Study Guide for Week Thirteen: Art and Education

Greene, “Thinking of Things as if They Could be Otherwise...”:

This and the following article are lectures that Maxine gave at the Lincoln Center Institute. As for all the artistic allusions here to novels, plays, paintings, performance artists, etc, etc, if many of the references are obscure, you could see this as a vital reading/seeing list. The Bibliography to the book where these articles first appeared provides for a life-time of engaged reading.

1. In the opening paragraph there is a fine statement of possibility that comes when we fully engage certain works of art. What might happen? How does what might happen relate to Greene’s vision of freedom?   She speaks of "breakthroughs.. the upsurges of the unexpected we may experience at certain moments of engagement with works of art."  She speaks in the next paragraph about how such "shocks of awareness" can jolt us into waking up out of our torpor of boredom.  This in turn connects to freedom of the imagination that we discussed last week.

2. Note the passage from Camus about frittering away our time for living. What might you put as examples of living in this context?  Frittering on twittering?  The historically unprecedented timesink that is the Internet?  At least at card tables and cafes there is contact with other human beings.

3. Note too the movement from experience to reflection to action on p. 117, the second and third paragraphs. 

4. What are some of the revisioned purposes of education identified by Greene?  "to invent situations in which young people are enabled to freely make of themselves who or what they are, that they ... engage continually (yes, and knowledgeably) with works of art." (118)

5. What is meant by “open spaces”? How might you go about creating such a space? Has our class been an “open space” this semester?  "Spaces where people can appear as who they are and not *what* they are, spaces for action on the part of all those involved... Action, in contrast to behavior, means taking an initiative, embarking on a beginning, setting something in motion."  To be honest, I'm not sure this class *has* achieved this (admittedly, high) standard.  I don't know, for instance, that a student who believed that some divine power played some kind of role in the universe's creation would feel "free to appear as who she were" in the early weeks of the course. Yet surely a person holding such beliefs (likely, in a Jesuit school) cannot be compared to a person advocating Nazism (which was, rightly, held to have no place in the classroom).

6. Democracy=voting vs. democracy=communities-in-the-making: how does the latter phrase relate to the democratic ideal?  We've covered this ground before, I think, with Dewey and Summerhill.  If we look small, "democracy" at a systems level is a good bit more than once-every-four-years voting: the multiple frameworks defining and protecting individual rights, the bottoms-up and top-down processes by which legislation is created and modified, the seen and less-seen roles played by different actors within government, market, and opinion-shaping spheres; the (IMHO considerable) individual responsibilities that come along with the privilege of living in a (flawed, imperfect) democratic society.  To reduce all that to once-every-four-years voting is, on the one hand, flip; and, on the other, misses the critical imperative to work the "seeing small" systems perspective as well as the "seeing large" personal one.  It takes all kinds to effect a revolution: Greene's vision requires not only many personal transformations on the part of individual educators, one by one by one; but also substantial structural transformations, involving money, allocation of finite school hours, assessment tools and procedures, and more.  

7. What is the point of the extended analysis of the passage from Dostoyevsky’s Brothers Karamazov?  It has been a very long time.  I believe, though, that Ivan stands for the ethical atheist, struggling to make moral sense of the world without an image of God in apologia.  He doesn't believe in God, but if there *were* a God, Ivan would be very cranky indeed with Him, given the amount of unjustifiable suffering in the world. 


Greene, “Resistance to Mere Things...”:

8. As I read this lecture, the idea occurs to me that for Maxine, a work of art is relational (analogous to Noddings’ vision of care as relational), that the work consists of the aesthetic experience that is the synthesis between the image (or book, sound, etc, etc) and the perceiver. If this is so, what do we bring to the work that allows for such an experience, such an opening?
Well, everything, isn't it: the hopes, fears, joys and sorrows of our prior experiences; other aesthetic experiences that we connect back, Dewey-style, to the one we're experiencing; our background knowledge of the artistic domain itself; the quality (or not) of our attention.

9. Here too we find the idea that part of what we bring is “aesthetic education.” What does that include? Does such an education address the worries raised by Greene about imagination beginning at the bottom of p. 123: “I need to ponder...two issues having to do with imagination...”?  Right.  Well, sure.  The only way that kids will ever learn to love Shakespeare is to... experience Shakespeare.  The only way that kids learn to love museums is to... go to museums.  

Greene raises two issues -- she actually does not call them "worries," and I think only the first of them should, properly, rank as one.  The first is the observation that "imagination is not always benevolent" (she provides both Columbine and horror films as examples).  The second is the observation that Harry Potter and Star Wars have sparked far wider youth enthusiasm than, say, the Brothers Karamazov.  I don't think *she* argues that aesthetic education can "solve" the first issue; I think she *suggests* (does not come outright and say) that aesthetic educators might, possibly, draw on HP and SW as entry points to other versions of the classic heroic-quest storylines and mythical elements that they draw on.

10. What lessons does Greene extract from the Marge Piercy poem on p. 125?  Wake up!  Wake up, you people!

11. Think of all the ways in which “imagination can be corrupted” (p. 127).  I'm more persuaded by Morrison's Bluest Eye than by Dewey's Dead Facts.  The same mythical motifs that provide my aesthetic context and deepen my encounter with art might be someone else's Dead Facts. 

12. In response to the passage from Sartre, Maxine talks about helping “to free teachers and learners to find and use their own voices...”  Yes.

Study guide - week twelve - Freedom, Imagination and Community

Greene, “Seeking Contexts”:

1. You should be clear about what it means to see the world “small” versus seeing the world “large.” It will become clear later that for Greene these perspectives are a matter of both/and rather than an either/or.  According to Greene, seeing the world "large" means viewing people collectively as "small and at a distance" in a detached and systematic manner; seeing the world "small" means viewing individuals "big... (and)  in their particularity and integrity instead."  (p. 10)  While we may find synthesis in later readings, in *this week's* readings she is clearly favoring seeing "large."

 
2. It is interesting that Greene encourages us to think of what it would mean to educate young people so that they can handle “catastrophes” (p. 13); this was written long before 9/11. What might it mean to do that? What would you want students to learn?

My own focus would be to try and support the development of (Dewey-esque) habits such as metacognition, considering the situation from the position of the Other's shoes, "going up to the balcony" to gain perspective, conflict resolution skills, and physical stress reduction techniques such as deep breathing.  Some of this (the shoes of the Other, the balcony) I think overlaps with what Greene is trying to do; some of it takes a different tack.

3. What is meant by “authentic assessment”? What, by contrast, would be inauthentic?  Authentic seems to mean assessments that allow students to tell their own stories (Greene mentions portfolios and exhibitions; Elizabeth Langran-style digital stories and podcasts would also, I think, meet her definition).  Closed-end tests, particularly multiple choice, and *particularly particularly* closed end multiple choice tests defined outside the classroom and administered to very large populations, would not.  (p. 13)

4. What does it mean to be “onto something”? How does it connect with imagination? If imagination is important–as it certainly is from Greene’s perspective–what can we do to nurture this faculty; what is often done to squelch it?

