I have just finished reading a dissertation of a doctoral student who attends, shall we say, Behemoth State U (BSU), which is not the school where I teach.
By way of background, my editing specialty is taking dissertations of people who are in some kind of trouble (often poor writing skills) and editing them so that these people can pass. Often the people have good ideas--they just don't know how to get those down on paper. And a dissertation offers special writing challenges because of its complexity.
In this case, there were some writing issues, but there were also many issues that could have been prevented, had someone helped this student out--someone on the committee.
Because BSU has as its focus the desire to stay highly ranked in the US News and World Reports college issue, faculty at BSU have as their focus the need to get something--anything--even a grocery list--published in peer-reviewed journals. This focus takes up most of a faculty member's waking hours, those that are not devoted to various kinds of meetings (e.g., the committee to determine whether it would be a good idea to make "The" part of BSU's official, copyrighted name--so it would be The Behemoth State University and all the old stationery would have to be junked). (Okay, I graduated from BSU and I think my dissertation is probably the only one that left out the "The").
Therefore, because professors' time is taken up with research and committee meetings, they have no time to teach, either their classes or their graduate students. So, even though a graduate student provides multiple copies of her proposal and drafts of her work over a couple of years (as this student did), all that paper rarely gets read until the night before the defense. As a result, the defense becomes a nasty surprise and a disheartening and overwhelming experience.
Add to that a defense that falls near the end of the term. If the student does not produce a passable dissertation in a matter of a couple of weeks, the student will have to pay $$$$ for tuition for the following term. Tuition many students don't have, but the professors remain blissfully ignorant of this. Or they have forgotten this stage in their own lives.
There are professors who use the conceptualization and writing of a dissertation as an opportunity to teach how research goes. This is what needs to be done consistently. What saddens me is that the number of doctoral students one has contributes to one's ability to get a promotion, and yet, all too often the number does not reflect the quality of the dissertation adviser or committee member's actual participation in the project.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Relevancy
What on earth do we think we are doing?
Just because colleges and universities have always run in one way doesn't mean that they always have to run in the same way.
The world around us has changed. More people are going to college, and tuition is very high. This means that students have to work in order to avoid going into a completely crippling amount of debt before the age of 22.
What students need to know has changed drastically with technology. Being able to use a computer is now as important as being able to read, write, and compute. At the same time, knowing particular facts is less important; being able to find information and critically assess its quality and value has become extremely important. Yet right now we have a bunch of young people who have passed a bunch of tests and who don't know how to tell the difference between an authoritative web page and one that is a sales pitch.
Textbook companies have gotten onto the "let's make as much money as possible from students" bandwagon. They have many professors going along with them by having the teachers write textbooks (that royalty income is a really nice little supplement to a professor's salary) and through providing free textbooks to professors in hopes that those texts will be adopted.
Yet given the robust possibilities with multimedia through technology, textbooks themselves are an anachronism. [Note: I love reading a real book as much as anyone--yet textbooks are a genre designed only to impart information that is presumably to be memorized and regurgitated back on some test based on questions the textbook company provides to the professor--few textbooks are written with any kind of artful, inherently interesting prose. Textbooks are texts for a captive audience, bestsellers only in the sense that if you don't read the textbook, you may have wasted whatever tuition dollars you spent on the class in addition to the $150 book.]
Do we want a university degree to simply be a "union card?" Or do we want it to mean something?
If what we do is to be meaningful, we need to drastically reassess what students need and provide it for them. This means recognizing the financial position students are in and accommodating that position, e.g. through on-line courses that allow students to learn around their work schedules and recognizing that expecting students to be on campus five days a week is not realistic. It means understanding the world into which students will enter and connecting learning to that world--making university activities relevant. It means having the creativity to give students something new by building bridges from where they are to where we would like them to be. If we believe that a particular course is good for a student, let's help them to understand how they will benefit from that course in the world.
Finally, college students are in a transition in their lives whether they are 18 years old or 50 years old. Transitions are exciting but also scary. If we are to help students to make the transition in the most intellectually promising way, then we need to know who our students are and what their needs are--not just in terms of our little subject area, but in terms of their lives. The foundation of teaching is the relationship between student and teacher.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
The Pit and the Pendulum
It is attributed to Hegel, the idea of the dialectic--thesis, antithesis, synthesis. That is, there is an idea, then its opposite, and then some form of solution. Marx used this idea to analyze history and then to predict communism as a system.
In the field of education, we have thesis and antithesis and only wise teachers find a synthesis. Take the reading wars for example. I was working as a graduate student in a college of education at the time and I witnessed first hand the type of sniping that was going on. I was working in the same office as the editor of a major journal in literacy, and I saw the manuscripts and the mean-spirited letters to the editor.
