This chapter raised a variety of issues in my mind as I read it. The first relates to research studies and statistical manipulation. The author refers to both the "Texas Miracle" and the study by the Center on Education Policy, and the statistical manipulation that took place to produce desirable results. It really makes me question ANY study and research results that are published. It is very difficult to trust the results, regardless of what they are, without doing extensive research into how the study was done and how it was reported. Even with this thorough "background check", I don't know that I would notice the inadequacies myself.
I found the comments about Zhao's "Are We Fixing the Wrong Things?", very interesting. He states that the United States is the most scientifically and technologically advanced nation, and that we are the leaders in all of the major innovations and patents. I wondered how this could be with our suffering educational system, until he mentioned our "secret weapon- the creative, risk-taking, can-do spirit of it's people." How frustrating it is, that we are destroying our secret weapon. I've seen this already in the elementary schools with my daughter. She is a voracious reader, who usually has 2 or 3 books of various genres going at a time. As an assignment, they write "reading letters" (book reports) to their teacher every other week about the book they have just read. She was frustrated by this requirement because she felt it limited her book choices. She felt that she had to choose short, easy reads that she could complete in the 2 week time period for the letters, rather than delve into longer, more challenging books that should couldn't finish in time for the next letter. In order to solve her dilemma, she decided to read her own recreational books (the more challenging for her) at home, on her own time, while also reading a shorter book in order to meet the class requirements. How frustrating that a classroom assignment actually stifled her desire to read lengthier, more challenging books.
The author's discussion of the Pianta et al. study mentions that our nation's education is "overly thin and broad." As a teacher, I can completely relate to this tendancy. I struggle with the need to cover all of the material and the desire to do more creative, integrative instruction, and not enough time to do both. I sometimes find myself just skimming over the material just to say that I covered it, rather than digging in deeper with my students in a way that would encourage problem solving and critical thinking. When I do attempt to do these types of assignments, I get very frustrated by the attitudes of my students, their lack of investment in the assignments, and the poor quality of work that results. The frustrations often discourages me from attempting these types of assignments at all.
In the list of features of Finnish education and culture I noticed that the first two place responsibility on the parents. Parents are given child-development material at birth. Immediately, responsibility is placed on the parents to teach and develop their children. The second one mentions that school doesn't start until age 7, thus leaving the parents responsible until that age to teach their own children the many basic skills necessary to succeed in school. They must learn how to read and write at home and begin to learn basic math skills. Parents can't just rely on 4 or 5 yr. old kindergarten to do that like parents in the United States. In the United States, too much pressure is placed on the teachers and too little is placed on the parents to produce problem solving, creative and productive citizens. More emphasis needs to be placed on the parent's role in developing the child. The parent needs to support and enhance the efforts of the teachers, not blame the school or the teacher for their child's failure.
As Regie Routman noted, "We have lost our courage." I tend to struggle with my courage to try more intensive literacy assignments and instruction with my students. I need to find the courage to keep trying, despite frustrations and setbacks, and hope that I can somehow prevent the loss of a generation of young readers.
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