Why does it seem that there is a push for a “One Size Fits All” approach to education these days? I don’t know what it’s like in other areas. But lately it seems like we are being told that one approach is the selected method of teaching and we will follow it. Well, it’s not quite that bad at my school… yet.
In my district they spent a pretty large chunk of stimulus change on a program that is supposed to help teach reading and ultimately help get those ever important scores up. Since I don’t teach elementary school, I don’t have any experience with this curriculum. My elementary colleagues have told me that they are now supposed to use these materials that are even scripted as to each thing the teacher says.
I’m not going to go into depth about what they want us to do at the secondary level. But the main point is that they seem to want us to be in lock step with each other, give the same assessments and teach lessons in the same way as our colleagues across the district.
What happened to the art of teaching? If all you needed was some canned curriculum and were told what to say, anyone could do it. Maybe that’s their objective. But it’s so far off the mark.
Every child is unique with different needs. The abilities, strengths and weaknesses of our students are as varied as the patterns of snowflakes. When designing a lesson, we try to take into account the various learning styles, attention spans, and ability levels of our students. As individuals. Not every individual needs the same thing and teachers are taught how to differentiate for the variety of needs in their classroom.
I’m sure the idea of a canned curriculum makes them (the higher-ups) think that they’re in control and they’re addressing the needs of students. But who are we kidding? If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard a teacher say, “I wish they would just let me teach,” I seriously would have some cash. It’s a sad and frustrating time. I wish they could figure out that to really have some gains, you have to let go of the rigid control and let us do our jobs they way we know how.
It really doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that in reality, one size can never fit all.
November 13, 2009 at 11:37 am
It’s all about control.
Electives are really suffering because there is no canned curriculum for those. Students are being required to take more and more remedial classes so they have no room for electives. I keep wondering what is happening in elementary school that kids are not learning how to read, write, and do math. Isn’t that where WE learned those things?