Literacy and Numeracy

The International Association for the Advancement of Educational Achievement released the 2006 assessment of current world educational standards (http://www.iea.nl/pirls20060.html). The top performers are Russia, Hong Kong and Singapore; importantly, these nations link literacy with numeracy. For example, math problems are comprehensive:

Basil, who is older than Peter by one year minus one day, was born on January 1, 2002. What is the date of Peter's birthday?
a) January 2, 2003 b) January 2, 2001 c) December 31, 2000 d) December 31, 2002 e) December 31, 2003
(sample taken from Math Kangaroo, International Contest, Canada 2007)

Children need to read for math and understand the logic of the question. The answer to the above question, for example, is (d); Basil is older by 1 year: January 1, 2003; less a day: December 31, 2002. Peter's birthday is December 31, 2002.

While reading is improving in North America, for the sake of this particular blog, Canada and the United States are linked, there is concern about comprehension. The need to understand the logic of thought and mechanics of grammar are of concern to many. The New York Times recently had an article about such worries: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/education/25reading.html?hpw The article elaborates about the concern and briefly mentions the fact math marks have noticeably improved. However, knowing Russian and Singapore grades are dependent on literacy, the validity of those math marks could be open to question. Or, the current curriculum may not be up to international standards. Considering neither Canada or the United States made the top 10 of the International Educational Assessment, one might wonder.

Exams and Tutoring verses Wisdom

The New York Times has an article about the priorities of the Indian middle class during exam season:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/24/world/asia/24test.html?pagewanted=1&hpw

There is a lot of pressure on Indian teens to do well, get into a good college and establish themselves in a successful career. In India, the educational system is underfunded and there are not enough places in university for every child with the marks. Similar to the College board and the American SATS, marks are based on end of year exams and, really, class work is irrelevant. Students with the top exam marks attend the best colleges. The article discusses the importance of tutoring and parents interviewed discuss the anxiety their children feel; there is a mention of one teen suicide occurring due to the pressure. There is a bit of an odd note at the end of the article in which a student admits he no longer goes to school; he attends private tutoring sessions only.

Ireland's press has an article about private, computer tutoring:

http://www.independent.ie/education/features/how-students-are-clicking-with-their-cyberteachers-2108767.html

Students may communicate with teachers on-line or participate in an on-line, no participation class for tutoring in specific subjects. The article discusses how this is one method by which teachers may supplement their income and students their study habits. Both tutoring programs in India and Ireland charge a fee for their services; basically, if a standard education is not enough to attain college entrance, middle class people may purchase educational services to supplement their child's education. As someone who does not believe in the privatization of education, I wonder what this means for education in general.

Long time ago, Socrates advocated against the written word because he felt wisdom could only be attained through participation; it had to be drawn out of a discussion between participants. Basically, people (o.k. men) had to know enough in their minds to debate an issue; reading and writing were not enough. Knowledge, in a sense, had to be inherent. All this study in Ireland and India makes me wonder if the students actually "know" the subject; facts are very easy to recite but understanding is hard to prove without participation. Further, and more confusingly, what does the financial cost of tutoring enable: the marks for getting into a university or the knowledge about a particular subject?

Bullying, Again and Again and Again

Here are 3 articles connected to bullying drawn from a Canadian paper, a British paper and an American paper:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/family-and-relationships/what-to-do-when-your-kid-is-the-bully/article1500302/ (what to do when your child is the bully)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/mar/14/university-heads-vice-chancellor-salaries (how the public is reacting to the extreme pay of university heads)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/14/business/14schools.html?pagewanted=1&adxnnl=1&hpw&adxnnlx=1268650816-Lw%20Q/Idh6WaDrjELC2J2CQ (how for profit schools are taking tax money and not producing results)

Perhaps, the writer of this blog is being naive but usually a person knows why they are a bully; it is a sign of anger evolved from frustration. Children are not born bullies; there is no bully gene. They are made into bullies and that is a reality few want to admit. In the Globe and Mail article, there are steps to nip bullying behaviour in the bud. There is no discussion as to why a 5 year old would be aware of power plays in the school yard; I am a nobody and I would argue a 5 year old who watches unsupervised television is picking up behavioural tips from TMZ ( or 90210 or the King of Queen's etc). The child is merely bringing acceptable behaviour into the school yard.

The second article is about the heads of universities in England making over 300 000 pounds a year; this, despite the fact society is currently economically under performing and most graduates of any university in the world are no longer as highly esteemed as they once were. Thus, in free market jargon, productivity is in no way related to compensation. The powerful are able to extract monies from the less powerful and, in a school yard, they would be seen as bullies. In this society, such management blokes are admired and so is their behaviour.

The third article articulates how for-profit private training colleges are using American tax dollars to train students for careers that either do not exist or are not financially beneficial. They are using people's dreams and their willingness to pay for new education against them; that, too, is bullying behaviour. It is reminiscent of the school yard bully paying kids with candy to be her friend and then turning on them when the moment is convenient.

