Re: schools

[Robert Probasco <rcp@uidaho.edu>]

Check my postings to V2020 in the archives, in Feb. 1998.  

http://lists.fsr.com/vision2020/1998/9802/0252.html

> On Wed, 5 May 1999, Robert Probasco wrote:
> > Until the public schools halt social promotion and instill real
> > discipline and solid requirements (especially in the elementary grades),
> > I choose not to throw good money after bad.
> 
> On Wed, 5 May 1999, Marci Schreiber wrote:
> Your response intrigued me.  What do you mean by "social promotion"? What
> do you see teachers doing?  Likewise, what do "real discipline and solid
> requirements look like?  Simply, what behaviors do you feel teachers
> should stop using and what behaviors should they start using?  (OK, maybe
> it's not THAT simple.)  I'm asking as a naive parent of a soon to be
> school aged child.  Marci Schreiber

In a nutshell, social promotion is the malpractice of pushing all 3rd
graders into 4th grade, even though some cannot read nor add.  This
lockstep of age=grade permeates American schools, inc. Moscow.  Thus,
pupils who do nothing are "rewarded" for doing nothing, and other kids who
would work wonder why they should bother to exert themselves.

Discipline refers to having kids accept real consequences for their
actions, as was common until the 1960s.  Nowadays, the threat of a lawsuit
seems to paralyze administrators, so little is done when a child
misbehaves (if the parents are adverse to consequences, that is).  This
undercuts the authority which all growing children need to learn to
accept.

Solid requirements means restoring some pedantic skills like spelling and
multiplication tables, memorizing poetry and reading valid works.  This
need not erase higher level skills, but those higher level skills need a
grounding in the basics.

"Reforms" of the 1970s have obviously affected our schools, and there are
some good aspects to main-streaming kids.  There is also the need for some
adjustments, and the NEA seems to have resisted tracking and other
solutions.

All kids can learn, and what they learn first is the system and how to
manipulate it (at home or at school).  When we accept this, we can act
rationally, and make the system work for all of us, esp. the kids.

I know many excellent teachers in the Moscow system.  I also know some
excellent former teachers who would not put up with the nonsense they had
to endure.  (I also encountered some "teachers" who were much less than
excellent.) I hope we can turn the tide in this corner of the world.

To get a feel for what it is like, volunteer in the classroom and the
playground for a couple hours over the next month.  It will be an
eye-opening experience.
	Robert Probasco