Reply to GDS vs. Maret - cultural and curricular differences?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Re GDS history

With a couple notable exceptions, the teachers aren't great and the curriculum isn't well-conceived.  In theory, I agree with you that the 9th grade approach sounds promising.  In practice, it hasn't worked well.  Part of the problem is that an ambitious approach like that requires teachers with a kind of training/background few HS teachers (few profs, for that matter) actually have.  A[b]nother part of the problem is that history gets treated less as a rigorous scholarly discipline than as a place to locate various advocacy projects. [/b] To be clear, I'm NOT saying I reject the school's politics/values.  What I'm saying is that advocacy is more effective if you actually learn how/make the effort to analyze and understand issues in greater depth than GDS requires in its history classes.  [/quote]

Without discounting the pp's personal opinion, I feel compelled to chime in to say that I've found no evidence of the issue described in the bolded statement. My DC's 9th grade history experience was terrific and I did not see advocacy work posing as historical analysis. The freshman research paper, in particular, served as an opportunity for my young high school student to conduct a rigorous historical analysis of a (non-Western) issue of his/her choosing. My DC's teacher reviewed sources, required multiple drafts and provided excellent feedback that pushed my DC to refine his/her argument in light of the evidence proffered. The work was challenging but fulfilling and I think it prepared my DC for what lies ahead in college.

Given that each teacher and class is different, I would say that it is difficult to comprehensively label any one subject "good" or "bad" at GDS.[/quote]

If the same department yields such wildly different experiences, I wouldn't call that department "strong."  There's always a range of teaching ability and of teaching styles, but I think STEM, literature, and arts at GDS are all much more consistent than history. No experience with soc sci at GDS, so no opinion there.

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