Eric Mears, a teacher in a public high school in the South Bronx, complains that his high school seniors were required to read a pro-charter essay in a Houghton Mifflin textbook.
The essay, by Malcolm Gladwell, celebrated the work ethic in East Asian schools and at KIPP, while putting down the students’ neighborhood and school.
Mears wonders why Gladwell chooses East Asian schools as models for success instead of the schools of Finland.
He objects to the blatant pro-charter propaganda in the textbook.
He writes:
“I am a South Bronx public school teacher who is expected to teach my students that they must enroll in charter schools and leave “desultory” public schools, such as ours, if they wish to succeed.
“I, along with scores of other New York high school teachers, teach from a Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) Collections textbook whose introductory text is a pro-charter chapter from Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers. In it, Gladwell advances the stereotype that low-income U.S. students will only succeed if they study as hyper-industrious Japanese and South Korean students do. The text is unsuitable to teach because of its omissions and its failure to answer key counterarguments; even ones that it explicitly raises.”
The story is called “Marita’s Bargain.”
Her bargain is that she gives up her life in exchange for study.
“Gladwell…lauds a typical KIPP student, Marita, for completing so much schoolwork, including six extended days at KIPP and homework requirements, that she has little time to eat, sleep, or talk to her mother – let alone her friends. Thus is “Marita’s bargain.” She made the exceptional and costly choice of sacrificing her social life in favor of working like a “medical resident.””
The ideal of American childhood and schooling used to be “a well-rounded education.” That ideal made is the most successful nation in the world. Why sacrifice the health and well-being of a generation of children in pursuit of higher test scores? The tests themselves predict nothing about the future of a nation and they have so many inherent flaws that they should be used with care, not as a life goal.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“The text is unsuitable to teach because of its omissions and its failure to answer key counterarguments; even ones that it explicitly raises.”
But doesn’t teaching a text include pointing out (or helping students to realize) the weaknesses, omissions and failures of said text? Was there an explicit requirement that this text be “taught” uncritically? In fact, if that excerpt were taught critically, it would be a great introduction for the students who would then be on their guard the rest of the year (and the rest of their lives) looking for similar propaganda.
There is a lot more in this post that is troublesome, not just the dubious content.
Who “required” this textbook and this essay and why?
Were teachers in or out of the process of making those decisions?
Who controls the curriculum down to the specifics of reading assignments?
What were the educational reasons for making this a required reading assignment?
Was there a comparative essay that quested the content and claims of Gladwell?
Hello Dienne and Laura,
You both make excellent points, so let me address them:
1) HMH’s support that it provides to schools includes a pacing guide and questions for every reading. You can be sure that I devised my own set of questions that compelled my students to think very critically about Gladwell’s ideas, omissions, and assumptions. The first time that I taught this lesson (2015), I did so expecting to teach every text in the book, in accordance with HMH’s resources (time constraints made this impossible).
2) You may judge for yourself whether HMH’s scripted questions (page 15 in the attached document) encourage problem-posing.
Click to access maritas_bargain.pdf
3) I taught this text, last year, too – in large part because of the points that Dienne raises. My students did find it rewarding and authentic to critically read a text that covers their community in such a flawed and problematic way.
4) The other reason, however, that I felt compelled to teach this text last year is because, as the first text in a textbook that I use throughout the year, it needs to be addressed. In prominent letters, the words “Just over ten years into its existence, KIPP has become one of the most desirable public schools in New York City” appear on page 5, and my students cannot fail to miss this and be curious about it. After all, my students meet and interact with the KIPP students that they see on the Grand Concourse.
5) I agree, however, with another commenter that Gladwell’s work is junk analysis, and does not belong in any textbook. That is why, in my Counterpunch piece, I attempted to focus on the substance of Gladwell’s work, as opposed to its political incorrectness.
6) HMH does not provide any “counter-text” that might cast Gladwell’s piece in a different light. Indeed, my need to create such a text encouraged me to write the Counterpunch piece.
