[etni] Response to Dr. Lifschitz
- From: "David R. Herz" <drh16@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2008 22:43:19 +0200
Response to comments of Dr. Lifschitz:
I am glad to be identified with what I write. I can take this liberty
because I am not in a position to fear repercussions. First, I will
introduce myself. Then I will address some of the points made by Dr.
Lifschitz and Anonymi.
I was a lawyer in the United States and became very interested and involved
in educational issues - even running a kindergarten - when my children
started school. When I came to Israel, I was delighted that the Ministry of
Education and Nefesh b'Nefesh created a program at Michlalah Jerusalem for
people who wanted to be teachers. I commuted from Bet Rimon to Jerusalem
two or three times a week (370+ kilometers round trip; I drove because there
was no bus early enough) for a year and a half to do this program. It was a
very good program.
I didn't love being a lawyer. I love teaching; but now, after two years of
teaching, I am taking the bar examination in Israel. I will flesh out why
in greater detail later.
First, I will state that I wholeheartedly agree that Higher Order Thinking
is a skill and that it can and should be taught. Whether we call it that or
not, I think there are teachers that make this the focus of their teaching,
realizing full-well that students acquire and integrate "knowledge" much
more rapidly when it is put in an engaging and accessible context.
However, it is patronizing to both teachers and students to suggest that
until now students "certainly would not and could not initiate the use of
any thinking skill on their own. Certainly, they could not transfer the use
of higher order thinking to anything else: not their life, not their other
school subjects."
Children are born trying to make meaning out of their world. It is the
drawing of connections that brings them to speak and count and walk. Their
very program is one of analysis and integration. They are also logical and
smart. When we train them - from kindergarten on - to do what the teacher
tells them, to spit back the one right answer a teacher seeks, to concern
themselves with grades instead of learning, to ask permission to attend to
basic bodily needs, they draw conclusions about the meaning of school and
education, and act accordingly. In short they end up worrying about how to
pass the test.
Why should we be surprised that they eschew higher order thinking skills
when their very training has been to avoid it? Yet they and their teachers
do think, often see the fundamental flaws of this system, and go on and
learn anyway. If they are not using higher order thinking skills, it is
because we have trained them not to. While I certainly agree that a teacher
can be an agent in the development of these skills, we should start by
eliminating the many practices known to retard these skills.
Dr. Lifschitz starts her post with "The F module." To use a metaphor, this
is icing on a mud pie. The giving of exams - especially matriculation exams
- has been shown to have nothing but a deleterious effect on higher order
thinking skills. Such exams do kill motivation, cause students to question
their self-worth, cause depression and suicide, and lead to more superficial
treatment and knowledge of subjects. Who has not heard a student ask "Will
I need to know this for the test?" Likewise grades and homework. As such,
any attempt to tweak the testing regime to include what it overwhelmingly
destroys will be fruitless.
As to the criteria, I find them wanting. Some would suggest that great
literature draws on universal human experiences. It is not bound by a
specific language. Moreover, most Israelis do not have the option of
studying Spanish, French, German, Russian, Chinese and so forth. They
experience foreign literature mostly in the English classroom. Should we
really make it policy that they only experience one alternate set of world
views?
According to the "criteria," Chaucer would not be allowed as he is
translated. While Hemingway would be, much of his work concerns foreign
contexts. We could not bring in the works of Karl Mannheim or Immanuel
Kant, regardless of their contributions to human thought. I suggest we
focus on use and contribution to higher order thinking skills of instead of
origin.
I also have a final comment, and here I return to my legal experience.
Please treat us as the professionals we are. As a lawyer, my professional
judgment means something. I am not told which argument to use or which
legal theory to proceed under. I do not have someone from some professional
body telling me how to proceed in my case. But I do have continuing legal
education.
As teachers under this regime, we are under a constant barrage of directives
and new programs from the ministry. We are subjected to rubrics for the
projects; we are told how long a text must be; we are told to emphasize
grammar one year and literature the next; we must use certain texts and
textbooks; we must teach certain material in a certain time-frame; we are
told how many books to teach; we must give grades that align with
performance on the Bagrut.
Let's start from the premise that we are all professionals seeking to hone
our professional judgment. We do not need a checklist to do this. We could
use ongoing training. Let teachers choose where they want help. Then let's
set up teams of experts that visit schools and teachers in their classroom
on a continuing basis to give them the help they need. Let them work
together to set up lesson plans and be observed as they execute them. Let
there be debriefings afterward, and further work and observation.
Let's expose them to new ideas and give them practical tools and appropriate
training to implement them. If we feel they are not doing enough in one
area, such as literature, let's encourage them to find out more and teach
them how they could incorporate such work in the classroom. But let's not
cram another program down teachers' throats and be under the delusion that
there will be lasting change to the system. It's an insult to those who
already know what they are doing, and can only serve to raise the anxiety
level of the "unqualified and/or inexperienced." In addition, it has the
effect of driving people like myself, who have the potential to be
exceptional teachers, out of the system.
David Raphael Herz
www.educatingisrael.com <http://www.educatingisrael.com/>
052-579-1859
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