Laurie Fendrich Needs a Hug!

http://people.hofstra.edu/Laurie_Fendrich/pdf/essays/A_Pedagogical_Straitjacket.pdf

When searching for information on assessment, an author made reference to an article that she referred to as a "scathing critique of assessment (Haviland 2009)." I was riveted, of course, so after a quick search I found the article by Laurie Fendrich which is titled, "A Pedogogical Straightjacket." Fendrich is a professor of fine arts at Hofstra University and she starts this very entertaining piece by mocking the educational verbiage that all of us know and love, including the phrase that has been repeated often by our favorite Assessment instructor: "closing the loop."

Despite her attacks on outcomes assessment, she does explain the accreditation process using standards in simple terms which could be useful for those who have been had this experience. But since her experience was a good one, she goes on the attack again where she lays the ultimate "smack down" on instructors who believe in outcomes assessment as extremely useful. She says that faculties in arts and humanities form 2 camps: the resigned realists and those who actually believe in the value of assessment. The resigned realists love teaching and they know that in order to keep their accreditation they comply since it's useful to fight City Hall. The second group is slammed for their need to measure those outcomes. I have to admit that she makes some great points about measuring the mediocre and that there are subjects in which measurable outcomes aren't always the answer. She certainly has some venom for fellow faculty members who embrace this process and while I understand her frustration with those who think they've figured it all out, she goes a bit overboard when referring to them as second-rate teachers.

Fendrich is very passionate about teaching and thinks that, "Only when there exists a mutual need of the student for the teacher and the teacher for the student can any teaching take place." This is a must read and I am sure it will generate lots of discussion. I love the reference to Maosim and "digging onions."