Weinberger discusses “Social Knowers,” and he describes the typical Massachusetts classroom at the end of the year where students are taking standardized tests. The following paragraphs are an exerpt from "Everything is Miscellaneous."
The implicit lesson is unmistakable: Knowing is something done by individuals. It is something that happens inside of your brain. The mark of knowing is being able to fill in a paper with the right answers. Knowledge could not get any less social. In fact, in those circumstances when knowledge is social we call it cheating.
Nor could the disconnect get much wider between the official state view of education and how our children are learning. In most American households, the computer on which students do their homework is likely to be connected to the Net. Even if their teachers let them use only approved sources on the Web, chances are good that any particular student, including your son or daughter, has four or five instant messaging sessions open as he or she does homework. They have their friends with them as they learn…
One thing is for sure: When our kids become teachers, they’re not going to be administering tests to students sitting in a neat grid of separated desks with the shades down.
The last paragraph really moved me. I thouhgt, "FINALLY, someone is thinking exactly what I'm thinking....and not only that, they're actually writing it down for others to see." It frustrates me to no end with all the testing and assessing that is going on inside our classrooms these days. It brings me comfort in knowing that when my nieces and nephews become professionals, they will not be required to give all this testing and progress monitor. That makes me really happy.
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