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‘Opinions in media’ Category

  1. Brain-drain of young into social activism

    October 21, 2015 by Tunya

    Is Brain Drain Or Diversion Of Talented Youth Likely ?

    Reading the information on the Global Dignity Day site — which BTW is today, annually the third Wed of October — many thoughts come to mind. http://www.globaldignity.org/global-dignity-day/

    1) Of course, I’m for dignity and discussion of values, but where does it stop — the designation of school days as special, off-the-curriculum activity? Will there be competition from other idea-promoters for equal time — Grit, Empathy, Collaboration, Resilience, Growth Mindset, Character, etc. Days?

    2 I wonder and worry that so much money is being directed to values-teaching instead of being directed to gaining academic skills. Just what are the goals of the Global Shapers Community, an initiative of the World Economic Forum with partners like Coca-Cola, etc?

    3 Will the youth selected to be leaders in these “social entrepreneurship” projects be encouraged and enticed into the fields of social promotion? These are fields, which really don’t pay for themselves and are not really self-supporting or pay taxes. They rely totally on donations and contributions from agencies, NGOs, government funds and corporate funds.

    4 Will these young talented leaders become a steadily increasing brain-drain from fields which DO contribute to economic and political civic health of communities and families?

    5 From the evidence gathered by this one blog, Invisible Serfs Collar, it seems convincing that there are MANY similar projects world-wide with these same characteristics as noted above. It appears like such a glaring avoidance of the basics needed by so many, many young people in this world. Many psychologists will tell you that self-esteem is highly correlated with mastery of the basics in literacy and math. Why is there such a concerted effort to steer away from the basics by so many education establishments and their generous voluntary donors? This trend should be mapped and tracked in some central war room — and publically being called-out. Let people see the red pins on the wall map and see if they’re part of this agenda to homogenize youth to collective mentalities.

    [to Insivisble Serfs Collar]

     

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

  2. Using the English Language — Refugee Issue

    October 13, 2015 by Tunya

    Will It Be English For “The Conversation” About Refugees ?

    15 hours after the posting of this article by Wente — http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/the-refugee-tide-turns-in-germany/article26761039/comments/?ord=1 — the most popular comment by “Think_First” has garnered 201 approvals from readers 201 +, 17- for a score of 184, out of 373 comments so far: 1:45 PST).

    This is the key point “Think_First” makes — “ . . . mass, uncontrolled immigration can lead to widespread social problems and crime, even in countries like Germany and Canada. No, it is not xenophobic to have a conversation about it.”

    I agree. We need that conversation everywhere. Wente describes the demographics — "Only a small number of the newcomers are well-educated professionals. Many more are illiterate, traumatized, children, or old. The majority are young men, with few skills and nothing to do."

    Now the question arises — which language will “the conversation” engage? Since it’s reported that 2/3 of the European Union speaks English, will it be English in the ABE (Adult Basic Education) classes and SLL (Second Language Learning) for immigrant school children? English does appear to be the “lingua franca” of international business, science, technology and aviation and likely most Germans speak English.

    One can only hope that practical Germans will continue to use a phonetic approach to the teaching of English and consistently avoid other teaching styles. Since 2002 they have outlawed the Whole-Language method. W-L was tried in 80's but after disastrous results was declared bad practice.” (Unfortunately, North America has not similarly banned this method, accounting for considerable, persistent illiteracy.)

    I’ll be looking for reports about the language training issue in Germany and its refugee challenge. I’m sure the classes will be quick, effective and efficient. We can learn from them — not only in language teaching but how problem-solving proceeds from shared language.

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

  3. E D Hirsch “wave” of Ed Reform – II

    October 9, 2015 by Tunya

    Catching The WAVE Of Knowledge-based Education Reform — The GOOD NEWS (Part II)

    Links from “Knowledge Matters: Why is the Core Knowledge Curriculum Experiencing a Revival? Sept 21, 2015 by Paul W. Bennett:

    1 http://www.bbc.com/news/education-20041597 Cultural literacy: Michael Gove's school of hard facts By Fran Abrams, BBC Education & Family Section, 25 October 2012 [Hirsch effect on Gove, former UK Ed Sec]

