I started the Code Pink thread with a question for all Planet Wave bloggers, commenters and lurkers to contribute to, for the sake of developing a future piece on dealing with a post-Bush world. The question I asked was:
(In a post-Bush world) What do you think healers, psychics and teachers are going to be facing in the clinic? On the hotline? In the classroom?
Are we going to be facing a period of light and transcendance or grieving and rage? If the latter is so, how should we be handling it?
The response has been a motherlode of thoughtful, feeling and highly personal posts, observations and opinion that we don’t want to stop.
Now as Brendan said in the comments:
“How’z about opening a new thread on edumacation? One that isn’t hiding under Code Pink… :)) I’m wondering if any others of the PW world would want to chime in with their thoughts. We seem to have hit a vein with a few of us here.В “
Your wish is our command. Planet Waves opens the doors of its blog salon to carry on with its first ever open thread.
Have at it, kids.
From this (blog) I see — just how important learning aka education is to us – as it should be.
We do not live forever = we have to pass on that which we have – and add to it from our own experiences — this is what we have been discussing , yes? Not so much “what” as “how” which has been so constricted/contorted/confined.
So wonderful to see this passion about education shared. Encourages my hope that we will yet make effective change.
Thank you.
JLO, also, once you come up with a name, someone has conduct trials and tests for analysis, and then write a book under the name, and spend the rest of his life trying to sell it to some school board. aaaggghh! Good luck Brendan.
Something synergistic. Humanism would work, but it implies agnosticism, which is far from my belief system. Body, mind, spirit, planet, universe, bricks, mortar, clicks (computer), etc – synergy – working together.
humanism is already a word in use, with a not so good connotation. I like the idea though.
What are the best words – friendly, loving, compassionate words that mean people, business, schools, universe – working together?
Oh!!! I had an idea!. Why don’t we create a new “ism”? I know, ism, schism, jism, just sucks but, it’s a “format” we’re all familiar with! As opposed to our more prevalent ism’s such as capitalism, socialism, communism, we could introduce “humanism”… (although now saying it bugs me for the other life forms on this planet, but shit, it’s only a steppin’ stone anyway!). Allright, another form of “govern” ment, based on individual human embetterment ideals. (I imagine that’s what we’re all attempting to do here anyway….). So, why not establish and define a “brand new” culture, one that we can all have safety, transparency, and freedom in? Our ideas are sound. Our ideals are righteous. So, if we work on “drafting” up “guidelines”…. perhaps we could introduce these to society and champion (or at least tangibly/effectively [perhaps more so than we are individually]) the evolution of individuals and society!?!
I know my terminology lacks (and is sometimes just plain offensive)…. but there are others here who have diplomatic capacities… why not let it flow… we… I… You… have nothing to lose….?
Like I say, just a crazy, off the cuff remark…. but…..
Damn, that felt good…
Here’s toward ya… (deep bow),
Just throwin’ a spark and disregardin’ the repercussions….,
Jere
” I’m convinced it was the early emphasis on creativity that opened new neural pathways in the brain.”
Exactly!!!! When “children” (all people in fact) are exposed to “creativity”, they naturally are inspired toward innovation in their interests. It’s not money, or power that motivates the kick-ass folk of this world (contrary to capitalistic thought), it’s the bliss of creating (perhaps a function of the god complex but, a healthy one!?!).
“Yep JLO, I could move to Mexico or even Cancun and live like a princess on my retirement, at least until the next coup – lol.”
Precisely. That must alter in this here, our reality. There’s no greater “disturbance in the force” than for one society to be more valueless than another. It’s just another capitalistic control tactic that will have to come to grips before we’re done here. WE WILL have equanimity between ALL folk, or we’ll crash and burn.
Beautiful exchange, thank you, honestly and humbly…..
Love, Jere
When my son was in 2nd grade, he had a teacher who wanted to experiment with the children’s ability to write creatively and learn sign language. The stories the children wrote were incredible, and they learned quite a useful amount of sign language too. My son did his first oil painting at age 10 and received an award from a local sorority sponsored art fair – 1st place. He continually creates ideas and drawings, and has a degree in electronics engineering and 2 year degree in architecture. His classmates have all done quite well with their careers too. I’m convinced it was the early emphasis on creativity that opened new neural pathways in the brain.
