What Does a Good Education Look Like?

Ever given any thought to that question?  Both members of the TU  were fortunate to receive a good education during our youth, I think.  This was not an accident.  It took hard work from parents, educators and even us.     Stepping back to gain a wider view might be helpful since we are all trying to provide the best for our young people.   We here at the TU have kids in public school, we teach others kids in school and obviously have what we feel is a well informed opinion.   But the phrase "good education" can be nuanced by people for a variety of reasons.  It can mis-characterized,  exaggerated, twisted, falsified, and fabricated so that other purposes may be served. Still I don't think you "get" a good education, you are given an opportunity and then earn it.

When describing a good education people use many differing phrases.  Many of these fail to frame the subject with any degree of specificity.  Instead the terms used glow with ambiguity and define things in a more general sense.  That's not necessarily a bad thing and allows for flexibility.  Effort by many to quantify and replicate what they see as a good a "good" education has produced the opposite result. This may in part be a symptom of only working towards a defined outcome.  It is OK that that phrase has a different meaning to different people and it is more about a process.  With so many buzzwords in the lexicon of education today a quick dialogue on the subject is worthwhile.   It can't hurt to enumerate some things that characterize what our schools should be about.  So let's do so from the point of view of a parent asking for things from a school for their child.


School: "Hi there!  Welcome to our school.  What can we do for you?"

Parent: "Well I have a 9th grade child starting school here tomorrow and would like to make a few requests for things I want for my child."

School: " Go right ahead."

Parent: "First off, my child is very special and I'd like them treated as such.  Just like when I sent them off to Kindergarten I want them to feel safe, loved and gain a sense of independence.   I want them treated as a unique individual with has access to caring and trusted professionals who have a say in the school.  I 'd like my child provided with a rich varied learning diet that imparts key knowledge and skills needed by any well informed  individual.  Preferably emphasizing the normal core subjects.  They'll need math and science, english and of course, history.  Throw in some other languages for good measure.  I'd like them to develop an active and healthy lifestyle so they'll need some physical education classes and also health.  I'd like to stress that they learn to read and write well.  The approach in all of these classes should be innovative but not too far removed from solid trusted foundations. They should learn to think critically about subjects and get to explore things that interest them.   I want them to view their education as an investment in their future, whatever that may be. 

Learning about all of this should help them gain a sense of their own identity.  I want them to develop curiosity and creativity.  Exposure in the arts and music certainly would help with this.    These pursuits should allow my child to grow in non academic ways and have an appreciation of art and music, even if they themselves do not have an talent for them.  I'd like my child to have access to the types of technology that aid us all in the modern world.   I want them to see technology as a powerful tool and not a shortcut.    The school should be well funded so it is not wanting for what it needs.  My child should be given the opportunity for a rich discourse on subjects and learn more than just about it and instead experience it.   

Beyond academics, my child needs to learn to work with others as part of a group.  Whether that is through cooperative projects, on a sports team, club, or in some other fashion I want them to establish positive relationships.  They'll need the skills to become a good communicator.   I want them to learn about leadership and respect. I'd like my child to be nurtured and supported when they need it and I also want them challenged and learn the value of hard work.  I know it won't all be smooth sailing so they'll need to be able to handle conflict and work through it.    They'll need to learn to persevere through adversity and disappointment and learn how to respond to and learn from to failure.  I'd like the school and teachers to be open in communicating things with me so I may aid in all of this.

I want my child to have an equal chance to pursue excellence.  They should learn about honesty and integrity.  I want them to be proud of their work. I want them to learn about  responsibility, dependability and If they don't thrive as much as others I still want them to be safe, happy and know that people care about them.    I want them to learn to be the best they can be.  Beyond themselves, I'd like them to learn to recognize their role in the school, local community and  develop personal responsibility to themselves and all those those around them.   In the end they will want to contribute positively to their community through what they learn.

These are all things I want.  I know it is a great deal to ask.  I just want my child to have a chance at a good education"




Fact is there are many ways to answer that question.  Love to hear input from others beyond this hastily compiled version.   Please feel free to share in the comments.

A Problem of Articulation

Ever tried explaining electricity to a nine year old? I gained another level of respect for Virginia's elementary school teachers tonight.  My daughter has a test tomorrow on electricity. Nothing complicated: open and closed circuits, conductors and insulators, series and parallel circuits, resistance, etc. We used iPod headphones, turned switches on and off in the house, and even made some sparks with jumper cables to see the principles of electricity at work.

She really got it. Then I started quizzing her with the study guide. Maybe she didn't get it after all. She could show me and even explain what all of the terms and concepts were all about while we were moving around the house and looking at electricity at work in our world.  But something about putting it into clearly articulated words, absent the tangible examples, escaped her.

After a little work, she managed to articulate a little better, but when I read the definitions from the page for her to identify, she struggled a little more.  The terms and language used in the review guide didn't quite match the language she had used to understand the concepts. 

Tomorrow, I don't know how her teacher will assess her.  I'm sure that with over twenty other students taking the test at the same time she won't have a chance to just explain it to him, much less show him. If she's asked to write about it her chances are much better. I do know that at least by next year she will have to answer multiple choice questions about it for the fifth grade Virginia Standards of Learning test, the type of test that doesn't value what you know or give you the chance to express what you've learned-- it is the type of test that exposes what you don't know and expects the student to understand the narrow scope pre-determined by the "standard-setters" and "test-makers."

My experience tonight leads me to wonder how many students are harmed because teaching them to truly articulate their learning is no longer valued. We expect to assess learning through an easy and streamlined process.  We define what should be known, how it should be expressed and if students learn to articulate differently than what is prescribed they are punished rather than rewarded.

I don't have a well "articulated" conclusion to my thoughts, but after spending time engaged in learning with my daughter I found myself sad that even though I'm convinced that she understands, I'm not sure how she'll test. And in our world today, the test is all that matters.

(Post-Script- I first wrote this post over a month ago.  My daughter aced the test.  It was fill-in the blank and short answer.)

A Communication Failure or Success-- You Decide

"I think I just had a conference with a parent and I don't even teach their kid!"

I replied, "How did you let that happen?"

"When she came in I couldn't really understand her so I just faked it for a few minutes thinking I'd figure out who she was.  By the time I realized that I didn't really teach her son it was too late to say anything."

Interesting I thought.  "So what did you tell her?"

"I just told her that her son was doing fine."

"Is he?"

"I don't know, but I've got to call Kevin to make sure."

This actually happened to a co-worker years ago.  I kind of felt sorry for him, because I can kind of see how you could get yourself into that situation.  He shared a classroom with the student's real teacher, so the parent showed up to the wrong place for a conference.  There was a language barrier involved, so the teacher tried to be polite.  By the time he figured out what was going on he was already in too deep to back out.  So, he tried to ask questions and said some general things to let the parent know the student was doing well in his class.

Luckily, he called the student's real teacher that night.  The real teacher told him that the student was a good kid in class and was earning an "A" so far.

All's well that ends well...
...I guess.

Watching Chaos

I admit my attention span is short and I'm tired of hearing or using the word Occupy.  But I don't tire as easily when discussing or informing my views on education.  It is in this context that the following video becomes relevant.  Imagine if you will entering a classroom where the teacher is disengaged, irrelevant and unresponsive to student needs.  Then compare that to what occurred at a Panel for Educational Policy(PEP) meeting in New York recently.

Is what we are watching a response by a public that sees leaders as disengaged, irrelevant and unresponsive?   Has education reform become too reliant on Top Down decisions in pursuit of desired outcomes?  How are these top down decisions being perceived by stakeholders?     Are the few creating a process that ignores the voices of many that could affect lasting and positive change?    Will this closed process engender support or further alienate decision makers?   Is this approach consistent with the ideals of democracy?  Shouldn't we expect more from our leaders?  





Love to hear some comments after watching.