Educators, like everyone else these days, have a plethora of professional advice at their fingertips: journals, newsletters, periodicals and websites. If that is not enough, there are some 35,000 bloggers ~~ so it is reported ~~ writing about teaching and learning. Yikes!
So once in awhile it is refreshing just to pick up a novel and see the whole thing from a different perspective. Easier said than done, actually, as there just isn’t that much fiction out there on the topic (although any experienced teacher will tell you that there is enough material on any given day to write the classroom equivalent of "War and Peace").
Thus, it was with some sense of satisfaction that I’ve managed recently to find and finish three novels with a backdrop on education (helped by Amazon.com's feature Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought...which lists similiar titles to the one you are reading).
Here's a few comments for what it is worth:
One of the grand old men of American letters, Louis Auchincloss has just written another story set in a New England prep school (long after his 1964 classic “The Rector of Justin”) entitled “The Headmaster’s Dilemma”. Back in 1964, precisely as a matter of fact, I would have been reading in ninth grade English the other prep school classic of the time, John Knowles’ “A Separate Peace”.
“The Headmaster’s Dilemma” – is an easy, short read but leaves something unfilled – perhaps unrealistic, too – as the Headmaster survives a nasty political battle and the Board chair gets his unlikely comeupance. How often does this happen in real life?
Somewhat less enjoyable was “Prep” by Curtis Sittenfeld ~ a coming of age story set (where else?) in New England. The protagonist is an angst-ridden, insecure girl from Indiana trying to make it with the monied East Coast preppy crowd. Excellent insights into the life of a teenage girl but less satisfactory if you are looking for a riveting account of the private school scene. This story is long on self-reflection and short on plot - but certainly the author's prerogative, of course.
Joanne Harris offers us a rare educational who-dun-it ... is there such a genre? Set at the fictitious St. Oswald's Grammar School in England, “Gentlemen and Players” is a story narrated through the eyes of several key people including the venerable Roy Straitley who has been on the staff for over thirty years. This English "master" has seen it all ~~ less discipline with the boys, rejection of the classics, distain for technology etc. I enjoyed this character ~~ indeed, a good sketch of the "old guard" you find on every faculty ~~ as much as I liked the surprise outcome of the story.
Any other titles floating around in the blogosphere?
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Bats, Balls … and Nostalgia
SETON HALL vs. PROVIDENCE COLLEGE
Anything it seems can trip a bout of nostalgia.
The other night I stopped multi-tasking (only joking, dear Reader, I usually take one thing at a time) to sit still and watch a hoops game on ESPN 2.
I love watching basketball especially from now until “March madness” - the common name for the big college tournament. I missed out on about 28 seasons when living overseas so I’m trying to catch up by watching a few games each week.
While ESPN 1 usually features the more significant games, ESPN junior televises the lesser mortals of college basketball. However, lesser is a dangerous description as all Division 1 NCAA basketball is great – especially when two old and established, Catholic, small college teams are playing.
So there I was watching SETON HALL vs. PROVIDENCE COLLEGE - the original Big East Conference teams by the way.
Ding! This is the same match-up I would have listened to on the radio 45 years ago as a boy growing up in suburban Boston - so the nostalgia noddle in my brain announced.
Providence College, the Friars - such a great name! - was a formidable team in those years winning the NIT Tournament twice. In 1961, one of their championship seasons, I was all of 12 years old.
With both my mother and father working, bed-time would have come early. The only sound in our house would have been the low rumble of the oil burner down in the basement trying to keep up with a cold New England night.
The dial on my little transistor radio, one of my prize possessions at the time, was easy to jiggle and sometimes the game would fade out. Finding the station signal in the dark was not easy. Most nights I would simply fall asleep waking in the morning to find the radio on the floor next to my socks.
Perhaps only my father, turning out the lights, would hear the announcer:
The game is tied at 52 with ten seconds remaining... Providence brings the ball up over half court... the home crowd is going wild...hold on!... Seton Hall changes to its 2-3 zone defense... three seconds on the clock. The Friars take one last shot....
