Freedom Philosophy

For my graduate program we were asked to address school ranking based on test performance in a forum discussion. I got pretty fired up about it and venting just to the people in my program didn’t have enough impact so I am sharing it on freedom philosophy as well.

Question – What concerns would you have about school rankings like those of the Fraser Institute based on achievement test results? If you are passionate about education and feel like you need some quick adrenaline check out this video by the same organization. Holy not educators Batman…

Here are some thoughts I expressed on this.

Point 1 - Academics are only a fraction of what makes a good school. As a parent and an educator, I am most concerned that my own kids and my students learn how to learn and how to love learning. While some fundamental skills are undoubtedly necessary, I would argue a case for the “intangibles” of a school as making the key ranking differences.

Such typically unconsidered factors would include: how interested are students (yes even high school) in going to school. How all school community members would rate the rapport between faculty and students. How satisfied the teachers are with their jobs. The quality and number of the extracurricular activities offered. The access the school provides to technology and web 2.0 tools. How varied the classroom practices are. Among others…

Point 2 - If the goal of education is to create people who perform well on standardized tests, then a system that is oriented toward that outcome is exactly what should be created. Performing well on standardized tests, however, is a near useless life skill as far as I am concerned. At this point, I am almost sick of the hype around 21st century education but considering the arcane nature of ranking schools based solely (soulessly) on test performance doesn’t the following make more sense?

“21st century education is flexible, creative, challenging, and complex. It addresses a rapidly changing world filled with fantastic new problems as well as exciting new possibilities” (Possibilities for 21st Century Education, 2008).

I am not worried about professional evaluation. I can teach students to do well on a test or I can help people develop into imaginative, motivated, voracious learners who know how to learn what they will need to know when they create the future. Unfortunately the differences between the two with regard to style of teaching, learning, and what it means to perform do not work well in tandem. One is teaching people how to succeed in a box that was created in the past. The other is teaching people how to succeed outside the box that hasn’t been created yet.

Possibilities for 21st Century Education. (2008). Retrieved July 05, 2010 from 21st Century Schools: http://www.21stcenturyschools.com/​what_is_21st_century_education.htm.

Images: As far as I could tell these images are open source. If I am mistaken please post a reply to this post indicating that and I will take them down.

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Like many others I am working on finishing my masters degree. As such, there is a heap of required reading much of which is in the form of academic journals in pdf. Due to the design of my program, I am carrying two courses at present which is a nightmare at the end of the school year not to mention two small children and a high need for physical exercise. I regularly struggled to get the reading done then I had an idea about using technology for the visually impaired for my own gain and found Ghostreader.

This program simply converts text files to audio mp3 files to play on my blackberry or ipod to listen to as I wash dishes, drive, or walk the dog. It is sophisticated enough to phrase words and sentences naturally (listen to the file). It makes long academic journals or any other text you don’t have time to read accessible. When I am really exhausted and my mind tends to wander, I find I can study later and with more focus if I play the audio and read the pdf along with it.

Ideally I wouldn’t need this but like many I am stretched too thin. This program has given me back not minutes but hours of sleep. It has a free 2 week trial and is only $50 if you decide it is useful for you.

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Scene from my daily run in Yamanashi

When I was on faculty at Hopkins School in New Haven, CT, I worked with a guy called Dean Nicholson. He was an avid NORBA Masters class racer and 15 years later probably still is. At the tender age of 24 he taught me to schedule an appointment with myself every day. I still remember him giving me an overview of the strategy.

Think about it, he said. If people call up and ask if they can meet you at 1pm and you have a conflicting appointment, it is easily accepted when tell them you aren’t available – after all you have a conflicting appointment. The same thing doesn’t hold if you tell them, ’sorry I can’t make it, I’m going cycling, running, or climbing’ take your pick. None of those reasons fly. People take offense to being turned down so you can work out. Why is that so? Why are we any less important than other people? The solution is to schedule in an immovable appointment with yourself.

Don’t tell anyone what you’re doing and honor it as if it were an appointment with the dean of faculty from Yale University. You wouldn’t miss an appointment with an administrator from Yale and why are they any more important than you are.

Dean was a very fit and very wise man. I haven’t forgotten his words and in this self-change project I have taken “the appointment with yourself idea” further with Prestwich, Perugini, and Hurling’s (2009) smart-phone reminders.

Everyday I get a message on my phone thanks to google calendar and google sync for blackberry that corresponds to an open block of time. Depending on the time availability and location I either do a simple workplace stretch or a more full-blown flexibility workout. Also included in these messages are various motivational phrases such as Tommy Lasorda’s

“The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.”

Dean gave me an easy to implement tip on facilitating determination. Google Calendar and Blackberry makes is easy to remember and even lets me know if I try to schedule something over one of my workouts with the simple phrase, “Conflict with another appointment on this calendar”. This is every bit as matter of fact and firm as Dean would have loved to see. I’d like to write more on the topic but I have another appointment.

Prestwich, A., Perugini, M., & Hurling, R. (2009). Can the effects of implementation intentions on exercise be enhanced using text messages?.

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