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From: ksebaly
Date: 4/15/2003
Time: 12:54:59 PM
Remote Name: 131.123.96.18
Emily makes a good point. When thinking about what school achievement is for, no matter what the primary purpose of school achievement, or what achieving well means to a society, there's an economic implication to it. There are intentions about and consequences for all aspects of our lives (families, politics, arts, architecture, religion, health, patriotism, America's role in the world, etc.)from what we think achievement should be for.
Also, what we think school achievement should be for is expressed throughout a schoolschool system in terms of curriculum, assessment, school life, teaching, etc. (Each of the chapters in LOC concern the American experience with a different aspect of schooling 1900-2000.) For completing the different sections of both frameworks, ideas an information can be drawn from the different chapters.
To make Emily's point about the economy, it might be helpful to the framers of the achievement for what framework to reread portions of chapter 4 about the primary mission of schools and the framework on What kind of schooling we need after high school? and the one on Balancing Life, Love and Leisure. There are different ideas about the kind of economy different goals for school achivement would produce in each reference. One suggestion is a small scale economy like advocates of a "simpler" education and lifestyle might produce. Another is a large scale competitive economy that seems to be at the base of some strands of progressive education (but not others.) A third suggtestion might be one that is large-scale, but one in which the environment is central to any decisions about what to produce and consume.
Just as there are up and downsides to each of these economic ideas, so to are there up and downsides to the educational thinking at the base of them.
Kristi said something a couple of weeks ago in a disucussion of this framework. The point was something like, "Aren't we getting a little too political here in connecting what schools are for with the way we live in our society?" [This may need some correction.] My response was that every decision we make about schools--in or out of the classroom--quickly becomes a political question. This isn't a good or bad thing, it's just so. What diverse citizens need to decide is what they want their schools to be for. This is a major political question. This framework should help citizens deal with this quesiton.
ksebaly