Marva Collins was late to her own press conference at the S.C. State House today …
Her reason?
She was quizzing a group of South Carolina school children about what they had learned this year … and she didn’t like the answers she was receiving.
“You don’t see teachers teaching anymore,” Collins said when she finally strode up to the podium. “People were learning more in 1850 than they are now.”
Collins – who ran a world-famous private school in Chicago for decades – should know.
She’s an internationally-renowned educator, Humanities medal winner and champion of the Socratic method of instruction.
Collins created her famous Westside Preparatory School in Chicago to focus exclusively on low-income African-American students who had been branded “learning disabled” by the public school system.
Although she started with only $5,000 to her name, the school quickly became a phenomenon, with its record of academic and commercial success earning worldwide attention.
“I have discovered few learning disabled students in my three decades of teaching,” Collins wrote in one of her many books. “I have, however, discovered many, many victims of teaching inabilities.”
“There’s nothing wrong with the children, it’s the curriculum,” Collins reiterated during her stop in Columbia today. “I’m facinated at how illiterate we’ve become with technology.”
Collins believes the proper curriculum and classic technique – not money – are the essential ingredients in educating children.
“Money does not make for excellence,” Collins said.
South Carolina has certainly documented the veracity of that claim.
Additionally, our state spends millions of dollars on “accountability,” but graduation rates, SAT scores and achievement gaps all show a worsening academic climate.
So much time is spent preparing children for various state-administered tests that real classroom instruction is getting lost.
“We’re teaching to the tests, not the students,” one of Collins’ supporters told FITS after the press conference.
By Mab April 28, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Amen, Lady!
Maybe the bureaucrats will actually listen to her. At least the ones that care about the children more than their own little empires.
By Very Predictable April 28, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Let me go ahead and post the usual response from BIN & the other status quo apologists, “How much did Howie Rich pay her?”
Now that that has been posted there is no need for them to leave a comment.
By fitsnews April 28, 2009 at 4:07 pm
VP- Collins didn’t take a position on the school choice bill. Her comments, in fact, were critical of both public and private schools in SC. – FITS
By Republic, The April 28, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Her trick was using the classics… as far as i know the only real Socratic-style teaching of the classics in the Midlands is at… are you ready for it… a private school! She was also (briefly) a teacher at a public schools where …are you ready for it.. her innovation and out-side-the-box style were not well received.
I am not sure that the classics will work for all kids, but we do need to have policies (eg Tax Credits) that invite this type of innovation.
By Catherine April 28, 2009 at 5:37 pm
This is GREAT! I get to interview a group of teachers in our favorite district (Richland One) on their use of technology in the classroom and what innovative practices they use. Anyone want to take bets on their responses? This in a district that spends more than $16,000 per student AND receives at least one grant per year. Actually, I’m betting that the teachers are already showing movies since we’re “so close” to the end of the school year.
Wish I’d been there to hear her speak. Wish we could afford to put her in charge of education.
By A_Parent April 28, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Do you think Marva would approve of my HIGH SCHOOL daughter’s psychology class watching Finding Nemo to learn about separation anxiety?
How about the Kevin Kline movie “Dave” in her government class?
And this is in a supposedly top district.
By Classical_Parent April 28, 2009 at 8:25 pm
I have a child graduating from a classical school in Columbia this year and I agree totally with Ms. Collins. Classical literature, logic, rhetoric, Latin, senior thesis, and other courses have taught my child to THINK not just memorize. But such a curriculum requires teachers who are totally committed to the concept and they are in the profession for the love of teaching and students and not just the paycheck.
By Dagny Taggart April 28, 2009 at 9:32 pm
When a coach at Chapin High School earns over $98,000 per nine-month year, don’t tell me about needing more money for education.
By Wes Wolfe April 29, 2009 at 3:58 am
Lady Chablis? Is that you?