4 ms·

It sounds like they are trying to replicate Asian style rote learning and cram school in a way that's more palatable to western audiences. Rebranding rote learn

by Onavo 8mo ago

It sounds like they are trying to replicate Asian style rote learning and cram school in a way that's more palatable to western audiences. Rebranding rote learning and force feeding as spaced repetition and surges. Typical SV bull.

brendoelfrendo 8mo ago
The fact that they've rebranded teachers gives me concern that they're trying to further devalue teaching as a profession (if that's possible) and remove some of the professional expectations and protections that teaching still has.
- realslimjd 8mo ago
  That's a legitimate concern, but the "Guide" terminology actually comes from traditional Montessori schools.
  - renewiltord 8mo ago
    The conspiracy runs deeper than we thought. Is the Montessori method primarily a mechanism to devalue labour unions?!
- gruez 8mo ago
  From the article I linked: >When I asked the head of admissions how they found such good staff he told me their compensation was fully transparent. “Associate Guides” were paid $60,000/year (vs the $40,000 average for Austin teachers), “Full Guides” made $100,000 and the five “Head Guides” in the school each made $150,000. They were able to both poach the best teachers from other schools, but also bring exceptional people into teaching that would not have considered it otherwise. It also let them have very high expectations for teachers once they were hired.
  - rbhtjk 8mo ago
    Yes, I am sure all billionaires will send their children to that school instead of some Montessori school or Eton.
    - vladgur 8mo ago
      You dont need to be a billionaire to be able to afford a good school for your children if the public ones dont meet your criteria. Im not sure about this particular school, but i am greatly disappointed at baseline california core requirements for math and science in middle school and the parents choice is to either have your child be bored in school while complementing their education with RSM or Singapore Math after hours Or to choose a private school that will make your child more competitive with kids being educated by other countries systems.
      - dvaun 8mo ago
        Public education caters to the common denominator…the public. If you want higher rigor and standards set for your children, then you will need to find alternatives - which, in some areas, are no better than the public schools. I wouldn’t blame the system for poor standards. Their standards are actually decent for most children. The problem is that teachers are forced to spend a significant portion of time and energy on classroom management. Couple that with the fact that most parents aren’t reading to their children at night, so those kids grow up falling behind the curve. Reading comprehension drops -> other subjects follow suit. Rinse and repeat each year, and you eventually end up with high-school seniors reading far below their grade level. The teachers now have to scaffold all of their content. The kids who didn’t fall behind? They receive no attention from the teacher who is instead focused on helping the kid with a 3rd grade reading ability to try to understand the content. An indirect tragedy of the commons, where parents are relying on public education to raise and teach children with no input of their own.
      - johnnyanmac 8mo ago
        Not a billionaire, but pretty well off. Unlike the college loan grift that we also need to address, you're not getting a parent plus loan to help your 3rd grader. >i am greatly disappointed at baseline california core requirements for math and science Don't look at the other states, then. I agree the standards are low, but they can't even meet those marks. You don't improve that by raising bar and expecting students to keep up. All while continuing to defund education. For me, it was a matter that they identified me early on elementary and basically put me a year ahead in studies. By middle school they called it "honor students". And I only studied in public schools (well, a charter high school. But I was guaranteed in since I lived in the neighborhood).
- SkyPuncher 8mo ago
  Eh. Montessori schools have done this for a while. It's mostly signaling, but does reenforce that it's on the student to learn - not the teacher to force it into their brain.
exolymph 8mo ago
Rote learning isn't the be-all-end-all of education, but it's actually very important. You can't think anything interesting without knowing stuff to think about. Facts are important. Memorization is important.
- sometimes_all 8mo ago
  The problem comes when rote learning actually is the be-all-end-all. Too many Asian students experience rote learning without any focus on actual learning. Our job used to be regurgitating paragraphs from textbooks, exactly as they were, into our exam papers. In classrooms, we were told that war happened in year X, but there was no discussion and analysis as to actual reasons, the milieu at the time, and the understanding and takeaway from that piece of history. Facts and memorization are important, but they need to be in service to actual learning and understanding.

