Threads from Henry's Web

Category: Education

  • Staying Alive in Seminary

    For many, cemeteryseminary is a difficult spiritual experience. That’s why many refer to it as cemetery. Danny at Boston Bible Geeks is on his second post of a three parter (I think) regarding improving seminary.

    I want to underline one of his points, which is his #1 in the second post of the series. It’s a student’s responsibility to keep up spiritual activities.

    That was my own problem in seminary. I attended church, as I remember, about three times in seminary and then left seminary and the church very close to the same time. I can’t blame my seminary professors for the deterioration of my spirituality. At some point one has to take responsibility!

    Seminary can be daunting, as can any educational or work experience, but if we give up the activities that keep our spiritual life going, then it can, indeed, be a cemetery.

  • Gov. Crist Vetoes Merit Pay and Tenure Bill

    You can find the full story in the Florida Times-Union.

    I am a supporter of merit pay, but in this case merit pay was tied to test results, which makes me much less happy. Even though I think pay should be based on merit everywhere, one must measure the merit in some realistic manner. I don’t think the FCAT does that. So despite my early support, I’m actually glad this one fails. (You can see some ambivalence in the way I wrote that first post, but you can call it a flip-flop if you want.)

  • More on Florida HB31 and Inspirational Messages

    I wrote about this before, and commented that it seemed to accomplish nothing–nothing, that is, except to possibly encourage some school boards to tangle with the federal courts.

    That version, however, has been replaced in committee. I’m going to do something I don’t usually do, and put in a “tear line” so this won’t get too long, as I intend to quote both versions of the bill in full:

    (more…)

  • And on the Other Side: Merit Pay for Teachers

    I marked this story a couple of days ago. In my view, merit pay is such an obvious idea, not to mention merit hiring, merit promotion, and lack-of-merit firing, that I don’t see why it would be controversial, except, of course, amongst those who lack merit.

    But there is one valid area of controversy–measuring merit. Whatever you tie merit to will be what teachers must strive for. If that’s graduation, you’ll get one result. If that’s success in college, you’ll get another. If it’s standardized tests, then you’re going to get people taught to pass the standardized tests.

    But in my view the value of paying people by merit is so important that we need to work through the controversy of how to measure it. That pay should be by merit should be firmly fixed. Then we should find a mix of standards by which to measure such merit.

    I’m personally not all that excited about standardized tests, but they do provide something that is less subject to manipulation. With a longer view, one could use measures of success after students leave school.

    I must leave one caveat–I don’t trust the school board around here all that much, so I’m not sure that they would be paying for merit. I’m not sure they’d recognize it. Hmmm! Maybe we should do some “lack-of-merit” firing on school boards.

  • Not a Republican

    When I get annoyed at the Democrats, which I do frequently, I’m often directed by smiling friends to the Republican party. Obviously you’ve seen the light. We’re the party of freedom.

    In case you’re wondering why I don’t buy it, consider the working of the Texas Board of Education. (This is only one small point out of many.) You can get some idea from the live blogging by the Texas Freedom Network. I’m looking for some more complete transcripts, but all I can find are bits and pieces. I’ve read/viewed quite a few of those, but don’t have a single complete link.

    I’m not interested in liberal or conservative education. Liberals and conservatives both seem to be trying to mold the curriculum to slant things their particular way. (Yes, this is an example of conservatives doing so, but there are some pretty lousy results from more liberal curriculum planning groups as well.)

    But the party that harbors and even celebrates people like this won’t be getting my support. That’s why I remain independent as a voter. I can think of nothing better for American politics than that both our current parties collapse.

  • Florida Inspirational Message Bill Cleared by One Committee

    The Civil Justice & Courts Policy Committee, who ought to know better, has cleared CS/HB 31 with only three negative votes. I’m guessing someone is thinking, “What harm can it do?” I’d suggest a vote against wasting time.

  • A Bill to Make Legislators Look Good

    It’s Florida HB 31 (full text – original – committee substitute), and either version of it accomplishes pretty much nothing, thought the original version might have led some school boards to get into legal trouble, something many of them are quite adept at without help.