I think imagination is typically coupled with acts of *creation*; Greene here is arguing that imagination is necessary to *see* properly, which is a quite different connection.  The surface-answer to the nurture/squelch question is something like "open ended child-led activities nurture/closed end rote memory based activities squelch."  I think she is actually "onto" something more fundamental that, while it certainly includes this sentiment as an offshoot, is on a somewhat different primary trajectory, about the nature of surprise and empathy in transforming the self.

5. Note the emphasis on “looking at things as if they could be otherwise,” a phrase repeated at least twice in the text, and part of the title of an article we will discuss next week. Why should we? What is being called for here?

Idealism, in all its forms, for better and worse, is predicated upon looking at things as if they could be otherwise.  It is the starting point for all change agents, and she certainly aspires to effecting change.


Greene, “Imagination, Community and the School”:

6. When we refer to students as “at risk” what are we typically saying? What should we be saying?  We are saying that they are at risk of failure.  What we should be saying... gets back, again, to what the point of education is supposed to be.  If the point of education is to ensure the development of a list of *skills* such as (most fundamentally) reading, then to identify a student as being "at risk" of failing to learn to read, in order to provide the services and supports required to mitigate that risk, then... it's OK.  Perhaps someone might come up with a better phrase, and that would be fine.  To not meet the real need, for discomfort about the language, would *not* be fine.  To disengage from the responsibility to teach students to read does not serve the students well.

If the point of education is mostly about self actualization and expression, then the phrase "at risk" reads quite differently.

7. What are the features of a democratic community? How can we educate young people to participate fully in such a community? Are students being so educated at Summerhill?  Interconnectedness and community (p. 33).  Summerhill students certainly get *some* of this, though their exemption from cooking, cleaning, maintenance and other basic chores detracts substantially from the mutual obligations and *work*, some of which inevitably is tedious, associated with real interconnectedness.  There's a sense in which Summerhill students experience the *pleasures* of community whilst paid employees take care of the *work*, which alters the thing.  

8. Note the reference to a “range of literacies” on p. 34. We will want to explore what it would mean to take this notion seriously.  These include the "habits of mind" that enable students to take initiatives in the learning process, to become active and critical learners, to tell their own stories, pose their own questions, be present... 

9. When Greene speaks of the “recovery of imagination,” what kind of imagination is she envisioning?  I think it comes back to this business of *seeing* properly as requiring powers of imagination -- of empathizing deeply with characters in literature, of connecting their situations and development with personal situations, of seeing in them potential to bring depth and power to the "recovery."

10. What is the connection between oppression (racism, sexism, etc.) and imagination? How will the recovery of imagination diminish the impulses that give rise to oppression and kindle the desires to end it?  Well.  I think the idea that people -- any of us -- can only relate to characters or depictions in art that reflect our own cultures or ethnic or religious affiliations is mighty limiting -- insulting, even.  I can't relate to Odysseus because he's an ancient white man?  If I were black, I couldn't relate to Tom Sawyer in Huck Finn?  That's a mighty tragic view of the *limitations* of imagination, and I don't really believe it's what Greene is arguing.  A great story *transcends.*  That's what makes it great.  That said, the "canon" is fairly criticized for its Dead White Maleness, and benefits from the inclusion of other perspectives, other dialects, other images.  The trick is to be honest about standards of excellence.  It may not be *fair* that women, for example, didn't often get to develop their gifts as mature artists during the Renaissance; or blacks during slavery: *but they didn't.*   You can't just toss second-rate work in among the Dante and Shakespeare just for the political correctness of it.  Or fall into the compensatory sin of too much modernism.

11. Note that ending oppression is seen as building community. This should be obvious, in one sense, but it is worth exploring. How does oppression disrupt community?  Greene draws a straight line between what she sees as the stigma caused by labeling, and silencing: "Far too seldom are such young people looked upon as beings capable of imagining, of choosing, and of acting from their own vantage points on perceived possibility."  Ending oppression allows these people to "wake up" and become fully alive, part of the interconnectedness of community, rather than mere recipients of benevolent services.

Remaining assignments

ED 429:
- X Greene Project Presentation ("be prepared" 4/21 and 4/28)
- X Greene Paper (due 4/25)
- X Re-reflection (due 4/28)
- Self-estimation (due 4/28)

SE 534:
- Beyong goals & objectives (due 4/29)
- X Group IEP on M. case study (due 4/29; share draft to group 4/15)
- Teacher interview (due 4/29)

SE 537:
- X Group lesson plan/Case Study Part II (due 4/15; draft of modifications for Susan by 4/9)
- X Course integration / Wink writeup (due 4/29)

ED 429 - Study Guide for Week Eleven

Dewey Chapter Five: “The Nature of Freedom”:

1. As you read Dewey’s discussion of freedom, think back to Summerhill and imagine where Neill would agree and where not. They approach the question with very different premises. Dewey starts out by asserting true freedom is internal: that "the only freedom that is of enduring importance is freedom of intelligence... and of judgment exercised on behalf of purposes that are intrinsically worthwhile. The commonest mistake made about freedom is.. to identify it with freedom of movement, or with the external or physical side of the activity." (p. 61) Freedom of movement (insofar as it does not impinge on the freedom of others) is precisely Summerhill's focus: end, not means. The only value judgment Neill is willing to make is to define actions that abridge the freedoms of others as "license." That is, indeed, a "thin" notion of freedom.

2. What values does “outward movement” (by which he means all kinds of unstructured physical activity, from talking to walking) serve? Why is it important? Well, as suggested above, it is a necessary means to the desired end of internal freedom of judgment and courage. A student can only discover what is "intrinsically worthwhile" if he can wander around and make comparisons. A teacher can only discover what impassions students by observing them wandering around, manifesting choices. (Also, it's good for the body. :o) ) But to Dewey, this type of physical freedom is not sufficient: it does not necessarily inculcate the habits that free the mind and heart.

3. What does Dewey mean by freedom as an end in itself? Is freedom, understood in this way, a value our culture truly embraces? Well, forgive me, but what *I* believe he means is: unfettered, but also unfocused and ultimately self-indulgent outward-focused freedom such as Summerhill's. Another take would be freedom to "shop until you drop," which is similarly unfettered and self-indulgent, though in a different dimension. Whichever interpretation you take, what Dewey is cautioning against, I believe rightly, is to equate "freedom" with "whim and caprice" (p. 65). The existence of a multitude of choices spread out before us does not, in and of itself, make us free.

Dewey takes the development of habits of self-control and delayed gratification very seriously, and *these*, I think, are values that are not currently very valued in our society.

