FAQ
You are a strong advocate for public education. But you attach a very important caveat to your support. Correct?
The idea of public education is powerful. However, as long as it is driven by test scores as the primary metric for growth and a predictor of a child’s future success, public education will never reach its potential.
We’ve lost sight of the ultimate purpose of education, which is to create better human beings. Instead, we rally around the belief that testing—and “fixing” students who don’t perform well on standardized tests—is what our schools need to be doing.
This has led to curriculum based on what is measured by THE TEST and not what will inspire learning and understanding. It has led to teacher trainings designed primarily to facilitate preparation for and administration of THE TEST. It has also produced a top-heavy bureaucracy that perpetuates the status quo and spends an exhorbitant amount of money and resources on short-term solutions that only give the appearance of progress being made.
There are so many educational programs, as well as educational websites. Will Masterpieces of Learning be that different from what already exists?
The only way to fundamentally alter the present course of elementary education is through the effective dissemination of knowledge to the classroom teacher.
There is no shortage of great ideas about teaching and learning. Just search for books on education on Amazon or visit the education section of your local Barnes and Noble. As far as all those masters’ theses and doctoral dissertations painstakingly researched and written by individuals seeking an advanced degree in the field? The probability is extremely high that, once they complete their research and present their findings, their work will simply collect “digital dust” in some education database.
What is needed is a way to bring ideas together so they can actually be used by teachers. Masterpieces of Learning will serve as a “clearing house” for only the very best ideas.
Why does Masterpieces of Learning focus solely on elementary education, when the concept can also be applied to middle school and high school?
Only when it’s clearly demonstrated what students are truly capable of doing at the elementary level can we begin to design a more challenging curriculum, as well as a more effective system of instruction for them as they continue on to middle school and high school. Expectations for children taught with Masterpieces of Learning should far exceed those we now have for children exiting elementary school.
Some teachers seem willing to just put in their time, collect their paycheck each month, and "wait it out" until retirement. Do you agree?
There may be “some teachers” like that. Teachers can easily fall victim to a system that is constantly at the effect of bureaucratic interference and misdirection. Such a system has disillusioned and crushed the spirit of so many talented and dedicated individuals who began their careers with extreme passion and optimism. The constant fear of those in charge “throwing out the baby with the bathwater” whenever they decide it’s time for a change—and mindlessly discarding effective materials and instructional strategies that don’t fit their latest thinking—causes great instability in what teachers do and how they are evaluated.
The high quality of the Masterpieces of Learning instructional design will make it far less likely that state and local bureaucrats will be tempted to meddle with the core program.
Teachers should be able to fully use and further develop their professional skills without fear that their skills and knowledge will suddenly be invalidated from one year to the next by the flitting whims of education “leadership” and those politicians who wouldn’t know what quality education is if they tripped over it.
Will Masterpieces of Learning be a scripted program for teachers to follow?
Absolutely not! Have you ever had to deal with someone reading from a script to help you troubleshoot, let’s say, a problem with your computer? If so, you know that, when the script doesn’t adequately address your particular problem or your particular questions, the individual following the script is unable to function. You can almost see that person on the other side of the call or chatroom shutting down like a robot whose battery has suddenly died, with steam spewing out of its ears, like in a cartoon.
That’s something you don’t want to have happen with a teacher in charge of a classroom full of highly inquisitive and energetic children! Any suggestion in a Masterpieces of Learning lesson for what a teacher might say to students will be just that—a suggestion. A teacher needs to sound natural and authentic at all times. Her teaching needs to always reflect her style of teaching, her personality, and her knowledge of her students.
Wouldn't simply giving teachers more autonomy allow them to create lessons comparable to the lessons that will be contained in the Masterpieces of Learning units?
Giving teachers more autonomy is one thing. Having that autonomy result in the creation of a carefully orchestrated learning unit that effectively and consistently integrates all subjects and other learning objectives over the span of a school year is another. That requires a very high degree of expert knowledge and multidisciplinary collaboration not readily available to any individual. However, with Masterpieces of Learning, a teacher will still have a great deal of autonomy and opportunity to be creative and to do things “their way.”
In your book you talk about Masterpieces of Learning providing students with shared experiences that will help forge a bond between them and students everywhere, breaking down barriers of race, ethnicity, religion, disproportionate wealth, and even political affiliations. Why is this such an important aspect of the program?
