The answer
to all education problems, ( including violence ) SMALL Smart
Stable Schools
The answer
to all education problems, ( including violence ) SMALL Smart
Stable Schools
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The Educational Reform Act of 2001:
The several states and territories are hereby entitled to reimbursement for the same proportion of the salaries and benefits of qualified classroom teachers for those professional engaged in basic instruction, the federal government will contribute that same share of these employment costs as the teachers’ students are eligible for the free school lunch program. The states and territories will be reimbursed based on approved plans and estimates of the numbers and costs with the U.S. Secretary of Education, who may approve definitions of basic instruction, classroom teachers, teacher qualifications, salary programs, and any incentive pay upon which the secretary may authorize quarterly advances and adjustments.
The states may include teachers from charter schools, schools being run by a contractor and non-public schools within an improved plan only in so far as these serve the eligible population.About $15,000 for a million teachers - some with a small amount some at 100 % = 15 billion - not much more than title I and within range - even if twice that - If the feds pay teachers resources are free for other critical needs. Then we can move toward a realistic salary - working conditions - qualifications - promotion and specialization system - professionals are the critical in education - then with this base things can really be improved.
The American Public and both parties say that education is their top priority but school reform has become so complex that no one understands what is going on - or is the story reported. Incremental is natural but has a PR problem when there is the complete lack of focus. The bills them-self are endless - there needs to be a clear focus - something beyond testing because tests do not create solutions only let us know what we already know - a lot of children are not up to grade level. The only meaningful answer is competition - charter schools if not vouchers - the charter provisions in the current bill are grants and information to state education agencies - or the fox gets the grants for the chickens or http://www.wiredbrain.com/public-policy.htm for a restructured with the feds taking a major responsibility for instruction. ( State and local build building, transportation, overhead and administration ) All this sound and fury will not do much - but then something is better than nothing.
http://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/ssact/title04/0423.htm Using language similar to that for social services in the SS Act.. From the sums appropriated ( or by entitlement as it used to be ) and the allotment under this subpart, subject to the conditions set forth in this section, the Secretary ( DOE ) shall from time to time pay to each State that has a plan developed in accordance with regulations an amount equal to 75 per centime of the total sum expended under the plan in meeting the costs of State, district, county, or other local basic educational instructional services. The federal government will pay 75 % of teachers salaries and benefits ( involved in direct instruction = about 2.5 million teachers @ $ 30,000 = 75 billion ) and left to the states and local school boards, all the other costs - administration, football, transportation, construction, utilities, then: We could become a modern civilized society with a world class school system, social justice, economic growth, and political democracy. There could be substantial tax relief on property taxes - standards set for teacher certification - much better salaries for some low paid teachers and salary grades for high performing teachers tied to the GS federal scales:http://www.seemyad.com/gov/salary.htm The big problems in American Public education are: There is no career stream for classroom teachers - pay is only based on seniority and there is not much difference if you stay in instruction from start to finish. Basic Education as a federal responsibility: The national interest and general welfare require a large federal role in public compulsory education. This was not as true in the last centuries but is clearly one of the most important if not the most important federal function. "A 2000 PricewaterhouseCoopers report found that intellectual assets now account for 78 percent of the total value of American S&P 500 companies."
Then there is a calculation of what the direct provision of these educational services cost. Then the application for expected expenditures for the next quarter of 75 % of the costs as a entitlement - with adjustments for over and under payments from the last payment. The states should report how much would be used for property tax relief - how much for salaries ( and if there would be a state wide pay scales with steps - grades like the GS system ). These costs should not include support, administration, transportation, athletics, construction, maintenance, bureaucracy, etc. Because these costs remain state and local responsibility and are too much a can of worms. The national estimated cost per student for instruction could be fairly clear at about $ 2,500 for elementary and $ 4,500 for secondary ( half the total cost ) x 50 million students ( 1 million x $ 1000 = 1 billion ) so 50 million x $ 3,500 = $ 175 Billion x 75 % = $ 132 billion. There has been a vast growth in administrative overhead from 15 % in the 1960's to 50 % today so increases in resources are absorbed by overhead. In the last decade there has been a vast underhanded growth in ESE ( special education ) from 5 % of population to 25 % and a jungle of paperwork without functional outcomes. The labeling of students make standards even harder - ESE students are not counted or counted differently - so if someone doesn't learn they are learning disabled and labeled - given more resources - and excluded from the testing of school outcomes. There has been for decades weak support for standards - support in general but backing off when the tire hits the road and students actually FLUNK and are held back! Standards means that teachers have to teach content - multiplication tables, spelling, parts of speech, geography, algebra - not always fun and often hard - and student have to do their homework.Teachers can be tied to the GS 4 to GS 12 depending on performance - and the DOD ( Military base schools ) teacher pay scales as a base with districts able to do add ons.
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We have 15,000 school boards and committees. They oversee 60,000 schools for 55 million students. About a fourth of students are in different schools or districts by the end of each year there has been a 25 % turnover. In some places it’s much higher, some lower. There is a general expectation of what students should learn - what kids from the 5th grade should be able to do - arithmetic multiplication tables, reading, and more vaguely geography, science, history, spelling. These standards have declined since 1947, so more than half do not know what they are expected to know or do. They are passed on to the next grade with the hope they can catch up.
The reality is that if a teacher gives bad grades for poor performance there is trouble. If they give good grades for little effort and poor performance there are no complaints or external pressure to get the performance up to standard. Everyone passes. By high schools more than half the students are behind, many below 6th grade levels of math and reading. Since they can’t read history, literature is rather a mute point. By the end of secondary education about 1/3 are gone having learning almost nothing at the cost of $50,000, about 1/3 have some skills, and about 1/3 are almost ready for post secondary education.
What it would take to made schools work is no mystery. The secret is that it would not be popular. School boards, superintendents, principles, teachers MUST be popular. As soon as anyone really try to enforce standards there are those who will complain. Someone will FAIL - get bad grades, will be held back ! There is no way that is popular. The student maybe a minority, maybe handicapped, failure is the teachers fault, it’s the systems fault, its prejudice, NEVER the lack of effort on the part of the student and the parents. Elected school boards can never enforce standards of dress, conduct, performance, on the part of unionized teachers who make up a critical electoral constituency, or parents which make up most of the rest of the voters. Local standards will never pass the popularity contest.
State and national politicians are less dependent on popularity of specific school teachers and parents. Voters will support the abstract idea of good schools, and employer groups are desperate with the poor quality of youth entering the labor market. So some states have tried to impose external standards. NOW if you empress external standards on a system with quality faults, you just drive everyone crazy. Maybe some schools can pass the buck when John fails by talking about external standards - but there will be a lot of bitching.