    2 http://policyexchange.org.uk/publications/category/item/knowledge-and-the-curriculum-a-collection-of-essays-to-accompany-e-d-hirsch-s-lecture-at-policy-exchange Knowledge & the Curriculum: A Collection of essays to accompany E D Hirsch lecture at Policy Exchange, 17 Sept’15, 83pg

    3 http://www.amazon.com/The-Schools-We-Need-Dont/dp/0385495242 34 customer reviews. For over 50 years, American schools have operated under the assumption that challenging children academically is unnatural . . . teachers don’t need to know the subjects . . . All this is tragically wrong”. [The 1999 PB issue is worth the extra 2pg intro, reporting progress over last 3 yrs from the ’96 issue.]

    4 https://thewingtoheaven.wordpress.com/2015/09/19/certain-things-then-follow-from-that-notes-on-ed-hirschs-policy-exchange-lecture/ “Certain things then follow from that”: Notes on ED Hirsch’s Policy Exchange lecture [Another link here provides further links of reports from Hirsch talk https://arollerintheocean.wordpress.com/2015/09/23/e-d-hirsch-comes-to-england-collections-of-blogs/ including link to transcript AND voice recording of Hirsch.]

    5 https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/michael-gove-speaks-about-the-future-of-education-reform Michael Gove speaks about the future of education reform July 10, 2014

    6 egalitarian concept as noted in link #4 above, Daisy’s report. [Note: Hirsch, in his book (pg7) denies that his educational standpoint is either “traditional” or “progressive”. He says: “It is pragmatic.”]

    7 link to #5 above, relating to the state of Massachusetts having adopted the core knowledge curriculum, topping achievement scores and called the Massachusetts Miracle.

    8 http://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/Hirsch.pdf Reading Comprehension Requires Knowledge— of Words and the World Scientific Insights into the Fourth-Grade Slump and the Nation’s Stagnant Comprehension Scores, E D Hirsch, 2003, 14 pg

    9 link to #5 above relating to 1993 Education Reform Act

    10 http://www.city-journal.org/2013/eon1206ss.html The Redemption of E. D. Hirsch How my kids’ progressive school helped teach me the value of a content-rich curriculum, Dec’13, Sol Stern, 6pg [reading Hirsch showed how progressive fads “did more harm than good” . . . most devastating consequence of these doctrines was that they widened, rather than reduced, the gap in intellectual capital between middle-class children and those from disadvantaged families.”]

    11 http://marymyatt.com/blog/2015-09-19/the-hirsch-effect The Hirsch Effect, Mary Myatt report from the Hirsch lecture, Sept’15. [1 pg, 4 more links]

    [published in Educhatter https://educhatter.wordpress.com/2015/09/21/knowledge-matters-why-is-the-content-lite-curriculum-in-retreat/]

    educhatter

     

    Category Book Reviews, GOOD NEWS, Opinions in media, Uncategorized | Tags: | No Comments

  4. Malicious “group think” in education

    September 30, 2015 by Tunya

    Malicious Groupthink Explains 21 C Learning Fiascoes — Personalized Learning Plan Rollout

    For at least 5 years now we in Canada, as elsewhere in the English-speaking Free World, have seen “school turnaround gurus” traveling between points spreading 21st Century Learning Plans. This became Common Core in the US and variations on the theme — Personalized Learning in BC, Inspired Learning in Alberta, Achieving Excellence in Ontario.

    Two months before our BC Provincial Election (May 2013) an Education Ministry official, after describing the BC Ed Plan to a parent group, said: “Regardless which political party gets in, the plan goes ahead. It’s global transformation.” (Implication: It’s unstoppable!)

    This was rather shocking. In BC we have distinctly singular political parties — from Communist to Socialist to Liberal to Conservative to Libertarian to Less Work party, etc. — running in elections. None of these parties take their marching orders from anywhere but from the local BC electorate! Not from some global entity!

    Just where does this “global transformation” plan come from? We do know that the Alberta’s “tall poppy” excellent school achievement reputation was irksome to some and had to be cut down. This leveling-down (dumbing-down some would say) is now being accomplished.

