RE: [xmca] The national context for education funding in the US

["Duvall, Emily" <emily@uidaho.edu>]

Eric, Peter, Mike, Jay and all,
Interesting when it comes to the question of what does education look
like, eh? 
Really, what are the characteristics that allow people to point and say
this is education and that is not.
Recently my grad class in dialogic and dialectical teaching and learning
had a lively discussion on what counts as education, as knowledge, as
learning... we'd been reading Dewey and were considering what might be
miseducative.
So back to contexts for what counts where and for whom: Mike, I wonder
what the powers at UCSD see sl or s-l as? 
~em

-----Original Message-----
From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu]
On Behalf Of ERIC.RAMBERG@spps.org
Sent: Monday, March 30, 2009 7:36 AM
To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
Subject: RE: [xmca] The national context for education funding in the US


Emily,  Mike, Peter, Jay, all interested:

I believe this stream of posts is currently the most important issue
facing
education in the US!  Currently there is this administration led
initiative
to educate all students in the skill of high stakes testing (what a
farce).
When instead we have now a half century of research that shows testing
is a
specific skill set that does not translate to success in other theatres
or
mediums.  So, I believe, what is currently being discussed is the exact
alternative that needs to be presented as being THE model for success!
At
the program I work at we have to do the testing but that is not what we
have to use to measure success. Thankfully IDEA allows us to pass our
students individually.  The real success is in the student's
accomplishments of navigating community services, job training
opportunities, independent living activities, etc.  Funny thing is the
students and parents yell and scream that an education is not being
provided because it looks so different then the traditional setting.
Irony
all around isn't it.  Let's keep up the fight and perhaps in the
following
years someone will listen.

eric


 

                      "Duvall, Emily"

                      <emily@uidaho.ed         To:
<mcole@weber.ucsd.edu>, "eXtended Mind, Culture,Activity"              
                      u>                       <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>

                      Sent by:                 cc:

                      xmca-bounces@web         Subject: RE: [xmca] The
national context for education funding in the US        
                      er.ucsd.edu

 

 

                      03/29/2009 02:06

                      PM

                      Please respond

                      to "eXtended

                      Mind, Culture,

                      Activity"

 

 





Let's see if I can make more sense of what we are doing and if it
matches theoretically.

One project is afterschool, a weekly Readers' Theatre Club.
My pre-service teachers learn about reader's theatre and reading
fluency, learn to write scripts, learn basic games for actors and
non-actors (Boal, Theatre of the Oppressed), and learn mask making in
art methods. They join the elementary students and lead a program that
includes warm ups (games), reading and writing scripts, and creating
reader identity masks. My students are currently looking for a good
story to adapt into a script... a story that tackles identity. They are
doing this search in a different course (children's literature). The
latter will be used to write a script with the children and the
culminating activity will be when the elementary students spend the
afternoon roaming their school, wearing their reader identity masks and
reading their script. The idea is to promote reading fun - with an
emphasis on prosody and comprehension (rather than the usual speed read)
- for the children in a Title I school, promote service (my hope is that
my students will, when they become teachers, look to developing such
clubs in their own schools), and emphasize alternate ways of engaging
adults and children together. We will be doing the reflection portion at
the end, but it is developing already.

Other projects my students are involved in include painting mobile
murals for the annual 4th grade Lewis & Clark activity (old murals have
died), supporting writer's notebooks (we purchased them and we teach a
class once a week, during the day. Our focus this semester is newspaper
writing), creating literature resources (students work 1-1 with
elementary students once a week and are developing resource kits for the
teacher/ school as well), creating comprehension assessments (student
give Dibles and IRIs once a week and will be developing a supplemental
package to assess comprehension), providing a parent education night on
text structure (students took on the Title I parent night and provided
take home materials, posters, and workshop stations; all materials are
now with the school), etc. The courses are not totally focused on
service learning, but have that component. The students do what it is
that teachers do - and what teachers often volunteer (or are
volunteered) to do.

All the activities are negotiated with the school(s) - students,
teachers, principals, curriculum directors, superintendents; whomever is
relevant -  so I never know what we will be doing and if it will
suddenly change. The work with and within schools keeps us out of the
ivory tower... and I provide free consultation to teachers as well. I go
in and teach or provide in-service activities when I am asked, sometimes
including my students, sometimes not. There are huge benefits to me as a
teacher and academic to keep my feet firmly grounded in the day to day
activity of institutionalized schooling processes and products.

