We have enacted stimulus packages to help banks that are “too big to fail”, yet it seems that our schools are just the right size to fail.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35819848/ns/us_news-education/
Things that make me go hmmm….
1. I find it interesting that we are willing to spend goo gobs of money on defense and creating opportunities for investment, but the one thing that matters more than anything else is often the first to get cut
2. That we all scream for more funding for education, but the minute any government official proposes a tax increase, we are all up in arms. Society is made up of people, and in a capitalistic society people must spend on what is important. Did you know…As of 2007, there were about 138 million taxpayers in the United States. Let’s drop it to 120 million now. With the largest group of people making between 36,000 and 58,000 per year, let’s just say the average American makes 30,000. Did you know that a .5% (that’s right, a half of a percent) increase in federal tax) would create a windfall of…drum roll please…$21.6 billion. The cost per year to this average American? $180.00. When I discuss this with people, there is this visceral reaction to “raising taxes”. Would you pay $180.00 per year to make sure our schools were funded? I would.
3. I know, I know…the schools are terrible right, just let them fail? What’s the alternative? Private schools and vouchers? Please. This will just be an excuse to skew schools toward the rich and many times put the control under religious institutions. This will result in a need for…you guessed it – public schools. We will always have this need. Is cutting funding a way to improve education, or just make it even more inaccessible and teachers more stressed and disillusioned? You decide. Cut public schools and…caste system here we come!
4. If we create more funding for the schools, what do we use it for? This is just as important as finding the money.
A. Teacher training. Teaching is a skill that takes years to hone. Yes, there is a talent component, some have a gift for it. But as with any gift, it must be developed. Check my friend JR Stratton’s blog for a discussion on Doug Lemov’s views and efforts http://playthink.wordpress.com/2010/03/11/teaching-taxonomy/. My view: We put increasingly less capable and less experienced teachers in classrooms and overcompensate with accountability measures and meaningless standardizations. To boot, we give them ever increasing class sizes.
B. Programs to make parental involvement something we reinvest in. This is huge, because it has a lot to do with the view of education in our tribe / society. We have a skewed view of education and knowledge in our society, because it’s not something we value or truly think is attainable. I can see evidence of this by the way people react to my own educational accomplishments. It ranges from astonishment to disdain, but never do I get an “of course you did that because you found something interesting”. Parents must teach children through what they show that education and wisdom are valued things. Otherwise, we grow up to be ignorant money chasers who think schools get better solely through accountability measures and witholding funding.
Well, that’s my view. What do you think?
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March 12, 2010 at 9:14 pm
Josh
The questions I have are these, Kwame:
Who is in power/using power/making decisions?
What is their agenda?
What do they have to gain/lose in this discussion?
How can we align our goals with theirs in a win/win with their goals?
When the predominant message is “fear-based,” and “scarcity-based,” talking about “taking more money away” (i.e., taxation) is only going to aggravate the already hyper fear-reactivity.
I think we need to revamp our understanding of many concepts. Among them, maybe chief among them, economics and government. Not too far behind, is our concept of “activism.”
That is, I think a lot of us are dealing with now-antiquated ideas about those structures/entities/activities – economics, government, and activism.
I’m not saying I have the most recent, up-to-date paradigm that we need to shift to…But I do think that there are people in each of those realms who are working from a current and effective understanding of those processes who can help us to be more effective.
That’s number one. Look for people who are having success (NOW, TODAY, THIS WEEK) in effecting change in those systems.
Next, I think we need to look at our top-down and bottom-up approaches to the perceived problem you outline – that is, that what passes for education these days sucks, and that education is not a priority within economics, government, or activism.
Top-Down
At this point, governmental “bodies” and agencies are setting the policies that determine the 5 W’s and an H of schooling in our country.
What is the agenda fueling those decisions? What is our agenda, specifically? How can we find a win/win to bring our agenda in line with theirs? How can we present this win/win case in a manner that moves them to implement it?
Economic entities are much the same. Unfortunately, our paltry understanding of modern economics (at least, MY paltry understanding…I was taught econ from my parents, who don’t know it either) makes it hard to see the agendas at work there, or to understand the machinations of the economic system.
Bottom-Up
What can we do, individually and communally, on a daily basis, and in regular, larger-group settings, to initiate the change we want to see?
That leads me to a very pressing question. I understand what you’re talking about in this blog post, and I think your other readers will as well, and will sympathize with your frustration.
However, there is no clear description here of what it is, precisely, that you (or we) want to see happen in education.
