Wagner, Tony. Global Achievement Gap : Why Even Our Best Schools Don't Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need--and What We Can Do about It. New York, NY, USA: Basic Books, 2010. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 1 February 2015. Copyright © 2010. Basic Books. All rights reserved.
Chapters 1-2 blog response
Amanda McCarthy (Hosford)
I was surprised by Wagner’s theory of TWO learning gaps: I knew about the learning gap between America’s privileged kids and America’s kids in lower socioeconomic groups. However, I had not thought about the gap between the world’s best educational entities and what students need for today’s jobs as another educational gap.
Wagner’s list of survival skills was interesting. However, I couldn’t not help wondering if the education system alone is to blame. American culture is focused on instant gratification, from always active social media to always available online shopping. I wonder if part of the problem comes from students’ involvement in these artificial worlds. A big problem I have had in class is getting students to disconnect from their social, online world and connect with the classroom. I agree that we should capitalize on media to prompt critical thinking. On the other hand, the jobs that many of my students will go on to will require them to have self discipline to be in the real world. Never-the-less I can see how I need to look at what I teach in biology from a perspective of developing critical thinking. I like the idea of incorporating projects based on student interest where they develop analytical thinking on a project students choose.
His second survival skill, the ability to collaborate with different groups of people while exerting influence when necessary to lead makes sense. I think many students are already learning these skills in their interactions online and in school. However, I think students who are not naturally leaders need schools to focus more on building this skill. Another change I see American schools need is to broaden their focus to helping students learn how to collaborate across groups (and into groups different from their own).
I thought the third survival skill, “agility and adaptability” was interesting, but I have a hard time seeing how schools can grow students’ skill in this area when they have such large class sizes. I understand how teaching students the skill of lifelong learning is largely done through example and by showing students why that skill is necessary. However, I do not think recreating scenarios where students must be agile in their adaptability would be fair to the psyche of high school kids.
Skills four (initiative and entrepreneurialism), five (effective oral and written communication), and six (accessing and analyzing information) seem to be the skills that school has traditionally focused on, with varying degrees of success. I think teacher of all subjects should continue to address these skills.
However, skill seven- curiosity and imagination- seem to sometimes be taught on an elementary level but neglected at higher levels (and oftentimes at the elementary level depending on the school). Wagner quotes a school leader as asking the question “Why is it that the longer our kids are in school, the less curious they seem?” I connected with this quote because biology is partly how I reconnected with my own curiosity. I want to use my classroom to push students to do the same. I want to give them room to explore their own interests and ask their own questions.
As I read chapter 2 of Wagner’s, I felt like he was preaching to the choir. I have observed similar scenarios to the ones he described when I have done observations for my undergraduate work. Another thought I had was that I wonder if teachers would teach better lessons than what he observed if they knew he was coming. I wonder if part of the problem our schools have today is that many of the teachers are not managed well so that they feel like they need to constantly adapt their own lessons. I have watched many old school teachers who feel like they should be able to keep teaching the way they always have (or the way they were taught in high school). I think part of the problem is that these teachers are not being motivated because they do not see changes administrators ask for as a positive. Rather, they are a necessary inconvenience while under observation. Teachers and administrators need to be able to work together in a more positive, more collaborative relationship where both are able to make contributions.
Chapters 1-2 blog response
Amanda McCarthy (Hosford)
I was surprised by Wagner’s theory of TWO learning gaps: I knew about the learning gap between America’s privileged kids and America’s kids in lower socioeconomic groups. However, I had not thought about the gap between the world’s best educational entities and what students need for today’s jobs as another educational gap.
Wagner’s list of survival skills was interesting. However, I couldn’t not help wondering if the education system alone is to blame. American culture is focused on instant gratification, from always active social media to always available online shopping. I wonder if part of the problem comes from students’ involvement in these artificial worlds. A big problem I have had in class is getting students to disconnect from their social, online world and connect with the classroom. I agree that we should capitalize on media to prompt critical thinking. On the other hand, the jobs that many of my students will go on to will require them to have self discipline to be in the real world. Never-the-less I can see how I need to look at what I teach in biology from a perspective of developing critical thinking. I like the idea of incorporating projects based on student interest where they develop analytical thinking on a project students choose.
His second survival skill, the ability to collaborate with different groups of people while exerting influence when necessary to lead makes sense. I think many students are already learning these skills in their interactions online and in school. However, I think students who are not naturally leaders need schools to focus more on building this skill. Another change I see American schools need is to broaden their focus to helping students learn how to collaborate across groups (and into groups different from their own).
I thought the third survival skill, “agility and adaptability” was interesting, but I have a hard time seeing how schools can grow students’ skill in this area when they have such large class sizes. I understand how teaching students the skill of lifelong learning is largely done through example and by showing students why that skill is necessary. However, I do not think recreating scenarios where students must be agile in their adaptability would be fair to the psyche of high school kids.
Skills four (initiative and entrepreneurialism), five (effective oral and written communication), and six (accessing and analyzing information) seem to be the skills that school has traditionally focused on, with varying degrees of success. I think teacher of all subjects should continue to address these skills.
However, skill seven- curiosity and imagination- seem to sometimes be taught on an elementary level but neglected at higher levels (and oftentimes at the elementary level depending on the school). Wagner quotes a school leader as asking the question “Why is it that the longer our kids are in school, the less curious they seem?” I connected with this quote because biology is partly how I reconnected with my own curiosity. I want to use my classroom to push students to do the same. I want to give them room to explore their own interests and ask their own questions.
As I read chapter 2 of Wagner’s, I felt like he was preaching to the choir. I have observed similar scenarios to the ones he described when I have done observations for my undergraduate work. Another thought I had was that I wonder if teachers would teach better lessons than what he observed if they knew he was coming. I wonder if part of the problem our schools have today is that many of the teachers are not managed well so that they feel like they need to constantly adapt their own lessons. I have watched many old school teachers who feel like they should be able to keep teaching the way they always have (or the way they were taught in high school). I think part of the problem is that these teachers are not being motivated because they do not see changes administrators ask for as a positive. Rather, they are a necessary inconvenience while under observation. Teachers and administrators need to be able to work together in a more positive, more collaborative relationship where both are able to make contributions.