Education and Its Discontents

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Al Gore and The Assault on Reason
2007-07-13 15:26:00
As I read Al Gore ’s Assault on Reason , I can’t help but continue to think about the book’s implications for the education system. A recurrent theme is the vital role played by both literacy and reason in a healthy democracy. He talks about how the framers of the American Constitution made certain assumptions in their vision of government: that the citizenry, through the printed word, would have access to sufficient information to make sound judgments, and that those judgments would emerge through the exercise of reason. Due to factors Gore makes clear, neither of those assumptions seem to be operating very well in the United States today.He is uncompromising in his indictment of the Bush administration’s violation of logic and crass manipulation of people’s fears. The power of governments to subvert their citizens is something that we, as educators, should be especially mindful of when we teach. One of the greatest pleasures for me in the Grade 12 Academic English course I...
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Al Gore, Institutional Behaviour, and School Boards
2007-07-12 14:43:00
I’m currently reading Al Gore ’s excellent book, The Assault on Reason. Although I am only on chapter two, there is much in it thus far reinforcing the vital role that reason and education must play in a civilized society. As well, there is much in it detailing the abuse that institutions are capable of. It is the latter that I would like to offer a few comments on.Gore examines the behaviour of two bodies, the CIA and the FBI, to show how those at the top often subvert the integrity of their operatives. For example, in the lead up to the invasion of Iraq, CIA analysts who disputed the link being forged between Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein were under tremendous pressure to keep their own counsel. The cost of displeasing their superiors was too high -lost opportunities for promotions and salary increases. Similarly, in an earlier era, for an FBI agent to challenge J. Edgar Hoover’s belief that Martin Luther King was closely aligned with the Communist Party could have meant dis...
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FUTURE BLOG POSTINGS
2007-07-11 14:46:00
Because we are in the midst of summer, I have been trying to keep my posts in a relatively light vein. However, to give you an idea of what is coming up as we get closer to school opening again, I am listing a series of topics that I hope to explore, in no particular order.As always, I invite readers’ input. Is there something that you would like me to address? For example, if you are a member of the general public interested in public education, is there anything that you have been wondering about that I or the readers of this blog might help you with?If you are a parent, what have been your experiences dealing with the education system? What have been your best experiences? What have been your worst?If you are a teacher, are there issues in your life as an educator that might help readers to better understand the profession? Is there any advice that we can offer about problems you are confronting? If you are an administrator, my criticisms notwithstanding, what do you do to...
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Author Recommendation #4 – James Lee Burke
2007-07-10 14:48:00
My fourth summer reading selection, James Lee Burke and his Dave Robicheaux series, is by far the darkest. As an author, Burke has all of the attributes of both Colin Dexter and Michael Connelly, but his explorations of character, informed by questions of good and evil and the pursuit of redemption, often make for some very dark excursions into the human condition.Like Dexter and Connelly’s protagonists, Dave ages throughout the series; while originally a member of the New Orleans Police Department, for most of the novels he has been a detective in New Iberia Parish. His longtime friend and former partner, Cleetus Purcell, appears in most of the series, and while the latter is capable of some truly shocking and violent behaviour, his excesses are, in most ways, no greater than those of Robicheaux, something that Dave never seems to realize. Their kindred natures make it clear why their friendship has endured for so long.There have been many losses and much pain in Dave’s life ov...
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"Sicko" and the Educated Person
2007-07-09 14:41:00
My wife and I just saw Michael Moore’s new film, “Sicko ,” about the gross inadequacies of the American healthcare system. While I have always enjoyed his work, I think this is his best. He skillfully juxtaposes very sad tales of people who have lost spouses, children, their economic freedom and peace of mind with countries that provide universal health care, such as Canada, Britain, and France. By the end of the film, one cannot help but feel sorry for a nation as powerful as the United States squandering its resources, allowing so many of its citizens to live and die in healthcare misery.The film made me think about the crucial role that education has traditionally played in developing critical thinking skills. To be able to think and reflect on issues, to be able to evaluate both sides of a question, as opposed to simply responding viscerally, is to me the mark of the truly educated person. That we have drifted in many ways from that notion to embrace the inculcation of a se...