4. “The ideal aim of education is creation of power of self-control” (p. 64). What does he mean by this? Well, again, I expect that what we think he means depends largely on what other values we bring to our reading of him. While Dewey takes *process* very seriously, and believes that processes (physical freedom, student choice, democratic decisionmaking, etc) are necessary means, he looks at *outcomes* as well. Not all experiences are equally educative; he tries hard to define the value system by which experiences can and should be evaluated; and, very much to his credit, he is willing to acknowledge when outcomes are disappointing. In this he is fundamentally different from (what we've read of) Neill.

What I think he is saying about the value of, and need to educate for, the power of self-control is in essence more similar than different from what the modulating desert rabbis tried to articulate, or Confucius, or Jesus, or Buddha, or Muhammed. (The vocabulary is clearly different.)

5. Why is the impulsive person acting under the “illusion of freedom” (p. 65)? (“Do you mean when I shop ’til I drop I’m not being free?”) "Shop-to-the-drop" is certainly one example of possible illusions of freedom; but they really are countless, aren't they. The advent of the Pill has brought countless new pressures and innovative forms of oppression upon women, particularly young girls. The same can be said of potential of infertility treatments (which have drawn couples, but again specifically women, into years of heartbreak, extraordinary physical pain and unknowable risks, and financial distress). Or the opportunities made possible by interest-only mortgages. Or the rather more comical paralysis I've often felt, standing before 74 different cereal options in the supermarket aisle. And so on. Yet such increased "choices" are almost invariably viewed as freedom.

I would hasten to add, though, that it is not the expanded choices *per se* that are the problem, but the impulsiveness, or insufficient self-discipline, or absence of a clearly defined personal value system that provides a framework for response to the siren calls of choice. In short: the habits of self-control and judgment that Dewey says are so critical.

Kohli, “Education and Freedom in the American Experience”:

6. Note the challenge to the Enlightenment and the link between “critical reason” or “critical dialectical thought” and true freedom (as opposed to the ‘freedom’ of the individual to partake in a ‘free-market’ economy–i.e., the shop/drop syndrome mentioned above).

Mmm. I liked what was evidently said by Solomon, quoted by Greene, and requoted by Kohli that freedom is meant to be "freedom from both causal determination and from rational coercion" (p. 99). I'm heartened to hear that Greene "insists upon the agency of individuals" and the possibility for freedom through choices as one recognizes and confronts "the reality posed by external conditions" (p. 99). This speaks again to the habits of self-control and judgment that Dewey insists upon. I'm wary, though, of arguments that amount to various flavors of false consciousness.

7. How does Kohli describe Greene’s education for freedom (p. 100 and passim)?? I'll be darned if I can find the word "passim" on the page. Passion, maybe?

Anyway, what I understand Greene-via-Kohli to mean by "education for freedom" is one which facilitates students' own process towards "waking up," and transforming themselves to "repair lacks and take action to create themselves" (Greene p. 21 as quoted by Kohli p. 100) Perhaps ironically, or perhaps not, this language closely tracks that in the Jesuit framework we began the class with, which framed freedom in terms of self-recognition of our fundamentally sinful nature, and willingness to confront this through service to others. It is also, I think, not too far from my own formulation of freedom as rooted in competence, including the competence to make independent judgments and to reject societal norms or values if they are poorly aligned to personal ones.

8. “...[O]ne’s freedom is achieved, not received” (p. 102). What does Kohli mean by this? How is it achieved? What is the role of art in its achievement? Well, it's been a very long time since I tried to tackle Sartre, and I am uneasy with receiving Sartre via Greene via Kohli. That said, I *do* believe, as I wrote in Paper 1, that true freedom can only be earned, not granted. Institutions -- be they national governments, schools, or families -- can only protect the *parameters* of freedom: the right to participate in the selection of leaders, the right to speak freely, the right to move about physically, etc. It's up to individuals to *pick these rights up* and do something positive with them.

Greene-via-Kohli says that the first step towards doing so is to Wake Up: to "engage" with our particular "walls" (102) and thereafter to connect "in community, in dialogue" (103), which she sees as necessary to develop true self-awareness. Finally, she sees great potential in literature to plumb these depths.

9. It is worth discussing, a propos the role of dialogue and democracy in the classroom, structural challenges to this activity, specifically around gender (pp. 105-106). Sigh. OK. If we must.

ED 429 - Study Guide for Week Nine

More on the Role of Experience

“Ignatian Pedagogy: A Practical Approach” (bound packet):

1. Note the claim, in para. 11, that pedagogy “cannot simply be reduced to methodology.” Have you taken any methods courses? Why do you think there are doubts about method? What do you have to say in its defense?

2. What is the problem suggested in para. 14 that the pedagogy is supposed to address?

3. What are the goals of a pedagogy for “faith and justice” (paras.15-22)?

4. Note the reference in the final paragraph of this section to experience, reflection and action.
Later, context and evaluation will be added to these three.

5. Ignatian pedagogy is seen as analogous to (or an instance of?) the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. (More on this below.) In this context, it is suggested that the relationship of teacher to student is the same or analogous to the relationship between the director of the Spiritual Exercises (referred to in the document we read as the “retreat-giver”) and the retreatant or person doing the Exercises. What is the relationship?

6. We will want to compare the emphasis on experience here with Dewey’s views in Experience and Education. Are they talking about the same thing?

7. What are the pedagogical implications of the interplay between experience, reflection and action? (Note in this context the reference to the passive, lecture fill-up-the-cup model as “primitive.” Dewey, of course, was saying this at the turn of the 19th century.)

8. Note all the ways in which context is important (paras. 33-42) and consider the implications for you as a practitioner.

9. For the paradigm, experience is far more than raw feelings or sensations. What is involved in an educational experience?

10. What does reflection add to experience?

11. What is presupposed by the commitment to action?

12. What is the difference between the evaluation discussed here and the high-stakes testing of the No Child Left Behind act and similar state imposed standards?

13. Note the proposed features of the paradigm (paras. 71-76) and the anticipated challenges to its use (paras. 77-89).

“The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius” (on line):

14. What is the focus of each of the four ‘weeks’ of the Exercises? Is there anyway to summarize their essence in more universal terms?

15. What do you think is meant by ‘contemplation’ in this context?

16. If you feel called to do the Exercises, there are on campus Jesuits who lead them. Let me know and I’ll put you in touch with one. They do what is called the “Exercises in daily life,” but I’m sure you can find a place to do them in a retreat setting (without going to London, which is were this document originates).

“Longing for the Sacred in Schools” (on line):

Since this article is an interview and I think the questions raised by Halford are good ones, let them be your guide. You should be able to explain Noddings’ answers to each, and also how you might answer those very same questions, as appropriate.

