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The image of the citizen in a democracy that I have, and I think that certainly Jefferson had, are people who are able to use history to make current decisions, people who can solve problems, even when the solution isn't clear. But if you have a curriculum that is narrowed with a kind of test that doesn't tap into all those qualities and doesn't develop them, then the system isn't going to lead to the development of that kind of person.
- Mike Rose
Mike Rose is the author of a book called Why School? - Reclaiming Education for All of Us. He was recently interviewed by Tess Vigeland of American Public Media.
In the interview, and in his book, Mike makes the important point that the stated purpose of education will have a huge impact on its outcome. The current emphasis on standardized testing in schools can jeapordize quality instruction, and cause educators and policy-makers to lose sight of other important goals for our children. While teaching and consulting in public schools, I witnessed first-hand the emphasis and time spent teaching to the test. High-stakes testing would often result in math and reading being taught to the exclusion of science, history, the arts, and literature. It can also lead skilled educators to sacrifice the highest quality of instruction in the name of improving test scores. This is a primary reason we chose homeschooling for our family. We want our kids to be challenged and stretched in the sciences, to find joy in the arts, and to appreciate history as a lens to view the future.
And that is this notion that the purpose of school is to prepare young people for a "21st century economy." Again, that's hugely important, I don't want to deny it. But if that becomes what you hear all the time in public policy, we've got research that shows that it compresses the curriculum. You're going to hit math and reading hard, and those are important, but literature, the humanities, arts, science, history, knowing history, that tends to be downplayed.
- Mike Rose
Here is a third quote from the interview that does a nice job describing the approach we try to take with Moving Beyond the Page.
The business community, time after time in position papers and opinion pieces, tells us that it needs people who can make frontline kinds of decisions, who communicate well, who are creative, who think outside the box. And again, if you have a curriculum that doesn't generate and encourage that kind of thinking and learning, then you're not going to produce those kinds of folks.
- Mike Rose
You will want to take a few minutes to listen to this brief interview.
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