1st Article: Spencer Kagan

Two women are standing on the bank of a swift river. Suddenly, they see a man in the river. He desperately struggles to stay afloat, as rapid current is carrying him downstream toward them. The women both jump in, pulling the man to safety. While the brave rescuers are tending the victim, a second man, also desperate and screaming for help, is carried by the current toward them. Again the women jump into the river to the rescue. As they are pulling out this second victim, they spot a third man flailing about as he is carried downstream toward them. One woman quickly jumps in to save the latest victim. As she does, she turns to see the other woman resolutely walking upstream. "Why aren't you helping?" she cries. "I am," states the other. "I am going upstream to see who is pushing them in!"

Comments

This article shows us that sometimes it is better to attack the root causes of a problem than to focus only in the consequences. In other words, prevention is better than cure. In the case of education, the consequences of the problem are three:

• Discipline problems
• Achievement gaps
• Dropout

All these factors only affect students. Spencer Kagan tries to give a different point of view to solve the problems. The key is to take into account the causes of this situation. In this sense, the problem also involves the teacher as a part of the problem. Spencer Kagan considers discipline problems, achievement gaps and dropout in students are the result of a lack of instructional strategies. So, what can we do? Maybe, we should focus on how to teach in order to prevent (not cure) against this situation.