As everyone should know the only answer is open enrollment. If you fail go someplace else which accepts less. If you exceed standards you get rewards and more opportunities. Like the real world ? If you don’t get a year, or 50 % of a years progress for a year of school you are less effective than someone who can. Competition gets your attention. It can bring pressure to hold to standards - of attendance, dress, conduct, homework, behavior, learning - like the real world.
This topic is about TEACHING and LEARNING LINK to Global
Village School House Electric Ponies and the Net
Express: The Students are workers not
the raw material in the educational system. The role of requires a moral learning community not the old factory
model. (Charles Handy, (6))
Links to Global
Village one and two. A thread running through much of the literature concerns
belief that all children can
learn -- the varying factor is time. Some students require a longer period to master the same tasks.
The Three Principles are: A Teacher can only teach what a student will allow himself to learn. The techniques of learning come first. THOSE WHO STUDY THE TECHNIQUES OF LEARNING ARE STUDENTS. YOUR TEACHER CAN ADVISE A STUDENT BY WORDS, THE EXAMPLE OF DEEDS, OR BY BAKING BREAD. The Nurbakshi writing on
teachership, Idries Shah: Thinkers of the East Date: May 27, 1994 From: Peter E. Pflaum, Social Sciences PFLAUMP@america.com To: FORM: Basic issues in Education Research and Outcomes:
PROBLEM: 10% or less High School graduates ready for college
(N.A.E.P. 1). It is clear we have
an educational problem on our hands involving all students. As
Jack Bowsher, the former
educational director at IBM said; if 25% of production is broken during manufacture and if 90%
don't work 80% of the time (72%
defect rate) the company would have to rethink the entire
production process.. (2) This is the 30-40% "drop-outs" and the disfunctional
(less than 5th grade) reading and math skills of
the public high schools. The way we see the problem is the
problem (See Stephen Covey in Seven
Habits of Effective People). We have created a group of young
people 14 -18 without effective
alternatives. Many could benefit from apprenticeships, co-op
education, or just drop the leaving age
to 14 as the traditional age of becoming a young adult. Social
creations such as the comprehensive
high-school become social problems, then new social creations
such as Youth Services and
Corrections are developed to take care of the problem caused by
the original institution. The
AWDA (Disabilities Act) has vastly expanded the learning
disables, ADD, etc because the children
that haven't learned then become the problem not the system that
help create them. (Association for
Direct Instruction). It also pays. In "Systems of Control and the Serious Youth
Offender" Jerome G. Miller in Reforming Corrections
for Juvenile Offenders, Alternatives and Strategies - Lexington
Books by Bakal, Yitzhak and
Polsky, Howard W. (1979) and Shichor, David and Kelly Delos H.
Critical Issues in Juvenile
Delinquency Lexington Books (1980) This story of social and
political reform applies to any
institution which has become "closed". The lack of a
clear technology and conflict in goals (reform
and punish) apply especially well to the public schools system.
Jerome G. Miller's action in closing
the State Training Schools in Massachusetts reflect on the
function of professions, bureaucrats,
politicos and reform groups. Our students lack cognitive skills and practical thinking
abilities. They have not been asked or put in
situations where they think in extended ways (3). The educational
process needs to change as much
as General Motors did in the creation of the SATURN plant. The
message is largely in the process
and methods. If we expect Z type students we must create a new
system. (William G. Ouchi,
Theory Z How American Business can meet the Japanese Challenge)
1981. Students are workers not the raw material in the educational
system. The role of teacher is
leadership. Active learning requires a moral learning community
not the old factory model. (Charles
Handy, (6)) The survival of the nation as a competitive culture
is seriously questioned. For example a
recent want-ad for a production worker at Motorola uses the
following job description; (Fortune,
Dec 17, 1990) The worker is expected to understand the process involved in
production. (What is going on here) Think of alternatives -collect information Design and conduct
experiments; Analyze data from small scale research - try changes - check for consequences - (Deming p 4) We need stable group over a longer time period and hours per
day. The factory system represented
by the Carnegie unit credit dices the student into intellectual
pieces where nothing relates to anything
else. You wouldn't expect that your office staff should shift
rooms several times a day, have several
supervisors with different goals and styles, and expect them to
be highly productive. (Handy 6) " On most days fewer than 10 students will be working
hard, the rest do little more that sit there (if
they bother to come). If you ask the idle students why they are
not working, they will tell you that
work is boring, they don't need it, and no one cares what they
think. (5) A century of educational research and practice has shown that
Teamwork - interdisciplinary -
project orientated techniques are clearly superior to the current
piecework curriculum and methods. * Better results need large blocks of time (Carroll 10 ) * The work product rather than tests is a better method of
evaluation. * Group effort with little interpersonal competition but more
teamwork have better interest and
motivation (8). * Everyone should read: (Anton S. Makarenko The Road to
Life, An Epic in Education Oriole
Edition.) and Sizer's model: (Essential Schools) SMALL SCHOOLS, EFFECTIVE SCHOOLS Teachers in one-room schoolhouses almost never lectured. These
teachers knew that there wasn't
much they could say simultaneously to a roomful of kids of
different ages and stages of learning. So
teachers moved from one group of two or three students to
another. Because they couldn't spend
much time with any group, they usually assigned some work to
each, making sure that the group had
a pretty good idea of how to proceed. Periodically the teacher
would return to each group to make
sure the work was being done correctly and to offer more help
where it was needed. And teachers
frequently asked students who'd mastered a particular task to
help those who were still struggling to
learn it. What one-room teachers did out of necessity -- avoid
teacher talk and get kids to learn on
their own or in small groups -- is actually a superior way of
getting them to learn (Shanker in Fiske,
1991, p. 90). (Goodlad, 1984) offers an in-depth examination of
38 elementary, junior high, and
high schools. Goodlad and his associates determined that these
schools were representative of
contemporary American education. The author details findings and
offers restructuring plans. A
major aspect of these plans is the multiage nongraded approach.
Many administrative and organizational problems exist in
implementing a nongraded educational
structure. Often these problems stem from our history of
gradedness. With standardized tests,
textbooks, and other materials relying on the graded educational
structure, break with tradition
becomes more difficult. In addition, educators and parents are
familiar with gradedness, most having
been schooled that way themselves. Connel doubts customary age
segregation in schools.
"Segregating children by sex, race, ethnic, or socioeconomic
differences is against the law. Is it right
to segregate by age?" (Connel, 1987 in Webb, 1992, p. 90).
