Making Sense Of It All

I know what you're thinking.  I'm not saying kids should be ignorant.  I'm saying, some kids don't need to have the order and lessons and the supervision that comes with our current models of education.  I would probably fit into that group. I'm saying that, without compulsion, students will learn about their world if they are given the resources.  There's been hundreds of studies and at least 10 TED talks where people have taken resources into poor and underprivileged areas and the kids willingly sit down at the computer and do math and English exercises for the fun of it.  No lesson plans, no supervision. You might ask, "What would motivate a kid to learn the material on his/her own?"  Great question! More teachers should ask that question.  Then we'd see real change in student behavior and learning.

Don’t be mad about the results you didn’t get from the work you didn’t do. --Jeanette Jenkins What would happen if I taught school the way that a business is run?   School is a place.  Teaching is an act.  Learning is a process that begins with the student, not the teacher.   You can go to school and get good grades and not learn anything.  The culture of education has damaged the act of teaching. The courage it would take to make changes is monumental. 

Obviously this is a title to get the blood pumping.  Kindness is a huge part of caring for people, including the little ones.  All of this is written with a kind heart and out of caring even if the tone in some places sounds a little abrupt.  I've had more sit down sessions with teenagers than our local psychologist so I feel like I know what the kids want and need deep down.  Here's just a few ideas:  They need to eat.   Seriously.  They are hungry all the time.  I've handed out parts of my lunch to students on a number of occasions when a student didn't get breakfast.  Here's the deal though.  If you're going to eat at the school, you get to clean the toilets and wash the windows.  That's not meant to be demeaning.  My kids at my house are told the same thing.  Now that I think about it, all the kids are going to school for free.  They should all have to work.  We could replace the custodians with kids a...

This is not a knock on teachers.  Teachers are taught that all content, curriculum, schedules, etc, need to be under close management.  The delivery and ideas for learning must be their brainchild (or stolen from someone) or else they aren't good teachers. I'm starting to question that. Are teachers a bottleneck for learning?  Do they, out of necessity, trim down the learning experiences into manageable sections and, by so doing, limit the opportunities for their students?  Without a doubt.  Is that the most productive way for our kids to learn in an age with limitless resources of information on Google? What would a classroom look like where the kids were on Khan Academy "learning" math?  Some kids would be on lesson 5 and some would be on lesson 50.  The teacher wouldn't have to come up with individualized lesson plans because the software does that for you.  The teacher could then be free to really teach. 

I love the expression that we are able to see what we can see and do what we do because we "stand on the shoulders of giants." It's an elegant and accurate way of saying that we shouldn't be too full of ourselves.  Students have always struggled with gaining their own identity but I feel like this generation is not rebelling because they want to be independent of their predecessors.  Instead, they are ignorant to the struggle that has gone on before they arrived on the scene.  They believe that because there are a few clouds obscuring the way forward, it would be better to jump back down and trudge through the muck and grime all over again to find a better vantage point. My students need to pause and look back on the progress that's been made.  They stand on the shoulders of those that have gone before but they insist on jumping from their current position and trudging through the quagmire of poor decisions and disrespect.   I want to shake my students...

Necessary Pieces 1.  Vision 2.  Expectations 3.  Accountability 4.  Autonomy 5.  The Right Personnel Principles Education will be protected and respected.   Just because it's been done a certain way doesn't make it the best way.  HOWEVER, chaos is unacceptable.  Decisions to step outside the box should be well thought out and plans should be made to aid in the results of change.    Good people that are highly qualified and motivated have a better chance to make good decisions and get good results.