In this column, we publish selected comments from the ASCD blog and from letters to the editor. Some comments are condensed for space or edited for clarity.
To join the conversation, go to www.ascd.org/blog or e-mail us at el@ascd.org.
Readers responded to our online poll that asked, “Do international comparisons of science teaching help improve science education?”
I say no because a comparison that tells me I am an inferior teacher only lowers my confidence. Why don't the critics improve the textbooks and curriculum guides? My department head was not impressed with a visit to Japanese schools. If we adopt that system, are we ready to accept their student suicide rate as well?
Let's invest in education with more than comparisons: Improve teacher training, incorporate mentor programs, hire executive assistants for teachers, pay professional salaries, take education decisions away from pandering politicians, provide alternative programs for disruptive students, and spotlight success when it occurs.
Imagine if all the money invested in Iraq had gone to education these past four years. If we do not see results in one year, I say, “Stay the course.” Do not tell me we have been throwing money at the problem when states pay less for one year of education per child than parents pay for one year of babysitting.
—Posted by James Aulisio
Although I do not teach in the United States, I do teach at an American School in Asia. Education in the United States was originally intended to train workers for industry, not educate them to think.
I agree with Mr. Aulisio that education should be in the hands of educators and that schools should have proper support—financially and politically. However, I disagree that comparisons should not be made between pedagogies: It is how we learn to improve our practice. Although opening ourselves to criticism and reflection can be threatening, it is necessary. Much of how we teach reflects how we were taught. To break the cycle, teacher education and professional development must be ongoing.
Finally, to equate Japanese pedagogy with Japanese suicide rates is disingenuous and faulty logic. Correlation does not prove causation. I could equate American children's drug use to American pedagogy, but I would be wrong.
—Posted by James Linzel
The best way to become excellent (or at least better) is by studying excellence. This means studying what other countries are doing well. TIMSS has been quite good at highlighting faults, but it has also taken the next step by sharing teaching methods internationally.
U.S. education is not up to the level it should be. Study of other countries has revealed what we should do differently. It has also eliminated many of the myths that persist about foreign education. I love to learn about excellence because that is the only way I can learn how to be an excellent teacher.
—Posted by Jason Waskiewicz
The best thing that came from the TIMSS experience was not what the talking heads had to say about our woeful performance and certainly not what the politicians proposed as possible remedies (especially those who proposed to eliminate inquiry-based approaches and attempted to require a much more teacher-directed approach to instruction). It came in the simple phrase that our curriculum was “a mile wide and an inch deep.”
I voted “no” on this particular question. Not because we do not have things to learn from other nations (just as we have much to learn from fellow teachers within our own country), but rather because of the way the comparisons are made and what gets done with those faulty conclusions. And I really like the response from James Aulisio.
—Posted by Scott Hays
International comparisons are helpful to a point. It is certainly interesting to learn other methods and focal points. The part that is not helpful stems from comparisons of more homogeneous societies to a heterogeneous society, such as the United States. We have many different cultures, learning styles, and backgrounds. Japan is very homogeneous. U.S. schools need to find their own improvement path. Yes, we need to make major changes, but not by copying another country's approach. We need to think through the direction we wish to pursue and not jump (as we often do) onto some “fix-it” bandwagon.
—Posted by Roseli Weiss
