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Bookshelf: Pasi Sahlberg’s “FinnishEd Leadership: Four Big, Inexpensive Ideas to Transform Education”

By dianeravitch
October 3, 2017 //
10

The first thing to say about Pai Sahlberg is that you should read his superb book “Finnish Lessons.” It is the living evidence that we in the U.S. have lost our way. After reading that book, I had the chance to visit Finland for a few days, and the luck to have Pasi as my guide. Imagine a country whose schools have no standardized testing, where teachers are trusted and well prepared, where schools are architecturally impressive, where the emphasis is on the well-bring of children, not test scores; where creativity and the arts are encouraged; where all education, including graduate school, is tuition-free.

I will assume you have read that book. Now you should read Pasi’s short book of advice for education leaders, which elaborates on four ideas. They seem simple, even obvious, but they are not.

Here is Pasi presenting in a small session at Teachers College, Columbia University, just a week or two ago.

The first big idea is that all children should have ample time for unstructured play. In Finland, every hour includes 15 minutes of recess. This not only gives children a break, it gives teachers a break.

The second big idea is that small data, the information gathered by teacher observations, has more value than Big Data, the collection and analysis of large quantities of information that often invades privacy and typically provides correlations, not causation.

The third big idea is the importance of equitable funding, sending money where it is needed most.

The fourth big idea is to beware of urban legends about Finland. Finland, for example, does not recruit the best and the brightest into teaching. It selects those with the strongest commitment to the life of a teacher. There is no Teach for Finland.

It is a short book. Only about 90 pages. It is refreshing. It will remind you about what matters most. Clears away the foggy thinking that is now common among our political leaders.

Categories Creativity, Data, Equity, International, Play

William Doyle: Yes, There is a Finnish-Style Public Elementary School in New York

By dianeravitch
October 3, 2017 //
31

William Doyle was a Fulbright Scholar in Finland, and his child attended the local school. When Doyle returned to New Tork City, he went in search of a Finnish-style public school and found it. It is called The Earth School.

“My child now goes to PS 364, also known as the Earth School, a little-known gem of a public K-5 elementary in the East Village.

“The student population is some 50% black and Latino children. Half the students qualify for free and reduced priced lunch, and 23% of students receive special education services.

“If American teachers built a school, instead of politicians and bureaucrats, it would look a lot like this. Founded as an experimental program in 1992 by a group of New York City teachers who wanted, in the words of the school’s website, “to create a peaceful, nurturing place to stimulate learning in all realms of child development, intellectual, social, emotional and physical,” the Earth School is guided by the values of “hands-on exploration, an arts-rich curriculum, responsible stewardship of the Earth’s resources, harmonious resolution of conflict and parent-teacher partnership.”

“While “working rigorously in literacy and math” the students are encouraged “to explore, experiment, and even sometimes make a mess in the pursuit of learning.”

“The atmosphere of the school is one of warmth and safety. Teacher experience is prized here — the principal, Abbe Futterman, was one of the founding teachers of the school a quarter-century ago, and many other staff members have worked here for at least five or 10 years.

“Children at the school are assessed every day, not primarily by standardized tests — the majority of parents opt their kids out of state exams — but by certified, professional childhood educators who provide the ultimate in “personalized instruction”: the flesh-and-blood kind.

“Children at the school learn in part through play in the early years. They are encouraged to ask challenging questions and think for themselves. They are encouraged toto be creative and compassionate, and to make their own decisions. Children get unstructured, free-play outdoor recess in the big play yard most days.

“Like employees at Google who are given 20% of their time to devote to projects of their own choice, children are given a free afternoon every week to pursue their own self-chosen “passion projects.”

“In a striking innovation I especially appreciate, parents are actually invited into the school and directly into the classrooms for the morning drop-off, and given a room in the heart of the schoo, to relax, chat and plan much-needed school fundraisers.

“The school is not perfect, and it is not for everybody. If you’re looking for universal iPads, data walls, digital learning badges or boot-camp behavior modification in your child’s classroom, you won’t find them here.

