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  1. Frustrated ! Education Behemoth unchecked

    December 2, 2014 by Tunya

    A new reader comes to the blog — Invisible Serfs Collar http://www.invisibleserfscollar.com/structuring-minds-and-hearts-to-quietly-gain-power-to-act-directly-on-the-individual-citizen/and is dismayed by the difficult reading. My reply below. She says:  

    "I have never been angrier at someone attempting to write about such an important subject. I will blame you for every child subjected to Common Core and destroyed. If you wrote better, more people would understand what is really happening."

    So Frustrated!

    I see what’s happening.  A client has been directed to the blog for some help on the topic — lurking dangers in 21st Century education, or something like that — whatever. 

    The blog posts may be frustrating because they are part of a long conversation that has been going on for a number of years.  And, some familiarity with the book — Credentialed to Destroy: How and Why Education Became a Weapon — is a plus.

    The client so anxiously and enthusiastically wants to embrace the knowledge.  But, it takes a while to get the substance and significance of the message.

    Granted the writing is nuanced, to put it mildly.  An obsession with all the complexities of a seeming conspiracy and the implications for mankind does not make for easy research.    What is being tracked is a movement that is slick and stealthy — a lot of coded language, backroom planning, coercion, and haste.

     For example, see the title of this book often referred to by Robin — Guided Evolution of Society, Banathy, 2000.  Doesn’t that sound like deliberate manipulation of man’s journey?  Robin goes so far into her probing that she does not just stay on top of current developments. She actually checks the references, credentials and favorite heroes of some of the current leaders who both write and provide “training” workshops in transforming communities and schools.

    For example, one of the scariest “heroes” of some of these leaders is A N Leontiev who wrote texts in the 30s in Russia on the steps to take in transitioning to “socialist, communist society”.  Imagine my alarm when someone in my neck of the woods (Vancouver, Canada) is starting up a service to bring forth community round tables for consensus-building and whose references include academics who participate in studies of Leontiev!

    Yes, it’s frustrating to see no blueprints arising from Robin’s writings.  But through following her revelations I was able to twig on to this “community organizing” coming to my neighborhood!  Will be watching.

    There is much pent-up demand out there for clear and straightforward analysis and especially, for guidance as to WHAT TO DO. 

    JoeJoe:  If you are into school reform, think of the 100s of books along this vein — What’s Wrong With Schools And What To Do About It.  Have any of these done any good?  The main thing they do is cause the system to close ranks even tighter against the reformers and parents.

    Robin unearths so much darkness that it is with some dread, no doubt, that she proceeds.  What is so extraordinarily astonishing is that she still persists in digging away, despite the nasty stuff uncovered.  This is what she says: I try to bring sunlight to the issues.  It’s the best disinfectant I can think of.

    I know it’s frustrating not to see one killer cudgel that will slay the common core monster.  But, it’s disintegrating even now in large part due to terminal internal faults and critiques such as Robin’s.

    Perhaps the best introduction to this conversation is to read all the Reviews in Amazon.com on the book.  I agree:  More clarity is desirable and some have complained about the style but not the content.  If a new, updated issue were to be published with a comprehensive index, I would gladly buy another copy.

    JoeJoe: Please give it a try.  We need more people with eyes-opened-wide!

     

    Category Book Reviews, Education Reform, Parent Tribal Memory | Tags: | No Comments

  2. Education system neuters reforms

    November 16, 2014 by Tunya

    [ Yet another effort is made to teach READING to students for success in school.  The saying goes:  Learn to Read by end of Grade Three — then Read to Learn from Grade Four onward. It is a lamentable frustration to parents that this is not a priority for schools in general.,  This post to Society for Quality Education describes the effort and below is my comment.  http://www.societyforqualityeducation.org/index.php/blog/read/reading-intervention-model ]

    BEWARE:  Education System Swallows Reforms

    This essay is NOT to diminish or dampen enthusiasm for this Reading Intervention initiative in Wisconsin.  Good intentions, good people, good funding, however, do not necessarily result in enduring results over the long haul. 