We have been so anxious to find ways to celebrate our diversity that we’ve forgotten to celebrate our sameness.
A great nation needs a shared cultural literacy. That includes stories, songs, idioms, allusions, and other things that are extremely important in communicating ideas and building connections between its people. That said, we need to expand the definition of what comprises a shared cultural literacy in the United States. It needs to assimilate cultural knowledge that isn't exclusively grounded in the traditions stemming from the enterprises and traditions of Western Europeans. By doing so, we will have the opportunity
to change clichéd perceptions of “others,” so that a more inclusive representation of our diverse subcultures is formally incorporated into mainstream United States culture.
Does Masterpieces of Learning embrace all approaches to learning?
The short answer is yes.
The tendency for educators to take sides over what are the best ways for teachers to teach and students to learn reminds me of the heated debate that once existed (probably still does) in the acting profession. It’s the one that pits “technical acting” against “method acting.” Which way is better?
In my early twenties, I thought I had the answer, when I posed that question to legendary actor Charlton Heston. It was immediately following his performance in the title role of Macbeth at the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles. I was sure I knew what his answer was going to be. I had studied acting and determined that only a method actor could have pulled off that high a quality of performance.
He looked at me for a moment, grinned, and respectfully replied, “You have to be able to do both. There are times when it’s just not happening, and you have to get it any way you can.” Remember that, in his role as Moses in Cecil B. DeMille’s epic film, The Ten Commandments, Heston was the one who God personally spoke to. Who was I to argue?
Joking aside, this is the attitude all educators would benefit from.
There are those who say we should extend the school day, the school week, and even the school year. What do you say?
That’s HOURLY MENTALITY—quantity versus quality of time spent in the classroom. We need to improve the quality of learning time in the classroom.
Summer vacations, which critics will say squander valuable time that could be used to further prepare students for THE TEST, originally came about to allow children to help their parents work the family farm. And, while it’s true that this is no longer a valid reason for continuing the tradition, children can’t be formally studying math or reading every day. Like all of us, they need some down time, if only to incubate and apply their learning that takes place during the school year. There are sources of learning other than school.
A lot of schools subscribe to programs that inundate students with posters featuring slogans to foster a climate of respect. What’s your take on that?
The posters to which you refer are pinned, stapled, and taped to classroom and cafeteria walls, as well as to other areas of high-visibility throughout a school. They may even appear on school-issue shirts, jackets, and hats. But just spouting slogans like, “We respect everyone,” or “We are kind to others,” doesn’t make it so.
There’s no doubt that respect should be at the core of every curriculum. For it to not be central to a school’s culture in the 21st century would be an egregious omission. Respect is everything. It’s about more than just respect between people. It’s about respect for other countries, cultures, and beliefs. It’s about respect for Earth’s environment. It’s about respect for oneself. That’s why respect will be central to all three major themes featured in the Masterpieces of Learning program.
It’s not enough to display posters or to award students with “I-caught-you-being-respectful” tickets. This has become a common practice at the elementary level. It’s best to teach respect within the context of every lesson, every activity, as well as through daily classroom meetings and routines.
Students learn by constant example. A well-designed curriculum, coupled with an effective classroom management system, gives students the opportunity to regularly examine our universal humanity, our strongest connection to one another. Without respect for others at this level, the best we can ever hope to achieve is tolerance. That in itself would be fantastic. By definition, however, tolerance implies a maintenance dynamic that is difficult to sustain.
What is your opinion of charter schools?
They were a mistake. They and all the political drama they engender continue to be an unnecessary distraction that only impedes efforts to improve our traditional public schools and develop curriculum than can unite our citizens in common purpose.
Charter schools came about as a reaction to the disillusionment that parents can have with their local neighborhood school, whether it’s the parents’ perception of the quality of the teachers, the curriculum, or how a school operates. These are all legitimate concerns. However I’m a strong believer in neighborhood public schools. They are the cornerstone of our democracy and all our efforts should go into making them work.
Those who support charter schools are “throwing in the towel” on neighborhood schools. They are, in effect, saying that our neighborhood schools aren’t good enough and probably never will be. So . . . “Everyone for themselves!”
If the big argument is that teachers in charter schools have more freedom to meet the needs of their students, then why not give the same freedom to public school teachers? They've had their hands tied for far too long.
Do you want to ask the author a question about Masterpieces of Learning™?
Email your question to john@sageplanet.com