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The Results So Far
2007-07-08 18:49:00
I also post this blog on another site that seems to be read exclusively by teachers, and it seems more successful in eliciting comments than is this site thus far. I am therefore taking the liberty of pasting in the three comments I have received so far based on yesterday's invitation for input about experience with administrators.Betty said:I had one particularly bad experience with a principal a few years ago. I have mentioned him several times in comments (not by name, of course). He loved to pick on teachers and made evaluations stressful and miserable. Did I say stressful and miserable? Just wanted to make sure. One year it was my turn to be in the hot seat, and he made my life unbearable. I stuck it out but probably should have transferred to another school. A couple of years later he acted like nothing had happened and told me he thought I was an excellent teacher. Go figure.# July 7, 2007 1:19 PM [Remove this Comment]Betty said:I am still laughing at myself. Maybe it's the...
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An Invitation to Readers of This Blog
2007-07-07 19:36:00
As I said when I started this blog in June, what I have been writing about thus far is the truth as I see it - hence the largely negative comments about administrators. I would be very much interested in readers writing about the experiences they have had with principals and vice-principals; in the pursuit of balance, I would especially like to hear of administrators that you feel either make or have made your lives better. Simply press on the comment section and leave your thoughts.Thanks.
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Author Recommendation #3 – Michael Connelly
2007-07-05 15:41:00
My next pick is American writer Michael Connelly . A former crime reporter for the L.A. Times, Connelly brings real authority to his writing about a netherworld that few of us, fortunately, will ever have contact with. Although he has written novels outside of the series, it is the Harry Bosch storylines where Connelly’s strengths are most apparent.Like Colin Dexter’s creation, Inspector Morse, Harry Bosch is a man who ages as the series progresses, even to the point where he takes early retirement only to find, after about 3 years, that life as a private citizen does not afford the grim satisfactions to be derived from solving homicides. He therefore returns to the force and, as of his latest literary outing, is still going strong.In addition to the strengths I praised in Colin Dexter’s work (please see earlier posting), two more aspects make Connelly’s creation particularly strong for me: first, Harry has a deep sense of and yearning for justice, the genesis of which we lea...
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Author Recommendation #2 – Ishmael Beah
2007-07-04 18:10:00
My next selection marks a foray into the world of non-fiction, but it is a world as horrendous as any that can be found in the darkest of fiction. Yet upon completion of the book, the reader realizes that he or she has made a journey to redemption alongside the author.Ishmael Beah, the author of A Long Way Gone, is a victim of war-torn Sierra Leone, the country depicted in the film Blood Diamond. Now a young man of 26, this very bright, articulate and talented writer effectively conveys the horror of his experiences as a boy soldier, conscripted into the army at the age of 13 to fight the rebels, although the bloody, inhumane behaviour of each side makes them virtually impossible to distinguish.An apparently happy and sensitive boy before both the loss of his family and the conscription, Beah is quickly transformed into something barely recognizable as human. Through the deadening effects of drugs and a yearning for a renewed sense of family, both readily provided by the army, he be...
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A Brief Return to My Criticisms of School Administrators
2007-07-03 17:48:00
I know I promised lighter fare for the summer, but my hometown paper today carried a provocative story originally published on June 22 in the L.A. Times. Titled “With Iraq play, students act on beliefs,” it details the experiences of a group of students at Wilton High School in Wilton, Connecticut who had been working for two months on a play called “Voices in Conflict.” The play, actually a series of dramatic monologues, was the result of the drama teacher’s idea for the students to research the war in Iraq through documentaries, books, and articles that represented both sides of the conflict.You can probably guess what happened. The principal, Timothy Canty, received a few complaints about the content of the pending play, and made the decision that it could not be performed. Oh, and by the way, the drama teacher was put under ‘administrative review’, which essentially means that her job was threatened. There is ultimately a happy ending to the story, one that has not...