    But in the UK the “constructivist” agenda driving 21st C Learning agenda — to construct and discover new knowledge and drop old knowledge — is being replaced by a revival of core knowledge curriculum. Thanks to the voices of a few outspoken educators and through books like E D Hirsch’s — The Schools We Need and why we don’t have them. See papers from a recent UK lecture — Knowledge and Curriculum http://policyexchange.org.uk/images/publications/knowledge%20and%20the%20curriculum.pdf

    Nonetheless, pell-mell, we in BC are proceeding with this “global transformation” — untested, imposed and without safeguards governing human experimentation or proper training of teachers. But, lo ! The Ministry of Ed IS appropriating 2 instructional days for PD on this new curriculum. 2,000 teachers will be selected to lead the PD. One must ask: Are parents to get $40 day to find alternate education or day care provision as they did when teachers went on strike last year ?

    I think the Groupthink Syndrome aptly applies to this massive effort being mounted internationally and gathering recruits — like some mass hysteria or religious crusade. I’m not the only one doing groupthink analysis on this juggernaut but I get my clues from this paper — Victims of Groupthink by Paul't Hart — http://www.ftms.edu.my/images/Document/MOD003554%20-%20Effective%20Team%20and%20Performance%20Management/Seminar%209-Janis%20-%20group%20think.pdf

    Some of the symptoms are:

    – illusion of invulnerability

    – belief in inherent morality of the group

    – direct pressure on dissenters

    – stereotype of out-groups

    – avoiding the influx of outside opinions

    – consensus-building, concurrence-seeking

    – driven by perceptions of opportunity

    – “the group”, not individuals will stand accountable for any problems

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

  5. Illiteracy Issue — again

    August 28, 2015 by Tunya

    Time To Re-open The Entire Illiteracy Issue — AGAIN

    For those of us who LOVE reading — for pleasure and for knowledge — these are trying times.

    Already, there is an URGENT call from homeschool families who have lost homes due to wildfires.  The call is for donations to help them reestablish their libraries, amongst other help needed.  These are people who depend VERY MUCH on reading for education of their children. http://app.response.hslda.org/e/es.aspx?s=775692352&e=368046&elq=53daec6ba9f74bcc9f4dabf8c1b35862

    Sorry, for going off tangent.  I mean to very briefly talk about the significance of Sam Blumenfeld’s long life, and contribution to the field of literacy, and the sadness about his passing.  http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/08/26/samuel-blumenfeld-waltham-phonics-teaching-advocate-was-conservative-writer/PtIcQDPJpk0f1Awm13StmO/story.html

    Being involved as a “consumer” (parent, citizen, taxpayer) of education for over 45 years, and wondering why “the system” DID NOT WANT the consumer closely involved, my awakening to this frustrating circumstance came from reading Sam’s writings.  He opened my eyes, mind and heart to the underground, the underbelly, of the public education system.  Some revelations:

    1. The public education systems (internationally) are political, with both power and ideology agendas
    2. Economics and the exploitation of the field by vested interests, publishers, professors, etc. is rampant.
    3. Literacy, or the ability to read is not about being functionally literate to make logical sense of the world — NO, literacy has become a tool for people to become CONDITIONALLY literate to be able to change the world to one of social justice and equity.
    4. Etc.

    Of all the reading I have done to try and find the one best source to help break “the code” of this imposed exploitation of the public  — the who, why, how — Blumenfeld’s books are the snappiest, most insightful.  If you can find “New Illiterates and how to keep your child from becoming one” — read it.  In 1973 he had broken “the code” of how “whole-word” got started as a new reading “movement”.  It was always meant to be for DEAF children who could not hear sounds.  But, politically it was adopted as a method for all children, and still plagues us to this day.

    PERHAPS the best starting point is to get his latest book, issued just a few months before his death — Crimes of the Educators: How Utopians Are Using Government Schools to Destroy America's Children. 

    Read the 30 plus reviews first and let’s read this together. 

    Maybe we can wrangle this beast down.  Why do we still talk about one in seven, or one in four, or whatever, of our children being “functionally illiterate”.

    That is unacceptable.  Maybe EXIT from “the system” is really the ONLY way to avoid this issue.  Hence, homeschoolers or Education Savings Accounts so parents can choose the schools they need..  Let’s talk!

     

    Category Book Reviews, Opinions in media, Parent Tribal Memory | Tags: | No Comments

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