|
OurBlook interview with Prof. Jim Alouf, Sweet Briar College
 Many people in the United States are highly concerned about improving the quality of education. They believe schools are underfunded and students are underperforming, and some have shown their dismay by joining the voucher and charter school movements. What do you think is the state of education in America ... its strengths and weaknesses?
JA: American education is in a state of flux as we experiment once again with different approaches. It is interesting that you preface this question about the strengths and weaknesses of public education with the issue of charter schools. Public education in the United States has consistently performed quite well, as the late Gerald Bracey often demonstrated through his research. We are a mass education system. We provide a free public education to everyone, unlike most countries where testing is used to discern how far one might progress. This is a major strength of our system. Another strength is our commitment to preserving equal opportunity through this same system of public education.
The weaknesses are many but the top of the list is unfunded mandates that plague every attempt to improve schools. Coupled with the lack of an equitable tax base, these mandates saddle school boards and schools with reaching goals that can't be reached without the necessary financial resources. We establish high standards for everyone but we offer no vehicle for helping our children attain these goals. One solution, of course, is to create charter schools where many of the mandates can be avoided while creating a smaller, more select population for that school. This solution only increases opportunities for resegregation and further undermines the financial support for public education. The issue of equitable funding for education is an ongoing problem and a real solution needs to be found.
What are the goals of the educational system, and are they what you think they should be?
JA: The goals of American public education should include the right of every citizen to a free public education so that every person has the opportunity to succeed in life in whatever fashion he or she may choose. Education is the backbone of a democracy and an intelligent citizenry makes informed decisions. In many ways, American public education has achieved these goals but the last 30 years have produced a tide of "reforms" meant to unravel public education by privatizing schools. The major source for this idea is the shift in the purpose for education to the idea that one gets an education in order to get a job. In short, the purpose of school is to serve an economic interest, not the more important goal of creating an educated, informed electorate.
How has the major school reform movement ... No Child Left Behind ... impacted either positively or negatively the educational system? Should it be continued or scrapped? Are there any improvements that could be made?
JA: No Child Left Behind is a perfect example of an unfunded mandate. It has had some desirable effects, especially when the law focused our attention to the growing achievement gap. The law, however, was grossly underfunded and created so many problems with the use of standardized testing as the exclusive measure of student achievement. Teaching to the test is now a widespread practice and dropout rates have continued to increase as more students fail to reach academic standards.
In short, NCLB has created more harm than good and should be scrapped. Race To The Top is certainly NOT a remedy with its emphasis on charter schools and competition as a way to improve student achievement. This approach is essentially corporate in nature and argues that student test scores will improve if competition among schools is encouraged. In fact, it only encourages deceitful practice.
To remedy this situation, we need to maintain high standards for all but offer multiple measures for student success. We need to fund the programs that we have mandated, giving all children the chance to succeed.
Are you preparing your students majoring in education any differently now than in years past?
JA: Teacher education programs have changed radically in the 27 years. We offer field experiences in every course that we teach so that prospective teachers are always in schools working with children. Some programs, like professional development schools, take place entirely in a public school setting. We also teach our students to differentiate instruction so that all students have a chance to succeed in their classrooms. We provide five-year programs so that aspiring teachers can hone the pedagogical skills that they need to succeed. We develop the technological skills of teacher candidates to help them meet the challenges of a changing world. We emphasize the importance of a strong background in the disciplines that schools teach and we assess our students' academic performance by holding high academic standards for their success.
How might social media and ever-changing technology improve classrooms and the learning environment for teachers and students? How might they be impeding the educational process?
JA: Social media and technology are the tools of the future for education. When I say that education is in a state of flux, it is due in part to the impact of social media that has changed the way younger generations communicate and how connected they remain with one another. Educators at all levels have recognized the importance of using these tools to teach and professional journals are full of ideas on ways to reach students with social media. Unfortunately, hard economic times mean that funding cuts to education may be quite drastic in some parts of the country. So, as students become more attuned to technology and social media, their teachers will have fewer opportunities to learn how to integrate these tools into their instruction. It is this inability of schools and school funding to keep up with technological change that will impede the process of education.
What do you see as the future of education in the U.S. ... will it get better or worse?
JA: In order for education to get better, government policy must move away from enforcement of unfunded mandates and privatization toward adequate funding for public schools. The concept of community schools is really a good way to reduce the size of school populations so that student needs can be met. The idea that competition is the cure for everything, that greed is good, is destroying much of our democratic ideal and replacing it with a cynicism and distrust of government that I would never have thought possible. Schools should not be part of the corporate structure that encourages competition as the solution to all social problems.
Education is a process and that process includes the right of every citizen to think critically. In short, schools and education should serve the concept of the common good, not corporate interests.
At the moment, I see signs of hope. I remain optimistic but the next decade will be crucial.
Is there anything else you'd like to say about any aspect of this topic?
JA: The accountability and standards movement in public education has brought some positive change to American education. Educators at all levels don't fear standards or accountability but measures of achievement must offer multiple pathways to success so that our students can show what they know. The ironic effect of the accountability movement is that our students are not getting any smarter. In fact, we have created a whole generation who may actually know far less than their parents.
(Dr. Alouf is director of graduate education at Sweet Briar. He has been with the college 27 years. He also is president-elect of the Association of Teacher Educators and will assume the role of president in February 2011.)
Trackback(0)
 |
TrackBack URI for this entry
