Monthly Archives: June 2010

I just got a pair of Vibram FiveFingers KSO barefoot shoes. I’d had several friends extol the virtues of FiveFingers, but was never sold on the $75-85 price tag. Then I saw that my favorite sketchy Chinese export company, DealExtreme, was carrying the whole line, for less than half of the MSRP, apparently with complete Vibram branding. It took about a month for the damn things to ship, but they are exactly as promised, and not only do they look exactly like the “real thing” down to the branding, they even have the tags and manual stuffed in the packaging. They almost certainly came out of the same factory as the $85 ones from the “legit” vendors.
I’ve been wearing them around this evening, including a walk around the neighborhood, and have to say they’re pretty comfortable. Fitting is a little weird (based on length in inches, not shoe size), and mine are a hair snug, but it means they grip my feet really well and don’t rub much. There is a little bit of irritation on my heels, in particular I chafed the hell out of my right heel, but I suspect that has more to do with where the calluses on my feet are, the particular shape of my feet, and not quite having adjustment down than anything intrinsic to the shoe. The biggest indicator that they work as advertised is that when I took them off my feet didn’t feel stiff. I ran through the park just to see how it would feel earlier; the lack of impact cushioning would take some getting used to, but the ability to naturally roll your foot is excellent, and it definitely feels better than usual.
So:

* Do they feel like being barefoot? – Kind of. There is a constant awareness of “Stuff between my toes,” some stiffness, and a little excess warmth, but it is definitely more like barefoot than even my customary hiking sandals, or anything else I’ve worn. The tactile feedback off the ground really is great- you can feel every little bump of the surface, but it can’t hurt you.
* Do they protect your feet? – I feel like they provide a little more protection than my usual sandals, but it’s no skate shoe or work boot.
* Do they look weird – Hell yes they look weird, thats half the fun. You could probably avoid notice with the all black KSOs in most situations (at least until you wiggled your toes), but lets be honest; people wear weird shit all the time and no one worries about it.
* Are they worth $85? – Absolutely not, but I’m pretty convinced they are worth $30-40, and our unscrupulous friends in China can make that happen.

UPDATE:
Just wore them for a little less than a normal day’s walking… and shredded my heels (left is just a little raw, nickel-sized blister on the right). I’m not sure if it’s a fitting problem or unusually shaped heels or simple break-in period, but OUCH!

I just finished Diane Ravitch’s The Death and Life of the Great American School System, which I’ve been working through in fits and starts for several months now. It’s an excellent book, which methodically eviscerates every major educational reform movement since the 1960s, written by someone who was party to many of those same reforms. The writing style is really what makes the book; most chapters begin with an upbeat passage on the exciting potential of the reform movement under scrutiny, often clearly pulled from the author’s feelings at the time, then darken in both style and content as they move into implementation issues, and finally take on an almost sardonic tone as they cover the long term studies which demonstrate a negligible or negative net effect. Another very strong point is that almost every claim is clearly referenced, in a well-integrated way, which results in a nearly 30 page bibliography for a < 300 page book. The absence of references for the few unsubstantiated clams is jarring enough to make them stand out as opinions.

Perhaps the most depressing portion of the book is about the “apply business principles to education” (accountability + “choice”, which in this context means privatization) movement which has recently been institutionalized and adopted on a far greater scale than any of the reforms before it, most of which showed more promise and potential validity than this one. There are an absurd number of good arguments with which to object to such policies, many of which are covered, but perhaps the best impact is the simplest: Does anyone remember what just collapsed, based on decisions made on business principles? The whole god damn world economy? Right, let’s not introduce more of that into education.

The book also seems to support my pet theory that the real good accomplished by Teach For America and similar programs is supplying a steady stream of bodies, who are unlikely stay for long enough to become effective anyway, into the high turnover positions, allowing more potential career educators to make it through their first few years. Helpful? Yes, but not in any of the ways they claim to be.

Her suggestions for alternatives in the closing are mostly very solid as far as I’m concerned: she advocates for adequate funding (duh), efforts to attract well qualified teachers and retain them for long enough to become experienced (duh), and a holistic understanding of learning which broadly evaluates learning progress in a universally comparable way, and takes into account the effects of externalities, rather than fixating on a few easily quantified factors (duh). Most significantly, she advocates a universal base curriculum, which is sequential, holistic, and scientifically and pedagogically sound. The one point that caught me off guard is that she argues for letting the old fashioned private and religious schools be in the same breath as advocating a standardized curricula to prevent the same from imposing their quirks and bigotry on another generation, a position which seems entirely incongruous to me.

It is a little bit onerous in places, as required to maintain it’s extensive rigor, but a very good read. Highly recommended for anyone interested in education.