Harvard Graduate School of Education

Students Blog about Education Policy and Reform

As part of Lecturer Jal Mehta’s course, Schooling and Society, students blogged about educational issues and policies on a web page entitled “The Future(s) of Education.” This class assignment displayed the insightful, passionate, and intelligent views of the future leaders in education on the policy world as events unfolded throughout the year.

“Ultimately, what happens within the classroom has changed little in comparison to the swirling changes at the policy level. And until what happens within the classroom changes, there will be true education reform,” one student blogged. “But how can we change instructional practice, when most policymakers and even some education researchers treat the classroom as a black box? How can we design effective reforms, when the people in charge of designing our policies barely know what goes on in the heart of education? How can we successfully implement change, without the buy-in of the people who are most crucial to the education of our children – our teachers?”

Some of the reasons that Mehta required the eight students in the course to contribute to the blog, he says, were to provide an opportunity for students to express their views outside of the classroom and engage in a larger debate, to put thoughts on paper for others to read, and to inform policymakers what educators think about the education reform. “I’ve blogged before and it can be empowering and liberating, either from just reading or participating,” he says.

Initially, though, Mehta’s students were tentative to share their views on education policy with the world.

“At first it was a bit scary. I got Jal’s idea about connecting to the rest of the world and getting our opinions out there, but it was scary, if I’m not sure what I’m talking about, having other people read the stuff,” says Xueling Lee, Ed.M.’07. “But after a while, it wasn’t like everyone was reading the blog, there was still some privacy and it was a good way to share how we felt and what was happening in a short post.”

The only rule Mehta had was students must blog about something currently happening in education policy. “We as a professional education community need to get better at interacting with the public,” Mehta says. “Education’s problem is there is skepticism of education research and the quality of education schools. The answer is to participate with the public and show that we have important things to say.”

As the class unfolded, students say that the blog provided insight into their classmates’ opinions, often providing a different type of education.

“Everyone has a different expertise area and this was a way to keep up with all the things going on in education and hear how my classmates felt about it and what they thought,” says Karlo Silbiger, Ed.M.’07. “It was an interesting tool and I think it might be useful for classes, but also the Ed School community and a way for people to keep up with what’s going on.”

News Features & Releases

What students blogged:

Students Blog about Education Policy and Reform


Events Features & Releases e-Newsletters Ed. Magazine HGSE in the Media Webcasts Harvard Education Publishing Group	News Features & Releases What students blogged: “Most people agree that the American education system needs reforming, but the reforms that are usually recommended are either water-downed plans that don’t address the core problems or so outrageous that the educational establishment would never accept it. So, we keep going in the same direction with few changes. Schools today, in many ways, look very similar to those of 50 years ago,” wrote one student. “Let’s face it. We have two systems of education in this country and the urban teachers are going to be the hardest hit by the “ED in ’08” campaign. The voters don’t just need to hear about teachers can work harder and do a better job. They need to hear about how political interest supersedes educational outcomes. They need to hear about the high-paying patronage jobs that suck at school budgets. They need to hear about athletic coaches being paid two or three times as much as academic teachers. They need to hear about janitors that don’t show up. They need to hear about union rules that preclude a classroom from being painted. Instead of asking why Japanese students do better, maybe they could be shown a video of Japanese students working out math problems in a gymnasium, climbing ropes, and running around in managed chaos. They need to hear that that Japanese teachers aren’t afraid of being sued if an accident happens,” wrote one student. “A recent post on Edwize – NY’s United Federation of Teachers blog – reminded me that sometimes the “everyone gets a voice” aspect of blogging creates legitimate venues for illegitimate ideas and analysis,” one student wrote. Students Blog about Education Policy and Reform As part of Lecturer Jal Mehta’s course, Schooling and Society, students blogged about educational issues and policies on a web page entitled “The Future(s) of Education.” This class assignment displayed the insightful, passionate, and intelligent views of the future leaders in education on the policy world as events unfolded throughout the year. “Ultimately, what happens within the classroom has changed little in comparison to the swirling changes at the policy level. And until what happens within the classroom changes, there will be true education reform,” one student blogged. “But how can we change instructional practice, when most policymakers and even some education researchers treat the classroom as a black box? How can we design effective reforms, when the people in charge of designing our policies barely know what goes on in the heart of education? How can we successfully implement change, without the buy-in of the people who are most crucial to the education of our children – our teachers?” Some of the reasons that Mehta required the eight students in the course to contribute to the blog, he says, were to provide an opportunity for students to express their views outside of the classroom and engage in a larger debate, to put thoughts on paper for others to read, and to inform policymakers what educators think about the education reform. “I’ve blogged before and it can be empowering and liberating, either from just reading or participating,” he says. Initially, though, Mehta’s students were tentative to share their views on education policy with the world. “At first it was a bit scary. I got Jal’s idea about connecting to the rest of the world and getting our opinions out there, but it was scary, if I’m not sure what I’m talking about, having other people read the stuff,” says Xueling Lee, Ed.M.’07. “But after a while, it wasn’t like everyone was reading the blog, there was still some privacy and it was a good way to share how we felt and what was happening in a short post.” The only rule Mehta had was students must blog about something currently happening in education policy. “We as a professional education community need to get better at interacting with the public,” Mehta says. “Education’s problem is there is skepticism of education research and the quality of education schools. The answer is to participate with the public and show that we have important things to say.” As the class unfolded, students say that the blog provided insight into their classmates’ opinions, often providing a different type of education. “Everyone has a different expertise area and this was a way to keep up with all the things going on in education and hear how my classmates felt about it and what they thought,” says Karlo Silbiger, Ed.M.’07. “It was an interesting tool and I think it might be useful for classes, but also the Ed School community and a way for people to keep up with what’s going on.”