Anything it seems can trip a bout of nostalgia.
The other night I stopped multi-tasking (only joking, dear Reader, I usually take one thing at a time) to sit still and watch a hoops game on ESPN 2.
I love watching basketball especially from now until “March madness” - the common name for the big college tournament. I missed out on about 28 seasons when living overseas so I’m trying to catch up by watching a few games each week.
While ESPN 1 usually features the more significant games, ESPN junior televises the lesser mortals of college basketball. However, lesser is a dangerous description as all Division 1 NCAA basketball is great – especially when two old and established, Catholic, small college teams are playing.
So there I was watching SETON HALL vs. PROVIDENCE COLLEGE - the original Big East Conference teams by the way.
Ding! This is the same match-up I would have listened to on the radio 45 years ago as a boy growing up in suburban Boston - so the nostalgia noddle in my brain announced.
Providence College, the Friars - such a great name! - was a formidable team in those years winning the NIT Tournament twice. In 1961, one of their championship seasons, I was all of 12 years old.
With both my mother and father working, bed-time would have come early. The only sound in our house would have been the low rumble of the oil burner down in the basement trying to keep up with a cold New England night.
The dial on my little transistor radio, one of my prize possessions at the time, was easy to jiggle and sometimes the game would fade out. Finding the station signal in the dark was not easy. Most nights I would simply fall asleep waking in the morning to find the radio on the floor next to my socks.
Perhaps only my father, turning out the lights, would hear the announcer:
The game is tied at 52 with ten seconds remaining... Providence brings the ball up over half court... the home crowd is going wild...hold on!... Seton Hall changes to its 2-3 zone defense... three seconds on the clock. The Friars take one last shot....
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Education and Good Health
You may have noticed in the “about me” box that my wife owns and manages a women’s fitness club. This is a topic for another post or two or three
Nevertheless, this responsibility of ownership (both similar and different from running a school) has brought to us a renewed awareness of the importance of health and fitness in our lives.
We now tend to read all those articles that appear in the newspapers and on the web. You know: 10 secrets to good health – what you need to know about cholesterol – how to count, multiply, subtract and add your calories, etc.
What always intrigues me in this literature of good health is the connection between education and wellness. The comment is made in many articles.
Gina Kolata, writing in the January 8, 2008 New York Times states:
Active people are much less likely to smoke; they’re thinner and they eat differently than their sedentary peers. They also tend to be more educated, and education is one of the strongest predictors of good health in general and a longer life.
None of the articles I have seen goes on to explain why a good education can lead to a healthier life – worth some research this - but I’m now very grateful to the many teachers and courses I took over the years to which I attached no value then but can now see the light. I’m 59 and still here to write about musings and whatnots.
Nevertheless, this responsibility of ownership (both similar and different from running a school) has brought to us a renewed awareness of the importance of health and fitness in our lives.
We now tend to read all those articles that appear in the newspapers and on the web. You know: 10 secrets to good health – what you need to know about cholesterol – how to count, multiply, subtract and add your calories, etc.
What always intrigues me in this literature of good health is the connection between education and wellness. The comment is made in many articles.
Gina Kolata, writing in the January 8, 2008 New York Times states:
Active people are much less likely to smoke; they’re thinner and they eat differently than their sedentary peers. They also tend to be more educated, and education is one of the strongest predictors of good health in general and a longer life.
None of the articles I have seen goes on to explain why a good education can lead to a healthier life – worth some research this - but I’m now very grateful to the many teachers and courses I took over the years to which I attached no value then but can now see the light. I’m 59 and still here to write about musings and whatnots.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Monterey in 3.6 Hours
My trip to Monterey, California this week served as a bookend of sorts to the equally brief foray to Napa last autumn. Both tourist destinations: one just north of San Francisco and one south, though not quite equidistant and each charming in its own way.
