From Mr. Coleman

I was so impressed the discussion on Tuesday that I forwarded my last post about it to several people, including Mr. Coleman. He emailed me the following, which he has given permission for me to post on the blog.


If I understand the two sides properly, it doesn't seem like we're going to have too many problems with the scenario as it might unfold. First, many students depend solely on authority for knowing, either because in high school they are receiving the facts, skills, and information that make deeper knowing possible later. Those students who are advanced and use reason and logic to evaluate what they are being taught (and we hope that's all kids, but in reality it isn't), will ideally be set up with knowledgeable teachers who recognize that the governmental standards aren't everything and who, in small forms of rebellion and resistance, just teach what is important anyway (when what is important isn't dictated by state standards; I happen to think that the standards are more descriptive of what we already do than some people think. It's the measurement of those standards that's faulty.)

I'd be further interested in what kids know about teacher training in schools of education. Are they basing their knowledge on new teachers and then arguing from effects? Or if they are accurate in their assessment, do new teachers actually feel that their own use of logic and reason is subordinated to some higher governmental authority? There are ways to align yourself with standards that still allow for the exercise of logic and reason on the part of our students. From the way the scenario looks based on your discussion, one would think that future teachers are being taught to walk into a classroom and just exercise authority, whatever that means, worrying little about applying reason. I bet the reality is somewhat different. I remember my first years of teaching as being experimental and exciting, because my authority was not a given. I was able to connect to students on a much more real level (I started late, at 27, and had a strong background in literature, rather than education. I still think that people need content degrees rather than education degrees to be teachers.).