask and seek answers to more questions that THEY are interested in rather than so much regurgitating of what they are told.

Sorry if I'm not much help here. Hope you get lots of great responses. I'll be interested!

[Fumesucker]

19. It's been my experience that a lot of people will get upset if you ask the wrong "why" questions?

If you ask questions that do not match or go beyond the common wisdom or require people to think beyond their comfort zone you will often get a hostile reaction..

Part of it is that the powers that be are hugely threatened by people who genuinely think for themselves, a lot of education is about turning curiosity into safe and approved lines of inquiry as determined by the powers that be. I think a great many people at some level realize this and just lose interest because their natural curiosity is stymied by a system designed to lmit..


All government, in its essence, is a conspiracy against the superior man: its one permanent object is to oppress him and cripple him. If it be aristocratic in organization, then it seeks to protect the man who is superior only in law against the man who is superior in fact; if it be democratic, then it seeks to protect the man who is inferior in every way against both. One of its primary functions is to regiment men by force, to make them as much alike as possible and as dependent upon one another as possible, to search out and combat originality among them. All it can see in an original idea is potential change, and hence an invasion of its prerogatives. The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable, and so, if he is romantic, he tries to change it. And even if he is not romantic personally he is very apt to spread discontent among those who are.
-HL Mencken, Smart Set (December 1919)

[teacher gal]

23. Very well said (your words).

You should be my teacher. Hadn't ever read that Mencken quote.

I recently chose to resign from teaching. Over the years I spent a lot of time studying the "ed reform industry" and I have absolutely no doubt that ed reforms like NCLB and Race-to-the-Top work such that they actually perpetuate the class system already in place, separating children and young people into neat little categories of so-called success and failure (the wheat and chaff) all the while mandating they MUST learn the same things in the same amount of time.

"the powers that be are hugely threatened by people who genuinely think for themselves..."

I often think that world history is one long continual struggle of the powerful trying to keep the masses in their place. Regardless of the particular government that exists.

And I wonder why billionaires like Bill Gates and Eli Broad (who are exerting such enormous influence in the education policies being promoted by Obama/Duncan) are so darn interested in er, "saving" our public schools. They certainly don't need any of the money being made by the huge testing and test prep industries. It is as if we are their playthings and school reform a mere hobby and amusement. Gates himself has admitted that what he wants to do "might not work" but hey, it's ok to screw around with the lives of real people. I won't try to judge their motives, I just see that what they do when they speak of innovation in our schools actually perpetuates the very status quo that they claim they want to change.

Money and power are addictive.

[Fumesucker]

26. Another quote, prompted by your last sentence..

All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted.
- Frank Herbert

Satiability is an interesting and important concept when we start talking about the powers that be in our society, I think that a lot of the people at the top of society are not satiable, no matter how much they get, power, money, sex or whatever, it's never enough.

An illuminating book to read is "The Authoritarians" by Dr Bob Altemeyer, it's available online in pdf format to read for free and it explains much about the way some people think that often befuddle and bemuse those of us of a more liberal and humanistic bent.

http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/

OK, what’s this book about? It’s about what happened to the American government after "conservatives" gained control of Congress in the 1990s and the White House in 2000. It’s about the disastrous decisions that government made, which have created the enormous problems we face now. It’s about the corruption that rotted the Congress. It’s about how traditional conservatism has nearly been destroyed by authoritarianism. It’s about how the “Religious Right” teamed up with amoral authoritarian leaders to push its un-democratic agenda onto the country.

“Well,” you might be thinking, “I don’t believe any of this is true.” Or maybe you’re thinking, “What else is new? I’ve known this all along.” Why should a conservative, moderate, or liberal bother with this book? Why should any Republican, Independent, or Democrat click the “Introduction” link on this page?

Because if you do, you’ll begin an easy-ride journey through some relevant scientific studies I have done on authoritarian personalities--one that will take you a heck of a lot less time than the decades it took me. Those studies have a direct bearing on all the topics mentioned above. So if you think the first paragraph is a lot of hokum, or full of half-truths, I invite you to look at the research.

For example, take the following statement: “Once our government leaders and the authorities condemn the dangerous elements in our society, it will be the duty of every patriotic citizen to help stomp out the rot that is poisoning our country from within.” Sounds like something Hitler would say, right? Want to guess how many politicians, how many lawmakers in the United States agreed with it? Want to guess what they had in common?

Or how about a government program that persecutes political parties, or minorities, or journalists the authorities do not like, by putting them in jail, even torturing and killing them. Nobody would approve of that, right? Guess again.

Don’t think for a minute this doesn’t concern you personally. Let me ask you, as we’re passing the time here, how many ordinary people do you think an evil authority would have to order to kill you before he found someone who would, unjustly, out of sheer obedience, just because the authority said to? What sort of person is most likely to follow such an order? What kind of official is most likely to give that order, if it suited his purposes? Look at what experiments tell us, as I did.

If, on the other hand, you’re way ahead of me, and believe the extreme right-wing elements in America are still working to take over the country despite the recent election--nay because of it--I think you can still get a lot from this book. The authoritarians aren’t going away.

The studies explain so much about these people. Yes, the research shows they are very aggressive, but why are they so hostile? Yes, experiments show they are almost totally uninfluenced by reasoning and evidence, but why are they so dogmatic? Yes, studies show the Religious Right has more than its fair share of hypocrites, from top to bottom; but why are they two-faced, and how come one face never notices the other? Yes, their leaders can give the flimsiest of excuses and even outright lies about things they’ve done wrong, but why do the rank-and-file believe them? What happens when authoritarian followers find the authoritarian leaders they crave and start marching together?

I think you’ll find this book “explains a lot.” Many scattered impressions about the enemies of freedom and equality become solidified by science and coherently connected here.

You think I’m pulling your leg? Push the button.

[JerseygirlCT]

15. I think when kids (or heck, adults) guess and are greeted

with derision or other negative feedback, they learn to shut up. And from there, not to even bother wondering anymore.

I imagine it takes more time and energy to move beyond a right answer/wrong answer way of seeing things - which inevitably locks people into being afraid of their curiosity.

[teacher gal]

24. That's a very good point.

I used to so often catch myself saying "no" when a student gave a "wrong" answer. I'd immediatly regret it but it was a habit, the same sort of schooling I grew up with. I actually had to consciously remind myself not to say "no" and sometimes I would forget.

[JerseygirlCT]

41. I'm pretty sure that's the way most of us were taught

Heck, I got that (with no ill-intentions whatsoever) at home, too. I finally got comfortable with just not saying anything if I wasn't 100% sure of the answer. I guess there's some virtue in that (lots of people willing to exercise their jaws when they haven't got a clue - Bill O'Reilly, I'm talking to you - but in general, it would have been better to have been greeted with "that's interesting. Why do you think that?" or something on those lines.

I try to do that with my own kids - though as you say, not always successfully.

[teacher gal]

18. Just read your questions more carefully...

I'll come back and take a shot at them in a bit. Right now I'm starving.

[JerseygirlCT]

14. That's the key, I think

That curiosity, that natural love of learning that kids all have. It has to be carefully nurtured, not squelched. That starts at home, of course, with parents and caregivers who can take the time to answer questions, and point kids toward ways of finding the answers.

If kids can continue to love to learn through their school years - you're set. That's the big one.

[Fumesucker]

20. A great deal of formal schooling seems to be almost designed to squelch the natural love of learning

It's rather like force feeding someone a diet that's either ridiculously bland or that they actively dislike, of course they won't like eating..

Feed them good, tasty and nutritious food that is created to their tastes though and they'll often wolf it down, certainly more likely than if you give them a steady diet of military MREs..

[JerseygirlCT]

21. I agree...

I have an in-law who is just a naturally talented teacher. Now, while lots of things science interest me on a theoretical, reading sci-fi level (lol), I had always dreaded my science classes. Lots of rote learning, memorization, etc. BORING and pointless.

Had this person been my teacher, however - you can't help but find it all fascinating. Now, obviously, the venue is different - sitting around a living room talking isn't science class. But her enthusiasm, and her own curiosity - it's all infectious.

My son is a great example of that natural curiosity. Show him something interesting, and let him go with it, and he does. Hand him an atlas, or an encyclopedia - point him at the computer... off he goes, and just sucks in all the information he can find. I just hope and pray that school doesn't squash that as he gets older. (He'll head to middle school next year).

[mzteris]

29. that's the philosophy behind unschooling. n/t

[LWolf]

42. Our mainstream culture prohibits questioning the status quo.

It's an authoritarian thing.

Teaching through inquiry is not just for science; it feeds developing minds well. It's not well accepted in many arenas, though. I've been told by admins that many parents are uncomfortable, and likely to revolt, if we teach their kids to question.

[zeemike]

11. I think that is all well and good

But is not the true source of the problems in education.
The fault is not with the teachers or students it is with the system...the schools themselves.
The schools as we have created them are mostly teaching social order....not in the class room but in the concept of the school being a little country with it's own form of nationalism...It fights it's rivals with the football team.
It encourages classes of people....with the jocks and cheerleaders on top and the kids with close from the thrift store on the bottom.
Kids are classified and isolated into groups....jocks, nerds, and so forth...and so if you are a kid that cannot find a class to fit into you are in trouble.
Education is secondary and is not held in high regard...but if you are popular you will get ahead.

