Michael Pollan

"Food science is like surgery in 1650...it's nice to watch."
-Michael Pollan

Michael Pollan presented the 2010 Farwell Distinguished Lecture at Luther College this evening. Although the experience does not top the experience of listening to John McCain or Barrack Obama, Michael Pollan did present several issues that sat well with me. (as I can specifically apply them to educational reform)

No. 1- Reform begins as a idea and begins to take shape when people actually ACT on that idea. Take for example Brown vs. Board of Education; it began as an idea in the minds of people like Fredrick Douglas and continued to grow until the government felt the full pressure of the Civil Right's Movement in the 1960s.

No. 2- Reform will not happen unless we have lawyers and politicians who understand the complex system that is in place. (and those people will not be in power unless voters put them there)

No. 3- Michael Pollan's favorite label for many of the processed foods that we eat is "edible food-like substances". My question...is the education system a education-like substance? Where someone in power has decided what is important and we are given that and the rest is "knowledge epidemic-inducing" filler.

Think about it. I don't necessarily have the right answers, but we can all question.

For Better or For Worse

Teachers being held "accountable" in Rhode Island...

The follow up after the school board hearing.

"For the common good" or "Every man for himself"

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. -Preamble of the US Constitution

Promote the general welfare. This is a statement that reflects the unity that this country was founded upon. Amidst the Olympics, one of the finest stages to show patriotism, our country is falling apart. In a recent poll 86% of Americans say that they believe the US Government is broken. Do they offer a fix? No, of course not, that is the responsibility of someone else. What the average US citizen wants is benefits for them: businessmen want tax cuts to take away more money but they don't want to offer health insurance to their workers, farmers want their crops subsidized but don't want to pay property tax to local school districts, politicians want special interest groups to pay for campaigns but don't feel like listening to their constituents. Do I feel the system is broken? Yes.

So how about a quick fix? Absolutely not.

What the US has to change is its mentality. There is a point at which is okay to look after only your own interests and shut down others' interests. On the other hand, there is a point where we need to realize that benefiting others can have positive long-term effects on us. Since I am an educator I will provide an example from my own area of expertise.

School choice was put in place to provide students with the flexibility of choosing a school that best fit their learning needs. Unfortunately many families abuse this privilege and leave districts that could use their support to turn a school around. Think for a minute about what might happen if all the students in a district went to their assigned school and their parents became active in that school. Wouldn't those parents want the best for their student and attempt to change that school? It certainly seems logical to me, but its not reality. As a society we are too focused on our individual needs that we leave the collective behind; furthering the divide in our country and preventing growth as a whole nation.

Living Off a Teacher's Salary....

I stumbled across this link in my daily news dose...Thought it might be a good read.


http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2010/02/21/nr.living.on.less.cnn?hpt=C2

Single Sex Education?

Public schools across the country increasingly are segregating boys and girls into separate classrooms with the hopes that the experiment will rescue failing public schools. However, parents and schools should think twice before testing this method on our kids. While no evidence persuasively demonstrates that segregating students improves learning, experience has shown that it shortchanges both girls and boys.

Most new sex-segregated programs seem to be inspired by "brain science" theories that in fact have little scientific basis. South Carolina's "Director of Single-Gender Initiatives" David Chadwell has taken the dubious lead in putting these theories into practice. Chadwell is on the advisory board of the National Association for Single-Sex Public Education (NASSPE), and according to Chadwell and NASSPE, teachers must treat boys and girls very differently in the classroom because their BRAINS are so different. Parents should be wary of Chadwell's suggestions that it is a scientific fact that their daughters are better off working quietly without the stress of time limits than competing in the demanding and physically engaging boys' class across the hall. Girls and boys must learn to succeed in a coeducational world.

What sex segregation really does is create inequality and deprive all students of the benefits of a diverse classroom. The most reliable evidence available shows that proven approaches to educational reform — such as smaller classes, paying teachers decent salaries and parental involvement — make much more sense than separating boys and girls based on archaic stereotypes.