We're Doing It Wrong: 25 Ideas in Education That Just Don't Work and How to Fix Them

by David Michael Slater

David Michael Slater’s We’re Doing It Wrong is a thought-provoking dissection of the issues plaguing American public schools. Each chapter identifies a major problem in the education system, exploring its roots and repercussions. A teacher himself, Slater opens up and gives readers an insider’s perspective on topics that have been at the center of ongoing debates as well as recent hot button issues, such as:
• Standardized testing
• Teacher evaluation practices
• Helicopter parents
• Class size
• Poverty’s effect on performance
• Anti-bullying programs
• Writing proficiency
• Curriculum goals
Slater explains why our current approaches simply aren’t working―for students, for teachers, for the colleges that these students may eventually attend, and for society at-large. Unafraid to ruffle a few feathers, We’re Doing It Wrong highlights defects in policy and theory, calls out administration, and questions long-held beliefs. Every chapter concludes with a suggestion for improvement, offering light at the end of the tunnel. Administrators, teachers, and concerned parents will come away with a better understanding of the current state of education and ideas for moving toward progress―for themselves and for the students they support.

Genres: Nonfiction, School, Education

136 pages, Paperback

First published April 24, 2018

About the author

David Michael Slater is an acclaimed author of over 40 books of fiction and nonfiction for children, teens, and adults.

Reviews

[Peter Galamaga · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book - thus the three star rating. For anyone who has taught for more than five years in a US public school, all of these recommendations will ring true. In that respect, there is nothing new here. That said, I think that this would serve as a valuable primer for anyone interested in getting up to speed on current education issues. It serves as a counterbalance to the many armchair education "experts" one encounters all too often.
My one complaint with the book rests with the proposed "Solutions" to each problem presented. On the surface, they make sense. However, I think they tend to miss the broader point that it is the bloated bureaucratic government system itself that is the problem.
Instead of continually trying to make better candles, maybe it's time to finally admit that it's time to try electricity.

[Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

"We're Doing It Wrong" is written by a classroom teacher. The author addresses 25 ideas from a teacher's perspective as to why ideas are not working and solutions to solve the problems are given. In short, teachers are not trusted to do the job they were hired to do. Teachers are given curriculum with the sentences to say, and amazingly, what the students will say back! We are given the picture books to read to the class (in reading programs), and varying from the plan is not encouraged. Teacher creativity is not necessary anymore, and neither is planning. All curriculum is there and you just read it. This way, if you have a poor teacher or a great teacher, you are getting the exact same lessons. Anyway, it is an easy read. To classroom teachers, it is very obviously. If you are not a teacher, you may find this book VERY interesting!

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had many interesting suggestions for education reform from someone in the trenches. His suggestions boil down to two general, though never specifically addressed, solutions:

1) we need to spend more on education (this can address teacher retention, class size, etc etc)
2) we need to abolish the federal Board of Education (this can address nationalized standardized testing, the addiction to trends in education, the mandate to teach from a script, and the inability for schools and districts to experiment to find the methods that best serve individual populations)

There were a lot of things I could relate to, including the misplaced value on standardized testing, making teachers wholly responsible for student outcomes, the trends in education that switch on a dime, the inconsistency in grading systems, and age promotion regardless of ability.

A new concept for me is the fallacy of teaching as a science. Science, in its essence, is about predictability of outcome. We observe a phenomenon, form a hypothesis about the cause, design an experiment to test the hypothesis, and pat ourselves on the back or start again, depending on the results. In the end, it becomes about replication: if I follow the recipe, can I get the same results? Education is not science in that respect: what works in one place/time/culture/group will not necessarily apply even in a different classroom in the same school, let alone nationwide. There is an art to teaching that is ignored when broad standards or programs are imposed from the federal, or even the state, level.

I also felt a guilty twinge at the comment that there are few professions were people on the outside believe they know better than those in the trenches. It did make me a little more open to some of his concepts.

I think it was inevitable that he would call out helicopter parents, but the solution to that problem is 100% outside any large scale control: teachers, administrations, governments - none of them can change parents who will insist on holding their children's hands through every step in life.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a teacher with 20+ years of experience, I found this an entertaining read -up until the last few chapters, where I disagreed with a couple of his ideas and solutions. I actually found myself laughing out loud quite regularly - not because these "bad ideas" he describes are laughable, but because he describes them so ... Accurately.

I think this book should be required reading for anyone considering going into the education profession. One criticism mentioned by another reviewer here is true, imo:. The author's "solutions" are quite cursory, given the scope or severity of the problems mentioned. However, I hardly fault him for it, as I didn't expect for a moment that he could solve all the woes of public education in less than 100 pages. This little book should be an eye-opener for anyone with no experience inside of the k-12 public education. For us already inside, well, it's validating, and satisfying, to hear a fellow educator hit the nail so clearly on the head, with his pen.

[Abby Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a read for grad school, though it was my preferred out of the two I was assigned. This one had short chapters that were easy to digest. The book made it seem like these problems and solutions were so black and white, right and wrong. Realistically, they aren’t. I wish it was as simple as the book made it out to be, but I feel like there needs to be more thought put into how to truly implement these solutions.

[Cathie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short book and so a quick read. A veteran teacher discusses 25 things we're doing in schools, why they don't work, and possible fixes.

[D.J. Desmond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty basic solutions to pretty understood systematic issues. I think the biggest problem is that these solutions are unlikely to be realized.

[Elentarri · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book contents are as described. The author doesn't cover everthing that is wrong with the current way schools (specifically USA schools) are run, but highlights some of the more fixable problems within the system. The chapters are short, interesting and pertinent. This is a book all school administrators and whoever else is fiddling in school policy needs to read.