tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18463596.post4509344192416102541..comments2023-09-21T19:44:59.512-04:00Comments on Joy Leftow's Poetry Blog: Our Educational SytemJoy Leftowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03700619411586350136noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18463596.post-41040798217510707092009-04-05T14:57:00.000-04:002009-04-05T14:57:00.000-04:00I rarely post comment but I feel more is needed he...I rarely post comment but I feel more is needed here. I forgot to mention my son had hearing deficiencies as well, and couldn't hear until he had surgery at 6 years old. I didn't realize he had a problem because he over compensated with a series of behaviors adapted to communicate his needs which I learned to respond too. After he had his Bilateral Myringotomy. The doctor told me his delayed speech patterns were because he couldn't hear. Makes sense, right?Joy Leftowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03700619411586350136noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18463596.post-81034975175753383002009-04-05T14:49:00.000-04:002009-04-05T14:49:00.000-04:00I feel that this is crucial stuff for all our futu...I feel that this is crucial stuff for all our futures and for our childrens futures for sure... I feel lots about the placing of teachers in the control of such hardened bureaucracy that they are, in reality, following orders, on threat of dismissal. I do not believe for one moment it is anything less than intentional, from the systems perspective, at least.<BR/><BR/>John Holt and others point out that children have innate learning abilities that are NOT catered for in Compulsory State Education. I think of it like this : we are nature first and foremost, being in bodies, that is; and in nature all beings born into life have the innate self-driven learning abilities to become competent and to thrive in the natural world.... so why are 'we' any different?<BR/><BR/>Why this intervention in childrens lives?<BR/><BR/>For jobs? Thats not meeting the childs needs as a person. Thats training, a different thing altogether, and training ought only be taken up as a free choice of the child. It ought never be imposed. Thats a form of conscription.<BR/><BR/>Education, that is the exploration and integration of mind and reality, through shared experience and learnings has to be naturally self motivated, self-organising and rational in terms of the natural childs expectations as a living natural being in context of his/her complete environment; and each childs learning is in many ways unique, it's their exploration, their meanings that matter to them. What also matters to them is how do they become competent as who they are, in this world. <BR/><BR/>Stats, exams and mistakes (the concept that one can get something 'wrong', and that attached to that possibility is a sanction, the potential for humiliation or indeed the threat of future poverty) causes most children to seek to avoid making mistakes. Obviously. <BR/><BR/>This is fatal in learning for it blocks the feed-back loop of exploration, observation, learning (integrating what has been observed) and moving further on with the learning and exploration; expoloration that is at it's best when the experience is joyful - very young childrens 'play' is a deeply intelligent exploration of the strange new world they find themselves in. <BR/><BR/>The History of State Education by John Taylor Gatto looks at those people and philanthrophists and institutions who set up Complusory State Education, and delves deep in to their archives, to reveal the true agenda of State Education. They wrote one side for public consumption, and in private they described in detail their intentions, and how they designed their project to 'educate' the 'masses'.<BR/><BR/>And the childrens true interests and natural needs were nowhere on their list of priorities, other than being given lip-service as a fig-leaf for 'voters'....to assuage parents natural concerns about sending one's children to the care of strangers. <BR/><BR/>John Taylor Gatto looks at the whole subject of the science and psycholoigy of education, it's roots and philosophies. <BR/><BR/>He looks too at the huge bureaucracy of education and deconstructs it - what he reveals is a gravy train of easy money for hundreds of thousands of people who income derives from confining our children, which 'hardens' the system, and forms a potent informal lobby group that will vote to keep their jobs and businesses...<BR/><BR/>All of which are reflected in comments above.<BR/><BR/>Well worth a read, John Taylor Gatto...