Author Archive

Is distance learning online degree a right choice for the students? – 13th Edition

Enrolling for the online degree via the distance learning has its own advantages. When you enrol in the distance learning courses, reducing the work hours or quitting the job is not an option at all. In fact it can be difficult to go back to the regular school routine in case you enrol for a regular course. It is practically impossible to attend the class on a regular basis while also juggling with the job and family.

But in case of the online degree via the distance learning mode, there is no need to attend the classes regularly. Instead you can make your own schedule and study at your own pace and comfort. You do not even need to visit the campus, instead sit at the comforts of your home and prepare your online degree course. There are many students all over the world who opts for the online degree via the distance learning courses only because it saves them a lot of time and effort alongside with providing the much needed flexibility.

In fact the flexibility is such that not only do you have all the liberty to study at your own pace and time, but you do not even quit your job at all. Instead, if you are good at multi tasking, then you can manage all three tasks like the job, studies and the family. But the only drawback that you might consider when opting for the online degree via the distance learning mode is that, the environment that the distance learning colleges create is much different than that of the regular college campuses. You can feel a little bit secluded in such environment. But if you are a disciplined person, then this would not create much of a problem as you would be able to adjust with this seclusion well.

Some people doubt that the distance learning online degree does not hold the same value as that of the regular degree courses. But that is not true at all. The curriculum followed by the online degree course is at par with the regular course and the online degree holds the same value and worth as that of the regular degree courses although it is preached via the distance learning mode. And it is also much cheaper at costing too. Apart from that, the online degree does not mention anywhere that it had been preached in the distance learning mode.

By edarticle.com

A new form of neglect? – 12th Edition

We've all been through it: the heavy backpack.

But increasing numbers of students are now reporting consistent back pains. 

In a study led by the University of California in Riverside, 64% of students reported having back pain at some time.

Two out of every five students reported feeling pain while wearing their backpacks. Of those reporting pain, almost 90% reported the back pain being "bad" or "very bad".

The following statistics were drawn of those reporting back pain:

• 21% said their pain lasted more than six months
• about 16% said they had missed school, gym, class, or after-school sports as a result of back pain
• only about 17% said they had seen a doctor for their back pain
• most of these students said the pain was recurrent *

In response, the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) designated the third Wednesday of each September as National School Backpack Awareness Day. AOTA also promotes public awareness of backpack injuries, as well as gives tips and strategies to avoid them.

Have you been checking the weight of your child's backpack?

* SOURCE: Siambanes, D. Journal of Pediatric Orthopedics, March/April 2004; vol 24: pp 211-271. News release, University of California, Riverside.

For comments, questions, or story ideas, email Janice Chong at contactjanicechong@gmail.com.

By edarticle.com

STRENGTHENING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HIGHER EDUCATION AND SOCIETY – 11th Edition

Afshan Saleem

Bahria University

Karachi, Pakistan

Institutions of higher education, and the system of which they are a part, face a host of unprecedented challenges from forces in society that affect and are influenced by these very institutions and their communities of learners and educators.  Among these forces are sweeping demographic changes, shrinking state budgets, revolutionary advances in information and telecommunication technologies, globalization, competition from new educational providers, market pressures to shape educational and scholarly practices toward profit-driven ends, and increasing demands and pressures for fundamental changes in public policy and public accountability relative to higher education’s role in addressing pressing issues of communities and the society at large.  Anyone of these challenges would be significant on their own, but collectively they increase the complexity and difficulty for higher education to sustain or advance the fundamental work of serving the public good. 

Through a forum on higher education, we can agree to:

• Strengthening the relationship between higher education and society will require a broad-based effort that encompasses all of higher education, not just individual institutions, departments and associations.
• Piecemeal solutions can only go so far; strategies for change must be informed by a shared vision and a set of common objectives.
• A “movement” approach for change holds greater promise for transforming academic culture than the prevailing “organizational” approach.
• Mobilizing change will require strategic alliances, networks, and partnerships with a broad range of stakeholders within and beyond higher education.

The Common Agenda is specifically designed to support a “movement” approach to change by encouraging the emergence of strategic alliances among individuals and organizations who care about higher education’s role in advancing the ideals of a diverse democracy through higher education’s practices, relationships and service to society.

A Common Agenda

The Common Agenda is intended to be a "living" document and an open process that guides collective action and learning among committed partners within and outside of higher education.  As a living document, the Common Agenda is a collection of focused activity aimed at advancing higher education's civic, social, and cultural roles in society. This collaboratively created, implemented, and focused Common Agenda respects the diversity of activity and programmatic foci of individuals, institutions, and networks, as well as recognizes the common interests of the whole.  As an open process, the Common Agenda is a structure for connecting work and relationships around common interests focusing on higher education’s role in serving society.  Various modes of aliening and amplifying the common work within and beyond higher education will be provided within the Common Agenda process.

