The progressive school movement and the national trend away from one-size-fits-all delivery of curriculum and student assessment takes me back 45 years. Collaborative teaching, pod-type classroom structures, and time for exploring student ‘special interests’ during the school day were the future of education. It seemed to marry the art of teaching with the science of learning. A perfect combination And a direction I, as an idealistic novice teacher, happily wished to go.
Things changed with the 1983 white-paper, ‘A Nation At Risk.’ The purpose of this blog, then, will be to examine the route education has taken since then, the effects this business-friendly trajectory has had on student critical thinking and teacher professional development, and what we may still do to reboot our system of education in order to preserve our democracy.
Marcy's Musings 