Free Republic

>>>>I've been told that Siegfried Englemann (born 1931) passed away. We lost one of our greats. Anything this man said, you can take it to the bank. I did this email interview two years ago and tried to cover his main interests:<<<<< Siegfried Engelmann is the real thing, an educator who loves to teach children and knows how to do it, both personally and in his books. As far back as the late 1960s, he told the Education Establishment: you’re doing it all wrong. Engelmann takes a scientific approach. He believes you formulate programs, test them, revise them, and keep...

Siegfried Engelmann is the real thing, an educator who loves to teach children and knows how to do it, both personally and in his books. As far back as the late 1960s, he told the Education Establishment: you’re doing it all wrong. Engelmann takes a scientific approach. He believes you formulate programs, test them, revise them, and keep doing this until you get solutions that give you the greatest success in the ordinary classroom. Q: As you look at the entire field of education, what is the one thing that most offends you? A: The disconnect between what occurs in...

 [SUMMARY: Constructivism says teachers must teach less.]  It was the first premise of all schools throughout history: students would be educated by people who were themselves already educated. A biology teacher had to be an expert in biology; a history teacher must know history to teach history. Who would question the wisdom of these statements? This country’s Education Establishment now preaches a contrary view. Students must not be told that 2+3 = 5; this is not “authentic learning.” Essentially, teachers should stop teaching. The theory, generally called Constructivism or Discovery, requires that students (typically working in groups) construct knowledge for themselves.  This approach...

A solution for the reading gap between black and white children was discovered four decades ago. So, why aren't we taking advantage of it?One does not expect to see New York's school Chancellor Joel Klein on the same stage as Reverend Al Sharpton. Klein is infamous for his emphasis on test scores and shutting down schools that fail to measure up. Not so long ago, Sharpton was in the barricades with Russell Simmons protesting mayor Michael Bloomberg and Klein's plan to cut New York City's education budget. Yet these days the two are teaming up for the Education Equality Project,...