“But somehow, this oasis of child-centered, evidence-based childhood education has managed to survive and flourish for a quarter-century in the heart of the New York City public school system.“

If it can happen in New York City, it can happen everywhere. If we ever get over our love affair with testing, anything is possible. Even a normal childhood.

Categories Childhood, New York City, Play, Real Education

Nancy Bailey: Children Need Toys More Than They Need iPads

By dianeravitch
September 23, 2017 //
30

Nancy Bailey is disturbed to see that Toys R’Us is in bankruptcy, and that media report that children prefer electronic devices to toys.

I usually find Nancy spot on, but I have a small disagreement. On the few occasions I went in to Toys R’Us to find a gift for a grandchild, I couldn’t find toys, just electronic devices or boxes. I won’t miss Toys R’Us.

I recall a birthday party for my third grandson, probably when he was 7. When it was over, he was disappointed that everyone had brought what he called “boxes.” That meant prepackaged stuff.

I don’t want to make a gross generalization, which I just did. But I think he wanted real toys. The kind of toys that Nancy writes about.

Think of your favorite toy, as she suggests. If you can remember. For me, it was a baseball or basketball. A book. I longed to have a real leather baseball glove. Clay that I could shape into different things. My sister collected dolls dressed in the clothing of other cultures. We used Mama’s pots and pans to bang drums.

The really fun toys are the ones that allow you to play or imagine. Not the prepackaged boxes.

My grandson, who will be 11 on Monday, loves stuffed animals (still). He has an iPad, and we play Words with Friends. He loves to read. He loves to read about science and history. He likes to build things with Lego blocks. He likes to take toy knights and build castles and invent games for them.

Free the children’s minds.

Categories Play

Ariela Rosen: A Whisper in an Age of Shouting

By dianeravitch
August 27, 2017 //
5

Ariela Rosen is a high school senior in a public school in New York City. She wrote a beautiful article that was published on the op-ed page of the New York Times.

It is the story of a man you have never heard of: Charles Stover. There is a bench in Central Park in New York City dedicated to him. But only a bench.

She writes:

“Under his name a simple inscription proclaims him “Founder of Outdoor Playgrounds.” When I read that for the first time, I laughed. How could one person be the founder of playgrounds? And shouldn’t he get more than a bench?

“Even more absurd was what I found when I looked him up. His Wikipedia page was barely two paragraphs long and made no mention of playgrounds at all. The article mainly concerned the day in 1913 that Stover, after three years as New York City’s parks commissioner, went out to lunch … and didn’t come back. For 39 days.

“Naturally, this made me more than a little curious about the man. I’ve been looking for him ever since.

“The first thing I discovered was that almost nobody — not my parents, not my high-school teachers — knew who Stover was. This seemed strange to me because he was an enormously important figure. In 1886 he was a co-founder of the University Settlement House — the first settlement house in the United States — from which he spearheaded the growing reform movement in New York City. Stover was also involved in efforts to preserve Central Park and develop more parks and playgrounds in poor neighborhoods. In 1898 he founded, together with Lillian Wald, the Outdoor Recreation League, which sponsored the construction of playgrounds as a substitute for unsupervised street play. As parks commissioner, Stover created the Bureau of Recreation, which built dozens of playgrounds in its first three years, including DeWitt Clinton Park, Seward Park and Jacob Riis Park….”

“When Stover died in 1929, he left only a few books and papers, but his legacy went far beyond his possessions. He spent his time and money providing playgrounds, gardens, housing and other services for poor immigrant children and their families, all the while battling his depression…

“Stover believed — and his life proves — that it is possible to make a difference in the world without yelling. It is easy to get caught up in the shouting of politicians, or to want simply to walk away from it all. That is why it is more important than ever to listen to the stories of those around us.

“I plan to go on looking for Stover, but his bench has already taught me an important lesson: Sometimes the most powerful words are the ones that are whispered.”

