Week 1 Post: I'm a Flat Earther!
I am about to type some words I never thought I would say: I think I am a flat earther! Okay, well, not in the sense that I believe the world is flat, but I feel like Friedman has some very compelling points and is still relevant in today’s society.
I think that the web and web-based programs are evening the playing field. Last year when we taught fully online, our school purchased many web-based programs to allow for students to learn. In addition, we provided a Chromebook for all our students and hot spots if the students needed it. Students could then access school from anywhere: the contiguous U.S., other parent’s households, the beach, anywhere. Though I cannot say I am for 100% distance learning for all students, we provided the opportunity for students in a difficult time. Bostrom (2015) wrote about how collaboration is needed to create A.I. and that it would be complicated to do. However, with the ability to work across the globe simultaneously, this might be accomplished (which is a different conversation to have if we even what this!).
Based on the synopsis I read, I can relate to Friedman’s thoughts about the challenges/crisis faced by many. First, Friedman speaks about an ambition gap where many people in the West are lazy and entitled. I see this at my workplace all the time. Students do not do their work because they are lazy and lack work ethic, in my opinion. Many feel entitled and look down upon people in different positions than they might see themselves in. The entitlement and laziness lead to the following two issues: the numbers gap and the education gap. For the numbers gap, there are not enough homegrown engineers and scientists. I see this a lot, especially in the community that I work in. In the 2019 – 2020 school year, 27.3% of parents in the community had finished college, and 35.1% of parents had a high school education or less (School Status and Improvement Report, 2020). This makes it hard to “grow” engineers in the area because there is a lack of support in the community. Lastly, there is an education gap, where there are better skilled and more productive people outside of North America. This goes back to entitlement and laziness, as I do not feel students need to learn because it will be given to them. Do I have a solution? Not yet. Do I think it’s a problem? It is.
References
Bostrom, N. (2015, March). What happens when our computers get smarter than we are? [Video]. TED2015. https://www.ted.com/talks/nick_bostrom_what_happens_when_our_computers_get_smarter_than_we_are?language=en
School Status and Improvement Report. (2020). Kapolei Middle School. http://arch.k12.hi.us/reports/ssir?year=2020&entity=291
Hi Carli!
ReplyDeleteI hope you had a fun and restful summer! I enjoyed reading your post. It made me think of Friedman's parental advice and how it's different from the advice he received as a child. He now warns his daughters to finish their math homework rather than their dinner because people in China are starving for their jobs. As you mentioned, Friedman (2005) says there are better-skilled and more productive people in China and India than in North America. I know you say, you don't have a solution as this problem is complex. I wonder what can be done in American classrooms. Do you think teacher centered classrooms are part of the problem? Some students are waiting for directions, waiting for the answer to be given to them. I also wonder what is driving these low graduation rates for parents in your community. A study of first generation college students found that students with college-educated parents were more likely to enroll and graduate from college (Cataldi et al, n.d.).
Cataldi, E. F., Bennett, C. T., Chen, X. (n.d.). First-Generation Students College Access, Persistence,
and Postbachelor’s Outcomes. National Center for Education Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018421.pdf
Carli & Gaby,
DeleteThis is one of the points that stood out to me as well. As a parent of two daughters who are about to start school, I am wondering what I can do to be supportive of their learning. If there was some advice you could give to the parents of your students, to help the students be most successful, what would it be?
Hi Gaby and Cameron,
DeleteI do think teacher centered classes are part of the problem. Before I left the math classroom, I tried to make my class student centered. I did stations, which forced the students to "figure" things out on their own because I was focused on teaching one group of students. I also did "Ask three before me" to get the students to ask each other (at least three times) before asking me if they needed help. These two ways would start the process of stopping the reliance of me and started putting the reliance on themselves and others.
As for your point about college, that was one of the reasons I joined the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program at my school. I wanted to work with students to get them excited to go to college and help support their journey, especially if the students did not have parents who went to college. One of the questions on the application for the program is parental education and the less your parent has, the higher you score for the program. We really want to support students, especially if they do not have the support at home.
As for Cameron's question, I think I would suggest to my parents to not do the work for their child. There are many instances where we know the parent has done the work for the child. The child will not do the work at school because they know they can go home and their parent will finish it. Parents can help in the process but I do not like when parents do it all for the students. I know during the pandemic many parents would help their child off screen and provide them with the correct answer. This would be frustrating because the teachers could not help the students if the parents were there. The parents want perfection, but as I stated in my Twitter post, we need mistakes to learn from. If the parents do everything for the students, then they are becoming reliant on others and likely lazy since there is no need to finish their work. Gaby might have more to say, especially since she teaches at a younger level than I work with.
Thanks
Carli
Hi Cameron,
DeleteI agree with Carli's advice. Even for young students, it's important for them to do their own work. If parents do it for them, while well-intentioned of course, it sends the message that children are not capable. Students will build confidence if they do their own work.
Also, setting aside some time every night to read is important and also showing your kids that you like to read your own books. It sends the message that reading is enjoyable.
Not sure if your girls are starting kindergarten, but here's a quick link to some math activities you can do at home. https://www.dreambox.com/parent-tips-kindergarten.
I think the main thing is to show students that learning is fun and enjoyable. This enthusiasm for learning will serve them well in the classroom.
Take care,
Gaby
Carli & Gaby,
DeleteThat is very helpful! It is interesting that you mentioned helping them or doing the work for them. We recently started them in swim lessons. I found it hard to sit on the sideline and watch them not pay attention, be annoying, or do something wrong. It took every I had not to try and step in. My wife and I started to talk about this same principle. That they need to learn how to interact with people, fail, and do things on their own. Thanks for the advice, and I'll look into these other resources!
Thanks,
Cameron
Nice post! You are on the ground, but I wonder if it is entitlement and laziness as much as it is an evolving culture? An alternative viewpoint - https://www.huffpost.com/entry/us-public-schools-are-not-failing-theyre-among_b_5894e819e4b061551b3dfe51
ReplyDeleteThe US Dept of Ed has some good resources for STEM in schools - https://www.ed.gov/stem - but this Pew Research study also suggests we have a way to go - https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/04/14/6-facts-about-americas-stem-workforce-and-those-training-for-it/
Hi Dr. Watwood,
DeleteThanks for the articles. Though I do feel the students are becoming more entitled and lazy, I do not think public schools are failing our students. I honestly think think it comes from home and not the classroom (though I do agree we can do more to support STEM at appropriate grade levels and developmental ages and we could rely less on test scores to make decisions about how good our students are). As I responded to Cameron and Gaby, I think parents might not want their students to fail and that parents want their children to be perfect. This lack of failure or experience failing forces students to rely on others to get things done. According to a longitudinal study done by Robinson and Harris, middle school students might do worse when parents help them with their work, when parents meet frequently with staff members, and when parents choose classes for their children (Goldstein, 2014). It might be better for students to have some productive struggle, where students can develop grit and creative problem solving, instead of helping them (Blackburn, 2018).
References
Blackburn, B. (2018, December 13). Productive struggle is a learner's sweet spot. ASCD. https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/productive-struggle-is-a-learners-sweet-spot
Goldstein, D. (2014, April). Don't help your kids with their homework. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/04/and-dont-help-your-kids-with-their-homework/358636/
Enjoyed your post, Carli!
ReplyDeleteYou make excellent points about how the flat world played out for education during the pandemic. As an educator in the higher ed sphere, I had a similar experience. All classes were online, and people could join in for whatever location they found themselves at. This has the potential to increase competition even more in higher ed. It opens up all options of schools for students. However, we still see certain geographic areas lit up more with colleges and universities on the landscape.
One thing I noted during the pandemic that challenges the “world is flat theory”, was the students’ lack of internet access and available technology resources needed for remote education. I had a number of students that come from multigeneration housing situations, and many family members were sharing wifi which created bandwidth issues. They did not have the financial resources to increase internet speed. I also had students that could not afford the internet and tried to engage in synchronous classes through their phone data. Both of these situations did not set students up for success. I did not see a level playing field. Did you have any similar experiences?
Here is an interesting article about a study that showed students falling behind in math and reading during virtual learning. As students fall behind, I would think level playing field theory is challenged.
https://spectrumnews1.com/ky/louisville/news/2021/01/24/pandemic-learning-loss
Megan, good points! I found it interesting that in the past year, the man credited with inventing the internet - Sir Tim Berners-Lee, gave an address calling for internet access as a human right - https://webfoundation.org/2020/10/its-time-to-recognise-internet-access-as-a-human-right/
DeleteAnd this was seconded by the American Library Assoc - https://www.ala.org/aboutala/sites/ala.org.aboutala/files/content/Resolution%20in%20Support%20of%20Broadband%20as%20a%20Human%20Right%20FINAL.pdf
Dr. Watwood, super interesting links! Some of the stats included shows the disparity - 3.5 billion people without internet access, more men online than women, and 43% of Europeans do not have the necessary digital skills. To me, this says we are not a flat world but this can actually increase the disparities that exist in the world creating more spikes.