When he was in 7th grade, he wrote to one of the computer game companies to ask what he needed to do to qualify for a job at their company, writing game programs. They wrote back and told him. Seems like he always had one eye focused on his career and future income – sweet little Leo kid with a Capricorn moon that he is
Yep JLO, I could move to Mexico or even Cancun and live like a princess on my retirement, at least until the next coup – lol.
It would take some persuasion, but schools could build better partnerships with businesses and parents to utilize the 4 day work week effectively.
I read just last week that the American Postal Workers Union signed an agreement to work employees 4 days a week at large postal facilities. Postal workers have 7 day assignments, so some would be off and on all the time. In another article I read that USPS has an agreement with GMAC to purchase 100,000 hydrogen operated vehicles over the next 5 years. GMAC will develop the vehicles to suit the USPS driving requirements – and do you think that will change the world as we know it? No wonder OPEC is freaking out.
…oh yeah… education! (I just can’t seem to get it all out in one sitting!?! :)) I have to refer back to my idea on the “five basics”, food, shelter, health, education, entertainment. It’s all really one big circle, all connected and transposable, that constantly rotates and feeds into itself. If these were the (really roughly general) foundations of the educational system, with emphasis on self-sustainability, and of course cooperative effort (as opposed to competitiveness, not that competition can’t be an exceptionally healthy and valuable tool), then I think we might be better off. Of course, we’d have to come to an understanding (which also should be taught in school: the philosophy/psychology of understanding and acceptance) that the one who chooses farming as a majority of their life’s work is no less valuable than the person who chooses medical/healing, as well the musician has no more iconic stature than the educator. Of course compensation would have to be a whole lot more balanced than it is in present culture. And if we all were taught these basics, we’d be less dependent upon others (which may naturally even the compensation issue).
Being a sadge, true to form, I kinda suck at specifics, but I can throw out some broad sweeping, high-minded, generalities!?!
As far as the arts/creativity in school, I believe it is of the highest priority! Art helps us to think in abstract/creative ways, broadening our minds, enriching our souls, allowing us to be more receptive (and perhaps more understanding?). I think govt’s axe those programs first because of the systems focus on productve profiteering, not holistic wellness. The arts help to foster sentient individuality, as opposed to utilitarian cogs and sprockets.
All right, I’ll have to think some more… try to step into specific realm!?!
Havin’ a good time,
Jere
Gardener, I fully understand what you’re saying as far as the stresses of living in contemporary society. I’ve also baked on the fact that with the way that society (work hours, commutes, absent parents, etc.) is structured (hence our discussions), a great many people do not have the time or energy to invest into their children or their communities (or the greater good of the world at large). And for all of this I haven’t a solution. I’ve spun my brain trying to work it all out (and will always continue to do so) but, honestly it confounds me. What I have found (and this is irrelative to anybody else, as in “my path alone”) is that I’m only able to assist others when I’ve taken the time to work through my personal stresses and free up a bit of that time juice (which,as ironic as it may be, can be quite painful and stressing!). I have absolutely no idea how to solve anybody elses issues, just ideas to toss out into the community ether. And time, to share with others, for personal well beings, and endeavors that assist those causes. I’ve thought about the necessity of shortening the work week, and I think it’s a great idea! I do think a major part of the overall economic picture needs to be brought into equilibrium globally, as in fair trade and asset value equanimity. When in one country/area, someone can live in poverty on a certain amount of work, and then in another space that same amount or even less work can earn you a life of luxury, somethin’s funky there.
I know all this ties into “education” somehow… I’ll work on that!
’til next time, 🙂
Jere
also, yes over at the code pink blog, I mentioned that my friend’s children were homeschooled because the parents didn’t care for the local schools (not in my state). Two of the kids have PHDs and one has a master’s degree. The third, born later – is in a public high school, is autistic but planning for college. The parents participate fully in their children’s lives. They amaze me.
also, my kids were not required to take the arts, but both took music, art, and participated in the after school creative arts/drama/music. They also participated in sports. My kids excelled in school, largely because they both had teachers they adored.
My personal blessings go to all the teachers who take time for kids with emotional needs.
