Defending Parents Against Stereotypes
A reader writes in support of low-income and working-class families and reminds us of the importance of collaboration:
Diane, thanks again for your clarity and calm through what must have been a difficult week. Your small manifesto looks so obvious, when it is quietly laid out.
Unfortunately, the conversation also gets hijacked by those with an agenda to attack low-income families, and working class parents in general, with false and degrading stereotypes. When that happens, it undermines the teachers who serve the majority of honorable inner city residents and uneducated, but nonetheless dedicated,
Diane, thanks again for your clarity and calm through what must have been a difficult week. Your small manifesto looks so obvious, when it is quietly laid out.
Unfortunately, the conversation also gets hijacked by those with an agenda to attack low-income families, and working class parents in general, with false and degrading stereotypes. When that happens, it undermines the teachers who serve the majority of honorable inner city residents and uneducated, but nonetheless dedicated,
What Is the Public Purpose of Public Education?
In case you have forgotten how to answer that question;
In case you are befuddled by the nonstop attacks on public schools and those who teach in them;
In case you don’t remember the history of education in the past fifty years:
Please read this statement on “The Public Purpose of Public Education” by Jan Resseger.
It is one of the best, most concise summaries of the issues facing public education and our society today
In case you are befuddled by the nonstop attacks on public schools and those who teach in them;
In case you don’t remember the history of education in the past fifty years:
Please read this statement on “The Public Purpose of Public Education” by Jan Resseger.
It is one of the best, most concise summaries of the issues facing public education and our society today
A Former Coal Miner Said This About Teachers Today
I just learned about Kipp Dawson early this morning. I got an email about a radio program where she is interviewed.
What got my attention was that Kipp spent 13 years working underground as a coal miner before she became a middle-school English teacher in Pittsburgh. I dropped a line to her, noting her unusual transition from coal miner to teacher, and she replied as follows:
You know, there is a strong parallel between these two “lives” these days. Underground we all were one another’s life savers; literally, of course. We watched out for danger and warned one another, and when one of us got hurt,
What got my attention was that Kipp spent 13 years working underground as a coal miner before she became a middle-school English teacher in Pittsburgh. I dropped a line to her, noting her unusual transition from coal miner to teacher, and she replied as follows:
You know, there is a strong parallel between these two “lives” these days. Underground we all were one another’s life savers; literally, of course. We watched out for danger and warned one another, and when one of us got hurt,
Neil Postman Had It Right in 1976
A reader recalls what Neil Postman wrote almost 40 years ago. He was known as a future-thinker, and this quotation proves he was:
I’m a public school teacher in NJ. Relevant in this context is a wonderful little book by Neil Postman entitled “The Disappearance of Childhood”. He ties the invention of childhood in the west over the past few centuries to universal literacy. In the book he argues that the concept of childhood peaked sometime in the first half of the 20th century, but since then has been worn down by a decline in literacy and our infatuation with other forms of entertainment media. Profiting from schooling, racing to the top, focusing on absurd objective criteria like
Where Are the Miracle Schools?
Bruce Baker of Rutgers University has written a fascinating analysis of charter schools in New York City and Houston.
Do they enroll the same students as the nearby district schools? Do they have higher test scores? Do they spend the same amount of money? These are very important questions, given the reformers’ belief that charter schools will close the achievement
What’s Needed Now: R-E-S-P-E-C-T
A reader comments on the discussion about parents, teachers, and students:
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