2012 Education Policy Wish: No More Doublespeak

My wish for 2012 is that there will be no more education policy doublespeak:

It will no longer be acceptable for policy makers to say that they respect and value teachers, who are the most important factor in the education of our children--and then enact policies that fail to adequately train, support and retain teachers.  

It will no longer be acceptable in the education policy world to claim to value teacher leadership and teacher voice on policy issues--and then not utilize their input in crafting policies designed to improve education. It will no longer be acceptable to say that teachers should be well-compensated professionals, and then invest millions in new tests, data systems, and scripted, "teacher-proof" curricula, rather than writing policies that make teaching into a real profession.  

It will no longer be acceptable to say we should have less high stakes testing, because high stakes testing is inappropriate for children, and then continue to make the stakes higher.  It will no longer be acceptable to say that teachers should work in teams and colloborate professionally for the benefit of students, and then create policies that have teachers in the same building compete for bonuses for raising test scores, or pit schools that serve similar populations against one another over test scores, which discourages the sharing of best practices. 

It will not be acceptable to say that our nation's children need a well-rounded education, and then allow arts programs to be cut or non-existent across the country, including in cities like New York, famous for their arts and music. 

It will no longer be acceptable for education policy makers to select schools for their own children that emphasize critical thinking, discussion, project based learning, and the arts; schools that celebrate and trust their expert, veteran teachers--and then advocate for anything less than this for children of the poor. 

[image credit: litpark.com]

Comments

[research paper writers]

It is smaller and should be positioning. Then you can use the subtitles should explain your idea further. If you do not supplement each other subject and subtitle, task the projects that you keep in thoughts. The next factor is the bottom line.

[Barnett Berry]

Brilliant, Ariel. Hopefully, one day, your wish will come true! No doubt it will take the elevation of your voice and many more just like you. I believe we are getting closer to doing so --- even though the last 3 years have felt like we have taken a few steps back.

[Elijah Jatovsky]

I am in complete agreement that our nation's leaders need to set their priorities straight, education being one of the highest. After serving as a page in the U.S House of Representatives this past summer I literally had front row seats to the debt ceiling debate drama, and was able to witness the consequences of leaders who don't know how to or want to communicate with those whom they disagree.

In response to this realization, I created a project I think you might be interested in called National Connect (www.nationalconnect). NatCon pairs high schools from around America and students from these schools educate one another about their different lives and beliefs through online written correspondences. The project is an effort to provide the future leaders of America with the communication tools to be able to communicate with those whom they may disagree or may never have met.

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this.

[Ariel Sacks]

Barnett, I appreciate your ever-positive outlook and persistence. You have seen and helped bring about so much progress in terms of elevating teachers' voices in policy. The glass is certainly half full.

Nonetheless, my concern is this: While teachers' voices are being heard more and more, we have to make sure other education leaders cannot simply say they hear and agree with us and then act otherwise. That leads me to wonder, if we call policy-makers on doublespeak, will they still want to hear from us? Who holds the keys to which teachers' voices are elevated? I guess I am talking about a glass ceiling for teachers in education policy.

I guess there are and will continue to be glass ceilings on the road to real change, so no reason to stop pushing in the forward direction. But perhaps it's also necessary to name the glass ceilings in order to move beyond them.

[Ariel Sacks]

Elijah, That sounds like a really interesting project! My school is expanding into a 6-12. I will let the new 9th grade teachers know about it. Thanks!

[Ariel Sacks]

@ Barnett--adding onto my previous comment--on the other hand, there's research that shows that the perception of a glass ceiling can make it more difficult for individuals to rise above it. I'm thinking of sociologist John Ogbu's work. But avoiding conflict can hinder progress as well. Conflict resolution tells us to be neither aggressive or avoidant, but assertive.