Classes so Far

So, at this point you might be asking yourself "Self, what are classes at Antioch like?" Well if you are, than this is the blog post for you! Now that classes have been going strong for a couple weeks allow me to share a bit about what they have been like thus far.

AUS's GTP (that's "Antioch University Seattle" and "Graduate Teacher Preparation" for those of you who may not be acronym inclined) classes are scheduled for students who are working while going to school. To that end, typical classes are on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 4-9:30pm. There are occasional exceptions. For example, I have a class meeting three times throughout this quarter on Wednesday nights, it's an integration seminar so does not meet as regularly as other courses.

The first term classes are fairly standard, I am taking an Educational Foundations course, Human Development and Learning, Technology in the Classroom, and Curriculum and Instruction (in addition to the seminar). They are all great and I have found that I really enjoy having a mix of core faculty and adjunct faculty members. This term my classes are 3 and 2: three are taught by adjunct professors and two are with core faculty. What I realized is that there is a great advantage to having some of your basic courses (like curriculum and instruction, for example) taught by someone who not only has a Doctorate in Education but is also currently teaching in a Seattle school. There's a great balance of perspective in the program thus far, balance between the theoretical side of things and the hands-on view of people who are actually teaching in public schools today. I like that.

The only serious difficulty of the program to this point has been keeping up with the reading. There is a lot of it. This is a graduate level program and they don't let you forget it but they do help you get through it. We had a nice little pep-talk from one professor last week about the work-load and this professor (who shall remain nameless) really summed up their philosophy in two pieces: A) Deal with it, get the reading done. And, B) If you can't, the sun will still rise tomorrow. After all, that's why we have coffee right?

'Till next time,
Mike

Curriculum Controversy, are we 'Suing Math Because it's Hard'?

In case you haven't heard, earlier this year there was a lawsuit filed against the Seattle Public Schools over their decision to implement a new math curriculum. This new curriculum, Discovery Math, was a departure from traditional direct-instruction techniques and instead focused on group work, discussions and case studies as part of an overall inquiry-based approach. This type of curriculum has been implemented with great success in some areas (see Measuring reform practices in science and mathematics classrooms, Sawada et.al.) but the results apparently weren't up to snuff here.

I won't go into detail (you can Google 'Seattle math lawsuit' and find all the details) but the long and short of it is that it flopped worse than Art Garfunkel's solo career. This upset some folks, understandably, and they decided to file a lawsuit against the school district. And they won.

There are some very legitimate reasons why people were upset, for example the Washington State Board of Education reviewed the curriculum and found it to be 'unsound', however the final decision was left to the district. On the other hand, according to Antioch University education faculty member Darlene York, inquiry-based curriculum have been implemented with fantastic success in other large cities in America. In one example the new curriculum raised test scores amongst minority students by over 10% in one year. So, what went wrong in Seattle? Lack of training and support for teachers implementing a new style? Lack of patience with a new learning process (maybe things would have improved over time)? Or are we simply, as one online commenter put it, "suing math because it's hard?"

This entire hullabaloo brings to my mind some questions, and I'm curious what folks think. I have heard some suggest that it's less-than-rational to have the courts making decisions about curriculum but one of the plaintiffs' key arguments was that the new curriculum put minority students at a specific disadvantage. Was the legal intervention truly necessary to avoid something that would have had negative effects on minority students, or is this a case of people simply suing something that they didn't like? Is it wise to be taking the decision making power out of the hands of professional educators? And the question of precedent has also been raised; is this decision going to pave the way for future parents to simply file lawsuits any time they feel their children aren't getting the education they deserve?

Clearly there are larger questions of equity and teaching practice at play here that we can't begin to answer in a blog posting, but at the end of the day these are the situations that face teachers in today's world; those of us considering careers in education would be wise to join the discussion.

How I Got Here, (or "expanding the universe of suckable objects"

Do you ever have those moments where you stop and wonder how did I get here? Generally, it seems, one reads of these moments in fairly extreme circumstances; such as the hiker who goes out for a two-hour romp and ends up lost and shivering in a tree well 12 hours later. Or the classic rock fan who belatedly realizes that they bought tickets to see Bob Saget. My own most recent moment of curiosity came this morning while I was riding the bus. As I was reading one of my textbooks I came across the sentence: "This transformation of her sucking schema makes it more effective, expanding the universe of suckable objects" (from The Development of Children. by Lightfoot, et.all.). I couldn't help but wonder, how is it that I -a twenty something guy from small town Oregon who planned to live a vagabonding life until at least age thirty five- came to be riding a bus into downtown Seattle for graduate school in teaching and reading about the universe of suckable objects? Well, let me tell you.

After six years as an undergraduate student I realized that my financial aid was approaching it's limit, so I finished school and did the first thing most people do when they finally attain their Bachelor's degree in a Liberal Arts field: got a job in a coffee shop. About a year later, I decided it was time to do the second thing most people who hold undergrad degrees in the Liberal Arts do: go to graduate school. In all seriousness though, I took what might be termed a 'wandering' path through six years and four colleges worth of undergraduate classes. I eventually majored in Outdoor and Experiential Education which was exciting, challenging and spoke to my passion for working with young people and being active. However, after a few years of working seasonal/temporary jobs in the recreation industry (both during and after school) I realized that I was quickly tiring of the seasonal lifestyle. I began to look for the next step.

I had been interested in education for years but essentially just didn't have the gumption to get my ducks in a row earlier in life so it was only natural that I began to think about becoming a 'traditional' teacher at this point. I moved to Seattle in the fall and began simultaneously job searching and looking for education programs. Downtown one afternoon I parked in front of a university named Antioch and went across the street for a job interview. After the interview I stepped into the Antioch to see if they offered a Masters in Education degree; two months later I found myself riding the bus back downtown for my first week of classes. I was doing some intro reading for my Developmental Psychology class which included an expostulation on Jean Piaget's theory of Constructivism using the example of an infant exploring what objects are or are not suitable for oral fixation, which brings us back to the beginning and the "universe of suckable objects."

My goal is to report and reflect in this blog on my experience as an Antioch student in the Graduate Teacher Preparation program. I plan to post at least once a week to begin with, so keep your eyes out for new information. My hopes for all who follow this blog are to provide you with first-hand information about the program, happenings in the world of education and the joys and challenges facing today's students in the field of education. As you read please feel free to comment on anything and everything, I would love to hear about your experiences as well as thoughts or questions you might have.

Best,
Mike