I’m 57. Grade school was Catholic, not much art and no music to speak of. We only had science 1 day per week. High school – no art required at public high school in the country, but I was on an academic track with languages, math, etc. Problem was I didn’t put any of that to use in my private life until much, much later since my personal and emotional life were pretty much derailed. I think Home Ec, Personal Finance, and one of the arts, should be required. I took personal finance in college after I was 50 and still use the book for calculating such things as compound interest and how to shorten the life of loans by paying bi-weekly, etc. Like – you can save half of the interest on a home loan by paying bi-weekly – that sort of thing. It has everything I would have been able to use at age 23 that would have saved thousands of dollars. Computers probably help a lot of young women find good deals though, and you can educate yourself with a computer these days.
What I’ve regretted most since retirement, is that I didn’t participate more fully in my children’s grade school and high school lives. It’s like, ok now I’m home and have time for those things, but it’s too late.
I was always exhausted from work, the drive home, wash clothes/dishes, get read for work – very little me time – and that was all before home computers. The last 15 years of my work life the kids were grown, but the spouse was home and already retired. He really felt left out, but I had a great career and got to travel a lot. The last 5 years, I was real tired of the travel too. It took us awhile to get used to being together again once I retired, but now we are having a blast with two home businesses. It costs a lot of money, but we are having fun.
A question: who here had a school that *required* students to take creative (art, drama, whatever) classes? Who here has kids attending such a school now, and what do you think of the schools’ approach? Should we encourage the creative side of schooling even more than it is or is not already? {I’m looking your way, Fe!}
Brendan:
I went to Catholic schools and had a pretty rich cultural education. I also needed the art to really make up for my total lack of interest in phys ed. Won lots of awards in art bringing recognition to the schools I was in, and no one in the schools (small schools all of them) wanted to discourage me. SO I excelled.
If there’s any discipline that we should fight for in school, its music. I think kids have plenty of visual art available to them through their computers, if they’ve got them. Music provides an intuitive mechanism to work through mathematics and languages. I think it also provides a powerful emotional tool to work through what kids need to work through.
On all levels that matter, arts provide for a well-rounded education. The more the better. You can’t take an art test to gauge your success with school, but knowledge and experience in art helps make you successful in life. The openness it allows gives you ways to communicate on different levels and builds self-confidence. Critical functioning there.
GEEZ GARDENER!
Now I’m blowing my own promise not to comment any more today.
You are right on the money with your last comment. All too often, the stress of ordinary life is so extraordinary that there is no time left over for the children.
Night all.
I am in awe over what I read here, this is just amazing stuff! Everyone has had something good to add, and the sharing is so important. Thanks.
I may have been a public school teacher but I admire much in the home schooling ideas. My brother and his wife home schooled their two daughters for a number of years, one returning to full time school in 8th grade, the other declining to re-enter the public system. Our mother is a retired public school teacher, and was actually rather annoyed with them for doing this. She has since modified her viewpoint!
It’s worked well for them. The oldest, returnee that she was, has now gone on to get some college and is currently re-examining her eventual field (sophomore indecisiveness!). The other has remained primarily home schooled, but has also gone to the public high school to take drama, language, and art classes. This is ostensibly her senior year. Here, by law, public schools must allow home schoolers to attend classes or participate in extra curricular activities. No questions asked, no fees, NO standardized tests!
Home schooling started here primarily as a religious bypass of the secular school system, but that little point of fact couldn’t be in the (gasp!) secular law, so it was designed to allow anyone to home school. There are probably more secular home scholars than faith based ones now; my nieces are in the former category.
The youngest girl is now examining her post-school options: art school or something wider? She is an extremely accomplished painter and illustrator already, so her portfolio is massive. She likes acting too, and is pretty good at it: having seen her in Cyrano de Bergerac last year I can vouch for her abilities. An interesting co-ed production by the way: being a high school production, there were not enough males able to play the major roles, so they made the roles co-ed with some adept rewrites. She played Cyrano’s best friend, Cyrano being her actual boyfriend. That made for some interesting repartee, let me assure you.
Given this success, I like home schooling. I’m also thinking that it or a variant will play an increasing role in education in future, and that is why we have to have a new education to meet the needs of the students to come.
