 | Alfie Kohn (@alfiekohn) |
"We find children most cute when they display their ignorance & incompetence. We value their dependency & helplessness" -John Holt | |
This is a distressing quote that Kohn shared this morning. I think it does not apply to middle scroll teachers (at least not those who are inclined to gather at NELMS events). I think it does apply to educators, however.
Bill Gates and the other philanthropists who seek (globally or locally) to "fix"schools find educators who swoon at their ideas and dollars "cute."
The standards writers and advocates find educators most "cute" when we accept their versions of what must be taught and learned without question and with thank-you-for-showing-us-the way enthusiasm.
Parents find teachers cute when they sign up to volunteer in the classroom (and PTA and library and the athletic field) and we are expected to value their opinions on par with experts' opinions.
A principal who found me cute and expected me to accept and perpetuate her dubious spin on rotten decisions drove me from the classroom.
Ignorance and incompetence are to be recognized and understood... and minimized, but never valued.
- Dr. Gary Ackerman
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