This approach is understandably ambitious and unique in its purpose and application.  Ultimately, the Common Agenda challenges the system of higher education, and those who view higher education as vital to addressing society's pressing issues, to act deliberately, collectively, and clearly on an evolving and significant set of commitments to society. Currently, four broad issue areas are shaping the focus of the Common Agenda: 1) Building public understanding and support for higher education’s civic mission and actions; 2) Cultivating networks and partnerships;

3) Infusing and reinforcing the value of civic responsibility into the culture of higher education institutions; and 4) Embedding civic engagement and social responsibility in the structure of the higher education system  

Vision

We have a vision of higher education that nurtures individual prosperity, institutional responsiveness and inclusivity, and societal health by promoting and practicing learning, scholarship, and engagement that respects public needs.

Our colleges and universities are proactive and responsive to pressing social, ethical, and economic problems facing our communities and greater society. Our students and graduates are people of integrity who embrace diversity and are socially responsible and civically engaged throughout their lives.

Mission  

The purpose of the Common Agenda is to provide a framework for organizing, guiding and communicating the values and practices of higher education relative to its civic, social and economic commitments to a diverse democracy.

Guiding Principles 

We believe social justice, ethics, educational equity, and societal change for positive effects are fundamental to the work of higher education.

We consider the relationship between communities and higher education institutions to be based on the values of equally, respect and reciprocity, and the work in higher education to be interdependent with the other institutions and individuals in society.

We will seek and rely on extensive partnerships with all types of institutions and devoted individuals inside and outside of higher education.

We realize the interconnection of politics, power and privilege. The Common Agenda is not for higher education to self-serve, but to “walk the talk” relative to espoused public goals.

We understand the Common Agenda as a dynamic living document, and expect the activities it encompasses to change over time.

The Common agenda Framework

The general framework for the common agenda is represented in the following diagram.  It is clear that while goals and action items are organized and aliened within certain issues areas, there is considerable overlap and complimentarity among the issues, goals and action items.  Also, following each action item are names of individuals who committed to serve as “point persons” for that particular item.  A list of “point persons,” with their organizational affiliation(s) is included with the common agenda. 

Issues, goals, and action Items

ISSUE 1: BUILDING PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING AND SUPPORT FOR HIGHER EDUCATION’S CIVIC MISSION AND ACTIONS

Public understanding more and more equates higher education benefits with acquiring a “good job” and receiving “higher salaries.” To understand and support the full benefits of higher education the public and higher education leaders need to engage in critical and honest discussions about the role of higher education in society.

Goal: Develop a common language that resonates both inside and outside the academy.

Action Items:

• Develop a common language and themes about higher education's role and responsibility to the public good, through discussions with a broader public.
• Collect scholarship on public good, examine themes and identify remaining questions.
• Develop a national awareness of the importance of higher education for the public good through the development of marketing efforts.

Goal: Promote effective and broader discourse.

Action Items:

• Raise public awareness about the institutional diversity within and between higher education institutions.
• Identify strategies for engaging alumni associations for articulating public good and building bridges between higher education and the various public sector companies.
• Develop guidelines of discourse to improve the quality of dialogue on every level of society.
• Organize a series of civil dialogues with various public sectors about higher education and the public good.

ISSUE 2: Cultivating Networks and Partnerships

Approaching complex issues such as higher education’s role in society requires a broad mix of partners to create strategies and actions that encompass multiple valued perspectives and experiences.

Broad partnerships to strengthen the relationship between higher education and society involves working strategically with those within and outside of higher education to achieve mutual goals on behalf of the public good.

Goal: Create broad and dispersed communication systems and processes.

Action Items:

• Create an information and resource network across higher education associations
• Create information processes that announce relevant conferences, recruit presenters and encourage presentations in appropriate national conferences
• Develop opportunities for information sharing and learning within and between various types of postsecondary institutions (e.g. research-centered communities.

Goal: Generate and support strategic alliances and diverse collaborations.

Action Items:

• Establish and support on-going partnerships and collaborations between higher education associations, postsecondary institutions and the external community (e.g. civic organizations, legislators, community members)
• Explore with the public how to employ the role of arts in advancing higher education for the public good
• Promote collaboration between higher education and to address access, retention, and graduation concerns  

ISSUE 3: INFUSING AND REINFORCING THE VALUE OF CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY INTO THE CULTURE OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

There is a separation and imbalance among traditional research, teaching and service in higher education. Higher Education should attend to the implicit and explicit consequences of its work, and reexamine “what counts” to integrate research, teaching and service for the public good to the core working of the institution.

Goal: Emphasize civic skills and leadership development in the curriculum and co-curriculum.

Action Items:

• Develop and implement a curriculum in colleges and universities that promote civic engagement of students
• Create co-curricular student and community programs for leadership and civic engagement development

• Develop learning opportunities, inside and outside of the classroom, that promote liberty, democratic responsibility, social justice and knowledge of the economic system
• Develop student leadership and service opportunities that focus on ethical behavior
• Teach undergraduate students organizing and networking skills, and encourage student leadership and activism

• Diversity education

Goal: Foster a deeper commitment to the public good within the professorate.

Action Items:

• Work with faculty on communication skills and languages to describe their engagement with the public, and educate faculty for the common good
• Identify models for promotion and tenure standards
• Identify models for faculty development

Goal: Identify, recognize, and support engaged scholarship.

Action Items:

• Identify and disseminate models and exemplars of scholarship on the pubic good
• Encourage the participation in community research
• Help institutions call attention to exemplary outreach
• Establish a capacity building effort for institutions

Goal: Bring graduate education into alignment with the civic mission.