Yes, funding is an issue…but funding for what? You’ve outlined a couple of things, but Education, from a governmental body’s perspective, is a monolithic structure. You can’t just go swapping pieces in and out…not unless you can guarantee that those new pieces fit with the old.
I think we need to create a very clear agenda. A “99 Theses” of modern education, as it were. And then we need to enact that on a personal level, within our communities, and to our representatives in government.
March 14, 2010 at 3:41 pm
skye
Great post and great reply Josh. The issue of funding in regards to education is an ongoing battle that is waged behind closed doors often by people that most of us wouldn’t even have a cup of tea with. But if we just “fight the power” and don’t find a middle ground and “play the game” just a bit then it often comes to bite us right in the arse.
The age old adage of “think Global, act Local” may be an answer but it does all start as Josh said with a very clear agenda so the effort doesn’t get lost in mindless activism or should i say fruitless activism.
My good friend runs a park and rec department and just had a bunch of his already paltry budget cut once again. He runs amazing programs in a community strife with issues such as unemployment, teenage pregnancy, drugs and violence and his work makes such a difference. But his work and efforts were recently lost in the eyes of folks at the town meeting who are too busy looking at the “i need money in my pocket today” and the “no new taxes” crowd. When you boil down some of these tax increases like Kwame did, the overall cost is minimal but the result is Spectacular…unless your political leaning does not condone any tax increases at all and writes off such a move as, “Socialist or “Marxism”.
God forbid we look to countries such as Canada, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, and others for examples eh?
yet I digress…great post and discussion, thank you!
March 14, 2010 at 5:11 pm
Josh
Great comment, Skye!
You raise some good points. The general populace’s understanding of the issue is definitely lacking. I think people are somewhat unaware of the difference these types of programs make, and how little it would actually cost to fund them, if everyone were to chip in.
Another good point you raise is the “agenda” of different individuals and governing bodies. I just read about a juvenile delinquent rehab program that stopped getting funding because the area administrator was pissed at the state government funding department for not replying – and had stopped funds to the program as collateral!!!
There is a final great point you bring up, which is the notions we carry, almost always without any real deep knowledge about the specifics of the thing in question. Call it a “prejudice,” but it’s more than that…a “collective prejudice” of sorts. Words like “Marxist,” “Communist,” or “Socialist,” have been used over the past 60-100 years in our country as slurs. Yet most people who are against such things probably couldn’t tell you what they even mean.
Great comments!!!
Kwame, lead us. How do we move forward to make change?!
March 15, 2010 at 3:32 am
drkmbrown
Great thoughts, guys!
First, I know (because we’ve had these discussions in person) that we all realize this kind of stuff isn’t easy to fix.
But we can’t do nothing. So where do we start? My answer will come in two phases:
1) The root of the problem: Hate to keep beating a dead horse (I’m sure there are laws against it after all), but this all comes from our attachment to our egos. If I think that my child’s needs are the only needs that are important, then why would I put money into the pot for your child? If we all take a second to think, then we realize that no one is leaving this container any time soon, and we are all in this together. The other way ego figures in is that everyone seems to want to be God. Yes, I said it. For all the talk, it seems to me that most who have this undying faith in some dogma, actually want to be the dogma, or at least enveloped in it to the exclusion of others. This seems safe. The problem is, it isn’t safe. Blind faith is probably the most destructive force of the human condition. It comes when our egos tell us that there are only a few spots, and we want to be part of the exclusive club.
2) What can we do? This is also something that is said often, but it remains true: Speak up! At every opportunity. Do something different? At every opportunity. If you have resources, don’t sit on them, use them. Partner with like (and not-like) minded individuals. Find common ground. For those of us who realize that the solving of societal issues is multifaceted, those of us who realize rigid dogma is never going to work for everyone – It is our job to speak up and change how WE approach solutions. At some point, it has to be SEEN that there are alternatives to competing rigidities.
Continue to do what you are doing. Link ideas to ideas, people to people, and organizations to organizations. That is how we get energy and resources behind solutions. There are few shortcuts, but I think we have begun the race.
We keep waiting for some political savior (see what people on different sides have thought about Bush and Obama over the past 10 years). It’s us. It’s about what we do. And that, in fact, is what the President has been asking for for the past 2 years (starting in the campaign), if people are really listening. He never painted himself as all powerful. What he did is asked for our help. Repeatedly.
