Educating For Human Greatness v.3 flyer

[philipkovacs]

Educating for Human Greatness

A HIGHER VISION
of Teaching, Thinking and Learning
© 2008 The Human Greatness Group

“There is nothing progressive about being pig-headed and refusing to admit a mistake.” --- C. S. Lewis

In 1983 a National Commission on Excellence in Education issued a “Nation At Risk Report” and set in motion a series of government-imposed reforms, all based on a false goal, student achievement in curriculum. The latest of these reforms, “No Child Left Behind,” put extra pressure on teachers to ignore the diverse needs of students and to standardize education through scripted reading, writing, and math. This top-down pressure is evidence that public school teaching is not regarded as a profession in our society.

Over many years our culture has become so obsessed with curriculum we have lost sight of our purpose – curriculum for what? Student achievement in curriculum has become a false goal, an end in and of itself. Grade-point-averages have become the main indicators of achievement in education. We have a cultural cramp – a mass mind-set that spawns counterfeit reform movements.

For genuine reform of public education we must start with a clear purpose. We suggest Education for Human Greatness.

In 1973, ten years before “Nation at Risk,” the teachers at Hill Field Elementary School in Clearfield, Utah decided to ask parents about their priorities for the education of their children. In interviews with thousands of parents, over several years, teachers were surprised to learn of three needs that parents felt were more important to them than the need to have a child achieve in reading, writing and arithmetic.

First, parents wanted teachers to respect children as individuals, to pay attention to each child’s special needs, and to help youngsters develop their unique talents and abilities.

Second, they wanted children to increase in curiosity and passion for knowledge – they wanted children to “fall in love with learning.”

And third, parents wanted teachers to help children learn how to express themselves, communicate and get along. The priorities were so consistent with nearly every parent, the teachers surmised that these may be the core needs of people in every culture – the need to know who we are and what we can become (identity), the need for knowledge (inquiry), and the need for respect and love (interaction).

This finding led to a new concept – curriculum should not be viewed as a goal, but as a tool to help students grow in identity, inquiry and interaction. Even though the concept was temporarily smothered by the standardization movement, it remained alive all these years and has now evolved to become a framework for authentic changes of public, private and other forms of education.

A Clear Purpose for Education

Develop great human beings to be contributors (not burdens) to society by focusing on 7 Dimensions of Human Greatness:

1. Identity – Help students learn who they are – as individuals with unlimited potential, develop their unique talents and gifts to realize self-worth and develop a strong desire to be contributors to family, school and community.

2. Inquiry – Stimulate curiosity; awaken a sense of wonder and appreciation for nature and humankind. Help students develop the power to ask important questions.

3. Interaction – Promote courtesy, caring, communication and cooperation.

4. Initiative – Foster self-directed learning, will power and self-evaluation.

5. Imagination – Nurture creativity in all of its many forms.

6. Intuition – Help students learn how to feel and recognize truth with their hearts as well as with their minds – develop spirituality and humility.

7. Integrity – Develop honesty, character, morality and responsibility for self.

SURPRISE: When reading, writing, math and other disciplines are taught as tools rather than goals, students' learning produces more depth and breadth, they retain more of what they learn and are able to apply it to solve other problems.

This “higher vision” allows teachers to perform as professionals who involve parents and inspire students to accomplish amazing things.

Contacts for more information:

Lynn Stoddard, a veteran educator, is the author of three books and numerous articles on the need and ways to reinvent schooling. [e-mail]

MaryBeth Merritt is an educator, scientist, parent, artist and community activist She is a founder of Four Winds, a non-profit educational organization. [e-mail]

Don Perl – Is a lifetime educator of thirty-five years. He is presently an adjunct professor of Spanish at the University of Northern Colorado. [e-mail]

Phoebe Plank, a teacher for 15 years, is taking one year off from teaching to bring Educating for Human Greatness to students, teachers and administrators. [e-mail]

