So, I just read the two blogs 2 c worth and Stager to go. I was very intrigued by the comparison to Starbucks and Education drawn by Stager. This is an incredibly valid point, especially as I look at it. You know why?
I am a Barnes and Noble Cafe barista. Barnes and Noble Cafes proudly serve...Starbucks coffee. I experience all these things that were being talked about in that blog. Certain things have changed to improve speed of service and to increase the number of dollars pulled in each day. As a Mathematics Education major I can also see how changing things to work around things such as NCLB have compromised the (if you will) espresso creation and barista/customer rapport of schools that is education and teacher/student relationship. By being forced to teach to the test teachers are loosing some of that valuable bonding and might as well be robots or digital images on a computer screen.
2 Cents worth was interesting in that I've seen how many people will spout things as facts and when I ask them where they heard it, the answer often is 'The Internet'. I despair of the future if everything is just googled and then stated, not researched, not looked at carefully to see if the information or informer is a valid source. We were always told in school when we began to use the internet to look for certain things to make sure the source is valid. I hope they continue to do so, because in the future, yes our children will have been using computers for most of their lives, but they will not inherently know how to check for valid sources.
As an educator these two blogs really hit home. Its not often I go on such things resembling tirades. :)