by Onavo 8mo ago

brendoelfrendo 8mo ago

The fact that they've rebranded teachers gives me concern that they're trying to further devalue teaching as a profession (if that's possible) and remove some of the professional expectations and protections that teaching still has.

realslimjd 8mo ago
That's a legitimate concern, but the "Guide" terminology actually comes from traditional Montessori schools.
- renewiltord 8mo ago
  The conspiracy runs deeper than we thought. Is the Montessori method primarily a mechanism to devalue labour unions?!
gruez 8mo ago
From the article I linked: >When I asked the head of admissions how they found such good staff he told me their compensation was fully transparent. “Associate Guides” were paid $60,000/year (vs the $40,000 average for Austin teachers), “Full Guides” made $100,000 and the five “Head Guides” in the school each made $150,000. They were able to both poach the best teachers from other schools, but also bring exceptional people into teaching that would not have considered it otherwise. It also let them have very high expectations for teachers once they were hired.
- rbhtjk 8mo ago
  Yes, I am sure all billionaires will send their children to that school instead of some Montessori school or Eton.
  - vladgur 8mo ago
    You dont need to be a billionaire to be able to afford a good school for your children if the public ones dont meet your criteria. Im not sure about this particular school, but i am greatly disappointed at baseline california core requirements for math and science in middle school and the parents choice is to either have your child be bored in school while complementing their education with RSM or Singapore Math after hours Or to choose a private school that will make your child more competitive with kids being educated by other countries systems.
    - dvaun 8mo ago
      Public education caters to the common denominator…the public. If you want higher rigor and standards set for your children, then you will need to find alternatives - which, in some areas, are no better than the public schools. I wouldn’t blame the system for poor standards. Their standards are actually decent for most children. The problem is that teachers are forced to spend a significant portion of time and energy on classroom management. Couple that with the fact that most parents aren’t reading to their children at night, so those kids grow up falling behind the curve. Reading comprehension drops -> other subjects follow suit. Rinse and repeat each year, and you eventually end up with high-school seniors reading far below their grade level. The teachers now have to scaffold all of their content. The kids who didn’t fall behind? They receive no attention from the teacher who is instead focused on helping the kid with a 3rd grade reading ability to try to understand the content. An indirect tragedy of the commons, where parents are relying on public education to raise and teach children with no input of their own.
    - johnnyanmac 8mo ago
      Not a billionaire, but pretty well off. Unlike the college loan grift that we also need to address, you're not getting a parent plus loan to help your 3rd grader. >i am greatly disappointed at baseline california core requirements for math and science Don't look at the other states, then. I agree the standards are low, but they can't even meet those marks. You don't improve that by raising bar and expecting students to keep up. All while continuing to defund education. For me, it was a matter that they identified me early on elementary and basically put me a year ahead in studies. By middle school they called it "honor students". And I only studied in public schools (well, a charter high school. But I was guaranteed in since I lived in the neighborhood).
SkyPuncher 8mo ago
Eh. Montessori schools have done this for a while. It's mostly signaling, but does reenforce that it's on the student to learn - not the teacher to force it into their brain.

exolymph 8mo ago

Rote learning isn't the be-all-end-all of education, but it's actually very important. You can't think anything interesting without knowing stuff to think about. Facts are important. Memorization is important.

sometimes_all 8mo ago
The problem comes when rote learning actually is the be-all-end-all. Too many Asian students experience rote learning without any focus on actual learning. Our job used to be regurgitating paragraphs from textbooks, exactly as they were, into our exam papers. In classrooms, we were told that war happened in year X, but there was no discussion and analysis as to actual reasons, the milieu at the time, and the understanding and takeaway from that piece of history. Facts and memorization are important, but they need to be in service to actual learning and understanding.