Just remember the schedule

We should be able to stick to the schedule for the rest of the semester, barring some strange occurrence.

Just a reminder that it can be found at this post.

Good Stuff From Sherman Dorn

Sherman Dorn is a historian of education who also looks closely at education policy. He also has an awesome blog. This recent entry looks at relevant issues in how we've conceived of teacher quality in our nations history. You should notice some of the things we've already talked about in his essay; we'll talk about more of them in the weeks to come.

Also check out his provocative entry "I am not a caring teacher" in which he discusses Nel Noddings and how focusing on the virtue of teachers has hurt the profession.

Ripped from the Headlines!

Last night's presentation mentioned a pending court case in Florida about a school prohibiting a Gay-Straight alliance student group. The judge just ruled on the case yesterday.

Esoteric Knowledge

Lindsey's (and others) posts below prompted me to comment on what Strike means by his idea of "esoteric knowledge" and how that relates to teaching.

Lindsey says:

teachers are not viewed to have knowledge that is esoteric and the average person is capable of walking into a classroom and teaching the students what they need to know. If I understand this correctly then I could not disagree more. I do understand that the average person knows that 2 x 2 = 4. But, my argument is that the average person probably does not know how to teach this to a 3rd grader and know of alternative ways to teach a particular student that is not able to grasp the concept. The average person probably does not have the classroom management skills to deal with students who are acting out or not following directions. The average person also could not teach a child the seven steps to throwing a ball. All of these examples are what I believe to be esoteric knowledge that teachers posses because of their professional training.

This is right on! But I think Strike is getting at another issue. Sure, there are people who think teaching isn't a big deal and they could just walk in and give students all their knowledge and be awesome. Those people don't understand teaching that well. If anything, I think the general public's perception of teaching has gotten better over the years, so the problem isn't with people who think they could just walk in and teach. The problem is with people who see teachers as having skills (and maybe a certain personality), but not esoteric knowledge.

A plumber is a skilled worker, but we're hesitant to call the plumber a professional. That's because he has a certain skill set that is easily codified and replicable. You can learn the basic skills of plumbing in a relatively short amount of time. The amount of judgment required in the application of those skills is limited. And, (here's the kicker), non-plumbers can acquire a reasonably passable version of those skills by having a book handy. If my drain gets clogged, I can turn to my "How to fix it" book from the Home Depot to unclog my drain. I don't think I can just walk in and fix my drain, but I do think that with a limited amount of time, I can get the skills necessary to solve a lot of the basic plumbing problems.

(Now is probably a good time to note that I think plumbers are awesome, lest I get pelted by pipe wrenches. I intend no disrespect to highly skilled workers; my dad's an electrician.)

Notice what's missing here -- knowledge that takes significant skill and effort to acquire and is somewhat abstract in character, as well as the development of a type of professional judgment on how, when, and if to apply that knowledge. Do teachers have that type of knowledge? Do people believe that they do?

I submit that many people think teachers are like plumbers, rather than doctors: highly skilled workers who do a relatively dirty job that's necessary for society to function.

A Note from Prof. Pope

First, I want to make a general comment as to all the posts in the past couple of weeks. They have been outstanding. You all are clearly reading and thinking hard about the material, which is really all I want out of my students. I have been really impressed overall with the posting.

Second, you may have noticed I have not been commenting on each and every post lately. You may have assumed that's because I have been really busy and would get around to it eventually. There's an element of truth to that assumption. I have, however, realized a few things about the blog that, once realized seem obvious now. Maybe you have already realized the same things. If so, now you can have your "ha-ha" (insert Nelson voice from The Simpsons here) moment at my expense :)

• First, reading and commenting on each and every post is a lot of work for me -- more than I thought it would be, honestly. I enjoy reading what all of you have to say, but when the posts come fast and furiously it is difficult to process and thoughtfully respond to each one. Perhaps that is just a time management issue on my part, so this isn't the real issue.
• Second (this is the big issue), I may have violated all sorts of assessment rules with my comments, especially if my labels of "excellent," "good," etc are taken as a proxy for some sort of grade. If that's what they are (and, honestly, it wasn't supposed to be a grade, but it was supposed to be formative feedback), then they could have been taken as public assessment -- i.e. grading your posts in front of the entire class. One is not really supposed to do that, at least in my understanding. That wasn't what I intended, I assure you, but I have come to see how they could have been taken in that way. Such a public system could have inhibited people from posting, which would have run counter to what this blog was supposed to be for.

I just wanted to share those thoughts with you here at the close of the semester. I'd certainly be interested in any thoughts you may have about the blog and it's use for the class, as I'd like to continue it for future graduate classes. What would make the blog better? Fewer posts? More posts? Different types of posts? You can offer your feedback in the form of comments to this post. Or, if you prefer, you can email them to me. You can also give anonomyous comments via the course evaluations. Overall, I have enjoyed the blog very much, because I have enjoyed our class very much. I am just trying to make it better for future students.

Thanks!

Dr. Pope Update

I do not know if I am stone free, but at least I am not doubled over in pain or engaging in some drug induced babbling -- both of which have alternatively characterized my general state of affairs since Friday morning -- any longer. I've caught up with all the posts; everything should have a comment now. If I missed your post or you have questions about my comments, let me know. There were some very good posts related to Bloom; I hope that trend continues with the Feinberg and Soltis text.

I will see everyone tomorrow night.

Dr. Pope Update

Hello everyone,

I know I am behind in my comments and blog feedback. I turned in my Third Year Review Thursday, with full intent to spend today catching up with the blog. But then I woke up this morning at 4:30 with serious abdominal pain -- it turns out I have a kidney stone. Thus I will likely be laid up this weekend as I try to get thing out of me.

Hopefully, by Monday I will be better and my top priority will be catching up here. If things change, I will let you know.

Thanks to everyone for your patience.