Susan Ochshorn of the ECE Workshop
describes a new article in the Teachers College Record on the absurdity of the Obama-Duncan "cradle-to-career" policies. Jeanne Marie Ioria and Clifton Tanabe present a thesis:
"School readiness, a state we so avidly seek, has created a chain (in all senses of the word) between our youngest students and the labor force, reinforcing the idea of children as commodities."
Now, they say, this market-driven, utilitarian philosophy has moved into the upper grades and higher education, with predictable results:
As a result, this process is tilted away from the more traditional aims of self-actualization, appreciation, and happiness. It is in the ability to check off a box of measurable outcomes, assurance of accountability in education across the levels, evidence that monies supporting public education are well-spent creating people ready to contribute and perpetuate the status quo.
The concept of "readiness" now dominates early childhood education and justifies harmful policies:
Curriculum, standards, teacher education programs, interventions, parent education, assessment, state-funded 4-year-old programs, and privatization are just the beginning of policies and practices created and implemented all in the name of readiness…kindergarten readiness is plagued with a list of academic skills like identifying rhyming words and the alphabet. Companies like LeapFrog offer lists of readiness skills to educate the public as well as products to achieve this readiness. A Kindergarten Readiness App is available for download to your iPhone or iPad, ensuring development of early literacy and math skills.
The authors note that employers say that high school and college graduates are not well prepared for the jobs that are available but when asked about the skills they want, they speak of creativity, critical thinking skills, problem-solving, and other "soft" skills that are currently out of vogue.
Susan Ochshorn says that early childhood education is "ground zero for democracy," the best time to teach children to engage with others through play and imaginative activities.
