Eisner' Dewey Society Address

http://www.infed.org/biblio/eisner_arts_and_the_practice_of_education.htm

This article certainly provided some interesting insights!

Eisner made an excellent point on what educational leaders are looking for today. "We look for "best methods" as if they were independent of context; we do more testing than any nation on earth; we seek curriculum uniformity so parents can compare their schools with other schools, as if test scores were good proxies for the quality of education...Acheivement has triumped over inquiry." I would have to agree with him on this point. As we enter into ISTEP testing week, the schools are feeling the pressure to dow well enough on thetest to pass AYP. This one test is the benchmark on whether a school is considered an excellent school or a failing school.

As I read the six points Eisner made in his article I couldn't help thinking about what we are working with our students on and my conversation with my literacy facilitator as we examined some theird grade stories. Her response to the students about correct spelling and punctuation was, yes they were important, but getting your ideas on paper was more important. This comment obviously hit home because the writing from my third grade was phenomenal!. Eisner said "How can we help our students view their work as temporary experimental accomplishments, tentative resting places subject to further change?" Education is about taking tentative steps and experimenting with nrew concepts. This can be true of technology.

One use of technology that my tech coordinator and I have just worked out is the use of the document image camera. We were baffled by how we would make this work with the current set ups in the rooms, but we figured it out. When I stopped back in the room, the teacher andstudents were so excited because it opened up a new way for them to work as a group. Everyone could follow along with the work begin done as a group because it was projected on the big screen. It was exciting to watch them take this step together.

Overall, a very interesting article.