Voice of Pedagogy: What Teachers Really Want to Say and What Americans Need to Know About American Public Education

By Otto E. Arschdorn

Our president knows it, our parents know it, and our children know it: education is the single most important key to achieving success in todays competitive world. In this handbook, a seasoned professor combines ideas from teachers across the nation with research and insight gathered from his own classroom experiences to share a compelling narrative on what works and does not work in todays public education system.

Dr. Otto E. Arschdorn, who taught in Germany and the United States, offers a provocative perspective on American public education that he hopes will become a wake-up call that our system of learning needs to be transformed. As he examines life inside the classroom, Dr. Arschdorn offers thoughtful opinions on

teaching methodologies that work in the classroom; ways to motivate unmotivated students; why schools should consider implementing a three-branch educational approach; how to stop disenchanted parents from taking control; and why critical thinking and problem solving are at the center of academic existence.

Voice of Pedagogy provides a platform for American teachers to offer ideas for positive change in our public school system so that we can meet the educational challenges of the future and continue to be a country of free thinkers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Oct 4, 2013
• ISBN: 9781480802599

Otto E. Arschdorn

Otto E. Arschdorn received his PhD in cultural anthropology from the University of Vienna. He taught both university and Gymnasium levels in Munich and Berlin for fifteen years before coming to the United States in 1992. He was a high school and university instructor in the Boston area for twenty years.

Book preview

VOICE OF

PEDAGOGY

WHAT TEACHERS REALLY WANT TO SAY AND WHAT AMERICANS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION

OTTO E. ARSCHDORN

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Copyright © 2013 J. P. Willis.

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ISBN: 978-1-4808-0258-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-0259-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013949532

Archway Publishing rev. date: 10/3/2013

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter I.   Vox In Paedagogia Project

Chapter II.   Personal Teaching Approach—Philosophy And Methods

Chapter III.   Society’s Interaction With Public Education And The Results

Chapter IV.   Academic Standards

Chapter V.   Academics And Athletics

Chapter VI.   The Teacher-Student Interface

Chapter VII.   When The System Is The Problem

Chapter VIII.   Student Behavior Expectations

Chapter IX.   Teaching Standards, Preparation, And Evaluation Methods

Chapter X.   Financing Education

Chapter XI.   Technology In Schools

Chapter XII.   Critical Thinking As The Center Point Of All Instruction

Chapter XIII.   Limitations On Good Teachers By Bad Parents

Chapter XIV.   Lack Of Political Support

Chapter XV.   When Good Teachers Make Enemies

Chapter XVI.   Closing Thoughts

Endnotes

Education is not the filling of a pail,

but the lighting of a fire.

William Butler Yeats

To Teachers in the Past who lit the Fire,

To Teachers in the Present who carry the Torch,

To Future Torch-Bearers,

Rock on.

CHAPTER I

VOX IN PAEDAGOGIA PROJECT

A s I disembarked the burnt-orange ferryboat, which took me from one borough to the next, I once again heard the city sounds that reminded me I had reached this old Dutch settlement once filled with Knickerbockers that was no longer Dutch and no longer English—the busses, the cars, the tall reflective buildings, the waterfront smells, t he city smells—herds of humanity on a mission, a purpose propelling them like swift salmon in streams. It’s difficult to take in all at once. We have no other city like it in Europe although Hamburg has some similarities. I passed Battery Park and walked north up one of the canyon-like avenues.

I don’t mind walking: I like it and it gives me time to think. I am a teacher and part-time educational consultant. I don’t get many consulting jobs since what I have to say is not what they normally want to hear. I knew of no school board in this part of city, nor one that would be on the thirtieth floor in a global financial district. I was very curious. I had little or no information to go by. I didn’t even know who my client was. I had received a registered letter two weeks ago requesting my presence at this time and place—9 AM sharp.

I was close to retirement. Could it be a job offer for my waning years?

As I navigated the lobby of the building and found the lift, I thought of the words of my father, the Feuerwehr chief in Munich: "Don’t go above the fourth floor! Ladder trucks can’t reach that high. (It would be the fifth floor here in the States since Germans start counting at the second floor.) Anyway, I was going to the thirtieth floor and it only added to my confused anticipation. Germans do not relish confusion.

I got off the lift and found that this floor was actually the executive office for the entire building. I checked in with the secretary and was thoroughly searched by security personnel. I glanced around quickly at the teak wall paneling, the comfy leather chairs, and to my amazement, the Feininger on the wall. I knew there was a private collector of his work in this area, but his paintings are difficult to find, even in Europe. This was definitely not the office of a school board.

I didn’t have to wait long. Doors opened and I was escorted into an adjoining office where a handshake was given and introductions were made. Since I cannot reveal his identity, I will call him Mr. B. He is the benefactor who made this book possible.

Mr. B. introduced me to two of his associates then he asked me to be seated in one of the four chairs facing each other in close proximity. I liked this. I was tired of speaking to experts hiding behind the faux authority of gigantic mahogany desks and tables and trying their best to distance themselves from my advice, as if it were an infectious disease.

Mr. B. began to speak the second we were all seated.

Professor Arschdorn, we are here to pick your brain and offer you a writing project. I sat listening intently, very curious to hear them out.

We are very familiar with your ideas and we are extremely impressed.

How do you know anything about me? I have published several academic papers, but other than that, I haven’t published anything.

My associates have attended your last three school board consultations. It was then I remembered their faces and I had wondered at the time who they were since they didn’t fit the school board mold.

I see.

It doesn’t seem that any of the school boards you spoke to implemented any of your ideas, Professor Arschdorn.

No, they didn’t. I guess they didn’t like my direct delivery. I can’t help being German, even when I know I should be more diplomatic.

And we understand that you received very little compensation for those consultations. Is that correct?

Yes, they barely paid my plane tickets.

Why then did you even bother?

Because I had hoped they would see the need to change, but I’m beginning to lose hope.

"We like your candidness and your passion, and that is part of the reason why you are here today. As you well know, there are many business-minded people like us who are very concerned about public education, but we are not teachers like you. We are not in the classrooms every day. We have spoken to many department heads at the top teaching institutions across the nation, and not one of them seems to recognize any major problems with public education. They believe the status quo is good enough. We finally realized that most of the so-called education experts at the university level have never taught in a public school classroom; we were on the wrong path. Other educational consultants have taught, but it was years ago and they won’t admit that they exited public education because of its many drawbacks. They go on speaking tours and tell everyone how wonderful education is. Their job is to motivate teachers, get paid, and move to the next circus.

Yes, you seem to have a remarkable grasp of contemporary American public education, but what’s your point? I was impressed by the level of his insight and wanted to hear more.

"You, on the other hand, are very experienced. You have taught fifteen years at the Gymnasium level in Europe. You have taught at the university level. You have taught twenty years here in the States at public schools, private schools, and universities, and most importantly, you have a true concern for the future of education. You are not a traveling circus. You refuse to pull punches and you tell the truth. That is the only way we can truly change education for the better, by telling the truth."

Again, I agree, but there is no market for my ideas. No one wants the truth. It isn’t sexy. They want Hollywood versions of education where the tough hot female teacher walks into a classroom of ten students, does fun things, and changes their lives forever. That sells. My ideas don’t.

There is a market for those ideas, but the good teachers like you who know what the hell they are talking about are very reticent about putting their name to a book or report. They fear losing their jobs, retribution from parents, from communities, from other teachers… I think you know what I am talking about.

"I understand, but I fear that as well. Why do you think I haven’t published anything? I know the backlash would be terrible and unrelenting. What’s worse is that many Americans equate education with sports programs and may God help anyone who attacks sports. It’s become a religious devotion for many."

"But you are going to retire soon and return to Germany, correct?"

I hesitated. Yes, but how did you know that?

All of your colleagues post on social networks, correct?

I guess so, yes. This reminded me why I do not do social networking sites. I like my privacy too much.

Here is our proposal, Dr. Arschdorn. We will take the research we have gathered, your ideas, and the ideas of other respected teachers across the nation, and you will compile it into a report and publish it. You will be the author. There will be no mention of our identities in the business world nor will there be mention of the identities of the contributing teachers.

I was very curious. How long have you been gathering research?

For about ten years.

And what is the primary content of this research?

Interviews from teachers who are candid, concerned, and passionate like yourself—hundreds of them. The ones we have interviewed thus far have been by snail mail or E-mail, by phone conferencing, or by video conferencing. There are still a dozen or so who want to be interviewed face to face. That’s where you come in.

How did you choose these teachers? I mean, on what criteria did your people decide they were ‘good teachers’?

"Corporate headhunters for some time now have used algorithms to search for certain individuals with certain skillsets. We simply adjust