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November, 2016

  1. 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

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. Stop Discredited Reading Method

    November 5, 2016 by Tunya

    Damning Proof Of Child School Abuse

    My thoughts on these TWO “smoking guns” (two copied sheets sent by email to ECC readers by Deb with the subject being — Reading homework first grade early October).

    1 These sheets shared by a Gr 1 child’s mother show that Whole-Language is currently being used as a primary reading method decades after serious discrediting of the “psycholinguistic guessing game”.

    2 I closely read the instructions. I felt both for the mother and child trying to faithfully follow the instructions. I cringed and soon felt great sympathy for the young parent who was likely feeling that she was inflicting pure sequential, sustained and systematic torture on the child.

    3 Thankfully, the parent passed on her concern to someone like Deb who can help raise the alarm. There must be dozens of ways to broadcast our dismay about this inappropriate method of teaching reading and hopefully some formal means can be activated to stop this.

    4 I add my voice to the previous reader who expresses disappointment — “We have made no progress”.

    5 Hopefully dozens more people can add their names to exposing this misconduct that is allowed to continue to this day.

    [Thank you Deb for bringing this forward!]

    PS:  I can send the 2 sheets as PDFs via email but don't know how to make them into links.

     

    Category Malpractice, Obstacles, Uncategorized | Tags: | No Comments

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