1.) Chapter 5: Beware of the Standards, Not Just the Test
Art Journal Photo:
There! I like that a little better.
My Thoughts:
Is it possible to agree and disagree at the same time? Picking this article, I was intrigued since I have issues with our current standards. But as I started reading, I thought I might not agree with Kohn's premise for this article. I have seen standards been extremely helpful in the art room. However, I am also seeing the importance placed in the testing of these standards turn them into something detrimental to the learning in the classroom. Now keep in mind I am speaking from my experiences, which take place in the secondary art room which is different than courses such as ELA or Math that are core subjects and treated differently because of their testing requirements.
I noticed in the first page of reading Kohn says that warnings were raised early in the days of championing standardized testing. (yes, everyone freaked out when NCLB was enacted) Many experts I align my thinking with were mentioned as being alarm ringers, but then this quote stood out: "the field seems to have closed ranks around the idea that it is permissible to criticize tests, but not the standards." Kohn goes on to point out that the tests and the standards are linked, that we can't endorse one without keeping in mind the other. That the tests are the enforcers of the standards, and that standards might be as big of a problem as the tests. The explanation of the difference between OUTCOME based standards and CONTENT based standards was helpful. I had missed that nuance as a beginning teacher during all this. I am picking up through other research that the more outcome based standards were rejected, where the content based standards were more easily accepted.
I felt better as Kohn went on to say that we should not just accept or dismiss standards uncritically. That we need to judge them by a set of four criteria: How specific are the standards; How quantifiable; How uniform; and are these standards Guidelines or Mandates? {I keep thinking here of our little role defining lesson this summer - Are you a leader, a rule follower, or a rule breaker? I'm a good blend of all three which I think is what might make me the leader archetype. And why I felt comforted when what I was reading I could agree with.} As I was reading I also kept thinking of the difference between our Missouri Fine Art GLE's and our previous National Standards. I liked the way the National Standards were phrased to allow for open ended interpretation (and more skills that were unquantifiable) but they were also frustrating for me in their ambiguity. It seemed the more ambiguous, the less my colleagues wanted to discuss or think about what that would mean for us as teachers and how that would affect our students. In my mind, my school of 6 art teachers needed to be somewhat on the same page since we would often be teaching the same students at different points in their art development. If we could come together, play up each of our strengths and come together on an end game, we could work well as a team and really do our students some good. I'm digressing a bit though.
I still think that the over emphasis on our current accepted form of assessment is what is harmful in developing standards-based learning. Using those 4 criteria above, we can use standards to guide our instruction while still allowing for flexibility and differentiation that will meet each students' developmental needs. As I started to think about my district's move towards more stringent standards and their implementation, it made me wonder about when this article was written. Was it predicting the future or was it documenting the present? It was amazing to me to learn that it was written in 1999. '99!! That is almost 15 years ago! Back in a time when I felt standards were doing some good. It seems like it took until 2009 for people in my district to start to use standards in the negative way Kohn outlines, and for people to start to balk. I'm curious how Kohn's outlook has changed since he wrote this and what he seen change. I wonder what he would say about the Common Core movement. I wonder if he would dismiss it out of hand as another poor example of how standards based education is detrimental to student learning. Or how it would stack up in his mind to his four criteria. Like most of what I see in education, each district, each teacher, each student is different. What works in some cases, won't in others. Seems we could do to remember that across the board.
2.) Chapter 14: A Fresh Look at Abraham Maslow
Art Journal Photo:
My art journal reflects the dual nature of Maslow's research, opinions, and personal behavior. He was known for a life of paradoxes. He studied first abnormal psychology, then turned to the study of healthy people. He underwent psychoanalysis for years, yet developed another force in psychology that repudiated behaviorism and psychoanalysis. He was a man both gentile and intolerant, timid and arrogant. "Paradox was a hallmark of his theories as well as his life." It also references his contribution to psychology and many other fields through his hierarchy of needs pyramid. This article's exploration of extrinsic and intrinsic needs is represented in the representation of left vs right brain, the metaphor of mental exercise.
