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The Scholastic Swindle - Trar - 12-11-2013 02:39 PM

http://thoughtcatalog.com/daniel-coffeen/2009/06/fuck-ivy-league-tests-the-scholastic-swindle-quashing-adolescence/

"Adolescence is so beautiful, even if awkward and insane — and perhaps precisely because of that. The world today with its blistering speed and global consumption has no place for this madness, this careening. And so kids are put on the straight and narrow, their demented energy harnessed by, and into, the capitalist engine (yes, the matrix)."

Short article about teenagers laboring for good grades and losing out on adolescence. It's from the American POV that adolescence is a distinct thing between childhood and adulthood instead of the transition between the two, but still.

Also see http://thoughtcatalog.com/christine-stockton/2013/12/6-egregiously-insane-things-public-schools-have-done-lately-wtf-is-going-on/

"One of the biggest nightmares of having kids for me is thinking about sending them to school. It seems like an institution for people who are on weird power trips/people who let parents with no lives intimidate them. Plus like, they are geared towards helping kids pass tests, not teaching them how to think. It’s all content and no form. It kind of seems like an unsalvageable mess. ..."

Be warned, though. It's an aggregate op-ed site and I spent like 30 minutes looking at 'top 10 ways men are bad at sex' sort of deals.


The Scholastic Swindle - James Comey - 12-11-2013 02:47 PM

A kid died because he wasn't allowed to carry his inhaler? That's just fucking stupid and outright dangerous. I hope that school gets fucking sued.

Those other zero tolerance uses are fucking laughable. Seriously, what's with these power trips? It's like all the schools are competing to see which one resembles North Korea.

Adolescence being taken away? Hell yes! Adolescence is a time in which you want to discover the world, you want to find out yourself, etc. Schools are taking that away and instead we get rigorous testing and indoctrination.


The Scholastic Swindle - Gwedin - 12-11-2013 02:48 PM

Well fuck. Nice one, humanity. Look at the wonderful educators we have.


The Scholastic Swindle - brainiac3397 - 12-11-2013 03:14 PM

Interesting site.

Now where's the link to the "top 10 ways men are bad at sex"...

(Damn it. It's like the time I discovered Cracked. Now I'll never get off the site till I fall dead)


The Scholastic Swindle - brainiac3397 - 12-11-2013 03:34 PM

I like this one:
http://thoughtcatalog.com/albert-vaisman/2013/12/9-things-that-separate-you-from-successful-people


RE: The Scholastic Swindle - Dirtbikemike - 12-12-2013 12:24 AM

I'm taking a JTG stance: stop saying adolescence. It's fictional, invented by the government to extend our childhood. I'm not just regurgitating Gatto's words, I really see it in school. A majority of people in my school are childish beyond belief.


RE: The Scholastic Swindle - (´・ω・`) - 12-12-2013 12:28 AM

Adolescence as a state of development does exist, but many people misconstrue it, and some people DELIBERATELY misconstrue it (you know who I'm talking about.)


RE: The Scholastic Swindle - Dirtbikemike - 12-12-2013 12:40 AM

(12-12-2013 12:28 AM)IvoTheMagnificent Wrote:  Adolescence as a state of development does exist, but many people misconstrue it, and some people DELIBERATELY misconstrue it (you know who I'm talking about.)

As a state of physical development, yes. As a state of mental development, Andrew Carnegie dropped out of elementary school and became successful as fuck. You can't tell me he wasn't mentally competent.


RE: The Scholastic Swindle - (´・ω・`) - 12-12-2013 12:52 AM

Quote:As a state of mental development, Andrew Carnegie dropped out of elementary school and became successful as fuck. You can't tell me he wasn't mentally competent.

Mentally, some people are very well developed, some aren't, it's as simple as that. I'm mainly talking about physical and emotional maturity.


