[etni] hot about HOTS
- From: "David R. Herz" <drh16@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:32:28 +0300
Just to take issue with Adele again for the bleeding fun of it, I need to
ask:
1. Why don't we start by eliminating the things that frustrate the
teaching of literature and the development of Higher Order Thinking Skills?
2. If what we are teaching are life-skills and skills relevant to other
subjects, how come we are not receiving HOTS training on a school-wide
basis, with each faculty receiving additional training specific to its
needs?
As I have written before, variations on HOTS have been around for a long
time. I would guess that most of us - at least on this list - do not
dispute that emphasis on these skills can have great value. Most of us
would also like the time to do more literature and recognize its value. You
speak of "what allowed the Ministry to put literature back on the map . . .
" If we agree that literature is a great and essential part of English
teaching, shouldn't we look at why it fell off the map and what version of
it is coming back? We might find that a lot of the structure that remains
is the exact structure that interferes with our infusion of the great values
we want to impart.
Most of the literature I used last year does not meet the current
guidelines. I could envision using some other work of art as an entry point
for some quite sophisticated conversations about art and literature (use of
HOTS in other words). In this case, I am thinking of the Dead Kennedys "Too
Drunk to F**k." But this is no longer strictly an English lesson. This
brings in protest songs and movements, questions of censorship and free
speech, questions of what has artistic value, questions of basic decency,
and should cause some curiosity as to what today's disaffected youth has in
common with my disaffected youth.
From teaching and administrative standpoints, this raises questions of joint
scheduling and programming with the history/civics/literature departments.
How can we expect anything from them when the infusion hasn't reached there
yet?
These kinds of issues aren't even addressed. Instead what we will see next
year is more ridiculous conversations about how to evaluate and give grades
under the new system and implement the various requirements instead of
conversations about how to engage our students to really love this wonderful
world of material.
You also speak of incidental benefits regarding organization and teaching
practices. Wouldn't it make more sense to have a competent inspector come
into a class room, work with a teacher to determine what is missing and then
provide support from there?
I do not mean anything personal here Adele. I just think that our system is
based on the notion that our kids lack inspiration and need to be coerced
and controlled. We don't need all this structure to inspire our students to
love literature and engage seriously and intensively with their world. What
we need to do is give up the coercive structure, have faith in our kids, and
provide them a constructive space in which they can grow and advance. I
know the new program is trying in some way to do this, but it is built on
such a rotten foundation (lack of faith in the individual teacher, the
Bagrut, grades, insufficient time, teachers and training, etc.) and situated
in such a lousy environment (Israel's educational system), that much of this
effort will be for naught.
The context is decisive. If we don't do something about it, very little
will change.
With another hour and a half wasted, I am . . .
Yours truly,
David R. Herz
drherz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.educatingisrael.com
Bet Rimon
052-579-1859
Dear Talila,
No ignorance involved here - this is an intelligent question coming from
someone who has yet to do the course. It is not so much "infusing" as
"integrating" (hence the title of the course is "Integrating Higher Order
Skills in Literature Teaching"). The aim is to do both. One aim is to
encourage teachers to teach literature. Another aim is to empower our
students with tools that will help them analyze not only literature, but
other things they learn, in other subjects as well as in different realms of
their lives.
The integrating of the HOTS into the teaching of literature has many
benefits other than that: it is what allowed the Ministry to put literature
back on the map BIG time, it is an effective and efficient way to organize
our units of work and instill in us sound teaching practices that are all
too often overlooked or forgotten when we do our planning (methodological
issues such as sufficient emphasis on lower order thinking skills, explicit
instruction, metacognition, reflection, etc.)
I hope you find the opportunity to go to a session that is given that
explains this more thoroughly than I have the time to here... I have no
doubt that there will be informative sessions at ETAI. I can tell you that
for REED teachers, our study day is focusing specifically on this topic, and
I trust inspectors in other regions will be running introductory,
explanatory sessions, as well (if they are NOT, then call or write them and
request this to be done!)
I hope that clarifies it to some extent, at least.
Best of luck
Adele
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