Self-Esteem Research strongly indicates retention impacts negatively on
children's self-esteem and further
achievement (Shepard & Smith, 1990 & Katz, 1988 in Webb,
1992; Goodlad & Anderson, 1987).
Elimination of nonpromotion is indicated through much literature.
Along this vein, Goodlad and
Anderson suggest need to also eliminate promotion (Goodlad &
Anderson, 1987). Questions of
whether to promote or not to promote individual students can be
removed through an idea of
continuous progress. Each student proceeds through material which
is often the same; the difference
is time. Nongradedness lends itself to this concept. Lack of
readiness in kindergarten follows the
child through later school years. Frustration because of lack of
readiness to master expectations of
adults results in low self-esteem. Fetzer and Ponder see the
system of designating a child's class
according to birth date alone as "antiquated" (Fetzer
& Ponder, 1988, p. 192). A recent report published by the National Association of
Elementary School Principals identified
163 indicators of school quality. Suggestions include: maximum
class size of 20, or fewer in the
primary grades; grouping by needs, not by age and grade only.
School effectiveness is enhanced by
the idea that all students can learn (Raze, 1985). The idea also
enhances student self-esteem.
Grouping Debate over grouping according to ability and achievement
measures has continued since 1920.
Sputnik (1957) heightened interest in identifying and encouraging
children of high aptitude to enter
scientific fields. Ability grouping often results in tracking
where both students and teachers in low
classes easily can become discouraged. Hall and Findley (1971)
suggest one defect of this system is
the small percentage of teachers who prefer to teach the low
achieving groups. Goodlad (1984)
views tracking as a repulsive practice that often begins in
primary school. Evidence shows
"higher-achieving students do not do better when together,
and lower-achieving students do much
worse when together. Tracking clearly discriminates and clearly
perpetuates inequities among
students . . ." (Glickman, 1991, p. 5). Recommended alternatives are groups of various sizes formed
for special purposes and dissolved
when the specified purpose has been accomplished. Goodlad reminds
us of how much we learn by
teaching others. Cooperative learning, peer tutoring, and student
leadership are just some
advantages of students helping each other. Leadership can change
and rotate according to need.
These practices are inherent to the structure of one-room and
other small schools. Anton S. Makarenko devised such a plan in the Gorky Colony, a
multiage school for wayward
youth established in the Ukraine in the 1920's. After much trial
and error, Makarenko successfully
arranged a system of mixed detachments where all colonists except
"the most glaringly unsuitable"
(Makarenko, 1973, p. 356) served as leaders. Depending on the
project, mixed detachments were
scheduled and organized according to the job at hand. Upon
completion of a task, the group was
dissolved. Mixed detachment leaders were responsible for
organization and quality control. A leader
in one group served as a follower in others. Each colonist also
belonged to a permanent detachment
with a permanent commander. Permanent detachments formed a
"nucleus for the colony"
(Makarenko, 1973, p. 355). Standardized Testing Today In an opinion paper on reorganizing American education, Leona
Tyler sees inadequate attention to
individual differences; an excess of compulsion. Age grouping
"is perhaps the worst possible strategy
for maximizing the learning of individuals" (Tyler, 1985, p.
1). "A Proposal for Reorganizing
American Public Education" cautions against focusing on
averages of standardized test scores rather
than on the spread of scores. This author criticizes reporters
for lack of realization of a naturally
occurring situation. They continue to be shocked at the finding
that half of any group tested is below
the average of the group. Human beings differ inherently in how
much they learn and how rapidly
they learn it. Yet we go on categorizing them by age and treating
them all alike. What sense does it
make to assign the same tasks to all members of an age group and
expect them all to succeed
equally well? (Tyler, 1985, p. 2). Implications for Change Literature on nongraded multiage
instruction is plentiful. Although empirical
research is lacking in many specific areas, review of writings on
nongraded multiage grouping shows
much support by many well-respected educators. Findings on
academic achievement of graded and
nongraded classes are inconclusive. There does, however, seem to
be evidence of positive social
and self-esteem advantages in a nongraded approach. Another
thread running through much of the
literature concerns belief that all children can learn -- the
varying factor is time. Some students
require a longer period to master the same tasks. Multiage
nongraded groupings can vary in size
depending on purposes. Advantages of teaching as a method of
enhancing one's own learning is a
device well known to educators. Implications exist here for peer
tutoring, cooperative learning, and
valuable leadership and followship experiences. Teacher cycling, a common practice in small schools, is
mentioned in the literature. Advantages of
teaching the same students for several years include greater
opportunity to know those students well;
possibilities for determining and designing effective individual
learning programs can be increased.
Critics of teacher cycling sometimes cite lack of exposure of
students to teachers of different talents.
Here supporters often suggest team teaching where educators can
draw on the strengths of each
other. Discussion Total Quality In 1950 W. Edwards Deming, an industrial engineer, introduced
to Japan a method of statistical
quality control. Over the last several decades Deming's approach
has become well-known as quality
control circles. An analysis of Deming shows there is a basic
misunderstanding of evaluation in
manufacturing. Similar confusion is shown by belief that
objective testing is likely to improve
educational quality. A central point in this discussion is the
difference between standards and quality.
Multiage grouping in schools can achieve quality when people of
various ages work together to
achieve results of distinction. " The Total Quality
Classroom" (Bonstingl, 1992) applies to education
Deming's 14 principles for Total Quality Management (TQM). John
Jay Bonstingl sees relevant
similarities of business organizations and schools. Alan M.
Blankstein (1992) explains how five of
Deming's principles translate into school terms. Principals and superintendents are management or leadership;
teachers are employees, leaders, and
managers; students are employees; student knowledge is the
product; parents and society are
customers; legislators are the board of directors. Lewis A.
Rhodes explores TQM concepts
concerning values. He points to importance of the totality of
educational organizations. Work
processes encompass a unified system. Synergy "In a school, everything important touches everything
else of importance," notes Theodore Sizer
recognizing "the synergistic character of a school"
(Sizer, 1991, p. 32). "No Pain, No Gain" suggests
restructuring often involves painful break with tradition.
Effective change demands attention to all
parts of a school. " The Quality School" (Glasser, 1990)
is an adaptation of the book by the same
name where psychiatrist William Glasser, M.D., examines
educational application of TQM. In
analysis of control theory, motivation theory, and non- coercive
management employed by
"lead-managers," Glasser recognizes naturally resulting
high- quality educational outcomes. Our
system must encourage lead-management in teachers and principals.
It must discourage "boss-
management," a scientific management approach employing
fear, coercion, and intimidation. Because
of district office bureaucratic power struggles, Glasser feels
lead- management usually must be
initiated at the building level. He sees teachers and principals
as leaders who can make a real
difference in producing high quality American schools. Quality Versus Standards Can quality be defined, or is it more accurate to view
quality as a recognizable characteristic?
Quality isn't something you lay on top of subjects and objects
like tinsel on a Christmas tree. Real
Quality must be the source of the subjects and objects, the cone
from which the tree must start. To
arrive at this Quality requires a somewhat different procedure
from . . . . "Step 1, Step 2, Step 3"
instructions . . . (Pirsig, 1974, p. 262). "Quality can be defined only in terms of the agent. Who
is the judge of quality?" (Deming, 1986, p.
168). Deming sees determination of quality as involving three
agents, including workers and
managers as well as customers. Multiage nongraded grouping in American education offers a
framework where quality can be found
through development of uniquely appropriate strategies. Quality
is realizing the potential within an
environment. Choice in District 4 Quality was the concern in Community School District 4, East
Harlem, New York. Choice
developed as a way to improve education of inner-city students.
Almost all students are members of
minority groups. There is a high poverty level. Test scores of
District 4 in the early 1970's were
lowest or almost the lowest of all 32 school districts of New
York City. Superintendent Anthony
Alvarado gave teachers and administrators opportunities and
authority to improve education in their
classes by devising their own programs. They then received
resources to "turn their ideas into little
schools" (Fiske, 1991, p. 181). Students and parents who
shared their vision could choose to attend
a particular school. In 1974 Deborah Meier with 100 children opened Central Park
East Elementary School. The
school served grades K-2 only. Children who attended came because
their parents chose the
school. Central Park East uses child-centered approaches to
learning and stresses content, thinking,
experimenting, discussion, research, and writing. Dramatic
success of the school gave rise to two
others, Central Park East II and River East. Central Park East
Secondary School, part of Ted
Sizer's Coalition of Essential Schools, opened in 1985. The 50
District 4 schools include alternative,
bilingual, and theme schools. All began as small schools. Rather
than grow larger, popular schools
were copied in new locations. "Less is Better" is the
district belief. "Fewer students per school and
classroom, less bureaucracy, and less top-down management make up
their reform formula. [Says
Mrs. Meier,] `Small schools are not the answer, but without them
none of the proposed answers
stands a chance'" (Fiske, 1991, p. 184). Holweide Comprehensive School Located in Cologne, West Germany, Holweide Comprehensive
School is a contemporary example
of quality education. The school began as an experiment in the
mid- 1970's and serves the equivalent
of American grades 5 through 11. Culturally diverse students
include children of foreign guest
workers and children from single-parent or poor German families.
Almost all pupils are considered
non- college bound. Teams of teachers remain with the same students for the entire
six years of Holweide schooling.
School administration is composed of only one teaching principal
and two assistants who also teach.
Students are not tracked according to assessed ability. Teacher
teams determine how to group
students and how to organize the school day. Readjustments are
made as needed. Because of this
structure, authentic accountability is possible. Since teachers
have the same students for six years,
former instructors cannot be blamed for pupil deficiencies.
Teachers cannot pass problem students
along to others. Teacher teamwork increases chances of defining
appropriate ways to improve
schooling of individual pupils. "Holweide's approach thus
turns the usual bureaucratic, assembly-line
processing of children into a teaching and learning enterprise, a
moral community" (Shanker, 1990,
p. 351). The School and Society In reading early twentieth century Dewey and in reading
Goodlad's recent book (Goodlad, 1984),
one is struck by recurrent themes and by apparent inability of
the American educational system to
adapt to changing circumstances. Schools are part of a complex
web of life. The social change of
which Dewey was an early prophet continues to evolve. The
philosopher's concern with the
exigency of learning to learn permeates his 1920 thinking. Dewey
notes rapid progress of his times.
Advances in industrialization, transportation, and communication
dictated need to adapt to a
continuously and quickly changing environment. Experience and
thinking involve connection of
relationships. This connection is essential for reasoning to
occur. While all thinking results in
knowledge, ultimately the value of knowledge is subordinate to
its use in thinking. For we live not in
a settled and finished world, but in one which is going on, and
where our main task is prospective,
and where retrospect -- and all knowledge as distinct from
thought is retrospect -- is of value in the
solidity, security and fertility it affords our dealings with the
future (Dewey, 1920, pp. 177-178). Implications of such thought exist today in our post-
industrial information age. The core of Dewey's educational theory was encouragement of
flexibility, creativity, and practicality
in individual thinking. His argument suggests these qualities are
required of a broadly democratic
society as he defined it. Public schools were originally designed
for students who would settle well
into industrial discipline. Waves of immigrants arriving in the
mid-nineteenth century were socialized
to American ways through the public schools. As a segment of society, early public schooling saw as part of
its role this preparation of factory
workers. Assembly lines were largely staffed by immigrants from
foreign countries and rural
America. Factory-like compartmentalization was reflected in
physical traits of schools (rows of
nailed down desks) as well as in curriculum with its segmented
structure. Subjects were and often
are separated from other subjects and from life itself. Dewey is
a prophet of contemporary critics of
our educational system. The American school system is not
working. Goodlad (1984) sees necessity
for change even in our best schools. The system designed to
produce factory workers is no longer
relevant. Rather than factory mentality, we need reason -- reason
derived from thinking and
knowledge. As technology rushes forward, it is imperative for
citizens to have learned how to learn.
Dewey saw schools as small communities where students grasp
larger concepts through smaller
concepts relevant to their own worlds. Individual discovery of
findings established centuries earlier,
are new in the sense of unique interpretation. As a child
uncovers wonders of nature, the individual's
revelation is as fresh as an initial discovery. Goodlad (1984) sees the role of schools as communities for
changing society, not as mere
reflections. Sadly, what we often see inside of our schools is a
mirror image of what is wrong
outside. Dewey the philosopher and social theorist based much of his
thought on the social sciences and
psychology. He spoke of organizations as the organic whole. As
industry changes from production
lines to cooperative work groups, X Theory becomes Theory Z. Traditional schools espouse X Theory (individuals are
inherently unmotivated, needing coercion to
work or learn). Dewey's school is based on Theory Z (learning
occurs naturally through relevance).
Organizational structure of small schools lends itself to Type-Z
application. The nongraded multiage
approach is an attempt to break out of the industrial mold and
teach the child as an individual being,
rather than as a product to be processed. Age segregation is as
unnatural as subject matter
segregation. Retention shatters self-esteem into small bits.
