designed to raise children, not test scores
Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 08:36AM Our current educational approach — and the testing that is driving it — is completely at odds with what scientists understand about how children develop during the elementary school years and has led to a curriculum that is strangling children and teachers alike.
In order to design a curriculum that teaches what truly matters, educators should remember a basic precept of modern developmental science: developmental precursors don’t always resemble the skill to which they are leading. For example, saying the alphabet does not particularly help children learn to read. But having extended and complex conversations during toddlerhood does. Simply put, what children need to do in elementary school is not to cram for high school or college, but to develop ways of thinking and behaving that will lead to valuable knowledge and skills later on.
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What they shouldn’t do is spend tedious hours learning isolated mathematical formulas or memorizing sheets of science facts that are unlikely to matter much in the long run. Scientists know that children learn best by putting experiences together in new ways. They construct knowledge; they don’t swallow it.
Along the way, teachers should spend time each day having sustained conversations with small groups of children. Such conversations give children a chance to support their views with evidence, change their minds and use questions as a way to learn more.
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Our success depends on embracing a curriculum focused on essential skills like reading, writing, computation, pattern detection, conversation and collaboration — a curriculum designed to raise children, rather than test scores.
— Susan Engel, senior lecturer in psychology and the director of the teaching program at Williams College, New York Times Op-Ed column Playing to Learn
Reader Comments (15)
Yesterday I met up with some friends at the farmer's market who all homeschool. We were sitting there chatting, when a teacher from my kids' old school came up and said hello. It turned out that the other families had also gone to the same school (older children), which is the only public school in Phoenix, a city of 5 million people, that claims to deliver a progressive education. We had all left to home school because they couldn't deliver what they promised in the environment of district pressured testing.
There is no school in Phoenix, public or private, that educates children with genuine child development principles in mind(other than the less than stellar Waldorf charter school that still has to use state standards and testing). We can't even *pay* for a progressive education in this city, and that's just sad. You either deal with what's here or you break off on your own.
Thankfully, we've found a community of people who feels the same way about education as we do and we work together and on our own to give our children the foundation they need to succeed in their chosen paths. Why is that so out of the ordinary?
why *is* it so out of the ordinary? or at least against the mainstream? i don't know. if parents rose up like a tidal wave and demanded schools change, they would. but .. they won't. and
thank you, karen!
thank you, amber!
I don't know that I can go back and read the comments - I'm not ready to go into labor yet! I also have a very difficult time understanding how more of what's not working will magically start to work.
At least here, kids still aren't doing projects, except at a couple of schools, and even then the project work is extra - not part of the core curriculum. Phoenix is on the cutting edge of "do more of what doesn't work."
This has been on my mind since my latest read about video gaming. (I reviewed the book "Don't Bother Me, Mom--I'm learning" on my blog) In it, the author talks about what he sees as a flaw of testing, the fact that technology is usually banned from classes, especially during tests. He got me thinking about how testing really IS all about memorization. We are rewarding children for having a good memory in a completely artificial environment.
We should really be teaching kids how to be effective researchers. It reminds me of something I once told my son. He wanted to ask me a question because I "know everything." I explained to him that I don't know everything, but I do know how to find answers.
We need to teach kids to find answers instead of parroting them!
Peace and Laughter!
project- and inquiry-based learning doesn't work because
1. poor kids don't have enough knowledge to work with (but .. project- and inquiry-based learning done correctly create tons of knowledge)
2. the only kids who do well with it are from families with educated parents who are involved with their kids (i guess that's why it's a natural fit for homeschoolers!)
3. it's rarely done well because it's harder for teachers to implement (yet teachers hate chalk-and-talk and want more freedom)
4. people do it wrong/poorly (but .. you're not criticizing it done poorly, you're criticizing it across the board)
there was more, but that gives you the idea...
one educator said hey, people are pulling their kids out to homeschool to give them these opportunities! i'll prob quote her essay later. i swear i think she's been reading this blog! ;^)
i think more than anything else parents are afraid of leaving the safety of the group. they figure whatever job schools are doing, at least they're doing it to everybody's kids. they're more comfortable with the devil they, and all their friends and relatives, know.
parents have to have a streak of independence, self-reliance, and self-confidence to make alternative education choices for their children -- and their children will then have a much easier time developing those traits, away from the constant pressure to conform/compete/comply.
shannon, it is really an issue of trust. adults/schools can't trust that children will learn through these kinds of activities, so they start breaking everything down and feeding them bits -- e.g., letter of the week. i talked with so many parents who were unsure and uncomfortable about just letting a group of preschool children learn through play and projects -- they simply didn't believe kids would learn unless they were forced. sad!
cristina, well, there are a series of microphones ... ;^)
testing is all about memorization, because teachers don't have time to speak to their students, observe them, and work with them enough to know that they understand the material -- or even if they do, they still have to prove it on paper!
i know i've told the story before, but one of my son's friends asked what grades he gets and i said well, he always gets As, because we don't move on until we've mastered whatever it is we're doing! grades are ridiculous; testing is a farce. it is what it is, and kids need to learn how it works in case they want to go to college, say, but people keep confusing test outcomes with real understanding/intelligence/ability.
your "i don't know everything, but i do know how to find answers" is exactly what i mean when i talk about being your child's learning mentor! it's very deflating to hang out with someone who knows everything, anyway. kids need the opportunity to become experts at something and teach you something new -- way more fun than always being on the receiving end! ;^)
agree x infinity with teaching kids to find answers instead of parrot them back!
xoxoxo
jan, do you think it’s the politicians? we used to go ’round and ’round about that — politicians? parents? teachers? teacher unions? administrators? businesses that profit from testing? it’s like a huge spiky porcupine and i can’t figure out where the vulnerable spot is.
i’m so glad you thought of me, because it sounds like my kind of thing. ;)
was the teacher clipping berry vines and not paying any attention, or actually watching and listening?
The next weeks' science class was with another teacher who excited the class with the challenge of saving the road. "We get to save the road!" is what I heard when I got to class. Everyone got a shovel and dug the ditch that keeps the water from washing out the road. After class he did a quick little lesson in sediment in harbors and dams and such. At the end they were so proud for saving the road.