DeleteHi Megan. Hi Dr. Watwood.
DeleteOur school was able to purchase hotspots for those that needed internet access. Other islands and parts of O'ahu were able to provide wifi access with hot spots on school buses, which was particularly useful during the pandemic when the buses were not being used (https://www.khon2.com/coronavirus/wifi-on-wheels-mobile-wifi-vehicle-aims-to-close-the-digital-divide-for-west-oahu-students/). Though it might not have been a very level playing field, we did everything that we could to ensure students could learn.
I do think learning online is not for every student and it is learned skilled. Even as a student in college over 15 years ago, I took online classes, but I hated it. I did not like learning on my own, especially with a math class. I can see how skills diminished over the year, but I think it's in part because the students were not taught to learn online. To me, it is a completely different skill set when compared to learning in a school setting. I wonder if that was included in any research of why students struggled? I also do not feel online learning is appropriate for all ages and developments of learners. I think it was necessary for the time, but should not be the normal.
Hi Carli. Just learning how blogging works! That last comment was from Megan. :).
ReplyDeleteHi Carli,
ReplyDeleteGreat post this week! First of all, you are not alone in your position as I think I am too, a flat earther. I will probably say this a million times over the term we are in class together, but I believe the pandemic caused me to look at the world in a more level view.
I agree with you in your discussion that the web and web-based programs are responsible for leveling the working field. As you discussed the actions at your organization–Chromebooks for all students and hot spots for those in need, I began to think about how my organizations did the same for employees to continue working despite us transitioning permanently to remote work. Do you feel that your organization could invest more into digital clubs or educational programs to inspire more interest in low-support topics?
Hi Brandi!
DeleteThanks for your response. Yes, I do feel the education organization as a whole could invest more into digital clubs or educational programs. Our school was lucky to partner with the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa over the last few years. Some of our programming included Project BEAM (Be a Mathematician) where students were bussed to the college to do project based learning and this year, they are introducing a digital media class (Project Beam, n.d.). Weʻve also had Girls Who Code in the past, which is near and dear to my heart.
I do think, however, we could do more to support parents, students, and the community. Gaby had written in her blog that there was issues with parents not being able to help their students because they did not know the technology. I think it would be nice if the DOE provided more classes and supports for parents in that respect. Last year, we did have parent meetings where we taught them how to use Google Classroon and other platforms that we used to support the families. But, this was just our school and not state wide. We are doing a little, but there is more that can be done.
References
Project Beam (n.d.). Welcome to project beam. https://cds.coe.hawaii.edu/beam/
Hi Carli!
DeleteI’m really torn as I read your post and all of the responses.
There isn’t “one” answer to these problems.
First, my step daughter struggled horribly throughout the pandemic. To the point of a total meltdown which has required therapy and her failing 3 core classes last year. She’s a senior this year, but won’t graduate until she makes up those classes.
Someone, I think you, mentioned time management. Absolutely no one teaches children this concept, even though it is at the core of everything we do. Many parents don’t have a firm grasp of it either, which is probably why so many are stressed out, over worked and falling behind on at least two things on our lives.
If I had one piece of advice, it would be to teach children how to manage their time, and their finances, and their lives. Not doing your child’s work shouldn’t be advice, that should be a given! But if I had to guess, the reasons many parents do their children’s work is because they are so caught up in all of their extra-curricular activities, that the child doesn’t have the time necessary for them to learn and complete a project at their own speed.
I see that a few in this class are educators. I would encourage you to make and keep schedules in your classes. Be the first to introduce your students to time management tools. Even college students need this help. Look at this program… every class adheres to the same schedule, Thursday, Sunday. It’s that way for a reason; it’s a time management technique. Even us older folks need the repetition and deadlines.
Beth
Sorry, my second comment is that I don’t think laziness and entitlement is to blame for even the majority of students. The curriculums and teaching methods have changed so drastically I’ve the last 50 years, that many children are falling behind, especially in lower incomes areas where both parents work, or they are single parent households, and the children just don’t have the support that they need for all the required homework these days. I don’t ever remember having to complete as much homework as my kids have had to do. I’m curious what the demographics look like in your school systems. I’m from just outside of Baltimore City, and I can tell you I haven’t seen much entitlement going on in the schools around here.
DeleteBeth