JLO/Jere,
You said everything so well and so clearly. All of it from the heart, which is where we really need to be centered for all this. It seems that we need to go past the naked, aggresive ape stage we’ve been in for too long, and learn to live in the thinking, caring human age instead. The next step that seems to be springing up in thought and words around the world all the time now.
So many parents don’t even seem to appreciate their children’s simple existence, much less consider them friends. And AWEW, that is part of what you mentioned, parent participation in schools. Everyone is so stressed, this never seems to figure as much as it should in anyone’s thoughts. We had a parent’s night, and out of the 150 or so students I had, 20 parents came by to see me. It turned out this was a record, as most of my peers reported only half that many on average. I must have been doing something right.
A question: who here had a school that *required* students to take creative (art, drama, whatever) classes? Who here has kids attending such a school now, and what do you think of the schools’ approach? Should we encourage the creative side of schooling even more than it is or is not already? {I’m looking your way, Fe!}
One last question for the evening: how do we get the average tax paying citizenry to go along with the changes we’d like to see?
Night all, I’ll be back later, but must not comment until tomorrow: I really need the sleep…
jlo, the problem is with people who have to work 10 hours a day and commute 2 hours to and from work. When is there time to help kids, let alone play? Insert a few other problems, like drugs and alcohol, or a spouse in the military, and you have about 2/3 of the USA that is overworked, and stressed out over the economy, the war or drugs. The other 1/3 is unemployed, on welfare, SSI, or homeless. So i think what we have seen in recent years is a lot of grieving and rage, especially with school violence.
More and more employers are offering the 4 day work week, and that might be the answer to part of the school problem too, and the quality time for family life and bonding.
Yahoooo! You/we/us are having awesome sharing here. So awesome.
I was completely unaware of all the security crap going on at my kids’ high school until a year ago (therefore, for three years I didn’t know because my daughter didn’t know there was any reason to mention it to me! Egads!)
Flip side of the coin is that we’ve got a great school, one of the best in the state (CA). Drug use is low (why oh WHY is that even up for grabs?) and the biggest infraction I’ve heard of so far is one kid video-recording on their cell-phone a blow-job orgie and then broadcasting it at school. Um – yes – that IS of major concern. Yep. Concern herein noted. Sigh.
What our principle does is to massively encourage parent participation. (Again *sigh* why or why must this have to be encouraged? Yes, I know many of the answers. That was retorical.)
I’ve not time to participate more here now. (Kids will be home soon 😉
Great to read the new contributions. Thanks to everyone for sharing.
Well now, I’ll start this and run as coherent as I’m able.
Initial queston, psychics, healers, hotlines, teachers, classrooms, clinics…. dark…. light…. yeah, it’s all gonna happen. There will be an inflow of tragedy, and there will be an outpouring of support. Those who can, will be floating the kind words/vibes to those who are struggling (because some will be dealing with the harsher forms of human psychology, and it aint gonna be pretty). And some will need someone, somewhere just to say “hi, I love you”. It’ll be way more intense than that but, it’s foundations we’re building.
I’ve been working on (mostly in myself, but always with an eye towards social application) expounding, or “languaging” a concept that embodies social change. The five “basics” I’ve been working from involve…. Food, Shelter, Health, Education, and Entertainment. These are what I feel our global psyche is built on. Each one is as important as the other, it doesn’t matter where we wake into, as long as we carry ourselves through.
Each one of us has an important, and absolute individual, purpose/lifetime to fulfill. We’re here to learn what we’re able, and then to express what we’ve learned, to pass on the experience in an attentive manner.
I’ll now go into a bit of myself, as reference, in hopes that my words won’t be taken as a “map”, but one path among trillions with general principles that might actually apply.
I’ve gotten/lived to the point where I’ve pretty much lost anything that ever meant anything to me. Now, all I have is me. In being “me” I’ve realised that I can do anything I damn well please. What I’ve realized pleases me, is helping out. So, now, job doesn’t matter, house, no worries, relationships, come and go,…. what the hell do I do with me then?
