Doctor, Doctor---give me the cure...

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of attending the dissertation defense of an old friend. I have never attended this process. Five professors fire questions at you after they have read your thesis and you have given an oral presentation of the theoretical framework, methodology, and results of your study.

I think I was sweating profusely as I listened to each question, probing her research and her methods. I was more nervous than she was. She had completed a fascinating literacy study about students in her class finding their identities. She had created a third space in her classroom. This is a relatively new term. Wikipedia says that Third Space theory emerges from the sociocultural tradition in psychology identified with Lev Vygotsky. In educational studies, a researcher named Maniotes examined literary Third Space in a classroom where students' cultural capital merged with content of the curriculum as students backed up their arguments in literature discussions.

I think of a Third Space as being a FREE space. Years ago, in Brooklyn, we played a street game called Ringaleevio. It was kind of like tag. During the game some random object was declared a FREE space. In my neighborhood, it was the black pump by the curb. If you were touching that pump during the game, you could not be tagged. It gave you a moment of respite, to catch your breath. I think that is what the Third Space does in the classroom as well.

Well, I continued to listen to the dissertation. There were videos and transcripts of conversations with children. My friend had lessons and reflections. Then she revealed that during the course of her work, she received an evaluation score from one of her administrators that was subpar. This was because she had veered too far away from the subscribed lessons of the school.

How sad. In front of me was a dedicated and brilliant young woman who had invested years trying to create a special atmosphere in her classroom and help her students discover themselves. Yet she was judged by her supervisor as being less than excellent...less than good. What kind of system have we created?

We must repeal the Performance Review system that judges teachers using their students' test scores and some very subjective data. Do we judge a dentist on his ability by how many cavities we get? Stop the tail from wagging the dog. Evaluate teachers on their comprehensive portfolio of the work they have accomplished with students, inspiring them, not testing them.