That was at the theoretical level. In the pit, or trenches, were the front-line teachers. What would be the best practices? If you listened to the so-called experts, you could never tell. One workshop might suggest one set of practices and another would suggest a completely different set of teaching strategies. Districts would allow one set of practices and then suddenly mandate a different set.
In fact, if you look at the field of education globally, you see this constantly swinging pendulum from the left to the right and back again. Right now, we are in a time of excessive attention to accountability using the strategies that conservative accountability buffs tend to like--standardized tests. This followed a time of no accountability. I was licensed during the no accountability phase and I can take any class, including Underwater Basket Weaving, to maintain my license as long as the class has a graduate level number. In my state, teachers now have to have a plan for how classes will benefit them as teachers--and this is actually a positive thing.
The ship of education creaks slowly side to side. Teachers who have no sense of themselves slide back and forth in response to the roll of the ship, out of control and at the mercy of the weather. Yet wise teachers know a few things: First off, there is something of value in most educational ideas--it is only when these ideas are pushed excessively that they become really dumb. So, in the reading wars, wise teachers borrowed the best of phonics and the best of whole language and came up with a synthesis that matched their own personalities and the needs of their students. Secondly, wise teachers know that one size does not fit all. Different kids need different approaches to learning, and good teachers learn strategies from a variety of sources.
Does this mean that good teachers have no philosophy of teaching? Some might say that teachers have to commit to a certain philosophy and that borrowing from here and there is intellectually dishonest.
Yet, I believe good teachers understand what they are teaching and they desire for their students to become competent not only in a particular subject matter but also in life in general. So the philosophy of education that I am proposing is one that is centered on the quality of relationship between teacher and student and the ability of the teacher to meet each student's needs.
In the field of education, we have thesis and antithesis and only wise teachers find a synthesis. Take the reading wars for example. I was working as a graduate student in a college of education at the time and I witnessed first hand the type of sniping that was going on. I was working in the same office as the editor of a major journal in literacy, and I saw the manuscripts and the mean-spirited letters to the editor.
That was at the theoretical level. In the pit, or trenches, were the front-line teachers. What would be the best practices? If you listened to the so-called experts, you could never tell. One workshop might suggest one set of practices and another would suggest a completely different set of teaching strategies. Districts would allow one set of practices and then suddenly mandate a different set.
In fact, if you look at the field of education globally, you see this constantly swinging pendulum from the left to the right and back again. Right now, we are in a time of excessive attention to accountability using the strategies that conservative accountability buffs tend to like--standardized tests. This followed a time of no accountability. I was licensed during the no accountability phase and I can take any class, including Underwater Basket Weaving, to maintain my license as long as the class has a graduate level number. In my state, teachers now have to have a plan for how classes will benefit them as teachers--and this is actually a positive thing.
The ship of education creaks slowly side to side. Teachers who have no sense of themselves slide back and forth in response to the roll of the ship, out of control and at the mercy of the weather. Yet wise teachers know a few things: First off, there is something of value in most educational ideas--it is only when these ideas are pushed excessively that they become really dumb. So, in the reading wars, wise teachers borrowed the best of phonics and the best of whole language and came up with a synthesis that matched their own personalities and the needs of their students. Secondly, wise teachers know that one size does not fit all. Different kids need different approaches to learning, and good teachers learn strategies from a variety of sources.
Does this mean that good teachers have no philosophy of teaching? Some might say that teachers have to commit to a certain philosophy and that borrowing from here and there is intellectually dishonest.
Yet, I believe good teachers understand what they are teaching and they desire for their students to become competent not only in a particular subject matter but also in life in general. So the philosophy of education that I am proposing is one that is centered on the quality of relationship between teacher and student and the ability of the teacher to meet each student's needs.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Friends in high places
I tell my students that there are two people they need to know and get along with in whatever school they teach: the school secretary and the custodian.
The school secretary knows everything that is going on and how to get things done by the book or by the loopholes in the book.
The custodian is the person who cleans up after a kid has lost his Cheerios. This is a job one wants accomplished quickly. Also the custodian cleans up large spaces and if you want to schedule a large space in such a way that the cleaning has to be accomplished more quickly, then only by being friends with the custodian will this get done.
In other words, it pays to have friends in high places.
At the same time, we place emphasis on diversity which is theoretically related to valuing every person. This is something that needs to be not just taught but modelled for students and how better to model it than to be respectful and kind to the people who are low on the school district totem pole?
