Cuban Epilogue Discussion

Since I somehow missed the Epilogue (it’s been a CRAZY week), and did the synthesis, I’ll just do the Epilogue here.

To me, Cuban’s Epilogue is one of his most interesting and in-depth chapters. I truly wish he had spent more time discussing the phenomenon in education of continuity versus change that is ever-present. I realize though, that educational technology in the classroom is actually a part of this broader argument that continues to play out in the educational arena. However, when reading the Epilogue, I was reminded of Cuban’s introduction where he states the following points regarding education on page 3:

·         Socialize all children, yet nourish each child’s creativity.

·         Teach the best that the past has to offer, but insure that each child possesses practical skills marketable in the community.

·         Demand obedience to authority, but encourage individual children to think and question.

·         Cultivate cooperation, but prepare children to compete.

All of these statements involve a type of contradiction that cannot be duplicated in any other profession or life experience, short of a child’s natural process of maturing.

Cuban discusses the notion of change quite frequently in his epilogue and examines the educational field’s reaction to change, and the policy makers that seem to force this change upon the teachers and students when the teaching system has relied on the same pedagogical methods passed down for generations. Cuban also points out that changing the pedagogy of teachers involves changes their most basic belief system, which considering the number of teachers in the world is almost an impossible feat. Many will argue, and I tend to agree that there are certain aspects of the classroom environment that do not need to be changed or altered because they have proven effective, and it doesn’t make sense to fix something that isn’t broken. Given, our educational system altogether is broken, but more on an administrative level than anything, which seems to be the case with the American culture at large. Our biggest problem isn’t what’s going on in our homes and classrooms, but the problem is what’s going on in the bureaucratic residences of those who attempt to control every aspect of what goes on in our homes and classrooms. Education is one area, like many other that requires experienced classroom teachers to change and modify classroom issues, experienced elementary principals to change and modify elementary administration, and so on. Do I want a Congressman telling my doctor the way he would like my surgery to be performed? Absolutely not! So, why do we allow decision and policy makers to tell us how to teach when they are many, many years removed from any classroom.