March 14, 2010 at 7:31 pm
L.I.F.T. » Blog Archive » The Education Debate – Full of sound and fury
[...] his post Education and the Tribe, he asks several good questions: 1. Why are citizens of the US (who are taxpayers) reticent to [...]
March 15, 2010 at 4:20 am
Josh
Ok, here goes. How did the education system get into the state it’s in today?
1. Governmental prioritization of the military-industrial complex over education.
2. Support of “free-market” Capitalism which damns any social projects.
3. Support of “free-market” Capitalism which promotes the dissociation of the individual from their own self-control.
4. Dissolution of neighborhoods/communities.
5. Dissociation and over-burdened by socio-cultural “demands” (bills, status, etc.), and without a framework through which to view the problem, the parent focuses on what is immediately at-hand (bills, job, get kids fed and raised, etc.).
Key Stakeholders
1. “Government” and governmental office-holders/policy-makers
2. Military-industrial complex representatives
3. Business/Capitalism interests
4. State governmental office-holders/policy-makers
5. Regional governmental office-holders/policy-makers
6. School-board officials
7. Teachers
8. Parents
9. Children
10. Everyone, generally…everyone “loses” when education takes a nose dive (ever read about the Dark Ages?…bloodletting anyone? by the barber…anyone?).
What’s at Stake for the Groups? Desires, Fears, Needs…
1. “Government” and governmental office-holders/policy-makers
the “future” of the country (really, this is a question of the future of their, or their party’s, political agenda in the future).
their popularity
their place in office (not really)
2. Military-industrial complex representatives
funding
3. Business/Capitalism interests
the flow of capital
4. State governmental office-holders/policy-makers
their place in office is a much more real question at this level
popularity
5. Regional governmental office-holders/policy-makers
reporting positively to #1
place in office/popularity
security
“integrity”
6. School-board officials
reporting positively to #5
place in office/popularity
security
“integrity”
7. Teachers
reporting positively to #6
job/security
fulfillment of their passion (teaching)/”integrity”
8. Parents
“failure” or “success” as a parent
the upbringing/success of their children
security – for themselves and their children (the “future”)
9. Children
their entire life
10. Everyone, generally…everyone “loses” when education takes a nose dive (ever read about the Dark Ages?…bloodletting anyone? by the barber…anyone?).
everyone’s lives…literally…are at stake.
Where are the intersections between priorities here? Can we craft a message/intervention that will cross all of these agendas? Or, do we need to craft separate messages/interventions aimed at each separate agenda, or maybe at groupings of agendas (for instance, governmental agendas may fit under a single message/intervention; where military-industrial complex and capitalist/business interests might fit together under another single message/intervention).
This, I think, is the way to make change. Yes, action can be organized and orchestrated now, and can be incredibly effective, but it must have its foundation in an understanding of the source of the problem, and a clear idea or proposal for the desired state.
March 17, 2010 at 8:15 pm
drkmbrown
@Josh:
You asked before what I would like to see in the schools. Here it is:
1. More of a sense of play and exploration. We can still explore goo-gobs of content (and need to, in a sensible way), but it’s the way we do it that matters. There is too much of a didactic bent too early in schooling. It doesn’t work.
2. More movement during the day. The research is clear: Children are healthier, and learn just as well if not better, when they get time for both instructed and free physical play.
3. Communication from teachers as if they want to know children, instead of looking at them as nuisances to discipline. To be sure, there are plenty of teachers who do approach their craft with a sense of being there for the children, but there are unfortunately many who think children are nuisances to be kept in line. This has been influenced negatively by classroom size, lack of parental involvement, teacher incompetence (in some cases, NOT all), and lack of support for teachers.
As far as the stakeholders, this is going to take an overall cultural shift (we have largely had one with regard to racial prejudice in this country). Cultural shifts are never all encompassing, what we are looking for is a critical mass of like spirited (not like minded – that’s dangerous) individuals.
The best way, long term, for a profession and the individuals in it to protect themselves is to create a great product. If kids are getting a great education in public school, the private schools cannot and will not take that spot. However, if the funding is pulled out from under them, this will be a self fulfilling prophecy. There are those legislators that have it as their mission to destroy public schooling. There are others that are misguided. For the latter group, the key is information – well evidenced and really loud. This blog and others of it’s ilk are hopefully a part of that.
Business stakeholders need to be well invested. If education sucks, so too will their workers. I can’t put it more bluntly than that.
Parents must be made aware of the real research on the combination of play and content, coupled with a child centered approach. They are currently only aware of the “research” that helps companies sell things like Baby Einstein, things that are bent on accelerating development (stupid idea).