7) As for my administrators – they are hardworking, earnest, and respectful of me and my academic freedom. They do expect us ELA teachers to use HMH’s resources. But they did not exactly compel me to teach Gladwell’s text – at least not more than any other HMH text.
8) As excellent as most other NYC ELA teachers are, few are as attuned to the education reform movement and its biases as I am. (Not all of them read Chomsky and Ravitch, and submit articles to Counterpunch.) Not all of them, therefore, are as equipped as I am to “push back” against Gladwell.
9) I am ambivalent about whether to teach this text in September. On one hand, it provides an opportunity to problem-pose. On the other hand, it is junk analysis and unfairly insulting to my students, the South Bronx community, and its schools. If this text did not appear on page 3 of the textbook that I teach from, however, I would not teach it or anything like it; not in 100 years.
Thank you for taking interest in my piece. And thanks for your comments!
Erik Mears
The charter cheerleaders fail to mention that Singapore, Japan and Korea have extra tutoring and cram schools after the regular school day. They are separate from the actual public schools. Singapore is an authoritarian society that still has corporal punishment for the male students. NOT a model to be copied. Finland is the model to be looking to for ideas. I believe that Finnish schools do not even assign homework and testing is at a minimum.
Yup and with all that we have to look no further than Roslyn NY to see a Nation(LOL) competitive with the Nation of Shanghai (LOL) . Roslyn does by wealth what Shanghai does by the hukou . Essentially excluding the same cohorts . As Eva et-al does by selectivity and expulsion. But the students in Roslyn don’t have a high suicide rate. Though many may have the advantage of highly educated parents, . I doubt many go for 6hrs of tutoring daily .
But further than that as Larry Summers has stated, ” we could train a whole lot of people to take the jobs of those that already have jobs . You may be whistling past the grave yard .”
. Or as Krugman has stated . ” what will happen to us if, like so many students, we go deep into debt to acquire the skills we’re told we need, only to learn that the economy no longer wants those skills?
Education, then, is no longer the answer to rising inequality, if it ever was (which I doubt).”
Or as Diane Ravitch has stated repeatedly .
“The ideal of American childhood and schooling used to be “a well-rounded education.” That ideal made us the most successful nation in the world. “
I know an ESL teacher in New Jersey that made more money tutoring Koreans than she made from her public school teaching. Many Asians believe that tutoring will give their child an advantage so they spend a lot of money on it.
retired teacher
6hrs a day, 5 days a week ,from intermediate school on . I think not .
My math talented son with a 760 on his math SAT no prep had an English tutor that brought his English Sat score to the upper 600 range, after a mediocre score on the PSAT in English.. His friend used the same tutor to enable entrance into Harvard. That is American style tutoring.that gives the affluent a leg up . Making tests unfair and a reflection of income status.
I doubt we are talking about East Asian style tutoring for the children in Roslyn where only 15% are Asian . If the parents could afford that private tutor 30 hrs a week they would do better just investing in an S&P index fund than sending the kid to Harvard.
Demographics Roslyn
White 76%
Black 3%
Asian 15%
Hispanic 6%
Students receiving free lunches 7%
Students receiving reduced-price lunches 3%
Limited English proficient students 2%
And once those Asians get into college they’re done. Goal realized! Hard work over!
I taught my kids to do their best not to please their teachers but to please themselves. The old Puritan Ethic! However, they realized the value of team work through various sports organizations (including a baton corps) where if one member doesn’t perform, the whole group is penalized. This philosophy is so much better than “what’s in it for me”.
I’m proud of my kids. Thank you Miss Gail.
flos56,
The baton/sports groups you describe remind me of Soviet education Urie Bronfenbrenner described in Two Worlds of Childhood: US & USSR c1970
Competition is a universal concept. While it’s nice to win,
losing has its positive aspects as well, especially if it leads to
Graciousness in defeat (as well as further effort for the next event).
There’s also a bit of crying involved. I call it true character building.
Malcolm Gladwell is awful. It’s junk. They shouldn’t be putting junk in textbooks regardless of the subject.