No time, alas, to see the grand sites of the peninsula other than a quick walk down Cannery Row in the afternoon fog and a nod to Mr. Steinbeck.
The second day brought chilly winter sun and a chance to admire the heavy Pacific rollers crashing up on the broad beach at Monterey Bay.
It was certainly worth the cross country journey, on business of course, to visit an interesting charter school with an international emphasis. Charter schools operate as autonomous public schools that have the “right” to design their own curriculum and use innovation teaching or pedagogy - which seems a rude slight to the neighboring public schools suggesting that they do not. Which - given all of the problems and challenges in public schools these days - is probably accurate (with due respect).
Fitting the international focus into a semi-public school (with strict state standards to follow) is the challenge for this unique type of institution.
No time, alas, to see the grand sites of the peninsula other than a quick walk down Cannery Row in the afternoon fog and a nod to Mr. Steinbeck.
The second day brought chilly winter sun and a chance to admire the heavy Pacific rollers crashing up on the broad beach at Monterey Bay.
It was certainly worth the cross country journey, on business of course, to visit an interesting charter school with an international emphasis. Charter schools operate as autonomous public schools that have the “right” to design their own curriculum and use innovation teaching or pedagogy - which seems a rude slight to the neighboring public schools suggesting that they do not. Which - given all of the problems and challenges in public schools these days - is probably accurate (with due respect).
Fitting the international focus into a semi-public school (with strict state standards to follow) is the challenge for this unique type of institution.
Monday, January 14, 2008
why PISA is important ...
You probably have to work in the field of international education (as I do) to anticipate the results of an obscure exam given by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development -OECD.
Or perhaps you don’t ... as this important test says a lot about global education and who’s ahead in the knowledge race.
The OECD coordinates the PISA assessment every three years. The acronym stands for Program of International Student Assessment and it is one of just a very few instruments that test students in many countries on the same material.
PISA is given to 15 year olds - those near the end of compulsory education - in the 30 OECD countries and 27 others, thus reaching a significant proportion of the world’s population. PISA was first administered in 2000 and then again in 2003. The latest results (2006) are obviously the third batch and the comparative data is starting to accumulate. The results were announced earlier this month.
PISA measures things differently than other assessments. PISA emphasizes the application of knowledge by presenting students with tasks that involve interpretation of real-world material as much as possible. PISA tests students’ abilities in several areas: math, science and reading.
Apparently wealth doesn’t matter as both the United States and Britain scored lower than the OECD average. The reason perhaps is because both countries have high levels of immigrants and local resources (good teachers, technology, facilities etc) are not evenly distributed across the board.
[The Clermont Blog suggests that all is not lost for America as its professional baseball players have recently scored very high on the STEROID testing scale].
Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and especially Finland ranked consistently high in all areas. Another guess from me: these countries are generally homogeneous in nature and testing is more meaningful when comparing “apples to apples”. In America, with our very heterogeneous population, we are often comparing “apples to oranges” when it comes to meaningful testing.
I used to live in Turkey which has a relatively homogeneous population. The Turkish educational system is test driven (pros and cons to that) but the end data is significant because students are more or less on the same page -no pun intended – in everything they do.
The PISA results and TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study – next results are due out in December 2008) are important assessments in the emerging global village of the 21st century. Who is ahead? Who is behind and why?
They are worth looking at from time to time.
Or perhaps you don’t ... as this important test says a lot about global education and who’s ahead in the knowledge race.
The OECD coordinates the PISA assessment every three years. The acronym stands for Program of International Student Assessment and it is one of just a very few instruments that test students in many countries on the same material.
PISA is given to 15 year olds - those near the end of compulsory education - in the 30 OECD countries and 27 others, thus reaching a significant proportion of the world’s population. PISA was first administered in 2000 and then again in 2003. The latest results (2006) are obviously the third batch and the comparative data is starting to accumulate. The results were announced earlier this month.
PISA measures things differently than other assessments. PISA emphasizes the application of knowledge by presenting students with tasks that involve interpretation of real-world material as much as possible. PISA tests students’ abilities in several areas: math, science and reading.
