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‘Parent Tribal Memory’ Category

  1. Fascism — Takes One To Know One

    February 17, 2014 by Tunya

    Takes One To Know One

    While New Age education (Common Core, Personalized Learning, 21st Century Skills, etc) is plainly being forced into place — in many places internationally and in tandem — it may not actually become embedded and irreversible as intended. 

    Way too many people are starting to wake up and challenge not only the premeditated results of this project, but also the means.  Just looking at the methods tells you something questionable is being sneaked in.  When Sandra Stotsky, an original member of CC Validation Committee, calls the process “Rather Shady”— that says a lot.  http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/01/14/Expert-Dr-Sandra-Stotsky-On-Common-Core-We-Are-A-Very-Naive-People    70+ comments

    A professor at Hillsdale College, Terrance Moore, says that teachers presenting common core scripts are “‘instructed’ to teach that “all right wing extremist groups are fascist”.  Here is a video of Prof Moore http://dailycaller.com/2014/01/18/teachers-instructed-to-teach-all-right-wing-extremist-groups-are-fascist-video/      660+ comments

    And note that he explains three different kinds of “progressives” in education.  His recent book, The Story-Killers: A Common-Sense Case Against the Common Core, I’m glad to note, is recorded by Amazon.com as being purchased alongside “Credentialed to Destroy”. 

    So, if “Fascism” is not to be taught as part of history, it will still be part of the vocabulary if CC pushers are calling their opponents “fascist”.  Won’t curious students still want to look up commonly used words?  And won't young people want to check, at least with their parents and grandparents, if name-calling is not part of these "old-fashioned" sayings:  "The pot calling the kettle black", or "It takes one to know one" ?

     

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

  2. Education Oppression — 101

    February 16, 2014 by Tunya

    When an oppressed people witness a call-to-arms, yet are held back, an outsider from M*A*R*S will ask:

    W*h*y don’t these people rebel?  They are not hungry so aren’t storming the warehouses.  They aren’t slaves and escaping to freedom.  They aren’t without voice as there is an abundance of media to help their cause. 

    Here is a man hollering for school choice, the crowd is yelling “NOW”, but nothing is happening.  W*H*A*T IS THE PROBLEM?

    To help this M*A*R*T*I*A*N understand, we can list 100 obstacles.  Here is a start to name “NAMES” and PERCEPTIONS

    1          POLITICAL CORRECTNESS               Self-censorship happens because years of conditioning and ridicule prevent one from calling a spade a spade — speaking to TRUTH is blunted by expectations of what “politeness” demands.  

    2          FEAR               Actual or perceived HARM limits natural responses to threats.  Speaking out invites possible injury to students held captive, to advocates who may be shunned, to reporters who

    UN

    Dewey

    nanny state growth

    BOOKS

     

     

     

     

     

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

  3. Emancipatory Math — Who Needs It?

    February 15, 2014 by Tunya

    While studying Math issues, I found myself overwhelmed by how much of school curriculums are seen "emancipatory".  I found reference to schools needing to be "emancipatory". 

    Where is this coming from.  Is the customer asking to be emancipated?  I remember the big discussions and concerns we had when 8 boys from a small village in Italy wrote the little book, LETTER TO A TEACHER.  They said that in fact this was NOT a letter to a teacher but to parents.  They wanted parents to arise and demand good education for them and other children.  

    Now, these are "customers", asking to be emancipated — freed from ignorance.

    But this wave of emancipatory educators seem to be self-appointed to free the world.

    The Internet produces much such references, and I hope to distill some of this new :transformation" we are to be " grateful" for.

    Perents in particular DO NEED to become aware of these self-appointed heros, utopians, totalitarians, whatever that are imposing untested experiments on our school children who are really often captive audiences.

    I particularly am keen on reading this article — The End of the Fairy Tale of the Customer as King 

    Aboriginal Math – What is That?

    I need to find what this is all about, but Paige MacPherson, a journalist with Sun News TV mentions this as a program in BC's new curriculum.  

    This video is worth watching — POLITICS IN THE CLASSROOM — and has a short clip at the end about the Aboriginal Math program.  But, the whole show is with Michael Coren on the topic of public teachers and their political behavior.  One part is about a visit Prime Minister  Harper made to Vancouver Island in January and when a teacher took her class to protest where one student says something like this:  "I am here because I heard in history class that the Prime Minister is bad for the environment."  Coren thinks these are all inappropriate behaviors for public teachers.

    http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/video/3029383846001

     

     

     

     

     

     

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

  4. math the new gold mine — to be milked !