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Author Recommendation #1 - Colin Dexter
2007-07-02 16:09:00
A number of the recommendations that I’ll be making in the days ahead pertain to police procedurals and mysteries. The best of the genre offer intellectual challenge, well constructed plots, excellent characterization, and, in the case of an ongoing series, the opportunity for the reader to develop a real affection for the authors’ protagonists.My first selection is Colin Dexter ’s Inspector Morse series. Some of you may be familiar with the character through the films carried by PBS over the years. Although the film series is very good, with the late actor John Thaw very well cast as Morse, the books are superior, in the way that books always seem to be.First recommended to me by Murray, an old teaching colleague, I was immediately captivated by the character of Morse whose first name, by the way, we only ascertain in the final book of the series, The Remorseful Day. (I won’t spoil it for you.)Irascible, given to overindulgence in alcohol, and often both condescending and in...
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The Joys of Summer -
2007-06-29 19:12:00
As I write this on June 29, the last day of work for teachers in Ontario, I am reminded of how, when I was still teaching, once that date arrived, I really didn’t want to think about pedagogical matters again for a long time. Despite that, due to the regimented nature of the teacher’s life, divesting myself of the educator’s persona usually took me about two weeks.. One of the best ways for me to begin to unwind was to embark on my summer reading, which usually consisted of a combination of familiar and new authors. So, in deference to those of you who will be returning to the classroom in the fall and savoring this season’s opportunity for rejuvenation, my upcoming posts will be lighter and devoted to some of the authors I have enjoyed over the years. As well, I may comment on movies I think are worthy of note. I hope that you will consider placing some of your recommendations in the comment section of this blog as well.Now take a deep breath and begin to relax. I’ll be b...
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Some Heartfelt Advice for Administrators
2007-06-27 22:59:00
Common sense: we hear the term all of the time, and usually it means the ability to see that which is obvious. However, in my experience, many administrators lack this capacity in their relationship with the teaching staff. I therefore offer the following advice gratis to those wayward principals who are seeking a new beginning in September.Recognize that you are dealing with a well-qualified and well-educated group of people who both expect and deserve to be treated like mature adults.Don’t be afraid to compliment people for their efforts. It will cost you nothing and you will be surprised at the dividends you receive in return.Keep your ego in check. Although you hold the top post in the school, your elevated status means nothing to the staff unless they respect you.Although there may be times you need to intervene in situations, trust the professional judgment of teachers, and don’t interfere in that judgment simply to curry favor with your superiors.The term ‘principal’ ...
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Administrators I Have Respected – Part 2
2007-06-26 20:29:00
Being a vice-principal has to be one of the least appealing jobs in education. Dealing with discipline problems on a daily basis is not what most people aspire to; indeed, the position is generally viewed as job training for the principalship, the ultimate goal of many. One of the most effective vice-principals I ever worked for was a man named Ray who, for whatever reason, seemed uninterested in moving to the next administrative level. I suspect that was why he was such a good v.p.Unfortunately, in my experience many of the decisions made by school administrators often have more to do with political considerations than educational principle. Beset by concerns of whether any given action will help or hurt their career goals (either to maintain their position, secure a promotion or, at the very least, not be sent back to the classroom, a fate worse than death for some, I suspect), such school managers can be rendered professionally impotent, losing the support of both staff and stude...
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Administrators I Have Respected
2007-06-25 18:41:00
Readers will undoubtedly have detected a bias against administrators so far in my writing. I make no apologies for that bias; it is one that will be evident in future posts as well. However, I would like to talk a little about two people, one a principal, and one a vice-principal, for whom I had a great deal of respect.Earlier I discussed Bill from Manitoba, who I said set the gold standard for leadership. Another principal of real integrity was a man named Rick, who led an Ontario high school. Rick’s refreshing philosophy, increasingly rare today, was a simple one. He would say to kids, “Yeah, you’re right, life sucks and you got a raw deal. But what are you going to do about it?” In other words, while it may seem like an increasingly quaint concept today, he tried to teach young people that their fate was ultimately in their hands, even when outside forces seemed to conspire against them. It’s something that the education system should be teaching all students, but incre...
