I was so excited last week to watch Geoffrey Canada speak at Capella University. I viewed the speech via live stream and let me tell you, it was very worth the watch even with my 2 kiddos crawling all over me. Mr. Canada did not disappoint and even well exceeded my expectations. My excitement has continued on into this week and has energized me to no end!
When I started this venture of putting my thoughts on education out into the blogosphere, I erroneously lumped Mr. Canada in with a group of folks that I believe are doing much for education, but just not much to change it. I had heard of Canada, but hadn't done my research. I will admit that I was very wrong about him, but I do actually love being wrong as it means I have learned something......and I love learning!
So, why should we blame Canada as the title suggests? Let's blame him for making the education debate uncomfortable. Let's blame him for disrupting the status quo. Let's blame him for making our elected officials squirm in their seats. Let's blame him for making the teaching profession, including administrators and other school leaders, worry that they might have to work harder, or at least think differently about the work they do. And mostly, let's blame Canada for forcing us to think about the children we are educating rather than our silly adult agendas.
The differences between how I think about the changes our country needs to make in our public education system and Canada's philosophy on the matter are very few. One big difference however, is Canada's goal is to meet whatever the demands are head-on and not stop until the children of Harlem are succeeding. He is for a longer school day and drilling language and math so kids will be insanely successful (not just mediocre) on state tests. He is for hiring teachers who are willing to work day and night for their students and on Saturdays and in the summer. I am not against any of this, I just believe that not only do we need to work harder to meet the demands the government places on our children, we need to change how we are making those demands.
In other words, as you well know if you have read my previous posts, I say, stop the drilling, and start investing our time in discovering how to make learning so exciting for as many kids as possible that kids will love to go to school, teachers will love teaching regardless of demands, principals can lead instead of worrying about test scores, parents can be involved, and the community will view public schools as tremendous places of learning and viable options for all children to attend. I believe this difference in Mr. Canada's beliefs about education and mine is most likely cultural and has everything to do with how we were raised and in what era. However, I do believe in Geoffrey Canada and what he is doing and since he has a big voice and I do not, then I hope with everything in me that more people will start standing behind him and listening to his plan for how to make great change. Our children and our country deserve it!
Canada suggests that we can't say that where a child is raised or what is going on around that child can be an excuse for children not being successful. Gangs, poor parenting and lack of parental involvement, socioeconomic status, no food on the table, whatever the excuse teachers need to teach-and teach well-and whatever services that children need need to be given to them so they can learn. I am with this 100%, however, what if we just made a slight adjustment to this philosophy and added in reasons on top of inspiring teachers and providing proper healthcare, and threw in a curriculum focused on useful, lifelong learning mechanisms based in reality? If we are going to compete globally, we have to change how we are teaching our children and that is the bottom line. If we do not step up to this tremendous challenge, I am afraid our country will be in dire straits (even more so than it is!). It's never comfortable to change, especially when something has been the same for so long. But, if we are going to dig ourselves out of this education deficit we have created in the United States, we really should look to Canada!
***I hope that each of you reading today who are not familiar with Geoffrey Canada, will Google him and read about what amazing things he is doing to shake up public education. Also please take a look at the Harlem Children's Zone and pick up the book Whatever it Takes by Paul Tough.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Community and Bullying
Since we are in the season of Christmas and so many other holidays, I thought I would take a minute to reflect on community. I love how during the holidays people tend to perk up a bit, laugh more. There are parties and celebrations of all kinds and it seems that we come together for the most part. One of my favorite Christmas stories, especially now that my children love it, is How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss. The moral of the story is so pertinent to me what with the Grinch discovering the true meaning of Christmas (being together) and that it does not involve gifts. Even more poignant is the idea the book portrays about community. The Who's stand strong as one united front against this overwhelming bully, the Grinch. As a result of this act of unity, no one seems to be bothered in Whoville when they awake Christmas morning and each of them have been robbed clean of food, decorations, and (gasp!) presents! They join hands and sing and celebrate anyway, knowing that the most important thing they have was not taken away--each other.
We don't do community like they used to or like they do in so many other countries. We ship our kids off here and there and boot them off to college or out of the house when they turn 18 and hope they don't return to inhabit our basements. We separate ourselves from one another by living with spaces sometimes several acres wide in between our houses (with no real purpose for that open land) or put up fences to keep people and animals away. Don't get me wrong, I understand there are wonderful people out there who will lend a hand when needed or volunteer as a career or when they have time. Community gardens have sprung up all over the place, which I believe is a step in the right direction for cooperative living. However, overall, I believe we are modeling to our children, and oftentimes outright saying, that we don't need anyone but ourselves.
