למידה, אינטרנט ... ומה שביניהם

In large part, what we’ve done is create systems that are designed to make teacher quality irrelevant. Curriculum specialists, sitting in offices at boards of education, design curricula that are “idiot proof,” spelling out in excruciating detail how the lessons should go. The idea, borrowed from Adam Smith, Henry Ford, and F. W. Taylor, is that if you create a smart system, you don’t need smart and dedicated teachers.

On day fifty-three of the school year, Ms. Jabbari joined all the other kindergarten teachers in the Chicago system in teaching the letter B to her students. The binder she used identified the section of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills to which that day’s lesson plan corresponded, and provided step-by-step questions and conversation starters.

Script for Day: 053
TITLE: Reading and enjoying literature/words with “b”
TEXT: The Bath
LECTURE: Assemble students on the rug or reading area. . . . Give students a warning about the dangers of hot water. . . . Say, “Listen very quietly as I read the story.” . . . Say, “Think of other pictures that make the same sound as the sound bath begins with.”

The script Jabbari followed was twice as long as the book she was reading.

When she began her “literacy block” at 11:58 one Wednesday in May, she opened the textbook to Section 1, “Pets Are Special Animals.” Her mentor, veteran teacher Marie Buchanan, was sitting in. When Ms. Moffett got to a line about a boy mischievously drawing on a table, she playfully noted, “Just like some students in here.” Mrs. Buchanan frowned. “You don’t have to say that.” When Ms. Moffett turned to a page that suggested an art project related to the story and started passing out paper, Mrs. Buchanan commented: “You’re not going to have time to complete that.” After the lesson, Mrs. Buchanan pulled her aside. “You have to prepare for these lessons and closely follow your teacher’s guide. We’re going to do this again tomorrow, and you’re not going to wing it.”