What a lovely essay.

Ariela Rosen roused my curiosity, so I checked Stover’s Wikipedia entry. It was five paragraphs long.

It reads:

“Stover was born in Riegelsville, Pennsylvania, on July 14, 1861. He attended Lafayette College and graduated in 1881. He studied to become a Presbyterian minister at the Union Theological Seminary and graduated in 1884. He also took classes at the University of Berlin, before moving to Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

“In 1886, Stover founded the Neighborhood Guild on Forsyth Street, the first settlement house in the United States. In 1898, he and Lillian Wald, director of the nearby Henry Street Settlement, founded the Outdoor Recreation League (ORL), whose mission was to provide play spaces and organize games for the children of the densely populated Lower East Side. The ORL opened nine privately sponsored playgrounds and advocated that the City itself build and operate playgrounds. In 1902 the City assumed the operation of the ORL playgrounds, and in 1903 opened what is presumed to be the first municipally built playground in the nation, Seward Park in Manhattan’s Lower East Side; the ORL had opened an outdoor gymnasium there in May 1899, on city-owned land.

“In January 1910, Stover was named parks commissioner for Manhattan by New York City’s newly-elected mayor, William Jay Gaynor. Stover’s tenure was controversial; in July 1911 The New York Times reported that he was being asked to hand in his resignation. He did not resign and was not fired; in August 1911 he announced major plans were underway for Central Park and Riverside Drive Park. In April 1913 Stover said “I do not believe in the policy that the parks are merely places people to walk through and look at the trees and gaze at the landscapef from a distance, nor do I believe that any one should be permitted to destroy anything, but I take the position that certain parks of the asphalt and the lawns should be open most liberally to the young people for amusement, proper athletics, and recreation, under proper circumstances.

“In October 1913, Stover told his staff and coworkers that he was going out for lunch then he disappeared. In mid-November he was erroneously thought to have died in Delaware when a body resembling him was found. A week later, he was seen in Washington, D.C., by a former city official. In late November, a nationwide search began, which included sending a short film clip to 10,000 moving-picture places across the United States. Shortly thereafter, Stover mailed his letter of resignation from Cincinnati, and Ardolph Loges Kline, the Mayor of New York City, replaced Stover with Louis F. La Roche, Stover’s deputy. On January 28, 1914, Stover returned to the University Settlement House.[10]

“Stover spent the rest of his life developing a summer camp at Beacon, New York, operated by the University Settlement House. He died at the University Settlement House on April 24, 1929, at the age of 67, leaving an estate valued at only $500.”

I recommend that Ariela continue her search by reading about Mayor Gaynor, who appointed Stover as Parks Commissioner. He was shot in the neck by a discharged city worker, but survived. Gaynor was put into office by the Tammany Hall machine, but to the surprise of all, turned out to be an honest and dedicated public servant. I have a published collection of letters that he wrote to constituents, and they are masterpieces of wit and irascibility.

Categories History, New York City, Play, Real Education

Bianca Tanis: Don’t Let New York Destroy Early Childhood Education with 75 Standards

By dianeravitch
August 26, 2017 //
7

Bianca Tanis teaches young children in New York. She is a founding member of NYSAPE, New York Dtate Alliance of Parents and Educators. She is also a teacher of children with special needs.

Frustrated by the state’s indifference to the needs of young children, she wrote this post and interviewed teachers about what matters most for teaching and learning: PLAY.

Categories Accountability, Childhood, Common Core, Education Industry, Play, Teachers and Teaching, Testing

New York Superintendent Calls on Regents to Mandate 40 Minutes a Day for Recess

By dianeravitch
August 14, 2017 //
25

Dr. Michael Hynes, the superintendent of the Patchogue-Medford schools on Long Island in New York, wrote a letter to the New York Board of Regents asking them to mandate 40 minutes a day for recess.

In Finland, the highest performing nation in Europe, students have a recess after every class. Educators believe children need to run around and play and move for 10-15 minutes between classes, mostly out of doors. Finland has no standardized tests for students in elementary schools or in the middle grades. Finnish schools value creativity and physical activity. They must be doing something right. It is working.

And our educators must plead for only 40 minutes a day of physical activity!

Here is his video about the importance of recess.

And here is his letter to the State Superintendent and the Board of Regents:


Dear Commissioner Elia and members of the New York State Board of Regents:

On behalf of “whole child” educators and parents across the state of New York, I write to you to strongly consider and discuss a mandate that will benefit ALL children: a declaration that requires all Kindergarten-5th grade students to physically, emotionally, academically and socially benefit from 40 minutes of self-directed recess every day they are in our care at school.

I can certainly cite the multiple benefits about recess but I think this statement from the CDC best sums up why this is a worthy proposition:

Recess is at the heart of a vigorous debate over the role of schools in promoting the optimal development of the whole child. A growing trend toward reallocating time in school to accentuate the more academic subjects has put this important facet of a child’s school day at risk. Recess serves as a necessary break from the rigors of concentrated, academic challenges in the classroom. But equally important is the fact that safe and well-supervised recess offers cognitive, social, emotional, and physical benefits that may not be fully appreciated when a decision is made to diminish it. Recess is unique from, and a complement to, physical education—not a substitute for it. The American Academy of Pediatrics believes that recess is a crucial and necessary component of a child’s development and, as such, it should not be withheld for punitive or academic reasons.
Moreover, I have seen firsthand in my school district what regularly scheduled periods within the school day for unstructured physical activity and play has done for our elementary age students, staff and parents. I have never seen so many happy and well-adjusted children in my twenty years as an educator. I respectfully request that NYSED consider this discussion item and would be honored to speak about the rationale and benefits in person if requested to do so.

If the New York State Education Department truly wants to become a leader and advocate for what ALL children need and deserve, I believe this is an essential first step. I thank you in advance for your attention to this matter and look forward to your response.

Very truly yours,

Michael J. Hynes, Ed.D.
Patchogue-Medford Superintendent of Schools

Categories Childhood, New York, Play

Oklahoma City: We Tried Test-and-Punish, It Failed: Lets Try Love and Fun

By dianeravitch
August 13, 2017 //
2

This is a delightful article by teacher-historian John Thompson, written with Stanley Hupfeld, a retired hospital executive in Oklahoma City.

They write:

“For over 15 years, the OKCPS has adopted the normative instruction-driven, curriculum-driven approach to school improvement. The key to these policies is holding individuals accountable for measurable increases in student performance. The system has done a respectable job of implementing that game plan, but there is a growing body of research explaining why it simply can’t work with schools facing the challenges in our poorest schools. To turn around schools with extreme concentrations of children from generational poverty who have endured multiple traumas, schooling must become a team effort…

“Dipesh Navsaria, keynote speaker at the Potts Family Foundation Oklahoma Early Childhood Coalition Business Summit, also explains that once every student knows he has a mentor who is “crazy about him,” meaningful learning will follow. Navsaria then reviews the scientific evidence on why schools must make education fun. Research shows that the first 1,000 days of life are the key to closing the achievement gap. As Navsaria explains, we must restore play to its rightful place in elementary schools.

“We know the district teachers love their students. But this is not the point. What has been left out is a culture that promotes and sustains an aura of love and fun. Common sense tells us this is so — but now so does the research. Nothing less than a cultural transformation is necessary — not the program of the month.”

Categories Accountability, Education Reform, Oklahoma, Play, Testing

Southold, New York: Elementary School Will Get Giant Mother Goose Shoe!

By dianeravitch
July 7, 2017 //
9

David Gamberg, superintendent of schools in both Southold and Greenport, on Long Island, in New York, had a dream. He wanted to install a custom-made Mother Goose shoe, in which children could play. He wanted it to symbolize the district’s commitment to childhood and play. He started a fundraising campaign. He was just short of his goal. A local businessman, who owns the town grocery store, contributed what was needed to meet the goal. The giant shoe will be built!

