An Imagined Chat about Learning, Testing and School Reform
Julie:
So, we're sitting down today to talk with Principal Nickleby (errr, NCLB) and the reknowned education writer/thinking/reformer Deborah -----, about the general education curriculum, and whether or not it's really serving the interests of our learners. What do kids need to know? What's practical knowledge? What will make them able to keep learning and working and playing well together within the larger world as they become adults?
Principal Nickleby:
Ms. Conason, you're forever going on about curriculum reform. Why do you blather on about this when we just need to get on with the program and test the hell out of these kids?
Deborah:
Principal Nickleby, I'm so glad to meet you. It's interesting that your name is the same as the nickname for the NCLB or "no child left behind" legislation.
Principal Nickleby:
Yes, interesting coincidence, isn't it.
Julie (muttering under her breath):
there are no coincidences...
Deborah (diplomatically) Well, it's a joy to be able to converse with forward-thinking, cutting-edge educators like yourself, and of course Ms. Conason, who uses such a wide range of innovative modalities and teaching/learning strategies in her classroom.
Principal Nickleby:
Yes, yes, she's got all the bells and whistles and fancy-dancy-schmancy stuff going on. But are the kids learning? And much more important than whether or not they're learning, WILL THE TEST SCORES GO UP?
Julie (timidly):
I'm not sure that learning and test scores are the same thing...
Principal Nickleby:
Of course they're the same thing! One is the indicator of the other!
Deborah:
Well, Principal Nickleby -- let me ask you a question -- or rather, let me ask you to tell us a story. Think about a time when you learned something -- something valuable, meaningful, that has stood you in good stead your whole life long.
Principal Nickleby:
You mean like the periodic table of the elements?
Deborah:
Ummm, maybe. Do you know them all? Do you use the periodic table of the elements? Can you tell us all the elements, what they're part of, where we find them, things like that?
Principal Nickleby:
Of course not! I don't remember all that scientific crap! But I learned them.
Deborah:
Okay. Let me put this another way. Think about something you know how to do really, really well -- something that's a passion of yours, maybe. When did you first learn how to do it, and from whom?
Principal Nickleby:
Oh, I getcha. Well, fly-fishing. See, my dad taught me, and it was almost like that movie, A River Runs Through It -- the fly-fishing parts I mean. Not the bad parts with the family members trying to kill each other and all.
Deborah:
Fly-fishing. Wonderful. What about you, Julie?
Julie:
Oh, whenever I think of that question, I think about cooking with my mother, and how beautiful and natural it felt to learn by watching, by doing, from someone I loved.
Principal Nickleby:
"Whenever you think of that question"? You mean you've done this before? Not fair, NOT FAIR! She had an advantage! She knew what the question was going to be before it was asked!
Deborah (soothingly):
You did very well, Principal Principal. Don't worry, this wasn't a test. That's why I like to play along , too. Here, let me tell you mine. I think about swimming, and how I learned to swim from my Uncle Albert, right in the Atlantic Ocean. The ocean was so big and scary, but I felt so protected and safe in my uncle's arms. It was easy to learn when I felt safe, and loved.
Principal Nickleby:
This is all very heartwarming, but what does it have to do with education?
Julie:
Ummm, well, that maybe the things we remember -- in other words, what we actually learn -- are the things we learn because we have a desire to know them, because they're being taught to us by people we love...
Principal Nickleby (sarcastically):
I'm deeply touched and all, but this, after all, is SCHOOL. I thought you wanted to talk about your little pet topic, *curriculum reform*.
