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‘Malpractice’ Category

  1. inquiry into school board “corruption” ?

    May 5, 2016 by Tunya

    Inquiry At The Highest Level Called For

    It’s not good enough for the Ministry of Education to probe into York School District’s selection and hiring process. The matter as exposed — a superintendent of public schools obtaining an extraordinary hiring package — should be at the level of government itself. Notably, what should be examined is whether the school board system is appropriate for current needs and whether recurring problems in other boards as well are signaling a system which has outgrown its usefulness. The economic wastage and susceptibility to corruption keep popping up in other jurisdictions as well.

    Since the education of the young is the mission of the enterprise this should be the primary test against which these matters should be judged. Is there harm to children enrolled in this style of education delivery?

    Charles Pascal, a professor in the education faculty, University of Toronto and a former deputy minister, said the troubles in York “are a connection to the larger problem of governance of school boards”.

    “there is something unusual going on at that board,” he said in response to the Star stories. Maybe they are not that unusual, but par for the course. We should be worried.

    We read about a “culture of fear”, that some senior staff are leaving and that fear of retribution chills public discourse in York district. It should be examined if these kinds of behaviors taint other public education systems.

    I have one further point to add, not as yet mentioned (I think) and that is respect for the parent role in this school district. I was very disturbed that during the last primary teachers’ strike report cards were not completed at year-end. These progress reports are part of the “contract” between parents and government schools and in the School Act. How are parents to know if they’ve made a proper decision to enrol their child in a particular school?

    A news story at the time reported: “The report card is important to parents and students — it reflects student achievement during the year. The marks, learning skills and comments provide valuable information about student progress,” director of education J. Philip Parappally said.” As a senior executive of the board he should have been involved in an effort to have these declared as essential services by the Labor Relations Board. Was “attendance” still being taken by the teachers during this strike period? These are serious concerns for parents and a superintendent needs to back up parents in their role in education.

    A full inquiry at the highest level of the school board system — with York Region District School Board being Exhibit #1— is called for.

     

     [to SQE 05 May http://www.societyforqualityeducation.org/index.php/blog/read/the-duke-of-york ]

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  2. bystanders no more — Education reformers

    May 2, 2016 by Tunya

    We Need A Movement — Bystanders No More In Education’s Downfall

    As we join others in this Education Consumers Clearinghouse blog in showing our dismay about education systems’ dysfunctions we must also recognize that we stand judged. I’m as guilty as anyone for inaction, helplessness, sense of defeat and a strong desire to retreat entirely from the fray.

    Robin, who runs the blog — Invisible Serfs Collar — from which we have been reading, says her aim is to inform, not advise. By directing “sunlight” on these looming and menacing “transformations” in education she feels that that “is the best disinfectant I can think of”. After years of posting these alarms the latest is about psychological reshifting from natural biological imperatives toward anticipatory (preemptive) behaviors acquired through schooling practices such as group (collective) work and collaboration — all while the race continues toward greater use of data-gathering, robotics and artificial intelligence in “education” of the young (more like training).

    William feels duty-bound to bring forth warnings such as Robin’s to our attention — “our ‘educational leaders’ do not want children to learn how to read, lest they select texts that are not designed to create the new society.”

    Martin and Will bemoan the fact that schools are refusing to teach reading — comments seeming more like “shrugs”, “that’s the way it is”, “what can be done about it, anyway?” — rather than any call to action.

    Deborah, ever active as columnist and local politician, writes about rescuing her son from schooling disaster and informs us that her district has just added a third “behavior skills” containment center — my guess, more for avoiding embarrassing dropout figures than real help.

    My own response to this conversation — also helplessness and utter dismay that the dangers foreseen and forecast are not being taken seriously or counteracted. BUT, I can add two more sad, related bits of bad news:

    – Homeschooling is being used in Indiana as a punishment and way to push-out difficult students to avoid dropouts and “expelled” figures and perversely, to boost test scores by removing poor performers. The homeschooled students are then counted as “transfers” and not losses or a black mark to the system. — http://www.educationviews.org/districts-homeschooling-punish-students/

    – There is to be in the next few years a massive world campaign to promote teaching of reading to children in developing countries. The work has been done — needs-assessment tools have been field-tested — protocols for community involvement have been mapped out, etc. What remains is for the Ministries of Education of the developing nations to then adopt the methods for implementing the reading programs. BUT, the literature involved already foresees a problem — “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.” (pg 11 of 1st edition , 2009, EGRA Early Grade Reading Assessment)

    My Question: Do we continue to agonize and bringing forth our outrages? Or, is there more that can be done? It’s not really bystander apathy that is displayed here but — even as people capable in our own little worlds — nonetheless in the world of education we are overwhelmed by a juggernaut that enfeebles us. Any good news? Any ideas for action?

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  3. child abuse via schools — many angles

    April 4, 2016 by Tunya

     

    “Child Abuse” And Schooling Is An Urgent Matter

    When I was in Teachers College (Ottawa), ’70-’71, practically the first thing we were cautioned about was not to exploit the students. This was equivalent to the dictum for doctors to “At least do no harm”.

    Though I never taught in a classroom I have ever since been struck by the humbling experience it is to be a teacher.

    Our current division in approaches to teaching arises mainly from the monopoly nature and compulsory attendance feature of current public schools. People generally act as if there should be one-best-way and it’s THEIR way or the Highway!