Susan Ohanian – A longtime teacher and prolific writer on education issues. She maintains a website in opposition to the corporate-politico takeover of schools and the standardization of curriculum. [e-mail]

Emmanuel Bernstein is a veteran educator who has taught all ages. He wrote the book, The Secret Revolution: A Psychologist’s Adventures in Education. [e-mail]

Yvonne Siu-Runyan – Dr. Siu-Runyan is professor emerita, the University of Northern Colorado and a member of the presidential team for the National Council Teachers of English [e-mail]

Lu Pilgrim – Faculty, Pacific Oaks College, Pasadena, CA, 50 years of experience as a public and independent school teacher and administrator in MI, CA, UT, and WY. [e-mail]

Philip Kovacs -- A former high school English teacher now teaching teachers, Dr. Kovacs helped organize the Educator Roundtable which solicited over 30,000 thousand signatures on a petition calling on Congress to dismantle NCLB. [e-mail]

Mary Orlando has been a Montessori educator for the past 40 years, teaching at every developmental level from 3 year olds through 8th grade. [e-mail]

Betty Terrell is a third grade teacher at Sacajawea Elementary School, in Seattle WA, which adopted as its mission 12 years ago, Educating for Human Greatness. [e-mail].

Alfie Kohn, the author of eleven books, has been recognized by Time magazine as “perhaps the country’s most outspoken critic of education’s fixation on grades [and] test scores.” www.alfiekohn.org.

Nel Noddings – A Lee L. Jacks Professor of Childhood Education, Emerita at Stanford University. Her latest book is When School Reform Goes Wrong. [e-mail]

Stephen Krashen is best known for developing the first comprehensive theory of second language acquisition. He is the author of several books. [e-mail]

Darrell Stoddard -- Founder, Pain Research Institute www.healpain.net Author of PAIN FREE FOR LIFE, Email: [e-mail]

Lawrence Baines – Professor Baines is Judith Daso Herb Chair in Adolescent Literacy at The University of Toledo. [e-mail]

Boyd R. Cox – Dr. Cox is a retired educator with 25 years teaching experience as an elementary teacher and who taught 8 years as an adjunct instructor in basic mathematics and electronics at a community college. [e-mail]

William Spady, an internationally recognized authority, is the author of five books. He is the current Director of the New Possibilities Network. [e-mail]

More Contacts ….. [e-mail]

Educating for Human Greatness

A HIGHER VISION
of Teaching, Thinking and Learning





© 2008 The Human Greatness Group

[Lynn Stoddard]

Phillip,
Fine with me.
Lynn

[Robert R Lange]

philipkovacs said:

If you want to help edit the wording of this document, you should do so here, keeping in mind the one page limit...

We can also use this "discussion" to keep track of membership.

Perhaps what Susan had in mind is the word "their" in the sentence "The lasted of these reforms, "No Child Left Behind,"..............in our society." Who's education? teachers or students? To fix, remove the word "their".

You need to do more to point out that students have a wide array of talents and abilities. A single-minded fixed curriculum fails tp meet the needs of most all youth. As a society we provide varied sizes of cloths and shoes that are intended to meet the size differences of children. It would be silly to expect all children of the same age to be alike in physical structure. In the same way, it is silly to expect all children of the same age to have the same academic abilities and skills..

[philipkovacs]

Thank you Robert, I'll make the change...

Robert R Lange said:

philipkovacs said:

If you want to help edit the wording of this document, you should do so here, keeping in mind the one page limit...

We can also use this "discussion" to keep track of membership.

Perhaps what Susan had in mind is the word "their" in the sentence "The lasted of these reforms, "No Child Left Behind,"..............in our society." Who's education? teachers or students? To fix, remove the word "their".

You need to do more to point out that students have a wide array of talents and abilities. A single-minded fixed curriculum fails tp meet the needs of most all youth. As a society we provide varied sizes of cloths and shoes that are intended to meet the size differences of children. It would be silly to expect all children of the same age to be alike in physical structure. In the same way, it is silly to expect all children of the same age to have the same academic abilities and skills..