3/12 - 3/17

ED 429:

• X email Educative Experience group; read assignment & Neill article
• X 3rd paper due 3/14
• X Study guide for week 8

SE 537:

• Read through Fairfield curriculum overview; will work on curriculum evaluation in class
• Draft lesson plan for group / Susan case study part 3 (due 4/1)
• X Read & print (!!) that 60 page document on syllabus

SE 534:

• X Echolocation blurb to Dr. Kim
• Re-read Miguel case study / narrative overview to group / draft Goals for IEP by Friday/Jeannine to do Objectives thereafter (due 3/25)
• Propose idea for Miguel lesson plan to group (language arts) (due 3/25)
• Set up time to interview Martha (due 3/25)

ED 429 - Study Guide for Week 8: The Role of Experience in Education

Chapter One: Traditional vs. Progressive Education:

1.What are the key features of “traditional” education? Is Jesuit education traditional in this sense?

1. Subject matter consists of content and skills worked out in the past; 2. Developed rules of conduct have also been worked out; and 3. general pattern of school organization marks the school as an institution which is "sharply marked off" from other forms of social organization. Jesuit education as I originally understand it, dating back to Ignatius etc, largely fits these categories. My sense is that as Jesuit education has morphed over the intervening centuries, much of the morphing has been in increasingly "progressive" directions, and there now appears to be a growing support for the ideas that the demarcations between school and larger community ought to be more permeable; and also that the body of content that comprises the focus of the education ought to be more student-constructed.

(That said, every. single. course of the special education program is required (which is *not* what the state certification program calls for, although that is how the no-electives program at FU is justified); and nearly all courses that I've taken here, certainly including this one, have been extraordinarily teacher-directed. So perhaps there's a gap between increasingly "progressive" ideals and what it looks like in practice. As Dewey notes in this chapter, progressive education is "simpler" in concept, but "harder" to actually effect.)

2. What are some standard criticisms of it? "The traditional scheme is... one of imposition from above and from outside" (p. 18)

3. What are the key features of “progressive” education? Is Summerhill progressive in this sense? 1. Expression of individuality; 2. Free activity; 3. Learning through activity; 4. ("acquisition of [skills] as a means of attaining ends which make direct vital appeal" ??); 5. ("making the most of the opportunities of present life" ??); and 6. ("acquaintance with a changing world" ??). The meaning of some of these "features" are more clearly evident than others. Nonetheless, it seems clear that Summerhill aspires to the basic intent.

4. What is Dewey’s concern with regard to either/or thinking? He doesn't think much of it. (In this he diverges from Neill.)

5. What are the potential problems with progressive education? Dewey raises both pragmatic potential problems ("many of the newer schools tend to make little or nothing of organized subject-matter of study [and] to proceed as if any form of direction and guidance by adults were an invasion of individual freedom" p. 22) and also more philosophical ones (progressive education can devolve to "a theory of education which proceeds negatively or by reaction against what has been current..." and "... an educational philosophy which professes to be based on the idea of freedom may become as dogmatic as ever was the traditional education which is reacted against." p. 22)

6. What is the point of the last couple of sentences of this chapter? He seems to be suggesting that the study of the past is important insofar as it yields up insights which are meaningful and applicable to "the living present." Ironically, this is precisely the same argument that advocates for classic language- and classic text-centered education (such as Tracy Simmons) also make. They go in significantly different directions thereafter.


Chapter Two: The Need of a Theory of Experience:

7. What is problematic about the claim that education is derived from experience? Some experiences are more equal than others. Some experiences are what Dewey calls "mis-educative" and has the effect of "arresting or distorting the growth of further experience" (p. 25).

8. What makes an experience mis-educative? Note the different ways in which an experience can fail to lead to education. What assumption about education underlies this analysis? See above; an experience is mis-educative if it is so rote-based that it knocks the learner into a rut; or if it comes too easy and fosters lazy habits; or (my personal favorite) if a series of experiences which are pleasant and vivid as one-offs are too disconnected from one another, and generates "dispersive, disintegrated, centrifugal habits." p. 26

In making these judgments (several of which I suspect would irritate Neill), Dewey is clearly and explicitly valuing certain types of experiences, and certain continuities *between* experiences, above others. He is concerned with end-game outcomes: by the time students complete their "education," they ought to have "learned." While he defines learning outcomes much more in terms of lifelong habits (self-discipline, manners, independence) rather than the skills and content typically defined as "traditional" learning outcomes, he nonetheless believes that standards and accountability to them are, in principle, warranted.

9. What two criteria are used in evaluating the quality of experience? 1. Its immediate agreeableness or disagreeableness; and 2. its influence on later experiences

10. One problem with progressive critics is that they lack a plan, a vision, a philosophy of education. Dewey’s will be “a philosophy of education based upon a philosophy of experience” (p. 29). A philosophy "of, by, and for experience," actually. And Dewey says "No one of these words, of, by or for, names anything which is self-evident."

Chapter Three: Criteria of Experience:

11. What is meant by the “experiential continuum”? What is the immediate problem with using it as a measure of which experiences are educative and which not?

The continuum of experiences, ranging from the mis-educative to the deeply educative. Given the criteria of what constitutes an "educative" experience outlined in 9 above, I'm not exactly sure what the *immediate* problem is -- it's rather easy to tell (dunno about "measure") whether an experience is "immediately agreeable." The problem that presents to me is more over the medium to long term: whether the individually pleasant and vivid experiences exert influence over subsequent experiences, building upon one another, in such a way that they coalesce over time into connected and coherent learning. The hallmark of educative experiences is that they coalesce into positive *habits* -- this strikes me as a medium to longterm, not "immediate", thing.

That said, I think it's possible. As Dewey says, it's harder than traditional education, in which the already-vetted content includes substantial, imbedded support in making some of those connections. It takes more creativity, more flexibility, more organization of time and more give-and-take on content on the part of teachers: all of which is extremely hard for most teachers.

12. How does Dewey justify democracy? How is it related to progressive education? It too is justified in terms of the inherent value of educative experiences, a belief that "democratic social arrangements promote a better quality of human experience" (p. 34)

13. What is a standard objection to Dewey’s thinking that the “educative process” is growth? How does he respond to this standard objection? The principle of continuity applies in all cases -- experiences that "come too easy" foster habits (of laziness); experiences of being over-indulged foster spoilage. The progressive educator, therefore, must be brutally honest and relentless in distinguishing between "educative" and "miseducative" experiences.

Based on his concern about indulgence and how it can result in poor habits, I suspect that Dewey would be troubled that Springhill students are relieved of any sort of day-to-day chores: cooking, cleaning, keeping up the grounds, raking leaves, mowing the grass, painting, etc. Quaker institutions -- schools, camps, retreat centers, meeting houses -- all work rather differently. Most *families* do too. There *is* compulsion, certainly, but it does operate against a sense of entitlement.

