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"Children Full of Life"
genkaku
Northampton, Mass. U.S.A. Veteran
Worth a look is this no-smarm segment of a documentary entitled "Children Full of Life." Welcome to an adult world.
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Comments
But I still got the notion that we (the USA) are very very wrong in our approach to public education...
We are - and have been for a long time - moving steadily towards a robotic, sterile, mindless(ness), disconnected environment where competition (and sports) is everything and grades are the measure of worth of a student. Sad.
We are looking at a documentary about a Japanese school. Every child in that classroom (from what I saw) looked to be Japanese. So there is a common culture, a common set of values and probably common religions and experiences.
As I was thinking about Why we can't have classrooms/teachers/lessons like that in the US?? -- the answer I kept coming around to was; "Because there is NO common ground, no common set of values or cultural background, no common religion or experiences among students in our classrooms".
In American classrooms there are kids of all colors, all cultures, all ethnicity, and economic backgrounds.
One student's parents may like that a teacher hugs and kisses their son on top of his head... another set of parents may find that unacceptable or inappropriate.
We are, as American parents, so consumed with "protecting the children" we don't allow them to speak to adults or touch others (even other students!) or be touched or comforted by teachers.
This multicultural situation we have is both a blessing and a horrible downfall for (our) public education; But I don't know any way around it, does anyone else?
It has been my belief that what is happening in education is an extension of "consumerism". I think that consumerism really began in the era when US cars got crappy and Americans began moving toward foreign cars. It was an attitude of, "I'm fed up with this crap and I'm not gonna take it anymore." The quality of American cars began to improve due to the movement. But, like the genie in the bottle, once the concept of consumerism was out, it infected every aspect of American life. Taking goods back to a store used to often be an unpleasant interrogation. Nowadays, in many national chains (e.g., Bed Bath And Beyond, Lowes, Amazon) it's virtually a no-questions-asked routine. Consumerism at work -- forget the individual sale, keep the customer.
And at some point consumerism hit American education. In the old days the routine was: "Are you schools doing a good job?" "Yes, trust us, we are." Now the routine is: "Are you schools doing a good job?" "Yes, trust us, we are." "No. Prove it!" And how do you prove it? Data. Of course, that has had its good points, and bad. On the one hand, a lot of kids that used to be overlooked (for all intents and purposes) are suddenly being led to perform, as well. But, the human-ness of education for many kids has suffered greatly. I could give you reams of examples of lousy teachers who are no longer "getting away with" making excuses for their poor performances.
Your comments about the multiculturalism in American schools are right on target, as well. Take my middle school as an example. As I recall it was about 68% White, 12% Black, 12% Asian, 8% Latino (and growing). Or looking at the population of the school another way: 45% general education, 10% special education, 5% ESOL, and 40% gifted education. Or, another way: 80% native speakers, 20% non-native speakers. Or another way: 50% middle income, 25% relatively low income, and 25% upper crust (we had a number of Senators children, millionaire sports star's children, and a number of "old money" children...eg., one of LBJ's grandchildren, the governor of Virginia's child, Strom Thurmond's son, etc.).
Yes, our multiculturalism is a blessing, but it makes life terribly difficult.
On the one hand, competition could be good. It makes everyone work a little harder to succeed.
On the other hand, I don't believe in tax payer dollars going to what is, essentially, a non-public school. Public dollars should be used for public education. The tax issue is a confusing mess when it comes to charter schools.
We always have to be careful when we compare some "separate" (for wont of a better term) school's results with kids with the results a public school is getting. A public school has to take everyone -- the good, the bad, and the ugly (so to speak). Other schools can be selective. So immediately the results are skewed.
Aside from the above, what are the benefits to teachers, both immediate and long term, to work in a charter school versus a public school?
But please, whatever you do, don't ask me what I think about home-schooling! :rarr: