Quote: "Americans need talents and abilities that are not available at a lower price elsewhere on earth. (Zhao, "Preface", Section 70, para. 3) Question: What are those talents and abilities that we can teach and nurture that cannot be as readily produced elsewhere in the world? Connection: One of the district administrators that I have recently talked with explained that we need to train students to be able to do tasks that require "non-repetitive, high cognition skills." Zhao explains that we're fighting a losing battle if all we try to do is compete with nations which are capable of more efficiently mass producing a low-cognition, high repetition work force. Epiphany: Preparing students for the future means more than simply teaching students so that they are more competitive than their international counterparts. We are teaching students to be functional in a world where so much traditional work is becoming automated by machines. If all we do is teach students skills that are repetitive and low cognition, we are preparing them for a future wherein they can be easily replaced by increasingly intelligent machines. Quote: "No Child Left Behind required that all states develop rigorous curriculum standards in math and reading following its passage, and in science by 2005. Today all 50 states have developed such standards and grade-level expectation" (Zhao, Chapter 1, Standards and Accountability, para. 3). Question: What is wrong with having standards and holding school accountable for teaching those same standards? Connection: I have had far too many conversations with colleagues who found NCLB distasteful to downright offensive with its emphasis on testing. I would often counter that there is nothing wrong with trying to be more rigorous and holding ourselves accountable. Epiphany: In the past I have thought that in absence of standards and testing there would be complacency. Yet I entered the teaching profession knowing nothing but an NCLB teaching environment. Zhao has effectively described the shortcomings of the philosophy underlying centralized educational reforms like NCLB. Too often we pursue rigor and centralization by sacrificing student talent diversification and the more humanistic elements that should be at the core of any education. Quote: "Clearly, American education has been moving toward authoritarianism, letting the government dictate what and how students should learn and what schools should teach" (Zhao, "The Road to Educational Dictatorship", para. 1). Question: Has the push for national standards resulted in better, more rigorous standards that will benefit all students? Connection: I have often looked contemptuously towards those states or individuals who resisted the implementation of Common Core Standards. I thought that resistors were merely right wing ideologues who did not want to have their freedoms taken by the government they so feared. Epiphany: I can now look with some understanding towards those who are not fully convinced that Common Core Standards are the panacea for education. The problem is, as most likely spouted by Bill O'Reilly and the Fox Network, that centralization is not the solution. I am reluctant to put myself the company of the aforementioned, however centralization and authoritarianism. does lead to systems incapable of recognizing the individual and strength of diversity. Quote: "We thus face a choice of what we want: a diversity of talents, of individuals who are passionate, curious, self-confident, and risk taking; or a nation of excellent test takers, outstanding performers on math and reading tests" (Zhao, "An Imperfect System That Others Seek to Emulate", para. 4). Question: Is it possible to find a balance between nurturing diverse talents and making sure that all students have the fundamental math and reading skills necessary to function in society? Connection: As skeptical teachers, we are at times dismissive of test scores. We may say things like "These scores don't necessarily reflect the actual learning of our students or capture their other non-quantifiable skills." Epiphany: Zhao destroys many assumptions that we make by putting standards and test results at the core of our teaching. He explains how this approach is being abandoned by high performing, Asian nations. While they adopt our approach we take theirs. Yet, test results are do not correlate to better national outcomes in terms of competitiveness and other measures such as GDP. It is a bit of a gamble to place so much emphasis on the skills that standards and testing can achieve. Resources Zhao, Y. (2009). Catching up or leading the way American education in the age of globalization. Alexandria, Va.: ASCD.
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AuthorIn this blog I will share my perspectives of the learning and materials from EDL 680, already a very inspiring course that I am taking for MA in Educational Leadership Archives
August 2015
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