<BR/><BR/>http://www.johntaylor.gatto.comcorneiliushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07286709354765150574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18463596.post-11567370090391153532009-04-03T18:07:00.000-04:002009-04-03T18:07:00.000-04:00It's hard to know A) what to teach and B) how to t...It's hard to know A) what to teach and B) how to teach it because so many jobs that we have today were not around even five years ago. I agree that we are too focused on standardized test scores in our schools. I like the idea of teaching creativity from a young age. But how? And, since no one wants to be expected to be creative every minute of every day, we need to teach students in groups, as we do now, and we need to teach reading, history, math and science, as we do now. I also think we need to teach personal finance. And we need students to be able to think clearly about choices they will make in life.Andrew Christhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05594635340533410244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18463596.post-32048284192908030262009-04-03T17:53:00.000-04:002009-04-03T17:53:00.000-04:00very in depth Joy. The last portion I have heard a...very in depth Joy. The last portion I have heard about and am completely flabbergasted. Just 'many people died' is not telling the truth. Any case, a lot of histories is not represented well in several parts of the world, for example, the colonial history. In the south asian subcontinent, you'll be amazed how so many school text books are being subverted in favor of rank rightwing propaganda... <BR/><BR/>And agree on the stress on statistical success. An education reporter where I worked was always flummoxed about this. Do you have anything to write about the No Child Left Behind program? personally, I think it is a load of trash and does no good to the all-round developmetn of kids.fleuve-souterrainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02671460507098082150noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18463596.post-90432384464534752122009-04-03T14:34:00.000-04:002009-04-03T14:34:00.000-04:00The educational system in the US sounds like it is...The educational system in the US sounds like it is governed by very similar bodies and measures as that of the UK, we do have OFSTEAD requirements to meet and what is taught must be according to the National Curriculum. My mother is a teacher and she also became very disolutioned by the system a number of years ago, she was even instrumental in project managing an alternative education project for the children with extreme cases on non-system compliance but like most of us the mortgage kicked in and the family debts etc, etc and the enthusiasm and fire that the innitial indignation created wore off.<BR/><BR/>I also have had some very rewarding experiences of teaching my son at home. In fact everything he has ever learned has been from home and the basic literacy and maths skills I sent him to school with have mysteriously 'disapeared', yet somehow it's my fault, or his fault and of course not the worry of a possibly highly neglegent school system.<BR/><BR/>My son attends a specialist school which has only very high functioning children on the autistic spectrum (75% of the students) or children with a non-specific language delay and to all intents and purposes it is like any other school in terms of targets and reports etc but with less children per class. How you can 'loose' two years of maths and literacy in a class of only 8 children defeats me and what concerns me more is the possiblity that the only reason for wanting my son to leave now is that it could affect the schools reputation for turning out exceptional figures.<BR/><BR/>Canterbury has three universities here so many of my friends are either teachers or studying to become teachers, yet all of them seem to convey at least some sense of dismay in the National curriculum and the heavy burden of having to meet stats.<BR/><BR/>As for the history thing, when you send children to school they automatically become subject to the systems interpretation of itself, it's not uncommon for this to be in conflict with the overal world view of that same period. When I was attending my son's school on a regular basis (because he was so 'badly' behaved that they wouldn't let him stay without me) I noticed how outrightly racist the teachers were in their portrayal of 'cultural' studies and how evidently ignorant they were being in bringing the class across, it was the most I could do not to jump up from the class mat and shout out - no! that's not right. <BR/><BR/>Even in adult education where it seems that there should be a less confined view of things there are sometimes oversights, recently I finished a course in music technology, in the first year we were taught 'music in context - the history of music', I was indignant when I noticed that the content of the course was actually the history of Western music! as if music began with western culture and that the rest of the world did not exist! My teacher thought she could placate me by first saying that she was not racist as she had played in many parts of Africa during her time as a musician and that the course was indeed a study of western music. However, I remained indignant because even still the course should have been entitled 'A history of western music from a western persective', in fact it was at that point that I realised how arrogant the whole concept of teaching 'history' per sey is. It think we should be honest and say that we are teaching the history of x, y or z from the perspective of x, y or z, rather more like philosophy than fact because quite honestly history is subject to so much interpretation and misinterpretation that it is rather more like philosophy than a fact...<BR/><BR/>er, actually I think I might write about that next!Lorraine Kashdanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06812178186786964224noreply@blogger.com