Action Items:

• Work with disciplinary associations to hold dialogues on ways graduate student training can incorporate public engagement, involvement and service
• Promote “civic engagement” within academic and professional disciplines according to the disciplines’ definition of “civic engagement”
• Incorporate the concept of higher education for the public good into current graduate education reform efforts

ISSUE 4: Embedding civic engagement and social responsibility in the structure of The higher education system

Promoting the public benefits of higher education requires system efforts beyond institutions to intentionally embed values of civic engagement and social responsibility in governance practices, policy decisions, and educational processes.

Goal: Align governing structures and administrative strategies.

Action Items:

• Develop ways to improve student and the community involvement in the governance and decision making process of higher education institutions.
• Identify and promote ways for institutions to improve involvement with the public and the practice of democracy within their own institution.
• Establish public good/civic engagement units that orchestrate this work throughout institutions.

Goal: Publicly recognize and support valuable engagement work.

Action Items:

• Offer public awards that reward institutions with demonstrable track record in serving the public good in order to encourage institutionalization of performance around the public good and civic engagement.
• Develop a comprehensive inventory of funding sources, association activities, initiatives, and exemplary practices that advance the public good.
• Identify, recognize, and support early career scholars who choose to do research on higher education's public good role in society.

Goal: Ensure that assessment and accreditation processes include civic engagement and social responsibility criteria.

Action Items:

• Identify service to the public good as a key component in provincial and federal educational plans (e.g. Master Plans, state budgets, professional associations).
• Bring higher education associations and legislators together to broaden current definition of student outcomes and achievement, and develop a plan for assessment.
• Develop strategies and processes to refocus system-wide planning, accreditation and evaluation agendas to consider criteria assessing the social, public benefits of higher education.

Goal: Cultivate stronger ties between the university and government.

 Action Items:

• Develop a 3-year implementation plan that joins college and university rector / Pro-Rector and Director with provincial legislators to engage in an assessment of the needs of the public by province
• Host a series of dialogues between trustees and provincial legislators to discuss the role of universities and public policy in advancing public good at a local, state, and national level.

By edarticle.com

Teacher Student Interaction – 10th Edition

Society, Students, and Teachers

My Philosophy of Education in Pakistan

Afshan Saleem

Senior Lecturer

Bahria University

Karachi

Education serves the needs of two main groups: society and the students.  Society needs education for its proliferation.  To continue to exist and thrive, Pakistani society needs universities to educate students who can reason and make enlightened decisions regarding commerce and government. Moreover, society needs institutions to assimilate its young citizens into its values and ideologies.  This ensures “a more peaceable and uniform government. The students need institutions to teach them the knowledge and skills necessary to survive and thrive in Pakistani society.  Their education needs to help them reach their potential.  Students also need the school to provide them with a feeling of inclusion.  In other words, students need to see that they can attain their “Dream” regardless of their present status in life.

            The role of teachers is fundamental in blending the needs of society and the needs of the student.  In many ways, teachers are society ambassadors who are sent to prepare new citizens for their role in society. Teachers need to be a welcoming force that encourages students to “buy-in” to the learning process and value school’s importance in for the future of the individual.  Teachers need to be interpreters who help students understand the world and what society expects of this citizen.  Teachers become change agents who plant the ideology of prosperous“dreams” deep within the soul of the students, and then encourage their students to achieve goals and objectives in pursuit of the dream, much like the “intuitional agents”.  Teachers are also advocates for the students.  They need to understand the student, identify their learning styles, empower them to build their strengths, and work with them to overcome their deficiencies.

            Because teachers service both the society and the students, they are often challenged by conflicting needs. For teachers the most challenging question becomes “Who will I serve?”  This question becomes even more difficult when we go beyond the ideal concepts of students and society and look at the actual conditions. As we have discussed throughout our class, Pakistan is somewhat ethnically diverse. Within a single classroom there can be multiple first languages, diverse cultures and religions, multiple economic conditions, and a vast continuum of knowledge and abilities.   “No life is the same.” Hence no student is the same, which means you can’t exactly treat every student the same. To say you can fails to acknowledge individual needs. Correspondingly, society is very ambiguous.  Our political structure, our invasive popular culture, and our corporate-media strongholds send us very conflicting messages. How does a teacher prepare a student for a society that is difficult to understand?

Realistically, no teacher will ever meet the needs of everyone all the time.  I personally advocate that teachers work within the system to teach in a way that they believe will best serve the “public good.”  In other words, teaching should be a decision making process.  Teachers must rely on their reason, their experience, and their morals to best meet the needs of society and students. They need to be in tune with how their students are learning and adjusting, while being aware of what the current political-economy wants from its students even if that means dealing with “No Student Left Behind”. They must also be reflective of their effectiveness as a teacher. They should be the “life learners” and study their profession, subject matter, and their students as best they can.  To best serve their students and the society, teachers must be as effective as they can be.

