Diane Ravitch

“Diane Ravitch is the rarest of scholars—one who reports her findings and conclusions, even when they go against conventional wisdom and even when they counter her earlier, publicly espoused positions.” Howard Gardner

The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education is Diane Ravitch‘s new tome. It is clear, now that I have read it, why reviewers are saying”…this is a very important book”.

‘The Death and Life…” is a well-written, very readable and well-researched. The multiple perspectives Ravitch brings to the debate about school reform makes the book particularly valuable. Diane Ravitch is an academic and education historian with long experience but is best-known for her advocacy of President Bush’s No Child Left Behind (NCLB) policies as his Assistant Secretary of Education. Her book explores educational reform that she originally supported but now feels was terribly misguided.

Ravitch knows schools need to be improved.

A wave of reforms, in the US, over the last century has not been satisfactory and she says, “the policies we are following today are unlikely to improve our schools…(and are) likely to make the schools less effective”. Ravitch’s book looks at the most recent waves of reforms that she supported but now knows were errors of judgement. Particularly important is her analysis of how data in New York City was misinterpreted in District 2.

This model was adopted by other states and educational precincts based on the flawed belief that the new approach was working miracles (always a good reason for skepticism). You can still read about the ‘success’ of the approach taken by Anthony Alvarado, here and also an interview discussing that ‘progress’. His approach caused much bitterness. In San Diego (chapter 4) 1998-2005, where the Alvarado model was adopted even more forcefully, with a  ’90% turnover rate of principalships’ (p.61) and dismissal of ‘fifteen administrators’ during Alan Bersin’s tenure. There appears to have been no discernible improvement, in fact, there’s evidence to suggest a decline in educational oucomes. With such ‘angry and disaffected…troops’, Ravitch is not surprised. “Trust not cercion is a neccessary precondition for school reform” being her sage point. (p. 66)

Ravitch, in her chapter, ‘The Trouble with Accountability”, says that, ‘tests are necessary and helpful” but when “we define what matters in education only by what is measured, we are in serious trouble”. (p.166)

Ravitch believes that the ‘fundamentals of are to be found in the classroom, the home, the community and the culture, but reformers in our time look for shortcuts and quick answers”. (p.225)

Australian educators, systems leaders and politicians who do not read Ravitch’s book are being irresponsible, considering the implications of some of the current Federal government’s education policy for our children and communities. I implore all interested in education to read this important research and analysis.

Here is an interview (and another) with Ravitch and a very good review by ED Hirsch. Here’s a complete list of reviews.

Please consider reading this important analysis of educational reform and the impact on children and communities.

UPDATE: Diane Ravitch is on twitter.

Miscellaneous Voices: Australian Blog Writing

A post by James Bradley, at his City of Tongues blog, led me to buy and read Miscellaneous Voices: Australian Blog Writing, edited by Karen Andrews.  

Australian Blog Writing

I would not usually buy an anthology of ‘online’ writing as it just seems too silly, losing all the hyperlinks and hyperconnectivity, but felt happy to invest in this project when I read:

“This anthology is an experiment to see how this writing, these writers, stand up to the challenge of the page; or, to put in another way, to put them up in front of another audience which may be more page-loyal.” 

I guess we’ll never know what percentage of people who read the book are ‘page-loyal’ and not really online readers of blogs but I suspect some will be drawn into the world as a result. 

I encourage you to buy a copy of the anthology but if you are not so inclined, I’ll link to some of my favourite posts from the collection. All, ’stand up to the challenge of the page’. 

The curious half-life of an ethically inadequate object is a piece of writing that any ‘reader’ would love to have written. The intelligence of the writer is what one finds really enjoyable and the subject matter, honesty, perception, Macbeth and Bill Clinton, is of interest to a very wide audience. I now have an RSS feed from the Solid Gold Creativity blog and would recommend it to all. 

Some of the regulars who comment here already know Angela Meyer’s blog but please read and bookmark, Embracing the medium: what makes a successful cultural blog? as it is a significant addition to our understanding of bloggers and what they do. 

Damon Young’s piece and blog made for interesting reading and I really relate to Tiggy Johnson’s structural needs. 

My enjoyment of Penni Russon’s poem, Fragments from a fragmentary mind, which I had read previously at her blog, was definitely enhanced by having a sense of her and Martin from our twitter conversations. 

Alan Baxter’s, ebooks are the future matches my perception of our reading world now too and it is interesting to hear that his sales on kindle are exceeding hard copies! Also, this post, not included in the book, really made me laugh 

I mostly read teacher/education or political blogs and this collection has broadened the field for me significantly. 