I love to draw, play music, think, read, garden… People around actually want me to draw them pictures (in my style). Some are even willing to pay/trade. Righteous! Seeing as how I’m willing to “street” it, not a bad gig! Of course that’s food money (I’m lucky in the fact that I own a motor home, and have plenty of family and friends, and have an idea what businesses are overnight friendly[even if I totally disagree with their practices, I’ve no shame in using them]). The thing for me is to keep myself living, long enough to find others, as in a couple of friends I’ve met lately who would like help putting gardens into their backyards. I’ve got the seeds, all kinds, and the time, the’ve got some space, and good company, it’s a go!
I’m not sure how well I conveyed myself, surfacely. There is so much more that I just can’t fit in this sitting…. I didn’t even get into the fact that I homeschooled my vegan daughter for six and a half years, she was MY BEST FRIEND!!!! And I sure the hell don’t mean that as a slap but, fuck the status quo! These people/children whatever one wants to label them ARE people! Sometimes in our sacrifices, we bestow the greatest gifts we could ever! Sometimes, it’s not a matter of sticking it out but, one of being TRUE to oneself and/or the universe, and allowing the “play” to come on while you do what it is you know “ought” to be done? “These People” will *see* it!
Yeah…. I’m still lacking a bit of coherency… Like I said, it’s been years I’ve been working this…. MANY years to come… Still, it makes me smile to share with you, and to “listen” to your sharings! I wish you all the personal best!
With Love, Confidence, Reality, Beauty, Happinness, Peace…. so much MORE!!!
Jere
My other thought about home-schooling is that perhaps some subject could be taught at home voluntarily, with the student tested at the end of the course. Build a reward into the process and require the parent or guardian to be part of the process in order for the home taught class to qualify in the curriculum. That way the parent is interacting with the child and getting a feeling for where they are lacking. The parent also develops a very strong bond with the child.
A friend’s son took a gun to school when he was a freshman a few years ago. He was kicked out of school so she was mandated to homeschool. She was stunned to find out how much he didn’t know. Like so many others, she didn’t help with homework and gave the token glance to the report cards. It helped both of them so much in their personal relationship that he never returned to regular school when the probation was up. It probably stopped him from doing something more serious too.
My gut feeling is that somewhere in part-time home-schooling is the answer to a lot of problems.
Another friend homeschooled their children but sent them to specific classes at high school that they didn’t feel qualified to teach. The school balked, but they said – hey we pay our taxes same as everyone else – so the school let them in.
The schools could go to a 4 day week with one day off for homeschool day – save energy for the bus, car, laundry (hot water), cafeteria, school lights, security, etc.
Hi everyone!
What wonderful thoughts to start off with!
Ever since that fateful Columbine day, schools have been pressured to have zero tolerance for violence. That fear drives the cameras, the door locks, the weapons screening, everything. Overdone too. I started to write on a school here, but then I would have an even longer post…
Fingerprinting for food? GAAH! That is just so wrong. It is however, an unequivocal ID, so why not? Just run your finger over this and we’ll bill your debit card every month, it’s easy. No waste, no fraud, it’s a good thing…(please note, I wrote this in a very sarcastic frame of mind). In other words, students and parents are not to be trusted. That’s probably the unspoken truth. By comparison, in my high school years (73-77), students carried pocket knives, had lockers, no cops on campus, and some students even had shotguns and rifles in their vehicles for hunting. Guess how many fights we had? Nearly zero. How many gun incidents? Zero. Knifings? Zero. Campus Security? Three: the vice principals and the janitor. This was a school with 1200 students, in the middle of the city. What has happened in our society to change so much? Fear.
I love the idea of parenting classes! They should be mandatory for both genders everywhere along with real sex education classes. I would suggest starting as early as we’re comfortable with such an idea, if we can prevent children from having children we will all be better off.
Emotional learning is a must! What they are, how to express them, how to deal with them, and how to live within them. I know that I don’t know everything about emotions, nor can I say that I’m perfect (far from it), but needing to teach it is critical. Eric had a really neat observation in today’s report on Barack Obama: “…kids who are neglected become highly sensitive.” The most troubled, emotionally crippled kids are hyper- sensitive and seemingly have learned to not go to the light like B.O., but instead often become confrontational and even violent when things don’t go their way.
