Re: Livening Up Today's Lesson

[Peter Farruggio <pfarr@cal.berkeley.edu>]

Before I wrote the letter, I went to the Research Triangle Institute 
website and found descriptions of their work in Cambodia.  I even 
stole some phrases from them to use in my longer version of the 
letter.  It's always hard to be sure from descriptions on a website, 
but I'm pretty convinced that they're promoting a constructivist 
approach.  They're certainly critical of behaviorist teaching, even 
if they don't call it by name.

That's the problem with a 150 word limit.  Can't give much background.

Pete



At 09:16 AM 8/9/2006, you wrote:
> Peter F. - not to be a party-pooper, but I didn't see much evidence 
> of constructivism in the Times piece. What did you see?
>
> Peter C.
>
> On Aug 9, 2006, at 10:47 AM, Peter Farruggio wrote:
>
> > Elsa,
> >
> > Thanks!  Unfortunately, after I had sent that version, I noticed 
> > that the Times has a 150 word limit.  So, I sent this shorter, 
> > weaker version as a back-up.
> >
> > Pete
> >
> > Re: "Livening Up Today's Lesson, Courtesy of Uncle Sam," NY Times, 
> > August 7, 2006, p. A4:
> >
> >             The  description of the student-centered, active 
> > teaching methods promoted by the US in Indonesian schools 
> > highlights a bitter irony for many American educators.  It is 
> > heartening to know that the federal government pays to train 
> > teachers in Indonesia to use relevant curricula to build students' 
> > thinking skills.  Such pedagogy, known as "constructivism," has 
> > been effective for low income minority children since the 1970s.
> >             But teachers in most American schools are prevented 
> > from using this constructivist pedagogy, due to the takeover of 
> > public education by the high-stakes testing juggernaut of the 
> > 1990s and the No Child Left Behind law of 2001.  The testocrats 
> > have turned most public schools into anti-intellectualist 
> > "test-prep" factories that emphasize didactic lessons and low 
> > level memorization.
> >             I hope your article encourages readers to think about 
> > the hypocrisy of US education, and to act to change things so that 
> > American schoolchildren may benefit, like Indonesian students, 
> > from state of the art pedagogy.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > At 04:48 PM 8/8/2006, you wrote:
> > > Peter,
> > >
> > > I certainly hope your letter gets published. Thanks for writing 
> > > it. I had similar thoughts when I read the article.
> > >
> > > Elsa 
> > > Haas