Anthill: A Novel

“The cycles of other species can be destroyed, and the biosphere corrupted. But for each careless step we take, our species will ultimately pay an unwelcome price – always”

EO Wilson

I have just finished Anthill, set mostly in Alabama and occasionally underground, by two times Pultizer Prize winner and first time novelist, aged 81, E.O. Wilson.

Pre-ordered ages ago, it arrived on my Kindle Monday and was enjoyable enough that it took less than 48 hours to read. If I had waited for the Australian release in June, from my favourite bookseller in Sydney, I would have parted with $32.95 (+ postage) rather than the $11.99 paid for the Kindle edition. The old publishing model is obviously just not sustainable, as well as being environmentally undesirable.

Structured in six sections, the number of legs an ant posseses, the story opened somewhat disappointingly, in fact it was quite boring and reminded me of many a teen novel with simplistic themes about adolescent identity. Quarter of the way into the novel (remember the Kindle does not have page numbers but percentages) it was like some kind of contemporary antebellum tale and not my cup of tea at all.

Then, all changed.

The Anthill Chronicles, the middle section of the novel, is the most interesting and engaging on a number of levels and I wish there was more of it. Wilson, in the acknowledgements, says that he is trying to “present the lives of these insects, as exactly as possible, from the ants’ point of view”. It is decent prose and explores the environment that Wilson knows more intimately than any of us. It is an entirely believable world that Wilson recreates, a place where the ants in the Trailhead Colony are “united simply and entirely by possession of the same smell”:

Her visual appearance, her stillness, meant nothing. The Queen could have lain on her back with her legs held rigidly up in the air. She could have turned red, black, metallic gold, or any other hue or shade—it would not have mattered. The Queen had to smell dead in order to be classified as dead.

Wilson weaves the world of the ants into his tale in many ways, drawing parallels with the social stratification of the human society that Raphael Semmes Cody is born into. As Raff, the protagonist learns, “the foibles of ants…are those of men, written in a simpler grammar”.

Margaret Atwood was impressed with the novel and makes some interesting commentary about the parallels with the classics, particularly Homer. Atwood makes the point that some of the writing is awkward and preachy; she is correct, just re-read the quote I opened with, taken from the prologue. However, this is perhaps understandable, in the context that Wilson wants to engage a larger audience with his ideas, formulated over a long lifetime. Wilson’s non fiction writings are important and Anthill, a distillation of his work,  has a frightening message for us all, which I read as, historically and environmentally, we are doomed, even if we have luck and manage our civilisation’s  resources well and nurture, maybe even revere, our interconnectedness:

Agitated ants ran back and forth through the rooms and galleries of the nest, to no special purpose. The colony was not yet aware of the ultimate meaning of its own mood and actions, but it was instinctively preparing for one last maneuver, a final, almost suicidal response that might yet save some of its members. The only option that remained to them was a burst of flight to the outside, every ant for herself. With luck a few survivors might then reassemble and re-start the colony elsewhere. That is, if they had a real queen. But, of course, they had only their inadequate Soldier-Queen.

Lamentation and hope were mingled among the Trailhead inhabitants. The ants were a doomed people in a besieged city. Their unity of purpose was gone, their social machinery halted. No foraging, no cleaning and feeding of larvae, no queen for them to rally around. The order of the colony was dissolving. Out there, indomitable and waiting, were the hated, filthy, unformicid Streamsiders. Finally, all that the Trailheaders knew was terror, and the existence of a choice—they could fight or run from the horror. There was nothing else left in their collective mind.

Oddly enough, despite this doom and gloom, I found the novel mostly satisfying and recommend it to you without too many reservations. The resolution is neat, too neat but serves Wilson’s purpose in imagining a practical solution to many of the everyday environmental concerns of our anthills.

If you’re interested in more impressions of the novel, this review was in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper last week.

Here’s an extract published in the New Yorker. It is certainly the best prose and most interesting passage from the entire book.

The Genius in All of Us: Part II

Now, having finished David Shenk’s, The Genius in All of Us, I’d like to continue my reflection on the importance of this work to educators, students and parents.

 

The notes I made while reading, using that function on my Kindle, highlight that our quintessential thinkers, in Western civilisation, have always suspected that giftedness’ was a ‘process’. For example, Nietzsche described ‘great artists as being tireless participants in that process’ while Einstein claimed that it was not that he was ‘smart’ but that he stayed ‘with a problem longer’.

 

Is Shenk broadly correct when he says that ‘persistence can be nurtured parents and mentors’? The answer to this question is the heart of his thesis: that everything we have thought about genetics, talent and IQ is incorrect. Some have argued that persistence is an ‘inborn biological component’ but I prefer to pursue Shenk’s ideas as the potential for us all to (believe we can) grow is more than just merely important, it is essential!