My last school was for at-risk kids, the last school possible before they either dropped out or went off to juvie/prison. The pain of their upbringing was so often expressed in fighting or self-absorbed behavior you never knew what they were thinking. They couldn’t even relate to each other a lot of the time, since that meant puncturing their self imposed cocoon. That was an extremely hard year: each day was new and challenging, and most assuredly, not in a nice way. They were nearly unapproachable emotionally, but some would honestly respond once they trusted you. One young man really saddened me. After I’d had him in class for a few weeks, he said up front that he wasn’t sure of where he wanted to be. I probed a little bit, and he said, “I’ve been in prison so long, I like it there. It’s safe.” He was 19, and had spent about 5 or 6 years inside juvenile facilities, more time than he’d been free in fact. He was a poster boy for how far we have to go. His emotional state could deal with prison and the rules there, it was the chaos of free society that he could not understand or deal with. He had to go to school in order to not be sent back, but I could see he was seriously thinking of doing something to violate his parole so that he would be sent back. He had two small children with former girlfriends, so the cycle was continuing.
Maya – thank you ever so much for your very specific ideas and thoughts, I don’t even know where to begin in response. I guess I just have to copy the whole blog and comment later when I get done digesting it all. We do seem to be on nearly the same wavelength.
Gardener – You bring such great thoughts to bear. Your last entry on parenting, quality time, and emotional needs is so true. People wonder why teachers seem exhausted all the time, after all, you get three months off every year. At times, for me at least, the emotional drain of dealing with my students needs was overwhelming. I often spent the weekends just trying to relax and sleep in peace, quietly preparing for the next week. Still, my best memories are of those moments when you know you made a real difference in someone’s life, and they took the right path at the end of the day.
Sooooo, reducing all of what has been written, it looks like parenting and emotional growth are at the top of the list. It seems that so much of the critical issues in education have started at the very foundation of our society, and that is what needs to be revised.
Getting into the system approved ‘pedagogy’ angle, we’ve all seen how funding really needs to be improved to even continue what we already have going (never mind reforming it). That issue is partly why I’m not working: out of the seven school districts in my county, none hired any new teachers for this year. Last spring they all announced teacher cuts (most by attrition) or freezes due to a lack of funding by the legislature. Ergo, nothing for anyone. This has happened throughout the state of Washington, and we’ve taken quite a few steps backwards as a result.
Can’t tell I’m an Aquarius, can you? I’ve run on a bit, much like teaching class (I can be easily diverted, especially on Fridays!).
How are we doing here?
bye for now
I have a grandson who is high-functioning autistic. The schools seem better prepared for that now.
I thought more parent training is needed simply because so many people are too busy to be part of their children’s lives. It really only takes a few minutes a day to put in the quality time. I’ve had teachers tell me that they spend a lot of time taking care of children’s emotional needs, that should be taken care of in the home, yet so many kids are from broken homes or one-parent family homes. That could be why my mother’s teacher (the code pink blog) made paper dolls with her in the mid-1930s. My grandmother died when my mother was 3 years old. My mom still talks about the teacher in the most fond way, and about the dazzling paper costumes they made. My mother should have been a clothing designer.
University – yep, I finally went to college when I was 50 just to prove to my kids I could do it. They and my spouse were all college grads. That fact quite suddenly blossomed into a point of self-deception on their part.
“This blog link is about education, so in a round about way, I’m trying to reaffirm what you said about the substance abuser who found herself. it is never too late to change your outlook and the way you live. You are never too old to go back to school and get a degree doing something you love to do. I finally realized that no-one is better than I am, and I’m no better than they.”
Gardener:
An education that promotes the emotional growth of a person is a valid education in my book. Some kids don’t connect with information unless it has personal relevance. Heck that’s true of adults. Ask any actor what they need in order to learn complex scripts.
I’d love to hear what Brendan has to say on this aspect.
Gardener, it sounds as though you learned in a very authentic way, through the university of life. That experience speaks volumes about you.
