Thank you for your personal experiences; they offer a
different perspective on diagnoses in the classroom.
John Holt in his live presentations used to tell this story:
Two psychologists were visiting an elementary school where
they saw a child out on the playground shuffling along,
seemingly in a hurry. As each foot shifted forward, it
moved only about 4 inches. One man said, "I guess he is
playing." "No," said the other it looks like a spinal
problem, or a pelvic deformity." After suggesting Cerebral
Palsy, MS and brain damage, they finally went out to speak
to the boy. When they approached, they saw that his only
problem was that his shoe laces were tied together.
That has been my experience. We jump to conclusions. It
doesn't mean that a kid might have a serious personal
problem or a medical problem. It means that we need to check
out a lot of more likely problems first--especially problems
caused by applying the same teaching process to every kid.
I am concerned that virtually every classroom at every grade
level in every subject has kids causing trouble. Many
teachers diagnose the trouble as outside of their realm (as
in it is the parents' fault).
I am also concerned that when teachers most frequently
diagnose a problem accurately, but as a recent study shows,
they fail to see that every problem was far more complex
than the single diagnosis they made, and that the diagnosis
always constituted an excuse for the child not learning
rather than a route to teaching him or her.
I have never seen a kid who could not learn fractions
because s/he came from a broken or impoverished home. I have
never had a kid who couldn't learn to read because s/he came
from a housing project. I taught kids who had no home and
no (living parents)--In an institution for dependent and
neglecte children.)
The alternative to finding excuses for our failure to teach
kids, is teaching them. I think that diagnosis in terms
that provide teachers specific what to do and how to do it
procedures is a step every teacher can and should take for
him/herself, when possible.
With continued joy in sharing, billpage@bellsouth.net,
http://www.teacherteacher.com
Chatboards
Mailrings
Classifieds
Lessons
Jobs
Projects
1996 - 2009. All Rights Reserved. Please review our Terms of Use, Mission Statement, and Privacy Policy.