[etni] Fw: Here we go again!

From: "Ask_Etni" <ask@xxxxxxxx>
To: "ETNI" <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 21:27:37 +0300
From: "sbshai" <sbshai@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Here we go again!

Dear Tessie  and other uninitiated ETNI readers,
Simply stated, HOTS and LOTS are acronyms for Higher and Lower Order 
Thinking Skills, respectively.
They are being touted by the MOE as an innovative program -- the 'be all and 
end all' of our goals as ESL teachers -- though upon close examination, it's 
clear that those who have been faithfully teaching literature (the 
sacrificial lamb, as it were, upon which HOTS must be "infused" or 
"integrated") have been intensively dealing with thinking skills all along.
So what's the big deal, you rightfully ask?  Well, there IS one novel idea: 
we now have to explicitly teach the thinking skills, as well as require that 
our students name them.
(If you want to know what all the fuss is about, try this out on a class --  
especially a strong or weak one -- and then report to us!)
The (commendable) overall idea -- one that we have long been exercising --  
is to get our students to apply the kind of thinking they do about 
literature to other subjects and areas in their lives.
The objections you have been reading on this list have to do with the WAY to 
accomplish this aim, not the need to do so.

Even though, to the MOE's credit, the program has been modified from its 
original form based on feedback from teachers (mostly, or perhaps entirely, 
those who were involved in the pilot program, it seems), there still remain 
some basic holes and questions of import that have not yet been addressed. 
(These have been discussed extensively on this list, but if someone needs 
the information, she can contact me off-list and I'll forward a summary of 
the issue -- pros, cons and doubts.)

It appears that the unacknowledged purpose of the program is to get us to 
teach literature in a unified (quite think-INside-the-box!) way, and put the 
current educational theory on our agenda -- all at once.
That, in an oversized nutshell, is the story!  There are points of valid 
pedagogical concern and/or objection (hence, some of the controversy you've 
been reading about), not to mention questions that should be addressed to 
the unions; I leave these issues for others to explain!

The fact that there are teachers who still don't know what HOTS is about 
should be a point of concern to all those who want to see the program 
achieve its stated aims -- and here's one thing all educators can agree 
about (i.e., the theoreticians, the Inspectorate and we teachers on the 
field): If we MUST teach this way, with all the work that it entails, we 
want the program to succeed!

Pleasant vacationing to all,
Batya



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[etni] Fw: Here we go again!

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