Quotations

From Barry Boyce, A Real Education, “’Kindness, caring, empathy, being able to de-center from your own point of view and listen deeply to others—these are values that should be cultivated in our classrooms,’ says Mark Greenberg, director of the Prevention Research Center for the Promotion of Human Development at Penn State University. These are the social and emotional skills that a person who experienced ‘optimal nurturing conditions’ would develop during childhood and adolescence and bring with them into adulthood.”

From John Taylor Gatto, Against School, “…if we wanted to we could easily and inexpensively jettison the old, stupid structures and help kids take an education rather than merely receive a schooling. We could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness - curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight - simply by being more flexible about time, texts, and tests, by introducing kids to truly competent adults, and by giving each student what autonomy he or she needs in order to take a risk every now and then.” and “Now for the good news. Once you understand the logic behind modern schooling, its tricks and traps are fairly easy to avoid. School trains children to be employees and consumers; teach your own to be leaders and adventurers. School trains children to obey reflexively; teach your own to think critically and independently. Well-schooled kids have a low threshold for boredom; help your own to develop an inner life so that they'll never be bored. Urge them to take on the serious material, the grown-up material, in history, literature, philosophy, music, art, economics, theology - all the stuff schoolteachers know well enough to avoid. Challenge your kids with plenty of solitude so that they can learn to enjoy their own company, to conduct inner dialogues. Well-schooled people are conditioned to dread being alone, and they seek constant companionship through the TV, the computer, the cell phone, and through shallow friendships quickly acquired and quickly abandoned. Your children should have a more meaningful life, and they can.”

From Keith Gilyard, Children, Arts, and Du Bois, “But solid, practical reasons exist to resist the trend.  Again I think, ironically of Du Bois.  In 1891, while still a student at Harvard University, he delivered an address before the National Colored League in Boston in which he cleverly addresses the popular notion that practical or manual training was the most suitable course for Black students by providing numerous examples of the practical benefits of liberal thinking.  The effect of all true education, offered by Du Bois is ‘not only a gaining of some practical means of helping present life, but the making of present life mean more that it meant before…’”

From bell hooks, Teaching Critical Thinking, “The most exciting aspect of critical thinking in the classroom is that it calls for initiative from everyone, actively inviting all students to think passionately and to share ideas in a passionate, open matter.  When everyone in the classroom, teacher and students, recognizes that they are responsible for creating a learning community together, learning is at its most meaningful and useful.  In such a community of learning there is no failure.  Everyone is participating and sharing whatever resource is needed at a given moment in time to ensure that we leave the classroom knowing that critical thinking empowers us.”

From Jerry Large, Gift of grit, curiosity help kids succeed, “Grit is one of the characteristics of successful people. Here's a list of the others: self-control, zest, social intelligence, gratitude, optimism, and curiosity. The presence or absence of those qualities is a better indicator of future success than test scores or IQ.”

From Mike Rose, The Answer Sheet: Mike Roses’s Resolutions on Education, “14) I’m going to end by repeating my initial resolution in case the universe missed it the first time around: That through whatever combination of factors – from policy initiatives to individual effort – more young people get an engaging and challenging education in 2011.”

Which Authors Agree With Me?

Of all the authors we have read, I agree on some points from each of them.  Some less, others more.  I think that the previous blog post where we ranked the importance of the blogs that we have read is the best reference I have in writing about which author I agree with the most.  I ranked Jerry Large's article "Gift of grit, curiosity help Kids succeed" the most.  It was a shorter reading compared to most we have read and gives information in an easy to understand, conversational manner.

He mentions another author, "Tough also has a new book about what it takes for a child to make it: "How children succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character".  Large writes, "As the title says, if you want success, build character and the rest will follow."  I believe that is an important lesson. 

He later talks about the situations of two different schools.  I found the information interesting in contrasting the two different styles.  "The children at KIPP are overwhelmed with stress-inducing conditions in their lives.  The children at Riverdale were shielded from the possibility of significant failure.  They worked hard but weren't fundamentally challenged.  A big part of building character is overcoming failure.  Too much adversity is bad, but so is too little, which doesn't allow a child to build grit."  What a profound statement. 

Group Blog: Argument for Art Museums

Topic: Art Museums
Audience: Grateful Dead Followers
Thesis statement:  While art museums might not appeal to Dead Heads, the EMP (Experience Music Project) would be a place of interest to visit.

We support it because:
1.)  Dead Heads are into musical and personal harmony.  They can add to their musical perspective.

2.)  Marijuana is legal in WA, so they can visit the museum stoned.

