The McDonaldization od Education - the rise of slow - Literature Notes

Last updated Aug 15, 2023

See Sources/The McDonaldization of Education - the rise of slow - Essay #literaturenotes

"Cards/The cult of speed"

• coined by journalist Carl Honore
• Fast and slow are shorthand for ==ways of being, or philosophies of life==
  • Fast: busy, controlling, aggressive, hurried, analytical, stressed, superficial, impatient, active, quantity-over-quality
  • Slow: calm, careful, receptive, still, intuitive, unhurried, patient, reflective, quality-over-quantity. It is about ==making real and meaningful connections with people== — culture, work, food, everything.

Cards/McDonaldization

• coined by George Ritzer
• also known as “need for speed”
• the process by which the ==principles of the fast food industry are coming to dominate== more and more sectors of the world
• Four characteristics of this worldview:
  • Efficiency
  • Predictability
  • Calculability (quantifiable results)
  • Control (or at least the illusion of it)

McDonaldization of Education

• attempts to wipe out ==messiness/inefficiencies== of learning
  • adapting shortcuts
• reduces education into a ==commodity== that can be packaged, marketed, and sold
• reduces learning to an ==assembly line==
  • things are homogenized as much as possible
• reality: imposing a ==mechanistic view of life== on an ==organic process== (learning) at a great cost
• Efficiency
  • responsible for these ideas:
    • teachers can be replaced by Khan Academy
    • drastic student to teacher ratios
  • assumes that transition of information is the most important part of learning
  • What about…
    • developing children into thoughtful, ethical citizens who critically evaluate, rather than being swayed?
    • creating citizens instead of consumers
  • When learning is treated as one more product to be consumed, ==a horrible disconnect== occurs in our students.
    • It becomes about the mark.
    • It becomes about the diploma.
    • It becomes about the end justifying a lot of terrible means.
• Predictability
  • causes the ==standardization of a curriculum and the way it’s taught==
    • with little to no regard for student interest, background, or ethnicity
    • Cards/Digital learning exacerbates and reproduces inequality
  • Every student must be able to display the same skill (or regurgitation of content knowledge) at the same time.
• Calculability
  • Important to calculate whether there’s a difference being made or not, so ==system of high stakes testing== is introduced
  • Just ends up stressing out and disengaging students more
• Control
  • Fear of…
    • losing one’s job
    • losing funding
    • having embarassing test results published
    • having your child not being able to…
      • get into college
      • get a “good” job
  • No idea of long-term cost
  • Effects (Short-term)
    • Lose a lot of new teachers in first five years
      • Others quit early or need stress leave
    • Children are more heavily medicated now than any other time in history

Cards/The Slow movement

• originated from Slow Food
  • abdicates industrial food conglomerates
  • seeks to reconnect citizens to the richness of a common life with the neighbours who grow and prepare our food
• The Slow movement is…
  • a call for intentionality
  • an awareness of our mutual interdependence with all people and all creation
  • seeking to root people in their community
• Not about having everything done as slow as possible, but rather seeking to do things well and at the right speed
• Principles
  • Good
  • Clean
  • Fair

Cards/The Slow movement for education

• What it’s all about…
  • Reimagining what it means to be a community of learners
  • Requires us to admit to and evaluate the organic messiness of learning
  • Requires admitting that a large part of what is happening isn’t good for our children, our teachers, or our communities
  • Rather than a top down industrialized and homogenized assembly line of education, we need a ==grass roots development of education that takes into account what real learning looks like and what children really need.==
• Principles
  • Authentic
    • Not based on worksheets, standardized tedts, etc.
    • Allows children to engage in real, meaningful work that matters to them and their community
    • Empowes children with the opportunity to identify and seek solutions to problems in their community
    • Consequence of these changes: re-educating communities to see students as authentic and active participants in community life
    • Authentic education is also an ==act of justice==. Cards/Design justice
      • allowing kids to explore social issues
      • helping them become ethical citizens who speak out and make a difference
  • Individualized
    • No more ==homogeneity==
    • Respond to ==real needs== of students
    • Shift to using content to teach skills, student interest, and how to learn
    • Student-centered
    • Teachers must become co-learners, and let go of control. Cards/Teachers are facilitators
    • Requires ==trust==: districts to trust administrators, administrators to trust teachers, and teachers to trust students.
    • Supporting all of this is a community deeply connected to the life of the school
  • Formative
    • Marks (arbitrary symbols) -> summative assessments should be abolished
    • No one really understands what grades mean
    • The reason we don’t do what we know is best for our children because we don’t have the guts or because it’s too much work
    • ==Formative assessment== allows kids to…
      • Reflect on their learning
      • Figure out how to create better
      • Allows for more failure and less judgement
      • Provides feedback and voice

So what is the bottom-line of the slow education movement? ✓ We ==abolish== the busy, controlling, aggressive, hurried, analytical, stressed, superficial, impatient, quantity-over-quality ==education environment== that prevails today. ✓ We educate parents and communities about the ==risks of today’s current model==, including the drawbacks of “edubusiness.” ✓ We ==create learning environments== that are carefully crafted, receptive, still, intuitive, unhurried, patient, reflective, quality-over-quantity and engaging. ✓ We develop curriculum that has ==greater depth than breadth.== ✓ We make sure our curriculum takes into account ==local culture== and celebrates the uniqueness of our ==local community.== ✓ We don’t isolate skills development but ==let students grow their skills== as they engage with important content. Cards/Critical thinking and skill development are not mutually exclusive ✓ We construct learning environments that ==foster questioning, creativity and innovation==, such as the maker movement and project/problem based learning. Cards/Problem-based learning ✓ We find the courage to have serious discussions about ==abolishing standardized testing, classroom marks and grading, and the use of “birth year” as our primary criterion for sorting students.== ✓ We ==lobby our governments for funds== to assure true equality in education for all children. ✓ We ==discontinue the ranking== of teachers and schools. ✓ We ==replace our egg-carton grades with flexible, personalized learning== that takes into account when students are ready to engage in and acquire important skills. ✓ We ==make time for teacher collaboration== a top priority. ✓ We expect all classrooms to ==connect students globally== so they can learn from others around the world and apply what they learn in their own communities through meaningful projects and service. ✓ We ==make student voice and choice an integral part== of everyday teaching and learning.

Related Notes:

• Miscellaneous Notes/Literature Notes/Learning to earn vs. learning to learn - Literature Notes
• Miscellaneous Notes/Literature Notes/Design Justice - Literature Notes