A narcissistic approach to education reform
There's virtually no one who knows more about the skills our children will need to succeed in the 21st century economy."--Michael Bloomberg, of his choice of Cathleen Black as New York City Schools Chancellor
From New York Times City Room Blog, New York Times.
It seems that Ms. Black also knows a thing or two about an altogether different kind of need.
In an Aug. 10, 2010, segment of the Diane Rehm radio show entitled "The Future of Magazines," Ms. Black plugged Cosmopolitan Magazine's latest iPhone App: the Sex Tip of the Day [Caution: Not for family viewing.]
Are you going to charge for that sex tip of the day?" the host, Frank Sesno, asked.
"Yeah, $2.99," Ms. Black replied, as the host and other guests erupted into giggles. "$2.99," she repeated. "Cheaper than a hooker," she continued, before adding, "I didn't say that, did I?"
The application offers a cornucopia of advice on an array of inventively, sometimes bogglingly, named sexual moves -- among them, the Jet Jiggy, the Randy Raft, the Wanton Wheelbarrow and the Linguini. Each position is rated on a "Carnal Challenge" scale of one to five flames (the "Octopus," for one, ranks five flames, and comes with words of encouragement: "Do it right and you two will look like a multilimbed lust creature"). A variety of aids are often employed, among them bathtubs, hot tubs, pools, inflatable rafts, inner tubes, balls, staircases and small boats.
Cosmopolitan, long a stalwart in the field of dishing and redishing sex advice, is just one of Hearst's many publications. Other magazines include Harperâ's Bazaar, Marie Claire, Popular Mechanics, Redbook and O, the Oprah Magazine. Ms. Black served as president of Hearst Magazines until the summer of 2010, and is now chairwoman.
Asked how many times the app has been downloaded, a spokeswoman for Hearst Magazines was mum. A spokeswoman with the city's Department of Education said this application had no bearing on Ms. Black's suitability to run a school district with 1.1 million children.
Ms. Black's comments on Ms. Rehm's show were reported this week by the television channel NY1.
When Mayor Bloomberg was asked about the opposition to Black on his weekly radio show on WOR-AM, Nov. 12, he responded:
"It just goes to show they have no understanding of [what] the job is. This is an organization, an agency of the city, that deals with 1.1 million customers, has 135,000 employees, has a budget of $23 billion a year."
Students as customers.
By Mark Phillips
I haven't read any Kafka in recent years, but I don't really need to. I just pick up the newspaper or turn on CNN and catch up with the latest in the worlds of politics and education.
The other day it was a scene in New York City with Mayor Michael Bloomberg announcing Joel Klein's departure as chancellor of the city's public schools and the appointment of Hearst Magazine Chairman Cathleen Black as his successor. As I listened, the soundtrack from The Twilight Zone emerged from my distant memory. The narrative was out of touch with reality.
"It's a chance to change the world," said Bloomberg. Does he really believe that?
"She's been there and done it," he said of Black, who has no serious professional background in public education. Apparently he thinks anyone who can help oversee Popular Mechanics magazine can reform the largest public school system in the country.
The soundtrack music kept getting louder.
"There's virtually no one who knows more about the skills our children will need to succeed in the 21st century economy," concluded Bloomberg.
In the world in which most of us live, there are hundreds, even thousands, of experts in the field of education who know more than Cathie Black about the skills kids need. Even I do.
If these changes affected only New York, we could just leave it to the teachers and parents of New York to respond. But this is symptomatic of a widespread pathology that turns a certain breed of education reformer -- those who insist that business principles will save public education -- into heroes, and it is being fueled by many in the media, "Waiting for Superman" director Davis Guggenheim and others.
There is a form of craziness infecting the world of education reform today. Repeating the same behavior over and over again even if it fails and expecting a different result is nutty. And what too many reformers keep doing is moving ahead without input from teachers and parents.
Bloomberg's appointment of Black is another example of appointment without consultation -- and more. Michelle Rhee resigned as D.C. schools chancellor truly believing that her scorched earth policy was successful, despite evidence that it wasn't.
If you don't agree with a diagnosis of cultural insanity, consider a diagnosis of narcissism at the top levels of education reform.
Narcissists inflate a sense of their own importance and capabilities.
Bloomberg, Rhee, and Klein all have talked about their role in education reform in terms that seem to go beyond the concrete realities of the job, or, as Bloomberg revealingly stated, engaged in a chance to change the world. In reality it would be terrific if the new New York chancellor could just manage her budget, the one area where she appears to have some competency, and perhaps assist some principals, teachers, and parents to effectively change some schools.
Guggenheim's film, which transforms Rhee into a hero, will not, as he hopes, change American education either. Aroused interest rarely translates to change without a well thought out strategy that includes all the players. In this case too, the backlash probably equals the positive responses.
Businesses don't hire chief executives who don't understand business. Why shouldn't we insist that our education leaders understand education?
Klein, Rhee, Black -- none of them were given the job of running a school system because they had the knowledge base needed to fully understand the complexities of public education. Picture what it would be like if Meg Whitman was brought in to oversee the reform of medical practices for the city of New York. Would Bloomberg note that this would determine patient survival rates for years to come?
Edward Pajak, professor and chair of the Department of Teacher Development and Leadership at Johns Hopkins University, writes in a forthcoming article in Teachers College Record that a narcissistic education policy style "denies the true learning needs of students; dis-empowers classroom teachers and schools by undermining trust in self and others; and reproduces narcissistic dynamics within the culture."
It is imperative that education leaders today include teachers, principals and parents in their decision-making, but leaders such as Rhee actually took pride in making her own choices without their input.
Every time I hear the phrase "the skills our children need for the 21st century," I think of the lines from Lord Byron: "If I laugh at any mortal thing, 'tis that I may not weep."
The "21st century skills" phrase, now a cliche, is out of a dark comic script, divorced from the potpourri of what kids really need to both survive and thrive.
But why don't we care as much about the 21st century skills educational leaders need, including a firm knowledge base of public education, the ability to engage in participatory decision making, and an understanding of how to build trust with teachers and parents?
It's past time that we did.
Mark Phillips is professor emeritus of secondary education at San Francisco State University and author of a monthly column on education for the Marin Independent Journal.
— Mark Phillips + Cosmo Sex App
Washington Post Answer Sheet
2010-11-12
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/guest-bloggers/a-narcissistic-approach-to-edu.html
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