Published by Brunsell on 28 Oct 2010
Why are We Failing in History and Science Education?
Joy Hakim in the Washington Post
For a variety of reasons, none good, many of our schools have marginalized the subjects that make you think, the subjects that provide intellectual stretching. History and science—taught as idea-based subjects—give you something to think about. Turning them into rote memorization disciplines gives you a headache.
From the comment section…
We are behind the pacing plan made up by our standards-driven teacher-leader. We have a pretty good textbook, Prentice Hall Chemistry, the 2000 edition. It isn't helpful for the pacing plan, because there is no time to develop any of the ideas in it, and still keep up with the trivial pursuit game of the multiple-choice common quarterly assessments thought up by the lead teacher, based on the quickest way to dispatch the Framework bullets.
Chemistry, for me, was the first subject where I could see the material world "make sense". My students today have NEVER had any opportunity to make sense of the avalanche of drivel they are being prepared to test on. Once the test is over, its architects and hangers-on don't care what happens to them at all.
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