[thebandguy]

Good Evening everyone!

I've been an Advocate Against NCLB for several years now, but mainly in the arts area. One of the things I have said over and over and over again, "There is more to educating a child than what can be found on a test." Sometimes I've added things like; "Especially a test that is racially, socially, and culterally biased, a test that is based on the assumption that every child attends school every day, a test that assumes parents are involved in their child's education, and a test that are written by professors who have never spent one day in a classroom, and a test who's results places all the blame on teachers, and none on the students, parents, community, or the legislators that do not fund education properly to begin with." (This is a major problem in Illinois. Hmmmmm.... guess why???? Sorry, we are now 50 out of 50 in education funding thanks to our soon to be impeached governor.)

Anyway, whatever you need, whatever I can do just let me know I am more than willing to help. I'm not afraid of public speaking, I'm not even afraid of talking to legislators because I've done it before. Just let me know. I'm also making this comment after having only read a few of the things posted and a little bit of the conversations regarding them. However, I am passionate about this issue, and it needs to change.

[Jennifer Parker]

We're glad to have you, band guy. I am planning some on-line chat sessions for this group in order to help us get organized. Please read the discussion threads on the on-line chat session input so that you can contribute your ideas.
Thanks!
Jennifer

[Ralph Ritchie]

Work For Youth

Preface
The house next door was sold a while back, not to a resident, but to a Landlord. I have experienced a new insight into teen-age youth, with witch I am altogether uncomfortable.
My sampling ranges from college students to unemployed, uneducated youth, school dropouts, some already in the State probation system.

Here are the features that are bothersome.

There is little or no work ethic in either group.

Parents do not transfer culture to their children.

These is a void of civil responsibility extending beyond youth, and therefore that is not transferred.

There is no parental obligation toward the things that a youth should learn at home.

Some case descriptions:
The college students were only interested in college as a place to find playmates. The all had adult toys ( computer games, ski equipment, a speedboat parked on the front lawn for summer sports, here in Oregon ). They all ultimately transferred their major to Economics as the least invasive of their time. They had massive parties for every special event, Halloween, Fourth of July, etc. In conversation, they had no idea about the economic events that were shaping up- in the Country. I suggested that they learn to say, “Do you want fries with that?” in Chinese and the point completely escaped them. They had no idea of the meaning of what I said- much less being able to discuss the subject. The one student who was attending on a student loan finally dropped out.
These students were from wealthy families who could send a monthly allowance with no follow-up. Since then, I have had contact with a few of the brighter ones- that all started as Bank trainees, and those I knew are now unemployed. They were not registered to vote ( those who could ), They showed no social responsibility. The real tragedy is that they developed no work habits in college.

The next renters were an extended, mixed racial family. Since they had black features, they considered themselves as Blacks. Both teen-age boys already had arrest records and one was on probation. They had friends also known to the Law. In one instance the police chased a suspect to the house ( He ran in the front door and out the back- but they didn’t know that ) It is unnerving to see an officer in body armor with a shotgun at the ready outside my back window- fortunately facing the other way.
After that, their mother ordered them out of the house. They were turned loose on the community. No job training- no inclination to even get a high school diploma, for whatever it is worth. Both were dropouts. The parents were of similar upbringing and have minimal labor-type jobs. Now, the police have developed a habit of checking this house for anyone on their list. Note that this community had not had any crime for at least twenty years before this.
All of the houses on our street have been burglarized ( except ours- we work from home. I have found the need to erect a fence around the property, and keep a shotgun handy.
We are both in our eighties, and we still work for a living. ( our retirement vanished several years ago in the manner of an Enron event.) We are active, grow much of our food, mostly rely on solar energy for sustainability, own our home, and we are distressed by what we see around us.

Recommended Solutions

Require completion of occupational training in a relevant field as part of a high school diploma.
Start with a curriculum that includes basic job skills- whatever the field.