14. On p. 38 Dewey offers some hints as to how an educator might distinguish between those experiences that are educative and those that are not. Note the concern about imposition here. Educative experiences ought to arouse curiosity, strengthen initiative, and establish positive habits. I'm not sure I'm reading "imposition" quite as I think Bennett is: "It is the business of the educator to see in what direction an experience is heading. There is no point in his being more mature if, instead of using his greater insight to help organize the conditions of the experience of the immature, he throws away his insight." (p. 38) This is of course qualified another paragraph down by the way "the adult can exercise the wisdom his own wider experience gives him without imposing a merely external control." The way I read these two passages in tandem, though, is to emphasize the word "merely." Controls ought not be merely external: there needs to be feedback, connection, self-direction and discipline, and joy. That's not to say, though, that Dewey never sees any place where some degree of external controls are warranted. Again, this differentiates him from Neill.

15. Note Dewey’s example of the infant, beginning on the bottom of p. 41. What is the point of this illustration?
Again, I think he is amplifying the idea of an interaction between a more experienced and less experienced person, and providing a model of what give-and-take and mutual respect looks like within that context.

16. Note Dewey’s comments about “collateral learning” (p. 48). Think of all the unintended messages that are taught in the standard school. It would be good to make a list. Oh, for goodness' sake. Write what *I* ask for, not what *you* think you'll learn from. Do what I really *want*, not what I *profess*. Be on time. Big Brother is watching. How's that?

17. Note too the comments on subject matter and timing. What is the sign of a truly educative experience? Well, his end-Ch. 2 answer focused on integration and continuity and how these work together to form positive habits. His end-Ch. 3 answer speaks more to the soul: "...appreciation of things worth while, of the values to which these things are relative... the ability to extract meaning from his future experiences as they occur" (p. 49). Perhaps these are two approaches to the same thing, the former more about process and the latter more about outcomes.

ED 429 Study Guide for Week Seven: Community and Control

Dewey, Chapter Four: “Social Control”:

1. What is Dewey’s defense of theory in the opening paragraph? Does he persuade you with it?

Well, he isn't defending "theory" per se; just one particular analytical framework putting clarity of terms around his "philosophy of experience." Without such clarity and framework, he argues that attempts to develop schools around the idea that learning occurs through life experience are bound to confuse non-educative and mis-educative experiences for genuine learning. The implication being, *with* adequate clarity around what constitues genuinely educative experiences, the types of disappointments encountered by "progressive" schools attempting to based themselves around his principles that (to his credit) he recognizes can be avoided.

Does he persuade me with it. Well, if pressed to answer in a sound byte, I'd have to answer "no." Not because I don't myself see a value for theory: I do; and not because I don't see much in Dewey's framework to admire: I do. But I strongly believe that every choice has attendant trade-offs. If, at the level of values, you define experience over skills and content, that's terrific, but there *is* an attendant tradeoff, and content and skills *will* be (as Dewey concedes in his Creed, Article 3) subordinated. Not everything that used to be covered will be covered anymore. As long as the larger population (including parents, as well as administrators driven by test-driven imperatives) continues to value skills and content, there will be an inherent tension, a disequilibrium, that no amount of theory, or clarification of terms, can ever patch over.

2. When it comes to social control, Dewey suggests that much of it is not felt as an infringement on individual freedom. Indeed, certain forms of control are necessary. Why? Well, without rules, there is no game. The rules are an inherent part of the game; they are not experienced by the players as chafing, but as necessary.

3. Apart from his example with regard to games, think of other forms of social control that are not felt as infringements or impositions. Does the lack of feeling of being imposed upon guarantee that one is not being imposed upon? (Bennett says, “Clearly not.” Can you see why he might say that? Bring an example where one doesn’t feel like things are being imposed upon one but they are.)

Certain care-related obligations -- interestingly, some of the very ones that lack the reciprocity that Noddings says is central -- are, I think, generally not experienced as "impositions." Care of a just-newborn child, care of a parent who has fallen into a coma, care of an extraordinarily disabled child, care of an aged dog. Of course the care *is* in a physical sense a tremendous burden, but the fact that they truly cannot help it, and really are not even aware of the care, goes a long way toward alleviating the sense of imposition. We feel imposed upon by the (lesser!) demands made by those (less dire, more able) who we feel could do more, to pull more weight, or be more gracious, etc. Bennett, I suppose, is hinting at a sort of false consciousness, where people might be so deeply enmeshed in cultural or social expectations that they don't experience those roles as being constraining. See example under inappropriate touching, below.

4. It is clear from the application of the example of games, that Dewey sees education taking place within an educative community. How does this fact play into his discussion of social control? I'm not sure I understand the question. "Educative communities," meaning schools; as opposed to home? If that is indeed the question (which I somehow doubt), then I would answer that it is far easier, in a sheerly logistical sense, to frame genuinely educative experiences in an environment which has only a few students. It is easier to put Dewey into practice in a homeschooling environment than in one with 20-30 students in a class. It also is far easier to differentiate learning in a homeschooling environment. It is also far easier to encourage physical movement while learning, to organize field trips around individual interests, to move faster or slower based on individual needs, etc. Somehow though I don't think I understood the question right.

5. What role does the teacher play in all this? What keeps the teacher’s role from being an instance of imposition? Dewey is clear that the teacher is not just another player in the game: he notes that this is one of the mistakes that many progressive schools frequently make. "As the most mature member of the group, (the teacher) has a peculiar responsibility for the conduct of the interactions and intercommunications which are the very life of the group as a community." (p. 58)

6. Note that for Dewey the vision of the school as a learning community is identified with progressive education; he assumes that in the traditional school the students do not form a community and thus are controlled in a dictatorial fashion.

Indeed. And this is, indeed, an assumption.

7. What is his defense of planning? Is he talking about lesson plans or something broader or both?

He means planning the nature of the environment, what constitutes desirable forms of interaction between school community members, how the opportunities for experiences should be framed so as to ensure that they are genuinely educative, etc. One could take the game metaphor a bit further: before practice the coach is checking that the playing field is dry enough to play on and is free of holes and stones that might cause injury; he's thinking of how to divide the team so different members can work on discrete skills they most need to develop; he's also coming up with activities that will build team habits. Once he's come up with this frame, though, he has to step outside the line and let the kids do their stuff: when game time comes, they're the ones who'll be out there, not him: they have to get to the point where they're making the choices and doing the moves on their own. The planning necessarily has to be broad.

8. You should be able to explain the claim that the movement from the traditional to the progressive is a movement in which “the teacher loses the position of external boss or dictator but takes on that of leader of group activities” (p. 59).

Well, as you move from content to process, the role of content deliverer-- I mean, dictator-- becomes a lot less important, doesn't it. The role of the adult becomes more like that of Julie on the Love Boat.