Competition between adults over whose kid is the best athlete, best artist, has the best grades, the prettiest/cutest, etc, is mind blowing to me. We all are guilty of this type of bashing in one way, shape or form. We do it subtly and obviously and not too many people seem ashamed of the behavior. Is it a wonder that bullying is such a big problem in schools currently? John Dewey had the right idea when shaping the Laboratory School at the University of Chicago when he determined that children need to learn in communities in order to discover how to behave socially, depend on one another to survive, and how to connect with one another. When we are so separate, then it is truly every man for himself. When you don't depend on each other for survival then we are in direct competition with one another. Humans like to be in community with one another. It's natural for us. But since we are driven by selfishness and competition, and let's not forget fear of those who might be different than we are, then we become so focused on appearances, skills or lack thereof, and other things that don't really matter. Instead of figuring out where everyone can fit in, we immediately start ousting those who clearly aren't the same.
It is no wonder that when our extremely impressionable youth walk into a school building, they immediately start judging and competing in unhealthy ways. They pick on one another to no end. They hide behind social media outlets, texting, and other forms of technology to ruin each other's lives. Sound dramatic? You walk into any school, any level, and listen for a day, and tell me I am being dramatic then. We are starting to blame teachers and schools for not doing enough to stop bullying, but I contend it's the fault of the village--and PARENTS!
If you agree that hearing how children are killing themselves, running away, or becoming helplessly depressed over being bullied so heinously for any number of reasons ranging from how he/she looks, to dealing with the fact that he/she is gay, to dating someone of another race, to not being in the right socioeconomic class, each and every day of their lives is a travesty, then please think about your actions and the opinions you express around children. We all are guilty of bullying to some extent regardless of how big or small. Most of us have been bullied for one reason or another. Think about this over the holidays and how you, as a member of a much larger community, can help. Can you give time to mentor a young person? Can you work to establish a community garden or other cooperative neighborhood program? Can you volunteer to watch the neighbor's dog over the break? Can you develop a neighborhood cleanup initiative? Imagine if we all did our part to service our communities in an effort to grow closer together. What an impact that would have on our younger generations. If we all depended on one another and were less selfish, wouldn't it be easier to see the value in our neighbors versus the things we don't think we like about them? I challenge you to think about this and think about how our children's lives could be so different if they had more examples of kindness, love and community around them. I am willing to bet, we would see this bullying epidemic fade away. Allow your heart grow three sizes and be a positive influence against bullying this coming year!
We don't do community like they used to or like they do in so many other countries. We ship our kids off here and there and boot them off to college or out of the house when they turn 18 and hope they don't return to inhabit our basements. We separate ourselves from one another by living with spaces sometimes several acres wide in between our houses (with no real purpose for that open land) or put up fences to keep people and animals away. Don't get me wrong, I understand there are wonderful people out there who will lend a hand when needed or volunteer as a career or when they have time. Community gardens have sprung up all over the place, which I believe is a step in the right direction for cooperative living. However, overall, I believe we are modeling to our children, and oftentimes outright saying, that we don't need anyone but ourselves.
Competition between adults over whose kid is the best athlete, best artist, has the best grades, the prettiest/cutest, etc, is mind blowing to me. We all are guilty of this type of bashing in one way, shape or form. We do it subtly and obviously and not too many people seem ashamed of the behavior. Is it a wonder that bullying is such a big problem in schools currently? John Dewey had the right idea when shaping the Laboratory School at the University of Chicago when he determined that children need to learn in communities in order to discover how to behave socially, depend on one another to survive, and how to connect with one another. When we are so separate, then it is truly every man for himself. When you don't depend on each other for survival then we are in direct competition with one another. Humans like to be in community with one another. It's natural for us. But since we are driven by selfishness and competition, and let's not forget fear of those who might be different than we are, then we become so focused on appearances, skills or lack thereof, and other things that don't really matter. Instead of figuring out where everyone can fit in, we immediately start ousting those who clearly aren't the same.
It is no wonder that when our extremely impressionable youth walk into a school building, they immediately start judging and competing in unhealthy ways. They pick on one another to no end. They hide behind social media outlets, texting, and other forms of technology to ruin each other's lives. Sound dramatic? You walk into any school, any level, and listen for a day, and tell me I am being dramatic then. We are starting to blame teachers and schools for not doing enough to stop bullying, but I contend it's the fault of the village--and PARENTS!