The school secretary knows everything that is going on and how to get things done by the book or by the loopholes in the book.
The custodian is the person who cleans up after a kid has lost his Cheerios. This is a job one wants accomplished quickly. Also the custodian cleans up large spaces and if you want to schedule a large space in such a way that the cleaning has to be accomplished more quickly, then only by being friends with the custodian will this get done.
In other words, it pays to have friends in high places.
At the same time, we place emphasis on diversity which is theoretically related to valuing every person. This is something that needs to be not just taught but modelled for students and how better to model it than to be respectful and kind to the people who are low on the school district totem pole?
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Advocacy
I just got a phone call from a friend of mine who lives in "assisted living." The ombudservice showed up and she was able to tell them about some serious problems she has been experiencing at this institution.
The reason the ombudservice showed up is that I listened to her and then made several phone calls and e-mails. The ombudservice explained to me how they operate and I gave them the information they needed. Both my friend and I are really excited about the possibility of things changing for her.
I have a lot of experience in advocacy--I ran a battered women's shelter for 3.5 years. It was my job to see that women and their children got the services they needed. It was my privilege to watch people grow and change because they had the things they needed in order to do so, including my complete support.
Having worked in an advocacy role has strongly influenced my teaching. I believe that my job as a teacher is to be an advocate for my students--to be aware of their whole lives, to address whatever issues they are facing in whatever aspect of their lives, to set up a class so that nothing in the class trumps my advocacy role--including assessment.
So, I have looked up opthalmologists for a student who had an eye infection, provided food to students who came to class hungry, let a student who was cold wear my jacket, written lots of encouraging notes to students, and even helped a student who had been abused by her husband.
I teach reading methods, writing methods, educational psychology, and art. But I teach people who are often in that awkward stage of not being a child or even a teen but not yet really being an adult. They are getting ready to take on one of the most challenging adult roles, being a teacher--and I enjoy watching them grow into that role, since I have my students for more than one course.
The learning process is a fragile one. It can be easily derailed by unmet physical needs, by the feeling of emotional danger (the fear of being ridiculed, for example), by the feeling of being overwhelmed, by boredom, by teaching that is not in the zone of proximal development, by the lack of a relationship between the teacher and the learner.
I really want my students to learn. I kind of feel like Dr. Phil when at the beginning of the show the voice over says, "this is going to be a changing day in your life" or whatever. Learning is about changing and I want to be part of that process--of people "getting real" about what they know and what they need to learn and then getting ready to set goals and meet them. And part of my job is to make sure that all resources are in place for this process to happen.
Is this a counselor's approach to learning? Yes, it is. And, it works.
The reason the ombudservice showed up is that I listened to her and then made several phone calls and e-mails. The ombudservice explained to me how they operate and I gave them the information they needed. Both my friend and I are really excited about the possibility of things changing for her.
I have a lot of experience in advocacy--I ran a battered women's shelter for 3.5 years. It was my job to see that women and their children got the services they needed. It was my privilege to watch people grow and change because they had the things they needed in order to do so, including my complete support.
Having worked in an advocacy role has strongly influenced my teaching. I believe that my job as a teacher is to be an advocate for my students--to be aware of their whole lives, to address whatever issues they are facing in whatever aspect of their lives, to set up a class so that nothing in the class trumps my advocacy role--including assessment.
So, I have looked up opthalmologists for a student who had an eye infection, provided food to students who came to class hungry, let a student who was cold wear my jacket, written lots of encouraging notes to students, and even helped a student who had been abused by her husband.
I teach reading methods, writing methods, educational psychology, and art. But I teach people who are often in that awkward stage of not being a child or even a teen but not yet really being an adult. They are getting ready to take on one of the most challenging adult roles, being a teacher--and I enjoy watching them grow into that role, since I have my students for more than one course.
The learning process is a fragile one. It can be easily derailed by unmet physical needs, by the feeling of emotional danger (the fear of being ridiculed, for example), by the feeling of being overwhelmed, by boredom, by teaching that is not in the zone of proximal development, by the lack of a relationship between the teacher and the learner.
I really want my students to learn. I kind of feel like Dr. Phil when at the beginning of the show the voice over says, "this is going to be a changing day in your life" or whatever. Learning is about changing and I want to be part of that process--of people "getting real" about what they know and what they need to learn and then getting ready to set goals and meet them. And part of my job is to make sure that all resources are in place for this process to happen.
Is this a counselor's approach to learning? Yes, it is. And, it works.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
And the response...
