SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT

Leading, Although Not By Example

The latest addition to our lending library is What's Wrong with our Schools: And how we can fix them, by three Manitoba educators. The book is intended mainly for parents who know that their kids aren't doing all that well in school but don't really understand why. It's a very sane, commonsensical treatment of a complicated topic, full of been-there-done-that wisdom and practical explanations for parents who are scratching their heads over school practices that don't make sense to them. 

Here's an excerpt from the chapter entitled "Direct Instruction is Good Teaching" (pp. 108-109)

"It is revealing that virtually all romantic progressive educators use direct instruction methods when they are trying to convince teachers to adopt their child-centered methodologies. For example, Alfie Kohn, one of the strongest critics of direct instruction, gives dozens of lectures every year trying to persuade teachers not to lecture. Why does he not abandon the lecture format when it is apparently so ineffective? The reason is obvious. Kohn only has a short time to convey his ideas and he realizes that the most effective way of doing it is in a formal presentation that he has composed and organized. Is it not somewhat ironic that Kohn condemns lecturing as an outdated teaching method while lecturing to his audience?

"What about the old-fashioned practice of lining desks up in rows so that the students are facing the teacher who is at the front of the classroom? Kohn also dislikes this practice. In fact, he claims that any classroom with desks in rows should make parents worry about the quality of the education their children are receiving. Moreover, he says that the classroom where rows of desks face the teacher encourages students to think that teachers are the only source of information and the only reliable interpreters of the subject matter. In his mind, students in these classrooms become passive rather than active learners. 

"But when Kohn talks to groups of teachers, how are they seated? You've probably guessed correctly; the audience is facing him and hardly anyone is sitting in groups talking to each other. The same thing is true at most teachers' in-service sessions where teachers hear the new ideas about modern methods of guiding students' learning. Even when speakers are arguing against the old-fashioned methods, like direct instruction, the audience is almost always sitting in rows facing the speakers who are almost always standing on a stage. Obviously, everyone seems to accept that the speakers have something useful to say and the audience is expected to be quiet and pay attention to them."