An Interview with Bill Page: Miseducation and Malpractice

Bill Page, a farm boy, graduated from a one-room school. He forged a career in the classroom teaching middle school “troublemakers.”

3.7.10 - Michael F. Shaughnessy - You often quote Martin Haberman about miseducation. What did he say and how does that relate to your work?

An Interview with Bill Page: Miseducation and Malpractice

Michael F. Shaughnessy

Eastern New Mexico University

Portales, New Mexico

1)      Bill, first of all, you have a newsletter called, “ The At- Risk Student Advocate”. What led to this newsletter?

Disrespectful, unprepared, impoverished students, who disrupt class, cause trouble, and drop out are well publicized.  Virtually ignored, is the other side of this educational equation—the students’ pain, humiliation, and suffering.  School ravages their lives. So, I’m devoting my twilight years to advocating for them.

Mistreatment and miseducation causes student failure. The failure experience as a repeated occurrence frequently constitutes child abuse for at-risk kids as debilitating and inexcusable as the better publicized child abuses.  Moreover, failure is condoned and perpetuated as expected traditional educational policy. Teachers, having been successful in school, have difficulty relating to kids’ devastating failure and imperiled lives.

Educators and community leaders who should be outraged are, instead, contributing to the calamity.  For them, the education system worked.  So, they buy into the, “They asked for it,”  “They could learn, if they tried,” and, “It’s not our fault” excuses.  Meanwhile, children’s lives are devastated. Without publicity, there is no outcry; without an outcry, there is no change. Here is what one authority says:

“Miseducation, a sentence of death carried out daily over a lifetime.  It is the most powerful example I know of cruel and unusual punishment and it is exacted on children innocent of any crime.”  Martin Habermann, Learning Growth and Socialization  

Incidentally, Mike, I commend you for your own career contributions on behalf of at-risk and special education issues.  (Whew, once you give me the microphone, it’s difficult to get it back, isn’t it? I’ll try to be less of a spokesman.)

2.) What do you mean by miseducation?

I like the simile  you often use comparing school with a Monopoly game except that some players start with less money (experiences, vocabulary, general information, background knowledge, phonics skills,), but additionally, some kids also get bad rolls of the dice, receive no get out of jail free cards, and get on Boardwalk only after it is loaded with hotels.  

My spell-checker kicked “miseducation” out as “not in the dictionary”.  But, if kids can be misunderstood, misdirected, and mistreated, they can be miseducated—let me count the ways.

First, schools have the kids for ten years from 6 to 16 years-old with carte blanche for teaching them. Ten years! Failure to teach the three R’s constitutes malpractice; the schools have failed, not the kids. I’m ready for lawsuits that name the real culprits in this travesty from Washington, DC on down.

Second, “as any fool can plainly see,” the diversity of our society requires diversity in education.  Are the textbooks, schedules, school-years, curricula, goals, materials, time, and methods diverse?”  Stroll down the halls of most any school (there are exceptions, of course, but not so you would notice); it’s just same old, same old stuff.  It’s difficult to find allowances for variations in student interests, personalities, attitudes, readiness, feelings, prior knowledge, backgrounds, learning styles, and cultures. The only places of diversity are in extracurricular activities and district Mission Statements.  Have you read that phony baloney?

Third, there is an obvious, unreasonable, and unnecessary mismatch between student readiness and the age-grouped, preordained, lock-stepped, fixed calendar, pre-set time allowance, single lessons, group-instruction scheduled-progression, and single-grade textbooks.

(Mike, did you give me a word limit?  I don’t remember, but looks like I need it.)  

3.) When kids enter the first grade, there is extreme variance as to their general knowledge, their vocabulary skills, their global information, and their basics—letters, numbers, colors, shapes, forms etc. What do kindergarten teachers need to do and what do first grade teachers need to do or is it already too late?

If kids begin school solely on the basis of their birthday, teachers need to expect extreme variance.  If they expect basic preparation, they need entrance requirements. Even in age-grouping there is a year’s difference in top and bottom students.

If age is the entrance criterion, kindergarten and first grade teachers better expect what one primary teacher expressed, “The only thing I can be sure of with my beginning class is whoever is here is here.”  Short of implementing a Nazi type sterilization program for parents, primary teachers can’t expect kids to be potty trained or even know their own names, much less the “basics”.

School districts don’t choose their families, schools don’t choose their students. There is no viable solution to the variance problem except entrance requirements, a pre-k program, or expectations of and coping with variance.

Schools are the way they are because we (as much as I hate to include myself in that pronoun) made them that way.  We can change them.  But bitching about kids, parents, TV, computer games, or society, isn’t helping, except perhaps to relieve the stress level of those bitching. Those teachers remind me of a custodian who complains about having to sweep floors and clean bathrooms.