Well, I’m not sure it matters. Public school students hear the same thing from the US Department of Education and half their state lawmakers.
They get a steady diet of “public schools suck”.
As a public school parent who wants their child to treat teachers respectfully I always wondered if kids get a mixed message from ed reform politicians, who are busy telling them their teachers are lazy, selfish and poorly-educated.
According to Betsy DeVos every public school student in the country is headed directly to prison.
It’s ludicrous.
Great comment.
I have been saying the same thing for more than a decade. Students hear and read “Corporation xyz is an industry leader, CEO xyz is a thought leader…” AND “…the US education system is crap….”
No wonder so many students drop out. Who wants to be with the losers?
I taught in a South Bronx School and the charter system near me lacked a lot of tech, social and real life experiences. My kids did well within different households. That is America. Diversity saved us.
Here’s a typical speech out of the US Department of Education:
“Let me tell you about Michael, who attends Valencia College in Florida.
Michael grew up in a rough and tumble neighborhood in East Hartford, Connecticut. Michael knew he was failing in high school, but he continued to be passed along.
He went on to serve in Afghanistan, and is now married with three young daughters. He found work as a bell man at a hotel. But, one day his wife asked, “Is this the kind of work you want to do for the rest of your life?”
With some soul-searching and encouragement from his wife, Michael enrolled at Valencia.
Today, he is an honors student. He’s wrapping up pre-requisite courses for nursing, and hopes to work in an emergency room. It’s not news to anyone here that health care is a high-demand field with family-supporting wages and endless opportunities to grow.
Community colleges give students like Michael a new lease on life. I’m sure many of you can think of the Michaels on your campuses right now.”
Now, unlike Betsy DeVos I went to a community college. Community colleges are full of good students who came out of public schools. She may not know that having attended private school her entire life but it is in fact true.
But she doesn’t mention them. She uses one of her favorite “public schools suck” anecdotes to push her agenda.
It’s really outrageous. They work 24/7 to denigrate public schools and they’re all public employees. It’s a ridiculous state of affairs but they’re so far into this bubble they don’t even see it.
The Department of Education wasn’t always cheerleading for religious schools and charters. I’m willing to bet that 90% of the employees went to public schools, like the population.
This is DeVos.
“This is DeVos.”
Yes, as it was Duncan and King before that. And probably before that too, but I (stupidly) didn’t start paying attention to education issues until I had my own kids. DeVos is just a logical extension of what’s gone before.
Gladwell is cut from the same cloth as Freakonomics’ Steven Levitt.
Gladwell once wrote in The New Yorker that anyone with a pulse could be a teacher.
He earns more for one lecture than many teachers are paid for a year.
Reviews of Gladwell’s writings (1) “stories firmly sculpted into shapes” of bias (2) “Toxically simplistic”
(3) “I thought that once you’ve been a Big Tobacco shill, you really can’t sink any lower. I was wrong- there’s Gladwell’s revisionist history that slights the civil rights movement…common in the fever-swamps of the racist right.”
Steven Dubner interviewed Gladwell on a recent episode of Freakonomics Radio. Dubner and a Scandinavian scientist challenged Gladwell’s account of the importance of long practice for attaining expertise. Gladwell’s arguments struck me as very weak, and he came off as a pompous jerk. He revealed that William Buckley had been his role model –the influence is apparent.
Dubner shares the Freakonomics blog with Steven Levitt. Levitt is on the board of a charter school. If you read a number of the blog posts, like “Levitt and (Roland) Fryer Go Ghetto”, you may form the same impression I have which is that it is extreme right wing.
Freakonomics posted about the pension research of alarmist Joshua Rauh. Rauh is now at SIEPRE, which is disparaging called, the Stanford Institute for the Evisceration of People’s Retirement.
Both Levitt and Rauh are products of MIT’s econ dept. Levitt is a professor at the free market bastion, University of Chicago.
The funniest part of the whole thing is public schools are the CUSTOMERS of textbook publishers. They buy VASTLY more books than the charter schools they’re pushing.