    February 14, 2014 by Tunya

    Mathematics is becoming a battlefield  Parents, of course, want it as part of the THREE Rs.  Only when international PISA scores were announced, and slides in achievment were noted, did people start looking at the issues.  One of the issues is that employers seem to be more eager for graduates from the STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathermatics)  specialities.  

    But, we are finding out that things have been happening in MATH quiet beyond our wildest imaginations.  No wonder parents aren't able to help their children with Math homework.  Also, teachers are saying they don't want kids taking Math homework home.  Why?

    A lot has to do with "transformations" happening — inquiry and discovery are two new methods.

    So, if you want some flavor of how “discovery” or New Age math will be like, please watch this short 4 minute video of an Arkansas parent opposing the Common Core and demonstrating how a simple “rigorous” math question is turned into a 108 step “discovery”, exploration and problem-solving personal experience ! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZEGijN_8R0#t=23

    BUT, Math is also becoming a ripe field to mine, or "milk" for political ends, for social justice, for changing the world!

    I order this book and will report later:  Opening the Cage – Critique and Politics of Mathematics Education, Skovsmose & Greer (Eds), Sense Pub, 2012.

    Opening the cage addresses mathematics education as a complex socio-political phenomenon, exploring the vast terrain that spans critique and politics. Opening the cage includes contributions from educators writing critically about mathematics education in diverse contexts. They demonstrate that mathematics education is politics, they investigate borderland positions, they address the nexus of mathematics, education, and power, and they explore educational possibilities. Mathematics education is not a free enterprise. It is carried on behind bars created by economic, political, and social demands. This cage might not be as magnificent as that in Tagore's fable. But it is strong. Opening the cage is a critical and political challenge, and we may be surprised to see what emerges.

     

     

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

  5. Bringing The Topic Of “ESA” To Canada

    February 13, 2014 by Tunya

    Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) is an important concept that is gaining traction in the United States.  Jay P Greene's blog has a number of posts on the topic and is within the broader CHOICE category.

    http://jaypgreene.com/2014/02/13/mississippi-senate-and-house-send-pass-esa-bills/

    I just posted to this blog the following:

    Bringing The Topic Of ESAs To Canada

    We’ve had a running conflict between teacher union and government in our province of British Columbia, Canada, for over 40 years. The latest “event” is the judgment handed down by Supreme Court that found the government to be acting in “bad faith” in bargaining, provoking a strike, and was handed a $2Million fine.  It’s more complex, but that’s the general picture.  Of course, there’s an Appeal.  (Search words — BCTF government judgment — will bring in some stories if you’re interested.)

    Today I submitted the following letter-to-the-editor so that we might hopefully vault over these problems and consider alternatives, including ESAs.

    “The patience of parents and public alike has been sorely tested by the endless conflicts between the teachers’ union and the government.

    What we fail to remember is that these struggles have been going on for over 40 years, not the 12-year period recently highlighted by the recent BC Supreme Court decision (BCTF vs BC, 2014).  Furthermore, this happens regardless of the political stripe of the government of the day — be it Social Credit, NDP or Liberal.

    This is a power struggle that may never be sorted out. Legal actions bankrupt resources. Students are shortchanged.  And parents, who are ultimately responsible for their children’s education, are left unsure, frustrated and unable to pursue their children’s best interests.

    Much of the problem rests with the service model adopted to ensure an educated public.  The mistake is to consider education as a public utility that only a government monopoly can provide.  The predictable happens — special interests vie for control and interfere with the intended mission.

    However, if the common good of appropriately educated students is to be served, why not seek alternative models to deliver the desired outcomes?

    Even now, economists are warning that many school graduates are not meeting career or college expectations. But so much is known about what works in education and much more can be achieved with greater innovation, flexibility and stability. 

    Why not release the public education dollar and have it follow the student?  Charter schools are working elsewhere.  Education Savings Accounts are being used in some US states for parents to shop and mix-and-match education choices for their kids. In particular, special needs and talents are better served in this manner. 

    This current impasse provides a great opportunity to try different ways to help our kids and grandkids get the education they need for the 21st Century. “

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

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