"A child's learning is the function more of the characteristics of his classmates than those of the teacher." James Coleman, 1972

Sunday, July 17, 2011

What school is all about

Sent to the Los Angeles Times, July 17, 2011

In addition to influencing the medical literature (LA Times, July 16), J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter has a great deal to say about current educational policy.

In "Harry Potter: The Order of the Phoenix" (2007), villain Dolores Umbridge ("You know, I really hate children.") informs Hogwarts students that their course on Defense Against the Dark Arts will be "carefully structured" and all theoretical, with no actual use of the spells. When students complain, Umbridge says " … a theoretical knowledge will be sufficient to get you through your examinations, which after all, is what school is all about." The next lines say it all:

Harry Potter: And how is theory supposed to prepare us for what's out there?
Dolores Umbridge: There is nothing out there, dear!

Umbridge would have strongly approved of the US Department of Education Common Core Standards and National Tests based on the standards.

Stephen Krashen

LA Times article: http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-harry-potter-medical-research-20110716,0,5574115.story

2 comments:

  1. That what I thought at first. It's nice to know that there are others in the world who think the same. In fact Dolores Umbridge curriculum represents the very dangers of the Common Core initiative. Look at what happened to all those Hogwarts students who died in Deathly Hollows?? Those students all received Defense Against the arts instruction from Dolores Umbridge. They were unprepared for Lord Voldemorts return. Same thing with The Common Core initiative: it does not prepare children for the world. Common Core initiative only helps politicians, banks, and multinational corporations (which I think is depicted by Lord Voldemort). Because the more ignorant, and less informed you are, the easier it is for politicians, banks and multinational corporations to enslave you. And of course if students are passing the exams, politicians will capitalize on that phenomenon during their election campaign. The main weapon that those Hogwarts students and today's adolescent needed is knowledge. The allegorical representation of Dolores Umbridge and the Common Core initiative cannot be ignored. Lack of knowledge kills. It does more murder than any other weapon on this planet. "life without knowledge is death in disguise." You were correct in stating thAt "Dolores Umbridge would have strongly approved of the US Department of Education Common Core Standards and National Tests based on the standards." Because she was working for Lord Voldemort who IMHO represents banks/corporations/politicians. The
    DOE has already partnered with Open Society: a Soros funded company. Great job

    ReplyDelete
  2. That what I thought at first. It's nice to know that there are others in the world who think the same. In fact Dolores Umbridge curriculum represents the very dangers of the Common Core initiative. Look at what happened to all those Hogwarts students who died in Deathly Hollows?? Those students all received Defense Against the arts instruction from Dolores Umbridge. They were unprepared for Lord Voldemorts return. Same thing with The Common Core initiative: it does not prepare children for the world. Common Core initiative only helps politicians, banks, and multinational corporations (which I think is depicted by Lord Voldemort). Because the more ignorant, and less informed you are, the easier it is for politicians, banks and multinational corporations to enslave you. And of course if students are passing the exams, politicians will capitalize on that phenomenon during their election campaign. The main weapon that those Hogwarts students and today's adolescent needed is knowledge. The allegorical representation of Dolores Umbridge and the Common Core initiative cannot be ignored. Lack of knowledge kills. It does more murder than any other weapon on this planet. "life without knowledge is death in disguise." You were correct in stating thAt "Dolores Umbridge would have strongly approved of the US Department of Education Common Core Standards and National Tests based on the standards." Because she was working for Lord Voldemort who IMHO represents banks/corporations/politicians. The
    DOE has already partnered with Open Society: a Soros funded company. Great job

    ReplyDelete