Teaching As a Subversive Activity
by Charles Weingartner, Neil Postman
List Price:
Our Price: $8.50
You Save: $6.50 (43%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $4.33 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Charles Weingartner, Neil PostmanEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1971-07-15
ISBN: 0385290098
Number of pages: 240
Publisher: Delta
Book Reviews of Teaching As a Subversive Activity
Book Review: Not everything that glitters...
Summary: 2 Stars
In Teaching as a Subversive Activity, Postman and Weingartner address some of the challenges posed by curriculum development. The authors take on a practical perspective and propose that the best curriculum must by essence be one that makes of students analytical, critical thinkers that are capable of finding solutions to the "increasing number of unprecedented . . .and insoluble problems" that affect society. In the course of the book the authors also identify some of what they believe are the major obstacles encountered in the process of curriculum development.
In a way that is reminiscent of John Dewey and the characteristic ideas of the Progressive movement, Postman and Weingartner claim that educators and education policy makers, in order to be efficient, must become more cognizant of and receptive to change. This idea is declared in the introduction of the book, "It is the thesis of this book that change-constant, accelerating, ubiquitous-is the most striking characteristic of the world we live in and that our educational system has not yet recognized this fact. We maintain further, that the abilities and attitudes required to deal adequately with change are those of the highest priority and that it is not beyond our ingenuity to design school environments which can help young people to master concepts necessary to survival in a rapidly changing world."
One of the many problems with contemporary educational systems, according to the authors, is that teachers/educators seem to disregard change and continue to teach subjects using the "good for its own sake approach". This approach assumes that some academic subjects such as math, grammar and literature, among others, are inherently good and that they must be taught the way they have always been taught without variation. With teachers giving little or no thought to the possibility of enhancing and/or modifying the ways in which these so called "essential" subjects are taught, the problem of meaninglessness or lack of relevance arises. Obsolescence in methodology and instructional approach, thus, lead to lack of interest on the part of the students. Believing, as Dewey did, that learning increases when students are engaged in meaningful activities, Postman and Weingartner suggest that teaching be done in a practical manner and keeping in mind that "the survival of the learner's skills and interest in learning is at stake."
One of the major problems with modern educational systems, according to the authors, is that schools are obsolete both in curriculum and instructional approach,
"In plain truth, what passes for a curriculum in today's schools is little else but a strategy of distraction . . . it [curriculum] is largely designed to keep students from knowing themselves and their environment in any realistic sense; which is to say, it does not allow inquiry into most of the critical problems that comprise the content of the world outside the school."
Thus, in its present form, curriculum does not benefit all students and does little but perpetuate the status quo. Using the juxtaposition of the "advantaged" and the "disadvantaged" students as example of this, the authors claim that the former does better in school mainly because he/she has an economic and/or social stake in learning the curriculum, whereas his/her counterpart does not. Therefore, "the only relevance of the curriculum for the advantaged student is that, if he/she does what she/he is told, there will be a tangible payoff." In other words, the advantaged student is motivated to learn about world around him/her only to the extent that such knowledge contributes to perpetuate the status quo that benefits him/her and/or his social group.
Teaching, according to the authors, has been reduced to a game of denial which they summarize as follows:
"The [Let's Pretend] game is based on a series of pretenses which include: Let's pretend that you are not what you are and that this sort of work makes a difference to your lives; let's pretend that what bores you is important, and that the more you are bored, the more important it is; let's pretend that there are certain things everyone must know, and that both the questions and answers about them have been fixed for all time; let's pretend that your intellectual competence can be judged on the basis of how well you can play Let's Pretend."
Hence, the authors would have one believe, this game does not only alienate the student from the educational process, but it also reduces his/her capacity to think critically. And this, clearly, is highly problematic for Progressivists like Postman and Weingartner who believe the Inquiry Method should be at the heart of all efficient teaching and learning.
