The Sternberg article really struck a chord with me. For what it is
worth the comments by Bob Sternberg have been made repeatedly in the
context of the English education system where the market for young
people created by narrow accountability mechanisms established over the
lat ten years produce inappropriate incentive structures for educational
institutions. Research reports have repeatedly pointed to the
potentially damaging nature of such reforms for those least likely to
survive in our education system. And guess what - the evidence is not
believed by politicians and policy makers as they continue to believe in
the benign nature of our labour market and the growth of the knowledge
economy. The result is a double discourse of economic growth and
qualifications in the official policy documents on the one hand, and, on
the other hand, analyses of the UK labour market which point to chronic
levels of over qualification as a result of rampant credentialism. The
realities of a labour market, constructed by disorganised capitalism in
the century of the bottom line, which consumes young people who exit the
system as soon as they are able to (16) with learning identities further
weakened by their experience of schooling by targets and then discards
them. What seems to me to be totally missing from the policy discourse
about schooling is any sense of educational values and the moral
commitment that the teachers I know have towards the young people that
they teach.
These are the issues we are currently exploring through our review of
14-19 education and training in England and Wales. Details of the work
can be found at www.nuffield14-19review.org.uk for those who are
interested. There are a series of working papers about accountability
for example that resonate with the sentiments being expressed by Bob
Sternberg.
Geoff
Dr Geoff Hayward
Associate Director SKOPE
OUDES
15 Norham Gardens
Oxford
OX2 6PY UK
Phone: +44 (0)1865 274007
Fax: + 44 (0)1865 274027
e-mail: geoff.hayward@edstud.ox.ac.uk
-----Original Message-----
From: David Preiss [mailto:davidpreiss@puc.cl]
Sent: 28 October 2004 20:29
To: xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
Subject: Sternberg on no child left behind
The piece attached was written by Bob Sternberg re the No Child left
Behind act. Very informative for these critical decision days.
David
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