Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Dangerous Idea.

Taken from Jay Matthews' article:
"Engaging Minds: Motivation and Learning in America's Schools" by David A. Goslin
Goslin says learning would benefit if we dispensed with the notion that every teacher, school or district should pick the textbooks and teaching methods they like best. He prefers a national curriculum and nationally certified teaching methods based on research on what works, and what doesn't.

You mean that I'm not the bringer of all wisdom? I can't just decide to switch topics and teach what I want and how I want? The heresy. The humanity of it all. Why would anyone want to find what works and tell teachers about it? We know everything because we've been to college and have been teaching for six months.
I recall with fondness the 9th grade teacher who told me that she wanted to teach Flannery O'Connor's "Good Man is Hard to Find" because she read it in college and thought it was an exceptional book. Yep, you read that right.

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