Goodlad proposes teacher cycling,
schools within schools, and multiage nongraded grouping in an
effort to bring continuity to schooling. Summary Factors impacting on nineteenth century enthusiasm for
gradedness include teacher training through
normal schools, growing popularity of textbooks, population
movement from rural to urban areas,
industrialization, and consolidation. According to Dewey, most
features of our American educational
system were instituted between 1837 and 1850. Gradedness is part
of this American tradition. Proponents of multiage grouping see it as a natural order of
society. Studies of simple societies and
early American history reflect such grouping. Small colonial
schools featured variations of multiage
groupings. These practices are seen today in many small schools.
Demand for community and calm
focus in schools is particularly essential today because of
deteriorating family conditions. Many
respected educators of the twentieth century vigorously uphold
concepts of multiage nongraded
educational organization; many suggest problems with
implementation. Benefits of multiage grouping
advanced by advocates include individualized self-paced
instruction, opportunity for increased
self-esteem, leadership and followship experiences, peer
tutoring, and cooperative learning. Multiage
nongraded schooling, an inherent aspect of small school
structure, lends itself to a child-centered
learning approach where creativity and individuality are
respected and enhanced. Organizational
features of one-room and small schools make multiage nongraded
grouping natural. The FDOE defines twelve characteristics to be considered in
improving schools. General areas for
attention include goals, focus, leadership, expectations,
instruction, collaboration, development,
order, time, involvement, incentives, and evaluation (FDOE,
1990). Conclusion Small schools seem to be happy schools. They tend to have
high levels of participation,
cooperation, and coordination. Students in small schools are
likely to spend time on task, learn good
study habits, and become self- reliant. Structure of the school
requires high levels of participation by
all students. Standardized test scores appear to be at least
equal to larger schools, holding SES
constant. Small school structure offers greater opportunity for
educational quality. Some reasons are
discussed below. Quality in Education Deming's philosophy represents a
conceptual shift in how we view
organizations. Quality does not result from inspection.
Inspection and standards reduce rather than
promote excellence. Quotas, inspections, and slogans exhorting
persons to work harder and faster
do not motivate. They merely defeat the purpose. We must pay
attention to process, but effective
process cannot be prescribed. It is developed through attention
to guiding principles. Process in any
organization is unique. Harmonious relations should bloom
spontaneously as flowers do. It is a poor
workshop where operators and foremen are considered to be part of
the machinery and required to
do a job specified by set standards. What constitutes a human
being is the ability to think. A
workshop [and a school] should become . . . place[s] where people
can think and use their wisdom
(Ouchi, 1981, p. 228). Inspection of schooling through instruments such as
standardized tests does not improve quality.
Emphasis on teamwork rather than on individual competition
enhances productivity. Grades and
similar assessment measures do not promote excellence. They
defeat it. Some leaders forget an
important mathematical theorem that if 20 people are engaged on a
job, 2 will fall at the bottom 10
per cent, no matter what . . . . The important problem is not the
bottom 10 per cent, but who is
statistically out of line and in need of help (Deming, 1986, p.
56). Asking teachers and schools to
rework mistakes following years of system failure is not a
feasible path to improved educational
outcomes. Parents and communities must work with teachers and
administrators in developing and
adapting a process capable of yielding educated, skilled,
value-driven youth. Adapting Deming to
schools involves restructuring our educational organizations as
dramatically as the Japanese
restructured their business organizations. Dewey's presence can
be seen in efforts to adapt Deming
to education. Thinking and Doing Schools must, as Dewey advised, reconnect thinking and doing.
Group and teamwork, projects,
integrated curriculum, peer tutoring, and teacher as facilitator
reflect views of both Dewey and
Deming. Multiage nongraded grouping is a logical framework where
such educational approaches
can work. In education as in industry "defects are not free.
Somebody makes them, and gets paid
for making them" (Deming, 1986, p. 11). Rework of defective
goods is not free; it is expensive. The
product of schools is student knowledge. When student knowledge
is defective, it must be
reworked, compounding time and expense. Members of the
educational community who define
quality -- students, teachers, administrators, and society must
have input into our system of
education. As organizations mature and grow in size, they tend to
become more structured and
bureaucratic. Bureaucracy separates thinking from doing
(teacher-proof curriculum, textbooks, etc.).
Under scientific management the doer merely follows instructions.
Doers are often placed in difficult
and unmotivating circumstances. There may be fool-proof systems,
but often the fools are too
clever. This results in more inspections, more layers of
management, more bureaucracy. Years after
publication of A Nation at Risk (1983), American Federation of
Teachers president Albert Shanker
notes implementation of numerous and various school reforms
throughout our country. Largely, these
attempts have not positively affected student learning (Shanker,
1990). Often in education sound
ideas are found "ineffective" following poor
implementation. Sometimes implementors fail to follow
guidelines closely enough. Consolidation of One-Room Schools Public schools grew up with the factory system. Scientific
managerial practice suggested division of
labor into separate units; division of time marked by bells. Rows
of desks were attached to floors.
Textbooks were divided into units. Teachers, standing before the
class, covered material in specified
segments of time. Students, seated in fixed desks, all
"learned" in standard fashion. The advent of
school busses -- "with comfortable seats, heaters, windows,
and front and rear doors" (Covert,
1928, p. 2) -- and paved roads encouraged consolidation of small
schools into larger factory-like
buildings. Scientific management encouraged standardized testing
as an accurate measure of
educational effectiveness. Because of lack of documentation, we
will never know if or how effective
one- room nongraded schools were. During the early part of the
twentieth century a prejudice
evolved-- one-room schools lacked the latest in fashion and the
latest in facilities. There was much
local control of one-room schools. Consolidation reflected
political power as well as educational and
managerial theory of the times. Education concerns character and
thinking. Many educators have
long been uncomfortable with the factory system of schooling and
its large impersonal bureaucratic
organization. Education is personal and moral. With the economy moving away
from factories into information
processing, old style industry is disappearing. Eighty percent of
employment today is in small
business and information processing. Schooling has always
followed the leading economic institutions
of the period. Education now is dealing with down-sizing,
decentralizing, school-based management,
and other ideas currently fashionable in the industrial world. As
Dewey was the prophet of
post-industrial management styles, he was keenly aware of human
and moral dimensions of
education. The connection of thinking with doing, of learning
with practice is critical in modern
information- processing businesses. It is equally critical in
education. Small is beautiful. Less is more. Fix the System American schooling faces a serious systems problem. Deming
urges business and industrial
management to fix the system, not the blame. Students must be
viewed as workers, not products to
be processed. " The traditional model of schooling is . . .
incompatible with the idea that students are
workers, that learning must be active, and that children learn in
different ways and at different rates"
(Shanker, 1990, p. 350). Too many American schools today remain
based on the factory model
where employees produce piecework and scientific managerial
principles are administrative
guidelines. Small Schools and Educational Quality In a small
school quality is easier to accomplish.