    I am opposed to officially sponsored religious events, but am in favor of permitting voluntary religious observances when led by students, not people paid by the state. But that is largely constitutional, courts will generally uphold such rules, and thus school boards can take these actions without the benefit of the state legislature making the suggestion.

    So some Florida State House members, including Dave Murzin from my district, are planning to waste time trying to look good with their voters (most of whom do like prayer in schools) by writing a law that will accomplish nothing positive and may well cause additional problems.

    Thanks for your sense of priorities. With the state of Florida having problems with its educational system, I’m sure that taking the time to debate a bill that will leave things pretty much the same will solve so many problems.

  • On Academic Freedom and Denominational Colleges

    No, I’m not talking about my former denomination, the Seventh-Day Adventists. In this case, it’s Erskine College and the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church.

    Let me make clear that I believe a denomination has the right to do what it wants to do with its institutions, always assuming that they uphold existing contracts. For example, if they contract to do one thing and then change their mind, I don’t think they are less liable for their contractual obligations than any other person or business. But apart from that if they want a doctrinally narrow faculty and even student body, that is their prerogative.

    It is also, however, the prerogative of accreditation boards to take all of this into consideration, and outsiders can comment on the resulting educational quality. I would like to add one note, however, which I have gleaned over time. It is possible for informal structures to be as restrictive as formal ones. An academic department or institution can become very narrow without enshrining that narrowness in regulations.

    I make this side-comments to introduce an excellent article on academic freedom, titled The Nature of Academic Freedom, from Tony Mitchell. It’s well worth reading and discussion. So go read it and discuss already!

  • La Sierra Board Makes a Statement

    I would say it’s a statement on creation and evolution, but I’m not quite sure what it is.

    Earlier (Seventh-day Adventist Education and Evolution) I wrote about the concerns about the teaching of evolution in biology classes at La Sierra University, a Seventh-Day Adventist school in California. (I was raised in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and educated in its schools, though I am no longer SDA.)

    The Spectrum blog has a link to the Board of Trustees statement (PDF), which does not seem to me to answer any questions. After declaring “whole-hearted support” for the SDA statement of beliefs, which includes an article affirming a literal seven day creation week, it includes the following two paragraphs:

    The Board of Trustees is committed to a spirit of open inquiry and discussion in the university’s classrooms and laboratories. The Board intends that when varying viewpoints are raised they will be heard with due respect.

    In its commitment to the integrity of the university’s mission, the Board of Trustees is dedicated to inspire, challenge, encourage and support the faculty in their sacred academic work. Further, the Board embraces its responsibility for ongoing evaluation and assessment.

    These paragraphs, including phrases like “spirit of open inquiry and discussion” and “support the faculty in their sacred academic work” sound to me like a certain amount of support for the science faculty. In the end, one still has to wonder just what the faculty will be expected to teach and how this will be evaluated. “ongoing evaluation and assessment” seems to indicate the board will be watching (as they should) but doesn’t really tell anyone just what they’re supposed to do.

    It will be interesting to see how this works out in practice. It appears to me that the board has given the ball a vigorous kick down the field without any obvious destination in sight. This may be more comfortable for them, but it is very uncomfortable for students and faculty.

    (Note: My interest in this case may appear odd. There are two reasons for it. First, I follow issues in creation and evolution closely. Second, besides my own education in SDA institutions, family members have taught at La Sierra University and currently do teach in other SDA institutions.)

  • Parents are Key to Science Education

    Jonathan Smith, Vice President of Florida Citizens for Science (of which I am a board member) presents a column on science education in Florida today in the The Ledger (Lakeland, FL):

    A key quote:

    Parents are the ones who must endeavor to help shape their children’s future by guiding them down the paths of interests and provide support and encouragement. It is strikingly obvious current trends have shifted in this generation towards the pursuit of science and not for the positive. “Science is for nerds” and” real cool kids don’t study” have become serious social clichés and do have a strong influence on our children.

    Just so!

    So parents, do you care just how well your children do in their education in general? Do you care how they do in science? Jobs are going to get fewer and fewer for people without a good education.