Teach Civics as an involvement experience rather than as lectured theories. Include tours of government agencies, including jails and prisons and courts.

Require some measure of community service as a graduation requirement.

Have occupational advisory committees that contain both teachers and Industry/Business members, to insure that occupational training is both relevant and trains for available jobs.

Colleges should be required to do this. For example some departments and Schools are pumping graduates into an already overfilled work area Reference, Law and lawyers.
This would also limit training for no-advancement jobs. Reference: Biology ( and the Life-sciences ) has little chance for advancement beyond bottle-washer, without graduate degrees- still, they train for those degrees.- mainly to keep departments alive in a college.

Costs
Rather than support dying industries and banks, etc., this money could do something highly beneficial for the country and future citizens.

Conclusion
This is enough for a seed. Every bit of the above could be expanded. The main point is that “Bailouts” for failed industries is a non-productive use of public funds.


Respectfully,

[Bonita DeAmicis, Ed. D.]

While philosophically I agree wholeheartedly in the idea that flexibility and recognition of individuals and environments for learning is important, it is in implementation that my questions arise. Yes, we should recognize differences, offer up real learning opportunities, be flexible, give students choice, but how do we assure equity of opportunity? Perhaps, (and I cannot be sure of this but I suspect it may be somewhat true) NCLB implementation did provide an improved opportunity for our children of least opportunity, who, in an educational environment without accountability, were often the least served. I know some select schools gave great service to these children prior to NCLB, but I am guessing that many more of these children have been served since NCLB. As much as the word accountability tastes business-bitter in my mouth, I think it has emphasized instruction in places where instruction was not happening.

So, I have joined and support the ideas of this group--but wonder how we will create a vision that is implementable in all environments and does not allow those with the least opportunity to fall off the map. I believe middle class and upper class children will often end up served (even if the schools do not serve them). I worry about the have-nots.

:)Bonita

Jim O'Neill said:

Perhaps NCLB has provided some beneficial attention to some students and districts while being detrimental to others. We are all dealing with multiple issues that make each district unique. If the federal goverment recognizes the unique nature of children and school districts it should be easy to recognize that one sytem of monitoring, assessing or dictating the best way to expend funds is a disconnect that will have an adverse impact on teaching and learing in some communities. I appreciate the opportunity to join in this conversation
Jim

[philipkovacs]

I think the bulk of the literature shows that the poorest children are suffering the most under NCLB as a robust curriculum has been jettisoned in favor of test prep...

I also think equality of opportunity needs to exist in society before schools can have any real impact on achievement gaps...

Bonita DeAmicis, Ed. D. said:

While philosophically I agree wholeheartedly in the idea that flexibility and recognition of individuals and environments for learning is important, it is in implementation that my questions arise. Yes, we should recognize differences, offer up real learning opportunities, be flexible, give students choice, but how do we assure equity of opportunity? Perhaps, (and I cannot be sure of this but I suspect it may be somewhat true) NCLB implementation did provide an improved opportunity for our children of least opportunity, who, in an educational environment without accountability, were often the least served. I know some select schools gave great service to these children prior to NCLB, but I am guessing that many more of these children have been served since NCLB. As much as the word accountability tastes business-bitter in my mouth, I think it has emphasized instruction in places where instruction was not happening.

So, I have joined and support the ideas of this group--but wonder how we will create a vision that is implementable in all environments and does not allow those with the least opportunity to fall off the map. I believe middle class and upper class children will often end up served (even if the schools do not serve them). I worry about the have-nots.

:)Bonita

Jim O'Neill said:

Perhaps NCLB has provided some beneficial attention to some students and districts while being detrimental to others. We are all dealing with multiple issues that make each district unique. If the federal goverment recognizes the unique nature of children and school districts it should be easy to recognize that one sytem of monitoring, assessing or dictating the best way to expend funds is a disconnect that will have an adverse impact on teaching and learing in some communities. I appreciate the opportunity to join in this conversation
Jim

[Jennifer Parker]

The devil's most definately in the details, Bonita. Although the legislative intent (closing the achievement gap between majority and minority students, school accountability) of NCLB may have been constructive, the details of the law have proven to be quite destructive for those of less opportunity.