With fewer students and fewer disruptions, teachers can focus on
children. With teacher cycling and
multiage nongraded grouping a learning community evolves.
Students cannot merely lean on their
shovels. They must be involved in their own learning. Good or
*great education can happen
anywhere. Smaller school size is not the entire answer to
America's present educational dilemma, but
it is a viable place to start. For size to help significantly,
schools must become small enough for
people to know each other well. Small schools offer opportunities
for development of stable, caring
learning communities. Today America has about 8500 small nonpublic schools and
about 1000 one-room public schools.
Evidence suggests these schools are interesting and worthy of
further study. Small schools and small
sailboats are reminders of our simpler past. Small schools
involve a human connection of teachers
and children. Small sailboats involve a spiritual connection of
sailors and surroundings. Supertankers
on autopilot involve a disconnection of thinking and doing.
Edward B. Fiske argues . . . the time for tinkering with the current system of
public education is over. After a decade of
trying to make the system work better by such means as more
testing, higher salaries, and tighter
curriculums, we must now face up to the fact that anything short
of fundamental structural change is
futile. . . . . American public schools grew up around an early
industrial model that has outlived its
usefulness in education as well as in the industry that created
it. The renewal of public education in
this country requires nothing less than a frontal assault on
every aspect of schooling -- the way we
run districts, organize classrooms, use time, measure
achievement, assign students, relate schools to
their surroundings, and hold people accountable. Trying to get
more learning out of the current
system is like trying to get the Pony Express to compete with the
telegraph by breeding faster ponies
(Fiske, 1991, p. 14-15). A major helpful educational reform is
simply making schools smaller -- MUCH smaller.
JMHALLMAN@STTHOMAS.EDU writes
I picked up Herbert Kohl's "I Won't Learn From You"
and Other Thoughts on
Creative Maladjustment a week ago and couldn't put it down.
Someone on this list suggested reading it in the light of
comments
about student athletes.
There is a passage on p. 76 which has been rolling around in
my brain and soul ever since which I think some of you might be
interested in. Hopefully I can quote it without copyright
violations!
"One of the common resons for becoming a teacher is to
pursue a power-giving vocation. The specific reason might be to
give children what you didn't get, or to give them what you got
from special adults and see lacking in their lives. Rescue is
another motive - the idea that education has a redemptive power
to overcome the miseries of poverty or the injuries of class and
race. Smaller insults to dignity and self-respect can also
motivate
a life of teaching - the idea that you can help people overcome
the wounds inflicted by a cold culture on people who are
considered
too fat or too thin, not pretty or handsome enough, from the
'wrong'
families or with the 'wrong' attitudes. Implicit in the idea of
the redemptive value of education is the notion that knowledge,
art, craft, sensitivity, and the skills of reading, writing, and
arithmetic are sources of personal as well as communal
power...teaching
is essentially romantic - it is predicated on the idea that the
world can get better than it is by the efforts of people, rather
than by the movement of supraindividual processes."
This single quotation does not do justice to a remarkable
book.
While it is
more or less blatently liberal, it is well worth reading. I
thank whoever it
was who mentioned it.
Walden University offers an accredited MS degree via AOL. It is
in Educational Change and Technology Innovation. We agree there
is a sophisticated market wanting a viable curriculum with the
ease of delivery over the very technology we are teaching and
want to integrate into K-12 and higher ed. classrooms. Not only
is the curriculum and delivery models desired, but so is
affordability
and credibility. I plan on attending the Global Village
Conference.
in San Francisco in March. I assume you will be there too, and
hope to have a chance to converse related to this fairly new and
highly successful mode of delivery. Gwen Hillesheim,
MS Program Director.
ghillesh@waldenu.edu
lucy@chemek.cc.or.us,
The Fifth Dimension is an after-school educational
program for elementary school children that has been a long term
project of the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition at the
University of California, San Diego. .. It is an attempt to
construct
workable models for developing certain forms of community-based,
after-school educational activity, some elements of which can
be applied in regular school settings, and (2) it provides a
framework
for more basic research into processes of learning and
development
[around] a central theoretically informed question: how to create
sustainable systems of educational activity based on a culture
of collaborative learning in which play and imagination have a
major role... The programs were initiated at the same time,...
and both have drawn on essentially the same population of
children,
attending the same set of elementary schools; with some
exceptions,
the parents of these children are white, middle-class, and native
speakers of English. On the other hand these two host
institutions
differ significantly in their organization, their orienting sense
of purpose, and the overall atmosphere in which their activities
are conducted. The Fifth Dimension is fundamentally an activity
system
with a certain specific inner logic. The goal is to create a
context
that can promote collaborative learning and within which children
themselves are motivated to progress step by step, so that they
are actively involved in their own development rather than simply
receiving information from other people. The Fifth Dimension creates a make-believe world
that is constituted by a *system* of shared rules. It is
precisely
through the understanding and acceptance of this system of shared
rules that children are allowed and encouraged to take an active
role in their own education. ... A central principle of the Fifth
Dimension is that of choice within a structured context.. The
discipline of this structure is important. As far as possible,
it should not rest on the authority of individuals but on the-
authority of an impersonal normative system; that is, a system
of shared and voluntarily accepted rules that are embedded in,
and constitutive of, an ongoing practice... The interplay of choice and discipline brings us to
another important element: the attempt to integrate play and
imagination
in the educational process... Play is not necessarily frivolous.
On the contrary, it can serve precisely as the prototype of an
activity constituted by shared and voluntarily accepted rules,
within which people can be motivated to strive for excellence
and for mastery of the possibilities inherent in that practice.
The explanation we would like to advance is that
it was primarily the different *cultures* of the two sites hat
produced the difference in the outcomes. Specifically, the
Library
site was more successful at generating and maintaining a culture
of collaborative learning... [W]hat we will call, following
Durkheim,
the degree of *social cohesion* of the play-world... of the
Library
site was demonstrably stronger, and one result was greater
cognitive
success.... Children spent more time helping each other out,
asked
others for help more readily, and did not give up so
easily. These two central features of problem-solving
interaction
-- interactional density and quality of interaction -- are
closely
intertwined and mutually reinforcing; and each of them *depends
on* and *promotes* a sense of commitment to the goals of the
play-world
and to the system of rules that constitutes it. The library is a serious, earnest, studious, rule-governed
universe...
