Ursula Ahern - Beyond Counterfeit Reforms

Cover

Page i

Forging an Authentic Future for All Learners

William Spady

The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
A Scarecrow Education Book
Lanham, Maryland, and London
2001

Page ii

Some images in the original version of this book are not available for inclusion in the netLibrary eBook.

SCARECROW PRESS, INC.

A Scarecrow Education Book

Published in the United States of America by Scarecrow Press, Inc.

4720 Boston Way, Lanham, Maryland 20706

www.scarecroweducation.com

4 Pleydell Gardens, Folkestone

Kent CT20 2DN, England

Copyright 2001 by William Spady

All rights reserved . No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electrical, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Spady, William G.

Beyond counterfeit reforms : forging an authentic future for all learners / William Spady.

p. cm.(A Scarecrow education book)

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 0-8108-4008-1 (alk. paper)ISBN 0-8108-4009-X (pbk. : alk. paper)

1. Educational changeUnited States. 2. EducationAims and objectivesUnited States. 3. Learning. I. Title. II. Series.

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Manufactured in the United States of America.

Page iii

Page iv

Page v

The mind is a fire to be kindled, not a vessel to be filled.

Plutarch

A little more than ten years ago, I reluctantly wandered into a theater in my hometown to listen to a day-long presentation about the need for school reform. At the time, I had other, far more pressing matters on my mind. Truthfully, I was there only out of a sense of loyalty and obligation to my district. Silently, I schemed that I would put in my time and then, at the appropriate moment, gracefully depart to attend to my other pressing professional matters.

More than six hours later, I remained glued to my chair, utterly transfixed and transformed by the powerful observations that Bill Spady was making about education. Many questions swirled in my headquestions that seemed to challenge my every assumption about schools and learningquestions that compelled me to step back from more than twenty years of professional experience and completely reconsider the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How of what we do in the name of education.

Now a decade later, Bill has replicated the genuinely awesome character of that presentation in this book. But on a broad scale his critical questions remain unaddressed and unanswered by us. Be certain, we are living in dangerous times, and Bill's issues have become more important than ever. Why? Because we are facing an educational crisis of monumental proportions in virtually every part of this country. From coast to coast and border to border there appears to be a furious, top-down, heavy-handed, test-driven approach to schooling that is primarily being promoted by politicians, corporate officials, and others with mainly political agendas, not by educators.

Page vi

For the most part, these reform advocates seem unaware of and unconcerned about the research on how children learn best and on the most effective approaches for helping all children become enthusiastic, competent, independent thinkers and life-long learnerswhich Bill addresses persuasively in chapter 11. As a result, we are facing a situation where almost all of the important, relevant, and meaningful things we need to do with and for our children are being abandoned in favor of oft-repeated, empty clichs and slogans such as Accountability for All, Tougher Standards, Higher Achievement, Teacher Performance, and Raising the Bar. Instead of helping children to become more confident and competent learners, and teachers to become better teachers, schools are increasingly being transformed into educational factories that reinforce the mentality of processing students as products through one-shot, high-stakes, win-or-lose testing schemes.