RE: The Scholastic Swindle - xcriteria - 12-12-2013 01:03 AM

(12-12-2013 12:24 AM)Dirtbikemike Wrote:  I'm taking a JTG stance: stop saying adolescence. It's fictional, invented by the government to extend our childhood. I'm not just regurgitating Gatto's words, I really see it in school. A majority of people in my school are childish beyond belief.

If it's fictional, why are you seeing childish behavior all around you?

(That's a key question all these brain researchers are talking about, with the idea that the adolescent brain is in a certain developmental stage. However, due to neuroplasticity, and simply people's ability to learn and grow, that doesn't have to be set in stone.

(12-12-2013 12:40 AM)Dirtbikemike Wrote:  
(12-12-2013 12:28 AM)IvoTheMagnificent Wrote:  Adolescence as a state of development does exist, but many people misconstrue it, and some people DELIBERATELY misconstrue it (you know who I'm talking about.)

As a state of physical development, yes. As a state of mental development, Andrew Carnegie dropped out of elementary school and became successful as fuck. You can't tell me he wasn't mentally competent.

Physical and mental development (and functioning) are closely interconnected when it comes to the brain and extended nervous system. Yes, teens are in many ways capable of everything adults are, but it's still a state of development.

Psychiatrist Dan Siegel actually just wrote a book on this topic, about the physiology of the adolescent brain, while debunking this popular notion that youth = "immaturity." There's still more to figure out about all this... and it's important to realize every brain is different, but learning about all this brain science and how people think about it is a key step in transforming education and how people think about it.

Here's a long talk from Siegel specifically about this topic of adolescence. I think he could be a good person to get in contact with regarding this whole problem of school, given that he's already noted that school-as-usual "imprisons the brain."

Check out the first couple of minutes of this, at least, and watch more if you're interested. There's good info here, but I'm wondering if there's a better way to present it. the only way things will change is by learning more about the brain, mind, and the way people think about them.



Watch on YouTube


RE: The Scholastic Swindle - Dirtbikemike - 12-12-2013 05:17 AM

(12-12-2013 01:03 AM)xcriteria Wrote:  If it's fictional, why are you seeing childish behavior all around you?

I'm in Junior year of high school. The teachers have thoroughly taught them childishness and it is solidly instilled in them. They, obviously, have also accepted themselves as childish and continue to act as such.


RE: The Scholastic Swindle - xcriteria - 12-12-2013 06:12 AM

(12-12-2013 05:17 AM)Dirtbikemike Wrote:  
(12-12-2013 01:03 AM)xcriteria Wrote:  If it's fictional, why are you seeing childish behavior all around you?

I'm in Junior year of high school. The teachers have thoroughly taught them childishness and it is solidly instilled in them. They, obviously, have also accepted themselves as childish and continue to act as such.

I agree, this is a real problem. Here's part of a post from Justin Schwamm (a high school teacher) from earlier this year:

It was almost as though they couldn't wait, as though they'd never learned to wait (maybe 10 minutes, in this case) without someone standing over them and "making" them wait. But obviously they've never been asked to handle their own waiting, just as they've never (or rarely) been asked to handle their own learning, their own desire to Talk Right Now, their own lives. That's what +Emily Lewis was talking about, too, in her blog post for today (http://viaaureliae.blogspot.com/2013/05/sending-and-receiving-messages.html)

In a world where infantilization and false adulthood are the norm, how will we model – and ask for – real maturity? How will we build joyful community, an interdependent thing, when potential members are so dependent but so convinced they're "mature" and independent.


(Rites of Passage, II)


The Scholastic Swindle - Trar - 12-12-2013 11:06 AM

^ Could be a reason why you see those beer-chugging frat boys in college.

Understanding that one-size-fits-all education does not work when each person's educational requirements and needs, not to mention brain, are not all the same is pretty damn important. Siegel could be very well interested in what we have to say, but I think we need a more solid base outside of SS if we're going to be talking to professional scientists.

I also wish Congress (or more specifically the GOP and corporate-controlled wing of the Democrats) would get educated themselves and allow more neuroscience grants, among other things. Improved knowledge of neuroscience can only help us.