3.)  There is a guitar pillar sculpture like there is no other in the nation.  They can use it as inspiration for the Burning Man Festival.

Group Blog for top two pick 11.26.13

Top Two Pick of readings 11.26.13

We all agree that our number 1 choice is Jerry Large's "Gift of Grit, curiosity help kids Succeed". Truly in the real world children need confidence and character to actually become their own person and make their own decisions which puts them on their own path. They need "perseverance and passion for long-term goals".  We agree with Tough who says, "If you want success, build character and the rest will follow".

Our number 2 choice is bell hooks "Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom".  We came to the conclusion that critical thinking is an important thing for children to learn as it helps them to make their own decisions and opinions about important matters in life. It helps children to look into the details and pull out the images and ideas to sort through choices in life. We should be like the children who "come into the world of wonder and language consumed with a desire for knowledge" who become "relentless interrogators".

At first, we didn't all agree with #2.  But after much discussion we concluded that "Teaching Critical Thinking" was a more important piece than Barry Boyce "A Real Education". Barry Boyce talked about being "mindful of others", where we decided that "Critical Thinking" was a more valuable asset in real world situations. We attribute this to critical thinking is more educational than being mindful of others, but being mindful is a subset of critical thinking.

Ranking Suggestions

 

1.)    Jerry Large’s “Gift of grit, curiosity help kids succeed”.  I believe that grit is an important lesson to teach children. “Perseverance and passion for long-term goals” are the underlying reasons why and how a person can accomplish goals.

2.)    bell hooks’ “Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom”.  I think critical thinking is of upmost importance in order to sort through choices in life.  The world needs critical thinkers with important views to share.

 

3.)    Barry Boyce’s “A Real Education” I think mindfulness is a good tool for people to use.  We all need to be mindful of others and how our actions affect the world around us.

4.)    Deb Aronson’s “Arizona Bans Mexican American Studies Program:  It was never about what we were doing, it was about who we are.” It is important to know who you are and where you are from when figuring out where you are going.

 

5.)   Keith Gilyard’s “Children, Arts and Du Bois”. This is last in my rankings because I think that arts and humanities is secondary to a person’s attitude and personality.  If you have the above attributes, you can succeed in this category.  The better adjusted someone is as a person, the more drive  they will have to excel, no matter what the subject.

Large, Boyce, Gilyard, Aronson, and hooks

Jerry Large’s column, “Gift of grit, curiosity help kids Succeed”, talks about the upbringing of children.  According to Wikipedia, grit is defined as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals.”  He says, “A big part of character is overcoming failure.  Too much adversity is bad, but so is too little, which doesn’t allow a child to build grit.”

Barry Boyce’s “A Real Education” speaks about mindfulness.  "Mindfulness practices can increase people’s awareness of their own emotions and their ability to regulate them.  This can make it possible for them to reduce feelings of depression and anxiety.”

Keith Gilyard commentary, “Children, Arts and Du Bois” is centered around the arts.  Towards the end of the article he states, "One of the best ends to have in view is that of the humanities as a widely recognized and amply funded force for the common good.  Creative arts programs are integral to this vision.”

Deb Aronson’s  “Arizona Bans Mexican American Studies Program:  It was never about what we were doing, it was about who we are.” Relays a story about how a program that was doing great things for schools was cut.

bell hooks, “Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom” talks about how critical thinkers come in many different packages, each with important views to share.

Rose vs Black

It is hard to compare the writing of Mike Rose and the video commentary of Lewis Black.  Although they both speak of the educational system and the changes that they feel should be made, the written peace was serious and the video clip was comical.  It was hard to take it seriously, even though it did have some good points if you looked past the comedy.

Rose states the we need “To stop looking for the structural or technological magic bullet – whether it’s charter schools or value-added analysis – that will improve education. Just when you think the lesson is learned – that the failure of last year’s miracle cure is acknowledged and lamented – our attention is absorbed by a new quick fix.”  In the video commentary, Black he says that “charter schools are great but most kids are in public schools.  What ideas do we have for fixing them?”  They both talk about charter schools, but it is not the best answer when it comes to education.

Rose also adds to the list, “To stop making the standardized test score the gold-standard of student achievement and teacher effectiveness. In what other profession do we use a single metric to judge goodness? Imagine judging competence of a cardiologist by the average of her patients’ cardiograms.”  In Black’s commentary, he talks about how America is falling behind other countries when it comes to subjects like math and science.  Almost every other category we have fallen behind, except one.  Kids from the USA ranked number one in confidence.”  How is confidence supposed to help if we lack the basic other skills to get ahead in the world?”