(Mike, strictly FYI, Teachers.net/Gazette, today, (Mar 4), is running this manifesto I wrote years ago: Click on the hyperlink)

We Get What We Get: The Bottom Line On Parent Accountability by Bill Page

 
Following is a somewhat blunt, but quite definitive answer to the questions so often asked by frustrated teachers:
    * What should be the parent's level of accountability in their children's education?
    * What do classroom teachers have the right to require and/or expect from parents in the way of cooperation, involvement and participation in their child's learning?
    * If the parents won't see that they get their assignments done and won't come to conferences, what can I do?   The answer

4.) You often quote Martin Haberman about miseducation. What did he say and how does that relate to your work?

How’s this for a Haberman quote, to replace your school motto:

 “Schools are places organized on the bizarre expectation that groups of children and youth of the same age “learn” at roughly the same rate and in the same ways.”

With this quote, Haberman recognizes the mismatch or miseducation problem.  At the same time, he is the leading authority working toward solving the egregious problem of closing the achievement gap between students below the poverty level and those of wealth.  This education gap has plagued and embarrassed the nation for years and has shown no signs of changing.  A nagging problem is teachers’ inability to teach the impoverished students and educators inability to train the teachers. 

Haberman and foundation staff are educational leaders with years of learning and research dealing with inner-city, ghetto, impoverished, and deprived kids (as opposed to “prived” kids, which aren’t usually mentioned)

Martin Haberman, studied success factors of ones he calls “Star Teachers” and wrote a book by that title.

5.) How can the average teacher save these at-risk students from a life of misery?

Answer, “Any way they can with whatever it takes!”  These kids get just one chance at a good education.  It can be a matter of life or death, literally. Kids are worth it!

Other than the standard fare of encouragement, involvement, acceptance, and relationship teachers must recognize misbehavior is a symptom not the problem.  The behavior problem is the kid’s perception of circumstances.  A kid who believes s/he can, will.  One who believes s/he can’t will cover his/her inability with bravado, clowning, apathy, and defiance—if you don’t try, you can’t fail.

Misbehavior doesn’t cause failure; failure causes misbehavior.  Teachers can provide kids with ways to succeed by allowing “do-over” opportunities and developing flexible ways kids can show achievement; for example, assessment by exhibition, project learning, pairing, group learning success, choices such as: “Do problems on page 78, or page 83, or make up your own, or see me. I’ll give you appropriate ones.

Lack of dialogue is the #1 learning problem in most classrooms.  Through discussions, debates, questions, and challenges, students learn.  When kids interact and feel free to talk, they learn and commit learning to memory:  Here are some ideas to help at-risk kids participate and succeed: 

            l. The pair-share or study-buddy idea is a natural, permitting every kid in class to be talking or listening.  Teachers can call on kids who are not cooperating to be their partners.  Teachers can smile, approve, compliment, encourage, and show acceptance, while the rest of the class is paired.

            2.  Have class meetings to discuss problems and needs.  The right topics and facilitation can get all kids talking and participating.  That’s the best involvement/participation I know, and it works well for everyone including those most at-risk.  Plus, teachers can have side meetings with students of their choice.

            3. Give the option of writing in lieu of speaking so uncertain learners don’t have to expose their knowledge or lack thereof orally.

            4.  Small group discussions instead of full class discussions with coaching sessions to make sure at-risk kids get a chance and that they know you see them working and trying—for which you can give acknowledgement and credit.

            5. Get to know the kids beyond teaching them.  The extent to which people know information about someone is the extent to which they befriend and feel comfortable around them.  Give students a chance to know one another better.  The class climate changes when good students find out the bottom kids are real people and have feelings that get hurt.

            6. Examine your non-verbal language and reactions.  Dr. Phil says 93% of communication on a one-to-one basis is non verbal.  What is being communicated just by looking at them?  Are you sure?

            7.  Visit my web site; www.At-RiskStudents.com; for a free 20 page download article that gives lots of insights and invites a sign-up for free Newsletter: The At-Risk Advocate. (Not to mention a toot of my horn, which I won’t mention) And I always answer email questions: billpage@bellsouth.net;

            8.  An oldie but goodie: Model behavior toward bottom kids.

6.) Tell us a little bit about your book.

Aaawww, do I have to?  Well, okay, if you insist.  At-Risk Students: Feeling Their Pain, Understanding Their Plight, and Accepting Their Defensive Ploys, Second Edition, 2009, 258 page, soft cover, $24.95 including P and H.  Many books offer gimmicks for “reaching and teaching”.  Mine does too, but it also offers insights, understandings and compassion for kids’ behaviors, feelings and teachers’ responses.