In contrast the pervasive atmosphere of the Boys' and Girls' Club
is one of deliberate lack of structure and absence of restraint.
The Club prides itself on an "open door policy,"
whereby
the children walk freely in and out of the Club, making their
own decisions about what they want to do and shifting easily
between
different activities... This context was to a certain extent at
odds with the rule-governed universe of the Fifth Dimension,
making
it more difficult for the children to fully accept the organizing
logic of its play-world; the children's inclination was to come
and play only the games they liked and to leave as soon as they
were done.... The Fifth Dimension was a popular activity,... in
terms of the number of children who wished to participate, but
their involvement in, and commitment to, the play-world ran
considerably
less deep than at the library site. There is an ironic sequel to the picture we have
presented so far. As we noted earlier,, after a two-year trial
period each of the host institutions was to decide whether to
take up the Fifth Dimension program on a permanent basis, in the
process assuming greater responsibility (financial and otherwise)
for its continued operation. This goal was not met in the case
of the Library, which declined to take this step. In contrast,
the Boys' and Girls' Club organization not only agreed to take
up the program but is in the process of completing [its]
introduction
at their other two sites as well. The goal
of The Fifth Dimension is to integrate play and fantasy into the
educational process in order to *use* them for the purpose of
cognitive growth and development. The chief goal of the Boys'
and Girls' Club is to create an atmosphere in which the maximum
number of children can have fun during their after-school
hours. The outcome of this story serves as a reminder that
the problem of integrating new programs successfully into
existing
institutions is complex and requires careful consideration of
the often paradoxical and unanticipated outcomes... The Fifth Dimension, Its Play-World and Its Institutional
Contexts.
In Forman, The only way to learn is by doing, not studies,
not plans, not committees, not consultants, but hands on doing
and now, because other are not waiting. " They will have FTP so you can edit right on
the Web page. After all the page in your cache, edit it and ftp
back to site. Now I have to edit in Word 6 (or front-page) and
ftp it back to my site. as I am doing right now We will have real
time BBS, and will connect to real time Chat (IRC) with I-phone
and real radio. Then
I will put it in http://www.wiredbrain.comlucy
and put a link on the home page VISIT LUCY'S
Class." These modem ( or digital connection to replace the analog ) classes includes class discussions, group
projects, papers, labs, etc. We are using the medium not vice
versa. The point is not is it better,
but only that it is a different delivery mode.
Directions to the NEWS and Synergy Network Pages
Each week or so, the comments, ideas and suggestions on the FIRST
page become the NEWS page. the last NEWS page becomes doc5.htm,
the doc4.htm, etc.
THIS WEEKS
THE
The New Newbie Page - a
good start on the internet
The Fifth Dimension, Its Play-World and Its Institutional
Contexts.
In Forman, The address got lost (kerry khm1@axe.humboldt.edu
There is a passage on p. 76 which has been rolling
around in my brain and soul ever since which I think some of you
might be interested in. Hopefully I can quote it without
copyright
violations! The specific reason might
be to give children what you didn't get, or to give them what
you got from special adults and see lacking in their lives.
Rescue
is another motive - the idea that education has a redemptive
power
to overcome the miseries of poverty or the injuries of class and
race. Smaller insults to dignity and self-respect can also
motivate
a life of teaching - the idea that you can help people overcome
the wounds inflicted by a cold culture on people who are
considered
too fat or too thin, not pretty or handsome enough, from the
'wrong'
families or with the 'wrong' attitudes. Implicit in the idea of
the redemptive value of education is the notion that knowledge,
art, craft, sensitivity, and the skills of reading, writing, and
arithmetic are sources of personal as well as communal
power...teaching
is essentially romantic - it is predicated on the idea that the
world can get better than it is by the efforts of people, rather
than by the movement of supraindividual processes."
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c107:S.1.PCS original bill to extend programs and activities under the
Under a tentative agreement between Democrats and the White House, the Senate bill would require mandatory student testing, help children learn to read by the third grade and give states more leeway in spending federal education funds -- signature issues for Bush during the presidential campaign.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010426/pl/congress_education_dc_11.html
"According to a 2000 OECD [Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development] report, since 1985, the expansion of knowledge-based industries has outpaced gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the developed countries. Knowledge-based industries now account for more than half of OECD-wide GDP." Welcome, to the Knowledge Age.BUT since we are a federal system and have a long history of local school boards we can not just start from scratch.Each state with consultations with local school system should come up with a plan to provide basic education - reading ( the nation reads ) writing ( the nation writes ) algebra and other math ( the nation reasons and calculates ) students knows geography, history, government, humanities, the sciences and the scientific methods - all standards and evaluations set by the states.
TAKING NOTES:
Details and special cases:
Pony with
pictures
Real people, real schools:
From: International Development and Global Education
on behalf of Kerry Miller
Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 1995 2:13 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list INTDEV-L
Subject: 18: Generation and Transmission of Shared
Knowledge
Structure
Fifth Dimension sites are housed in a number of
youth-serving
institutions in the greater San Diego area [including] a Boys'
and Girls' Club and a community library... less than half a mile
from each other.
...Although the Fifth Dimension was introduced into
each of these institutions under LCHC's administration,.. the
hope was that in the long run each branch would be taken up by
the host institution as a self- sustaining program...
...
In short, results demonstrate that the [Mystery
House]
game "worked" much more successfully at the Library
than at the Boys' and Girls' Club. Even though there was
considerable
circulation of individual participants at both sites, the overall
pattern of scores went up from one quarter to another; not only
did individuals do better, but the group as a whole advanced.
At the Boys' and Girls' Club, on the other hand, there was no
progress of this sort. Individual children hit relatively low
plateaus fairly early, and neither they nor other children were
successful in building on what they had achieved.
...
...
Why was the culture of collaborative learning
stronger
at the Library site? Although a number of factors are involved,
the one on which we will focus is the interaction between the
cultural logic of the Fifth Dimension and that of the host
institution....
..As a result, although there were certainly
instances
of collaborative activity at the Boys' and Girls' Club site, a
*culture* of collaborative learning never took firm roots to
provide
a constitutive framework that would shape and permeate the
activities
of the participants.
...
...One's evaluation of the degree of
"success"
of a program... obviously depends on the criteria employed; and
these criteria are shaped - in more or less subtle ways - by the
orientation and priorities of the institutions involved.