    The Reading Wars have been around a long time.  So has the mortifying knowledge about the Matthew Effect — illiteracy at an early age has a downward spiraling effect on students whose failures compound toward unfulfilled lives and even criminal records. 

    The Reading Wars are political, not pedagogic, and some time in the future — despite tons of books and articles on the topic — the agenda issues will be revealed.  So far there is no definitive answer as to why this feud continues to spoil good education practice.  This RTI (Response to intervention) research project is favoring phonics as the preferred approach.

    As far as the school to prison pipeline this is also addressed by this project whose funding agency stresses the loss to productivity of illiterate citizens.

    Why do I show concern for this project?  Mainly because it is yet another research project — added to the tons of other previous research efforts — that stands to be neutered or absorbed by a performance-averse education system — a system which cares more for its own survival than what’s good for the children.

    I am hoping that written into the plan— in black and white in a prominent place — are the expectations for this program’s survival and succession once the professional consultants leave.  Thanks for the link http://rti.dpi.wi.gov/ but I see no prospects for long-term commitment.

    By way of cautionary tale, I add this story from the book, “Getting Schooled” by Garret Keizer — {quotes and paraphrasing]  *** The author’s wife, a highly trained special needs teacher, was involved in an enthusiastically supported, well-funded, project to build special facilities for treatment, classes, parent programs, service agencies, and offices for specialized personnel. . . . a ‘one-stop shopping for parents in need of broad-spectrum services, a cafeteria, activity rooms, cushioned playground’ . . . volunteers worked around the clock, community involved . . . ‘reporters came to snap the pictures . . . ‘A new day dawned.  It would be a short one.  You can build a school from the ground up, but the directing destiny will always move from the top down.  You can say ‘the kids come first’ till the cows come home, but in practice the kids come fourth behind the administrators, parents and teachers — or fifth, in a dairy economy, behind the cows. Within the space of about three years a new superintendent relocated his office to the building. The social service agencies vanished . . . at least one treatment room was rededicated as a space for obsolete computer equipment . . . ‘the spacious ‘gross motor room’ was commandeered for district-wide principals’ meetings . . . ‘ [few remembered the original project] ***

    Best wishes and Good Luck with your wonderful research study which promises so much good!

     

     

    Category Book Reviews, Education Reform, Obstacles | Tags: | No Comments

  3. TIME magazine helps expose education issues

    October 26, 2014 by Tunya

    TIME Article May Be The Trigger To Break The EDUCATION LOGJAM !

    We are just getting a little sniff of the STORM coming up.  The Nov 3 issue of TIME has not hit the stands yet. But, already the massive and powerful teacher unions in the US are starting petitions and boycotts against the magazine because of its upcoming cover story — Rotten Apples – It’s Nearly Impossible to Fire A Bad Teacher.

    Teacher unions in Canada are also getting nervous — and social media is abuzz on the topic. 

    I would suggest that long suffering parents and others frustrated by the public education establishment and its many abuses start cluing in to some of the controversies.  This may just be the best gift the public will ever have to shatter the myths and defenses of a system grown sour and harmful to the life chances of so many young students.

    Here are some of the SYSTEM’s excuses and countermeasures:

    – Due process is necessary to protect teachers.

    – Poverty, race, non-English speaking minorities are the reason for poor results.

    – Underfunding is the problem.

    – Weak-kneed principals are the problem:  a bad teacher can be fired easily.

    – Drop your subscription to TIME; refuse TIME in your library; sign the petition. [Kill the messenger!]

    Here is the opportunity for parents and others to ASK QUESTIONS:

    – How have teacher unions grown to be so powerful and obstreperous?

    – How have governments failed and allowed wholesale abuses to proliferate?