I believe that one of the foundations of becoming an effective teacher is by building relationships.  In my own experience I begin this process by building rapport with my students. When I meet them, I make them feel welcome, I treat them with kindness, and I try to get to know them on a personal level.   I have found that rapport opens the lines of communication so that when learning occurs, I have the attention of the student.  A teacher who focuses on the relationship with the student, gains a means to motivate the student. If the student believes that the teacher values the student’s ability and individuality, they will be more likely to perform. When I was a student, I always put more effort into the classes of the teachers I liked and respected.  I often liked them because they talked to me, or gave me positive feedback.  In the same regard, if a teacher focuses on their relationship with a student, the teacher can better judge a student’s ability, commitment, and interest. Sometimes this means reading into body language. I was teaching a group of BBA students, and one of them was extremely reserved about volunteering to take parts in skits or answering questions.  When I started paying more attention to her physical queues I realized that she was disappointed when she did not participate.  I realized I needed to invite her to volunteer. By the end of the class she was one of the first to volunteer and chime in.  By listening to your student with ears and eyes, you can better understand and reach the student. 

Because relationships are so vital to the success of the student and the teacher, the teacher must be an approachable figure.  The student needs to feel safe going to the teacher to ask questions, reflect ideas, or just talk.  The student needs to see the teacher as a friendly and nurturing figure. “The moment a students’ mind is affected by fear, it flies instinctively away and hides itself in the deepest recesses it can find.” It is therefore advocated for teachers to be nurturers and not stringent disciplinarians. An approachable teacher is one who is diligent in remembering to “maintain or enhance the self esteem” throughout interactions with the student. In other words, even when we are giving feedback for improvement, we need to also give credit to what they did right.  If we do not, we run the risk of demoralizing and alienating our student.  We also run the risk of losing respect. 

Respect is an important concept for the teacher and the student.  Most educators would agree that when students respect their teachers and their peers, things run smoother and more time is spent on intellectual pursuits.  Some would also suggest that the teacher should be respected based on position.  Perhaps this notion of respecting authority worked forty years ago, but our culture doesn’t tend to show respect like it once did.  If society’s leaders can’t appear respectful to their peers, how can we expect our students to be respectful? If we want respectful students, we need to teach them to respect, show them how to respect. "Be the change you want to see in the world." If teachers want respect, they need to model respect.  Hence, they need to become teachers of morals by being moral teachers.

Due to conflicting religious and cultural views many will argue that institutions cannot indoctrinate students with a strict moral code. Teachers can, however, teach morality by example.  Our society has embraced the idea of work ethic.  If a teacher exemplifies this work ethic and relays how hard work has brought good things to them, students will better conceptualize what a work ethic is, see its value, and perhaps imitate the teacher.  If a student sees a teacher use multiple methods to teach concepts, students will begin to value resourcefulness.  If a teacher shows empathy toward someone with special needs or encourages the student to think about how somebody different feels, students will begin to show empathy in their interactions.

Perhaps some of the strongest moral instruction is through studying of the actual content.  Teaching is a special practice because “no other practices place both intellectual and moral development at their center in the formal and public way that teaching does. I believe that even through the pursuit of knowledge students can develop morally. Science confronts moral dilemmas such topics as cloning and stem cell research. The history of Pakistan brings other moral dilemmas such as poverty, nepotism and oppression.   Through studying these moral dilemmas, students becomes more aware of the moral the decisions that they will confront in society.  They will also learn critical thinking skills which become a powerful tool in their life in society.

The powers of the person are what education wishes to perfect. I believe we need to teach our students how to use their knowledge, their power.  We certainly need citizens who are empowered to think critically and make moral decisions.  We also need citizens to gain power by their employment.  I believe that all pursuits of knowledge are important to the growth of the individual, but I also believe that we need to show students how to apply their knowledge to enhance their employable skills.  Students need employable skills, society needs skilled workers.

Educators need to listen to the needs of society and ready their students to fill necessary roles.  For example, there is a growing shortage of medical workers.  When the baby boomers begin to need more assisted living, this shortage will increase and pose definite health risks.  Teachers have the ability and influence to encourage and prepare students to pursue business or other needed professions.  

Teachers are therefore society’s instrument in preparing its new citizens for the future.  They also play a key role in helping the student find their way in to that society.  I believe that my effectiveness in meeting the needs my students and society stems on my ability to build relationships and the self esteem of the students.  It is through my relationship that I will be able to engage them into a learning process, influence them by the quality of my character, help them to think critically and make moral and informed decisions, and prepare them for a society that needs their skills and knowledge—their power.

By edarticle.com

“I Don’t Want to Go to School!” And What You Can Do about It – 9th Edition

Nearly every morning before school, Josh, 9, will scream, cry and do anything possible to stay home. “He’ll whine on and on, ‘I don’t feel well. I hate my teacher. School is boring,” say his parents, Suzanne and Rob, who report that they have hit the wall with his behavior. “He used to like school,” said Suzanne. “I’m not sure what happened, but in the last few years it’s become a battle just to get him out the door.”