Doesn’t matter.
It’s like how these tech moguls have second careers bashing public schools while at the same time selling them billions of dollars worth of devices and programs,.
We’re good enough to buy their stuff, apparently! As a MARKET they adore our schools.
Answer: To promote PROPAGANDA!
Beat me to it, Yvonne. It’s corporate propaganda brought by corporations. An older textbook California used to require had an article heaping praise on Bill Gates. The new Schoology grade book site required in Los Angeles has ads for Microsoft products. One hand washing the other.
In a roundabout way I am reminded of how our city’s poorest schools where kids struggle with hunger and malnutrition are so often partially funded by Pepsi/Coke and other corporations selling chips/candy. Junk food machines abound in the name of “helping” schools.
Propaganda and censorship go hand-in-hand.
Let’s leave aside for a moment the concept of a well rounded childhood and explore the concept of family. I didn’t have children in order to have them spend sixteen hours a day studying. I want to spend time with my kids and even though they are adults we regularly get together. In fact, as I write this we are all on vacation in a rented house on Seneca Lake in New York State – all four kids and grandkids – spending quality time together.
I used to resent the amount of homework the teachers assigned when they were growing up which took away from the small amount of the evening we could sit together, chill, and watch TV or play a game. I would never have expected them to spend their free time with even more studies instead of playing sports or participating in other activities or simply hanging out with their friends.
Sorry, excessive studying is not a lifestyle I’d wish on my worst enemy. Plus I’m wondering how this sort of pressure will impact their lives as adults. Put me down for a “no thanks”.
Reblogged this on Crazy Normal – the Classroom Exposé and commented:
This is the choice the FOR-PROFIT corporate reformers of public education are offering our children. Send your child to a corporate charter school and expect that child to give up his or her social life (that includes being a member of your family) starting in kindergarten at age FIVE to end up long hours like a university medical student does.
There are many reading comprehensions that are pro and anti something. It’s one of the reasons why testing companies refuse to release test questions.
Yes, but mostly, they want to recycle items (saves development costs), and they don’t want their items subjected to critical scrutiny.
Usually wrong. Quality reading passages favor good citizenship, fairness, etc., not favoritism of products for sale.
Please pardon my failure to edit for grammar, capitalization, and punctuation. That should have been:
Usually Wrong,
Quality reading passages favor good citizenship, fairness, etc., not products for sale.
I’ve been commenting on that Gladwell chapter for years. Here’s the big issue to me: Gladwell’s actual premise is that the simple fact that the KIPP day and school year are longer is the magical miracle secret sauce to achieving high test scores. Yet he interviews the fourth-grader and quotes her. I have to paraphrase since I’ve lent my copy of “Outliers” out, but she tells him that when she first enrolled at the KIPP school, the principal scared her to death by warning her how much work it would be — as I recall, the girl says she was nearly in tears and nearly decided not to enroll. (This is called intake counseling.) Then the girl says she urges her friends from her old school to transfer to KIPP, but they say no because they’ve heard it’s such hard work.
So that’s part of the KIPP screening that we know exists. And if the KIPP school has higher test scores, Gladwell has revealed the reason — the screening/self-selection process — even as he purports to show that there’s a simple magical secret. (We actually know the longer school day and year do not have that magical effect in other cases.)
lol? or “so sad”?
Sent from my iPhone
Gladwell is pseudo intellectual junk food. He also wrote the term “eigenvalue” as “igon value.”
This is now known as the “Igon Value Problem” to describe journalists’ lack of knowledge about topics they write about.
For more info, see here
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Igon_Value_Problem
As a matter of principle, the KIPP cheerleading is obnoxious and inappropriate. As a practical matter, it presents a teachable moment. Use it as an opportunity to debunk the claims, and help students think more critically about what gets included in textbooks, and why.
I thought the point of reading academic essays was to teach kids to look at different points of view and notice bias and things of that nature? We don’t want to become one sided where only our own opinions matter.