From the point of view of the Fifth Dimension's
priorities
the Boys' and Girls' Club site was a more qualified success than
the Library site because the environment of the Club tended to
disrupt the delicate balance between discipline and spontaneity
most conducive to cognitive growth. From the perspective of the
Club, however, the program was an unqualified success...On the
other hand, the chief priorities of the Library and the Fifth
Dimension Program were much more congruent with each other, as
inboth cases furthering children's' intellectual growth is a
central
goal....From the point of view of the Library staff, however,
the very success of the program... disrupted the quiet atmosphere
appropriate for such a setting as a library....
Nicolopoulou, N and M Cole, Generation and
Transmission
of Shared Knowledge in the Culture of Collaborative Learning:
lucy@chemek.cc.or.us,
Subject: Re: Bill Gates - Education and the Middle
People ( Paper on new Page )
Date: Fri., 24 Nov. 1995 22:53:36 -0500
From:LitLucy@aol.com
To:pflaump@netctrl.com
"
Peter : comments
"Exactly, last year a PPP may have cost $20,000
then $2,000 then $200. It now comes with Windows 95. By the time
plans are made they are out of date. Netscape now does newsgroups
and mail. I discovered that Netscape 2b does http connections
right on the mail.
A group can look at the document (graph, graphic)
make comments to each other and work together. This is the idea
of the interactive office or classroom.
For now, You can E-mail me TEXT (DOS) or WP or Word
text if you don't have a hypertext editor (free download with
WP (doesn't work) or MS Word 6, (doesn't do Netscape 3) and send
your pages as attachment to E-mail. See RAY's links at the top
of synergy page two for link to information on HTTP editors.
Back to Lucy.s letter:
I have been teaching community college classes
on-line
for five years now. Chemeketa Community College now has an AA
degree via modem ( or digital connection to replace the analog ).
We are not trying to do correspondence courses - we
have those.
Currently, my class is the subject of a Ph.D.
dissertation
to study the learning community and interactions in an on-line
class. CMC (Computer Mediate Communication) has been around for
a while, but everyone has been so busy trying to do the research
on whether or not this is better that face to face classes, that
little has been written about the actual classes and those of
us who are "doing it".
I am also teaching a class for faculty to learn how
to teach on-line. This class is for the Open University in
Vancouver,
BC. I live in Oregon. In my back bedroom, I get on the internet
and use client software to go to class in Canada! ;-)
Lucy Tribble MacDonald Chemeketa Community
College
Lancaster DR NE 503/399-5038 FAX litlucy @aol.com
That was to have my sig on the end. :) but it gets mixed up on
the http text ...(save this page - fix it and e-mail it back to
me)
From: Saint Julie School System
stjulie@tlcnet.muohio.edu
Sent: Saturday, November 25, 1995 9:54 AM
To: Peter Pflaum
Subject: Your free beta tester
I have looked at your page several times and I guess
I am just not sure what you are doing.
Peter's comment: Nor do I, this is my first time.
I had a web-master but now am on my own. We are learning by doing
and it will take shape in the process.
I looked at Lucy's url you sent and it is not found.
(Peter: You know systems are up and down - I think Volant is
stable
and very reasonable, when you enter go to up diectory and there
you are in wiredbrain)
From Lucy's message, I am assuming you are looking
for higher education. I am trying to find ways that education
will use this medium not to do the same things. I am trying to
have the students look at what can happen and stretch their ideas
to ways we can excite our faculty. I see many jumping on this
as a way to do the same things they have always done. I do not
know the answer but if we just turn it into electric information
we miss much of what it can be.
----------
From: KC Burgess Yakemovic
Sent: Saturday, November 25, 1995 1:28 PM
To: facgsbates@spock.colsf.edu; patt@squid.tram.com;
ROBBINS@UHDVX3.DT.UH.EDU; rufus@citynet.net;
MMCFADDEN%galaxy.gov.bc.ca.pconway@vines.dsd.litton.com;
wodonnel@bulldogs.ccsd.k12.co.us;
KERNL@hopwood.lynchburg.edu
Cc: Peter Pflaum
Subject: Synergy Web Site, etc.
Hi! Are we the alpha beta testers?
Peter, should we include you in the list? Are there
others, I have missed? If there ARE let me or KC know
???
Peter's comment "YES, please include me - GREAT
this is beginning to move ??? I am on the pages all the time and
I hope they are in better shape This letter will be posted at
the bottow of the first page then after a day or so at the top
of the news page. Can anyone get the ftp to work ? Instructions
on replybt.txt (reply to beta testers) I am working
on getting the feedback pages to work so you can just drop off
notes, then the notes to be posted automatically, any ideas? Home
pages anyone - you can e-mail them as attachments - Ray.htm has
a big list under http (top of synergy page two)
My background:
I'm interested in how technology can help people
learn
and work together better. I've spent 16+ years in the software
development world. I've been on the internet over 10 years. I'm
new (about 1 year) to Web stuff, but have developed my
organization's
site (see address below, if interested). I spend way too much
time on the net -- at least according to my husband and daughter
(age 7). However, my kid _did_ like searching the web for info
about dinosaurs to take into school! :-)
Looking forward to hearing from others... Not at all
sure what I'm doing here but... :-) THAT's the fun of it all the
mystery tour ....
-- kcby
Burgess Yakemovic Group Performance Systems,
Inc.
kcby@gpsi.com http://www.gpsi.com
"Helping people with people, through
technology....
because the "soft stuff" is the _hard_
stuff!"
Village North Court phone & fax
770-395-0282
Atlanta GA 30338 USA
Nicolopoulou, N and M Cole, Generation and
Transmission
of Shared Knowledge in the Culture of Collaborative Learning:
Minick & Stone, eds., _Contexts for Learning_,
pp 283-314.
JMHALLMAN@STTHOMAS.EDU writes
I picked up Herbert Kohl's "I Won't Learn From
You" and Other Thoughts on kerry
Creative Maladjustment a week ago and couldn't put
it down. Someone on this list suggested reading it in the light
of comments about student athletes.
"One of the common resons for becoming a teacher
is to pursue a power-giving vocation.
This single quotation does not do justice to a
remarkable
book. While it is
more or less blatently liberal, it is well worth
reading.
I thank whoever it
was who mentioned it.
MS Program Director.
ghillesh@waldenu.edu
lucy@chemek.cc.or.us,
Subject: Re: Bill Gates - Education and the Middle
People ( Paper on new Page )
Your
Futures Links Tomorrows story today: Wiredbrain's Reports from
the future:
Copies of the SYNERGY JOURNALS sent by request: wiredbrain@earthlink.net Peter E. Pflaum Ph.D. , Headmaster GLOBAL_VILLAGE_SCHOOLHOUSE 225 Robinson Road, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32169 (904) 428-7924