RE: The Scholastic Swindle - xcriteria - 12-12-2013 04:06 PM

(12-12-2013 11:06 AM)Trar Wrote:  ^ Could be a reason why you see those beer-chugging frat boys in college.

Right, "maturity and independence = wild partying."

(12-12-2013 11:06 AM)Trar Wrote:  Understanding that one-size-fits-all education does not work when each person's educational requirements and needs, not to mention brain, are not all the same is pretty damn important.

Exactly. Even more so when those who don't fit in with school tend to be sent to mental health professionals for diagnosis and treatment. Educators, therapists, and psychiatrists all basically deal with the mind and brain. It's people interacting with each other.

This is where Siegel uses the term "interpersonal neurobiology" to mean the study of how relationships of any kind affect the brain and mind... in school, with teachers, with parents, with therapists, with friends, with mentors, with anyone.

Usually, when people do like (or tolerate) school, it's all about relationships -- a great teacher they click with, hanging out with their friends, or even getting away from bad relationships at home. So, as Ken Robinson explains in his Learning Without Frontiers talk, Creativity, Learning & the Curriculum, why not focus on the fundamental elements of what "education" is really about, rather than all the junk that gets heaped onto it?

(12-12-2013 11:06 AM)Trar Wrote:  Siegel could be very well interested in what we have to say, but I think we need a more solid base outside of SS if we're going to be talking to professional scientists.

Finding and building such a base has been one of my main goals over the past 2.5 years, since my attempt to collaborate with a charter school made me realize more needed to be done to really transform education.

It's taken a lot of searching, but as of now, I have quite a fantastic PLN, or "personal learning network," including those in various levels of education, parents, and just people who are looking for options. So much so that keeping up with it all is a challenge.

Here's a short clip where Will Richardson explains PLNs (6 years ago), and they're actually pretty popular among educators:

Hidden stuff:

(12-12-2013 11:06 AM)Trar Wrote:  I also wish Congress (or more specifically the GOP and corporate-controlled wing of the Democrats) would get educated themselves and allow more neuroscience grants, among other things. Improved knowledge of neuroscience can only help us.

Educating Congress about these education issues is one thing to figure out.

As for neuroscience, quite a lot of money goes into studying the brain, and lots of progress is happening, but a lot of the focus of that research has been oriented around the search for drugs, and the study of mental illness and addiction, rather than studying learning. But lots of money is spent and available for neuroscience research.

The problem I see is really research design, the question of how experiments and research in general is actually done. People are working on this from all kinds of angles, even with education, but a lot of it occurs without student voice and choice and individual differences and the transformation from a factory-model to networked world in mind.

So there are still roadblocks, but a number of people I've been talking to and figuring out how to work with are on the same page with all this.

One next step is to bridge the gap between these threads here on School Survival and some of the conversations I'm having elsewhere, particularly G+ and Google Hangouts.

And beyond that, there's the question of how to bring these discussions to a broader audience, which is where the concept of making a series, publishing content, and educating a range of people (politicians, educators, psychiatrists, parents, and learners of all kinds) becomes necessary.

One key phrase for all of that is simply facilitating learning conversations, wherever that might be possible... conversations where people learn, and conversations about learning itself.

So... what are the next steps to build a more solid base?


The Scholastic Swindle - Trar - 12-13-2013 01:13 PM

I would love to be a part of this base. You think we could create a separate website or will I have to actually start using G+? I'd probably be willing to post elsewhere if I need to. My PLN in regards to education as of right now consists of SS, a couple close friends and a couple of progressive education reform groups/people that I read about every so often.

As for building a base? I'm not entirely sure how, but I think finding more like-minded individuals and connecting them to the various groups and websites that comprise our movement is important. So is linking the aforementioned groups and websites to each other. We'll probably have to go to them, though; I can't imagine terribly many professional types wanting to post here.

