BFTP: Jumping through the hoops of education

In Scott McLeod's blog post Tuesday morning he shares a quote from the Washington Post about cramming for tests, and summarizes his daughter needing to do this for her AP test by simply stating "I hate it."

Why, Scott?

I've gone off on this before, but our education system mission is not really about preparing grads for a vocation, cultivating well-rounded personalities, or helping individuals gain some sort of self-fulfillment. That's the cover story. The primary mission of education is to prevent - or at least slow - cultural change, thereby keeping society stable - keeping those in power, in power.

When my high-school-honors-student daughter returned from her first semester at the University of Minnesota, she complained that her classes lacked relevance to her intended vocational goals. Well, in so many words anyway. (I think she actully said "Why do I have to take all this crap?") While the U would probably say those "core" courses are there to make sure a student is well-rounded and culturally literate, I suggested to Carrie that this is simply society using education as a means of slowing cultural change by only allowing students who are willing to conform and delay gratification to gain positions of responsibility in society. "You play by our rules and jump through our hoops* or you don't play at all." And it works very nicely. thank you.
 

I suggested to both my kids that they weigh the advantages and disadvantages of abiding by education's social contract. Play nice and you get a degree and you are qualified for entry level positions of a professional nature. "Yes, you may now be an accountant, a dentist, a teacher, a social worker, etc." In exchange for one's time and independence and obedience, one gets a large degree of safety and security. It's the deal most of us strike and it's not really a bad one. Right, Dr. McLeod?

Or don't follow the rules, quit or get kicked out of school, and get an early start inventing your own product/service/scheme or business. Or get a 9-5 work job that pays the bills and pursue your passion outside of work - fishing or thieving or sculpting or smoking pot or complaining about the rest of society while living in your parents basement. It's the deal that seems to work either really, really well or very, very badly. Bill Gates and the guy with his life in a shopping cart down by the Salvation Army both took a non-academic route.

Graduating from school depends far more on a student's EQ than IQ, if EQ is the ability to conform to societal norms.  And how much of EQ is knowing when to simply shut up, go with the flow, and keep on keeping on? Cramming for AP tests even knowing it's is a waste of time in grand scheme. I believe the current term du jour is "grit." 

You really should let your daughter know her options, Scott. 

* I would say most of the debate on standards, pedagogy, and even general educational philosophy is about what the rules and what hoops society expects from a traditionally educated person. It's about using education to help put disenfranchised people into the system - not about changing the purpose of the system itself. 

Original post Jan 16, 2014

50 reasons not to change - one one good reason to change

Above is another "discovery" made in cleaning out old files. In asking others to change, especially in the adaptation of technology in librarianship and education, I've heard a great number of these responses.

Truth be told, there are times that I would just as soon not have to change as well. As I take on new roles in retirement for other organizations, I am having to change my familiar old GSuite tools and begin using YahooMail, Exchange, and other communication systems. Even after no longer having a school email address, I now have 2 new ones, neither which are Gmail. I've needed to learn to use pivot tables and to import a column of zip codes into a GoogleMap to create map that shows the location of new club members. In my newly more important home office, I am installing a new printer/fax/scanner, computer, video conferencing camera, and wireless keyboard and mouse. 

Granted, all these new learnings are voluntary - no one is making me change the way I do things.

As I look back on my career, I realize that change has nearly always worked in my favor. It's kept me from getting bored (to say the least) with the day job. It's allowed me to be perceived as an "expert" at times in my fields, taking advantage of the unknowns that technology has brought to education and to libraries by poineering and then writing about new techniques and tools. As I recently reminisced with a friend, a lot of us tech directors sort of just made stuff up as we went along when there were few, if any, documented best practices in technology PD or classroom use or security. In some ways, we still are...

The ability to see change as a blessing, not a curse, is in itself a blessing. One is never bored when changing. Terror-strickened, yes, bored no.

Delayed rewards of public service

I became a librarian for the money. (The power and fame are just a bonus.) Adreana Scussel

In this my last week of working a full time professional job, I've been cleaning out my office. Amazing what those old files hold. Two little gems were this paystub and teaching contract from my early teaching days. And yes, this was a monthly paycheck - not semimonthly...

The pay rate above - $17,605 - included 5 days of extended contract and reflected 5 years of teaching experience and a masters degree. Let's just say, the Mercedes and mansion were a bit beyond my 31-year-old fiscal reach. My salary did improve when I started teaching for overseas schools and later when I became an administrator. But like many, if not most educators, money was something to live on, not a means of determining one's self-worth or keeping score.

As I look at what I will have to live on in retirement, I have developed a new appreciation for the deduction in that early check labeled IPERS. It stands for Iowa Public Employees Retirement System. While I will not be withdrawing from it, I will certainly be happy to take the payments by its Minnesota cousin, TRA - Teachers Retirement Association.

Public employees, not just teachers, have made a deal. We get paid less during our working years than we may have made in the private sector and in return, we will be guaranteed a pension after retirement. For those of us who have always tended to enjoy spending more than savings, that was a smart deal. 

Sadly, fixed pensions seem to be going the way of the dodo bird. My children will be far more responsible for saving independently for their retirement than I ever was. And given the poor role model of their father, this may be a challenge. 

Anyway, once again it has been dumb luck, not intelligence or good planning, that is giving me a happy life. I hope it continues into retirement.