"MIND THE GAP": Session 2
1. "Over the years, I have consistently warned against the lure of 'the royal road to learning', the notion that some savant or organization has found an easy solution to the problems of American education."
1. "Over the years, I have consistently warned against the lure of 'the royal road to learning', the notion that some savant or organization has found an easy solution to the problems of American education."
I agree with Ravitch and I believe that this statement is applicable to many facets of our nation -- not just education. For example, a quick fix solution is typically sought out during election campaigns for budget reform, health care reform, etc. However, the problems with education, health care, etc. are complex. Therefore, the solutions to fix the problems will also be complex. In education in particular, the politicization of curriculum and content has spun a messy web of consequences in which the quality of instruction suffers for American children.
"Over time, my doubts about accountability and choice deepened as I saw the negative consequences of their implementation."
I look forward to Ravitch further unpacking this later in the book. What exactly did these consequences look like? What would happen if education policy headed full-steam down that path? What are some counter-arguments to accountability and choice?
2. I agree with Ravitch's definition of a well-educated person. I try to think of examples of what this looks like today in our nation and I come up short with a concrete example. A well-educated person should know how to think critically about their world around them. This is a blanket statement to be sure, but the immeasurability is what makes this difficult. To put some hypothetical questions around this - why did you vote for candidate x? how does that vote affect you? what do you want your children to learn? why? how? why spend money on this? There should be reasonable answers to questions like these that benefit the individual and society as a whole.
3. I appreciated the opportunity to engage in a discussion with the class. I speculate more about Ravitch herself. I wanted to stir it up a little bit. Basically, who is she? Why did she decide to become a historian of education? What created her biases? I wanted to try to legitimize her, or perhaps un-legitimize her as 'windy rhetoric'.
4. standard 10.10.3 Students analyze instances of nation-building in the contemporary world in at least two of the following regions or countries: the Middle East, Africa, Mexico and other parts of Latin America, and China. -- Discuss the important trends in the regions today and whether they appear to serve the cause of individual freedom and democracy.
Website: http://www.globalissues.org/
Article:http://www.newyorker.
Book: http://www.amazon.com/Power-
I read this book recently to bridge my gap and I found fascinating, albeit biased, history of the United States in the Middle East. One of the first things I learned is the various definitions of what is included in the Middle East. There are many different interpretations. I also discovered that the very young and sovereign United States back at the end of the 18th century created a navy at great expense and great risk in order to avoid paying "bribes" to Barbary pirates serving various North African states. The U.S. presence in this region has always been very complicated by the big two topics that are no-no's around the dinner table -- religion and politics.
5. One of the articles I am reading for my research is "Narratives of Nation -State, Historical Knowledge, and School History Education", by Bruce VanSledright. In it, he discusses how history education is shaped and what might happen if educators pursued different visions of education by exploring alternative views of history (non-textbook narratives). This could lead to other questions about how to engage students in artifact analysis, primary source analysis, and recognize bias. This author was convincing enough for me to use some of his references to build more knowledge about alternative views of history education, as this will be central to my project, which is to engage the reluctant history learner.
6. Meg, what are some creative educational experiences you have facilitated as a high school social studies teacher? What do you think might be a good way to wrap some pedagogy around my content questions?
I look forward to Ravitch further unpacking this later in the book. What exactly did these consequences look like? What would happen if education policy headed full-steam down that path? What are some counter-arguments to accountability and choice?
2. I agree with Ravitch's definition of a well-educated person. I try to think of examples of what this looks like today in our nation and I come up short with a concrete example. A well-educated person should know how to think critically about their world around them. This is a blanket statement to be sure, but the immeasurability is what makes this difficult. To put some hypothetical questions around this - why did you vote for candidate x? how does that vote affect you? what do you want your children to learn? why? how? why spend money on this? There should be reasonable answers to questions like these that benefit the individual and society as a whole.
3. I appreciated the opportunity to engage in a discussion with the class. I speculate more about Ravitch herself. I wanted to stir it up a little bit. Basically, who is she? Why did she decide to become a historian of education? What created her biases? I wanted to try to legitimize her, or perhaps un-legitimize her as 'windy rhetoric'.
4. standard 10.10.3 Students analyze instances of nation-building in the contemporary world in at least two of the following regions or countries: the Middle East, Africa, Mexico and other parts of Latin America, and China. -- Discuss the important trends in the regions today and whether they appear to serve the cause of individual freedom and democracy.
Website: http://www.globalissues.org/
Article:http://www.newyorker.
Book: http://www.amazon.com/Power-
I read this book recently to bridge my gap and I found fascinating, albeit biased, history of the United States in the Middle East. One of the first things I learned is the various definitions of what is included in the Middle East. There are many different interpretations. I also discovered that the very young and sovereign United States back at the end of the 18th century created a navy at great expense and great risk in order to avoid paying "bribes" to Barbary pirates serving various North African states. The U.S. presence in this region has always been very complicated by the big two topics that are no-no's around the dinner table -- religion and politics.
5. One of the articles I am reading for my research is "Narratives of Nation -State, Historical Knowledge, and School History Education", by Bruce VanSledright. In it, he discusses how history education is shaped and what might happen if educators pursued different visions of education by exploring alternative views of history (non-textbook narratives). This could lead to other questions about how to engage students in artifact analysis, primary source analysis, and recognize bias. This author was convincing enough for me to use some of his references to build more knowledge about alternative views of history education, as this will be central to my project, which is to engage the reluctant history learner.
6. Meg, what are some creative educational experiences you have facilitated as a high school social studies teacher? What do you think might be a good way to wrap some pedagogy around my content questions?
Dear Tom:
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your responses. Just a reminder to post a question for me (that was the part that was added in class). Take a look at your classmates' blogs for inspiration, if need be! I hope that you saw my previous post and book recommendation.
Meg
The article you cite, Narrative of a Nation, eems really interesting. The narrative that a country chooses for itself defines its cultural identity. It reminds me of a quote by the famed sociologist Benedict Anderson, who argues that "Nations are imagined political communities." His argument is not against patriotism but that there is no political boundaries in nature, but an agreed upon narrative in the "collective imagination" of its people. We all agree -- or at least the powers that be-- agree upon the definition of what it means to be American, Mexican, Canadian, etc. Borders change, languages change, culture change, etc. Yesterday's border is not today's. Yesterday's unilanguage preference may change in 50 years to a national preference for English and Navajo.
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