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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

Get out of the way!

PIA revisited

I have had an opportunity to do some experimentation with a class where the stakes are not particularly high. No one has to be able to pass a national test based on information in this class (they do in another class I teach).

I used to teach this class with someone who didn't subscribe to my PIA theory, so there were a lot of PIA assignments in the class. When you team teach, you can't just nix what another person wants to do. Besides, my teaching partner had been involved in the class longer than I had. I was the new comer. And, the class was okay in many respects. It just wasn't everything it could be and I think the PIA stuff really got in the way of people wanting to use the arts in teaching (using the arts to teach the regular curriculum is the subject of the class).

So, my teaching partner went onto bigger and better things and I got to ditch the PIA stuff. Beginning with the textbooks and quizzes.

What happens when you ditch stuff? Is it a party every day? Well, I just got back from a session of the class where we cooperatively planned the rest of the semester. They decided on their own to do what had been a big PIA assignment. The difference is, that if I assign it, it's a problem. If they choose to do it, then it's not a problem. So, they chose to learn.

I don't think we have to force people to learn. In fact, I don't think that force works at all in the learning process. Yes, as teachers we have the right to force people to do things, but when force is used, students become defensive instead of open learners.

There are plenty of external factors that students will face. For instance, my students will be teachers. They will have to pass several tests in this process and they will have to succeed at several field placements. I can force preparation for this or I can let them see the enormity of the undertaking and make plans for how they will learn the things they need to learn. If I force people, then I have to judge people. If I make known the external factors (what real life will be when college is done) then I am the advocate. I would much rather be an advocate than a person who forces people to do things. And, I think they will really learn.

Cheating

I just got through "grading" a test a student took on-line. I give the students opportunities to take their tests more than once so they can have control of the grade they get. When they get an answer wrong, I give them feedback that I hope helps them to actually learn the material in the process of doing better on the test. The multiple-choice tests randomize the order of the questions and the order of the distractors so each successive attempt at the test requires the student to read the test question and all the possible answers.

First of all, why is a crunchy granola type teacher giving tests? This class prepares students not just to be good teachers but also to pass the gate-keeping test that can bring a budding teaching career to a screeching halt. So, as an advocate for my students, I see my job as preparing my students as well as I can for this test. Hence, I give tests as much like the "target test" as possible. The target test has both multiple choice and short essay questions--and all the questions on this test must be done in a ridiculously short amount of time.

So, the student in question has figured out how to get the answers to the short essay questions because her answers are a rewrite of the "given" answer. She's cheating. But who is she cheating? Not me. She can take the test as much as she wants and I will be very happy to give constructive feedback so she can do better in the future.

She is cheating herself. I gave her the high grade she wanted because technically her answer is right and it is written in different language from the "given" answer although in the feedback section I asked her if she felt ready to take the target test. I don't think an accusation will stand up against a denial--and making an accusation will probably place her in a defensive position, which is antithetical to a learning position. I may e-mail her at some point, though (it's an online class).

I believe in cheat-proof teaching--in creating situations where students don't have to cheat in order to succeed. I listen carefully to students not just when they are addressing me directly but also when they are talking to each other. I know some of the ways they cheat--for instance, having a friend do the on-line tests or copying from something on the web or faking an assignment instead of actually doing what is being requested. So, I try to make assignments that bring in the student's perspective and that have a real obvious utility for the teacher wannabe.

No matter how much we guard against cheating in terms of traditional types of assignments and assessments, it's going to happen. In my day, it was hand-copying the encyclopedia for a report and now it's getting on the web and copying and pasting someone else's writing. In my day, it was a cheat sheet hand-written in tiny print and smuggled into the test. Now it's text messaging a friend.

We can either continue to up the ante on security or we can get out of the game altogether and find things for students to do that are meaningful, interesting, and useful. Most students don't cheat on those activities.

Easy and hard teaching

There are two things that are usually easy for anyone who wants to be a teacher: teaching people whose learning styles are the same as yours and teaching anything that you struggled to learn.

As we grow up, we learn about our own learning processes. We learn where our strengths are and we learn how to deal with our particular set of deficits. As we learn to teach, our starting point is to think about ourselves as learners and to try to create lessons that we would have responded to when we were children or young adults. We tend to go at the pace that we learn best with and to provide the amount of detail that we would have needed in order to understand the concept. We use media that we are most comfortable with.

Likewise, if we have struggled with something, we know what it feels like to struggle and we also are aware of misconceptions we had or areas of weakness we had to overcome in order to learn that subject. We know where we made mistakes and how we learned to get around those mistakes.

The hard part of teaching is teaching people who are fundamentally different from us and to teach things that are easy for us.

When I speak of differences, I am concerned with how people think, which can be related to culture, history, and language but also psychology and neurology. Current attempts at teaching people to teach a diverse population continue to essentialize and stereotype people. I think it might be better to understand that people, whatever they look like, are going to have different patterns of thinking, different personalities, and different educational needs. It might be more fruitful to ask ourselves: what is the nature of this student's thinking? What does this student understand? What does this student misunderstand? How does this person learn? Given everything I have learned about teaching and learning, how can I create a successful learning experience for this person? This means using strategies, paces, and means of learning that are different from our own preferences.

Likewise, when teaching something that we found easy, we have to learn about where the struggles are for students who don't find it easy. We have to watch ourselves and guard against a negative attitude towards people who don't find a particular topic (or even a lot of topics) easy. We have to use our own struggles in other subjects to help us remember what it feels like to be frustrated. We have to learn from other teachers and other students strategies that work for breaking a topic down or teaching key aspects of a topic that is difficult for students.

The people who go into teaching are often people who enjoyed school. We need to be able to reach out to people who don't enjoy school for one reason or another and to learn from these people in the process of teaching them.

The Highest Status Jobs

Our culture labels certain jobs high status. Usually these jobs pay a lot and people who have them have a lot of influence.

Let me add to that, the job of teaching. No, we're not all highly paid. Some paychecks have gotten better in the past ten years and some remain abysmal.

But our influence?

Just remember, the kids you teach today are going to be taking care of you (or not taking care of you) in the nursing home.

Teaching is such fun!!

Teaching is a performance art. When I consider my class, I think about what I can do that will get them to think differently (i.e., learn). I really enjoy this process--making plans that will surprise and delight my students. I also enjoy the actual teaching process--watching them as they interact with the ideas I bring to the classroom.

When I am with other people who feel about teaching the same way I do, we have wonderful conversations about things we have tried and what the results have been. The feeling I get is very similar to the feeling I get as a musician when the music I'm playing is going well.

I have been a teacher of one sort or another for thirty years and I am still not tired of watching people learn and being a part of people's lives in this way.