Jarvik Joshi

English 1102

Mrs. Keaton

04/29/2013

Teaching Techniques in Focus

Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you use to

change the world” and this same ideology is shared by many other famous public figures in

history and even today (Mandela). It is safe to assume that since the value of education is

significantly higher than before, the educational system has come under extreme scrutiny. From

researchers like Jean Anyon, and SAT guru Stanley Kaplan to Dr. Montessori and Earl Shorris

who had their own institutions for education, all scrutinized the educational system. A common

thread talked about in their articles was different teaching methods and how it changes according

to various factors.

Many of the colleges look at SAT scores to assess a student and plays a crucial role on

whether he or she is submitted to that college. Stanley Kaplan viewed the SAT as a tool that

would measure the student’s ability to perform in the future thus he focused on preparing

students on acing the test. According to his beliefs, the SAT measures students on critical

thinking and application rather than pure memorization, “Learning to ask the hows and whys of

information was essential in preparing for the SAT because it tested students on reading

comprehension, problem solving, math concepts, and vocabulary skills with questions that

required them to comprehend and understand the subject matter”(Kaplan). His teaching

techniques consisted of repetition of similar material which led his students to be familiar and

confident with the testing (Kaplan). Those students performed remarkably well than others

which proved that his technique works and eventually led to the creation of Stanley Kaplan

industry of test preparation books. Considering his point of view about standardized testing, he

fails to mention students who aren’t successful at the SAT. Since the SAT measures majority on

Reading (comprehension) and Math, what about students who aren’t bright in those areas but

strive in others? Does the SAT rightfully predict how a student is going to perform in future?

Should the SAT be as important as it was during its inception? Bob Stenberg argues the idea of

standardized testing in one of his talks at TEDx events. His arguments states that standardizes

test like the SAT were designed a long time ago where majority of test takers were “white male

who were in middle to upper class and went to good schools”(Stenberg). He argues that since

then, a lot of things have changed. Test takers have increased and consist of many diverse

students which are not only diverse by race but by personality. He claims that standardize testing

today fails to measure the true potential of a student. Tests like SAT only measure memory and

analytical skills and fail to measure creative, practical, and wisdom based skills which are

imperative for a job. He started a project named kaleidoscope where students are taught and

tested on not only memory and analytics but also creativity and practicality which provides an

overall perspective of the student. Where Kaplan suggested SAT as tool to measure a student’s

performance in the future, Sternberg insisted that SAT needs to be modified to count for all the

other aspects he talked about in his talk. Due to their differences in their ideology of standardize

testing, their teaching methods had to differ.

Part of the statement made by Bob Stenberg above said that students from middle to

upper class went to good school. Classifying education according to the socio-economic status

of the student wasn’t only done by Bob Stenberg but Jean Anyon as well. Her research included

examining elementary school of different social statuses which included working class, middle

class, affluent professionals, and executive elite class. Her observations differed from class to

class suggesting that each class had different teaching methods. In her research for working class

schools, she states that teachers teach for the sake of teaching, “The teachers rarely explain why

the work is being assigned, how it might connect to other assignments, or what the idea is that

lies behind the procedure or gives it coherence and perhaps meaning or significance”(Anyon).

Even if students do the same problem a different way, they are told that their way is wrong even

though they are right. Teachers wanted students to follow only what they taught which limited

students ability to think on their own. Freire talks about similar situation but for normal schools

in general. Freire implies that students are the depositories where teachers are depositors, “the

teacher issues communiques and makes deposits which the students patiently receive, memorize,

and repeat” (Freire). Her research and his quote both suggest that getting education is pure

memorization with no critical thinking. Kenneth Bernstein blames No Child Left Behind

(NCLB) act for this outcome. According to him, NCLB forced teachers to only teach what is

going to be on the test, “If, as a teacher, you want your students to do their best, you have to have

them practice what is effectively bad writing— no introduction, no conclusion, just hit the points of

the rubric and provide the necessary factual support”(Bernstein). He suggests that due to

overwhelming requirements, it is tough for teachers to teach the material which provokes critical

thinking. Are teachers not getting paid enough to where they don’t feel motivated to apply

different teaching methods to teach the curriculum or is NCLB to blame here?

Affluent Professional class is where teaching methods takes a 180 degree turn from

working class. Here not only teachers come up with different ways of teaching students so that

they understand the material well but students are also involved in critical thinking, “Work

involves individual thought and expressiveness, expansion and illustration of ideas, and choice of

appropriate method and material” (Anyon). Earl Shorris followed the same ideology in his

institution. Taking an example of a History class from his article, he talked about how the

students in that class viewed pictures and were taken to actual museum to view the artifacts.

Students learned about history through actual artifacts/demonstrations and not the history books.

Similar activities were carried out in the affluent professional schools where students were given

a chance to reenact the history and make a film which according to Dr. Montessori is very

beneficial, “Montessori students learn through sensory-motor activities, working with materials

that develop their cognitive powers through direct experience: seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling,

touching, and movement”(Montessori). Is it evident enough to assume that higher the class of a

school, the better the teaching method? Should money be a factor in deciding the quality of

education one receives?

Works Cited

Anyon, Jean. "Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work." Journal of Education162.1

(1980): n. pag. Print.

Bernstein, Kenneth. "A Warning to College Profs from a High School Teacher." The Washington

Post. Valerie Strauss, 9 Feb. 2013. Web. 1 Mar. 2013.

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/02/09/a-warning-to-

college-profs-from-a-high-school-teacher/>.

Freire, Paulo. "Chapter 2." Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: The

Continuum International Publishing Group Inc, 2006. 72.

"Introduction to Montessori." American Montessori Society. American Montessori Society, n.d.

Web. 03 Mar. 2013. <http://www.amshq.org/Montessori Education/Introduction to

Montessori.aspx>.

Kaplan, Stanley. “My 54 Year Love Affair with the SAT.” Considering Literacy: Reading and

Writing the Educational Experience. Ed. Linda Adler--‐Kasser. New York: Pearson

Longman, 2006. 265--‐272. Print.

Mendela, Nelson. "Nelson Mendela Quotes." Nelson Mandela Quotes (Author of Long Walk to

Freedom). Good Reads, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2013.

<http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/367338.Nelson_Mandela>.

None of the Above - Why Standardized Testing Fails: Bob Sternberg at TEDxOStateU. Perf. Bob

Sternberg. YouTube. TEDxTalks, 03 Dec. 2012. Web. 23 Feb. 2013.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otlmKZeNi-U>.

Shorris, Earl. “On the Uses of a Liberal Education: II. As a Weapon in the Hands of the Poor.”

Considering Literacy: Reading and Writing the Educational Experience. Ed. Linda

Adler- ‐Kasser. New York: Pearson Longman, 2006. 187--‐200. Print.