What I have been doing is very irresponsible and I'm really sorry. I was so concerned about my grade that I never thought that by doing what I'm doing, could actually hurt me in the end. I wish there was more time in the class so that I could prove to you I can be a better student. It doesn't matter now because it was a very irresponsible thing to do and I'm really embarrassed by what I've done. Again I'm sorry, and I know we only have a few more tests to take, but I will show you that I can do better than that.
My response back:
I admire people who are able to admit they are wrong and who are able to do something better in the future. You have my 100% respect. I know you are a good student because good students do exactly what you have done--take responsibility.
My response back:
I admire people who are able to admit they are wrong and who are able to do something better in the future. You have my 100% respect. I know you are a good student because good students do exactly what you have done--take responsibility.
Cheating, revisited
I read some more test responses this week and finally figured out a way of handling the "cheating" issue. I find if I wait for awhile, I am usually able to come up with a way of addressing a problem that is in line with my philosophy of education. So here is the e-mail I sent to everyone in the course:
Hello everyone,
Pretty soon you all will be reading about assessment in your Ed Psych books and in the interest of encouraging certain approaches to the tests in this course, I would like to discuss my philosophy of assessment.
I believe that assessment is a representation--it is supposed to represent an ability. That's why reading tests involve reading and math tests involve math. However, I believe that tests are a particularly poor form of representation of a person's skills. If a math test involves reading (e.g., word problems) then a student who is good in math but poor in reading cannot demonstrate his or her skills. Therefore, because I don't believe tests are a good representation of people's abilities, I don't give tests in most of my classes.
However, the Educational Testing Service disagrees with me and the state of xxxxxx requires you to take a test, the Praxis II Principles of Learning and Teaching, which basically covers the material that is in this class. Therefore, in the interest of helping you to gain the skills necessary to pass that test (I'm talking not just about knowledge but about test taking skills themselves, such as being able to write constructed responses), I have developed tests for this course.
What may not be clear, because you probably have never had a teacher like me, is that I am NOT using these tests as assessment--I am using these tests as practice--guided practice, where I am available to give you feedback, particularly with the constructed responses. This is why it is possible to take the tests more than once.
More than one person seems to be looking at the answers that are given as part of feedback and then paraphrasing the answers on the constructed response, a strategy designed, I'm sure, to get a good grade. I really don't care about how you choose to take a test in this class because I don't believe those tests tell me a lot about you as a teacher. That's why I have those discussion board things for you to respond to. But I would like to suggest that you attempt to write your own answers because I think I can help you to learn more that way.
I'm sending this out to everyone, partially in the interest of sharing with my fellow teachers (you all) an interesting if problematic response to on-line learning, partially to share a view of assessment that is not foregrounded in your book, and partially to communicate with the folks who have made the choice to paraphrase answers in the most general way I can so no one is embarassed. I welcome any responses to this.
Hello everyone,
Pretty soon you all will be reading about assessment in your Ed Psych books and in the interest of encouraging certain approaches to the tests in this course, I would like to discuss my philosophy of assessment.
I believe that assessment is a representation--it is supposed to represent an ability. That's why reading tests involve reading and math tests involve math. However, I believe that tests are a particularly poor form of representation of a person's skills. If a math test involves reading (e.g., word problems) then a student who is good in math but poor in reading cannot demonstrate his or her skills. Therefore, because I don't believe tests are a good representation of people's abilities, I don't give tests in most of my classes.
However, the Educational Testing Service disagrees with me and the state of xxxxxx requires you to take a test, the Praxis II Principles of Learning and Teaching, which basically covers the material that is in this class. Therefore, in the interest of helping you to gain the skills necessary to pass that test (I'm talking not just about knowledge but about test taking skills themselves, such as being able to write constructed responses), I have developed tests for this course.
What may not be clear, because you probably have never had a teacher like me, is that I am NOT using these tests as assessment--I am using these tests as practice--guided practice, where I am available to give you feedback, particularly with the constructed responses. This is why it is possible to take the tests more than once.
More than one person seems to be looking at the answers that are given as part of feedback and then paraphrasing the answers on the constructed response, a strategy designed, I'm sure, to get a good grade. I really don't care about how you choose to take a test in this class because I don't believe those tests tell me a lot about you as a teacher. That's why I have those discussion board things for you to respond to. But I would like to suggest that you attempt to write your own answers because I think I can help you to learn more that way.
I'm sending this out to everyone, partially in the interest of sharing with my fellow teachers (you all) an interesting if problematic response to on-line learning, partially to share a view of assessment that is not foregrounded in your book, and partially to communicate with the folks who have made the choice to paraphrase answers in the most general way I can so no one is embarassed. I welcome any responses to this.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)