As I try to organize my reactions to this discussion into some sort of cohesive post, the wall I keep hitting is this: change is messy, and people in general don't like messy. We can't count on the government to change standardized testing requirements, meaning we can't count on district administrations to change because they don't want to lose funding dollars, meaning we can't count on campus admins to change their views on What to teach and When and How. Here's where the messy comes in. The change has to start at the classroom level, with individual teachers standing up to the status quo and showing what a difference it makes to the students. But, these brave teachers often give up after one round of testing when their scores take a dip (because they've been teaching to the student instead of teaching to the test). Or they succumb to pressure from those that 'like this stuff' to return to the 'normal' way.
I'm reminded of the packing, sorting and purging that comes with a big household move (or even a closet clean-out in my case). It always starts by throwing everything in the middle of the room, and if you're a Marie Kondo fan, determining which items 'bring you joy'. It's messy and I hate it, but it's the only way to move forward. As with my cluttered thoughts at the start of this post, I needed to throw it all out there before it could take shape. I'ts time to Marie Kondo the education system. What parts bring us joy?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Michelle's bookshelf: currently-reading![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
tagged:
currently-reading
![]() |