Teachers will fall into line when we get them the training and support they need. Period.
March 19, 2010 at 3:10 am
Josh
Yes! This is good stuff! Thanks for posting, Kwame!
March 15, 2010 at 8:02 pm
Laura
I would also like to put forth another sector that no one is mentioning at the moment… the Ego that Kwame was mentioning. I think we really need to harness the Ego because it is currently being misdirected and mis-used. It seems like Society needs a bit of an overhaul of our perceptions of self. There’s an overwhelming sense of entitlement and an overwhelming sense of the “dumbing down” of America. To be blunt, we’ve lived in a society in which we are “free” to be whoever and whatever we please, do what we want, and wear what we want. Great. I love it, theoretically. BUT there is something to be said for a pervasive societal standard. Let’s talk history for a moment… There was a stigma about being poor and a stigma about being rich. There was a drive to be a “respectable” person or family. That was rewarded by the community. So, in order to work toward the image or perception of being “respectable”, people would take great care in their appearance, but also take great care in their acquisition of knowledge. People were judged on their learning, their appearance, their movement, their manner of speaking. And this judging drove people to work to “better” themselves to some degree or another. Let’s take a look at today. We’re still judged by what we wear, and what we have, but the manner in which we speak or carry ourselves or knowledge we possess is not highly valued and we’ve been given excuses for slovenly behaviors due to “culture” or “freedom” or “individualism” or whatever you want to call it. It’s all an excuse. Why dress up, when I can go to the store in dirty sweats? Why learn something when there’s someone else who can learn it? Why work to improve myself when it’s mine by right? From a historical perspective, society was driven by bettering oneself. “The American Dream” was starting out poor and working really hard and impressing the right people until you made yourself. Some people succeeded, some people didn’t, but a lot of people tried. Still some people succeed and some don’t but it seems like fewer people are trying. I think this is an important aspect to consider in education is how to effect a societal shit such that knowledge and hard work are lauded as the “In” thing to achieve.
I think we need to change the values in the country first. Assign value to education and knowledge and a reward for it. And take away the instant fame rewards for having a video camera, youtube account, and the ability to do something stupid. Hold Screen actors to a high standard of behavior again and stop rewarding the ones who make the tabloids for going on drunken benders. Spend as much money on education as we do on Engineering… Engineers make stuff, but who makes the engineers?
March 15, 2010 at 8:04 pm
Laura
uh… shift, I meant societal SHIFT.
March 15, 2010 at 9:50 pm
Josh
I like the feel of the ego comment, but I’m unclear what we’re talking about when we talk about ego. Can we define this term and its function? I need to know what it is, where it comes from, and what it does – and why. Thanks!
March 17, 2010 at 2:19 pm
Laura
I’d say, in terms of how Kwame and I were both using it, and in terms of the common vernacular, we should losely define it as our own personal view of self and view of self in the world and view of our reason for being that then, as a whole, dictates our actions and how we interact with the world and those around us. I’d say our ego is what we use to define ourselves, but what we choose to do with it is another matter entirely. For instance, two people could have a “big” ego and think very highly of themselves. The first person might use this in such a manner that they think an act along the following lines: “I’m smart, I’m better, and so I’m entitled and everything should come to me because I deserve it.” The second person might use this in such a manner that they think and act along the following lines: “I’m smart, I’m better, so there’s no reason that I can’t learn more and put it to use and work hard and positively influence others.” Two similar egos being put to use in two totally different ways. Additionally, you’re just as likely to have two people with smaller egos and get the differing uses of “I’m not that smart, so I won’t even try” versus “I’m not that smart, so I should try harder”. And I think the use of this “ego” is partially intrinsic to the person and partiallty dictated by learned behavior. AND I think it’s largely influenced by the cultural psyche.
March 17, 2010 at 8:04 pm
drkmbrown
Actually, my concept of the ego would be a bit different. I think that the person who thinks a lot of themselves has a large positive ego. The person who is always down on themselves has a large negative ego.
The key is the concept of the self. If the self is the only important thing, the needs of the self will drive thinking. To be clear, I think everyone HAS an ego, it’s just that some of us are more aware of the impact of our actions on other people (the tribe) and we feel our connection to others as a part of our decision making.
Our cultural psyche has been unduly influenced by those who feel no connection to the rest of humanity.
March 18, 2010 at 5:13 pm
Laura
Here, here, Kwame!