Anti-ticpatory Set

There's no type in the title. I just got home from a parent/teacher conference with my sons 8th grade Science teacher. My son is struggling this year due to the amount of math that's required for physical science, so I thought it was best to discuss this with his teacher.

I was given 5 minutes...as were all parents, to discuss his performance. We reviewed his efforts in class, and I was told that my son is "hot and cold", and that his seat was recently changed to remove him from his "buddies" and help him concentrate. I asked the teacher is he any sort of syllabus or listing of subjects/dates that he was using. His answer was no. I then asked if there was any way that I could get a list of the topics in advance as to prime my son for class. He told me that he's "had experience with that in the past", and that "students will read a book about 'xyz' and then think they know all about it". I thought that reading was supposed to be a good thing? Oh well, I proceded to take another approach and ask him he he used anticipatory sets to build upon prior classes, and scaffold learning of new material.

I nearly fell off my chair when he told me that he didn't use anticipatory sets, and that "it's not fair to other students who understand the material to go back over something that was already covered...they would get bored." At that point the bell rang and my time was up. I proceeded to ask a few more questions while I was hastily escorted from the classroom. It was clear to me that this man was truly not a good teacher in terms of using effective teaching strategies, so I just smiled and walked away steaming mad.

I've taught in this school as a substitute teacher, and both of my sons attend classes there. I have seen first hand that this school is a prime illustration of quantity, not quality...and they're pushing students through the system by "teaching to the test". Perhaps this is also a good illustration that the American education system needs a complete overhaul. It's become a bottm-line game of making money (via state/federal aid, etc). It's not fair to deny a proper education to a student because other students might get "bored". The job of a teacher should be to ensure that ALL students get what they need. Dr. Rick Lavoie says that fairness in education is not a question of giving each student the same thing, but it's about giving each student what they need in order to learn.

Anticipatory Sets...GRRRRRR!!!!!!