Has anyone read The Global Achievement Gap?

[Sarah CB]

I just finished reading it and it actually reconfirmed a lot of what SWB says is important in the rhetoric stage. Every once in a while I start to think about things like AP classes and early college classes, but GAP really flies in the face of those priorities for high school. I think the seven survival skills he lists are those which (for the most part) are easily achieved following a classical model of education but, as the author demonstrates, are more difficult to achieve when standardized tests are a focal point.

 

I also found his interviews with employers to be fascinating. And the last section where he describes some high schools that do things that develop the seven survival skills was also fascinating - and sounded a lot like what happens in homeschooling. Even though the author never mentions homeschooling as an alternative, I think his book is a good argument for educating at home for excellence.

 

Has anyone else read it?

[MommyThrice]

I start to think about things like AP classes and early college classes, but GAP really flies in the face of those priorities for high school.

 

I agree. It always seems contradictory to me to pursue a classical education, and then switch to the ps model. I don't necessarily feel that taking the tests is contradictory, but teaching to those tests is, IMHO. I have precious little time with my child and high school seems like the most valuable of that time. He will be under someone else's teaching soon enough.

 

I would love to hear more about the book.

[MamaSheep]

I would like to hear more about it too. Would you be willing to give just a brief list of his seven skills?

[Kareni]

From Amazon, here is the Booklist Review for

The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don't Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need--and What We Can Do About It by Tony Wagner. You'll see it lists the seven survival skills.

 

"From Booklist

Wagner, a Harvard education professor, begins by offering his astute assessment of secondary education in the U.S. today and how it fails to produce graduates who are “jury ready†(i.e., able to analyze an argument, weigh evidence, and detect bias). He then presents a concise manifesto for the steps needed to “reinvent the education profession.†His thesis revolves around “Seven Survival skillsâ€â€”the core competencies he deems necessary for success both in college and in the twenty-first-century workforce. These encompass problem solving and critical thinking, collaboration across networks, adaptability, initiative, effective oral and written communication, analyzing information, and developing curiosity and imagination. Wagner visits a wide spectrum of schools, both public and private, meets with teachers and administrators, and demonstrates how these survival skills have been forgotten in the preparation for mandatory tests. He stresses the importance of being able to analyze new information and apply it to new situations in the “global knowledge economy,†then details the programs, including team teaching, at a few innovative schools that are effectively meeting this challenge. --Deborah Donovan"

 

It looks like an intersting read.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Guest]

I have seen this but not read it; now I'll get it from the library next time I'm there.

 

Anyone who is interested in this sort of topic might also like Coloring Outside the Lines by Roger Schank. In his take, what gets neglected in public schools and private schools alike are verbal skills; creativity; analytical thinking; "gumption"; ambition; and curiosity.

 

Then it's informative to compare these types of books with the new Daniel Pink-style books on creativity/right-brained thinking as the new societal need.