coercion & education

Phillip Allen White (pwhite who-is-at carbon.cudenver.edu)
Thu, 18 Apr 1996 20:13:22 -0600 (MDT)

I liked your variables, Francoise, regarding coercion within
education. Your examples - time on task, reading levels, complexity of
vocabulary, attendance/absenteeism, portfolio methods of assessment - are
all wonderful evidences of coercion, since they reflect the methods of
one SES group which are used for all SES groups. It is an unspoken
imperative that all children are expected to conform to the school.

Betty is right that there are choices - but the choices are
always within a narrow band of context - and decided ahead by the
teacher.


Betty's question: However, how do you convince educators that it
is a worthwhile goal to pursue?

I don't think that 'one' _convinces_ 'anyone'. I think that one
constructs as much of a coercion-free context as one can, given the
system constraints that one works within. And then be available to other
educators who are interested in similar interactions with students.

Phillip

pwhite who-is-at carbon.cudenver.edu