Can you believe it’s Feather Day already?
Detail from a Scandinavian Barbizon School painting
It seems like yesterday was just Thanksgiving. On the other hand I’ve already forgotten half the things I remembered to be thankful for. I do recall however that learning how to think rather than what to think was on my list. I rather doubt that entry will make the grade, so to speak, for a place on the lists of future generations. The quality of education seems to be devolving at an ever increasing speed. We’ve whizzed right past the “what to think” stage all the way to “what to feel” in less than a generation.
Consider this little story: Portland teachers union proposes self-taught Fridays for high schoolers, says educators need more planning time.
To help Portland Public Schools’ educators and students adjust to the stresses of resuming full-time in-person classes, the union representing the district’s teachers proposes cancelling in-person instruction for high schoolers one day every week after winter break.
The “stresses of resuming full-time in-person classes,” are you kidding? You mean the getting-back-to-normal stress? Seriously, teachers’ union? Now you’re just making your members sound like lazy slackers (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
The union representing Portland Public Schools' teachers is proposing students spend Fridays learning remotely while educators host virtual office hours and plan for the coming week in order to address the high degree of variation in pupils' needs after more than a year of interrupted learning.
I won’t mention that it was the same union that insisted on the more than a year of remote, “interrupted” learning in the first place. Nor will I point out that you hardly need more time to “plan” the devolution of education in America; I think you’ve got it nailed.
But what the heck, why not give it a shot? Oregon schools currently rank 42 out of 50 in the top-performing school systems in America, why not go for the gold? Somebody has to be last.
And on the upside, who knows, it might turn out the kids can educate themselves better then their highly credentialed babysitters anyway.
“Okay you dumb clucks, why don’t you just go home to roost.”
You know, give a chicken a fish, he’ll eat for a day, teach him to fish and…
you’ve got your choice of fried chicken or fish for a lifetime.
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