The best thinkers and leaders are those who
are able to study the complexities of a subject and then express the core of
that subject in the leanest possible terms:
Thus, physicist Albert Einstein succinctly
stated his key ideas on general relativity in the cosmos in an equation giving
the relationship of mass, energy, and velocity.
Behaviorist psychologist B. F. Skinner did
the same in explaining human behavior in terms of schedules of positive
reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and punishment.
To date I have observed only one who in planning
or leading an endeavor pertaining to K-12 education can express her or his
ideas so clearly as did Einstein or Skinner.
Very few people can answer the following question clearly and succinctly:
What is an excellent education?
Whenever I pose that question, I get
astonished looks as if the person never thought about getting the definition of
an excellent education straight before launching an initiative with the
purported goal of attaining what has not even been defined.
Although I have sought clarity on the
matter of defining an excellent education in many quarters, I have observed only
one who in planning or leading an endeavor pertaining to K-12 education can
succinctly render the requested definition.
That person is myself.
My succinct definition goes as
follows:
An excellent
education is a matter of excellent teachers imparting a knowledge-intensive,
skill-replete curriculum in logical grade by grade sequence to students of all
demographic descriptors.
……………………………………………………………………………If one knows one’s way around the landscapes on which K-12 education is discussed, one grasps that certain terms in the definition given above, when understood, are enormously controversial and productive of much rhetorical reply and resistance from those who have been philosophically and professionally damaged by education professors who provide such wretched training in departments, schools, and colleges of education.
Thus a leader has to be bold in clearly stating the definition and to marshal the skill for explaining one’s reasoning and replying to objectors and opponents in the education establishment.
MPS Superintendent Ed Graff is a creature
of the education establishment and most likely is antagonistic toward the
definition that I give.
I have asked him many times to state his
definition and to be clear as to his objectives but unless we are supposed to
infer some definition from the programmatic elements of Social and Emotional
Learning, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, literacy, and equity, we wait still
for Graff’s clear answer; and if those
four elements be those deemed sufficient to move our students toward better
academic achievement, we are lost in a world of deep illusion.
……………………………………………………………………
Soon after my arrival as superintendent I
would first define an excellent education succinctly, as I did above, and ask
if there was any discussion, waiting for responses to words and phrases in the
definition such as “impart, knowledge-intensive, logical grade by grade
sequence.” We would have a full
discussion as necessary. I would hear
all opinions and objections and then let everyone know in no uncertain terms
that as long as I should serve as superintendent we would be providing an
academic program based on that definition.
I would then give those I now lead a more
expansive account of the direction of the school district, as follows:
The
purpose of K-12 public education is to prepare students for lives of cultural enrichment,
civic participation, and professional satisfaction. An excellent education is a matter of
excellent teachers
imparting
a logically sequenced, grade by grade, knowledge-intensive curriculum in the
liberal, fine, technological, and vocational arts to students of all
demographic descriptors. An excellent
teacher is a professional
of deep and broad knowledge with the pedagogical ability to impart that
knowledge to students of all demographic descriptors.
Until high school, teachers( retrained and well-trained by academicians engaged by decision-makers at the Minneapolis Public Schools to implement a teacher- training program that goes far beyond traditional professional development [PD]) will be responsible for educating students. Their methods will focus heavily on direct impartation of the knowledge-intensive curriculum in whole-class, teacher-led academic sessions, in which students are asked to analyze critically and discuss as a class varying points of view concerning issues that arise in the scholarly worlds of mathematics, natural science, history, government, economics, world literature, and the fine arts-- with generous application to current issues and the vision of student lives as adults.
In high school, teachers will maintain this manner of imparting knowledge-intensive curriculum, accompanied by lively student discussion, both in core classes and the generous array of course electives for the pursuit of driving student interests. From grade 9 forward, counselors will provide thorough information to students concerning post-secondary education and the specific
training necessary for particular careers. Students will have received by their high
school years in the Minneapolis Public Schools an education that prepares them for
further training in any educational experience or profession that they opt to pursue.
…………………………………………………………………
I would then set about getting my carefully selected staff moving on overhauling curriculum, training teachers, providing remedial instruction to students in grave academic need, and connecting with impoverished or dysfunctional families for resource provision or referral, and stringently trim central office expenditures.
The vison would be stated clearly as
producing students who upon graduation are prepared to read and discuss topics
across the field of academic disciplines, to be well-informed and participatory
citizens, and to live life as culturally enriched, professionally satisfied
members of the human community.
No one in the Davis Center (MPS central
offices, 1250 West Broadway) can confidently claim the likelihood of realizing such a vision.
Neither can members of the 2020 Advisory Committee,
who here and there echo some heartfelt community need or find their way to a genuinely
good idea, but in the main are captive to the parameters set by Graff and
corrupted by an conversational ether wherein bad ideas abound.
The members of the MPS Board of Education
are politically corrupt and even more philosophically befuddled.
…………………………………………………………………………I intend to pursue K-12 revolution upon the ideas of mine that I clearly state, first succinctly, then in fuller exposition, above.
If you ever want to contribute to the development
of genuine equity and democracy in these less than United States, you should
embrace these ideas and get to work.
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