Education is about balance. Not every child is going to grow up, go to college, and have a high-paying white-collar job. Some may grow up to be singers, dancers, artists. If we don’t foster “fluff,” we are doing those students who have other strengths and talents a disservice.

In the same vein, I agree with the notion that there needs to be both a bucket and a fire. Provide students what they need, but at the same time foster their individuality and strengths that come in other forms.

I wish I knew of such an education school. I would pick up and move there tomorrow to enroll.

Because of the low demand for music teachers in CA, I have gone back to school for an elementary teaching license. There has been no mention (not even in passing) of content! Reams upon reams of pedagogy and psychology and emotional manipulation. But no knowledge anywhere. To quote Gertrude Stein, “There is no there there.” (Did she really write that?) It is so frustrating for someone who loves knowledge in all its forms.

Even a major in a subject is really just initial exposure. When preparing to teach a subject, one ends up learning it all over again. Yes, one can undertake that while teaching, but there is rarely time for the delving that is possible in graduate school. That’s why I dream of an ed school with a liberal arts focus but also an eye to lesson planning and delivery.

The Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute does something like this (but it isn’t an ed school). New Haven public school teachers take courses in subject matter from Yale professors and take part in seminars. Then they take what they’ve learned and write (or enhance) curriculum for their classrooms and schools.

The Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture’s Sue Rose Summer Institute for Teachers (where I am now a faculty member) has a fascinating approach. Teachers from the Dallas area (who teach a range of subjects and grade levels) come to the Summer Institute to immerse themselves in literature for three weeks. In the even-numbered years, they study epic; in the odd-numbered years, tragedy and comedy. The Summer Institute follows a special (and unencumbered) format every day: breakfast, opening remarks, a lecture, a two-hour seminar discussion, lunch, and various afternoon events and activities.

Both of these institutes have something in common with the education school I envision. I don’t see this as an idea of my own; rather, it already exists in different contexts and forms. For all I know, there may already be an education school like that.

One thing I love about the CK sequence is that it gets the mind playing. Wouldn’t it be great if an ed school drew from it or from a curriculum of similar caliber? Nothing would be lost; even if the teachers ended up teaching different topics at their schools, they would carry something from this immersion and work.

I dream of an ed school that focuses on liberal arts (at a high level).How interesting it would be, and how well it would prepare teachers. Of course, you need more than subject matter; you need some courses in pedagogy, education history, education philosophy, and more. But a liberal arts emphasis would be grounding and invigorating. I’m not talking about courses in ELA “teaching strategies.” I’m talking about courses in literature, history, mathematics, physics, music, philosophy, and so forth.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/magazine/19fob-medium-heffernan-t.html

Says who? We can all have a two-minute hate of what this classroom looked like, but who says your preferred classroom techniques actually result in any more real learning or engagement?