Re: More on Scandinavian Academic Success

[QCao009@aol.com]

In a message  dated 3/4/2008 7:34:33 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, 
taunar@plateautel.net  writes:

Our  oppressive system of top-down, one-size-fits-all, blame-and- punish  
accountability wrongly assumes the worst about teachers and schools, then  
stubbornly hopes for the best. But of course it is being driven by forces  
who are far less interested in children's well-being than control of  wealth 
and the masses. For them, our system works quite well. I'm reminded  that 
rather than working to reduce the dropout rate, our present  accountability 
system works to increase it.

Children are  individuals. They are not the means to an end and they do not 
exist to  advance our position in the global economy. Give them a measure of 
freedom  to discover and develop their own interests and talents, wherever 
that may  lead them. Give them choices.

Teachers are being micromanaged and  policed to death rather than given the 
freedom and support to use their  own individual talents to help children in 
turn discover and develop their  own. More and more demands are continually 
being placed on teachers. They  are so busy being 'accountable' that they 
don't have nearly enough time to  plan, teach, interact with these kids, even 
really know them. This is not  a good thing and there must be a balance.

In sum, freedom versus  oppression and control.
That is very true that schools are a reflection of the society around  it.  
When schools cannot find their own accountability and have to depend  on 
technocrats and testers who are not accountable for their very decisions,  then 
accountability does not work.  
 
Oppression and control do come from a lack of intrinsic motivation leading  
to a loss of freedom, but to find the root cause we have to ask ourselves why 
we  have structured a School Board system which does not always represents all 
the  stakeholders in the schooling process.  
 
The fact that Scandinavians contribute more in taxation to their  schools is 
a start, but money is not a panacea.  Without it, it gets  more difficult.  
However, children do not necessarily always learn more  because of more 
individualization and more special programs.
 
Where our schools are is a reflection of a larger us vs them attitude that  
permeates our society.  We ask for freedom, but freedom goes a lot deeper  than 
freedom for just us.  Freedom also connotes accepting certain  parameters for 
ourselves and taking initiative for someone else's  learning.
 
That is what makes George and Peter and many of you accountable.  You  
contribute to the list and you make this a learning community.  Those who  fail to 
do that are still free to post, but in a long run, they learn nothing  and they 
contribute nothing,  They just cheat themselves.  So  learning's more complex 
than nation-based, race-based, gender-based or even  age-based.  Global 
comparisons are just that, and microtrends mean just as  much as macrotrends.
 
Quan



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