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Student Cheating – Parental Reaction – Part 5
2007-06-21 21:47:00
In Part 4 of Student Cheating , I discussed how upset I was over the principal's handling of the situation of the dishonest student. What follows is how I dealt with my distress.After mulling over how to come to terms with having been treated so unprofessionally, I decided to write a letter to the principal, which essentially turned out to be a 1000 word memo assessing her handling of the unhappy parents. The reason I didn’t make an appointment to see her was my tendency to get emotional at times; I really didn’t want my anger to supplant my logic.Although much of what I wrote is lost to memory now, I do recall acknowledging that while she had the authority to act as she had, I stated that I had never been treated so unprofessionally in my career; I pointed out that in taking the expedient route, she had undermined me professionally, since the students I taught would be well aware of what had transpired. Clearly student respect for my classroom authority would now be in jeopardy...
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The Failure of Leadership
2007-06-20 23:07:00
This post marks a digression from my previous topic thread, which will continue soon.I read in The Globe and Mail today that the Ontario Provincial Police has been given the task of investigating former RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli over allegations that he tried to impede an investigation into wrongdoing in the administration of the Mounties’ pension fund. The man who will be leading the investigation, OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino, was quoted in the article as saying that he had always known Zaccardelli as an honorable man, continuing, “I can’t really look at a man’s career of 30-some odd years of dedicated, loyal, committed service and forget all of that and just focus on this one piece of his career.”Reading those comments made me think of many parallels in education, one of them being how often administrators fail in what should be their most important responsibility, providing a positive and ethical environment within which the organization can thrive. In ...
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Student Cheating- Parental Reactions – Part 4
2007-06-20 16:20:00
You may wonder why I got so upset over the removal of the student that I wrote about in my last post. While I recognize that the administration always has the final say in the disposition of students, what bothered me so much in this case was not the fact that he was no longer in my class, but the manner of his removal. In failing to insist that the parents first speak to me, as per procedure, in failing to inform me once she took the expedient course, and in overriding the guidance department, she was sending a very powerful message to students: parents have a great deal of power, and if you complain hard enough and loudly enough, you will get your way instead of having to learn from your mistakes.To the staff, she was essentially saying that our professional judgment and standards were secondary to parental pressure, that when parental push came to shove, parents would be accommodated no matter what. You can well imagine what such aberrant judgment calls can do to staff morale. It...
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Student Cheating- Parental Reactions – Part 3
2007-06-20 04:05:00
In my last post I told of the parent who suggested I had a personality conflict with her son due to my insistence on a note explaining his absence on a test. About five days later, said student came to me with his books, telling me he was no longer in my class. How his departure from my class came about is a tale that epitomizes how administrators often act out of expedience rather than principle.After being informed of the departure, I contacted the guidance head to determine what had happened. Apparently the lad had gone to her, insisting upon being removed from the class. She told him, after hearing the reason, (i.e., that he had simply skipped the class and had had no doctor’s appointment) to ’suck it up” and learn from the experience. She thus refused to authorize his dropping the course. However, the common sense and integrity present in the guidance department seemed to be sadly lacking in the principal’s office.Apparently, following the guidance visit, the parents we...
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Student Cheating - Parental Reactions- Part 2
2007-06-19 15:46:00
One of my more unpleasant experiences with student dishonesty began when I had given a content test on Dickens’ Great Expectations. It was always my practice either not to count the test or give a makeup assignment if an absentee had a legitimate reason for missing a test. One such student told me that he had had a doctor’s appointment, and I simply asked him for a note from home to confirm that. When the note was not forthcoming and I pressed him on it, the student told me how deeply hurt he was that I wouldn’t simply accept his word. Never one to be swayed by such histrionics, I told him to get over his distress and produce the note.Later, I called his mother to verify the reason for his absence. She asked me to ‘simply accept that ________ was absent for the test.” This non-sequitor really was of no help in my quest for the truth, so I asked her again if her son had had a doctor’s appointment during the test. Rather than replying, it was at this point she suggested th...
