FYI: School Inc

[MarkT]

There is a three part documentary on PBS called "School Inc"  by the late Andrew Coulson.

It is interesting.  Has anyone else seen it?

[Mabelen]

I haven't but it looks interesting. I will try to watch it. Thanks.

[fralala]

Looks fascinating! I found the episodes free online at the PBS site and am adding it to my "want to watch this weekend" list.

[MarkT]

Has anyone else seen this?  Worth a discussion if enough folks view it.

[Carol in Cal.]

I watched the first one.

 

It was interesting to do this as a John Gatto fan.  I found myself critiquing the history quite a bit.

 

Regarding the South Korean teachers who were continuously improving themselves to get selected, that only worked because they were supplemental teachers.  I thought it was a stupid point that didn't go anywhere, but maybe it's resolved in the later episodes.

 

The Stand and Deliver 'what happened next' story was cautionary to that experience as well.

 

I'll try to get around to watching the others during the next week or so.  I'm not one to watch videos or TV very much.

Edited May 6, 2017 by Carol in Cal.

[maize]

What was the bit about Stand and Deliver?

[MarkT]

I watched the first one.

 

It was interesting to do this as a John Gatto fan.  I found myself critiquing the history quite a bit.

 

1) Regarding the South Korean teachers who were continuously improving themselves to get selected, that only worked because they were supplemental teachers.  I thought it was a stupid point that didn't go anywhere, but maybe it's resolved in the later episodes.

 

2) The Stand and Deliver 'what happened next' story was cautionary to that experience as well.

 

1) No the Korean hagwon (cram schools) segment was the weakest part of the series - no good fit to the US market - but it was eye opening to see these teachers pulling in millions of dollars over the years. 

 

2) I didn't know they forced him out until I saw that segment - typical educrats that run our schools

[Carol in Cal.]

 

2) I didn't know they forced him out until I saw that segment - typical educrats that run our schools

What I had heard previously is that he had moved up to the Sacramento area and tried those same kinds of techniques there but the methods did not transfer well and results were not all that good.  I should have surmised that there was a reason he left.  

 

This is why I hate public school systems so much.  They ruin the good, seemingly on purpose.  Petty tyrannies abound.  They have too much power and are sanctimonious.  Having said that, they are a necessary evil IMO, and I regularly vote to fund them, and also have done fundraising and volunteer work at local ones even though I haven't sent kids there.  And, for the record, almost everyone I have ever met that works in public education is a good, cool person.  It's the system that messes things up, and the fact that it inherently prioritizes everything about as wrongly as possible.

Edited May 6, 2017 by Carol in Cal.