If I may, though, your bringing up interpersonal neurobiology and the paragraph that followed it stirred (hopefully relevant) memories for me. You can read about them in the hidden section. Be warned: it's long.

Hidden stuff:
I used to like school in my first year; after the first quarter I usually genuinely enjoyed going there, and the act of learning & doing (some of) the assignments. It helped that some of what we did was rather fun (it was the third grade after all, and yes I started in the third grade after a brief stint at homeschooling and then a Montessori school). I didn't always get along great with the other students (I had a handful of friends, and the most prominent was sometimes a frenemy due to my limited social skills), but I usually did okay. My first few weeks or so were pretty much a bucket of water to the face as I was very naïve about social interaction and the school setting due to my remote upbringing (thanks, parents). This probably had a hand in my being partially introverted in the later years.

I didn't even know how to write my first day. I remember I didn't take learning how to do so that well, but at least one of my classmates helped me out rather well. I think my handwriting to this day was influenced by my impromptu lesson, which ultimately I have no hard feelings for. It is writing, after all.

The fourth grade was also somewhat enjoyable and rather unremarkable, all things considered. I still enjoyed going, to an extent. For some reason now I remember this period as practically halcyon despite its faults, but that may just be because I'm reading the Wayside School series which reminds me of these days. I had to move across town during the winter of that year, and after a 'break' of about a year (I still remember not really liking the idea of going back), I started fifth at a different school.

Sometimes I wonder what would have happened to me if I had not moved. Would I have stayed the same, considering I was still somewhat different as a person compared to me now? Would I then have been stifled under middle and high school? Would I have become malcontent and an SSer, or would I have buckled and submitted? Imagining myself in these alternate scenarios can be a bit scary!

I still wasn't that great at socializing but I survived. I moved to a different teacher in the first quarter (for what reason I cannot remember) who was one of the nicest and kindest I've had. I did quite well, academically and emotionally, even if I got away with the occasional missed assignment. I had to take a special math class since I was still bad at it, and I eventually got to really like that as well: me, 4 others (eventually it became 3) and one or two teachers. I remember being sad on the last day! Can you believe that?

Near the end of the sixth grade my enjoyment of public school had worn off, and I had become more and more malcontent. Through the year I was part class clown, part average student, and eventually part rebellious.

A handful of incidents in sixth affected my view of a certain topic (and still does to an extent). It wasn't as much a change of opinion as it was me going through brief involuntary mental shifts that were probably a sign of Tourette syndrome; sometimes I had trouble thinking the way I used to when I wanted to, when I knew it was right. It probably had to do with the fact that it involved public humiliation that I was totally unprepared for, and the worst part was that it was all my fault. This, combined with the increased pressure of public schooling. I suppose I could have avoided it if I had decided to keep my head lower, but at least I am now aware of the issue and how it affects others. Maybe I would have turned out worse if I didn't go through what I did, but I'm not sure. I would like to keep the specifics of all this private.

Home life was starting to deteriorate at this point, so I still enjoyed going for a while. It was during this period that I found School Survival.

By the middle of the seventh year I was growing physically and mentally sicker due to a worsening lot. Well, physically fatter due to my consistently poor lunch choices (5 dollars 5 times a week for the same unhealthy meal) and my lack of exercise. I got sick a lot during my school years too, if that's important; my immune system was probably suffering as well. I was chafing quite painfully under public school, my mind eventually started growing darker and my depression was creeping up on me. My close circle of friends (and one teacher that wasn't as bad as the others) helped me through most of the year, but as far as I recall near the end I was drifting away from them. I was close to the end of the year when my mother pulled me out; for all her faults she knew that I was not well. I probably would have had to take summer school due to the amount of days I missed and my grades anyhow.

I'm fairly sure I would have remained a 'problem student' if I stayed for the following year and high school. Maybe I would have been relegated to special ed or another school. Maybe I would have grimly struggled through, maybe I would have finally broke and submitted, maybe I would have dedicated myself to counterculture and rebelliousness by any means possible. I can't say, except that if I had to go back now I'd shoot for the last one.