There is a lesson here about philanthropy. The donor helped the school do what it wanted to do. He didn’t step up and tell them what he wanted. He supported their goal instead of imposing his own.

Listen up, Bill Gates and Zuckerberg!

Categories Childhood, Play

The True Meaning of Kindergarten: The Children’s Garden

By dianeravitch
June 9, 2017 //
29

The current absurd obsession with test scores is destroying schooling and childhood. Nowhere is the devastation more visible than in state and local policies turning kindergarten and nursery school into academically rigorous boot camps. Pre-K is supposed to get children ready for kindergarten. Kindergarten is a time to learn reading and writing and math. Kindergarten prepares the child for first grade. It is the first step towards “college and career readiness.”

But kindergarten has been warped beyond all recognition from what it is supposed to be. The founder of the kindergarten was Friedrich Froebel. His ideas were first brought to America by William Torrey Harris, the superintendent of schools in St. Louis (later the U.S. Commissioner of Education for 18 years under various presidents) and a devotee of Hegel.

To learn more about what kindergarten should be, go to the Froebel website.

Here is an excerpt from the opening page:

“The name Kindergarten signifies both a garden for children, a location where they can observe and interact with nature, and also a garden of children, where they themselves can grow and develop in freedom from arbitrary imperatives.

“In 1837, having developed and tested a radically new educational method and philosophy based on structured, activity based learning, Froebel moved to Bad Blankenburg and established his Play and Activity Institute which in 1840 he renamed Kindergarten.

“Kindergarten has three essential parts:

*creative play, which Froebel called gifts and occupations)
*singing and dancing for healthy activity
*observing and nurturing plants in a garden for stimulating awareness of the natural world

“Play is the highest expression of human development in childhood for it alone is the free expression of what is in a child’s soul.

“To Froebel belongs the credit for finding the true nature of play and regulating it to lead naturally into work. The same spontaneity and joy, the same freedom and serenity that characterise the plays of childhood are realised in all human activity. The gifts and occupations are the living connection which makes both play and work expressions of the same creative activity. ” W N Hailmann

“Friedrich Froebel introduced the concept of gardens for children, where they could participate in all aspects of growing, harvesting, and preparing nutritious, seasonal produce. As educational tools, these gardens provide real world applications of core mathematical concepts. The Edible Schoolyard educates children about the connections between food, health, and the environment through activities which are fully integrated into the curriculum.”

Categories Childhood, Joy, Play

Susan Ochshorn: The Danger of Universal Pre-K

By dianeravitch
May 15, 2017 //
20

Mayor Bill de Blasio’s major initiative in education was implementation of universal pre-K for four-year-olds. Now he has announced his plan to provide universal pre-K for three-year-olds. The earlier initiative was popular, so what could go wrong?

The Mayor needs the state to fund it with $700 million, which is far from certain.

Leonie Haimson, founder of Class Size Matters, says there are too many overcrowded classrooms, and the Mayor should attend to them before launching a new initiative.

Susan Ochshorn of ECE Policyworks fears that the cost of the new grade will be other than financial. She worries that the addition will banish play from the lives of three-year-olds.

She writes:

“I was over the moon when de Blasio pioneered free preschool for four-year-olds. New York’s children and families had been waiting since 1997, when Republican Governor George Pataki first enacted legislation. The state’s movement toward universal access and adequate financing has been erratic, at best, and the mayor’s initiative was bold. But with kindergarten as the new first or second grade, expectations for preschoolers have increased. The pressure is on.

“The tradeoff for early education’s legitimacy and funding has been painful—a Faustian pact. The kind of playfulness that we see in the smartest mammals has lost its pride of place. Our littlest children have been abandoned, left to wander in the desert. We need to bring them to the oasis, before it’s too late.”

Categories Childhood, Pre-K, K, Education Reform, Play
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