Steve,
It is quite clear to me that we simply see different sides of the same
issues, and value them differently. For you, Karl Shapiro's poem is an
indictment of an appraisal system. For me, a reflective process resulted
in attacking and changing a totally unacceptable discrimination. It was
the reflection of the 60's that changed all that. The reason it went
unchanged for so long was -- in my view -- that we were so unreflective
about what we were doing except in a few esoteric circles.
Our knowledge will always be less than perfect, so we will always create
limited and imperfect systems. It is our duty as citizens and responsible
members of society to reflect on all existing systems, and correct them
wherever new knowledge has exposed some flaw. Only by reflecting will we
ever identify the flaws. Only by sleep-walking through life can we avoid
any assessment.
Your comments about schools are good. So, I challenge you to reflect on
the weaknesses and propose a new, better system that meets the needs of
understanding students' knoweldge and thinking ability, and avoids the
pitfalls of existing systems. Go ahead, evaluate, assess, criticize,
think long and hard and deep, and come up with something better. You can
only do so by criticizing the current state of affairs. Exactly my point.
Only through awareness can growth occur. Only through assessment can
awareness be born.
--Rol Fessenden
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>