If you agree that hearing how children are killing themselves, running away, or becoming helplessly depressed over being bullied so heinously for any number of reasons ranging from how he/she looks, to dealing with the fact that he/she is gay, to dating someone of another race, to not being in the right socioeconomic class, each and every day of their lives is a travesty, then please think about your actions and the opinions you express around children. We all are guilty of bullying to some extent regardless of how big or small. Most of us have been bullied for one reason or another. Think about this over the holidays and how you, as a member of a much larger community, can help. Can you give time to mentor a young person? Can you work to establish a community garden or other cooperative neighborhood program? Can you volunteer to watch the neighbor's dog over the break? Can you develop a neighborhood cleanup initiative? Imagine if we all did our part to service our communities in an effort to grow closer together. What an impact that would have on our younger generations. If we all depended on one another and were less selfish, wouldn't it be easier to see the value in our neighbors versus the things we don't think we like about them? I challenge you to think about this and think about how our children's lives could be so different if they had more examples of kindness, love and community around them. I am willing to bet, we would see this bullying epidemic fade away. Allow your heart grow three sizes and be a positive influence against bullying this coming year!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Occupy This!
There are clearly a lot of angry and outspoken people in the U.S. right now. With the Occupy movement surging ahead, troops being released out of Iraq this month, unemployment on the rise, the upcoming elections, and a host of other issues, our country has a lot on its plate. One issue however that seems to get plenty of attention, but rarely any sound solutions for its never-ending problems, is our public education system.
When the Occupy movement first started up, and even now that it seems to actually have some sort of message (at least in some cities) my first question was: "If this many folks sat outside of public schools and demanded better education for our youth, how much of an impact could that have?" The answer I came up with: "A LOT!" You see, many children in our country, the same economically unstable people that our dear Occupiers are fighting for, are not getting the education they need. No, it's not because they need new Common Core standards and it's not because they need more engaged, hard working teachers, and it's not because they need more programs, and it's not even because they need more money in the schools. While some of those things are great, the point is constantly being missed. What they need is people to fight for them by demanding that this cycle of poverty they live in come to an end.
These kids don't give two cents about school when they wake up in the morning because there are too many other factors weighing against them. This is not news; this is what has been put out there to the public for years and years. The problem is, our government officials, school administrators and other stakeholders are scared. No one wants to talk about the root of the problem because they don't want to appear racist or elitist. Until someone is willing to discuss how our welfare system needs a revolutionary change; how pooling poor people into project housing, locked behind gates is only hurting people by forcing children to mostly view negative things on a regular basis; how not giving kids an opportunity to see the world at work and instead sitting them in a closed-in classroom all day forcing math and language arts down their throats and ignoring everything else is defeating the purpose of education, until then, we will continue to get what we have gotten!
So where is the action? Where are the 99% when it comes to helping children succeed? Aren't children, especially socioeconomically challenged children part of the 99% of people in this country who are being "taken advantage of?" The type of revolution this country needs is within the education system, not on Wall Street. Sure, we need less corporate greed and it's not fair that Bill Gates has more access to the President than I do, and sure it sucks that when I was a teaching, my salary was meager and some guy who barely works and plays golf all day makes a million bucks a year, and blah, blah, blah. However, how can any of this be remedied if we keep processing kids through the system, ignoring the root causes of the problem, and never giving them any skills to move beyond Cayce Homes or any number of other government assisted housing in the U.S.? Couldn't it be argued that creating more quality educated people who are compassionate, giving, and hard working help solve the problems we are currently up against?
At the risk of being redundant in relation to my previous posts, I offer you this thought: If our children walked into school each day to be greeted by community leaders, hopped on buses to go and witness a day in the life of a person at work, had college recruiters in and out of their schools, and learned by doing, wouldn't this make a difference? Wouldn't more children be more excited to come to school each day? Wouldn't teachers be more excited to teach?
Occupiers, if you want to Occupy something, go walk through a local school and look around. Look at the behavior of the students in the hallways and how they treat their teachers. Witness the look on an urban teacher or administrator's face at this time of year before TCAP preparation starts. Look at the facilities. See how confused everyone in the whole building is because no one really knows what to do. Then, start demanding action for a better way of teaching and learning that doesn't include rote memorization or teaching to a test that will ultimately have zero bearing on that child's life as a whole. Demand children be treated as humans. Demand that our inner-city kids be given skills that will give them zero excuse to "get a check" each month and instead go into the work force, to create jobs, to be somebody, and ultimately survive and thrive in our economy instead of being viewed as a pariah feeding off the system.
