Christina (Tina) Platt (Project Director for Focused Instruction in the Department of Teaching and Learning) >>>>> Questions as I Work Toward The Conclusion of My New Book, Understanding the Minneapolis Public Schools: Current Condition, Future Prospect

A Note to My Readers

 

Below is a set of questions that I sent to Christina (Tina) Platt, Project Director or Focused Instruction in the Department of Teaching and Learning at the Minneapolis Public Schools.  Platt receives a salary of $73,000.

 

Focused Instruction is a program begun under Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson;  the program represents an effort to bring curricular consistency from school to school at each grade level, so that all students receive the same knowledge and skills sets as they move through each year in school and on to the next grade level.

 

This the fourth set of questions that I am posting on my blog, one of several that I have submitted to officials at the Davis Center, 1250 West Broadway, housing the central offices of the Minneapolis Public Schools.  Scroll on down to see the questions that I have sent, and then posted on this blog, to Superintendent Ed Graff, Deputy Chief Academic Officer Susanne Griffin, and Executive Director of Teaching and Learning Macarre Traynham.  

 

Please continue to look for articles such as this one, in which I pose questions for Minneapolis Public Schools personnel as I work toward the conclusion of my new book, Understanding the Minneapolis Public Schools: Current Condition, Future Prospect.

 

Following are the questions for which I have requested answers from Ms. Platt:

 

For Minneapolis Public Schools Teaching and Learning Project Manager Christina (Tina) Platt

 

1.  Please state as succinctly as possible the philosophy of K-12 education that drives programming under your direction.

 

As Project Manager in the Minneapolis Public Schools Department of Teaching and Learning with directorial responsibility for Focused Instruction, your philosophy of education will inform the measures that you take to develop that program.

 

For your reference, my own answer to question #1 is as follows:

 

My philosophy of education in its most succinct rendering is that the purpose of K-12 education should be to give students the opportunity to go forth at graduation to experience lives of cultural enrichment, civic preparation, and professional satisfaction. 

 

Undergirding this philosophy are definitions of an excellent K-12 education and the excellent teacher as follows:

 

An excellent K-12 education is a matter of excellent teachers imparting a knowledge-intensive curriculum in the liberal, technological, and vocational arts to all students in grade by grade sequence throughout the K-12 years.

 

An excellent teacher is a professional of deep and broad knowledge with the pedagogical skill to impart that knowledge to students of all demographic descriptors.

 

You know from our discussions that my own views are similar to those of E. D. Hirsch.  In my nearly complete book, Fundamentals of an Excellent Liberal Arts Education, the curriculum that I present is a logical follow-up to Hirsch’s Core Knowledge course of study, emphasizing grades pre-K through grade Six.  My own book presents compact courses in economics, psychology, political science, world religions, world history, American history, African American history, literature, English usage, fine arts, mathematics, biology, chemistry, and physics for high school students, college students, and adult readers.

You may or may not know that in The Schools Our Children Deserve (1999), Alfie Kohn wrote a detailed counterview to that espoused by Hirsch in The Schools We Need and Why We Don’t Have Them (1996).  Kohn and other so-called “progressive education” proponents maintain that the key components of an excellent education are “critical thinking skills” and motivation to become a “lifelong learner”;  such advocates convey the view that a sequentially, systematically accumulated body of knowledge is not important, because as to any factual information needed, “You can always look it up.”  

In your reply to my question, please honestly and clearly tell me with whom you agree most, Hirsch or Kohn.  There is a heavy tendency to waffle on this question by blending the two views.  I am always doubtful of such waffling.  My own statement would be the following.

I heavily favor the knowledge-intensive education advocated by Hirsch:  Genuine critical thinking must proceed upon a firm knowledge base, and the propensity for lifelong learning most likely occurs in those who in childhood and adolescence developed a respect for factual knowledge.

2.  What is your vision for the Focused Instruction program that began during the tenure of Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson?

 

As the Project Manager in the Minneapolis Public Schools Department of Teaching and Learning with directorial responsibility for Focused Instruction, your answers to the following questions are critical to the learning opportunities that you provide for students in Minneapolis.

 

I am of the view that Focused Instruction languished under Interim Superintendent Michael Goar and that new Superintendent Ed Graff will not be inclined toward reinvigoration of this program.

 

Would you confirm those observations?

 

As you know, my attraction to Focused Instruction is the program’s promise as a conduit for knowledge- intensive education of the Core Knowledge type:

 

Is this you vision for Focused Instruction?  If not, please be clear about your non-agreement with me.

 

If you were to express agreement with me, please explain what you have done to develop an understanding of Hirsch’s Core Knowledge program.  My previous meetings with you have indicated to me that you were not at all familiar with Core Knowledge.

 

And whether or not you do agree, please give me a clear account of your vision for Focused Instruction and your plan of action for completely implementing the program.