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Join Us in Fostering Community Through the Arts
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Volunteer Saturday, February 21st, 9AM - 3PM
Join us February 21st for our Volunteer Saturday. All are welcome at any time. We'll be active on campus from 9am to 3pm, with a potluck lunch at 12pm--there are still signup slots available for lunch contributions (visit this link for details). To be added to the email list so that you can stay updated on all the events going on around campus, email Jacob Peterson, our Volunteer Coordinator, at jacob@fineartscamp.org.
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TorQ Percussion Quartet
Sunday, February 22, 7pm at the Sitka Performing Arts Center
Praised as "Outstanding-no, make that astonishing," TorQ Percussion Quartet was formed by four Canadian percussionists looking to add new vitality to percussion repertoire and performance. TorQ has performed to critical acclaim and standing ovations including performances at the International Percussion Quartet Festival and the Percussive Arts Society International Convention.
Tickets for the event are $20 general/$15 students & seniors, and are available at the door, Old Harbor Books, and at 907-747-3085.
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Young Performers Theater Presents Annie
Friday February 27, 7pm; Saturday February 28, 2pm and 7pm; Sunday March 1, 2pm at the Odess Theater
Join the members of our Young Performers Theater program as they present Annie. With music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and book by Thomas Meehan, Annie follows the story of an orphan in New York City who is adopted for the Christmas holiday by billionaire Oliver Warbucks. With famous hits like "Hard Knock Life," "Tomorrow," and "You're Never fully Dressed Without a Smile," Annie is sure to entertain the whole family.
Tickets for the event are $10 general/$5 students & seniors, and are available at the Fine Arts Camp office, at Old Harbor Books, and at the door. Children under 5 are free.
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Register for SFAC Summer 2015!
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This week, we are featuring a prequel, in the form of a Q&A, to the education panel and keynote to take place at the Sitka Performing Arts Center Friday, 2/20 at 1:30pm. Full details on the event as follows:
International education scholar and author of over 20 books, Dr. Yong Zhao will deliver a keynote address at the Sitka Performing Arts Center at 2:30PM, Friday, February 20th. Preceding the keynote, education experts Dr. Zhao, Dr. Jason Ohler, Dr. Pam Lloyd, and Dr. Kecia Ray will participate in a panel from 1:30PM-2:15PM focusing on the future of education as it relates to creativity, innovation, and globalization. Both events are free and open to the public, and are presented by the Sitka School District and the Sitka Fine Arts Camp.
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Below, Dr. Yong Zhao answers some questions on his most recent book, the critically acclaimed Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon: Why China Has the Best (and Worst) Education System in the World. SFAC's Jacob Peterson, spoke with Dr. Zhao:
JP: What conversations, observations, and/or perceived societal needs led to the writing of Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon: Why China Has the Best (and Worst) Education System in the World?
YZ: It came from my observations of education in China, and from speaking to a number of educators, policy makers, and parents in China.
JP: What was the primary complaint, concern...what were you hearing from parents?
YZ: There were two big categories of reasons or complaints. One was the absolute pressure they experienced and their children experienced going to school. ... There is a huge amount of pressure on parents and students. Parents have to spend a lot of time and resources to ensure that their children get into the right school, the better school in their minds. And at the same time, they have to really force, against their will sometimes, their children to work hard at school related work, forcing their children to go to school early in the morning and continue homework until after ten o'clock. And that's definitely not what their parents would like to see their children doing.
That's the first category. The second category of things is that they-as the public, as citizens of the nation--they are seeing their children's learning as more like a game. It doesn't really bring them the kind of talents, skills needed in the future. And they're seeing their children go through this joyless experience but not learn anything other than memorization so that they can pass tests. And they don't learn anything valuable, but they have to go through this. So this idea of helplessness in front of something they don't believe in is a really big concern that I have seen.
JP: I found your description of what you call "the largest test prep machine" fascinating. I looked up some articles on the school as well, and I can't imagine that kind of pressure in my own secondary education that I somewhat recently emerged from--I'm a recent college grad. This parental perspective on the system makes a lot of sense to me.
