This article from the BBC today claims British schools are failing in preparing many students with basic competencies in “the 3 R’s.”
Trouble is, students today need SO MUCH MORE than just Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic. Do students need basic and advanced skills in math, reading, and writing? Absolutely. But let’s not stop there. The definition of literacy has evolved and grown tremendously over the past century. Too many people have a paradigm of education and literacy that is narrowly confined to their own limited experiences.
I think a basic problem we are having relates to assessment. At least here in Texas, if it is not tested, for many students, teachers, and parents, it seems to not matter. So should we test more things? Should we change the tests we are administering? Or should we change our obsession for quantitative multiple choice measurement to something else, like high quality teachers and students who can demonstrate their abilities to use higher order thinking skills? These are critical questions.
A big part of the problem we are facing here in the USA with education relates to teacher retention, which is directly tied to the cries for greater school accountability, increased student testing, and higher standards– especially those involving “the three R’s.”
This editorial from today’s Roanoke Times, “Confronting teacher attrition and all its costs,” makes some excellent points. The quality of the teacher in the classroom is the key ingredient. We have got to be more intentional about providing mentoring of younger teachers by more experienced, “master” teachers, to help these new recruits not only survive in the classroom but also choose to stay.
Unfortunately, cries for more focus on “the three R’s” seem more likely to lead to more testing, more pressure and responsibilities laid on the plates of already overwhelmed educators, and ultimately more high-quality teachers heading out the door. This is a vicious, brutal, and discouraging cycle that has extremely high and measurable societal costs.
Yes, kids in Britain and everywhere else need to leave secondary education with an excellent mastery of the “three R’s.” But they also need much more. And without a high quality teacher, it ain’t likely to happen.
If you enjoyed this post and found it useful, subscribe to Wes’ free newsletter. Check out Wes’ video tutorial library, “Playing with Media.” Information about more ways to learn with Dr. Wesley Fryer are available on wesfryer.com/after.
On this day..
- Jonah Lehrer, Integrity and Quotation Fabrication: A Case Study in Writing Ethics – 2012
- A New DNA of Pedagogy and Learning (YouTube video – Greg Whitby by Marco Torres) – 2010
- Great Lineup of Keynote Speakers for the 2010 K-12 Online Conference #k12online10 – 2010
- Questioning the potential value of Skype and videoconferencing in the classroom? – 2009
- Another digital divide: Understanding Learning Community Power – 2009
- Webcasts tonight: Teachers are Talking and Storychasers – 2008
- Comments about Oklahoma education from Kirk Humphreys – 2008
- Comments about Oklahoma education by V. Burns Hargis, President of Oklahoma State Univ – 2008
- Notes from Dr. Pedro Noguera’s Keynote at BLC08: “Changing the Culture of Schools: Creating Conditions that Promote Student Achievement” – 2008
- You CAN take it with you! by Bob Sprankle – 2007