Apparently wealth doesn’t matter as both the United States and Britain scored lower than the OECD average. The reason perhaps is because both countries have high levels of immigrants and local resources (good teachers, technology, facilities etc) are not evenly distributed across the board.
[The Clermont Blog suggests that all is not lost for America as its professional baseball players have recently scored very high on the STEROID testing scale].
Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and especially Finland ranked consistently high in all areas. Another guess from me: these countries are generally homogeneous in nature and testing is more meaningful when comparing “apples to apples”. In America, with our very heterogeneous population, we are often comparing “apples to oranges” when it comes to meaningful testing.
I used to live in Turkey which has a relatively homogeneous population. The Turkish educational system is test driven (pros and cons to that) but the end data is significant because students are more or less on the same page -no pun intended – in everything they do.
The PISA results and TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study – next results are due out in December 2008) are important assessments in the emerging global village of the 21st century. Who is ahead? Who is behind and why?
They are worth looking at from time to time.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
A little perspective
We’ve been volunteering for the past two years (thankfully there is some flexible time in my life as a consultant) for the Radio Reading Service hosted at the local university.
This is a program that brings printed materials to persons who are blind or physically handicapped. We read – along with dozens of other volunteers – the morning papers, the local flyers, advertisements, book selections and weekly national journals.
There we sit – in a real radio station with all sorts of gadgets including headphones, microphones, the big control panel with flashing lights, cough buttons – and the other paraphernalia found in the broadcast booth.
There is also Glenn who manages the station. Glenn is blind – but that doesn’t stop him from running the show, riding a two seat bike with his wife and attending harmonica conventions (gigs?) around the country. Glenn always has a smile and tells a good joke. Honestly, what an inspiration.
Yesterday, I represented the Radio Reading Service at a local health fair here in Southwest Florida and had the opportunity to rub elbows with volunteers (and some paid professionals) from a dozen agencies who work with the visual and hearing challenged. The range and breadth of services – and personal commitment of the workers - is truely amazing.
I sat there for a few hours watching (mostly elderly) blind, deaf and handicapped people chatting with each other as though they didn’t have a care in the world.
It helps to put things into perspective for those of us who have so much.
This is a program that brings printed materials to persons who are blind or physically handicapped. We read – along with dozens of other volunteers – the morning papers, the local flyers, advertisements, book selections and weekly national journals.
There we sit – in a real radio station with all sorts of gadgets including headphones, microphones, the big control panel with flashing lights, cough buttons – and the other paraphernalia found in the broadcast booth.
There is also Glenn who manages the station. Glenn is blind – but that doesn’t stop him from running the show, riding a two seat bike with his wife and attending harmonica conventions (gigs?) around the country. Glenn always has a smile and tells a good joke. Honestly, what an inspiration.
Yesterday, I represented the Radio Reading Service at a local health fair here in Southwest Florida and had the opportunity to rub elbows with volunteers (and some paid professionals) from a dozen agencies who work with the visual and hearing challenged. The range and breadth of services – and personal commitment of the workers - is truely amazing.
I sat there for a few hours watching (mostly elderly) blind, deaf and handicapped people chatting with each other as though they didn’t have a care in the world.
It helps to put things into perspective for those of us who have so much.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
e reading
I often wonder how the internet has affected my own reading habits.
I stopped buying the local paper and the New York Times a few years ago. After all, last night’s sports results don’t make the morning papers. I’ve saved money and trees.
At the start of each day, with the mouse and a click I can read the British papers, check the weather in Istanbul and see the Euro football results. I can glance at the Boston, New York and Washington headlines.
Yet, yet, yet.
I cover all this material in 10-15 minutes: less time than I would have spent with the old broadsheet. I find myself not scrolling down to complete an article but surfing here and there. We all do it, of course.
I wonder sometimes if this is progress.
