Does Standardization Serve Students? Or is Common Core a Dead End?
This weekend we have heard some controversy over corporations forcing low-wage employees to work on holidays such as Thanksgiving. Many of us are disturbed by this encroachment on time traditionally allowed for family. It feels as if every aspect of life is being bent towards maximum extraction of profits for the super-wealthy.
One of the undercurrents fueling concerns about the Common Core is the relentless focus on preparation for "college and career." Education has always had dual aspirations - to elevate mind and spirit, through the investigation of big ideas, and the pursuit of fine arts and literature, and the service of the economic needs of individuals and society. What we are feeling in our modern culture is the absolute hegemony of commercial aims, as if every activity that does not produce profit is under assault.
And in our classrooms there is a parallel assault on activities that do not "prepare for college and career," which has been redefined, in practical terms, as preparation for the tests that have been determined to be aligned with that goal. Preparation for college and career has begun to feel more and more like "preparation to make yourself useful to future corporate employers."
A letter signed by 132 Catholic professors made this argument clear:
Promoters of Common Core say that it is designed to make America's children "college and career ready." We instead judge Common Core to be a recipe for standardized workforce