So... in our 'classes' we discuss readings and theory; in the
'classroom' we enact the readings and theory. However, where the rubber
meets the road is in the ongoing reflection. That is, not just service
learning style reflection for those projects, but also regular oral and
written reflection on teacher-self (identity development) and teacher
practice within the context of the social, cultural, historical and
political aspects of the institution of schooling.

~m



-----Original Message-----
From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu]
On Behalf Of Mike Cole
Sent: Sunday, March 29, 2009 12:25 PM
To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
Subject: Re: [xmca] The national context for education funding in the US

One of our courses also meets in the school after work with the kids,
Emily.
Nice
part of the partnership.

But I really think we need a vocabulary that distinguishes what we are
talking about,
genuine theory/practice education from what is ordinarily understood as
service learning.
The service runs both ways while the ideology of the university "serving
the
community"
rules. Got level that playing field.
mike

On Sun, Mar 29, 2009 at 11:38 AM, Duvall, Emily <emily@uidaho.edu>
wrote:

> Interesting course, Peter! I have become a huge fan of service
learning;
> it's such a natural fit for education. I am slowly adapting my courses
> to include service-learning components. I'm working to develop our
> elementary teacher education program in northern Idaho as a
> service-learning program that also operates in schools. It is a blend
of
> lab school, professional development school, and service-learning.
> Courses are taught on site in elementary schools which provide us with
a
> classroom. In turn, we go into classrooms to provide various
> teaching-learning services to students and teachers with the goal
being
> collaboration and win-win for elementary students and university
> pre-service teachers. We've also done some after school programs. So
far
> it has been all the language and literacy courses... but come this
fall
> we will incorporate elementary science, math and social studies
methods
> into our Partner School Initiative. What I find most fascinating is
the
> innovation that occurs when we all work together - the activity shifts
> expertise around in interesting ways.
> ~em
>
>
> Emily Duvall, PhD
> Assistant Professor Curriculum & Instruction
> University of Idaho, Coeur d'Alene
> 1000 W. Hubbard Suite 242 | Coeur d'Alene, ID 83814
> T 208 292 2512 | F 208 667 5275 emily@uidaho.edu | www.cda.uidaho.edu
>
> He only earns his freedom and his life, who takes them every day by
> storm.
> -- Johann Wolfgang Goethe
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu]
> On Behalf Of Peter Smagorinsky
> Sent: Sunday, March 29, 2009 10:44 AM
> To: 'eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity'
> Subject: RE: [xmca] The national context for education funding in the
US
>
> Hmmmm, this sounds remarkably like the way the 5th Dimension
experience
> at
> UCSD works.
> I know that others attempt similar ways to integrate student work into
> communities, a.k.a. "service-learning" in US contexts. I'm teaching
such
> a
> course this semester (see
>
http://www.coe.uga.edu/~smago/SL/SLSyllabus.htm<http://www.coe.uga.edu/%
7Esmago/SL/SLSyllabus.htm>
> for the syllabus), which I developed through a grant from UGA's Office
> of
> Service-Learning. One of my friends from the Fellows has a great
project
> described at http://www.uga.edu/columns/070910/news-urbanfood.html.
> These
> efforts can also serve as great research sites and thus combine
> teaching,
> research, and service into one project. They also provide students
with
> important experiences and close the town/gown gap by serving community
> members in need. p
>
> Peter Smagorinsky
> Professor of English Education and Program Chair
> The University of Georgia
> 125 Aderhold Hall
> Athens, GA 30602
> smago@uga.edu/phone:706-542-4507
> http://www.coe.uga.edu/lle/faculty/smagorinsky/index.html
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu]
> On
> Behalf Of Mike Cole
> Sent: Sunday, March 29, 2009 12:02 PM
> To: Jay Lemke
> Cc: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
> Subject: Re: [xmca] The national context for education funding in the
US
>
> My answer to your last question, Jay.
>
> Make participation in real world settings, linked to relevant academic
> work
> including reading and writing, mandatory for all students attending
any
> college or
> university. Use money to do this mainly to support grad student
> supervisors
> who themselves are gathered into groups supervised by senior
professors
> as
> one
> of their courses.
>
> All evidence is that such practices improve student commitment to more
> serious study at the university, increase the intellectual and social
> capital of those with whom
> they work, and increase understanding of social justice issues among
> more
> privileged students, e.g., those who can afford to attend a
university.
>
> mike
>
> _______________________________________________
> xmca mailing list
> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
> _______________________________________________
> xmca mailing list
> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
>
_______________________________________________
xmca mailing list
xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
_______________________________________________
xmca mailing list
xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca





_______________________________________________
xmca mailing list
xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
_______________________________________________
xmca mailing list
xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca