2008: Bye, Bye, annus horribilis

I don’t know about you but I’ll be glad to see the back of 2008. In fact, I think we should slam the door shut right now – a few days ahead of schedule. Tomorrow can simply be December 27, 0000. Perhaps that will make you feel better but not me –and this from an optimist who always sees the glass as half-full rather than half-empty.

The year has been a disaster. I’m not a seer but I think future historians will view 2008 as among the worst ever. Here are just a few of the horrors:

The unspeakable misery that is Zimbabwe in Africa: wide-spread starvation, hyper-inflation at 12,875% per year and now the rapidly spreading cholera epidemic. All this is the clever doing of one man, Robert Mugabe.

Continued random terrorism (Mumbai ~ hundreds dead and wounded) carried out by small groups with solely political purposes.

And worst of all – greed in America – and here are just a few examples:

$6 trillion wiped off the value of US housing (and much more around the world)

$2.5 trillion wiped off the savings of Americans (and much more around the world)

$50 billion wiped off the map by one scheming individual, Bernie “the ponzi” Madoff.

To put $50 billion ~ that's billions, friends ~ into perspective, a person earning $40,000 per year would have to work 1,250,000 years to get that amount back – before taxes. Pity the educational institutions, foundations, hospitals and charities that were ripped off. Nice job, Bernie.

I suggest we establish a National Hall of Shame to identify those individuals and institutions that put themselves above others and tried to defy the laws of capitalism and common sense. Above the front entrance a sign will read:

“Remember 2008 when so much was undone by so few”

The Teacher as Quarterback

An interesting article in this week’s New Yorker magazine by renowned writer Malcolm Gladwell (Blink, the Tipping Point) called “Most Likely to Succeed – the Trouble with Spotting Talent.”

Gladwell takes us through three occupations: the quarterback’s position in American football, teaching and the financial advice field. In short, he “proves” that it is impossible to predict success ~ at least in these fields of employment.

The most interesting scenario is the quarterback (although I toil away in the area of education myself). Gladwell cites the case of pro scout Dan Shonka who sifts through 1000s of hours of films, tapes and reruns trying to spot the “top of the class” college talent. He attends the most important games. He analyzes all the data. But he often gets it wrong. Why? College football is simply not professional football and there is really no predictor of success – even with the most talented of college quarterbacks. The skills don't always transfer to the pro game.

As for teaching, Gladwell states that a good teacher is worth his/her weight in gold. He cites some recent research, “students in the class of a very good teacher will learn, on average, a year and a half worth of material. Teacher effects dwarf school effects and it is almost better to have an excellent teacher in a bad school than a poor teacher in a good school.”

Encouraging or discouraging? Here is his conclusion regarding teacher potential: after years of worrying about issues like funding levels, curriculum design and class size, many reformers have come to the conclusion that nothing matters more than finding the people with the potential to be great teachers. But there is a hitch – no one knows what a person with the potential to be a great teacher looks like! Schools have a quarterback problem.

More thoughts on this later.

Northland

What a difference two weeks make: from the balmy, sensual, cerulean Mediterranean ~ to the steely cold flatness of southern Canada.

My plane arrived spot on time in Buffalo and then the cheery airport shuttle driver whisked me through the formalities of the border crossing and into twilight of a failing December day along the shores of Lake Ontario. Even sophisticated Toronto seemed buttoned up against the oncoming winter chill. This is Northland.

Three days of dreary rain and sleet kept the mind focused on work ~ visiting one of the many excellent independent schools that populate the cosmopolitan cities and sparse country-side of this vast place.

A team of peers were gathered to evaluate a school (in north Toronto ~ all boys ~ boarding and day). Those from the west, Alberta and British Columbia, worked in places where the local Ministry of Education had more influence than those from the Atlantic Provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The westerners told the easterners that they were lucky to have such freedom.

Canada is one big country but has ten different provinces each with its own inspection system of local enforcers of bureaucratic rules and regulations. Independent schools fall in the cracks somewhere. Free to a degree but still accountable in terms of curriculum and content.

Outside a group of boys, bundled up against the cold, carried bulky bags and dangling hockey sticks toward a waiting bus. The first match of the long season was at 5:00 pm and there seemed to be an eagerness to get on with the business of winter.