[etni] What to do ! ! !
- From: "David R. Herz" <drh16@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:41:31 +0300
I really want to start by calling you all a bunch of idiots, but I realize
that would be counterproductive, so I won't. (There must be a literary term
for that, saying something by saying that you are not saying something. If
there isn't yet, let's call it a nonething, and add it to the curriculum).
But I really write to comment on Ruth Sheffer and Jennifer Byk's posts and
the whole HOTS thread. Let's start with Ruth's "serious nonsense" and being
forced into things wrong-minded and not educational. To the extent we have
hewn to the whims of the Ministry of Education, we haven't acted as
professionals in years. We engage in many practices that valid educational
research has shewn to be wrong-minded and not educational, or at least has
cast sufficient doubt upon to call them into question. If we were held to a
professional standard, a good lot of us would be liable for malpractice. We
give grades and homework because bureaucrats and parents demand them, even
when we know that these institutions can really scar students' motivation
and can encourage immoral or unethical behavior. As Amanda and Jennifer
noted, we put undue emphasis on various areas - such as grammar - because
they are easy to grade and produce reliable results, albeit of questionable
value. We too often cater our teaching to exams instead of to our student's
needs, often because our students - another non-professional group - demand
it.
We have accepted "serious nonsense" from the outset. Our whole educational
structure is "serious nonsense." Unfortunately certain people believe in it
like people did in the geocentric universe before Galileo, or at least they
don't want to buck the system for fear of coming to Socrates' type of end.
A professional should have a great degree of leeway to act according to his
own judgment. It is that judgment that characterizes professional training.
Think of when you call someone professional. I bet most of the time you
could substitute that the person has acted with good judgment (you could
throw in a little compassion, empathy and understanding here as well) based
on some degree of experience or knowledge specific to his area of expertise.
I expect that you also have faith that that "professional" has mastered and
continues to work to master his area.
The truth is that we of this list are the professionals. We engage with our
subject, we go to ETAI conferences, we are constantly trying to refine and
improve what we do. But for whatever reasons, we don't hold our colleagues
to the same professional standards and we don't demand that the ministry
allow us to exercise our judgment as we see fit, subject obviously to some
set of professional standards.
But the answer is not to count beans in order to shew how impossible our
task is as Jennifer has suggested. This buys into the whole master and
servant paradigm that is also the core of our "discipline" problems.
Instead of objecting to being told what to do at all, we object that the
next straw is too much. We are already slaves. What did Pharaoh do but
just heap on the next unreasonable demand? We dealt with it as we could and
he really didn't care how many of us died off anyway. And look at how many
of us chose to stay slaves anyway.
So, analogy, simile, metaphor, semaphore or whatever you call it aside, the
solutions are quite simple. Just walk in sit down and sing a bar of Alice's
Restaurant. (I couldn't help myself.)
One: Know your subject and your profession. This means staying up to date,
and knowing enough statistics to actually understand what the educational
research is saying or failing to say. This should include getting as close
to primary sources in educational research as possible and not simply
relying on someone else's biased view, even in the ETAI forum. If research
really could be used to support any point, Doctor's would still be bleeding
patients, asbestos would still be used in cigarette filters and sanitariums
would still have round rooms so that ill humors could not take up residence
in the corners.
Two: Take a Stand. Teach your best and ignore all demands that are
"wrong-minded" or "not educational." Once you have done "One," you can much
more easily do this. You will be justified because you know you are right
and you can educate the parent/student/administrator. But really "teach."
Don't do test prep or anything that does not inspire a student to learn. If
he is really learning - perhaps for the first time in twelve years of school
- you will have a powerful ally in helping you keep your job. Don't give
grades, homework or anything else that does not lead a student to "learn."
Three: Demand that the ministry treat you as a professional and base its
program for professional development on valid educational research. This
obviously requires that the ministry not demand anything more or less
particular of you than the highest exercise of your professional judgment.
Four: Demand that your colleagues, all teachers, not just the English
teachers, perhaps at the union or ministry level, maybe elsewhere, develop a
set of professional standards and a mechanism for encouraging and policing
them. Maybe we could even demand that our organization, the people of ETAI,
take bold measures to make sure we are heard loud and clear. How about a
weekly press release on what the research really says or how the next or
current initiative is wrong-minded, or what it means to be a professional?
Heck, if I can get a hundred teachers to do this (we can give the campaign a
snazzy name and everything), I'll even go back into teaching to play along,
if anyone will hire me.
Hic Finis Est,
David R. Herz
drherz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.educatingisrael.com
Bet Rimon
052-579-1859
P.S. I haven't updated the site in a long time, but will get my draft White
Paper up there shortly.
From: "Ask Etni" <ask@xxxxxxxx>
Subject: [etni] Fw: Jimmy Backer's post
Date: Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:45:11 +0200
----- Original Message -----
From: Ruthi - rsheffer@xxxxxxxxx
Subject: Jimmy Backer's post
I would like to thank Jimmy for the long ,informative and scary post. At
least this confirms what I had already suspected. We are up against some
serious nonsense in the HOTS lit program, and we really have to get together
to sort out how we are going to proceed. We cannot be forced into something
so uneducational and wrong minded.We are serious professionals on this list,
whose goal is to help students to succeed in English Lang and Lit, and it is
eminently clear that HOTS is going to make our job a whole lot more
difficult than it is already.Any bright ideas?
Ruth
----- Original Message -----
From: byk - byk@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Reflections on the HOTS Course
I would like to back Amanda up as to the teaching of grammar. It is taught
non-stop from 4th grade on up. Of course the reason is obvious; it is easy
to teach; the pupils think they are learning something and the teachers have
slightly more control of the class.
The issue of discipline is paramount. Almost all teachers, right through to
the end of high school, spend their time trying to keep order. If the
teachers are not given real tools to deal with this problem, and ample back
up from principals and parents, all learning is going to continue
deteriorating.
I suggest that teachers come to Etai with the exact number of hours they
have taught (not those that they were supposed to teach), with the number of
students they had in each class, the number of students in each class who
had accommodations, and the estimated time each separatate task the
Ministery has set, should take. And I mean what is the absolute minimum
time it takes to get through these tasks. I think that you will find, in
case you didn't already knowit, that it is impossible to do everything.
Then take the results to the Irgun and cry "Gevalt!!!!!!"
Jennifer
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