    – Why are parents reduced to fund-raising for schools instead of insisting on accountability?

    – How come curriculum is dumbed-down with social promotions and retreat from the basics with no commitment to even ensure learning to read is a priority?

    – How come “social justice” and collaborative competency and other social-emotional efforts are replacing the 3Rs?  Are the public schools really radicalizing students to feel so oppressed that they need to go out and “change the world”?

    – Why is the school system incapable of change?

    http://time.com/3533556/the-war-on-teacher-tenure/?pcd=hp-magmod    Is one in four a rotten apple?

    http://action.aft.org/c/44/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=9270   Apology demanded by teacher union because teachers are blamed for problems in schools.

    Here is a challenge:  Use these three terms in a meaningful sentence relating to this school issue: Vergara, Berliner, Scott Walker. 

    Category Education Reform, Malpractice, Opinions in media, Parent Tribal Memory | Tags: | No Comments

  4. Will parents be allowed to Volunteer in schools?

    September 24, 2014 by Tunya

    [With the BC teacher strike finally over, 5 weeks of lost school, and 3 months of considerable debate — mid June to Sept 22, ’14, parents have become much more informed about the issues.  The feeling is that they will be more eager to be involved and become an actual “Third Force” along side the teacher union and government in decision-making, consultations, etc.  But, the question arises — will “the system” and the union allow this?  Below is a story from my days as a young parent.]

    Parent Volunteers Resent “SCAB” Label

    That was the front page headline that screamed across the page of our local newspaper, the North Shore News, Jan 5, 1983.

    I was a parent of a high school student.  Parents had been active volunteers in the school for years.

    However, since teacher aides were laid off, the volunteer services of parents were to cease as well.  The story by Bill Bell continues:

    *  “Union intimidation” is keeping parents from volunteering their services in West Vancouver’s schools, claim representatives of the Hillside Parents Group.  Co-chairpersons Tunya Audain and Suzanne Latta have told the school board that since the teaching aides were laid off last September, parents have not been allowed to volunteer in areas where they were normally welcomed . . .

    *  Audain later told the News that her group had been sent a letter from the West Vancouver Municipal Employees Association which she said gave her a very quick “political lesson” in how “rough” unions can be. Audain pointed out that the parents did not want to replace the teaching aides but only wanted to continue in the volunteer positions held before the aides were laid off. She told the News she resented the parents being labeled “scabs” for doing volunteer tasks.

    *  “Our first concern is the students, the union is way down the list,” Latta said.

    *  Newly elected school board chairman, Norm Alban, refused to comment on the situation, fearing that the confrontation could escalate.

    Furthermore, we as a parents group deplored that school hallways had litter on the floors.  We suggested that students should pick up after themselves, but again we were chastised that this would interfere with the work of janitors.

    The usual excuse by the principal was “My hands are tied.”  How many times have we heard that?

    Category Education Reform, Obstacles, Parent Tribal Memory | Tags: | No Comments

  5. Some polls can lead to totalitarianism

    September 22, 2014 by Tunya

    [During our recent teacher strike the newspaper, Victoria Times Colonist, staged a demonstration about the shaky credibility of online polling. Their “poll” even warned:”This is not a scientific poll.”  After the results were in the author of the joke concluded that “special-interest groups [can] hijack the poll and claim the results as valid." Please read the whole story and comments.  http://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/blogs/digital-access-1.327512/online-polls-about-teachers-how-to-be-taken-seriously-by-the-wrong-people-1.1349043 Below is my comment on another poll, this one "bought" by a special interest group which produced the desired results.]
     
    Polls Can Easily Become A Tool Of Totalitarianism
     
    (by Tunya Audain 100425, comment to blog, The Report Card, by Janet Steffenhagen, Vancouver Sun Education Reporter on story: “Most British Columbians want more public- school funding: poll” 100423 )
     
    BC is experiencing a deluge of organized attacks and destabilization maneuvers to force more funding for government schools.
    Even though throughout the rest of the world the same constraints on public spending are being felt, and school spending is seriously being cut back, BC seems to be experiencing more than its share of grief from the lobbies which benefit from the education tax dollar.
     