It strikes this writer that it is simple to get rid of bullies just no one wants to do the hard work; it is not easy. It is hard to spend time with one's children, all the time; however, as a parent, it is the job. One cannot change how Universities and big companies are managed; however, what little purchase power one has should be used ethically. And, what time one has for intellectual pursuits should allow for the development of critical thinking. It shouldn't take a genius level IQ to note that there are a lot of cooking schools around; therefore, there are going to be a lot of cooks and no need to pay them well. The easiest way to stop a bully is to walk away, to no longer participate in his game and to be on one's own. Of course, the path will be lonely, but it will not be painful.

Another Article About Bullying

There are scientists in Canada who study the effects of bullying on the brain:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/science/beyond-the-blow-to-self-esteem-bullying-can-hurt-the-brain-too/article1497054/

Long term affects include, but are not limited to, physical changes in the brain and long term emotional scaring. Some children have been studied for 5 years; their ages developed from about 12 to 17.

If this article doesn't demonstrate what is wrong with a lot of systems in general, it is hard to see what will; researchers and parents knew these children were in bad situations and rather than remove them from the terror studied the affects on the kids' brains. It is absolutely horrific to know the youth of these people was sacrificed in the great name of science. Perhaps the information is helpful to some people, it is not like it is common sense: a child tormented is going to suffer some sort of consequence. But to know the torment continued in the quest for research is sickening.

Further, to realize an editor published this article without a moral context equally demonstrates a moral ambivalence that would allow such research to continue. Perhaps it is impossible to remove every child from every horrible situation, but to not to try and do so illustrates a condoning of said situation. I have mentioned Barbara Colorosa's book, "The Bully, the Victim and the Bystander" before but I cannot emphasize the importance of the message: if you watch it, you condone it. These scientists watched it, condoned it and used it for research despite the horror some of these children faced. Worse, they did this research in the aim of prevention of further bullying; do they not realize they are worse than the bullies?

No Child Left Behind...in Scotland???

Here's the link:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/stricter-inspection-regime-leads-to-more-sacked-heads-1917442.html

The article in the Scottish Independent discusses how the heads, or principals, of Scottish schools are being dismissed for their schools' poor educational status. Similar to the American "No Child Left Behind" and the dismissing of entire school staffs in Rhode Island, the theory works on the premise parents can decide who may or may not lead a school. And, further, it implicates staff on the school's academic results, be they fair or terrible. While the writer of this blog is no fan of institutional schooling as it currently exists, I must defend teachers who attempt to do their job.

In all the arguments one hears about education and, unfortunately, everyone has an opinion, including me, no one quite takes the position that children watch too much television, are left to their own devices for too long, or are involved with too many activities. Ultimately, a child does poorly in school because the parent has failed in some degree. Of course, there are exceptions but when there are more students with needs and behavioural problems than there are regular students, it is not the school's fault. It is the school's fault if a child cannot read and is allowed to pass into a higher grade; it is the parents' fault if they request the passage despite their child's skill level. People have discussed how a child's self-esteem is affected by school failure; I would argue a child's ego is much more affected by the frustration of not having the skills requisite a specific grade.

There's also a paradox examined in the writings of Ivan Ilych; once an institution becomes too big, it begins to function for itself rather than for its original mandate. Thus, larger schools demand more types of education, specialized education; in a sense, students become more than just students but types of students: gifted, behavioural, learning disabled and so forth. Their labels justify the need for more schooling and a further increase in the size of the institution. The reality that a child cannot read becomes irrelevant because a child will be promoted to the next grade regardless of skill level; an educational assistant will be assigned to assist with learning disabilities or behavioural issues that really only arise because the child cannot read. In a sense, the more access to educational facilities, the less actual education occurs.

Dismissing the staffs of schools will not affect the outcomes; maybe, for awhile, schools will improve but the reality illustrates more schooling is not the solution. The argument could be made that the supervisors, the educational consultants and the assessors are examples of increased institutionalized education; they function, most of them think they have important jobs to do, to keep the institution in existence. After all, without their participation, school administrations could not exist and schools could not function. And, teachers could not do their jobs.

Mathematical Attitude

The girls do a Math club at the University; it is free, it is comprehensive and it prepares students for various math examinations or contests. My neighbour got the children involved. Before they were withdrawn from school, my two oldest children were quite active chess players and my neighbour, a math expert, thought they would benefit from the club. The experience has been interesting academically and of some benefit socially. I think the girls are relieved to know their parents aren't the only driven, ambitious people around; though, they do suspect not many Caucasian Canadians are as driven. In a sea of Chinese Canadians, East Indian Canadians, Eastern European Canadians, the girls were the only, for the sake of argument, British Canadians.

