Saturday, June 5, 2010

Fraudulant Fabrications



Fabrication A:




Fabrication B:

Sally                67%
Ricky               92%
Andy               45%
Johnny             83%

Conclusion:

Too many people are not aware of the fraudulent nature of Photoshop and Grading, and this ignorance is causing immeasurable, undue harm to children and adults.

The inability to distinguish an airbrushed image from reality can increase the likelihood for a person to develop a perception of perfection disorder and eating disorder. We are bombarded with Photoshopped imagery that has created an unattainable image of perfection which is causing profoundly negative effects on our mental health. Photoshopped images have become main stream, not only is it expected but it is demanded by publicists; however, magazine editors don't believe they are deceiving readers because they assume the readers know the images have been altered in one way or another.

This report has found that far too many people do not know the extent to which photos are retouched. In an attempt to properly inform the public, this report urges new laws that demand that media provide the following warning along with retouched photos.

The inability to distinguish a grade symbol from real learning can increase the likelihood for a person to develop a perception that learning is a means to an end. We are bombarded with grading that has created a distorted vision of a good education which is causing profoundly negative effects on our mental health. Grading has become main stream, not only is it expected but it is demanded by administrators. Policy makers don't believe they are deceiving learners and their parents because they assume the learner knows how their learning has been reduced to a mere symbol.

This report has found that far too many people do not know the extent to which learning is being reduced. In an attempt to properly inform the public, this report urges new laws that demand that schools provide the following warning along with grades.

 
Retouching photos and reducing learning to a symbol conceals more than it reveals, and it is our responsibility to educate the public so they may properly insulate themselves from experiencing undue harm.
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8 comments:

  1. Excellent post!
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  2. Nicely done! I love the metaphor.
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  4. Yes this is a good analogy. We wave the magic numbers in the face of parents and children and they believe us. The paradigm of letter grading and percentages is so pervasive to contemplate abandoning it seems insane to most. That is a well established belief.
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  5. Except in the Dove example, we see manipulation of reality to produce a creation.

    Scores are a simple reflection of the question "how did he do"? Ricky was correct on 92 of the 100 questions. Andy was only correct 45 times.

    When they get into the real world are are both quality control representatives for CCM, I would rather wear the Ricky inspected skates than the Andy inspected skates. And so would you.
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  6. Nice metaphor, Joe.

    Reminds me of something I did with my MEd class a few years ago. I got all the stats on the dimensions of a beautiful face - 35 in all (eg: space between the eyes is equal to the width of an eye, edge of nostril is directly below center of iris, etc...) and then partnered them up and had them measure each others faces, fill out a report card and then suggest remediation for the low marks (eg: a nose job). Of course it was a horrible activity - they really didn't like grading each other in this way and it yet it really hit home that this is a variation on what we do to students all the time.

    Keep up the crusade - you are doing good work!!!

    I was lucky enough to start my career in BC at the height of the Year 2000 initiative in which grading was ditched in favour of narrative reports. It was awesome - some of the best years I ever had in teaching. (I taught grades 6 and 7)
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  7. Key to the effectiveness of this metaphor, is the fact that so few are really interested to know how the published ad or final grade, were obtained. Knowing the work that goes into the process adds to the value, but both the ad and the grade, are produced to meet the needs of an expectant audience that really doesn't care to know about the process. Still, readers of either product are often bewildered when they discover how the results were obtained.
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  8. Great post. It's painfully clear that grades are more about presenting someone else's narrative about a kid than they are about representing a child's true capacity to learn meaningfully.
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