So yes, my last year of public school showed me the inadequacies of the system the hard way. I was burned out by then, and had to spend my summer recuperating. It was not exactly a healthy process, the way I went about it, and then there was the extra schoolwork I was saddled with because I missed several dozen school days. My family tried to give another shot at homeschooling, and we started preparing for taking the GED in future, but I was so burned out on education my heart wasn't in it. Which my mother (my father wasn't as involved in this) observed with her traditional lack of tact.

I don't recall much homeschooling being done when the next school year started, but we had to move soon after it started anyhow. What happened after I moved is another story in itself. If I had stayed, I'm not sure whether I would have started paying better attention to my health as I have.

I occasionally dreamed of going to school while I was actually going to school, but for a couple of years after I left I was still having the occasional dream about it. Usually dreams of what I thought high school would have been like, or dreams about being back in the last year.

If you've read all of this, thank you. You have eyes of steel. Feel free to tell me what you think of my experience.



RE: The Scholastic Swindle - xcriteria - 12-14-2013 12:08 AM

(12-13-2013 01:13 PM)Trar Wrote:  I would love to be a part of this base. You think we could create a separate website or will I have to actually start using G+?

I highly recommend using G+, both because of the people on there, and some of the things possible with it.

Hidden stuff:

For example, the ability to "plus" people into threads means that once people get to know you, they can pull you in to conversations you might find relevant... and you can do the same with others.

That'd be an awesome feature to have here on the forums, but I don't know any forum software which has that feature.

(12-13-2013 01:13 PM)Trar Wrote:  I'd probably be willing to post elsewhere if I need to. My PLN in regards to education as of right now consists of SS, a couple close friends and a couple of progressive education reform groups/people that I read about every so often.

One of the things I'm trying to figure out is how to bridge some of these siloed conversations. It's possible for people and groups to get caught up in their own familiar narratives and beliefs, and miss out on what's happening elsewhere... even things that might challenge or inspire them in important ways. This is called the echo chamber effect, wchich can exacerbate the effects of confirmation bias.

Of course, bursting people's bubbles a bit tends to induce cognitive dissonance, and if they don't find the disruption worth it, it'll be hard for effective cross-polination to occur. That's where identifying people's interests, and looking for win-win-win outcomes when possible, has value... as does simply making things entertaining, one way or another.

(12-13-2013 01:13 PM)Trar Wrote:  As for building a base? I'm not entirely sure how, but I think finding more like-minded individuals and connecting them to the various groups and websites that comprise our movement is important. So is linking the aforementioned groups and websites to each other. We'll probably have to go to them, though; I can't imagine terribly many professional types wanting to post here.

Exactly, cubed.

(12-13-2013 01:13 PM)Trar Wrote:  If I may, though, your bringing up interpersonal neurobiology and the paragraph that followed it stirred (hopefully relevant) memories for me. You can read about them in the hidden section. Be warned: it's long.

I read your story, and it's interesting. i think it'd be awesome if more people wrote up life recaps like this.

I've done this at various points. Reflecting like this tends to bring up layers of insights... and cognitively, recapping connects parts of memory together. The result is a retrieval structure for your memories. In my experience, so many people haven't done much reflection on their life... especially their experience in school and growing up in general. And, the result is a lack of insight into so many things.

Hidden stuff:

(This reminds me of a section of my response on DoA's psych shop thread, post #14 regarding psychoanalysis. Looking back on that post, I see that i failed to reference interpersonal neurobiology at the end. A big part of analytic or psychodynamic therapy is bringing up and processing memories. The basic point of this is to make sense of them, which is what Dan Siegel has in mind In this short excerpt from his book Mindsight:

...and in this short clip about the same topic:



Watch on YouTube

Anyway, I'll comment on your school experience in another reply.


