Could it be that some of the harping on 21st century skills and the need for 21st century schools is partly a political pretext for the ignorant and arrogant to bash and trash teachers and schools? Just a thought in response to Teacher of the Year Anthony Mullen’s Road Diaries in Teacher Magazine. “Teachers should … Read more
On the last day of the year, time to show an affirming flame as another low dishonest decade ends. I’ll leave all the best and worst and top ten lists to others, but merely remark – that for all the base mendacity in the real world, life in school remains a place of joy and … Read more
Is this what we mean by that current refrain “Whatever it takes”? This is from another era – 1991. Anything much changed? More well-intentioned (mostly) but misguided reformy ideas. And it’s always worth remembering the Latin roots of the word “inculcate” meaning to grind in with the heel.
There’s another of those scary science stories in today’s NYTimes: Split Outcome in Texas Battle in Teaching Evolution. The real scary part is such ignorance is still alive and kicking, and not just in Texas. And when it comes to textbooks – as Texas goes, there goes the nation. Meanwhile next month we celebrate the … Read more
PDS marked the inauguration at its Peacemakers Assembly on Tuesday. Entitled “Stony the road we trod” the event began with the singing of James Weldon Johnson’s Lift Every Voice and Sing. In the collage you can see pictures of the participants from high school to lower school. Ater lunch everyone returned to the JEJ theater … Read more
More about our assembly later but here is a screenshot from the NYTimes website. The middle school Photo Journalism class previewed some of the pictures on the site. One student sent a picture. When the class noticed that it got published it sent another one. Picturing the Inauguration: The Readers’ Album PDS MAKES THE NY … Read more
Teachers often take a jaundiced eye to films that claim to depict the classroom experience. It’s akin to being skeptical about the newspapers because every time they present a story with which you have actual familiarity they rarely seem to get it right. I saw two excellent films last week. One was Entre les Murs … Read more
In his talk yesterday, Bruce Judson made reference to the first 100 days of the Roosevelt administration. As now, there was a deep financial crisis. As now, there was no one clear path to follow. But doing nothing was not an option. Bruce reminded us that they tried things, experimenting to see what worked. There’s … Read more
On the way home tonight I heard Robert Reich on NPR’s Marketplace. The topic was Human Capital. The one sentence summary: Failure to invest in human capital (i.e..education) is shortsighted and counter-productive. Basic idea: Our future competitiveness and standard of living depend on our collective skills, capacity to communicate and solve problems, and innovate. They … Read more
Thank you for bringing John Palfrey to the school last night. He was fabulous, and he spoke directly to issues facing my family and our children – PDS parent. It was election eve for the parents and community discussion. And an election day workshop for PDS teachers and colleagues from other New York independent schools. … Read more
The next president needs to be multi-dimensional, addressing issues that extend far beyond the classroom, but which are critically connected to a strong education framework. It’s election season and the new issue of Independent School magazine is out. Here is NAIS president Pat Bassett’s on The Politics of Learning – an open letter to the … Read more
More humor. This time from Fast Company magazine where Tom Stern wonders whether the over achievement of some adults has resulted in achievement obsession for their kids? From kindergarten to the boardroom considers whether we’re preparing our kids to take over the world far too early in their lives. It’s funny stuff but also provokes … Read more
“You don’t make a hog fatter by weighing it.” Everyone went to school and that makes everyone an expert on education. And of course, truth is, education must be everyone’s business. Our future depends on it. And apparently the hot education topic on the hustings is the future of the No Child Left Behind Act. … Read more
The one thing about which all educators are in agreement is that yesterday’s education no longer suffices for today. The rate of technological change and the development of new information is so great that educators scarcely know what to make of it all, let alone how to get it taught; next week’s scientific discovery can … Read more