My Thoughts:
This was a tough read. I am interested in Maslow's psychology research and how it pertains to education and pedagogy. I've always thought it overlaps a lot of my constructivist beliefs. However, reading Kohn's Fresh Look at Abraham Maslow, I was struck by the statement, "Progressive educators may be attracted both to Maslow's humanism and to a constructivist understanding of learning, but it is important to acknowledge that the two can not be entirely reconciled." Honestly, I need to give this another read focusing on this piece, but in my initial read (and re-reads) I could not reconcile this statement in order to make sense of it. I kept going back to the opening which discussed Maslow's life of duality and contradictions. I chalked this up to another example of this contradiction of beliefs.
I was also struck by the section discussing Maslow's education beliefs, notably his dismay at the prevailing preoccupation with "means, i.e. grades, degrees, credits, diplomas; rather than the ends, i.e. wisdom, understanding, good judgment, good taste" (1970, p.282). The discussion of extrinsic versus intrinsic rewards seemed very familiar to our own conversations in this class and our other class discussions. It also truly seems to align with many art teachers beliefs about performance in art. Although the reading was short, it was dense in content. The last sentence really capturing the complex nature and yet simple message of this article, "We might take issue with any number of his ideas while still finding his conception of human potential a basis for lively discussion and a source of energy and inspiration."
COMMENTS:
From Amy Ruopp:
Well, I wish I could just sit and discuss all this over dinner. You've addressed so much with your reflection that Im not sure where to start! So I will start with your ending; "What works in some cases, wont in others. Seems we could do well to remember that across the board". While agree I with this statement, I also wonder what is meant by "works". (Just me pondering here, not challenging) Sometimes what is working is familairity, or comfort. As experienced teachers we can beome complacent if we are not in a continuous state of reflection. I am guilty of that from time to time. Its kind of like tennis, my opponent is always moving and if I stay in the same place hitting the ball a similiar way every time I'M going to miss. Me, the teacher.
Standards... I generally have found them to miss the mark and be limited (at least last time I looked at them, I am more intrigued with the new arts standards... they leave lots of room for creative spontinaiety) As they are now, they are ok launching points, but I have often found my elementary kids can do what the standards state a middle schooler should be learning and my middles are well beyond that. SO, for me they are nothing more than launching points. The same holds true for Literature as well as the other acedemics.
I realize this is an absurd ponder, but I wonder what would happen if all the standards dissapeared and educators were left to thier own devices? Do you think they would rise to the occassion and forge an amazing new path with their kids, respond to them and devise a program that really meets their needs? Are the standards there more for teachers than for students? DO the standards prevent deeper relating from occuring? I wonder wonder..... ps.... I love your page too! All the pieces, the sewing etc.
My Reply:
Alright, dinner it is. See you in June? ;)
I like your tennis analogy. I have found that to be true of my practice too. When I get too comfortable with what works for me, all of a sudden doesn't work for my students. Here's another comparison, we are like sharks that have to keep moving otherwise we can not sustain ourselves and can no longer breathe. I think we need to be aware that as educators we are not isolated ("no man is an island!") but are working with others and we need to respond to others, affecting and being affected by each other.
Standards...agree. What was interesting to me was when I first started teaching we weren't held to any standards and, in my opinion, the kids were sometimes worse off for it. It completely depended on the teacher. My partner teacher (at middle school) was very much into the practice of gluing - gluing glitter, gluing noodles, gluing wooden beads, popsicle sticks, pipecleaners, and on and on. It didn't seem to inspire her students to keep taking art and decimated the program. Once the standards were introduced, it got a bit better becuase she was held to a common minimal standard. But like you said, I always saw it as a minimum point to get to, not a high standard.
So, yes. It does kind of seem like standards are there more for the teacher than the student. I wonder what it would like if students wrote the standards? Hmmm....
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