I got a look at my school district’s new report card. Most of the items are now grouped under the heading “Lifelong Learning Skills”; specifically, the group contains the following entries:
- Listens in class
- Follows directions
- Works independently
- Works neatly
- Completes work on time
- Accept [sic] responsibility
- Respects classmates
- Respects authority
- Uses time wisely
- Communicates effectively
- Works collaboratively
A quiz for my gentle readers (or, even better, my snarky readers): which of these items
- Support life-long learning?
- Actively work against life-long learning?
- Are neutral towards life-long learning?
- Could be interpreted in ways that either support or hinder life-long learning, but guess which way teachers are going to interpret them?
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I guess I’m not snarky enough because I think almost all of these are 4, except maybe “communicates effectively” which I think is 1. I mean, you _can_ read “respects authority” as “obeys more powerful people blindly” but also as “pays some heed to existing social structures, which is not to say doesn’t think about them critically.” And so on down the list.
I think the startling thing about this list isn’t what’s on it, but what’s NOT on it — no “thinks critically” or “asks questions” or “does more than is strictly required,” all of which I think are pretty crucial life-long learning skills.
10/11/2007 @ 7:05 am
But 4 is the snarkiest answer of all! And I agree that most of them fall in that bucket, but I’ll also speak up in favor of 3: the clearest example of that to me is “Works neatly”. For example, I am both messy and good at learning stuff, but I wouldn’t make the claim that my being messy has helped (or hindered) me towards that end.
I also wonder how to classify stuff like “Respects classmates”. That seems to me to be unambiguously good, but for reasons which don’t have anything to do with life-long learning. I think it probably correlates somewhat with being a good learner, but only because I think it probably correlates with positive outcomes across a wide range of measures. (And even those positive outcomes for the individual aren’t the main reason why I think it’s important: I think it’s important because of positive outcomes for everybody else.)
Totally agree with the last paragraph of the comment.
10/11/2007 @ 11:11 am
These aren’t exactly learning in my book. Sure, they are good things, but why call them learning?
* Accept [sic] responsibility
* Respects classmates
* Respects authority
* Works collaboratively
10/12/2007 @ 6:23 am