Waiting for Superman: objective criticism or teacher bashing?

So, there has been a ton of talk lately about Davis Guggenheim's new film "Waiting for Superman." If you want to hear some of it, check out the recent article from the Seattle Times @ http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/jerrylarge/2013066923_jdl04.html. This is just one of that many articles, editorials and discussions that have sprung up everywhere on the web (and off the web) since the film debuted.






While nobody would argue that America's school system is perfect, people seem to fall into two main camps after watching the highly critical movie: those who think it is necessary and realistic criticism of the education system, and those who see private-interest-pushing
teacher-bashing.

In an effort to see both sides of the issues this reporter went to the hallways to find out what people in Antioch's education department were saying about the film.

But first, I wanted to hear what the director himself had to say-

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Davis Guggenheim
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As for the fine folks at Antioch University, here are some anonymous quotes from the education department which hopefully won't start any intra-office hostilities. Or affect my grades.



"I wasn't as upset by the film as some may have been. Personally... I am more interested in the bottom line of student achievement than preserving unions."



"It's people outside education telling us how to teach. That's nothing new. There are ups and downs to every situation but it's clear that [as compared to other countries] we can't restructure things as fluidly as would be ideal. The unions are one part of that. So in that sense I see his point but there are two sides to every story."



"There's no question the movie has an agenda so it's important to remember that this is only one side of the story. The examples of some teachers having a year of paid vacation while they are under review before being fired might be true but they are the exception, not the rule. Part of the agenda of the film is to bash teachers unions, it's clear. But the biggest problems in education come when teachers and those who know the most about education are excluded from the decision making process. That happens far too often. What you have to remember is that the key to good education is not a matter of unions or no unions, charter schools or no charter schools. It's a matter of having serious, knowledgeable people in charge of schools which are formed around the community. When you have that, and when you have teachers included in decision making and oversight, that's when you have the most effective schools."


At the end of the day I think Jerry Large really hit the nail on the head in his Times article when he said that Guggenheim "definitely succeeded at getting people talking, but the ultimate value of his film will depend on whether it can push people to act on the problems it showcases."

What do you think?

Diving into Quarter Three

Geography?

So at the outset of quarter three I have been amazed to learn that many Masters in Teaching programs require no (or very little) social studies courses unless you are getting an endorsement in the humanities. Luckily, Antioch is NOT one of these. Our teacher was a former student at Antioch who has returned years later to ensure that students at AUS get a solid grounding in social studies because it can so easily be left out of the curriculum all together.

For our first class we we did the ubiquitous 'get to know you' activity and then delved into some heavy questions: what is social studies, and why does it matter? One of our text books is even titled "Why Geography Matters" and from the first 20 pages the author makes a convincing case that it does indeed matter.

This class in particular is looking very attractive for another reason: every student will be writing one lesson plan every week. If this sounds like a lot of work, well, it sort of is. But here's the two major plus sides: 1) it will get us used to writing lesson plans relatively quickly (which will no-doubt be an asset come next year) and 2) at the end of the quarter we will all have nearly 90 lesson plans ready to go! So far I like where this class is going...

Tonight we will get our first glimpse of the math and science methods classes so stay tuned next week for updates on those.

Until then,
Keep it real.

Mike