by Robert Pondiscio
November 21st, 2008
Tags: Eric Osberg, Fordham Foundation, new paternalism
Posted in Opinion, School News | No Comments »
Nice to see this honest and clear-eyed post over at Fordham’s Flypaper about the minute-by-minute stress of trying to be effective in a high-needs school. Eric Osberg describes his recent behind-the-scenes visit (as opposed to the typical VIP dog-and-pony show often given to visitors) to a friend’s “new paternalism” school.
It was amazing how many problems my friend encountered in the hour I was there – we must have been interrupted 20 times by students needing discipline, teachers needing guidance about discipline, others needing observation while they worked with a struggling student, etc. It was a whirlwind, and it was tiring just to watch. It gave me a deeper appreciation for the special talent, constant hard work, and unwavering attention to detail that it takes to run one of these schools.
I’m cheered to see this on Flypaper for no other reason than it’s nice to see policy types speak candidly about just how hard this work is. Teachers often feel that policy types don’t get it, so credit to Osberg for merely reporting what he saw instead of writing a prescription. “My friend confessed her fear that the ‘model’ of such hard work and long hours won’t be sustainable,” Osberg concludes. “That principals and teachers who exert that kind of energy day after day will inevitably burn out. From my vantage point, it was hard to disagree.”
by Robert Pondiscio
November 21st, 2008
Tags: Obama, private school, school choice, Sidwell Friends
Posted in Education News | 1 Comment »
A spokesperson for the family confirms future First Daughters Sasha and Malia Obama will enroll at Sidwell Friends School, the Washington, DC private school where Chelsea Clinton also matriculated. So this means President-elect Obama will back school choice initiatives in Washington, right?
by Robert Pondiscio
November 21st, 2008
Tags: Amistad Academy, David Whitman, joanne jacobs, KIPP
Posted in Education Practice | 2 Comments »
Over at City Journal, Joanne Jacobs reviews Sweating the Small Stuff: Inner-City Schools and the New Paternalism, David Whitman’s book, and sees in it echoes of her own parenting. “Nagging is love,” she writes. ”If you care about a kid, you tell her what she’s doing right and what she’s doing wrong. You stick with her when she makes mistakes. You honor her successes. You nag.” Whitman’s book, the title of which was much debated in the edusphere over the summer, looks at successful secondary schools, like KIPP and Amistad.
Many of the students at these schools are being raised by single mothers (or grandmothers) who provide unconditional love at home. Maternalism they’ve already got. At the “new paternalistic” schools, authoritative, caring adults demand good behavior as a condition for approval, adopting the traditional father’s role. Paternalistic schools explicitly teach students how to walk in the halls, sit upright in class, listen to speakers, ask questions, take notes, collaborate with classmates, and study for tests. They also teach students to shake hands, tuck in their shirts, and speak courteously using standard English. Street slang is banned.
“In some cases, the schools support values that parents hold themselves but have trouble enforcing on their own,” Jacobs writes. It’s an important observation. People who have never taught in inner city neighborhoods often don’t appreciate just how traditional many families are. The methods and mindset described by Whitman are almost certainly more controversial among educators than among the parents of the children these schools serve.