 

Shenk says, ‘in the end, persistence is the difference between mediocrity and enormous success’. I’d suggest what many would call ‘luck’ is also a player though, in a number of guises.

 

A note made while reading, that is particularly important to my value system as an educator, relates to a study Shenk cites about teacher ‘praise’. One group were praised for their hard work and diligence, the other for their inborn intelligence. In follow-up tests these groups were asked to extend themselves with a choice of puzzles. More than 90% of the group praised for hard work chose the most difficult puzzles, while less than half of the ‘intelligent’ group chose to take the most challenging option.

 

I often say to my HSC classes, over the years I have noticed students who are ’hardworking’ do much better than those who are merely ‘smart’. Striving is a core competency and skill.

 

Shenk imparts much wisdom during the course of the book. I particularly liked the notion, ‘set high expectations, but also show compassion, creativity, and patience’ as this is a set of principles that works well in any area of our culture and society. A fine sentiment, indeed!

Illustration by Matthew Richardson

The most annoying thing about the book is more to do with the format, as much as I like the eReader. The Kindle does not have page numbers but percentages read. There were many notes in this book and it led one to believe there was much more to read as it was only at about 40%, from memory, when concluded, as the footnotes were so extensive. 

The New York Times review  hit the proverbial on the head by saying, in conclusion, that Shenk’s: 

…efforts have resulted in a deeply interesting and important book. David Shenk may not be a genius yet, but give him time.

The Genius in All of Us: Why Everything You’ve Been Told About Genetics, Talent, and IQ Is Wrong

‘Intelligence is not an innate aptitude…’

It is difficult to shift paradigms and I have just started a book that may assist us to change perceptions about the potential of all our students – and ourselves.

Steven Johnson, one of my favourite authors and thinkers, recommended via twitter last week, The Genius in All of Us: Why Everything You’ve Been Told About Genetics, Talent, and IQ Is Wrong by David Shenk. I have now read half this excellent tome, days after release in the US, as, I am pleased to say, it is available for your Kindle.

You can follow David Shenk on twitter too.

David Shenk

Too many people still believe that some are born with innate ability and that ‘giftedness’ is more predetermined than earnt through hard work and dedication. Shenk dispels this in his highly readable work, opening with a story about a baseballer, Ted Williams, whose purportedly “laser-like eyesight” made him virtually “superhuman”, at least as portrayed by the media of the day. Shenk goes on to relate that Williams trained obsessively from an early age and his determination to be a ‘hitter’ was what was extraordinary, rather than any innate giftedness. Williams himself said all the media hype was “a lot of bull” and that his achievements were the “sum” of what he had put into his game over many years.

This made me think of our equivalent, Don Bradman. Most Australians know that ‘The Don’, with his near perfect batting average of 99.94, spent countless hours throwing a golf ball against a corrugated rainwater tank, using a cricket stump to practise hitting, rather than a bat to hone his ‘eye’. I still remember my second class teacher telling me that Bradman saw the ball faster than anyone else and he was ‘a natural’.

Much of this reminds me of the 10 000 hours theory I read about in the recent book by Sir Ken Robinson, The Element. Williams and Bradman may have been born with some unique advantages but both spent far longer practising than most, I’m sure. Shenk argues that few are biologically restricted from success, at the highest levels, in any or all endeavours.

It is not that our genes are unimportant but more that, as interactionists would explain, ”your life is interacting with your genes”. Shenk relays how we need to replace the idea of nature/nurture with that of “dynamic development”. What educators need to take to heart is that “genes influence everything but determine very little”.

The ideas Shenk explores have been more exciting, intellectually, than any of those lessons in Science about Gregor Mendel’s peas. Please try and get your hands on a copy. I’d love every teacher, student and more importantly parent to read Shenk’s book. I will post a Part II, with any concerns or criticisms of Shenk’s work when I have a chance to complete the book, probably in a few days time.

As an aside: I do wonder what proponents of ‘streaming’ in schools would make of this book. Would it change their minds?

Part II is here.

Brain Rules

Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Thriving and Surviving at Work, Home and School by John Medina is an excellent, must-read for book teachers, parents and students. I am listening to the audiobook version, read by the author, at the moment and am finding it both informative and entertaining.

I am considering releasing one principle a week to staff and students to complement our school focus on eating a good breakfast, drinking plenty of water and sleeping 8+ hours per night. The fundamentals are not in place for an incredibly high percentatge of our students making learning more challenging than it should be.

Here’s a summary of Medina’s book:

 

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