A Textbook Example of What's Wrong with Education
A former schoolbook editor parses the politics of educational publishing.by Tamim Ansary
var addthis_options = 'delicious, digg, facebook, google, reddit, stumbleupon, twitter, more';
Print
Forward
addthis_pub = 'glef';
Share
Comments(38)
Comment RSS
Click to enlarge pictureThe Muddle Machine Credit: Monte Wolverton
Some years ago, I signed on as an editor at a major publisher of elementary school and high school textbooks, filled with the idealistic belief that I'd be working with equally idealistic authors to create books that would excite teachers and fill young minds with Big Ideas.
Not so.
I got a hint of things to come when I overheard my boss lamenting, "The books are done and we still don't have an author! I must sign someone today!"
Every time a friend with kids in school tells me textbooks are too generic, I think back to that moment. "Who writes these things?" people ask me. I have to tell them, without a hint of irony, "No one." It's symptomatic of the whole muddled mess that is the $4.3 billion textbook business.
Textbooks are a core part of the curriculum, as crucial to the teacher as a blueprint is to a carpenter, so one might assume they are conceived, researched, written, and published as unique contributions to advancing knowledge.
Group items tagged
https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monograph_reports/2006/MR660.pdf - 20 views
-
This study gives scientific investigations with the assessment scoring guides. The blueprint for each task is included and the goal is to engage student in more hands on activities.
Education Quality - Success for Every Student - 5 views
-
This work was developed over a two-year period by the Vermont Superintendents Association to define a quality education - see the attachment at the bottom of the page. The work is a synthesis of Vermont progressive education thinking mapped to a contemporary design blueprint. It is intended to inform educational leaders and other interested parties in how to move forward in the post NCLBA era.
One to One Computing Blueprint - 0 views
-
The Chief Technology Officer of Illinois' Niles Township High Schools offers advice based on year one of his district's netbook program.
OPINION: Give Educators the Drawing Board | EdSurge News - 18 views
-
"Based on suggestions from teacher-leaders across the country, here is a blueprint for how teachers can become major stakeholders in edtech conventions"
One to One Computing Blueprint - 0 views
-
The Stillwater Area Public Schools began their laptop initiative in November of 2003. At that time, each teacher at Stillwater Junior High School (SJHS) and Oak-Land Junior High School (OLJHS) received a laptop and began a program of professional development focused on increasing teachers' knowledge and skills related to using the laptops and integrating technology into their curriculum. Students at both schools received laptops in the spring of 2004. High school students had their own laptop in a one-to-one program that allowed computers to be taken home. The junior high used mobile laptop carts, offering a 3:1 student-to-laptop ratio. Both schools made wireless Internet access available throughout their buildings and offered students and parents online access to course assignments and grades.
Transforming Curriculum in the Technology-Rich Classroom - 0 views
-
Archived resources from the presentation - audio and slides.
A Textbook Example of What's Wrong with Education | Edutopia - 0 views
-
-
I have worked as an editor for an educational publisher myself and, let me tell you, a lot of this sounds really familiar!
-
csessums.com » Blog Archive » A New Role for Colleges of Education: Developin... - 21 views
-
If schools are to become intelligent communities, then we need to spend more time exploring how we come to know one another and how we can foster healthy public debate instead of unhealthy public disparagement.
-
A college of education can do more than offer pedagogical blueprints. It can instead offer strategies, tactics, and forums for designing a sustainable future. Such a focus would require some retooling and rethinking but clearly the time to act is now.
-
"Without sounding too obvious, the critical exploration of the values and norms that have shaped our world is essential to the continued progress of humankind. In a new video offered by RSA Animate, Matthew Taylor explores the meaning of 21st century enlightenment.."
STEM | K-12 Blueprint - 37 views
10 Digital Citizenship Resources | K-12 Blueprint - 39 views
1 - 13 of 13
Showing 20▼ items per page