By Anthony
Mullen on April 16, 2010 3:28
PM |
Massachusetts
Someplace near where the
pilgrims first landed.
Quite a few critics of the American system of education are kept
busy seeking "A City Upon a Hill" on foreign shores. One such
country is Singapore.
After all, Singaporean students rank 1st in the world in
mathematics on the latest TIMSS (U.S. students rank 16th)
and Singapore
boasts a nation
of high performing students and excellent schools. Could
Singapore
be the City
Upon a Hill that Puritan leader John Winthrop described while
giving a speech aboard the ship Arbelle en route to the
Massachusetts Bat Colony? Maybe. But Winthrop
was careful to
remind his fellow pilgrims that such a city would be carefully
watched by "the eyes of all people" and warned of the accusation of
hypocrisy should his weary and seasick flock not practice what was
taught in the Good Book.
Singapore
will be hosting
a major education conference in September and has invited
distinguished scholars and teachers from throughout the world to
share ideas and presentations. One such distinguished teacher is
Susan Elliot, the 2009 Colorado State Teacher of the Year and one
of four finalists for the 2009 National Teacher of the Year (I may
have pulled the sword from the stone but Susan will always best me
as Lancelot did Arthur).
Susan Elliot has spent
three decades in education and taught thousands of students. She is
bright, articulate, and has a great sense of humor. She teaches
social studies and history to mainstream and hearing-impaired
students-all in the same classroom. Her unique ability to teach
social studies and history to both "regular" and hearing-impaired
students in the same classroom is a remarkable display of master
teaching. Susan is the perfect educator to help represent
America's teachers and deserves a
key to this Asian City Upon a Hill.
Susan was excited about
traveling to Singapore
and sharing her
ideas and experiences about methods that could develop the
potential of all students to become independent, self-supporting
and contributing members of society. And then came her
dismissal.
Once the
Singapore
education
officials discovered that Susan was hearing-impaired, they
retracted her invitation. The so-called discovery and subsequent
retraction of her invitation was an act of disingenuous
statesmanship because the Singapore
education
officials knew all along that Susan was deaf. The official in
charge of inviting and then disinviting Susan attributes the
mistake to miscommunication. Wait a minute. Singapore
is renowned for
its academic prowess; surely the highly educated official could
read a simple biography that very clearly noted Susan was
hearing-impaired. The Singapore
education
system may be perched on a higher hill than the American system but
something is not quite right.
Susan Elliot sent a few
emails to Singaporean education officials, hoping the
"miscommunication" was itself a miscommunication and the whole
matter an innocent mistake. She had to defend her disability and
remind conference officials that America's teachers and children
are a diverse lot.
How did the
Singapore
officials
respond? Susan was wished a successful future but remains persona
non grata at the conference.
The Singapore
system of
education may be the envy of TIMSS groupies, and from a distance
the city appears brightly lit in the night sky. But a peek behind
the city walls reveals a flawed and ignorant culture of
education.
Maybe, just maybe,
Americans came in 16th place on the TIMSS because we are willing to
carry a much heavier load. A weight gladly held by teachers such as
Susan Elliot.
As I glance out at the
cold Atlantic Ocean
I think about
the pilgrims huddled on a small ship, listening to John Winthrop
preach about what it takes to create a City Upon a Hill.
Singaporean education officials should heed Winthrop's warning, lest their
country be viewed as hypocrites in "the eyes of all
people."
Oh, by the way, if any
teacher would like to email the education official who disinvited
one of America's top teachers, please
send a message to Ms. Lynn Koh.
Her email is: [email protected]
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teacher_of_the_year/2010/04/singapores_city_upon_a_hill.html