    Unfortunately, the biggest split is between those who favor pedagogically supported methods and those who have an ideological worldview. The “basics” or teacher-centered approach does differ significantly from the child-centered approach, which in the literature is sometimes dubbed as working for “emancipatory social change.”

    At this moment (as I have to run over asap and lengthen trousers for growing grand teens) I will provide only quotes on this topic (BTW, I’m on the teacher-centered side) from “The Conspiracy of Ignorance”, Gross, 1999”. The quotes are about Reading, which along with Math, is a hotly contested education issue:

    Ken Goodman, a prominent leader in a new reading program in the 80s says:
    “Whole language classrooms liberate pupils to try new things, to invent spellings, to experiment with a new genre, to guess at meanings in their spellings, or to read and write imperfectly. In whole language classrooms risk-taking is not simply tolerated, it is celebrated.”

    William Honig, superintendent in California says:
    “Whole language swept the nation . . . it pushed out phonics and substituted the new system . . . It became the gospel in education colleges . . . many school districts . . . The results as shown by the NAEP reading results . . . were catastrophic. The whole language experiment was interesting, but as we found out, the theory is dead wrong.” (pg 78-79)

    Pedagogic research finds whole language wanting, yet to this day it persists across education systems in the Western world. Similar concerns are now being expressed concerning Math.

    Why does the education establishment favor and cling to discredited methods? How can this malpractice be allowed to continue? Is this not “child abuse” of the highest order ?

    [ posted Apr 04, ’16 to SQE http://www.societyforqualityeducation.org/index.php/blog/read/child-abuse — topic: Child Abuse? ]

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  4. Is it defensiveness that calls for censorship?

    April 2, 2016 by Tunya

    Unfortunate That The Distasteful Topic Of “Censorship” Emerges

    “Well, I’m surprised this idea of “child abuse” still gets by moderation. “ Stephen Hurley, Society for Quality Education, April 02, 2016

    Surely the author of this quote does not propose that my comment to this blog should have been denied?

    I had mentioned that “Stories abound concerning crying, frustrated students” who are confused about some current educational experimental practices. I said: “This abuse of children is so painful to watch.”

    In another comment on this blog I had shown how my 45 years in the parent involvement cause still drives my efforts. I reflected how many years back this was an important topic with many groups and agencies concerned but that regrettably this was no longer the case. Parents are more diminished than ever. I will copy some of the material I wrote in 1979 on the topic:

    EDUCATION ABUSE OF CHILREN

    Raised awareness helps us see that children’s interests must be protected wherever they are. The schools have their share of practices which hurt children and parents can be on the alert for these and intervene when needed:

    1 EXPERIMENTATION — . . . Anything new which has not been in your school before should have safeguards built in so that children are not used, either for half-baked amateurish effort or major shifts in educational practice without the public knowing . . . Two key documents on human experimentation apply to schools as they do elsewhere: Nuremberg Code and the Declaration of Helsinki . . . (I Don’t Want My Kid to be a Guinea Pig, Lipsitz, 1977)

    2 INCOMPETENT TEACHERS — “there are thousands of mentally ill, severely disturbed, and incompetent teachers in our schools who should not be teaching children”. . . ( Positive Mental Health for Teachers, Mackiel, 1979)

    3 HOMEWORK ABUSE — . . . There is abundant literature for teachers to know what are good and bad homework practices.

    4 “MILKING” THE EDUCATION DOLLAR — . . . without proper monitoring more and more of the educational dollar will be diverted . . .

    5 FAILURE TO TEACH FOR COMPETENCE — It is known that most children can be taught the basics of most school subjects . . . Educationally handicapping practices which fail to remediate and educate all children in the basics should not be tolerated.

    6 EXCLUDING PARENTS FROM EDUCATIONAL PLANNING — . . . Failure to work in partnership with the home handicaps the child’s educational potential.

    [The above is a very abbreviated shape of the original Tipsheet on Educational Abuse of Children in “Education Advisory”.]

    [[ posted on SQE 20160402 ]]

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  5. Public Education — one long experiment !

    April 2, 2016 by Tunya

    Why Is Schooling So Experimental — Still?


    No other field — medicine, engineering, pharmacy, accounting, etc. — plays with its customers as much as the education field. This should not be allowed as there are no safeguards against the damage being done. What is joyful and exciting for educators is still a “cat-&-mouse” game for students — students still get whacked in the end. Stories abound concerning crying, frustrated students and desperate parents seeking alternatives.


    The other professional fields mentioned do not have hosts of frustrated subjects who are denied best practices.


    The public money gathered for the purpose of education of the young should not be so poorly managed that discredited methods are still allowed to proliferate. And experimentation without human-subject protocols in place should be stopped altogether.


    One big problem is that the governors of this abysmal situation still hold that one-size-fits all and that we are still looking for one-best-system. Well, that stubborn belief (religion) is over. A “relinquishment” movement is building. Time to let go folks. Choices via the public education dollar are long overdue and people who oppose what they judge are inappropriate practices in our near-monopoly schools should have access to their portion of the dollar allocated to education to find alternatives.

    This abuse of children is so painful to watch.

    [ http://www.societyforqualityeducation.org/index.php/blog/read/math-for-lifeposted on SQE 20160402 —  Math For Life ]

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