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Educational gobbledegook
Gobbledegook: It was the first word that came to mind when I learned of the International Summit on the Teaching Profession to be held in New York City in March. I wasn’t really sure if gobbledegook was a word so I looked up the definition: “language characterized by circumlocution and jargon, usually hard to understand: the gobbledegook of government reports. Synonym: gibberish, doubletalk, bosh, mumbo jumbo.” According to dictionary.com, gobbledegook originated somewhere between 1940 and 1945 and it’s based on the sound of “the throaty cry of the male turkey.”
Participants in this teaching summit include U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan and leaders representing the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Education International (EI). Also represented will be the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), the Asia Society, and public broadcaster WNET. The purpose of the summit is “to identify best practices worldwide that effectively strengthen the teaching profession in ways designed to enhance student achievement.” Sounds fair enough. Doesn’t sound like gobbledegook, does it? Or does it?
Would you include unions at a summit to improve teaching? And is it really necessary to include OECD and the CCSSO? Moreover, why aren’t representatives from private schools included? Certainly, there are great examples of best practices from that sector. But maybe gobbledegook isn’t a fair representation of what will take place at the International Summit on the Teaching Profession. There are certainly good intentions here.
But wait, there’s more. According to the U.S. Department of Education’s website, “Participants will also engage in a discussion on the vital role teachers’[sic] play in advancing progressive, sustainable education reform. ‘The summit represents a unique opportunity for teachers and their unions globally to consider the future of their profession as equal partners with governments,’ said EI General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen.”
Yep, that’s gobbledegook.
back to top15 Comments to “Educational gobbledegook”
So don’t go. And since you weren’t invited that should be easy.
The only other thing we really to say here is that this event is in March! It’s a shame that when god gave us all moral order…he had nothing useful to say about prejudgment.
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Tongue-in-cheek: We need to pour in tons more money to talk and talk and talk some more about the importance of education. We need more speeches and summits from and for burearocrats and politicians…. NOT!
What we need is to spend a whole lot less money on “education” and spend the same or even some more money on the actual classroom. As it is, the lion’s share of “education” funds goes to the posturing bureaucrats, theoraticians and fat cats. We can tighten that belt a lot without letting students, teachers and the classroom suffer.
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“the vital role teachers’[sic] play in advancing progressive, sustainable education reform.”
So, they admit that there is a conspiracy to advance their so-called “progessive” ideas!
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Hmmm: “The purpose of the summit is ‘to identify best practices worldwide that effectively strengthen the teaching profession in ways designed to enhance student achievement.’”
Would it be a ‘best practice’ to properly teach the student? Weird, I know, but a good way to strengthen the profession.
Quoting A.W Tozer: “Perception of ideas rather than the storing of them should be the aim of education. The mind should be an eye to see with rather than a bin to store facts in. The man who has been taught by the Holy Spirit will be a seer rather than a scholar. The difference is that the scholar sees and the seer sees through; and that is a mighty difference indeed.” [Man: The Dwelling Place of God]
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Are Teachers’ Unions running scared? I hope so…I hope they soon dissolve in the face of the success of homeschooling and charter schools. Local people running local schools and parents seeing to their OWN children’s education. What a concept. And I didn’t even go to the meeting to figure this out!
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The bracket “sic” is usually inserted into a quote to denote a mistake. In the following quote
Participants will also engage in a discussion on the vital role teachers’[sic] play in advancing progressive, sustainable education reform
I’m not sure why the [sic] was inserted. Thinking my grammar sense is somewhat minimal, I decided to copy and past the quote into Microsoft Word and see if their grammar check would pick up on it. Grammar check revealed no problems. I’m now left with the irony of an educational column with a grammar error.
On the column itself — why not wait until the conference actually happens before slagging it?
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HRW, do people make words plural by adding an apostrophe in your part of the world? I think part of the irony of the “sic” was that those who are teaching children should, of all people, know better. Maybe we expect too much.
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We all make mistakes, but those educrats who run the website (granted, few are accurate) ought to have at least an 6th grade understanding of grammar and not rely on spellcheck. Reminds me of the billboard by Southbendon.org praising the “Pubic Schools” http://www.popfi.com/2010/09/22/south-bends-great-pubic-schools/
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“And is it really necessary to include OECD…”
Not if you only want American perspectives on education.
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The sic is there because the word “teachers’” is improper. There’s nothing possessive about “teachers’ play.”
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Mynock: The only other thing we really to say here is that this event is in March! It’s a shame that when god gave us all moral order…he had nothing useful to say about prejudgment.
You don’t understand. This is a golden opportunity to take cheap shots at unions. If he waits until after the event is over and the unions do nothing sinister at it, the opportunity will have been squandered.
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7,8, and 10
Wow — I now admit I’m fallible and to think I consider this one of the most annoying mistakes that come across my desk everyday.
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Here is Lee Wishing’s hymnal: The Plan to Blame Unions for Everything
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I wonder if this is the white flag from our educrats that after 50 years of continued decline and failures they are now looking elsewhere where education actually works? Vouchers were effective and less costly per student but not politically acceptable due to union pressure. Or is this just more smoke and mirrors coming from a failing presidency?
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‘The summit represents a unique opportunity for teachers and their unions globally to consider the future of their profession as equal partners with governments,’ said EI General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen.”
Where in our constitution does it suggest that teachers should be equal to elected representatives?
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