I have mentioned before that it is not my intention to be the "leader" of our group. I would, instead, prefer to be just another participant. That said I would now like to post one part of chapter two that has struck a strong chord for me, talk about my thoughts, and then hope that others of you might respond... Here goes:
"... they still carry a belief that they're not as clever as they make out, because they failed the eleven plus... Some of the most successful people I know still carry the burden of failure at eleven." pg 78
Is it possible that this is happening again? Is it possible that this terrible scar is being stamped on a whole new generation? One of my great fears as a teacher, specifically a fourth grade teacher, is that I might have a child leave my class hating writing. I work hard to make my room a place without inhibitions. To make my space safe for young voices. Often I have students come to me with a fear of writing, and even a belief that they are not capable of writing anything of worth. It is my belief that this fear of failure stems largely from widespread assessment, and assessment in turn is directly connected to our history of strong held belief in academic ability. Turn it in and it is assessed. 1-2-3-4. Returned. Pass or fail.
For most of my students I find that they do not know an in between. You may tell them that they have been working hard and are making wonderful progress, but ultimately that number is all they care about. It is as though it is tattooed on their shoulder. A few twos on some writing work and it doesn't take long for children to begin to believe that they are not writers.
I find it amazing to think that this perception of self might persist on into adulthood, even after they have achieved success.
3 comments:
After the discussion yesterday morning, I am left with a constant and overwhelming question.
What do we do about it?
I have received email alerts from the Educator's Roundtable for the last year or so and I have signed their petitions to end NCLB, but I have not done any more than that and bitch to my friends about the situation and how it affects me an my students.
Here's their web site.
http://www.educatorroundtable.org/
We as teachers are even affected by this overemphasis, even obsession, with tests. Last year I received the designation of “highly qualified not determined" in the areas of my 4 special education licenses. I was considered "highly qualified" in regular class K-6. The ridiculous thing about that is I have not worked in the regular classroom since student teaching, 26 years ago. My BS is in early childhood education and special education. My MS and ALL my teaching experience is in special programs. Why then am I considered highly qualified in the thing I have never done and not in the area of my expertise? There was no NTE area exam in special education when I took in the 80's, so I took the NTE in elementary education. Ridiculous and insulting. But I'm a big girl and can play the game.
It makes me angry that our kids are pushed through this mill. What practical things can we do about it.
Suzanne
Ho, gosh darn it! I haven't used my google profile in a long time and I forgot my nickname was "pinky." I'm changing that immediately!
A quote from the Educator's Roundtable site 5/22/08:
More than 160 students in six different classes at Intermediate School 318 in the South Bronx - virtually the entire eighth grade - refused to take last Wednesday’s three-hour practice exam for next month’s statewide social studies test.
Instead, the students handed in blank exams.
Then they submitted signed petitions with a list of grievances to school Principal Maria Lopez and the Department of Education.
“We’ve had a whole bunch of these diagnostic tests all year,” Tatiana Nelson, 13, one of the protest leaders, said Tuesday outside the school. “They don’t even count toward our grades. The school system’s just treating us like test dummies for the companies that make the exams.”
Post a Comment