A valuable compendium of responses to the shallow, classist hostility to public education.
A methodical dismantling of the coordinated tenets of the free market assault on public education.
Education professors William Ayers (Univ. of Illinois, Chicago; To Teach: The Journey of a Teacher, 2010, etc.), Laura (Chicago State Univ.; Being Bad: My Baby Brother and the School-to-Prison Pipeline, 2014), and Rick Ayers (Univ. of San Francisco; An Empty Seat in Class: Teaching and Learning after the Death of a Student, 2014, etc.) bring formidable progressive rhetoric to the reform debate. They argue against the conservative refrain that "unruly students, lazy and incompetent teachers, and apathetic administrators together destroy an adequate academic environment." They view this outlook as specious and so multilayered that it demands a fully structured response. Consequently, they debunk 19 "myths" contributing to this free-wheeling scorn toward public education. The authors touch on many aspects of this discussion, including controversies around charter schools, privatization initiatives, and inequitable allocation of resources. In each chapter, the authors point out the slick bombast of figures like Michelle Rhee and Donald Trump—e.g., the assertion of “the disastrous consequences of allowing the teachers’ unions and their special interest bosses to hold sway over future generations.” They rebut these conceits with a “Reality Check,” evidence-based narratives contradicting each purported reactionary viewpoint. It’s an effective approach, as when they argue that high-pressure standardized testing does not give education a high-priced corporatized sheen but confers advantages to the privileged and amplifies stress for all students. Furthermore, the myth that “Good Teaching is Entirely Color-Blind” is alluring because it “fails to take aim at the institutional and societal structures of privilege and oppression based on race.” The authors also attack the pernicious idea that “Teachers Have It Easy” by explaining how experienced, compassionate instructors “are being driven out of the profession in record numbers.” The authors render their arguments with strong rhetoric, but in emphasizing multicultural awareness and unorthodox teaching methods as solutions, they may not sway the mainstream conservatives whose views they ably counter.
A valuable compendium of responses to the shallow, classist hostility to public education.Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-8070-3666-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Beacon Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 3, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
On the doorstep of age 90, Edmund has performed a national service.
An authoritative examination into the collapse of the scientific method in American education and intellectual life, and the resulting collateral damage.
Edmund writes with verve, and adds more than a dollop of spice by offering $100,000 to certain organizations that prove him wrong. He doggedly advances the notion that America’s egghead community–led by influential intellectuals such as James B. Conant (Harvard president, 1933-1953)–perpetrated a monumental blunder in denigrating the use of the scientific method. In turn, writes Edmund, Conant’s crowd opened the doors to the slipshod thinking that has ruined American education. Fads such as “look-say reading instruction,” “new math” and “new new math” followed in a confusing progression that continues to this day in charter schools and the self-esteem movement. Edmund contends that researchers, using scientific methods, should have halted the process in its tracks by determining quickly the winners and losers among these trendy programs, rather than falling for the “do your own thing” philosophy espoused by Conant and crew. Furthermore, the trial and error method taught by natural philosophers and used by classical scientists has not lost its relevance in a “do as you please” world. Edmund is dumfounded by educators’ unwillingness to use testing and analysis to determine what works best in the classroom. Instead, he writes, the useless debate continues unabated, and the blunder continues its proliferation.
On the doorstep of age 90, Edmund has performed a national service.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-9632866-6-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Adorable characters demonstrate the unselfish qualities of true friendship.
A bear’s epic quest for the Golden Pear illuminates valuable life lessons.
Lee (The Cake Thief, 2008, etc.) returns with a spirited animal fable for preschool children that sheds light on basic moral principles. Magdalena is a cuddly white bear who sets off on a quest to find the Golden Pear. She is told by a “reliable source” that before she finds it, she must first learn a few simple lessons about life. Magdalena seeks out the advice of her friends. Edwin the Ant is unable to provide any answers but requests help carrying sand he’ll use to build his home. Henry the Butterfly, with his pink polka dot wings, is equally clueless but needs assistance catching bugs for dinner. Next, Magdalena encounters Samantha the Snake, who doesn’t know much about life lessons. In fact, Samantha doesn’t even know the directions to her own home. Malcolm the Mouse is gathering nuts and seeds for winter, and Magdalena pitches in before moving on to Francine the Fish. But Francine needs to clean up her polluted pond. Although she is quite happy to help her friends out, Magdalena is disheartened when she discovers she is no closer to discovering the location of her much sought-after Golden Pear. Hungry and tired, she heads home. Along the way, she stops to nap beneath a tree that is suddenly filled with golden pears. Magdalena delights in finding the elusive fruit and realizes that she’s discovered life’s simple lessons, and more so, the “secrets of the universe.” Charcoal and color pencil illustrations display soft, chunky crayon-like, folk appeal. Simple full and partial page designs warmly interact with the text’s mood and movement. Although references to the “reliable source” and the “secrets of the universe” are too advanced for the book’s intended audience, the overall effect is both inviting and endearing.
Adorable characters demonstrate the unselfish qualities of true friendship.Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2003
ISBN: 978-1594575266
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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