Reviewing reviews

Some years ago, I was Principal of a new private school and of course we had no history or reputation to go on. This time was also the zenith of online reviews, both in terms of the number of forums and in terms of the number of reviews posted. Our school was doing a good job, enrolment continued to grow despite the GFC, our reputation was golden. Except. We did have a few negative reviews and herein lies the tale.

Ghosting and icebergs

I had dinner last night with a former student who recently interviewed for a new job. He had gone through round one, round two and final-round interviews, the last with the company`s CEO. Then silence. No call-back, no offer, no rejection. He followed up and still nothing. He had been ghosted. My young friend thought it was rude, but I subscribe to the iceberg theory. You only ever see 1/9 of the full picture.

Don't get too close

I was sent this piece about a school in England banning physical contact between students from a governance overreach perspective, but I can understand why the school implemented the policy. After all, touching is not always healthy.

Update to my Update

Some months, ago I commented on two mediocre hiring events. I recently heard that a month or two after my piece, one of the two was quietly let go. The group apparently kept him for two years, initial contract?, but enough was ultimately enough. Two years of salary and other costs were wasted, but more importantly, two years of academic progress and success were denied to students.

smh

**Please leave your questions and comments below.**

Further reading

https://teaching-abc.blogspot.com/2021/09/updatemediocre.html

https://teaching-abc.blogspot.com/2021/02/mediocre-hires.html

Standards matter, so what happened?

I was sent this story about a New Zealand engineering college where 80% of its students failed a standards-based examination. While I think that the situation may be a little murkier than it appears, and the reporting does not answer all my qurestions, it does raise two interesting points. Firstly, should a licensing body have a minimum standard for registration, a "bar" if you will? Secondly, who is responsible if an individual fails to meet that bar?

The cost of a college education

In the last few months, the subject of cancelling (college) student loan debt has been popular and amongst its proponents has been the assetion that "college should be free". But should it? After all, providing an education of any type at any level has a cost which someone has to pay. What this slogan is really declaring is that "someone else shoud pay for my education" which of course raises two interesting questions. (Not begs, but prompts. Begging the question is something else.) The first is "why?" and the second is "who?".

Bullies, lipstick and pigs

A school near me has just held its "anti-bullying week" and the phrase, "lipstick on a pig" comes to mind. Such a campaign may raise awareness, but it will not change behavior.

Classroom Star Charts; are they a good idea?

We've all seen them, we've possibly all used them, especially at pre-school and elementary levels. But are classroom star charts a good thing? 

By star-charts, I mean the list of names with a star or check-mark showing who has done their chores or who has read a book or who has had perfect attendance this week. But do they really reward success or good behavior? Or merely compliance? Do they encourage competition, and healthy competition at that? Do they motivate? Or are they just "name and shame" in another guise? 

Covid learning loss - preschool

I've been reading several discussions and reports of studies about students starting G1 or returning to G1-3 who lost certain development or who never achieved it because of two years of disruption due to Covid. I can't find where I noted them right now, but as soon as I do I will post the links below.

The failure of Nickleby - again

I was a loud opponent of No Child Left Behind, ("NCLB·" or nickleby) prior to its introduction, post its introduction and today. My principal complaint is its contentions that all the problems with US public education were clearly the fault of teachers, that they needed a big stick and that this big stick should be testing.