Albert Einstein once said, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." If that is true, then why do we keep doing it in education? There is an opportunity right now to demand change. I am doing whatever I can with whatever power I have (which is currently limited) to work toward change. I invite you to think about your time spent in school and what you think worked and what did not. Also, if you have children, will one day have children, or if you have a job, own a business, or are even a part of this country to any degree, ask yourself how education affects your life? If you cannot answer that question, give me a ring, I will be more than happy to enlighten you. When you reach the conclusion that education affects all of us every day, Occupiers, community members, PEOPLE, stand up for change in public education and start fighting a battle that can easily be won if the village that is our country can demand it effectively!
When the Occupy movement first started up, and even now that it seems to actually have some sort of message (at least in some cities) my first question was: "If this many folks sat outside of public schools and demanded better education for our youth, how much of an impact could that have?" The answer I came up with: "A LOT!" You see, many children in our country, the same economically unstable people that our dear Occupiers are fighting for, are not getting the education they need. No, it's not because they need new Common Core standards and it's not because they need more engaged, hard working teachers, and it's not because they need more programs, and it's not even because they need more money in the schools. While some of those things are great, the point is constantly being missed. What they need is people to fight for them by demanding that this cycle of poverty they live in come to an end.
These kids don't give two cents about school when they wake up in the morning because there are too many other factors weighing against them. This is not news; this is what has been put out there to the public for years and years. The problem is, our government officials, school administrators and other stakeholders are scared. No one wants to talk about the root of the problem because they don't want to appear racist or elitist. Until someone is willing to discuss how our welfare system needs a revolutionary change; how pooling poor people into project housing, locked behind gates is only hurting people by forcing children to mostly view negative things on a regular basis; how not giving kids an opportunity to see the world at work and instead sitting them in a closed-in classroom all day forcing math and language arts down their throats and ignoring everything else is defeating the purpose of education, until then, we will continue to get what we have gotten!
So where is the action? Where are the 99% when it comes to helping children succeed? Aren't children, especially socioeconomically challenged children part of the 99% of people in this country who are being "taken advantage of?" The type of revolution this country needs is within the education system, not on Wall Street. Sure, we need less corporate greed and it's not fair that Bill Gates has more access to the President than I do, and sure it sucks that when I was a teaching, my salary was meager and some guy who barely works and plays golf all day makes a million bucks a year, and blah, blah, blah. However, how can any of this be remedied if we keep processing kids through the system, ignoring the root causes of the problem, and never giving them any skills to move beyond Cayce Homes or any number of other government assisted housing in the U.S.? Couldn't it be argued that creating more quality educated people who are compassionate, giving, and hard working help solve the problems we are currently up against?
At the risk of being redundant in relation to my previous posts, I offer you this thought: If our children walked into school each day to be greeted by community leaders, hopped on buses to go and witness a day in the life of a person at work, had college recruiters in and out of their schools, and learned by doing, wouldn't this make a difference? Wouldn't more children be more excited to come to school each day? Wouldn't teachers be more excited to teach?
Occupiers, if you want to Occupy something, go walk through a local school and look around. Look at the behavior of the students in the hallways and how they treat their teachers. Witness the look on an urban teacher or administrator's face at this time of year before TCAP preparation starts. Look at the facilities. See how confused everyone in the whole building is because no one really knows what to do. Then, start demanding action for a better way of teaching and learning that doesn't include rote memorization or teaching to a test that will ultimately have zero bearing on that child's life as a whole. Demand children be treated as humans. Demand that our inner-city kids be given skills that will give them zero excuse to "get a check" each month and instead go into the work force, to create jobs, to be somebody, and ultimately survive and thrive in our economy instead of being viewed as a pariah feeding off the system.
Albert Einstein once said, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." If that is true, then why do we keep doing it in education? There is an opportunity right now to demand change. I am doing whatever I can with whatever power I have (which is currently limited) to work toward change. I invite you to think about your time spent in school and what you think worked and what did not. Also, if you have children, will one day have children, or if you have a job, own a business, or are even a part of this country to any degree, ask yourself how education affects your life? If you cannot answer that question, give me a ring, I will be more than happy to enlighten you. When you reach the conclusion that education affects all of us every day, Occupiers, community members, PEOPLE, stand up for change in public education and start fighting a battle that can easily be won if the village that is our country can demand it effectively!
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