    Thus, we see the call for more funding for public service workers – teachers — in our schools, rather than more efficient spending of money. That independent schools do “more with less” is a thorn in the side of the public government schools.
     
    On another blog, one in Ontario (School for Thought), we were discussing tools of totalitarianism and how the media was used to ensnare citizens to totalitarian thinking. The article started out with Hitler having said “Your child belongs to us already”’ and then we discussed how a totalitarian state used propaganda techniques to brainwash.
     
    I contributed a classic case of how polls can be used to contribute to totalitarianism and I provided the link to the Vancouver Sun story about the Angus Reid poll: “Most British Columbians want more public-school funding: poll”.
     
    This poll was commissioned by a group whose aim is in the name: BC Society for Public Education. Therefore, you know that they lobby for more public education and, of course, for less competition from independent schools. And that is what the poll delivered.
     
    Briefly, there were three questions: 1) Should the government do more to support public education; 2) to increase funding for public education, and 3) to continue funding private schools? The scores were 81% YES 79% YES and 64% NO. What an outstanding result! It garnered considerable mileage in the press and meetings. The poll achieved what the client wanted.
     
    The newspaper, however, through its blogging ability, received over 100 comments and, unfortunately (for the lobby), some serious questions were raised:
    1. Were the questions loaded? Or leading?
    2. Isn’t Angus Reid polling rather questionable considering they are left-wing and support massive social spending? Don’t they use questionable polling techniques, that is, online polling?
    3. Who is behind this poll and who pays?
     
    The answers:

    1. See the pdf for the questions http://www.scribd.com/full/30311572?access_key=key-u1vfkvolw0eiygqp0qj
     
    Note how the preamble leads to a “correct” answer. How it “primes the pump”, so to speak, for the waterworks to follow. The questions were well “crafted”, manufactured.
    1. The online polling is questionable. The “random selection” was done from the Angus Reid Forum, a self-volunteered array of citizens who get points for surveys taken, and qualify for monthly awards of $1000, $100, or other perks. The left-wing swing of the principal of the company is well noted in his writings.
    2. The group commissioning the poll has been in place since 2005 and with Board members long associated with “progressive” activism, including Patti Bacchus, current chair of the VSB.
     
    (Wouldn’t they just love to deflect an accounting probe away from the VSB?) Two current BCSPE Board members, Helesia Luke and Catherine Evans, run a communications, public relations, guerilla marketing company. Their literature includes these statements: “How you ask questions is important – language matters”, and “Asking questions influences groups in some way.” Funding for BCSPE and expensive polls – who know?
     
    What if, what if the poll did have more credibility? That is, what if a disinterested group (one without an agenda or self-interest) commissioned a poll on these issues? Suppose someone, just for an academic exercise, repeated such a survey, but with a different slant to the questions and preamble, could they have achieved a result of 81% NO, 79 % NO to more support or funding for public education, and 64% YES for continued funding for private schools?
     
    The headlines would scream: “8 out of 10 British Columbians want government to stop supporting and funding public education: poll”. “2 out of 3 want more funding for private schools: poll”.
    Wishful thinking? SURPRISE. The Angus Reid Chief Research Officer, Andrew Grenville, shows how you can get an exact opposite result just by the way the question is framed.  
    Enjoy this lovely story. Why The Way You Ask a Question Can Determine The Answer.
     
    So, is this education underfunding crisis in BC a magnificent example of engineering disinformation and propaganda by ideological stakeholders? Isn't that how agent provocateurs work?
     
    [Remember:  This comment was made 4 1/2 years ago.]

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Category Education Reform, Obstacles, Parent Tribal Memory | Tags: | No Comments

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