Educated the American way.
Education Obstructionists
by Toddlerbob
Education Obstructionists
by Toddlerbob
Tue Aug 05, 2008 at 03:39:22 PM PDT
http://toddlerbob.dailykos.com/
Excerpt:
As a longtime public school teacher in California, I take exception to this comment, which betrays the writer's ignorance of what really obstructs progress in public education.
The diarist Toddlerbob writes convincingly regarding the scientific aspects of our flawed educational system. This is one I heard regarding our entire educational system and I learned in one of my teacher training classes paraphrased as follows:
It appears there were pressures from the top down, bottom up educational authorities. From the bottom up aspect, during the 50’s, parents were told to let the Kindergarten teachers teach the students their primary colors, shapes, left and right, East and West, reading etc., Their argument was if your individual child were knowledgeable of these facts, both the rest of the students in Kindergarten and the teacher would be at a disadvantage. We were coming out of the “one room classroom” and curriculums were being written for the separation of classes. Than, again from the bottom up, the Pre-school and head start programs were introduced and, I think also the Montessori Schools whose main and stated objective was to “socialize” students on their way to entering Kindergarten. So much for the intended plights of the Kindergarten teacher due to the fact “socializing” included knowing your colors, shapes, left from right, reading etc., for the purpose of being more “sociable”. There also became a point wherein men were put into the Kindergarten classes to teach after this group filtered into the classrooms. Imagine a bored kindergartener!
Kindergarten teachers were forced, in many cases, to go into the curriculum of the first grade teachers who complained when the students got to their classes their job was made as difficult as was the one for the kindergarten teacher whose students already knew their colors, shapes etc., and her base curriculum was thrown off and fragmented.
So the first grade teachers had, out of sheer necessity, to go into some of the second grade curriculum and so forth. Each teacher was forced to go into the curriculum of their fellow teacher. Even during our “May Day” celebrations, the dances and exercises taught by the special teacher who came around were negotiated by the various faculty members according to the maturity and curriculum of the class. The practice was later dropped altogether.
From the top down, in the meanwhile, college professors were telling high school principals and teachers certain students were not ready for certain college materials and would they please at least prepare the twelfth grade graduating students with a unit or two of thus and so. The twelfth grade teachers then had to teach classes which, in the pass, had been freshmen college courses. In that case, the eleventh grade teachers had to prepare the students for the twelfth grade classes and Wahla! The finest education America has to offer. I understand this practice started with our first college, Harvard, in 1636. (There are rich stories regarding Harvard Medical Schools and the slave trade.)
There have been many failed opportunities to adapt educational systems from other countries and most often, they are rejected. If memory serves me correctly, the educational system of China was often mentioned, and indeed also briefly by Dr. Carter G. Woodson in “The Mis-Education of the Negro, and now more recently, India has been included due to their thirty year educational mandate of producing computer literate English speaking students. In my opinion, such decisions are made in regards to how you want your country to be with meaningful short and long range preparations. Your move, Ms. Spelling. Oh, leaving so soon? Bye!
As always,
BB
P.S. There are now so many highly educated societies taking advantage of the new technologies and money while we Americans still worry about what Blacks are doing and now on the contemporary scene, “Uppidy Negroes”. There is an old saying, “If you want to keep a man in the gutter, you have to get down there and hold him”. Nobody grows. Sad
by Toddlerbob
Education Obstructionists
by Toddlerbob
Tue Aug 05, 2008 at 03:39:22 PM PDT
http://toddlerbob.dailykos.com/
Excerpt:
As a longtime public school teacher in California, I take exception to this comment, which betrays the writer's ignorance of what really obstructs progress in public education.
The diarist Toddlerbob writes convincingly regarding the scientific aspects of our flawed educational system. This is one I heard regarding our entire educational system and I learned in one of my teacher training classes paraphrased as follows:
It appears there were pressures from the top down, bottom up educational authorities. From the bottom up aspect, during the 50’s, parents were told to let the Kindergarten teachers teach the students their primary colors, shapes, left and right, East and West, reading etc., Their argument was if your individual child were knowledgeable of these facts, both the rest of the students in Kindergarten and the teacher would be at a disadvantage. We were coming out of the “one room classroom” and curriculums were being written for the separation of classes. Than, again from the bottom up, the Pre-school and head start programs were introduced and, I think also the Montessori Schools whose main and stated objective was to “socialize” students on their way to entering Kindergarten. So much for the intended plights of the Kindergarten teacher due to the fact “socializing” included knowing your colors, shapes, left from right, reading etc., for the purpose of being more “sociable”. There also became a point wherein men were put into the Kindergarten classes to teach after this group filtered into the classrooms. Imagine a bored kindergartener!
Kindergarten teachers were forced, in many cases, to go into the curriculum of the first grade teachers who complained when the students got to their classes their job was made as difficult as was the one for the kindergarten teacher whose students already knew their colors, shapes etc., and her base curriculum was thrown off and fragmented.
So the first grade teachers had, out of sheer necessity, to go into some of the second grade curriculum and so forth. Each teacher was forced to go into the curriculum of their fellow teacher. Even during our “May Day” celebrations, the dances and exercises taught by the special teacher who came around were negotiated by the various faculty members according to the maturity and curriculum of the class. The practice was later dropped altogether.
From the top down, in the meanwhile, college professors were telling high school principals and teachers certain students were not ready for certain college materials and would they please at least prepare the twelfth grade graduating students with a unit or two of thus and so. The twelfth grade teachers then had to teach classes which, in the pass, had been freshmen college courses. In that case, the eleventh grade teachers had to prepare the students for the twelfth grade classes and Wahla! The finest education America has to offer. I understand this practice started with our first college, Harvard, in 1636. (There are rich stories regarding Harvard Medical Schools and the slave trade.)
There have been many failed opportunities to adapt educational systems from other countries and most often, they are rejected. If memory serves me correctly, the educational system of China was often mentioned, and indeed also briefly by Dr. Carter G. Woodson in “The Mis-Education of the Negro, and now more recently, India has been included due to their thirty year educational mandate of producing computer literate English speaking students. In my opinion, such decisions are made in regards to how you want your country to be with meaningful short and long range preparations. Your move, Ms. Spelling. Oh, leaving so soon? Bye!
As always,
BB
P.S. There are now so many highly educated societies taking advantage of the new technologies and money while we Americans still worry about what Blacks are doing and now on the contemporary scene, “Uppidy Negroes”. There is an old saying, “If you want to keep a man in the gutter, you have to get down there and hold him”. Nobody grows. Sad
posted by BB at 9:22 PM
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