As an education major, I’ve been paying a lot more attention to education issues this past couple years. It’s really eye opening to learn about the history of education and pedagogy and how nearly completely it exists to serve corporate interests and receive propaganda. I recently read a really excellent article in Ode about how exactly creating bored and uncurious students works so well to perpetrate the sort of things on society that have happened of late in this very country. It’s a big clue as to why nobody’s really reacting. The fact that this sort of information is becoming more widely available – that you can find it in a magazine and then go read the book – gives me hope. So does articles like this recent one from the NYT, that shows people really trying to relate to kids with autism, rather than forcing them to try to relate with us. I think we’re getting somewhere, we’re starting to look at what doesn’t work (thank you, new Capricorn energy!), which inevitably leads to the question, “okay, well, what DOES work?”. It starts in small pockets like these, but incurable optimist that I am, I believe it will spread. Truly, an exciting time to be getting into teaching. Often I’m torn between teaching choir, which is the track I’m currently on, and teaching History, for the potential good it would do students to look at it from what is essentially a heretical perspective within the public school system.
Gardener: I love your idea about training parents in supporting their kids. I’d like to add that ever since I took it myself, I have believed quite firmly that every single parent should have to take a child psychology course. Understanding what is going on in the development of your little one’s brain goes a looooooong way toward keeping yourself from taking their behavior personally.
Brendan:
what is good: that most teachers who are getting into education these days genuinely care about their students and have fun teaching. They’re learning some great techniques for relating to their students, and they enjoy continuing to learn and expand their repertoire of techniques.
what is bad: most of the mandates intended to improve schools are unfunded, so they are implemented half-assed at best. Children are being pushed out of their LD classifications and mainstreamed into the classroom to save money and they are being more underserved than ever.
what needs to change: we need to value the educator as much as the educated. The educational system needs more money. Children need to have their curiosity nurtured by everyone around them, rather than squashed “because that’s what was done to us” and “curiosity is exhausting”, etc. Parents need to be trained as educators to some degree themselves. As my friend often says, you need more training to get a gun license than you do to have a child.
how to integrate emotional learning start including it in the curriculum. We have a sorta-kinda start on that, my daughter is a peer mediator in her school, the guidance counselor talks about bullying and how to handle your feelings when you’re overwhelmed, but generally speaking teachers still eject kids from their class when they become emotional. Parents still send their kids to their rooms for the same. Kids are taught that their emotions are unacceptable and are reason for rejection. OTOH, the emotional development of kids is slow and frustrating. Things I’ve been talking to my daughter about for years are only starting to bear fruit now. It takes a lot of patience and support. Ultimately I think it comes down to the revival of the real community.
getting what you wantcreate it. we each have to be the stewards of our own values. It can be frustrating and time consuming, but we live in a world where lots of people want lots of different things, and I think that not only is it a fantasy, but it is a disservice to the diversity of the world to expect that we can create a monoculture that wants what we want and works hard to give it to us. And yet still it is so easy to fall into this solipsistic view that what we want is the right thing to want. But hopefully by learning to respect and nurture our own values, we can learn to respect and nurture others’ and leave behind this crazy starvation culture where nobody’s getting what they need so they grab for theirs and to hell with everyone else, like so many kids at a depression-era table.
okay, that’s enough for now. Thanks for bringing up the subject! I’d love to see a lot more discussions like this that focus on genuine learning, rather than schooling.
“Over the last five years our high school has increased security and surveillance tremendously. Cameras are all over the school. The cafeteria has instituted a system whereby fingerprints are scanned for food payment. ”
Lily:
I am interested in following up on this. What was the rationale they used to put up this advanced security system?
Fe,
That sounds like me 25 years ago. I wasn’t a substance abuser, but I was still recovering from giving up a baby for adoption in 1969. My self-esteem was non-existent and I really felt I wasn’t good enough to talk to anyone. There are lot of people who are happy to make you feel like you have absolutely no value in the world. When i finally made contact with my daughter in 2001, I started telling people at work. The people who supported me were those from whom I least expected, and the people who had something negative to say were the African American employees in my office. They were completely and totally unforgiving. I’ve never figured out why since at least 2 of the women had had abortions. So anyway, the one who was most mean about it became pregnant almost immediately afterward, and she was 45 years old! There is nothing more gratifying than instant karma, and believe me I had a hard time showing sympathy – but I managed to say nice things to her anyway and gave her a nice sum of money when she left for maternity leave.
