Do not think about, write about or deal with human behavior without determining the effects of incentives.
from the book: Shadow Dancing
on the Grave of Hope:
What profession has used over 150 years of money, status, relentless propagandising about its importance and hushed worship to come up with methods so wrong their opposites are correct? This is the education system of North America and all because of the inevitably wrong incentives inherent in public endeavors.
These mistaken assumptions, already covered in detail in this blog, are as follows:
The Difference Between Teaching and Measuring
Students are constantly ranked.
The Curriculum
Couldn’t be worse unless it was designed to be worse. Even then…
No one has won, so all must have prizes
All teaching methods are pretty much the same.
Cumulative versus Random Skill Development
If there is a logic to this….
We’re Smarter Than Data–OR–We Don’t Have to Show You Any Stinkin’ Data–We Have Standards
The INTEND is so much more important than the DOES. Don’t ya know.
Student characteristics are so important that teaching is irrelevant
We’re not sure who the enemy is, probably capitalism, but we surrender to conditions beyond our control OR We can’t do anything until those pesky social justice situations are fixed.
Medication
It works with depression, so we know it will work for “learning problems”. What’s that, you say, it doesn’t really work very well with anything?
Higher order thinking skills
We talk about this all the time so we must be doing it.
Management
We can’t be bothered ensuring success so we’ll pretend we’re on top of things.
Textbook Creation–Inside the Sausage Factory
It’s not that they’re so bad, it’s just that they’re pathetic.
Problem Solving
We give random exercises and pretend we’re teaching something, but we’re really just ranking students.
Teaching by "consensus" methods
If you ask a bunch of failures to vote, you’ll get success.
Keeping a Journal
This sounds like a good idea so it must be.
Teacher responsibility for curriculum materials
Ask individuals to create something it takes experts years to do and the individuals aren’t experts.
Teacher Empowerment
Each teachers knows what’s best. All the schools of education say it’s true so it must be true.
Grades
We rank students, don’t we.
Psychological Assessment
This looks scientific so it must be.
Corruption and Inefficiency
We pretend this doesn’t happen so it doesn’t happen.
Tests and exams rarely test what is taught
Ambush is the name of the game.
Inborn teacher characteristics are more important than teaching methods
We give up trying to teach teachers how to be teachers so we’ll select them on the basis of….?
Special Education
We use the same failed methods and reduce expectations. That’s always worked.
Layman analysis of minute parts of a successful program
I haven’t a clue how to evaluate anything so I’ll let my opinions guide me.
Placing difficulties and important things about education in the brain OR dead men do bleed
It’s fun to pretend to know something.
Teaching as creating personality traits and\or transferable skills
We teach so much more than the curriculum.
Self-esteem
Nothing is more important.
The Project
Parents need practice in gluing and finding exotic materials.
Learning styles and/or learning strategies
Many children only learn on trampolines surrounded by an aquarium.
Systematic instruction is only necessary for low performing children
Smart ones learn on their own.
Academic success cannot be measured by standardized tests
But it can be measured by guessing and\or a priori knowledge.
Manipulatives
Counting stuff is so informative.
Whole Language
This looks so good, it must work.
Motivation
Silly games, cute characters and environmentalism are so important.
Constructivism
They’ll construct knowledge which has taken mere millennia to learn.
Developmentalism
You can’t interfere with, or teach, something which unfolds naturally.
Multiple Intelligences
Everyone has special skills so this forms a solid base for teaching.
Integrated Curriculum
We’ll teach everything at the same time.
The Teacher as Facilitator
The teacher is there just to help and observe. Teaching is so unseemly.
Spiral Curriculum
A little bit here, a little bit there, and it all adds up to a little bit.
Cooperative Learning
Just like real life, one person does almost all of it.
Invented Spelling
Everyone is always impressed by creative spelling.
Process, not results, oriented
We may not be doing anything useful, but we look really good doing it.
Immersion in a subject matter
Throw ‘em in the water. They’ll swim.
Designed for student satisfaction rather than accomplishment.
It’s import to make them happy by keeping them entertained.
Confusion about the Customer
The parent is the customer, not the student.
More money will result in better educational outcomes
Never worked yet, but I need that boat.
Relentless Indoctrination in the Politics of the Left
Never worked yet, but theory says it will.
Total 46
Cheerio and ttfn,
Grant Coulson
Cui Bono–Cherchez les Contingencies
