I appreciate your comments here Terry, especially when you said "The best assessment of student learning and development is the insight from a practitioner who has worked with the learner. Free that practitioner to do their job. Resource them. Respect them."
Yes on a deep level. Terry, you almost make me believe the advent of AI could push more resources to teachers, elevating them to expert status. But I’m very skeptical of those in charge who control educational resources and insist on “practical” outcomes. I’m worried about the way writing instruction could be even more undercut in the schools than it already is. You’re right that the work of U.S. teachers is seriously undervalued. I’d also say the same of professional writers and journalists. Far too many influencers and podcasters call themselves journalists these days, doing their own “research” or “fact checking.” The Fourth Estate no longer plays its broad institutional role; public schools could also soon be gutted - well, it’s already happening, for the reasons you note here.
I’m not sure we have many choices. In my mind teachers are foundational professional. Journalism, history, architecture, medicine—all of the professionals in the world begin as children. If we are serious about maximizing human potential in the service of the future, it begins with teaching teachers and then resourcing them. Public healthcare for the mind. As Daniel said, fighting to put the genie back in the bottle is tantamount to yelling at the weather. We either work together to rebuild a crumbling school system or we watch it fail. I’m not hopeless. People are smart once they pull their heads out of their —-.
I appreciate your comments here Terry, especially when you said "The best assessment of student learning and development is the insight from a practitioner who has worked with the learner. Free that practitioner to do their job. Resource them. Respect them."
Yes on a deep level. Terry, you almost make me believe the advent of AI could push more resources to teachers, elevating them to expert status. But I’m very skeptical of those in charge who control educational resources and insist on “practical” outcomes. I’m worried about the way writing instruction could be even more undercut in the schools than it already is. You’re right that the work of U.S. teachers is seriously undervalued. I’d also say the same of professional writers and journalists. Far too many influencers and podcasters call themselves journalists these days, doing their own “research” or “fact checking.” The Fourth Estate no longer plays its broad institutional role; public schools could also soon be gutted - well, it’s already happening, for the reasons you note here.
I’m not sure we have many choices. In my mind teachers are foundational professional. Journalism, history, architecture, medicine—all of the professionals in the world begin as children. If we are serious about maximizing human potential in the service of the future, it begins with teaching teachers and then resourcing them. Public healthcare for the mind. As Daniel said, fighting to put the genie back in the bottle is tantamount to yelling at the weather. We either work together to rebuild a crumbling school system or we watch it fail. I’m not hopeless. People are smart once they pull their heads out of their —-.