Improving Education - In the News

For those interested in the issue of teacher preparation programs, the UTeach program set forth by the University of Texas is worthy of examination. Used to prepare the next generation of math and science teachers, this program slipped by us and was brought to our attention by Dave as one of his top ten education stories for 2007. The design has aspiring teachers getting into the classroom during their freshman year of college instead of waiting until prospective teachers are in their junior or senior year. The program is producing some interesting results and appears to be providing greater continuity (teachers staying in the profession long term) than the more publicized “Teach for America” Program.

Another interesting item to review regarding teacher preparation programs is George Cunningham’s report on the University of North Carolina’s Education Schools: Helping or Hindering Potential Teachers? In his summary for the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy Cunningham writes, “Most professors, apparently reflecting their own education-school experience, embrace pedagogical methods that are not effective in maximizing student achievement, especially in reading and math.” Ouch.

One area that has long been discussed by colleagues of mine, the negative connotation of the phrase tolerance, is central to the work of Harvard social psychologist Todd Pittinsky who thinks it may be time to rethink our reverence for teaching tolerance. While the current agenda seeks to improve society by eliminating the negative attitudes often displayed, tolerating someone or some group in fact does not have the greatest of connotations. It certainly has nothing to say about developing positive viewpoints of others. Pittinsky has dubbed a new term, “allophilia,” borrowed from the Greek for “love of the other,” as he sets about transforming the current culture and the teaching of tolerance. read more about his work in this Boston Globe editorial.

And an interesting item to read up on is the negative view regarding the current push in Europe to “raise the education leaving age to 18.” Warnings as to the potential disastrous impact on schools was something we discussed when we reviewed the European teenagers dubbed NEETS. According to the experts across the pond, the new objectives will simply “leave hundreds of thousands of youngsters with worthless qualifications.” Two separate reports (sorry we could not find any links) indicated that forcing youngsters to stay in school would do “nothing for their career prospects or the economy.” We wondered if any American politicians were paying attention to the viewpoints being expressed?