I stopped buying the local paper and the New York Times a few years ago. After all, last night’s sports results don’t make the morning papers. I’ve saved money and trees.
At the start of each day, with the mouse and a click I can read the British papers, check the weather in Istanbul and see the Euro football results. I can glance at the Boston, New York and Washington headlines.
Yet, yet, yet.
I cover all this material in 10-15 minutes: less time than I would have spent with the old broadsheet. I find myself not scrolling down to complete an article but surfing here and there. We all do it, of course.
I wonder sometimes if this is progress.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Chatting with the Chops
I just made my plane home last night.
To tell you the truth, dear Reader, I was a few minutes early to the Atlanta airport and was able -with only a moment to spare - to switch to the earlier 6 PM flight instead of the last one at 8:30.
Of course, you pay a price for such daring decision making – a $50 change fee and a seat in row 44 – banished to the very back of a 757. You know it, perhaps, the one near the toilets and serving area?
My seat was by the window and thus I had to dislodge the beefy Mr. and Mrs. Pork Chop who had already settled in. This is how I described them - disparagingly you see - to my wife later in the evening.
The Chops were returning from Las Vegas. The husband was doing all the talking as though we were old friends catching up on the news. He was sitting on the other side of his wife so I had to both turn and lean forward to hear him around the woman's ample bosom (to put it politely). He was chatting casually in the American way – telling me all about the trip, their daughter who lives in Santa Barbara, the new grandbaby, losing at the casino, the bad weather and the incredible all-you-can-eat meals they serve “out there”.
He told me this before take off.
At 10,000 feet, when you can switch on those electronic gadgets Santa brought you, the Chops broke out a giant box of “cinnibuns”. You know - those to-die-for sticky, sweet, aromatic, sugar bombs. Within moments, the 24 passengers in the last four rows were shifting, turning, straining to locate the source of such tantalization.
Between bites, Mr. Chop droned on about their hotel room in Vegas and the loud New Year’s Eve party which kept them up half the night. Next to me, elbow in my side, Mrs. Chop just muttered, uttered, grunted and groaned in response to her husband’s 75 minute, running commentary. Her sweater, I noticed, was speckled with crumbs.
Down at the baggage claim – as it sometimes happens – their suitcase came out along with mine. Mr. Chop said “see you again, pal” as though we had furtively planned another trip together and they waddled out into the night.
To tell you the truth, dear Reader, I was a few minutes early to the Atlanta airport and was able -with only a moment to spare - to switch to the earlier 6 PM flight instead of the last one at 8:30.
Of course, you pay a price for such daring decision making – a $50 change fee and a seat in row 44 – banished to the very back of a 757. You know it, perhaps, the one near the toilets and serving area?
My seat was by the window and thus I had to dislodge the beefy Mr. and Mrs. Pork Chop who had already settled in. This is how I described them - disparagingly you see - to my wife later in the evening.
The Chops were returning from Las Vegas. The husband was doing all the talking as though we were old friends catching up on the news. He was sitting on the other side of his wife so I had to both turn and lean forward to hear him around the woman's ample bosom (to put it politely). He was chatting casually in the American way – telling me all about the trip, their daughter who lives in Santa Barbara, the new grandbaby, losing at the casino, the bad weather and the incredible all-you-can-eat meals they serve “out there”.
He told me this before take off.
At 10,000 feet, when you can switch on those electronic gadgets Santa brought you, the Chops broke out a giant box of “cinnibuns”. You know - those to-die-for sticky, sweet, aromatic, sugar bombs. Within moments, the 24 passengers in the last four rows were shifting, turning, straining to locate the source of such tantalization.
Between bites, Mr. Chop droned on about their hotel room in Vegas and the loud New Year’s Eve party which kept them up half the night. Next to me, elbow in my side, Mrs. Chop just muttered, uttered, grunted and groaned in response to her husband’s 75 minute, running commentary. Her sweater, I noticed, was speckled with crumbs.