So I think the goals set out by the OP would be imposable to implement in such a system.

[teacher gal]

17. There will be lots of skepticism I'm sure, but

EFHG does not assume the fault is with teachers or students. Quite the opposite. The system is the problem, just as you've said. EfHG seeks to revolutionize the whole system that has been in place forever.

[mzteris]

31. which is exactly what I've been saying all along

though I keep being accused of "blaming teachers". It's NOT the teachers, it's not the parents', it's not the schools - individually - it's the system. Although, yeah - some parents are crummy, some teachers are 'bad', some students just don't give a rip (but then again - there's probably a REASON they don't give a rip - and it's up to the adults in this world to help make sure this doesn't happen, ya know?)

There are a lot of problems in society that is affecting "school". Lack of discipline is a biggy. Lack of self-control. Lack of empathy.

Then you get into the excessive TV at way too young an age, to the "cutesy little electronic toys" infants are given. People don't spend enough time with their babies, their toddlers. They need to interact with them - reading, playing, going for walks, talking talking talking to their children. Telling them everything they see, smell, hear, touch. Help them learn cause and effect. Provide them with experiences - different tastes, textures, sounds, environments.

You can't plop a child in a playpen or stroller and turn on some flashing lights with annoyingly pitched and tinny sound that's supposed to be music. Kids are too used to watching a 30 minute cartoon, interrupted every 3 minutes by 5 one minute commercials! There's a reason there are more and more kids in the "visual learner" spectrum instead of the audio spectrum.

But instead of trying to help kids learn that patience, a hands-on approach, tenacity and curiosity and and the stamina necessary to stay with a problem until you solve it! - Now we're accommodating teaching styles which isn't really working, imo. Textbooks are awful They try so hard to make the fun, Fun, FUN - instead of informative. All short little "bites" of information with different colors and different fonts, and pictures on every page. How can a child learn to maintain attention when they're never required to?

We're the "instant society". Want popcorn - three minutes. Zap things in the microwave for a few minutes. Not getting out the ingredients, following a recipes - sequencing, measures and fractions, putting it all together and waiting for it to bake. Want a movie - punch a button. Want clothes - just go buy them. Not that I'm advocating going back to everyone doing "homecooking" and "sewing" their own clothes - just trying to illustrate that no one really waits for anything anymore. It's all right there without effort.

This business of forcing little kids to learn their "abc's" or "read" by a certain age - no! Kids need to play. Playing IS learning. Play, properly encouraged/directed - can be the mode by which all younger children "learn". If a kid id really ready to learn their abc's by 2 then - fine. But if they're 4? ok. If they can read at four - they'll indicate their readiness, but if they don't read until their 8 or 9 - evidence shows that kids who are allowed to come naturally to reading do so usually at about 8, not 5 or 6.

One of the reasons is the development of the eye muscles - they become strong at around 8 years. Before that, maintaining the focus necessary puts undue strain on a kid's eyes. Not to mention the STRESS associated with trying to learn how to read - and you're EYES aren't ready yet, so you're labeled "SLOW" and everyone makes fun of you. And children who come late to reading, catch up to their peers within a year or two. Without having had some stigma attached to their "not reading yet". It's okay to learn at YOUR OWN PACE - instead of some artificially imposed "standard" that is designed for some non-existent "AVERAGE" kid.

I mentioned UNSCHOOLING up thread. Most people are appalled by the notion. But it works for some kids so why not? Unschooling is the art of NOT making LEARNING a JOB. You don't have to WORK at learning, you just do. Trial and error, process of elimination, copying older children. Pursuing an interest that requires you to figure out THIS so you can learn about THAT. Learning is it's OWN reward. Not grades. Not pats on the back. Not promotions. Just a love of learning that's not only encouraged, but nurtured.

If you let kids learn, instead of MAKING them learn, then the sky's the limit for what they can do. They will always be able to learn what they need to know.

[zeemike]

35. Some very good points....good read n.t

[zeemike]

34. That is good to know.

Because it needs to be changed in a positive way....and privatization is not the answer because kids will just become another commodity.
If they are going to privatize something let them have HS sports teams and leave the education to the profession of teaching.

[BeFree]

13. This I know to be true...

..."We may be impeding human development when we try to standardize students in reading, writing, math and other disciplines. We may actually be stunting their growth!"

We should not be treating our kids like cattle. Kids must be free to find their own paths in life, with help from an education system.

[teacher gal]

16. But the powers that be don't seem to really want a well educated citizenry.

Policies like NCLB actually manufacture "failure" and lead to misery for both students and teachers alike.

