tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post7800776191278182063..comments2024-03-27T08:53:29.267-04:00Comments on CURMUDGUCATION: The Mystery of ExcellencePeter Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16511193640285760299noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-20222453212077630082014-07-01T23:23:18.388-04:002014-07-01T23:23:18.388-04:00No, no, teaching is not similar to art at all. It&...No, no, teaching is not similar to art at all. It's not art, it has nothing to do with aesthetics. It's AN art, but you're right, I need to define that. What I mean by that is the dictionary meaning of "skill in performance acquired by experience, study, or observation" and "a special ready capacity that is hard to analyze or teach." Therefore it IS difficult to evaluate. But that doesn't matter. What matters is improving education. Data and metrics might be able to tell you some things students know and some they don't, but not why they don't know or aren't able to do what you think they should. The human brain is much more diverse than we think and people don't all learn the same way. Each teacher has a natural teaching style and that style might mesh with the learning style of certain students but not with others. One thing we could do is try to match up teacher and student learning styles, but again, that's difficult and principals feel they have enough scheduling headaches. But although there is a lot of professional literature out there on cognitive studies about how people learn, it's not taught or disseminated in a coordinated way. We need to figure out what strategies work with most students, so we can be as effective as possible, and also what alternative methods will reach the students who can't learn that way. That's where the emphasis on "reform" - which should just be called improvement - ought to be. It's the only way for teachers to become more effective for all students. Rebecca deCocahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13168718846105012814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-24629806178905773072014-07-01T18:55:21.109-04:002014-07-01T18:55:21.109-04:00I agree that teaching is similar to art in some wa...I agree that teaching is similar to art in some ways. But I don't think it's a good idea to travel down that path. Doesn't that imply that excellent teaching is only a matter of taste? A crucifix placed upside down in a jar of urine is art, and so is Van Gogh's "Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear." Are they equivalent, or of equal merit?<br /><br />Without some criteria, there are no excellent teachers, just opinions.MattyShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16477643969232178526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-48412816404135021052014-07-01T10:06:59.168-04:002014-07-01T10:06:59.168-04:00Teaching will always be an art. The only way it ca...Teaching will always be an art. The only way it can also become more of a science is to use research, but research based on cognitive science about how people learn, not data based on "outcomes". Data about absenteeism and graduation rates and test scores can't tell you how to improve because they don't tell you what works, what doesn't, and why. The emphasis should be on using research-based cognitive learning strategies effectively; education would improve and it would be obvious. The methodology used in evaluation wouldn't matter, and evaluation of outcomes doesn't tell you how to improve anyway. Current emphasis is all wrong. Rebecca deCocahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13168718846105012814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-29107391974370154182014-07-01T00:51:54.575-04:002014-07-01T00:51:54.575-04:00We cannot all be Salvador Dali and exclaim that no...We cannot all be Salvador Dali and exclaim that no one is qualified to judge our work.<br /><br />If teachers cannot and will not develop fair, accurate measures for evaluation, then they will continue to be at the mercy of the research-based, data-driven folks who invent metrics largely without their help. Saying "it's impossible to evaluate teachers, so we'll just use seniority" isn't working for anyone.MattyShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16477643969232178526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-91459502655318719992014-06-30T13:17:01.518-04:002014-06-30T13:17:01.518-04:00Teaching is not just an art, sometimes it can be p...Teaching is not just an art, sometimes it can be pure magic. Your description of your successes and not so successful connections are exactly what I have been saying to anyone who will listen. For every one student for whom I have "made a difference", there are probably several others who would say "meh" when asked about my impact. There are probably a few others who have flat out not liked me or learned anything. Teaching is personal. It's about connecting the curriculum in a meaningful way. When we talk about differentiating instruction to meet the individual learning styles of our students, we need to keep in mind that teachers have different styles of learning too and those differences translate into individual teaching styles. The reformers have no idea about any of this so they cannot begin to understand how their changes are affecting those of us in the trenches. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17195322597252502329noreply@blogger.com