I've worked with urban kids in public schools both pre- and post- NCLB. To be honest, the post-NCLB world led me to leave the classroom and become a student advocate. This is what I saw my final year: I taught third grade. When I received my students at the beginning of the year, their ability levels ranged in math and reading from Pre-K level to 2nd grade. I had 6 students who went to resource class one hour a day and were on IEPs.

Even though my students needed instruction from a pre-k to 2nd grade level, I was forced to teach over 300 THIRD GRADE reading and math standards because that's what's on the third grade state standarded test. My students who went to resource class were only allowed to bring third grade work with them to the resource teacher. The resource teacher was only allowed to coach them on 3rd grade standards, not teach them where they were.

These standards were meaningless to most of my students. They were random and unrelated to their needs. Because of this, studies show most of my former students will either drop out due to lack of engagement with the material or end up in prison partly because they don't have their academic needs served and they get frustrated.

[Leo J. Fahey]

NCLB just codified what was already happening in each state anyway. Even if tomorrow NCLB were to be repealed, states would still adhere to their curriculum standards and standarized testing regimes. All this has led me to strongly advocate for restructuring public schooling, not reforming it. Nibbling around the edges looking at multiple measures of achievement, lowering class sizes and all the rest of the reform agenda will not get the job done of seeing to the needs of each child under such one size fits all way of thinking and of public ed policy. Wholly different ways of structuring school are required.

It is unfortunate that way too many in the reform camp believe all needing to be done is to fiddle a little with the basic structure and all of a sudden every child will turn out to be college ready and well suited for the future. Just because wholesale restructuring is far more difficult to achieve is not an excuse not to try!

Leo

Jennifer Parker said:

The devil's most definately in the details, Bonita. Although the legislative intent (closing the achievement gap between majority and minority students, school accountability) of NCLB may have been constructive, the details of the law have proven to be quite destructive for those of less opportunity.

I've worked with urban kids in public schools both pre- and post- NCLB. To be honest, the post-NCLB world led me to leave the classroom and become a student advocate. This is what I saw my final year: I taught third grade. When I received my students at the beginning of the year, their ability levels ranged in math and reading from Pre-K level to 2nd grade. I had 6 students who went to resource class one hour a day and were on IEPs.

Even though my students needed instruction from a pre-k to 2nd grade level, I was forced to teach over 300 THIRD GRADE reading and math standards because that's what's on the third grade state standarded test. My students who went to resource class were only allowed to bring third grade work with them to the resource teacher. The resource teacher was only allowed to coach them on 3rd grade standards, not teach them where they were.

These standards were meaningless to most of my students. They were random and unrelated to their needs. Because of this, studies show most of my former students will either drop out due to lack of engagement with the material or end up in prison partly because they don't have their academic needs served and they get frustrated.

[Wade Tillett]

In 1942, Aiken's report on the Eight Year Study summarized the findings of the study that tracked students at 30 schools for eight years: the more experimental/progressive the school, the better students did on all measures (yes, academic but beyond academic also). Then, like A Nation at Risk or NCLB, the National Defense of Education Act claimed curricular authority over all schools. (See Aiken's report or Turning Points in Curriculum by Marshall, Sears, Allen, Roberts, Schubert for more.)

[Jennifer Parker]

It's not my experience that nothing changed after NCLB. Before NCLB I was teaching in Ohio and we did not have hundreds of standards to teach each semester and we did not spend 100 out of 180 days either cramming for or taking standardized tests and formative assessments every 6 weeks. We were free to teach how we wanted. That's not to say reformers (or restructurers, if you like) don't have work to do on the state level, we do. But in my experience NCLB made things worse by giving the Business Roundtable an "in" to push more and more standards and more and more testing on each state.