A Sad Day in Tennessee
Concerning Tennessee’s use of new technology to improve test scores in education, Paul Chenoweth has this to say:
If this is an effort to advance technology use by teachers and administrators, let’s call it what it is: a new system to track progress in making our students better test takers.
He’s smack on. What does any of this have to do with learning? The more emphasis we place on standardized testing and the more we tie student performance on those tests with funding for schools and incentive-based rewards for teachers (I’m assuming that this is happening somewhere), the faster we’re going to see the populace duped by mass media marketing and the rule of the many by the few. We’re conditioning young minds to consume and not to question, unless both the questions and answers are already provided. Back to the production lines…
Steve Wilmarth wrote:
Conditioning young minds to be “good consumers” and “good workers” in a post-industrial, post-managerial capitalism era is a subject addressed by several deep thinkers who ought to be required reading for an informed public in the 21st century. (In this case, “good” is an equivalent term for unquestioning, pliable, and obedient to the mass media marketing message.) A short list of recommended reading/sites are:
Author John Perkins - Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
Author Jared Diamond - Collapse
Author/Commentator John Taylor Gatto - The Fourth Purpose (see http://www.johntaylorgatto.com)
Authors Shoshanna Zuboff & James Maxmin - The Support Economy
Posted 27 Aug 2005 at 11:41 am ¶
Aaron wrote:
Hey Steve…thanks so much for the reading suggestions. I’ve heard other educators cite Gatto in conversation and writing, but haven’t yet gotten around to reading any of his works. So much to do!
Along these lines, my thinking has been influenced heavily by Henry Giroux, particularly his works entitled, ‘Border Crossings’ and ‘Take Back Higher Education’.
Let us know when your site is up and running. Cheers.
Posted 29 Aug 2005 at 10:21 am ¶