Down at the baggage claim – as it sometimes happens – their suitcase came out along with mine. Mr. Chop said “see you again, pal” as though we had furtively planned another trip together and they waddled out into the night.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Goals & Bowls (games)
What a light weight way to begin the New Year, dear Reader, but I didn’t want to risk any of those anguished posts about resolutions that you’d hold me to for the next 365 days.
In fact, I had a draft of something called Absolute, Resolute Resolutions which sounded very firm and sincere but I didn’t get past the Absolute bit (spelled Absolut without the “e” as in the vodka) on New Year’s eve day when the on-rushing wave of bowl games overtook my resolve. For a few pathetic and hapless hours on the 31st I actually considered getting through the evening on milk and cookies.
Alas, common sense prevailed and we saw out 2007 in a proper manner.
The American college football season ends with a flurry of games featuring the best teams in the country. These are called bowl games, which as I understand goes back to 1902 in California when two good teams played in the Rose Bowl. The “bowl” part comes in the design of the stadium which looks more like an amphitheatre than a standard oval or boxed arena.
Growing up in the 1960s there used to be (if I remember correctly) just a handful of year ending bowls all played in late December and on New Year’s Day. The classic four were the Cotton, Sugar, Rose and Orange Bowls. There were a few others which conjured up warm southern venues such as the Citrus, Gator and Sun Bowls. As a boy in frosty New England, watching the bowl games over the Christmas break was part of the Great Ritual of Growing Up.
This season, in the American way of marketing saturation and overkill, there are 32 bowl games. That's correct: 3-2. Now teams with mediocre records such as 6 wins and 6 losses are invited to play. There are so many bowls games that organizers are running out of clever names. This past week saw the Humanitarian Bowl, the Poinsettia Bowl and the Insight Bowl (honestly). Some of these games should be labeled the Hopeless Bowl or Second Chance Bowl. With further expansion – it’s inevitable – we’ll be able to watch the Tuesday Afternoon Bowl and the Give-it-a-Name-Bowl.
Well, let’s not get too serious so early in the New Year. After all, there are still several more bowls between now and January 7 when the championship game will be played.
Have a safe and healthy 2008 from the Clermont Blogger!
In fact, I had a draft of something called Absolute, Resolute Resolutions which sounded very firm and sincere but I didn’t get past the Absolute bit (spelled Absolut without the “e” as in the vodka) on New Year’s eve day when the on-rushing wave of bowl games overtook my resolve. For a few pathetic and hapless hours on the 31st I actually considered getting through the evening on milk and cookies.
Alas, common sense prevailed and we saw out 2007 in a proper manner.
The American college football season ends with a flurry of games featuring the best teams in the country. These are called bowl games, which as I understand goes back to 1902 in California when two good teams played in the Rose Bowl. The “bowl” part comes in the design of the stadium which looks more like an amphitheatre than a standard oval or boxed arena.
Growing up in the 1960s there used to be (if I remember correctly) just a handful of year ending bowls all played in late December and on New Year’s Day. The classic four were the Cotton, Sugar, Rose and Orange Bowls. There were a few others which conjured up warm southern venues such as the Citrus, Gator and Sun Bowls. As a boy in frosty New England, watching the bowl games over the Christmas break was part of the Great Ritual of Growing Up.
This season, in the American way of marketing saturation and overkill, there are 32 bowl games. That's correct: 3-2. Now teams with mediocre records such as 6 wins and 6 losses are invited to play. There are so many bowls games that organizers are running out of clever names. This past week saw the Humanitarian Bowl, the Poinsettia Bowl and the Insight Bowl (honestly). Some of these games should be labeled the Hopeless Bowl or Second Chance Bowl. With further expansion – it’s inevitable – we’ll be able to watch the Tuesday Afternoon Bowl and the Give-it-a-Name-Bowl.
Well, let’s not get too serious so early in the New Year. After all, there are still several more bowls between now and January 7 when the championship game will be played.
Have a safe and healthy 2008 from the Clermont Blogger!
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