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Students Cheating – Parental Reactions - Part 1
2007-06-18 16:53:00
One of the least pleasant tasks faced by teachers is informing parents that their son/daughter has cheated on an assignment. No one likes to be the bearer of such news, but parents need to be informed when such transgressions occur. For the most part, they would accept the news stoically and thank me, but in my last several years of teaching, I noticed a disturbing trend developing. Sometimes parents expected exceptions to be made for their child, usually in the form of a makeup assignment. When I would refuse (my reasoning being that giving makeup assignments essentially meant there would be little disincentive to cheat) my motives would come under scrutiny, the parent wondering why I was being so ‘unfair’ to their child. I found such accusations so profoundly disturbing because they suggested to me that the children had been raised in a moral vacuum, where questions of right and wrong no longer held any meaning. It is one thing to look out for and try to protect your children,...
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The Shortcomings of School Administrators - Part 1
2007-06-15 01:31:00
It is no secret amongst teachers that the success or failure of a school rests largely with its principal. Not only are principals responsible for implementing and administering curriculum, meeting parents, and attending a myriad of meetings, but also, perhaps most importantly, they set the tone and climate of the school. It is at this they fail more often than they succeed.During my years in Manitoba, I had the good fortune of working under one administrator, Bill, who set the gold standard for leadership. What was his secret? Very simply, he understood that the teaching staff was the most important component of the educational process, something many principals and superintendents and directors of education today seem oblivious to. Bill never saw himself as being ‘above’ the classroom teacher, and was quite willing to compliment us for jobs well-done, while also letting us know when we had let him down. One of the clearest memories I have of his positive leadership came...
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Student Cheatng
2007-06-13 16:37:00
I read an article in the paper recently about the state of cheating in schools today. The worst for dishonest practices apparently are business students; a survey showed that 74% indulged in dishonest academic behaviour, followed closely by engineering students. A myriad of devices are now available for high tech cheating, including the Internet, cellphones, Blackberrys, and some of the traditional methods persist as well (writing on hands, bathroom visits, speaking to students who wrote the test earlier, etc.)In my years as a high school English teacher, very few semesters passed without my apprehending one or two students guilty of the most common form of academic dishonesty, plagiarism; while most of my students were honest and hardworking, the few that weren’t deeply affected me. It was no lie when I would tell my charges that each case of dishonesty I uncovered took a tremendous toll on me emotionally, I think because I always took such acts quite personally, and I was als...
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Educational Auhority - The Beginning
2007-06-13 15:33:00
Far too often, the ‘bosses’ have little concept of the challenges facing teachers, either because they have spent so little time in the classroom themselves or, after their ‘ascent’ (some would say ‘escape’) from the classroom, forget all too quickly what it means to be a teacher. For example, when I started my job in Manitoba, I was shocked to learn that I would be teaching two Business courses and one English. When I had been interviewed for the job, all the questions had been about English, my subject area; the Superintendent mentioned nothing about Business. When I arrived a few days early at the school and saw my timetable, I quickly phoned the Superintendent, telling him that I knew nothing about business. His glib response was, “To my way of thinking Lorne, a good teacher can teach anything.” A smooth way to deal with a 'problem,' but of absolutely no help to me. At the time, I had neither the wherewithal nor the experience to debate him; I simply ende...
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A Little Bit About Me
2007-06-06 22:33:00
It was almost a year ago that I gained my liberation from the world of high school education. After working in the field for thirty years, I had decided that because the job was always getting more challenging, and my own energy levels were not what they had been in my twenties, and especially because I had become profoundly disillusioned with the structure and bureaucracy of education, I decided to call it a day. Because I was so recently an active part of education, and because I maintain friendships with people who are still teaching, I hope my comments will have some currency and relevance for today’s teachers as well as the general public, who may want to know more about what goes on ‘behind the curtain’ from a former ‘insider.’ I do hope that this blog will be an access point for spirited but civilized discourse, and that readers will feel free to offer their comments and register their agreements and disagreements with my views. And that last point is the aspect I m...
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