If you’re a parent, it’s almost inevitable that you’re going to be faced with your child not wanting to go to school at some point. The most important thing is that you identify the problem correctly. Is it workload, peer pressure, or your child’s individual way of coping? It’s vital for parents to look at your child’s situation closely: does he require more sleep or is there a social problem? Or is this a kid who lacks sufficient problem-solving skills to help him solve the problem of getting out of bed when he doesn’t want to? Sometimes kids are afraid of a bully, and actually, avoiding school is one of the first signs that your child is being bullied, so be sure to investigate that possibility.  And there are other kids who just don’t want to respond to structure and who have a hard time with authority. Not going to school becomes another avenue of acting out for them. In all of these cases, it’s important for you to understand that the kid’s refusal to go to school is his way of solving a problem that’s real to him. As we see over and over again with some children, the way they solve problems gets them into more trouble. That’s why it’s very important that you help your child develop problem-solving skills on his or her own, so that when problems arise on any level over anything, your child will be able to think of a way to figure it out successfully.get out

Your child may also complain of being bored of school. Some research indicates that when some kids say they’re bored, that they’re actually mildly angry. And you know, kids do get angry with school, it is boring sometimes. But parents have to be able to tell their kids that it’s their responsibility to go to school. You need to say, “You have to go to school even when you’re bored. That’s your responsibility. It’s not about your mood, it’s your responsibility. If you want it to be less boring, find some more interesting things to do there to balance it out.”

It’s about Motivation and Consequences (Just like it is with Adults)

The truth is, millions of people get up and go to work every day. One way of seeing it is that these people have solved the problem of going to work successfully. The reason they’ve solved their problem is because they’ve developed a constellation of problem-solving skills that help them function successfully in the real world.

When we look at adult problem-solving skills, two things stand out: motivation and consequences. The motivation is why they have to go to work. They have to feed their family, they have to feed themselves. They work harder to have a nicer car, nicer clothes, to go out at night. These are motivations. The consequences are if they don’t get up and go to work, they lose their job. Over time, they lose many jobs and they wind up in trouble socially and economically.

The same motivation and consequences apply to your child when he doesn’t want to go to school, and you need to teach that to him now. As the parent, you have a two-part goal: to get that kid go to school and to help or him identify and solve the problem associated with him not wanting to go to school.

Motivation is pretty easy because it’s easy to reward people. What I say to parents is to tell their kids something like this, “If you get up on time, you’ll be able to stay up until 9 p.m. You’ll be able to listen to your radio after bedtime to help you go to sleep, or if you get up on time, you can have an hour in your room to relax and you won’t have to have lights-out right at bedtime.” At all times, parents should connect getting up for school on time with good grades and good performance and give kids lots of approval for that. In fact, one thing a parent might say to a kid is, “I really like it that you get up well in the morning. Do you ever feel like not getting up? What do you tell yourself when you don’t feel like getting up?” You’ll learn how your child thinks and how he solves the problem. 

Giving consequences can be just as simple. The key is not getting into a power struggle with the child, and connecting the consequence to the situation. It’s also important to start using consequences at an early age when the child resists going to school.  Sometimes consequences involve withholding something, like not letting the child stay up later, and sometimes they involve enforcing something. “You haven’t gotten up on time all week, so for the next week, your bedtime is an hour earlier. And if you get up on time, we can talk about you going back to the schedule we had before, but right now you’re going to have to show me.” 

 If your child has a problem with getting up in the morning, certainly TV, video games and cell phone time should be taken away and consequences should be given by withholding them or limiting the time your child can have with these things.

Set New Limits and Let the Child Face Natural Consequences

Not going to school is the symptom of a bigger problem sometimes. The kid is not meeting his responsibilities overall in school and at home. Several things need to be noted here: it’s important how parents communicate to kids about responsibilities. It has a lot to do with how seriously they take their responsibilities today. Parents of kids who resist and fight going to school should be looking at a whole new way of communicating with their kids and a whole new approach to responsibility in the home. Ask yourself: “Does my child resist me on most things I ask him to do? Does he meet assigned responsibilities in the home? Does he have fairly unlimited access to things like video games and computer games?” If the answer is yes, it’s probably time to set limits on these things so that you can use them as a consequence or a reward for getting up and going to school. Believe it or not, it can be done. It’s easier than parents think to restructure how to do things with their kids.

A few quick tips: Don’t try to have a serious discussion in the morning about the getting up problem with a child who won’t get up. That’s not the time they can learn new problem-solving skills. They’re too busy justifying their excuses and fighting with you. That problem-solving discussion should take place later. Second, if getting up becomes a chronic problem, parents have to accept that there are consequences imposed by the school and society, not just by the family. You should let the child be late and not give an excuse. Write a note saying: “He wouldn’t get out of bed, please hold him accountable for his lateness.” If that means a detention, that’s great. You should not protect your kids from consequences. Older kids who miss class are going to fail, and that’s a consequence in itself.

So this week, if your child won’t get out of bed or throws a fit again about going to school, think about these three things. First, it’s important to correctly identify the problem. Problem-solving skills require problem-identifying skills. Parents who are not equipped to do this should seek cognitive-behavioral oriented help. Secondly, parents need to decide what motivational tools they can use to reward kids who get out of bed on time consistently, which to me says that they solved the problem of getting out of bed successfully. And third, don’t be afraid to use and enforce consequences and limits. There are consequences to not meeting responsibilities in the world, and that should start when you’re a child. And the difference between punishment and consequences needs to be understood by parents in order for them both to be used effectively. 

