Politics
Can You Hear Us Now?
Posted June 17th, 2008 by Peter HenryIt's been a long time coming...
Teachers have taken hits from all sides, conservatives and progressives, rich and poor, the elite and the ignorant.
Today, we strike back by telling the truth.
read more »To: The Honorable Barack H. Obama
John C. Kluczynski Federal Office Building
230 South Dearborn St.
Suite 3900 (39th floor)
Chicago, Illinois 60604From: The Undersigned
Of all human drives, the need to satisfy curiosity, to learn, to understand, to make sense of experience, appears earliest in life and is more powerful than any other. That the current thrust of public education reform has not moved us significantly closer to meeting that deep human need is now apparent.
Teaching IS Political. Unfortunately.
Posted June 4th, 2008 by Peter HenryThe great Argentinian writer, Jorge Luis Borges, once responded to a question about politics by famously not answering and asking if the audience wanted to talk about something worthwhile rather than waste their time.
Not everyone likes politics. Not everyone wants their work, especially if their work is with children, to be caught up in politics or even be seen as having a political dimension.
And, in many ways, I agree with that: the best things in life are not about politics.
That's why I have wanted this open-source website to be mainly about teaching technique, pedagogy and other tangible issues related directly to the practice of teaching.
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Memorial Day: Honoring Teachers
Posted May 24th, 2008 by Peter HenryThis may not be the most popular entry, but I think these issues worth considering.
This weekend is Memorial Day, a time to honor veterans who have died serving our country. My father is a WW II veteran, as are many friends and relatives, and I do recognize and honor their service, their sacrifice, their heroism. In no way do I diminish them.
But, I also wonder if this holiday's exclusive focus on veterans does not lead to a mind-set that sees fighting war as the highest, most noble contribution one can make to society, the gold standard of patriotism. Because, and please hear me out, I do not agree with that.
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A Whole New Education
Posted May 15th, 2008 by Peter HenryGet ready for a major dose of "change" this November. Picking a new president means that both Democrats and Republicans are promising to be the party of "change", from which, we can assume, new priorities in Federal education will flow.
The question is: What will the new priorities be?
Given that Washington lobbyists, bureaucrats and legislators are the chief sausage-makers, we should not expect too much. In fact, as the recent farm bill aptly demonstrates, rather than bold, nimble or innovative change in existing policy, what we are likely to get are small baby steps and a whole lot of staying the course--even when it is not working.
read more »Needed: Mischief Makers--$5,000.00 Reward
Posted March 28th, 2008 by Peter HenryFellow educators, have you seen the nasty campaign to identify America's ten worst teachers?
How sick is this? Very. Hardly worth the electrons even linking to it.
Understand though, that this is the world you are entering. There is so much money to be made in privatizing education, that corporate high-rollers are willing to invest up front in hate organizations, mis-information campaigns and general slime operations to get the job done.
read more »HELP EXTINGUISH NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND!!!!!
Here is a petition calling to dismantle NCLB.
I recommend all teachers read and sign this document to prevent further damage done to public schools in the U.S.
Take a minute and read it over, it is WORTH your while!!!!
Minnesota Teaching Quality Found To Be Poor
Posted January 9th, 2008 by Peter HenryArticles like these are what shape America's public perception of teachers and teacher quality.
I'll have to go and look at the actual article in Education Week and see what kind of issues and factors figured into the rankings, but regardless of how poorly constructed was the study, or how little control over these factors teachers actually have, the thing that people will remember out there in the public is that "Our state's teachers are not doing their job."
And they will be indignant about it, too. It won't be long before bitching ensues about paying too much in taxes and getting too little in results.
read more »North Carolina Association of Education
Posted December 2nd, 2007 by Leslie HeathWith the upcoming election, many of people are talking about who they are going to vote for and what their proposed plans are.
My Blog entry is about the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE), backing presidential candidate John Edwards, for the third time since his campaign began for federal office. The NCAE is an association that represents 70,000 educators and retirees in Edwards' home state.
Edwards has proposed several plans to help North Carolina Teachers by increasing teachers' pay, reducing classroom sizes in successful high-poverty schools, overhauling the No Child Left Behind education law and implementing an early childhood education program for all four year olds if he becomes president.
read more »The 2008 Election, Education, and what it means for Teachers
It seems that every Presidential election draws a tremendous amount of energy and attention from the American public. This is certainly the case in the upcoming 2008 election. Therefore, it must be the job of every teacher, professional educator, and concerned adult to force the candidates to address this very important issue.
We can do this by writing to the campaign offices, sending questions into the YouTube debates, and the most powerful tool, actually voting in the 2008 election. I'm sorry, but if you are a teacher and you do not vote in this election, I would recommend that you have your license revoked and banned from any school in this country.
Good day all,
Keith Parker, East Carolina University, History Education
