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Thursday, November 21, 2019

CURMUDGUCATION: Yes And

CURMUDGUCATION: Yes And

Yes And

Why do I see such a profound lack of “yes and” in education conversations?

“YES we can criticize bad data AND advocate for preparing students for the jobs of the future.”

“YES we can advocate for abolishing the the tests AND argue to improve education.”


This tweet (shared with permission) really hit me where I live. Because defenders of public education have too often let themselves be pushed into a one-part argument when a two-part argument is what's called for.

Blame No Child Left Behind. It was educational baloney, but rhetorical genius. Every attempt to discuss the empty baloniness of it was met by the same response; "Well, then, which children do you want to leave behind."

Ever since, this has been the ed disruptors' framing for everything. If you want Goal A, then you must support Method Z. If you want accountability, you must support high stakes testing. If you don't like bad schools, you must support privately run charter schools (also, if you support freedom, you must support charter schools).

When pressed, reformsters double down on descriptions of the awfulness of the problem.

Reformster: Look at these test results. Look at these x-rays. You definitely have a brain tumor, and if it's not fixed, you'll soon lose feeling in your limbs and your legs will stop working properly.  CONTINUE READING: 
CURMUDGUCATION: Yes And