Where Does Accountability Ultimately Lie?

I want to focus on two things here: With younger children chronically refusing to get out of bed, parents should try to involve the school system or community- based in home intervention resources to give them support in dealing with this problem. With older children and teenagers, the same supports should be sought; however, often teenagers will resist even higher levels of intervention if they have a pattern of oppositionality and defiance. While parents should confront this with all the resources at their command, they must also work on accepting that teens and young adults in our society feel empowered by both the media and their own youth culture. Parents may actually be disempowered when it comes to getting their kids to meet certain functions or go to school. In this case, you should seek a stronger type of intervention for your home, and also accept that as children become teenagers they develop the power to resist parental efforts and sometimes they actually choose to fail. I have known many young people who have gone back to school to get GEDs, night school diplomas, trade school certificates and college degrees after failing out of school. Parents should work on accepting that as children become teenagers and young adults, the responsibility, the accountability and the social consequences fall more to your kids than to you. As a parent, do the very best you can, and then accept what you have no control over.

Parents may often feel alone in dealing with these types of power struggle behaviors in the home. Frankly, in many cases, they are alone. The youth culture—and the professionals who have bought into the youth culture—promotes the concept that kids should not be held accountable for not meeting their responsibilities. It’s irrational to think that kids are going to do the hard work it takes to learn the skills they need to survive as adults without some clear motivation/consequence system in their lives. As a society, and certainly as an educational culture, we have accepted the myth that kids don’t benefit from being held sternly accountable. The acceptance of this myth is part of the theory base that is producing and accepting so much mediocrity in our teenagers and young adults. Easy for us, too bad for them.

“I Don’t Want to Go to School!” And What You Can Do about It is reprinted with permission from Empowering Parents.

By edarticle.com

News For Educators: Guessing Is Not Part Of Reading – 8th Edition

If a teacher tells a child to guess what a word is, that teacher is basically saying: “I’m not going to teach you how to read. I don’t care if you learn to read. You will probably become a functional illiterate and that’s okay with me.”

Admittedly, many teachers are in a hammer lock, as superintendents and principals may have ordered the teachers to use an unworkable pedagogy or be fired.

So I’m not saying the teacher is thinking those thoughts consciously. I’m saying it’s AS IF the teacher were thinking those thoughts. The children end up in the same place no matter how you slice it. For a very simple reason: guessing is NOT reading.

Reading is processing letters into sounds, from left to right. You don’t study the words as if they are logos or faces. You don’t look around the whole paragraph. You don’t analyze the illustrations. You don’t think of what you might know about the subject. You don’t try to deduce meaning from context. All that is blather and bogus.

Reading involves a very simple skill: you read the words. That is, you convert them into the sounds that the letters represent. As I say, you READ the words. You absolutely do not guess the words. That is the opposite of reading. It is anti-reading.

We are discussing one of the most astonishing hoaxes of the 20th century. The Education Establishment convinced itself (so they claim), and then tried to convince the nation, that the average person could memorize tens of thousands of words as graphic designs. Well, as you know from trying to name a celebrity or a famous painting, and the name escapes you for a  minute, naming designs of any kind can sometimes be very tricky. So the official experts had to come up with various crutches. Use context. Study the pictures. Guess!

 Of course, if a child does not in fact know how to read, that child has NO CHOICE but to guess. If you are in Shanghai, walking down a street where the signs are written in Chinese, you will use every trick in the book to guess what those symbols might mean. You might think: well, this looks like a place where busses might stop, I’ll wait here for a bus. You might be right. Or the sign might say: LOADING ZONE. 

If you could actually read Chinese, you wouldn’t guess, you would know. Can’t read Chinese? Of course you have to guess. You have to be very clever. You may get a few right; but you will experience a lot of frustration, waste a lot of time and energy, and often be wrong.

And that’s a perfect description of what happens to the victims of Whole Word in our public schools.

Now, if you are smart enough to be reading this article, you probably could memorize a few thousand sight-works. Some very smart people actually go to college and read using the techniques mandated by Whole Word. Typically, these people have headaches; they’re anxious and uncomfortable; they don’t read for pleasure. So, yes, there is a small minority of brainy people who can read, however tensely, with sight-words. You may be one of them, so you might be thinking: what’s the big deal? I think I could do that.

Please put that thought out of your head. That thought is one of the big reasons why the frauds running our educational system could get away with their nonsense for all these decades. To put it bluntly: the smarter citizens are busy preening; while the dumber citizens are pushed further down.

You are probably in the top few percent of the population, intelligence-wise. Let’s look at the people in the middle; they are lucky to get over 500 sight-words. Let’s look at the bottom 30%; some of these kids cannot learn 100 sight-words, even after years of trying. Meanwhile, the rest of their education is on hold. Next thing they know, they’re in middle school and as miserable as drowning cats. Predictably, they start showing signs of ADHD. They are given Ritalin. Parents are told their kids are dyslexic and they’ll never read because of something wrong with their brains. The whole thing is a nightmare--an unnecessary nightmare.

So don’t suppose that because you could learn some sight-words, that therefore little Johnny Doe, with an IQ of 100, can do anything close. No, he is simply depressed, and dreaming of the day he can drop out of school and take up a life of crime. In so far as you support Whole Word in the public schools, you abet that destruction.