9. What is Dewey’s defense of manners? Would it persuade Neill of Summerhill?

Dewey says that learning manners is among "the most important lessons in life, that of mutual accommodation and adaptation." (p. 60). Again, to his credit, he notes that many experiments in progressive education have utterly failed in this dimension. I actually think Neill might go along with much of that core sentiment, though they might well differ at some of its more elaborated manifest forms (I imagine Dewey, for example, caring more about table manners).

Summerhill School:

1. Note the two defining features of Summerhill. Think of all the things that would get in the way of implementing them in your own teaching/learning environment, here at the University or elsewhere in your life. 1) All class attendance, homework and assessment is solely at the discretion of the learner; and 2) all rules within the school are democratically agreed upon, one person one vote.

2. Does giving the opinion of a five year old the same weight as that of an adult with advanced degrees make any sense at all? How would you defend it? Why is it important?

It depends on what the question is, doesn't it. If the question is what we'll have for dinner, or what movie we'll watch, then the five year old has just as much standing, and nearly as much context and information, as anyone else. If the question is how we'll use the family vacation budget, she might have equal standing, but less ability to manage the math, or context about the range of possible options. If the question is what model replacement car to buy, she has less standing than the primary driver. If the question is what outfit she'll wear, she has more standing than anyone else. Giving all children as much choice and as much standing as is feasible is important both for their own immediate dignity and also for them to develop decisionmaking skills over the medium term.

3. Is Summerhill a community where people live together which also happens to be a school or is it a school that is set in a democratic community? Does the distinction being emphasized here–the difference between community and school–ultimately hold up? (What would Dewey say about the distinction?)

Summerhill is sleepaway camp, where kids who wish to learn academic subjects may do so on an essentially autodidactic basis to the extent that they have the self discipline to make any kind of sustained progress. It's not a school.

With the obvious caveat that, just as history is written by the victors, so too are websites written by the promoters... it certainly appears that Summerhill has succeeded in creating a sustainable and nourishing community. They are also honest that the creation of such a community is their (only) ultimate goal. All schools lie someplace on a spectrum between focusing mostly on matters of the heart and soul, versus focusing mostly on content and skills. Summerhill has clearly and explicitly staked out its position on this spectrum. In this clarity they are unlike many other progressive schools which claim (believe?) that they can eat their cake and have it too: focus each day around children's own interests; and yet still attain academic excellence. Dewey also wanted badly to believe that both were possible; and tried hard to work out a theoretical framework that outlined the necessary ingredients. His framework entails more adult direction than Summerhill's and places more value on at least certain types of educative experiences, and so his ideal is not positioned in quite as extreme a position on this spectrum as Summerhill.

4. Note all the different roles in The Meeting. Do you know of any institutions that have ombudsmen? Titled as such, no. I have been involved with a number of groups with democratic decisionmaking. My daughter attended a tiny K-8 Quaker school that uses many of the same conventions as Summerhill, including weekly meeting, along with rotating leadership thereof. (A notable difference between that school and Summerhill is that parents are invited to any meeting they'd like to attend.) I participate in two book groups and another Faith Club, all of which use consensus-based decisionmaking with greater or lesser (mostly lesser, actually) degrees of formality of roles and responsibilities. My extended family (20++ people spanning three generations) regularly goes on vacation together, and we inevitably have to generate various decisions.

5. What are some of the values you see being expressed here? What are some of the pitfalls you anticipate?

A lot of the same values I admire in the Quakers: the dignity and worth of every individual; the value in having each voice heard; the necessary corollary of learning when to stand firm and when to "stand aside" and let consensus be achieved even when you disagree.

The pitfalls... well, it all comes down to infinite variations on the same basic theme. Left to their own devices, most kids will eat more candy than nutritionists advise; and brush their teeth less regularly than dentists advise. For a day -- for four weeks at sleepaway camp, even -- that's OK. Over the long haul of a full childhood, though, it's incumbent upon the adults ("the most mature member(s) in the group," as Dewey notes) in their lives to frame their options responsibly. Often that means limiting the amount of candy in the house, or making sure they brush their teeth. This can be accomplished through fear-inducing dictatorial means, or other.

6. In the Meeting image you see an adult with his hands on a child’s shoulders. Here we are told that if your child looks miserable, “the .. staff will ... issue cuddles and comfort if permitted!” What makes the cuddles permitted or not is the desire of the child, not rules and regulations. I’m particularly interested in your reaction to the physical contact between staff and child, especially in light of the fact that many school districts now explicitly ban hugs and the like. Thoughts about such affectionate physical contact?

In private schools, adults still do touch students in appropriate affectionate ways. In a context where kids have access to multiple trusted adults, in a context where the issue of inappropriate contact is explicitly addressed *with all students* on a regular and systematic way, and in a context where kids have "escape valves" outside of school, that contact can be healthy and positive. Parents touch their kids, right?

In the specific context of Summerhill -- eight full time teachers? Parents have "no involvement" with the school? Kids are there for three months at a time without leaving campus? -- not all those conditions hold. The possibility that gravely *inappropriate* touching might go unreported far longer than elsewhere is real. There's a real sense in which these kids are "trapped." Bennett alludes above to the idea that just because a person does not *feel* imposed upon, does not necessarily mean no imposition is occuring: this very often is true in the early stages of teacher-student touching.

7. Here parents are explicitly counseled not to have high expectations of their children–indeed, we are told that “no expectations at all would be better!” What is the point of this advice? What’s wrong with it? What’s right with it?

I can't think of one thing right with it.

8. It should be clear that there are no grades nor report cards issued. Why do you think this is the school’s policy?

Many progressive schools don't "do" grades or report cards. One reason is the idea that kids should be measured against their own potential, or if that's too nebulous their own prior performance, rather than against any other child or norm based on other children. Another is the (Alfie Kohn) idea that grades are not motivating over the long haul, that kids do better if motivated intrinsically and that grades "train" them to respond extrinsically. A third is that grades are inherently flawed instruments -- too subjective, too different across institutions and teachers -- to be meaningful. A fourth (commonly heard in FU) is that wherever there are tests, there is inevitably "teaching to the test" which in turn drives time and resources in lamentable directions that have nothing to do with true learning.

In Summerhill's case, specifically, where students show up strictly on an as-in-the-mood basis and complete only the assignments they choose, I don't know how tests or grades would be possible. In this case, expediency as much as principle would seem to drive the no-grades practice.

9. How does the site rationalize the policy of making lessons optional? If their argument fails to persuade, why? The optional lessons policy is justified in terms of "intelligent choice." The students are understood to have the maturity and wisdom to understand what lessons will be helpful to them, and the discipline to make sound choices. As well, the school believes in the value of boredom in fostering creativity and autonomy.

I fully agree re: boredom; my observations lead me to a different view re: discipline. (Even many adults struggle mightily re: discipline. See: exercise regimens, weight loss, tedious housekeeping tasks, flossing...)