The Scholastic Swindle - Trar - 12-14-2013 10:54 AM

Just posting this right now - I've re-read some of my earlier posts on this forum. They're depressing and painful. I was truly a troubled kid. If you're tempted to do the same, I must warn you: I was not nearly as erudite or tactful then. I'm fortunate to have turned myself around.

Xcriteria I'll read your reply soon. Posting my story here did help me somewhat, I will say.

EDIT: I see you've posted in some of the same threads I did. And as to the state of the forum back then: from the threads I've seen it was deplorable. And I didn't do very much to help change that. I'm truly glad to see we've gotten better.

EDIT 2: Read your reply. I will join G+ sooner or later. Feel free to find me on Google (I'm most likely under the name IBE THISNAMEISTAKEN which is a long story) and maybe show me some threads in the meantime. I'd also like to see your life story.

Oh yes, and I'd like to make an addendum: I think a part of why I became disillusioned in the sixth grade was due to the teachers. I understand they may have been merely stressed out, but they did not do a very good job of creating a fearless, stress-less environment, as evidenced by my very early postings on this forum about my Language Arts teacher. I could spend another post just taking about him.


RE: The Scholastic Swindle - xcriteria - 12-15-2013 07:04 PM

(12-14-2013 10:54 AM)Trar Wrote:  Just posting this right now - I've re-read some of my earlier posts on this forum. They're depressing and painful. I was truly a troubled kid. If you're tempted to do the same, I must warn you: I was not nearly as erudite or tactful then. I'm fortunate to have turned myself around.

(12-14-2013 10:54 AM)Trar Wrote:  EDIT: I see you've posted in some of the same threads I did. And as to the state of the forum back then: from the threads I've seen it was deplorable. And I didn't do very much to help change that. I'm truly glad to see we've gotten better.

Yeah, I remember you from a while back... but I just noticed how long ago you joined the forums. Skimming your list of posts, I made some very short replies in 2009 (a time when I was returning once in a while after a period of not being on.)

Looking back on all those years, it's interesting to think about how all these different people's lives play out as the years ago by. I've learned and realized a lot since that time, which is a long story, but that gets to your next point.

(12-14-2013 10:54 AM)Trar Wrote:  EDIT 2: Read your reply. I will join G+ sooner or later. Feel free to find me on Google (I'm most likely under the name IBE THISNAMEISTAKEN which is a long story) and maybe show me some threads in the meantime. I'd also like to see your life story.

Ahh, which threads to link to...

And, my life story.

I'm happy to share, but the question is where to begin, how to tell it, and where to end.

In other words, decisions.

Of course, all of our stories are still in progress, so the end has yet to happen. Smile

I actually made a pass through my life story on here in Spring of 2009, but a lot has happened since then, and I might explain it all a bit differently at this point. But that's one place to start. It may be in a rather hidden location on here, but I'll share it with anyone who wants to read it.

During 2009, I started brainstorming ideas for a startup company based on helping people learn with one of my friends, Nick (who I met after moving to NYC in 2006... a move which happened in large part due to a referral from SoulRiser based in my posts here in 2005 and a couple of other factors.)

That brainstorming, along with another connection, let to us forming a company in 2010, and agreeing to build a Student Information System for a new charter High School. That turned into an incredibly stressful, difficult, and confusing experience... which is a whole story in itself. As 2010 turned into 2011, I started digging into my past, as well as seeking to branch out into the world... and I started discovering far more people (including educators) who were talking about education in the same way I had for a very long time. (In short, some kind of change is needed, and the basic outline can be found in this summary of a 2009 conference called Hacking Education.)

You can see some snapshots of what played out from 2009-2013 in these three threads:

(1) Sympadia (late 2009)

(2) uncollege.org -- a discussion of alternatives to college (Spring, 2012)

tl;dr: I found UnCollege's short-lived forum and posted about UnCollege... and Eidolon asked what was up with me and Sympadia, and I tried to explain that and tried making some walls of related content

(3) Ken Robinson: How to escape education's death valley (new TED talk) (Spring 2013)

tl;dr: I posted Ken Robinson's latest video, and Eidolon responded with the observation that all these talks don't seem to be leading to change, and the question of what we can do to help this guy. The result was an exchange where I replied with several walls of content with things I'd found.)