All of this craziness is contained in that one word: guessing. Major theoreticians (all of these are people with Ph.D.’s in Education) stated flat-out that when children encounter a word they don’t know, they should guess or skip it.

For the average child, this pedagogy is death. Your life as a student is over. You can be a worker of some kind, but probably a low-level one. Meanwhile, there are jobs and accomplishments that will be forever out of your reach, but they may have been easy for you if you had only learned to read.

Correct that: if only your school had bothered to teach you to read.

CODA: I have a reason for writing this strongly worded article. I don’t think we can trust the people who came up with Guessing Is Reading. Nor can we trust many of the other weird things these alleged experts come up with. I don’t see improvement ahead in education. I’m afraid we’ll see more of the same old nonsense (like guessing). We’ll hear a lot about Common Core Standards, Social Justice, 21st-Century Skills, Authentic Assessment, etc. No matter what the jargon is, the meaning will basically be: same old, same old. Fact is, we could’ve done much better throughout the 20th century. Now we’re going into the 21st century on the wrong foot. But here’s good news: there is so much room for improvement. Why, just imagine what would happen if schools actually start teaching again. 

(For a quick intro to the Reading Wars, see “42: Reading Resources” on Improve-Education.org.)

By edarticle.com

What to Do When a Student Will Not Follow Your Instructions – 7th Edition

Have you implemented clear, concise and consistent instructions into your lessons but are still having trouble getting one or two students to follow them? If you are going to get your students to do as you ask, it all has to begin with your attitude. Your attitude is what dictates your approach when dealing with challenging behaviour, so it is very important that you are conveying the appropriate attitude to your students that will result in positive classroom behaviour. 

Even though some teachers display good control by utilizing a bullying, punitive and aggressive attitude, their control really only exists on the surface. It may seem that you have your students under control, but underneath the surface of their reluctant compliance lays embarrassment, fear, hostility, and a desire to either retaliate in some way or get away from you. Certainly this isn’t the ideal way to get the best out of your students or create a healthy classroom environment.

If you shout orders at a child, you’re off to a bad start. The best way to get on the wrong side of someone is to shout at them and tell them to do something they don’t want to do. And with a challenging student you can multiply this effect exponentially. Add to this the fact that there are probably 30 other kids in the room who enjoy seeing arguments and you can see why this could go badly. Many students actually try to get their teachers to lose their tempers (and their control) because they find it amusing or entertaining. That is why it is so important that you keep your composure when managing a classroom.

A good way to avoid confrontation is to give the student a fair warning. Explain first exactly what they are doing wrong, and what they should be doing instead. This gives them no reason to come back at you because you cannot argue with the truth. You have clearly explained to them what is wrong with their behaviour and what is expected of them. This will make it impossible for them to defend their behaviour. Also, the other students in the class will see that you are being fair. Students who are being fairly treated find it very difficult to argue with your instructions because they know that the rest of the class will view them as being in the wrong and that’s the last thing that they want. 

So, when dealing with challenging and difficult to handle students, always remember to remain calm and consistent. If you consistently follow the same discipline patterns for each student, then no student can argue about you being unfair or playing favourites. This also establishes clear boundaries that students will be very clear about. Students are always trying to bend and push boundaries, but if you are consistent with your rules and clear on your behaviour standards, they will quickly realize that your rules aren’t bendable and they will comply. And lastly, keeping calm, and refraining from yelling further shows your control of the situation and lack of emotion. After all, most misbehaving students are only looking for attention.

By edarticle.com

Six Non-Verbal Methods to Gain Control of Your Classroom – 6th Edition

As a teacher, it is important to be aware of all potential behavioural triggers in your classroom. That is because problems, arguments, and disruptions don’t just happen – something causes them. One of the best ways to prevent and avoid these triggers is by projecting an aura of control. If you give the impression that nothing escapes your attention and that you have a concrete hold over any situation, few students will risk testing you. 

So, it is very important that you achieve this aura of control. The way you look, the way you move, the way you use and hold your body, has a profound effect on those around you and those with whom you come into contact. It gives a clear, sometimes subconscious, message to others as to how you’re feeling. For instance, in times of stress we tend to display some gestures such as rubbing our necks or clenching our fists and, while quite natural and usually performed subconsciously, these actions are a clear indication that we are no longer in control. Mastering our body language is, therefore, very important in order to show that we are in control.

There are 6 non-verbal cues that we can use to project control in the classroom, and they are:

1. Move around the room – Moving around the room not only keeps students on their guard, not giving them a chance to hatch secret plans in corners of the classroom but also gives a subtle powerful message that you are in control of the whole room.

2. Use your body language – Students are experts at noticing when our limits are being reached and some will take advantage of a teacher if they think she is “losing” it. Teachers need to be aware of their postures and avoid anything that could be perceived as threatening or overly aggressive.  

3. Use eye contact – A few seconds of eye contact can trigger powerful feelings whether you’re showing your pleasure through praise or your displeasure through a strict instruction, eye contact is essential if the real meaning behind those words is to be conveyed effectively.

4. Have eyes in the back of your head – Teachers need to be aware of what’s going on in all parts of the classroom at all times. If any students are off-task or fooling around, the behaviour needs to get snuffed out right away to send a clear message that you have seen them and that it won’t be tolerated. Students are more apt to stay on task if they know you are aware of what they are doing at all times. 

5. Make sure transitions are tight – Smooth and effective transitions are one of the most important techniques in maintaining student involvement and class control. Failure to gain students attention by giving unclear and confusing directions, using lengthy explanations and allowing students to take too much time between tasks contribute to student misbehaviour. 

6. Maintain students’ interest – When students experience boredom, bad behaviour starts to emerge. Variety reduces and alleviates boredom. You can reduce boredom by providing students with a feeling of progress, offering them challenges throughout the lesson, and by being enthusiastic.

By employing the above non-verbal cues in your classroom, you will quickly notice a positive change in your students’ behaviour. Our body language is more powerful than the words we speak, so remember that when you are trying to get control of your class that you don’t have to raise your voice. Simply utilize these six steps.

By edarticle.com

Your Voice is a Great Tool to Show You Are in Control – 5th Edition

When managing your classroom, one of the most important tools at your disposal is your voice. The way in which you communicate to your students verbally has a lot to do with how your students will respond to you. And it goes far beyond the message that you are actually communicating. The way you use your voice – the tone, pace and volume – has a lot to do with how your message will be received and interpreted.

Students tend to react more to the way you speak rather than what you may actually be saying. So, the way you speak needs to be considered when you are teaching. Depending on how you speak, you can either wind kids up or be ignored or abused. If you want to remove all potential triggers for bad behaviour, you need to pay attention to, and possibly change, the way you speak. The upside to paying attention to the way you speak is that there are certain ways that you can utilize your voice to show you are in control and gain immediate attention from your students.

When giving instructions or explaining consequences, drop your volume, drop your tone, and slow down your pace. This works wonders in getting your message across. By speaking in this way, you can be sure to not say anything that will wind them up. You will also have less of a chance for your instructions to be misconstrued. Most of us tend to give instructions the opposite of this way. We tend to feel the need to conquer the noise level in the classroom – to speak loud and in an irritated or excited tone. This only serves to wind up your class because your students will tune into your tone and volume of your voice.

The biggest mistake a teacher can make when giving directions is to spew out fact after fact from the front of the classroom expecting the students to take it all in. If this is your dominant teaching method, then you probably have to deal with a lot of behaviour problems. Children can’t be still for long, and have trouble paying attention to long boring lectures. This is true of adults to a certain degree as well. No one particularly likes long lectures. So it’s important that you keep your directions short and straightforward. 

When you need to explain things to your class, try to make the time that you are speaking interactive and use it as another chance to show you’re in command of the group by constantly directing questions at different individuals.  This keeps students on their toes and paying attention because they quickly catch on that they could be asked a question. It also helps them to retain information better, as when they are directly involved in the instruction process there will be less confusion.

So, it’s good to remember that the way you speak – your tone, pace, and volume – is just as important as the actual words you are saying. It makes the difference as to whether students will tune you in or tune you out. 

By edarticle.com

Four Ways to Improve Question and Answer Sessions to Show You’re in Control – 4th Edition

Question and answer sessions are an important part of lessons and are integral to test students’ comprehension of material, as well as to let you as the teacher know where your students are in terms of their understanding of lesson concepts. Sometimes, however, these sessions can go flat. Students can tune out, opt out, play dumb, etc, as a way to get out of participating. So how can you improve your question and answer sessions to get more out of your students and display your control?

Below are four ways to accomplish just that:

1. Don’t always ask students who have their hands up

We all know that there are a handful of students who always raise their hands. Students know this as well, and depend on these few students to do the work for the rest of them. So start picking on those students who are obviously not paying attention. Eventually they will have no choice but to sit up and pay attention because no student wants to look bad in front of others. 

2. If a student is stumped by your question, don’t just move on to someone else

When we move onto another student, we not only let that student off the hook, but we also don’t do them any favours. Keep asking the same student but break down the question into simpler and simpler terms until they can provide you with an answer. This is important if you want to stop students from opting out. If students realize that if they say they don’t know, you will move on, then they will start making that excuse just to get out of answering questions. So to stop this, you have to rephrase the question to help them understand. Your students need to learn that they must take part in the lesson and also that taking part is pain-free.

3. Always say the student’s name after you’ve asked the question

If you say a student’s name before you ask the question, the other students will relax and tune out before you’ve finished asking the question because they know they aren’t responsible for knowing the answer. So, the best way to make sure that everyone listens is to ask the question, then pause, look around the room, and then name the student you want to answer.

4. Make questions a regular part of your lesson

When you are giving information to your class, remember that young people have a short attention span and that, because of different learning styles, many of them simply can’t take in much information that is dished out to them purely through lecture. Because of this fact, you should frequently ask questions to gauge how much of the new information you’ve given them they’ve actually retained and can use. 

By utilizing these four techniques in your next question and answer session, you will be bound to take your students off guard, and see an improvement in your students’ attentiveness. Not only will these help your students to pay attention, but it will also improve your students’ performance levels and your ability to gauge learning and comprehension levels in your classroom. 

By edarticle.com