10. In this section you get to read some of Neill, a selection from what was once a best seller, Summerhill: A Radical Approach to Childrearing. Based on it, what is Neill’s fundamental philosophy of education? Happiness matters more than learning, particularly book learning. In traditional schools, students do not learn "the emotional factor, the power to subordinate thinking to feeling."

11. There are lots of gems in this selection, comments that provoke thought. One example: “Books are the least important apparatus in a school.” Pick out a few such judgments and come prepared to comment on them for the class. See above; also "Learning should come after play," and "The important freedom at Summerhill is the freedom to play."

12. As for the general policy statement, what is being left out? At the risk of repeating myself: skills and content.

13. Under what conditions would someone be dismissed from the school? Bullying or violence to others.

14. There is a history behind question #21 with regards to sex. Remind me to explain. For now, what can you read into Zoe’s answer to this question? ? Well, her answer is rather high level and low content. Could be complaints about inappropriate teacher-student contact, or student-student contact, or any number of other things. One wonders a bit when the gist of her response is "we've never had a pregnancy."

15. What is the difference between freedom and license? Summerhill defines freedom positively, in terms of individual choice; and license negatively, in terms of abridging others' freedoms. In what we last week called "liberal" terms.

16. With regards to our national commitment to democracy, in what way does our educational system undermine that commitment? Alternatively, how is Summerhill training for participatory democracy? "National commitment to democracy?" Hmm.

One can consider this question in terms of process -- the extent to which our education system provides students with opportunities to practice the kinds of skills required to be "good" citizens; or in terms of content -- the extent to which our education system provides students with a good understanding of the institutions, mechanics, and safety valves of our current system, along with how our system differs from other forms of democracy and how it has evolved, for better and for worse, since its inception. However one considers the question, I think it is largely fair to say that schools tend to teach "big picture" democracy (school wide mock election every 4 years; red-and-blue maps of the 50 states, etc) whereas Summerhill is practicing something much smaller-scale even than town hall meetings.

17. In addition to a conventional history, we also learn here of the recent court case attempting to shut down Summerhill. Under what conditions do you think a school should be closed by governmental authorities?

Certainly closure is warranted in the event of widespread and ongoing abuse, physical or sexual; or other circumstances that endanger the students. (To this end, I was very interested to read Summerhill's rationale for why the students weren't required to do kitchen duty or cleaning chores. Evidently, the hygeine risks are too high for free spirits to be trusted with such tedious tasks: telling.)

I also think it's fair to require a "school" to meet minimum standards related to learning, and to withold such things as credentials, certification, tax-exempt status etc. to institutions which fail to meet those standards. What precisely those standards are, and how they are measured, can and should vary according to societal norms. But in concept it's not just fair, but necessary, that they exist. If you call yourself a "school" you should principally be in the business of *education*, not self-actualization. Analogous laws in both the US and the UK require homeschoolers to provide some sort of education to their children: you can't just let them watch TV all day. Society has a sufficient interest in having an at least minimally literate, numerate and self-sufficient population that such minimal standards are defensible. (That said, I also believe that having a range of school models, and scope for parents/children to choose among models in ways that allow some mapping of model to child, is ideal.)

Assignments 2/26-3/10 (no classes 3/3, 3/4)

SE 534:

• X Read 2nd grader case study for IEP case; initial comments to Tina & Jeanine
• Full case due 3/18

SE 537:

• X Find & bring in good math lesson plan for Susan
• X Print and bring in curriculum development guide
• X Revisions to Susan case study (revised part 1 and part 2 due 3/11)
• X Go to any district and find curriculum evaluation (will become part of curriculum eval due 4/1)

ED 429:

• X Bullets on Dewey Article 3 emailed
• X Study Guide for Week 7
• Paper Three due 3/14

ED 429: STUDY GUIDE FOR WEEK SIX: Community and Values

John Dewey, “My Pedagogical Creed: Article Two”:

1. In what way is life in the school community consistent with life at home and the wider community, and in what way does it differ?

Both are "simplified social life," and as such, school life should grow gradually out of home life, picking up and continuing activities which the child is already doing at home. The "best and deepest moral training is that which one gets through having to enter into proper relations with others in a unity of work and thought." The teacher is not there to impose a certain set of content or skills upon the child, but rather to serve as a member of the larger community and to "select the influences which shall affect the child and to assist him in properly responding to these influences." I understand this to mean something like what Montessori teachers are meant to do: very carefully select and maintain a particular organization of *space and materials*; thereafter allow the child considerable freedom in how to maneuver in *time.*

2. In keeping with the vision of school as a form of community, Dewey maintains that a more traditional approach (“school as a place where certain information is to be given, where certain lessons are to be learned, or where certain habits are to be formed”) is bound to be mis-educative. We will return to this in Chapter One of his Experience and Education, but for now note the implications for pedagogy of taking seriously his idea of school as community.

I think it implies more process, less content. More talking, hopefully more listening; more conflict resolution skill-building; more collaboration; more team-building. For better and for worse.

3. Note that the role of the teacher as community member might not be consistent with the role of the parent in many a traditional family structure, where the parent often takes on the trappings of dictator, the unquestioned authority who lays down the law.

Yes. As well, even loving, give-and-take families who are *not* authoritarian or dictating may still value content and skills; so the role of schools and teachers that Dewey lays out may not be consistent with wider community values that *do* want certain information to be given, certain lessons to be learned, certain habits to be inculcated, etc. You don't have to be a lay-down-the-law authoritarian to see value in a sequence of specific skills, or in a "canon" of literature.

4. What does Dewey mean by “the discipline of life”?

Well, I may bring too much prior baggage to this particular word to be able to parse Dewey's meaning fairly. I have thought long and hard, perhaps too long and hard, about what "discipline" means to me; and those musings have forever colored how I read the word, even when used by others.

The sound-byte version of what "discipline" means to me is: the word is rooted in "disciple," as in Christ's disciples. Christ taught mostly by example; some by parable (storytelling); and occasionally by exhortation. He did not rely on either carrots or sticks. He presumably did hope that his disciples would follow his lead, but his "pedagogy" or "management techniques" made pretty clear that he accepted that their will was free. For me, then, discipline means self-discipline: doing the right thing, not because we'll be rewarded if we do or penalized if we don't, but because we believe it is the right thing.

I believe that Dewey is getting to somewhere near this idea. But it's entirely possible that I'm projecting.

Noddings, “Character Education and Community”:

5. The opening section of this chapter is rather technical, but worth slogging through. Note that the key issues are the connection between moral education and community, what constitutes a “community,” and given that a community requires a set of shared values, “how much commonality is required to do the work of character education?” (p. 65).

The key issue that emerges to me in this section is actually the tension between the value on individual autonomy so featured in liberal/rational tradition, vs. the notion that "to educate deeply for character, a community must stand for something" (p. 61). For me, the way this plays out into the sort of storytelling/literature-based character education that, like Noddings, I see as immensely valuable is the tension between the character model of Odysseus (cheerfully tossing a couple of shipmates to Scylla's jaws, for the sake of the rest of the ship -- including his own skin) vs. Frodo and Harry Potter (consistently willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of a greater good). The notion that there are common principles for which sacrifices to the self are warranted is, for me, the essence of both ethics and (therefore) of character education. For a "community" to concur on a core of commonly held values is hard enough; to grapple with the more fundamental idea that individual autonomy ought sometimes be subordinated to *any* greater common good is, in our culture, even harder.

6. It is also worth noting that the idea of character education is not new, going back to the McGuffey reader and the Character Development League.

Yes. On these particular issues, though -- the presumption of commonly held values and that idea that individual autonomy ought sometimes be sacrificed for a greater common purpose -- the McGuffeys had it somewhat easier, as they were written in a far more unabashedly Christian era (the Christian narrative being the most influential archetype of self-sacrifice for a common purpose in the history of the world; and Christian imagery and language being the most accessible referents to such ideas).

7. What are the hallmarks of a “cognitive” approach to moral education, according to Noddings? What motivated this approach? Seek to summarize the three criticisms of it (pp. 63-64).

Instead of trying to inculcate a list of specific values, cognitive approaches attempt to develop "moral reasoning." As such, it aligns more easily both to a heterogeneous population and also with the value placed in our society on individual autonomy. Criticisms include: 1) better suited to research than teaching; 2) offended parents who in fact wanted a list of specific virtues; and 3) "content emptiness" seemed to aggravate "growing sense of alienation in American society" (p. 64)

8. Throughout this chapter the term “liberal” is used, but this term can be misleading. (Recall its use in the Conceptual Framework.) Think of the phrases “liberal arts,” or “liberal studies” or “liberal democracy” rather than the contrast between political liberals and conservatives. In the sense that Noddings is using the term, a liberal is someone committed to... (I hope that at least one person will come prepared to finish that sentence.)

...individual rights, and a legal framework which protects individual rights against the possibility of tyranny of the majority. The concept actually cuts across partisan lines: The Bill of Rights (including, say, the right to bear arms) is a "liberal" framework; a progressive tax structure aimed at redistributing wealth is not. The Civil Rights Act is "liberal" legislation.; affirmative action programs aimed at redressing wrongs of the past are not. Equal individual access to current opportunities is a "liberal" ideal; redistricting efforts aimed at ensuring that minority groups are able to select leaders within their racial or ethnic groups are not.

9. In the second section, while affirming the centrality of community, Noddings refers to the “dark side” of community. Here she sets up an opposition between two poles or points on a continuum, and quotes with support the call for balance by Paul Tillich. What are the poles here? That is, what is the tension between “extreme individualism” and “fascism” or totalitarian communities? (When the extremes are avoided, this tension is later described as between liberalism and communitarianism; on a pedagogical level, the tension is between cognitive developmentalism and character education. You should be comfortable with all these terms.)

Fascism can be thought of as collective orientation taken to extremes; "Bowling Alone" and widespread unwillingness to pay higher taxes for basic supports such as universal health care can be seen as liberalism taken to extremes. Tillich notes that Nazi Germany embraced character education -- this is the "dark side." The dark side of liberalism would be the sort of not-in-my-backyard, not-out-of-my-paycheck, not-if-there's-any-cost-to-me nihilism that, I would argue, pervades our society today.

10. Note Noddings reference to “cultural knowledge.” We will revisit this idea when we read Greene, who calls for teachers to develop “aesthetic education.” OK

11. Noddings' proposed compromise as between character education and developmentalism is...

Well, back to storytelling, isn't it. She cites Flatland, a truly marvelous story which has a multitude of lessons in it, not least of which is the idea that we cannot even *imagine* a level of existence much different from the one we're in. Of all the many insights in the book, *that* is the one that is my own greatest takeway, and that is the one to which my older kids and I keep returning. It is not, however, Noddings' major takeaway from it: she resonates with the political fable aspects in it, and embraces the vision of math teachers engaging their students in discussions of classism and sexism. That's fine too.

12. Noddings concludes the chapter with the question, “Why are teachers so poorly prepared to draw on stories in their disciplinary instruction?” (p. 72). Is the assumption correct? Are teachers poorly prepared? If so, then why? What is Noddings’ answer? Is her description of what goes on in education schools accurate to your experience here at Fairfield?

It is a little mystifying. I can't think of any good reason why teachers would be poorly prepared to draw on stories, unless they don't themselves *know* stories and the wealth of ways they can be used; which in turn could only have to do with how they themselves were raised and educated. It is possible that there may be anxiety that the very idea of a "canon" of stories and literature smacks of elitism -- I *have* encountered this unease in class discussions at Fairfield, and even, recently, in feedback from an esteemed professor. It may also have to do with the notion that inward-bound reflection (students' own experiences, students' own values, students' own ideas) are more "meaningful" to them than is focus on the texts themselves. This idea certainly does seem to be rampant, although I don't know that it falls on progressive/traditional pedagogical lines. Even the canned off-the-shelf character education programs we were invited to mock did a good bit of this.

Links

standardstoolbox.com - Free resource to pull down lessons from state standards; Dr. K recommended for SE 537 lesson plan assignment

CT state IEP forms - electronic forms that can be filled out and saved

CT state standards in math - the PK - 12 matrix format is the most user-friendly format

CT state standards in reading - well, the link doesn't seem to work just now; perhaps too many of my peers from SE 537 are all pulling it down at once (?)

Vygotsky & Zone of Proximal Development - nice blurb that links ZPD to constructivist learning

Metacognition - Nice blurb with checklist questions that exemplify the process

Assignments: 2/18-2/25

SE 537:

• X PLOPs for Case Study part 2 to group by Friday (final due March 11)
• X chapter 16 of literacy book
• X research on metacognition and ZPD for class discussion
• X Finish Differentiated Classroom
• X Print out and bring into class the CT curriculum development guide (on Eidos)

SE 534:

• X goals & objectives discussed in class; email to Dr. K by Tuesday
• X Fill out IEP form based on Chester case and bring to class
• (IEPs due 3/18; teacher interview due 3/25)

ED 429:

• X Week 6 Reading (Noddings Ch. 6; Dewey's Creed); study guide (3rd paper due 3/25)

My idea...

... is to impose a smidge of organization onto the chaos of my life, by using this blog as a Working Tool that spans across the multitude of computers that I dip onto for mere minutes at a time, and keep information and assignments available to me in multiple places.

Yes, I know that other people use Blackberries to accomplish much the same thing.

The day I start using a Blackberry...  well, I won't go there.