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Thursday, March 29, 2012

So Much Policy Talk - Bridging Differences - Education Week

So Much Policy Talk - Bridging Differences - Education Week:


So Much Policy Talk

Dear Diane,
I'm getting sick of policy talk! I know we have to STOP this corporate take-over of democracy. It's perhaps temporarily futile, but certainly exhausting, and in some ways boring. I hope to get to Occupy DOE next week. At least the Mike Petrilli response to Alfie Kohn is interesting, and I hope we can both dig into it sometime from our separate perspectives.
I miss the kind of collegial discussion that went on all the time when I was working. There were so many things that excited us and that we shared with each other. Whether it was about what we were studying with the kids, or a particular student's dilemma, or a fascinating article we had just read. The kids were a constant source of ideas worth exploring also with adults. So today I spend a few hours a day, probably, at my computer reading e-mails from parents and teachers mostly—but second hand is not like face to face, dealing together with real-world dilemmas. I suspect the best teachers too are overwhelmed by the policy issues that are driving out good