“Walker’s is a place with which I hope to always be connected.”
Centennial Chapel Series: Renowned Author, Educator Nancy Sizer
Date:
01/28/11 Walker's Centennial Speakers Series continued on January 26 when noted author Nancy Sizer spoke with students and faculty at Chapel. Ms. Sizer has an impressive background in a variety of educational settings: she has been a high school teacher, has authored high school textbooks and other books on education, is a lecturer at Harvard, co-founder of the Sizer Teaching Center and co-founder of a charter school in Danvers, MA. Ms. Sizer collaborated on many of these projects with her late husband, Ted Sizer, also a renowned educational author.
Ms. Sizer's presentation was based on her experience this past summer working with teachers in China. She was impressed with the interest and passion of the teachers , but was a bit dismayed by the Chinese government’s program that requires all 14-year olds to successfully pass a test before moving on with their education and becoming eligible for the elite high schools and universities. This obviously requires Chinese students to work very hard and to develop incredible focus on their studies. She was, however, encouraged as she talked with several young Chinese girls who were not only serious about taking risks, working hard and making difficult career decisions but also because they realized the need for a more well-rounded education that might not have fit the normal expectations of society.
She also referred to a controversial book by a Yale University professor, Amy Chua, The Battle Hymn of a Tiger Mother, which has created quite a stir in this country. Chua clearly emphasizes a strict and disciplined approach to parenting. She insists that her children practice their music lessons for several hours a day, forbids TV, and discourages sleepovers and other social activities. She also refused a handmade birthday card from one of her children because it was not done properly or with loving care. Sizer applauds the emphasis on academics and on the notion that one must practice long hours to become expert at something. But she also says that sleepovers and other social activities are necessary for young people as they learn social dynamics and social norms and to have fun.
Sizer’s final word of advice was: ‘develop what you know [academics] as well as who you are [know thyself] and help others.’ It seemed that Sizer, based on her trip to China, was concerned with certain tendencies in the Chinese education system that did not allow for the development of the full child.
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