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  1. Teachers — Advocate or Educate ?

    November 19, 2016 by Tunya

    Teachers — Educate or Advocate?

    This story from San Francisco illustrates some of the issues about the role of teachers in public schools.

    San Francisco teacher defends lesson plan calling Donald Trump racist, sexist — http://www.cbsnews.com/news/san-francisco-teacher-lesson-plan-donald-trump-racist-sexist/

    To what extent do teachers have the right to bring their personal views into the High School classroom?

    This teacher made up her own lesson plan, not approved by anyone or any authority. The School District said it had no part in it. But, when the news came out, the teachers’ union and the National Education Association advertised it in their media outlets.

    A Republican spokesperson was quoted: “It’s boiling down the results [of the election] . . . into two words: racist and sexist . . . Some of these students probably have parents who voted for Donald Trump. How are those students going to feel . . . ?

    This opens up questions in our neck-of-the-woods.

    Do teachers have “autonomy” or license to create their own lesson plans?
    Do teachers use lesson plans that might be controversial that are provided by the teacher union? See this controversy — http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bctf-pulls-controversial-online-counter-military-recruitment-posters-1.3850942

    Should teacher unions produce lesson plans? And why do they fight tooth-and-nail during collective bargaining for increasing power over professional development? See these obvious left-slanted PD Math workshops last month in BC:

    * Social Justice as a platform for problem solving — Social justice lies at the intersection of school mathematics and students lives. In this workshop we will explore initiatives to engage students with social justice issues through problem solving . . .

    * Social Justice and mathematics: Beyond the equation— . . . mathematics through a social justice lens. Social justice, in general, is about equity and the development of a critical mindset that can identify inequities is an essential competency of an educated and democratic citizen . . . mathematics may be one of the most accessible and productive ways to develop this critical mindedness. I will draw on and share numerous mathematical inquiry activities and general approaches to mathematics teaching supporting the revised curriculum and its move toward a socially-relevant education.

    I think we urgently need to reconfigure education so that parents can choose between activist progressive schools and those that educate, not advocate! Parents should be at the forefront, with transparent information available, to sort out what they want for their children and be able to avoid discredited, crappy, and obviously political agendas if they don’t want them!

    [ ssubmitted to Educhatter blog on topic — ‘Crap-Detection’ in Teaching: How Do We Separate the Good ‘Brain Science’ from the Bad?  ]

     

    Category Absurdities, Education Reform, Malpractice, Uncategorized | Tags: | No Comments

  2. where does truth stand today?

    November 18, 2016 by Tunya

     

    Where Does Truth Stand Today?

    I think this SINNer is protesting too much. Self-identifying non-neuroticism is probably not in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition — yet. But as the saying goes, it takes one to know one, or, it’s the pot calling the kettle black . . .

    Caplan points to the two tribes, left and right activists. They both use sadness, anger and fear to try and sway some reform or change. Both try to evoke guilt as a method to work for change.

    There’s another way that’s going the rounds in expressing polarities of thought — authoritarian or libertarian — either of which also tries to evoke guilt in persuading others to their side.

    But Caplan belongs to a tribe that claims objective truths and evidence-backed research to bolster their field. But, here again, there is no agreement. The famous quote by George Bernard Shaw still holds — "If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion."

    Thankfully we live in our Western cultures, which allow competition of ideas to flourish and for surprises (Brexit/Trump effect) to happen.

    Thanks for the opinion-piece, Bryan Caplan, and hopefully we can grapple more effectively in this, our post-truth world. In case it’s not widely know, Oxford Dictionary has just proclaimed “post-truth” as the word of the year and perhaps the defining word of our time!

    https://www.theguardian.com/bo…

    https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/nov/15/post-truth-named-word-of-the-year-by-oxford-dictionaries

    [comment to FEE — Bryan Caplan — How Neurotic People Abuse The News}

    Category Absurdities, Opinions in media, Uncategorized | Tags: | No Comments

  3. Validators, Enforcers, etc. in new curriculum

    November 18, 2016 by Tunya

    Validators — A New Job Category For Schools?

    My capacity to read is probably 1/100th or closer to 1/1000th that of Robin’s. But, I must say, what she provides on the blog has for me, two valued features: a) facts, leads, references, quotes, who’s who, etc., etc. on the sorry field of education distortion as happening now; and b) an increased sensitivity I’ve gained for detecting these shifts and dangers in my own environment.

    I think CPW has a developed sensitivity to catching and calling out “shifty” practices and I’m thankful to know about the incident where “Psychologically Managed Climate” was deliberately changed to more palatable terminology — “Positive School Climate”. It would be useful to list such interchangeable terms.

    My sensitized vigilance signaled an alert to me yesterday. One of my long-ago jobs was working as a counselor in a government employment agency. We used the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT, now obsolete) for categorizing jobs. I became fascinated with job titles. I keep wondering what other terms like change-agent are coming forward to expedite these education “transformations” we keep talking about on ISC. The job “validator” jumped out from the paper I was reading yesterday!

    Validator is someone who checks your competencies that you say you have acquired in work or experiences beyond the curriculum in university. University of Toronto has a framework of competencies that qualify for the CCR, Co-Curricular Record, which is attached to your transcript and is to be an aid to employability. It is not mandatory but highly recommended. What is a co-curricular record? https://ccr.utoronto.ca/about-ccr/q-a.htm The desirable competencies https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/student-life/sites/files/student-life/public/shared/pdfs/Competency%20Charts.pdf

    In view of discussions on ISC and how competencies are being installed in K-12 programs we have been wondering how they are to measured or recorded, beyond the subjective checklists of teachers. Now I’m wondering if “validators” are going to be yet another supplementary school job added to the growing list of other staff in our schools as competencies keep being added to change minds of children?

     

    [Posted on Invisible Serfs Collar 20161118]

    Category Absurdities, Uncategorized | Tags: | No Comments

  4. G&M editorial – “class struggle”

    November 17, 2016 by Tunya

    Does A Leopard Change Its Spots?

    At the time in our lives when Oxford Dictionary is defining “post-truth” as the international word of the year, those of us who do care about truth owe it to our values and the validity of “truth” itself to challenge post-truth narratives. I found this Globe & Mail editorial seriously stretching believability.

    Why, for example, say that this was a “long-drawn-out conflict” that started in 2001? In the very next sentence it is stated that “normal” is a “series of skirmishes”. Yes, normal is just that. It has been well chronicled by historian, Thomas Fleming ,in his book Worlds Apart: BC Schools, Politics and Labour Relations Before and After 1972. These disruptive skirmishes have been going on for over 4 decades!

    And why does the editorial make it sound like the government started this “bitter class struggle”? On page 76 of Fleming’s book we read: “As the federation’s militancy intensified in the 1970s, its willingness to confront the provincial government increased. Election of the ‘radical Marxist’ Jim MacFarlan, to use Johnson’s description, as federation president between 1973 and 1975 brought a new class-consciousness to the BCTF’s executive office . . . MacFarlan and his supporters believed schools should be used as instruments of social change . . . “ Just who is provoking whom? Fleming describes in his short little book how the BCTF has engaged in battles with whichever political party was in charge, regardless of political stripe, be it Social Credit, NDP or Liberal.

    It is time for us to re-read this terse history of our incessant school wars. Sure, there may be a lull while Supreme Court instructions are being worked out. But, does a leopard change its spots? The book, Worlds Apart, is in its second edition and available from info@deepcovebooks.ca.

    G&M editorial, Nov 15, Bad faith, bad form, in BC school politics — http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editorials/bad-faith-bad-form-in-bc-school-politics/article32865951/comments/

    Category Absurdities, Opinions in media, Uncategorized | Tags: | No Comments

  5. Reading Wars & US Election

    November 13, 2016 by Tunya

    Watch English Classes As A Possible Battleground

    Wente notes that one Trump voter says that immigrants should pay back taxes and learn English. Well, that is definitely an important point — the English part.

    However much we may agree, we should also become aware that some of the most insidious undermining of a population could happen via the teaching of reading and literacy. Look up “Reading Wars” and you’ll get some inkling of the battles and polarized divisions. The entire political continuum has been involved — from right-wing to left-wing — from kindergarten to adult education.

    Both the methods used plus the reading materials have been blamed for producing socialists or capitalists. This scuffling has gone on for over a half century. Not always evident to the general public, it’s hard to know the current status. Many people in the field of education will tell you there is no longer a problem and that a mix of tools are being used to good effect. That may be true, however, we still remain alarmed at the high illiteracy figures that abound, especially within prison populations.

    While English for all is a good policy we should be aware that problems might arise due to the politics of reading. A recent report to the World Bank, which is promoting world literacy. has this caution: “The reading ‘wars’ are alive and well in many low-income countries, often miring ministries of education and teaching centers in seemingly endless debates between the ‘whole-language’ and ‘phonics-based’ approaches.” Being aware of pitfalls should help make the language teaching more true to the results intended and English should not become yet another divisive issue in America.

    [Sent to Globe & Mail, Margaret Wente column “Trump voters deserve respect.” Sun Nov 13, 2016]

     

    Category Opinions in media, Uncategorized | Tags: | No Comments

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