[BeFree]

22. Heh

They sure as hell don't want them to be free. I know. They had problems with us.

It's partly, no, mostly a parent's responsibility to raise a child. A big part of our problem is the big brother state has adopted that responsibility.

I think every parent with a school child should have to some serve community time. Like an hour for every week their kid is in school. That would get parents involved and give education some value: make it cost them extra.

[teacher gal]

25. We should do a poll

to see what type of changes people would like to see in their public schools. It would be cool to send the results to our people in Congress.

[Fumesucker]

27. Come up with some questions and I'll be happy to post such a poll..

I'm a contributor and can do polls here..

[teacher gal]

28. Give me a bit

Confession, I don't know how to use many of the features of this site. Isn't there a way I can "buddy" with you email wise through this site and get back with you on this?

I'm getting ready to go to bed as I'm leaving for Las Cruces very early in the morning.

I think we'd get some very interesting polling results regarding what people's priorities are for their children education-wise.

Thank you!

Just one more thought for the evening and thank you for the link to "The Authoritarians". Another of your quotes got me thinking:

It’s about how traditional conservatism has nearly been destroyed by authoritarianism. It’s about how the “Religious Right” teamed up with amoral authoritarian leaders to push its un-democratic agenda onto the country.

I don't know your particular religious persuasion if any (doesn't matter) but I think of Jesus a lot and what he actually taught versus what I believe to be the extreme religious right's perversion of his teachings to gain political power. The Left is equally vulnerable in falling prey to this. I am firmly in favor of separation of church and state because when our democracy and religion get twisted together, each perverts the other.

Above all, we are to love one another, even our enemies. In fact, especially our enemies. We don't have to agree with them. Our country is in a sad state. I just noticed a thread a little bit ago about someone spitting on a Congressman (a teabagger I think). We find ourselves wanting to force our views on others, we feel threatened, etc. But Christ never forced anyone to believe or follow his commandments - it is our choice. Consider how many want to legislate the private behavior of Americans.

Thoughts about authoritarianism and perpetuating an underclass...it brings to mind an excellent book I recently read, titled "The Myth of A Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power is Destroying the Church" by Gregory Boyd. Boyd argures that Jesus taught us to seek a "power-under" kingdom rather than a "power-over" kingdom, where greatness is measured by sacrifice and service. His central thesis is that a large segment of American evangelicalism is guilty of nationalistic and political idolatry, fusing the kingdom of God with a preferred version of the kingdom of the world. Here's a link: http://www.amazon.com/Myth-Christian-Nation-Political-Destroying/dp/0310267307

And boy did I go off on a tangent. Hope I haven't offended you. I'll be returning to this thread and thinking up some questions for the poll!

[teacher gal]

30. Oh boy, one more thing...

I think it would be good if any readers are interested for them to leave comments/ideas on this thread for the poll.

Now I've got to get to bed!

[Fumesucker]

38. Check your Private Messages..

I don't offend easily and I basically agree with you regarding the message of the Gospels versus what many "Christians" seem to believe.. I think a better term is "Christianists"..

I checked out the book by Mr Boyd and I think his thesis is solid, "Render unto Cesar" and so on.

[mzteris]

32. Here's a thread on the topic -

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=219&topic_id=12374&mesg_id=12374

from some time ago. I think there were some other threads on that subject. As I recall LWOLF (?) had some really great ideas.

[Dinger]

33. K & R

:)

[etherealtruth]

36. Excellent post

I will be very interested in reading this in its entirety.

Thank you

[timtom]

37. This is a thorny issue that continues to plague me.

High school dropouts aside, it is the ones who get into college now that cause me concern. I have a part-time job as a tutor in the Center for Writing Excellence. There is a large number of undergrads and graduate students that can't write their way out of a Glad Bag. I've begun using the term "train wreck." Moreover, a significant percent of them truly don't care.

It all starts with having been read to in early childhood. (Someday, we must talk about the passive voice.)

[etherealtruth]

39. A K & R for the Sunday morning group

[boppers]

40. Curriculum is not education, agreed.

Teaching to a general curriculum (or even worse, a "Teacher's edition" of a textbook, or other study guide) is flawed for the same reason as NCLB: It's merely a process of learning rote regurgitation, with a "teacher" merely along to read out loud and score tests.

The best teachers I had weren't afraid to deviate wildly from either, in order to keep students engaged... for example, when learning Shakespeare in high school English, the official "things we were supposed to learn" definitely didn't include finding all the dirty jokes in Romeo and Juliet, but once students caught wind of it, the students lept at the chance to find the most foul, obscene, references we could.

[LWolf]

43. Thanks for the heads-up.

I look forward to reading this one.

Maybe some school or district using this paradigm will let me join them someday.