You argue that the West is foolhardily attracted to the kind of success Shanghai has found on the Programme for International Student Assessment, the PISA. What place, if any, do you feel standardized testing has in education?
YZ: Standardized tests have very little value. If you want to assess generally how a school does, you can do it in terms of sampling, and do it every few years. You don't have to do it every year. And high stakes standardized testing--that is, you attach any serious consequence either for students, parents, for schools or teachers...[the tests] cause more damage than benefit. I myself don't see much value in standardized testing. However, if people choose to take it, they can do it. You, as a college graduate, you know standardized testing such as the SAT or ACT--they have very little value in predicting a person's success in the future.
JP: Why does the West continue in its goal to emulate the Chinese education system even when there is a deep desire in China to overhaul preexisting educational norms-for example, the government's encouragement of students to skip college and become entrepreneurs? Why aren't the beneficial strides the Chinese government has taken in recent months, years to overhaul its education system registering on the U.S. national consciousness?
YZ: Well I think that in the U.S.--when a mindset takes a long time to form--once you form a mindset, and once you have put enough resources to pursue that mindset, people will be unwilling to accept the change. I think that maybe now many people may be regretting, if they are in a political position or they have put enough resources to make certain progress and policies and they tend to not look good. There's a lot at stake in the direction...and a lot of people made a career in promoting one type of education to emulate China. If you ask them to suddenly recognize--to admit they're wrong, or to suddenly change, that's going to begin to cause a lot of concern. For the Obama administration, for example, for them to abandon the idea of the Common Core and Common Assessment, which they've built their educational agenda around, it's going to be almost impossible because there are so many people working on it. And that's because they have all the companies profiting from these tests, teacher evaluations, and data driven analysis. These companies are not going to quickly shift either. So even though the message is obvious, they'll always find a way to discount it.
JP: You state in the book that it's easier for authoritarian governments to shift policies, in this case, education policies. In the case of the United States, is policy gridlock another reason for greater stasis, and an enhanced commitment to the Common Core--just because the political system is more difficult to change?
YZ: I think so. Also, I think there is in the current government a structure. ... At the same time, you have a whole country that has accepted the idea of the current theories in education.... You have seen that in the U.S. the system itself is actually resisting a lot of these standards for different states because of states rights. Some are abandoning the Common Core. Some are challenging the Common Assessments. But at the same time you see groups of parents and even school leaders, some of them, still endorse, still want a Common Core, a Common Assessment. So it's actually quite mixed.
JP: In the book, you examine the history that undergirds the test centric educational culture in China, and explain that homogenization was a way to ensure political stability, among other things. Is there ever a place for homogenization in education?
YZ: I don't believe in a way to homogenize the experience for everybody, although people do acquire common knowledge and common strategies--that's not a question. Homogenization, however...without trying to homogenize people, people homogenize already. People who watch TV do all those things together. So if you have a process to deliberately homogenize, that may be more dangerous.
JP: How can we better the education system in the United States?
YZ: I wrote about this in my last book--the book before [Who's Afraid...]. I think that in the U.S., we should have a lot more local control. The government should guarantee equal funding. [There should be] a lot more teacher and student autonomy, more personalized learning, and more personalized definition of educational success--which means get rid of standardization in education.
JP: One of the great things about your book is that it's highly readable and driven by a kind of narrative or even multiple narratives. What do you most hope your audience takes away from the book? Is there a kind of call for action? If so, what is it?
YZ: Well I think that the main thing is to stop the almost absurd education reform journey we have embarked on in the U.S. So it's more a call to stop what we're doing, and then examine what we should be doing--I don't think we've found that. We've just blindly followed a path to fix the past instead trying to invent the future. We should be thinking about how to invent the future.
JP: What can your audience look forward to hearing at your keynote on Friday?
YZ: The audience will hear more about what I think the future of the education system should be, using China as the backdrop of what it should not be, but most important is what the system should become--what I'd call a new paradigm of education, which tends to create, to cultivate entrepreneurial thinking, and a creative, innovative, diversity of talent.
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Thank you for your ongoing support, Sitka Fine Arts Camp Staff www.fineartscamp.org 907-747-3085
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