Monday, March 29, 2010

Raising a Left Brained Child in a Right Brained World by Katherine Beals

We went to Back Pages Books in Waltham and heard Beals speak about autism and read from her book. She is a guest lecturer at Penn State. OUR THOUGHTS & COMMENTS ARE IN CAPS

Beals didn’t want to use a (so-called) negative term like Asperger’s to describe the social and analytic traits she saw in her child, as well as others, so she decided to use the vernacular (not the neurological) “left brain” to describe them.

THIS REALLY BOTHERED US, SINCE THERE IS AN ACCEPTED USE FOR THIS TERM, YOU CAN’T JUST CHANGE IT FOR YOUR BOOK.


Some of her questions about education in today’s world included the following:
  • What does the recasting of math as a language-based curriculum do to mathematicians?
  • What happens when you value social skills more than academics?
HUH? WE WERE WILLING TO “HANG” WITH HER DISCUSSION, BUT THIS WAS AN ODD BEGINNING. ULTIMATELY, WE THOUGHT SHE VEERED OFF INTO THE REALM OF EDUCATIONAL METHODOLOGY, RATHER THAN ADDRESSING THE ISSUES OF THE KIDS THEMSELVES. SHE SEEMED TO BLAME THE SYSTEM, INSTEAD OF LOOKING AT HOW THE QUIRKS OF THE CHILD HONESTLY MAKE THEM DIFFERENT AND HOW TO ADDRESS THESE DIFFERENCES, BUT NOT BY CHANGING THE ENTIRE STATE OF EDUCATION.

She suggested that math has been “watered-down” because there is so much group work that students don’t get a chance to get to more complex number solving. Tony Wagner and others suggest that it has created a “global achievement gap.” Singapore math is being done in the rest of the world.
THIS RESEARCH JUST ISN’T ACCURATE.
MOST (ALMOST ALL) OF THE REST OF THE WORLD TRACKS THEIR POPULATION EARLY ON AND MANY PEOPLE DO NOT EVEN HAVE ACCESS TO HIGHER MATH, OR COLLEGE PREPARATORY CLASSES. SO, YEAH, THEY MAY HAVE HIGHER ACHIEVERS, BUT THEY HAVEN’T EDUCATED THEIR ENTIRE POPULATION, LIKE WE HAVE IN THE U.S.A. ALSO, LET’S JUST DO THE MATH HERE, THE HIGHEST 10% OF ASIAN STUDENTS ARE ACHIEVING MORE THAN ALL OUR STUDENTS COMBINED BECAUSE THEY HAVE A LARGER POPULATION, NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE INHERENTLY SMARTER OR GETTING A BETTER CURRICULUM OR SOMETHING!

She cited Ann Willingham who says there is no evidence of distinct learning styles. Then she said that Asian students work independently and the research says that group work is damaging to them because they are forced to talk with each other and not see the teacher as “expert."
WELL, PLENTY OF FOLKS LIKE HOWARD GARDNER (MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES), SAY THERE ARE DISTINCT LEARNING STYLES.
ALSO, OGBU DID A BIT OF FAMOUS RESEARCH WHICH SHOWED THAT ASIAN STUDENTS IMMEDIATELY FORMED STUDY GROUPS AND WORKED AS TEAMS TO HELP EACH OTHER LEARN AND THAT WAS THE REASON THEY ACHIEVED SO MUCH BETTER THAN WHITES AND BLACKS AT THE COLLEGE LEVEL. IN FACT, MANY OF THE BLACK AND LATINO STUDENTS PURPOSELY DIDN’T FORM GROUPS BECAUSE OF THEIR EXPERIENCES WITH GANGS. WHEN HE HAD THEM GROUP UP FOR COLLEGE, THEIR GRADES INCREASED, TOO! SO THERE.

She went on to say that many subjects have become more about social interactions (cooperation, group work, oral discussion, contributions to class, charisma), rather than conceptual problem-solving (independence, analysis).
She believes the emphasis on rigorous analysis is lost as much as art and music. There isn’t so much group work in the real world and people need to learn how to be independent.
WE CAN’T EVEN BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND HOW THIS COULD BE SEEN AS NEGATIVE.
THE NUMBER ONE REASON PEOPLE ARE FIRED FROM JOBS IS THERE INABILITY TO GET ALONG WITH OTHERS. EVEN MATHEMATICIANS AND SCIENTISTS HAVE TO INTERACT SOCIALLY AND WORK IN TEAMS. WE BELIEVE THERE IS MORE GROUP WORK THAN SHE IS GIVING THE REAL WORLD CREDIT FOR!

She believes that the social hierarchy (social skills, peer rankings) has been trumping the academic hierarchy (gets new concepts quickly).

SHE’S SIMPLIFYING IT TOO MUCH.
THERE ARE MANY MORE CLIQUES AND CLASS HAS A LOT TO DO WITH THE SOCIAL GROUPS, TOO.
In the sciences, the Novice and the Expert handle experiments very differently and should not be grouped together.
NOT EVERYTHING SHE MENTIONED IS WELL-RESEARCHED.
CLEARLY, DOING A LONG COMPOSITION THESIS ESSAY IN GRADES 4 AND 7 FOR MCAS, IS WAY BEFORE WE LEARNED IT, WHEN WE WERE FRESHMEN IN HIGH SCHOOL.

LET US NOT FORGET OTHER LECTURES WE HAVE HEARD.
SPEAKERS HAVE REITERATED THAT THE MINDS OF THE YOUNG ARE ACTUALLY BEING REWIRED, ATTENTION IS SHORTER, PACE/STATE CHANGES ARE NEEDED EVERY 7 MINUTES OR SO. TEACHERS ARE EXPECTED TO BE ENTERTAINERS, MORE THAN LECTURERS.

The very few strategies she mentioned were:
  • Let the self driven work independently and give them material that is challenging.
  • Accelerate the achieving students. Don’t hold them back just because they are disorganized, not doing homework, etc. It’s probably because they aren’t interested or being challenged.
  • Allow kids to begin a task working collaboratively, but them divide off and work independently.
GO BUY THE BOOK FOR MORE STRATEGIES? NOT ON YOUR LIFE. HER ANECDOTES REALLY DIDN’T CONVINCE US TO BUY THE BOOK.