Teach Effectively!

Writing in the New York (US) Times on 19 November 2008, Sandra Tsing Loh calls for parents to mount a bottom-up revolution in public education. Although it’s short on specific proposals—and, of course, I hope the central feature would be a focus on teaching effectively—and long on criticism of politicians sending children to “toney private schools,” Ms. Loh’s concern about improving public education is well placed.

And yet, against all apparent odds, as a public school mother in the trenches, I’m extremely optimistic about this brave new era. The time is perfect for an American renaissance revivifying this most Jeffersonian of ideals — quality public education, available for all — where an educated citizenry is the heart of a thriving democracy.

I hope Ms. Loh’s call for a political renaissance aimed at improving the quality of public education is heeded. We in the US—and elsewhere on the planet—need not just a few well-educated elite children for the future but a mass of well-educated children. Going forward, as the pop phrase has it, out progress as a society as well as a species will depend on having lots of savvy workers, managers, innovators, and leaders.

I recommend Ms. Loh’s editorial. Here’s a link to it. For more about Ms. Loh’s thoughts regardinh parents taking a strong role in their children’s schooling, make sure that you read her sensible remarks cunningly disguised as notes about Jonathan Kozol’s views on education, see “Tales out of School.” The multi-talented Ms. Loh, who has a pretty solid educational pedigree (e.g., physics graduate of Cal Tech), has plenty of other interesting comments about education that merit perusal by parents and educators; browse her Web site at http://SandraTsingLoh.com/. I plan to read her book, Mother on Fire.