I recently read Blankinships's associated press article.
The main reason I feel passionately about the article is that I have a story. I know what it was like to think that I could teach but I learned how to in these past 8 years, like a contractor learning to fix houses. Effective teaching increases, not by getting a masters, but with collaboration. A major issue is that parents don't take a test depicting who can have a child. Imagine if "A" parents were the only ones allowed to have children. We, the people of the US, all have to care for the children regardless of the parents effort. The tax system makes all of us pay, hence care. The parents (by the way I have great ones in the town I work in) are the purple elephant in the room and Bill Gates knows this but Blankinship took an angle (math term) and ran with it. Not your fault, money gets people passionate so well done. Real issue behind education, "Finding Superman" and "200 minutes" which do a decent job of explaining the plight, is best described in epilogue of this blog
Masters are all about collaboration with teachers. Masters degrees force teachers to talk and reflect on what works like doctors do. Sorry Blankinship but you missed something. You missed the point of education. Bring ideas, effort, visions, but most importantly people on this planet together for some project that is bigger than anyone. My story begins and end with people forcing me to think big. I thank my first Principal and vice principal, Mike D'Angelo and Tom Darby, for giving me a chance. See there is a story behind everyone you didn't see coming. I thank Laura Hoey, Ray Dewar, Mike Ward, and Mary Taylor my first bosses in Norton. I thank Stephen McNeil my boss from my Bentley College days. All of them collaborated with me on projects. The project was me. I use analogies from those experiences to know that time may be hard but we will make it work in education. I recognize the impact of these people, and if I ever write a book they will all get a paragraph.
Masters = not a major concern
Here is a poem that demonstrates the problem
How do I study material I don't want to own?
Everyday it’s harder to care without a safe and steady _________
Don't punish the yesterday while being advert
Reward people that have character, time, and effort
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Donna Gordon Blankinship imagine if the auto industry instead of going to the federal government and asking for a major bailout to save it's workers and factories went into their R & D department and made the Ford Focus with less parts and trimmed cost. What if they sucked everything they could out of their one car that wasn't the reason the company was in trouble in the first place. Then imagine they said they made a cheaper car, the company is saved and problem fixed. That is what cutting the incentive for maters degrees will be like. Problem will not be solved. The real issue is saving the big institution and without facing the major issue of our country we will still be in major trouble. People need to own their children's education.
Post a Comment