Re: Livening Up Today's Lesson

[Peter Campbell <campbellp@mail.montclair.edu>]

OK, Pete. Thanks. Can you send us the link?

Peter C.

On Aug 9, 2006, at 5:39 PM, Peter Farruggio wrote:

> 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