Monday, March 2, 2009
The Beginning of My Blog
Well I am very new to blogging, but here goes nothing. It came to my attention, during my Literacy Studies class during fall term, that there is a very grave plan in the works regarding education. Falling in line with what seems to be the overall direction of all things political, education is moving toward a privatized state, that is, one in which for-profit corporations control the information disseminated to both students and parents alike. The scariest part is that it has already begun. Teachers, in many situations, do not design curriculums any longer. In fact, many schools buy their curriculums from text book companies or other education contractors. The greatest threat in so doing comes from the fact that these for-profit corporations have little or no understanding of what will be necessary to most benefit student's academic careers. In short, the curriculum is out of touch with student needs. I will examine this phenomena in this blog, citing sources when available and where applicable.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Mike, I absolutely agree. Educators are not formulating curriculum--they are handed a textbook and a teacher's edition and told to make it work. I have heard some teachers comment that they are fine with this situation--they're so burned out that all they have to do is stand up and regurgitate facts so that their students can regurgitate the facts onto a standardized test. And so the cycle continues....
ReplyDeleteHowever, there are those teachers (and I think it's safe to say that it is the majority) who feel that all that's happening is that the schools are being taken over by private companies, and that all teacher creativity is being thrown out the window. What's the point of mandating teachers to obtain a Bachelor's degree and a teaching credential when anyone could stand up in front of a class and read from a teacher's edition of the textbook? Now, this may sound extreme, but I believe, it's true and that we are seeing the effects of this in our drop-out rates and that fact that MANY high school graduates are ill-prepared for college or vocational training.
This is definately an issue to be pondered. Just today, I read an article that mentioned how other schools systems (nations outside the U.S.) that test the students learning on a more individualized level which is performance-based. They are tested on essays, projects, and activities which I think is a more significant result versus the typical multiple-choice that lacks creativity and problem-solving skills.
ReplyDelete