Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Debunking the Case for National Standards

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community
This to me is the defining arguments against national standards. "Are all kids entitled to a great education? Of course. But that doesn't mean all kids should get the same education. High standards don't require common standards. Uniformity is not the same thing as excellence – or equity. (In fact, one-size-fits-all demands may offer the illusion of fairness, setting back the cause of genuine equity.) To acknowledge these simple truths is to watch the rationale for national standards – or uniform state standards -- collapse into a heap of intellectual rubble." When you begin to acknowledge that people are different, you are forced to acknowledge they may have different desires and needs and wants - and that this applies to their learning. The enforcement of national standards in the face of individual differences turns what ought to be an education system into an instrument for propaganda. Via Edurati Review.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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