Session 2: Mind the Gap

1.     Chapter 1: In recounting her journey through many education reforms, Diane Ravitch makers a number of provocative statements. Choose two, quote them and personally respond.

“How can I distinguish between thinking like a historian and seeing like a state? A historian tries to understand what happened, why it happened, what was the context, who did what, and what assumptions led them to act as they did….knowing that unanticipated developments often lead to unintended consequences. A policy maker, on the other hand, is required to plan for the future and make bets about a course of action that is likely to being about improvements….and they implement plans based on their theory of action.  Historians are trained to recognize assumptions and theories and to spot their flaws” (page 11).

After reading this quote, the implications of the education system finally clicked. Politicians are writing the reforms for our schools without using hindsight like a historian would. History will repeat itself if lessons are learned from the past and modified for the future, which is why I feel like the education system is like a pendulum swinging from one extreme to the other instead of finding a balance. I think Ravitch gives the historian/politician comparison to set up the rest of her experience (book) working in education and the system.

“School reformers sometimes resemble the characters in Dr. Seuss’s Solla Sollew, who are always searching for that mythical land ‘where they never have troubles, at least very few.’ Or like Dumbo, they are convinced they could fly if only they had a magic feather. In my writings, I have consistently warned that, in education, there are no short cuts, no utopias, and no silver bullets” (page 3).

This quote resonated with me, especially since I am a huge Dr. Seuss fan and soon to be elementary school teacher. This quote is applicable beyond education and the reason underlying the cracks in our country’s foundation and unfortunately there is not magic pill or quick fix, especially when it involves each voter, parent and child in our nation. Ravitch does a great job explaining why using a performance based business model to run schools is not feasible or effective. Establishing the same cookie cutter policies and procedures in all schools is not possible, although it sounds nice. Unless school reformers experience the range of classroom dynamics, demographics and social economic status they will continue to search for something that cannot be found.

2.     How would you characterize a well-educated person? What should any well-educated person know in today’s world?

I would characterize a well-educated person as Ravitch does: “The well-educated person has learned bow to explain ideas and listen respectfully to others” (page 16). A well-educated person isn’t characterized by a 4.0 GPA and attaining a PHD from an Ivy School. A well-educated person has the capacity to communicate effectively, empathize, understand multiple perspectives and is receptive to new ideas and ways of doing things. They have values, morals and contribute to society.

Any well-educated person in today’s world should know how to think for themselves, how to listen to others and be literate. They need to know how to filter information using multiple perspectives and be productive citizens in society. In order to live in today’s world, you need to know how to work cooperatively with others.

3.     What would you like to say that you did not say?

I get frustrated with the politics involved in the education system. Sometimes I feel policy makers are ignorant towards the dynamics within the classroom. Schools cannot be run using a business model with standard procedures. Have they every step foot inside of a classroom or attempted to “teach,” 32 first graders? A business has a choice on whom to hire, based on previous experience and qualifications, and a choice on who to fire, based on performance. The education system, specifically public education, does not. Every child, by law, is allowed free and appropriate public education. As an educator, when a child is not “meeting standards,” we are to work with them until they do. As an educator, when a child is gifted and talented, we push them further. As an educator we have to accommodate our students range of academic abilities, SES, and background experiences, not because we “have to,” but because we want to. I would love to see an education system that lets teachers teach instead of having to acquiesce to politics and reforms with no backing.

4.     Choose one gap listed from your subject area and identify 3 resources: a website, an article, and a book that can help you fill that gap.

The three resources I found to help fill the gap of why should art be integrated into the core curriculum (the research and evidence) are:

Website: Chicago Arts Partnership in Education www.capeweb.org

Book:  Burnaford, G.E., Aprill, A., Weiss, C. (2001) . Renaissance in the classroom:   Arts  integration and meaningful learning. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Article: Fiske, E.B. (1999). Champions of change: The impact of the arts on

learning.

Champions of change: The impact of the arts in learning taught me a lot about the impact learning through the arts can have on students. It also provided evidence that student achievement is heightened in an in environment with arts education. This whole article was in supports my belief in the importance of integrating art into the core curriculum and provided me with additional resources of  art education programs and research; such as: the Imagination Project at UCLA, Chicago Arts Partnership in Education (CAPE) and The Center for Arts Education Research at Teachers College.

I found quotes that are helping me answer my content questions:

 “Learning through the arts can help level the playing field for youngsters in disadvantaged circumstances.”

“Arts engage multiple abilities and skills.”

“Engagement in the arts nurtures development of cognitive, social and personal competencies.”

“Learning is deepest when learners have the capacity to represent what they have learned, and the multiple disciplines of the arts all provide modes of representation.”

5.     Why/how any two of these articles were useful to you topic/questions?

All three of these resources are useful to my topic and questions because they all meet at a common point; art integration in education. The CAPE website is useful because it addresses the pedagogy aspect of my topic on how to integrate arts within the curriculum. The champions of change article addresses the reasons to why art integration is important in the classroom, my content questions. The books, Renaissance in the classroom is useful for my pedagogical – content questions (the mix of both) as it discusses the why, how, when and results of art integration in the core curriculum.  

   
I responded to:
Monica Mitra
Jenn Bible
Allison Broude