From 2011-2012, I spent quite a bit of time trying to connect and explain things visually, including both the content I was finding and my own memories and story.

In 2013, I started doing a similar thing on Prezi, an online presentation tool. Here's one (huge) layout I made, linking together various YouTube videos with some G+ threads I've participated in...

http://prezi.com/k1myh97d4tur/untitled-prezi/ (and G+ thread where I linked this Prezi as a very work-in-progress update to a "MOOC universe" diagram.

(Zoom out for the whole thing... that's just a rough draft of sorts, but lots of content to explore in there. And overwhelming amount for some people.)

(12-14-2013 10:54 AM)Trar Wrote:  Oh yes, and I'd like to make an addendum: I think a part of why I became disillusioned in the sixth grade was due to the teachers. I understand they may have been merely stressed out, but they did not do a very good job of creating a fearless, stress-less environment, as evidenced by my very early postings on this forum about my Language Arts teacher. I could spend another post just taking about him.

That gets into a big question... how to reconcile the interests of stressed-out teachers (whatever their sources of stress are) with 21st-century learners who have so much information at their fingertips... and the question of how to explore and make sense of it seems more significant (in many cases) than how to get the grades that stressed-out parents want to see as an indicator of their kids' future success... and their own success as parents.)

(12-14-2013 12:08 AM)xcriteria Wrote:  Anyway, I'll comment on your school experience in another reply.

Btw, this is still on my todo list.

Based on all that, any questions? I'm still trying to figure out how best to present information, whether stories or just data.


The Scholastic Swindle - Trar - 12-17-2013 03:38 AM

I'd say grades are overstressed and not quite as useful as claimed.

I'd also say present stories first, with data being easily available to support it. Is your charter school off the ground, or still in the planning stages? Because it sounds very interesting.

I like your Prezi. I've got a lot to read at the moment, but when we start getting down to brass tacks and discussing all the education questions we've been talking about I'll take a closer look at it.


RE: The Scholastic Swindle - xcriteria - 12-17-2013 05:01 AM

I agree with starting with stories first. Storytelling poses a challenge, because you have to take into account the cognitive schemas, tropes, and stories people are familiar with... and present things they can understand and appreciate, while also providing twists and surprises that go beyond what they've already seen.

TV Tropes describes this as a balance between surprise and recognition.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TVTropesWillRuinYourLife

Regarding the school, it wasn't mine at all. Nick and I were asked to build a custom student information system for them. We started in 2010, basically months before they launched, and the project became far too complex for the two of us to handle. We didn't have enough if a budget to hire a larger team, and we really needed a much larger team.

That dragged into 2011, when I also started thinking a lot about how, despite their innovative approach, they were still basically running a factory model school at core. I felt more was needed than just technology, but that's what we were expected to deliver.

And, we had a very hard time delivering what they wanted, particularly a lesson plan feature that it'd take a while to explain.

I haven't talked to them since 2011, when I handed the code over to them. Since then, I've been on this search to connect with a broader network of people who think it's worth spending time discussing and reflecting in more depth, including as a core part of the learning process itself.

That school, like many charters, had a heavy emphasis on getting all its students to go to college. But I've been through enough college to know it has its own limitations for a lot of people, and I wonder why key things that are usually deferred until college can't be learned earlier. Why the distinction between high school and college, with so much of college available on the web, including conversations with faculty about the nature of learning?

Finding those conversations and communities of all kinds can be a challenge, though... One of many things to explore better ways to facilitate.


The Scholastic Swindle - Trar - 12-17-2013 10:21 AM

I joined the SS G+ group. Even made a post. Look for IBE.

Anything you can tell me about college? I'm (obviously) planning to go; any information about its nature I can use would be great.