This book argues that progressive education and child-centred approaches have diverted education from its true purpose. It advocates a shift back to a teacher-led. knowledge-rich teaching, and may be of use to policy makers and teachers wishing to critically examine their practice.
Education is upside-down: reframing reform to focus on the right problems
Synopsis
Kalenze, a teacher, argues that the funnel of education is upside down: instead of education preparing pupils for the world they will inhabit, he suggests current teaching attempts to fit the world to pupils. His argument traces back to the progressive movement in American education at the start of the 20th Century, which he suggests has damaged teaching and learning with its child-centred approach, personalisation, and a misplaced belief in learning styles.
He argues that the role of school is to prepare pupils for meaningful participation in higher education, their careers and civil society: as if pouring a liquid into a vessel with the aid of a funnel. However, because this funnel is upside-down, much of the liquid bounces off the sides and never makes it into the vessel.
Throughout the book Bloom’s taxonomy is treated as a hierarchy of learning to be accepted without question. Higher order thinking and critical thinking trump the recall of facts and concepts. Kalenze instead likes the idea of a core curriculum, and suggests that schools should be teacher-centred and content focused, rather than driven by child-centered approaches.