Most of the people we encounter at Math club tend to be immigrants. They seem to be the only people as attentive to their children's academics as we were when the girls were in school. Although, they are not as familiar or as confident in home schooling as we have to be; I mean we chose this option so we have to believe it will work. Most of the people I encountered today were involved with their first math contest; their children were being compelled to participate, basically, because parents don't make the sacrifice of changing a family home, losing connections and networks and coming to this new country in order to have their children fail. And, these children know their math and they know more than what is taught in school; their parents are engineers, statisticians, linguists and so forth who are absent Canadian experience but not a good education. Further, a lot of the Chinese Canadian children also attend Math school; the parents pay for additional tutoring in Math.

Talking to another parent, we all had to wait in a foyer, I discovered some people choose Math because there are all kinds of Math competitions with minimal cost; hockey is financially beyond them. They can't afford to be "true" Canadians until the second generation is established here. Although, it is sad to say, some perceive real Canadians as those who play hockey and fail at Math; one man was very happy to see me because he never sees Caucasians at these things and wondered why. I have no idea why more Caucasian Canadians don't participate. I don't care; a Chinese lady is going to email me the name of the Chinese Math school.

How to Write Well....

The girls have to copy the writings of essayists and historians I think are important; the girls' opinions are relevant, sometimes, but I want them to learn how to write well. They have to write well to be able to justify their thoughts and express their criticisms and understand how ideas must be supported to qualify as opinions. Thus, while their views are being developed I want the girls to understand how other people's opinions developed and were supported. It is hardly the most innovative way of writing; in fact, it was a method most popular during the Middle Ages but I have yet to find another of equal value.

The idea was clarified in a recent spat of articles about how to write well. Elmore Leonard, the latest writer to offer an opinion, published a book with what he considered points relevant to writers seeking to improve their craft. The Guardian, an English paper, sought varied opinions from other writers, including Margaret Atwood, the only Canadian on the list. Russell Smith, in the Canadian Globe and Mail, indicated the problem with most writers is their unwillingness to read; he noted there is a plethora of how to write books and an actual decrease in the number of people reading. Smith makes valid points only to be undermined by his own list of how-to-write-well tips.

I try to write well and I want the girls to write well; we do read a lot. I think a greater value can be found in the quality of a person's library than in the publication of their writing habits. We own all the standard classics, all of Shakespeare, most of the Greeks, some of the Russians, the Bible, the Koran and Darwin. My children have read the Victorian poets, the Romantics, and some Restoration plays--which they didn't like. Our library is dominated by the English because that is the language we speak; but, the children have read "1001 Arabian Nights" which I think is extremely important and they have encountered other works in translation which they didn't like as much. Rumi was a discovery for them. They have encountered essays by Thoreau and some other Americans; but their favourites, by far, are the short stories of any culture. Stephen Leacock is still the most popular Canadian writer.

Essayists are still being discovered; though, I find, while the girls like some modern writers, their staying power is in question. David Sedaris is a popular writer but, except for the funny gay relevations, he is not an important writer; Stuart McLean has more talent but, equally, will not stand the test of time. Ronald Wright is a great writer but I wonder if it is more his message than his skill; Barry Lopez is in a similar vein. I don't know what qualifies as an exceptional talent any more and I don't know how to write well; I do agree with Russell Smith that writers who teach how to write well are more likely to have been published and forgotten than to have had staying power. My girls are learning to write well by imitating writers who, unambiguously, are known to have written well; they are part of that fluid list called the Canon. I would argue that if you haven't read, at least, some of the books on that list, you cannot write well. There wouldn't be enough depth to your reading to enable such an ability.

University Grades

Sorry, this was too good to miss:

From the Irish Independent, on line:

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/john-walshe-rising-degree-of-alarm-at-thirdlevel-grade-inflation-2085138.html

The first half of the article is confusing because, unless one is really familiar with the grading system of Irish universities, there seems to be a difference between students who achieve A marks and the 50% of those who achieve greater than A. In North America, the grades stop at A/ A+, not so in Ireland. However, the main thought in the article indicates that students are graduating with marks that are not indicative of their intellectual calibre. The latter half of the piece then has a number of University Leaders, former heads, defending the grades and students' abilities despite examples to the contrary. There is an interesting remark made by Google IT professionals about why they toss some resumes into the garbage.

If this was purely an Irish innovation, this notion of grade inflation, then it could be considered an anomaly in the educational experience. Except...found in the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/us/02obama.html?hpw

President Barack Obama is continuing the Bush program of punishing schools that fail standardized tests; thus, grades of successful students will not be linked to intellectual development but to test scores. Arguably, the first step on the rung to increased grade inflation. Ireland, and England for that matter, have long been dependent on standardized tests: A levels and O levels. One could make the argument, that within the next few years, more American students will graduate from University with high grades and low skills just like the Irish. And, obviously, with the same prospects...