Amidst all the hand-wringing about what’s going wrong with current approaches to education reform we don’t hear enough about what could be done right.
In this clip, author and education researcher Linda Darling-Hammond discusses two different approaches to reform: 聽vs. (the current) incentive-based reform.
“The professional approach to education, the approach taken in some of our states and many of the high achieving nations 鈥� in fact all of them 鈥� is that expertise rests in the classroom.聽That teachers have to have extensive knowledge and skill.聽That research is aimed at informing practice, as are texts and tests.聽Decisions are made collegially based on standards of practice.聽The emphasis is on doing what works, doing the right things rather than doing things right.聽And schools function as communities of learning.聽And as we move forward we must develop our capacity again to engage in professional policy and in professional teaching that rests on our capacity to do what鈥檚 best for kids.”
Hear more from Linda Darling-Hammond in these two clips: