During my CO301D class today, I had the pleasure of meeting with a CSU professor, and expert in the field of education, Dr. Antero Garcia. He spoke to us on the impact that NCLB has had on education, as well as the more recent legislation. He spoke how standards and the CORE requirements dates back all the way to the 80's when the idea of testing and standards first was birthed. He spoke of how the recent generation, or anyone who in school since 2000 is basically a product of this standardized testing era. Obviously, some good has come out of it, or better said, some have survived and at least gotten a good education, and not been swallowed up by the intensity and dominance of testing in schools. But, have these students gotten as good of an education compared to prior generations? How has their education differed. So much time is spent on preparing for tests, pre-tests, and the actually time it takes to test. Sometimes this can exceed a month of precious school time. I did a debate in my Public Argumentation communications class last semester on whether standardized testing or portfolio assessments would be better for k-12 students. I also did a research paper in my English class last summer on a similar subject, why standardized testing is ineffective. This class has given me a great opportunity to actually "test" out, pun intended, lol, the efficiency of different assessment methods, such as creating a portfolio to fulfill our badge requirements in this English Composition class. I have noticed that my brain automatically is used to striving to achieve a grade, to look for due dates, and to be ready to cram. But, this badge system has no exams, no grades, only levels and markers to achieve in order to progress to the next level. It has allowed me a lot more autonomy in my learning and self-directed process.
On another note, I asked Dr. Garcia if he could speak on what we can do as future teachers and parents to advocate against the serious problem of bullying including cyber bullying. He said it is not an easy problem, and that a lot of schools have a "Zero Tolerance" policy. Unfortunately, as one fellow student pointed out, this doesn't really do anything to resolve the issue. It states a claim but doesn't do anything to back it up. He said what is important is creating a classroom in which students feel they can be themselves. They are not afraid to speak up and speak out and show who they are. How do we create such a safe and comfortable space for our students? It is definitely a tough topic to tackle. He said there will always be the more introverted types, but that it is important for them to feel like it's okay to be who they are. What I've learned is that bullying isn't solved top down, but rather by and through peer intervention. It takes social engagement from those witnessing the bullying to stand up and say something to stop it, to note how uncool and unacceptable it is.
He left us on the note that we have to teach socio-cultural and socio-emotional skills. Hmmm, it has definitely gotten me to thinking. What are socio-cultural skills? What comes to mind for me is being inclusive to all cultures, to all types of people, and then giving students the opportunity to engage with each other, learn from each other, trust and grow with each other. Easier said than done. But this topic of socio-cultural skills has always been important to me. Every since I started studying a second language when I was eleven, I've wanted to get to know different cultures, to travel the world, be an explorer and discoverer. When I was teaching Spanish to English speakers in the Boulder valley school district as an extracurricular activity, I always included culture in the lessons, the lessons of language actually stemmed from the cultural explorations, whether it was food, music, art, craft, or literature, folklore, and the students ate it up, sometimes literally!
I think this kind of teaching can help make students feel comfortable with the idea of "other" to the point that "other" begins to dissolve, and "we all" emerges stronger and sturdier.
I look forward to delving more into advocacy against bullying and also for building socio-cultural and socio-emoitional "culture" in schools.
I agree with your first point about testing; I hadn't really considered it before ANtero talked about it, but since we grew up under NCLB, we're kind of always in that NCLB mindset. How do we create a classroom that's not based around standardized testing or achieving a grade when that's all we've ever known? I like that Antero's answer was "become a Teacher Advocate." Hopefully by advocating for ourselves and students we won't fall into the "grade chasing" trap!
ReplyDeleteKaitlyn brings up so good points, as do you, especially with your questions toward the end of the post. Teaching social and emotional skills in the classroom is crucial (some students will get it nowhere else), but doing so in the current test-obsessed context is difficult where the mandate often crowds out the crucial. What would you hope for your son?
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