[etni] Fwd: Amen to Eleanor's post (anti-Hots posts and numbers)
- From: ETNI list <etni.list@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: Etni <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 2 Sep 2010 14:51:28 +0300
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ruthi <rsheffer@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: Amen to Eleanor's post (anti-Hots posts and numbers)
Well said both Eleanor and Esther.Why would we be making such a fuss
about this issue if we didn't CARE about the welfare of our pupils? It
would be much easier to just roll over and accept this, just as we
have done in the past. Other things have bothered us about the New
BAgrut before but we have just got on with it and done the job. But
the fact is, this issue is really, as Tessa so accurately pointed out
at the ETAI discussion, the last straw. Many of us objectors feel very
strongly about the way that Literature should be taught. I personally
have an MA in Comparative Lit and was extremely worried when Lit was
taken off the Bagrut. I was excited at the prospect of it being
returned to the exam. BUT- not this way and not by making it something
rigid and inflexible. What was wrong with the way we taught it before?
I am certainly not advocating a return to all the old texts of All my
Sons, Eveline etc. Rather I would welcome more choice of texts, and
the freedom to continue teaching them as I have been doing, without
explicitly teaching the HOTS.
I know how to teach characterization, opinion, point of view etc but I
don't think that the pupils need to be burdened with all this
terminology. They just need to be taught to appreciate a good story or
poem!
Ruth
Esther wrote:
> I agree with every word of Eleanor Zwebner's excellent post from digest #237.
> To remind you of her words, these were the main points she mentioned:
>
> "...I wish people in power would take notice NOT of whether or not there are
> more in favor of HOTS or are against HOTS. This isn't a beauty pageant or a
> referendum...."
>
> "...there has NEVER NEVER NEVER been an outcry of PROTEST, a refusal of MANY
> teachers to implement a program. And this outcry is being ignored."
>
> "So, please, stop counting. Both sides can claim a silent majority. There
> are many in favor of HOTS, sure. BUT -- there are many
> angry, frustrated teachers against HOTS and it is not a question of whether
> we are bigger or stronger or weaker and more vulnerable. We
> exist and our concerns are being minimalized at best . This is demeaning
> and demoralizing and I would like my Inspectors and the
> their superiors to recognize this and its implications."
>
> We are not "trouble makers" causing dissent in order to be bothersome; we are
> a very large group of dedicated educators who feel that the HOTS literature
> program is a poorly devised program that will not benefit our pupils in the
> long run. So please don't think we will just hush up and disappear! We have
> the good of our pupils in mind and are working hard to put a stop to this
> program before it causes irreparable
> damage especially to our weak pupils' futures in English.
-----------------------------------------------
** Etni homepage - http://www.etni.org
** for help - ask@xxxxxxxx **
** to post to this list - etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx **
-----------------------------------------------
Other related posts: