Category Archives: education

iDefer

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I was already jotting out notes in response to this article in the New York Times about iPads in the classroom, but Cathy Davidson’s response captures my sentiments.

I will say that the $1 million plus that my school is spending on laptops and smart-boards is a similar, if less trendy, example of utilizing new technology to reinforce archaic classroom structures. If we aren’t using the tools for new modes of learning, if we aren’t reinventing the classroom space and experience, we are subverting student potential with shiny gadgets. Just last week, Kanye inspired me to write about this exact problem:

Is it really the best we can do to simply duplicate textbooks and textbook practices when equipping students with iPads and mobile devices? Screen reduced to nothing more than digital page?

2010 in Music and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Pedagogy

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I can’t say I would have anything entirely surprising in a top albums of 2010 list. You can tell when an album stays with you when your favorite song skips from one track to another until you-one moment-realize that you’ve had secret trysts with all of them; Lisbon and This is Happening both hold this distinction for me. Of these, Lisbon gets the slight edge over LCD Soundsystem if only for the stunning one two sucker punch of the closing tracks.

However, as much as these were my favorite releases, I feel that the year was one for Kanye. His album was justly heralded by critics and I think West and Co. masterfully marketed it in a way that educators should be paying close attention to.

For the greater part of 2010, Kanye West has been on my cultural radar. He’s done this deliberately and he’s done it in a way that’s made his presence, his performances, and his music something of a conversation with friends, students, and now—dear reader—with you.

By the time the album leaked, weeks before it’s official release, its music was anything but surprising – Kanye had already leaked the majority of the tracks as free downloads over the months – one song a week, featured others in a short film, and even given away the album’s bonus track. Deliberately, I was privy to Kanye’s thoughts, his music, and his oh-so-famous rants.

Musically, the album is an assemblage of the best of what Kanye has to offer without ever seeming like pastiche. The album’s two-track finale is the surprising highlight for me and I’m glad to see the playful exchange with Gil Scott-Heron that now continues across three albums.

Just as the album was finally released and the G.O.O.D. Friday series concluded, I finished reading New Literacies by Lankshear and Knobel. The book reinforced a bevy of literature I’d been reading through for my own research. Near the end, the authors discuss the internet proliferation of “memes” and what they can mean in terms of education.

Kanye’s every step in releasing the album, from ludicrous twitter messages to on-air blowups to banned album artwork meant that there was not a day that I couldn’t catch up with the latest in the Kanye-verse. In all of these Kanye has evolved the hip-hop mixtape to its proper 2.0 configuration: it is, too, an always-on amalgam of music, personality, and hype.

[Queue hip-hop for dummies paragraph:] The role of mixtapes is one that (as far as rap is concerned) dates back to the early days of hip-hop in the late ‘70s. Splicing together popular rap verses with unreleased hip-hop beats, mixtapes were underground commodities traded and sold by the aficionados within a somewhat exclusive subculture. Though it’s been years since mixtapes have actually been distributed as cassettes, the idea is still the same; otherwise unreleased or un-cleared samples are released non-commercially. Transitioning from tapes to CDs and now to direct Internet downloads, mixtapes have lately been co-opted by mainstream rappers to sustain interest between album releases. Lil’ Wayne, in particular, has benefited from a plethora of mix tape releases that have helped make him a popular rapper with both mainstream radio listeners and with online media consumers. No longer are mixtapes simply an extension of the listening experience for rap fans. Instead, they act as previews and major marketing ploys for rapper artists. Additionally, they may signal an artist’s credibility with rap fans.

But this is where the mixtape ends and Kanye deconstructs it; instead of the mishmash of 40-70 minutes of free music, Kanye slowly strings along track after track over months. Enticing the listener, responding and changing music as responses are blogged and status-updated. The silly mashup of unexpected artists that is typically reserved for mixtapes becomes a centerpiece for the album: indie darling Bon Iver’s lilting voice is paired earnestly with the hip-hop/club encounter on “Lost in the World”.

The pervasive nature of Kanye’s approach to marketing My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is something educators can lift. How can we deconstruct classroom pedagogy to move beyond traditional application of emergent technologies? Is it really the best we can do to simply duplicate textbooks and textbook practices when equipping students with iPads and mobile devices? Screen reduced to nothing more than digital page? And what about the continuous nature of Kanye’s approach? His persistence and personality are what helped transfer knowledge, interest, and passion for his work. How can this 2.0 approach be adopted for classroom use?

The Uncanny Valley and Higher Ed

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Read this today and can’t say I’m that surprised. It’s an article that’s pretty much circulated and discussed on an annual basis for the past few years.

For me, I am reminded, when reading this, of the Uncanny Valley – the concept that robots repulse us the closer they get to approximating human attributes (think Tom Hanks in Polar Express or Jeff Bridges in the new Tron). Though there is a larger argument about the capitalist underpinnings of the academy, I find it interesting how there is a building mass of individuals approaching professorship, despite the steep drop-off in terms of job opportunities. The analogy falls apart under scrutiny, but in general, it feels like becoming a professor–like being human­–is the pinnacle to which grad students are reaching. However, the closer they get to finishing, the more repulsive the environment actually becomes: few jobs and underpaid temporary positions.

NCTE Bound

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So much to blog, but actual posts will resume in early December after some substantial deadlines are met.

In the meantime, if any readers are going to be at the NCTE Conference in Orlando this week, I will be presenting on mobile literacies on Saturday:

“NEW MEDIA, POPULAR CULTURE, PEDAGOGY, AND PRODUCTION IN URBAN CLASSROOMS”

2:45-4:00 p.m. Yacht & Beach Club/Asbury Room A

Also, I will be at the U.S. Department of Education exhibit booth (#209) for much of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Please stop by and say hello. I’ll be co-facilitating a few roundtables with teachers as part of my duties as a Classroom Ambassador; if you are in Orlando and would like to participate, please let me know.

Sorry for the delay. More updates to come soon: Kanye’s lessons for educators, Peter’s magical school desk, further negotiations of space, and spiders, Spiders, SPIDERS!

Waiting for Dialogue

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There’s a lot of talk about Waiting for Superman: what it gets wrong, what it portrays incorrectly, what needs to be done. Having finally seen it, I actually can’t say I’m all that disappointed with the film. If anything, I see it as a tremendous opportunity.

Sure, I take issue with the ways that charters are lionized, unions are vilified, and lottery-losing parents are victimized in Waiting for Superman. However, as an educator, I can say I’m still genuinely glad this film is making headlines. I realize this idea may upset many of my colleagues, but I hope more people will see it. I hope they’ll walk out of the theater angry.

Scanning the credits, I noted that Waiting for Superman utilized a data set and resources I am not only familiar with but know and trust the researchers that created it. As such, it’s not that the film is menacing propaganda but more a gripping reminder of the ways that data can be framed to tell specific narratives. Of course, when such tales deal with the opportunities and lived experiences of young people across the country, the stories matter much much less than actual results.

I appreciate efforts like Not Waiting for Superman and I hope more people will be able to look at some of the more level headed responses coming out of the film. And frankly, the amount of funding that can go directly into classrooms as a result of the Donors Choose promotion with the film is fantastic. If anything, I feel like a lot of individuals are going to walk out of the theater and many will be compelled to visit the film’s web site, maybe click the Take Action tab, maybe even buy the more problematic companion text. And critical educators are going to stomp their feet and make this a debate when it should be a dialogue.

Here is a film that is helping create vitriol for the atrocities that are happening – historically – within classrooms. This is an opportunity to build coalitions around anger – not see the film as an attack but as an entry point for more dialogue and for action regardless of if you are pro-Waiting or pro-Not Waiting. Frankly, it would be great if a site like Waiting for Superman and a site like Not Waiting for Superman simply linked individuals to the exact same forum – everyone will be going to these sites for the same purposes: students.

Because I’m Teaching L.A.’s Kids: Thoughts on Today’s Front Page Article

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I can’t say I’m all that surprised by today’s LA Times article addressing teacher effectiveness; it said nothing surprising about the importance of effective teachers; LAUSD sent out a phone blast to its employees on Friday essentially warning us of the impending article; a union-related listserv I subscribe to hotly debated the level of vitriol with which to respond to the Times both before and subsequently after the article was published; value-added analysis has been something of a hot topic in education reform discussions of late.

All that being said, I’m worried about the implications the article – not the findings – have on the continuing hunt for the “bad” teachers (now publicly searchable) working with America’s youth. I’m reading this from a bunch of perspectives – as a union member participating in committee work around teacher effectiveness, researcher within an urban school, and Department of Education employee: I have many concerns as I read the article. However, my opinion here comes solely as a frustrated and still hopefully optimistic teacher. And as a teacher, I’m worried that I’m now going to be judged on my natural talents and not those that are being fostered through development from the district or other support networks. The article focuses on the importance of individual teachers without looking at how teachers become effective or suggesting anything other than the notion that effectiveness is a permanent, immutable status. Why is there less focus on how teachers improve? On the impotent “professional development” that does little than caterwaul about problems within instruction practice? On how resources can be used to triage teachers like John Smith?

I say all this also frustrated that the LA Times paints a false picture when stating that “the most effective teachers often go unrecognized, the keys to their success rarely studied.” Lately, I’ve been wading through significant heaps of research around teacher effectiveness. I’ve been discussing with WestEd’s Ken Futernick the way school turnaround emphasizes the importance of teachers as leaders and empowered individuals; we’ve discussed recent work by Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullen. I’ve been reading research about how three effective teachers in a row essentially close the achievement gap. I’ve been a part of a Freshman Academy that specifically recruited perceived effective teachers within Manual Arts to best address the needs of the most at-risk grade at the school. There is plenty of research about teacher effectiveness (these links being solely the stuff I’ve been reading on effectiveness over the past two weeks) and still the LA Times has chosen to frame the debate about education reform around individual teachers.

Of the many points also made, I don’t agree with the way the article seems to negate class as a factor in looking at student performance. Though “other studies of the district have found that students’ race, wealth, English proficiency or previous achievement level played little role in whether their teacher was effective” and “contrary to popular belief, the best teachers were not concentrated in schools in the most affluent neighborhoods, nor were the weakest instructors bunched in poor areas,” a distribution of resources, the culture within schools based on SES and the role of stringent imposed mandates all weigh heavily not only on teacher effectiveness, but consistent student outcomes.

Lastly, I feel concern for the way that teachers and my union will respond to this. While I feel disappointment at the missed opportunity that this article has in shedding light on needed steps of reform, I’m surprised by the way some UTLA members chose to respond to the article by complaining about parents, students, and communities. Though this is not at all exemplary of all teacher points of view it is yet another way blame is being shifted for the problems highlighted.

With this acting as the introductory piece in an ongoing series of articles highlighting education within Los Angeles, I’m skeptical of positive change arising from the work the LA Times has published. We’ll see how the opportunity for public commenting from teachers within the study pans out over the next few weeks.

Notes and Disclaimer about being a Department of Education Teaching Ambassador

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Two weeks ago I was announced as one of the Department of Education’s Teaching Ambassadors. I spent a week in Washington D.C. with an impressive cohort of other Fellows and I can’t be more excited for what I think this national collective can accomplish.

As a Classroom Fellow, I’ll still continue to teach at Manual Arts and I am still in the midst of my graduate work as well. So what does this mean? While the job itself helps bring me closer to policy discussions about education, I’m also interested in delving into ways to represent youth voice in the policy decisions being made on their behalf. The position itself is open ended in that I am actively looking to connect my local networks of educators, researchers, students, and parents with these larger discussions. To this end, I am explicitly asking you to reach out if you want to discuss current education initiatives, provide feedback, or simply ask questions. The big emphasis, right now, is on the Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) – I am happy to help provide more information or guide conversation around the Blueprint if you, your school, or your local group is interested.

I also need to make it clear here, on my various social networks, and in person that anything I am writing here – unless explicitly stated – does not represent the views of the Department of Education. This blog will still maintain the unclear musings I’ve been focused on for the past few years. The Department of Education is not paying me to maintain this blog, rant elsewhere, or make inane comments in faculty meetings. At the same time, I am still going to be critical of national legislation if it doesn’t seem to meet the needs of my students. Again, though I will often represent the Department of Education or present current legislation, I will make it clear when I am representing their views versus when I am not.

I see a tremendous potential for the local urban communities I’ve been working within to extend their voices and agency through this yearlong position. I am really looking for other interested educators to reach out and share ideas on how to utilize the positive resources this position can provide. While I am wary of some of the things the Department of Education is working on, I’d like your help in voicing these concerns, in suggesting alternative pathways, and in proposing new initiatives. Let’s get to work.

Life Turned into a Database

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Information systems need to have information in order to run, but information underrepresents reality. Demand more from information than it can give, and you end up with monstrous designs. Under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002, for example, U.S. teachers are forced to choose between teaching general knowledge and “teaching to the test.” The best teachers are thus often disenfranchised by the improper use of educational information systems.

What computerized analysis of all the country’s school tests has done to education is exactly what Facebook has done to friendships. In both cases, life is turned into a database. Both degradations are based on the same philosophical mistake, which is the belief that computers presently represent human thought or human relationships. These are things computers cannot do.

– From Jaron Lanier’s manifesto, You Are Not A Gadget, a problematic text I’m still ruminating upon.