The book is designed to help teachers move from intellectual acceptance of at-risk kids needs to emotional understanding and empathy for their dilemma. Divided into 31 vignettes, it covers everything from individual differences in teachers to underlying causes of misbehavior. The book format is ideal for Faculty Focus Groups.  It can change teacher discussions from, “Lets talk about our problems with these kids” to “Let’s do something, now.”

Send to me, billpage@bellsouth.net for a description of all 31 chapters including the one that shows only 9% of kids’ time is spent in school; the rest is spent elsewhere.

7.) What impact do you think this “Race to the Top “ nonsense will have on education in America?

I have a more descriptive word than “nonsense”, but some might consider it offensive, so I’ll use yours.  That question requires extra time just for an opening rant, obscenity shouting, desk pounding, foot stomping, and picket sign making. 

I have no concern for a “race” or the “top” because that’s a district and state level game (with our money).  The teaching-learning process is predicated on the journey, not the destination.  All the terms being bantered about like rigor, standards, participation, challenge, extended hours, accountability, responsibility, etc is just  more edu-babble.  There are no such things as “High Standards”; there are only appropriate or inappropriate standards applied to individuals in specific situations.

 The last U.S President wasted eight years on the No Child’s Behind Left Act.  And the one before with the Governors’ Education 2000 made asinine declarations like: “By the year 2000 all kids will be ready for school.”  That’s the one thing over which they had no control.  They should have said, “By 2000 all schools will be ready for all kids—that they can control.”   

8.) What are some of the really stupid policies that you have encountered?

Schools are run, almost exclusively for the convenience and benefit of those who run the schools and make the policies, not for the students.  Fortunately, some part of what is good for policy makers is also good for students, but not much. Stupid policies are on a horizontal rather than vertical list—all are tied for first place. 

Let’s start with initial school entrance based on chronological age.  Age is the least significant factor I know of—any other factor, such as height times weight, breadth of thumb, shoe size, age of the mother times IQ of the father or which school bus they arrive on would be better criteria for starting formal schooling. 

But the ninny’s choose age, which guarantees a year’s difference just in that measure. Then to prove their stupidity, they made the entrance date to the nearest second: kids born before midnight on the specified date go to school this year; one second past midnight, they have to wait until next year.  

Another stupid policy is “Post Rules for Your Room.” Is that for an eighth-grader who has been in school nine years and doesn’t know to “Come prepared?”  How many kids are late because they didn’t know to, “Be on time.” 

And, Respect property and each other” is probably as effective as Budweiser’s, “Drink Responsibly” slogan. 

Mike, if you had asked me, “Which policies are not stupid?”  It would have been a short easy answer.

9.) Bill, I just thank the Lord that you are still out there doing work on behalf of these kids. What have I neglected to ask?

Yeah, and thanks for the prayer and one more shot at assailing the mismatch that causes the kids life-long, uncalled for misery. The alternative to flunking kids is teaching them.

Acceptance, self-concept, encouragement, and success are crucial to all students’ success. Yet rejection, inferiority feelings, discouragement, and futility are guaranteed by school structure for students too far below the age-grade-levels.   

Lack of learning is cumulative, discouragement is incessant, and failure is assured.  Failure and retention are futile teaching strategies, but educators foolishly persist in their use as punishment, motivation, assessment, comparisons, and discipline—and, to cover their rear ends.  Educators accept failure. They justify it, use it, perpetuate it, medicate it, report it, and blame the kids, while disclaiming responsibility and ignoring its deleterious effects.  As long as administrators can convince parents that failure is the kids fault, they can flunk kids with impunity.

Without remorse, schools do everything except acknowledge the curriculum mismatch and accept responsibility for failure.  Schools condemn innocent kids and blithely cover their complicity with haughty impertinence, audacious self-righteousness, and unprofessional condescension.  Meanwhile, kids develop defensive strategies to protect their ego, dignity, and worth.  While “at-risk” refers to kids at risk of failure; the teaching-learning mismatch makes them “at-certain” of not being taught, or afforded a reasonable chance to succeed.

I used six definitions in my book.  Here’s one definition to ponder”

“Students placed in a position to fail by a significant mismatch between their existing knowledge and the age-grouped, lock-stepped grade-level curriculum.  Fitting the kids to the curriculum instead of fitting the curriculum to the kids has never worked; it fails students simply for them being who they are.”

“Failure is a double-edged cop-out; a kid can fail instead of learn.  Conversely a teacher can fail kids instead of teach them—how convenient.” Bill Page

With joy in sharing,  billpage@bellsouth.net  www.At-RiskStudents.com

Comments and Questions are welcome and are answered.