Living in a home for unwed mothers was an education in itself. There were, in fact, two young black women in the home – one a teen member of the Black Panthers in Chicago and another was a 13 year old whose stepmother didn’t want a baby to raise. The girl from Chicago was a juvenile sent to my state for the adoption, and she had no family. Some of her Black Panther friends would come to her window at night to talk to her. If I’d known Forest Gump at the time, that’s who I probably would have felt like. The Catholic agency I went through was full when I applied for residency, so i was sent to live in a home in the middle of the city with mostly juvenile delinquents and young girls with no parents – all were wards of the state. It was a nice home so no complaints there. We each had various social workers who didn’t know how to talk to us, but we let them try.
The road to finding my daughter was filled with potholes, but I met a lot of lovely adoptees along the way who hoped I was their mother. I’ve kept in touch with a girl who was born the same day as my daughter, whose mother went through my agency. It was devastating to both of us when we learned that we were not a match. But two months later, my birth daughter contacted the agency. She received a letter from the IRS via the agency, telling her that her birth mother wanted to make contact. She received the letter on September 10, 2001. It had been a long, long search.
We have a good relationship now. We do not have a mother-daughter relationship, but it is a special relationship.
This blog link is about education, so in a round about way, I’m trying to reaffirm what you said about the substance abuser who found herself. it is never too late to change your outlook and the way you live. You are never too old to go back to school and get a degree doing something you love to do. I finally realized that no-one is better than I am, and I’m no better than they.
Who I would like to hear from are people who home-schooled. I know a few people who have done that who have had great success. The only home-schooling I did was when my son broke his leg in 4th grade. That period opened my eyes to his learning style, and we had much needed bonding time together. I’m certain it helped with his developing character too.
I’ve wondered if perhaps in the future we should have more parenting classes. Maybe when the children start school, there should be a required in-school parenting day on how to help children with homework, how to play, have discussions, and develop their strengths. There are a lot of good websites for parenting. I just think we all leave high school with little knowledge of how the real world operates and some kids already have families by the time they are 15 years old. Family finance should be required learning at high school too.
I want to talk about emotional learning and an example of what I think makes people learn.
Our theater company, the Medea Project, is currently working with women with HIV/AIDS.
We’ve been rehearsing together now for about three months and last week concluded a performance before an large audience in a manjor performance venue in town.
One of the women had serious problems communicating–years of substance abuse along with her disease. Also a lifetime of being shut down emotionally, societally and educationally–the public school system abandoning at-risk children, which is what she was in your youth.
Coming out of the performance, where everyone did amazingly well for such a short rehearsal period, this woman, who before had trouble stringing coherent thought, though we could understand her intent– was totally present, alert and alive. Her speaking made sense, as if somehow some internal permission faucet was opened and allowed her to truly speak what was on her mind. And she was clear as a bell.
Now this is after some theater, some love and appreciation for who she was, and some getting over major terror, but also being game for the experience. She took the risk, met it halfway, and was rewarded. The power of that acceptance for someone who has faced a lifetime of not even being acknowledged was absolutely potent. She needed to be affirmed, she was, and she blossomed like a flower.
My husband and I have three children. The boys are adults now. Our daughter is a sophomore in H.S. Over the last five years our high school has increased security and surveillance tremendously. Cameras are all over the school. The cafeteria has instituted a system whereby fingerprints are scanned for food payment. We would not allow our daughter to participate in this. She usually brings her lunch or pays cash. The students are subjected to standardized testing continually to meet the “No Child Left Behind” act. In addition, annually the parents have to submit in writing their wish that their child not be contacted for military recruitment. In spite of my doing so, my sons received military recruitment mail while students at the H.S. and receive it to this day.
I wish I had more positive things to say but I am discouraged by what I see happening with the education system here in Pennsylvania over the last five years.
Lily
Jeez, I’m feeling totally empowered right now. Haven’t felt this way in a good while.
I have to go out for a couple of hours so I’ll pose some questions for people to ponder.
– What do you think is both good and bad in the education system in your part of the world?
– What can we do collectively to change it, and make it work for everyone? By everyone, I mean children/students, parents, teachers; all interested parties.
– How can we integrate a better sense of emotional learning in the schools? I’m talking about emotional well-being and healing for those that need it.
– How can we deal with getting what we want, i.e. planet wide social change?
Gotta go, love ya all!
We open this thread up to continue our discussion from the Code Pink thread below. You are all amazing.
Carry on…