Last month the American Educational Research Association held a conference of more than 14,000 of the nation's education researchers. Frederick Hess reports on it in Chicanas from Outer Space.
It is scary. Mr. Hess reports on dozens of the topics educational researchers are investigating. Here is a sample:
"Na Wahine Mana: A Postcolonial Reading of Classroom Discourse on the Imperial Rescue of Oppressed Hawaiian Women"
"Every Shut Eye Ain't Sleep and Every Goodbye Ain't Gone: Paradoxes of Race in the Production of Political Knowledge of Decolonizing Nationhood"
"Written On, Written Over, but Refusing to be Written Off: Indigenous Educators Teaching in the Empire"
One educational researcher asserts that education research is "the hardest science of all." With titles like these I'm afraid public schools have no hope of ever getting better.
It is hard to catch the full force of Hess' column without reading it, so go read it.
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Technorati tags: educational research, Frederick M. Hess, Frederick Hess, American Educational Research Association, AERA
2 comments:
Henry, I think one of the other reasons public schools are in trouble is that they call this 'research' a science; let alone the "hardest science of all".
From a homeschooling perspective, when there has been this so called research, they haven't used a scientific method that I understand.
For instance,the National Center for Education Statistics (DOE)came up with this conclusion:
"From 1999 to 2003, the number of homeschooled students in the United States increased, as did the homeschooling rate. The increase in the homeschooling rate (from 1.7 percent to 2.2 percent) represents about 0.5 percent of the 2002–03 school-age population and a 29 percent relative increase over the 4-year period."
If I remember correctly, IL-for sure, TX, OK, Alaska, NJ? don't file letters of intent and aren't on any school 'books'. How could they possibly use this 'study' as any sort of viable research?
I guess there's scientific research and there's 'education research' and the two are not the same. One is trying to prove an idea and the other is justifying the idea. No wonder it's so hard.
This reminds me of a great post that was on EduWonk a while back regarding education jargon - and just goes to prove what a bunch of hogwash the whole "education science " arena is all about:
http://www.eduwonk.com/archives/2005_07_17_archive.html
Get Out Your Blenders and Drink Up!
First off, I wish to thank both the highly-qualified readers here, as well as Eduwonk himself, whom I consider to be one of the kings of higher-order thinking, for allowing me to rant, rave, and post my way to a new paradigm for a few days this week. (Drink, drink, and drink!) Seriously, it was a pleasure to get as much feedback as I got here this week.
As promised, here is a list of 24 jargony words to drink by. Special thanks to all of those who played along, and to all those who will hoist a few henceforth. The rules are simple: Each time you hear one of these often-used words from the education world, take a swig of whatever makes you happy. If you have no beverage (as often happens when these words come up) feel free to giggle, as long as you promise to do it in a manner that is completely condescending to those around you!
Eduwonk returns on Monday. In the mean time, get your glasses ready...
1. Rubric (Just try not to laugh the next time you hear it!)
2. Paradigm
3. Time-on-task
4. Incentivize
5. Dead white guys
6. Scaffold (as a verb)
7. Authentic learning
8. Differentiated instruction
9. Integrated learning
10. Constructivist
11. Balanced literacy
12. Highly qualified
13. Standards-based
14. Performance-based
15. Research-based
16. Scientifically-based
17. Self-directed learning (Sounds too much like something that causes hair to grow on palms.)
18. Developmentally-appropriate
19. Capacity building
20. Best practices (Mandatory group hugs, however, around anyone who uses the vernacular "stuff that works pretty good.")
21. Higher order thinking (I had a roommate in college who was really into higher order thinking. He is no longer able to produce children.)
22. Collaborate (Not unless pastries are served.)
23. Transparency (It doesn't really exist.)
24. Train wreck (When used to describe standards movement/NCLB, etc. )
-- Joe Williams
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