Although Teaching as a Subversive Activity addresses some very important
aspects of curriculum development and the need for such curriculum to be relevant and/or contextualized, there are some important issues that the book leaves unexamined. For example, quoting Jerome Bruner, the authors claim that "the task of teaching a subject to a child is to make the child perceive objects and relationships the way authorities perceive them." In supporting Bruner's ideas, the authors fail to identify the problem of dominant ideologies. A clear definition of what constitutes "authorities" is never given. The crucial question of how, if at all, will the proposed curriculum teach students to challenge and/or deconstruct current dominant ideologies is left out of the discussion. The mere fact that the entire book is written using androcentric language attests to the need for these so-called "Progressive" thinkers to re-examine their views.
Summary of Teaching As a Subversive Activity
A no-holds-barred assault on outdated teaching methods--with dramatic and practical proposals on how education can be made relevant to today's world.Education Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Education Books
Learning American Sign Languageby Tom Humphries, Carol Padden
Prentice Hall; Published: 1992-01-15; Spiral-bound; Book
Best price: $37.89
Price in other shops:
Understanding Movies Value Package (includes Filmmakers on Film (CD)) (11th Edition)by Louis Giannetti
Allyn & Bacon; Published: 2007-03-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $55.87
Price in other shops:
Guide for Developing Interdisciplinary Thematic Units, A (4th Edition)by Patricia L. Roberts, Richard D. Kellough
Prentice Hall; Published: 2006-12-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $40.08
Price in other shops:
Medical Surgical Nursing, Volume 2 for Medical Surgical Nursing Volumes 1 & 2, Package (4th Edition)by Priscilla LeMone, Karen M. Burke
Prentice Hall; Published: 2007-03-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.00
Price in other shops:
Secondary School Teaching: A Guide to Methods and Resources (3rd Edition)by Richard D. Kellough, Noreen G. Kellough
Prentice Hall; Published: 2006-03-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $27.34
Price in other shops:
McGraw-Hill's SAT II: Math Level 2 (McGraw-Hill's SAT Math Level 2)by John Diehl
McGraw-Hill; Published: 2005-09-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
The Quality Schoolby William Glasser
Harper Perennial; Published: 1998-07-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.20
Price in other shops:
How to Go to College Almost for Freeby Ben Kaplan
Collins Reference; Published: 2001-09-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.29
Price in other shops:
Cascades - Freaky Friday Hb (Cascades S.)by Mary Rodgers
Collins Educational; Published: 1983-10; Hardcover; Book
Music in Childhood: From Preschool Through the Elementary Gradesby Carol Scott Kassner, Patricia Shehan Campbell
Schirmer Books; Published: 1996-12; Audio CD; Book
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Reading, Writing, and Rising Up: Teaching About Social Justice and the Power of the Written Wordby Linda Christensen
Rethinking Schools Ltd; Published: 2000-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.00
Price in other shops:
Strategic Reading: Guiding Students to Lifelong Literacy, 6-12by Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Julie Dube Hackett, Tanya N. Baker
Boynton/Cook; Published: 2001-03-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.50
Price in other shops:
Why Fly That Way?: Linking Community and Academic Achievementby Katherine Greeley
Teachers College Press; Published: 2001-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $18.00
Price in other shops:
Conscientious Objections: Stirring Up Trouble About Language, Technology and Educationby Neil Postman
Vintage; Published: 1992-03-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.22
Price in other shops:
How to Watch TV News: Revised Editionby Neil Postman, Steve Powers
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2008-06-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
What Keeps Teachers Going?by Sonia Nieto
Teachers College Press; Published: 2003-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technologyby Neil Postman
Vintage; Published: 1993-03-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.24
Price in other shops:
The Disappearance of Childhoodby Neil Postman
Vintage/Random House; Published: 1994-08-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
The End of Education: Redefining the Value of Schoolby Neil Postman
Vintage; Published: 1996-10-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.75
Price in other shops:
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Businessby Neil Postman
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2005-12-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.49
Price in other shops: