When

May 13, 2007

And now, for something completely different ... a school reform parody, based on Rudyard Kipling’s “If� ... from the early days of my education journey.

When we can move beyond the bureaucratic
To focus on the work we have to do,
When public schools exist to teach all students
And make it safe for their expression too,
When we can think of learning as the object,
Instead of test or quiz or homework grade,
When we can build a bridge of understanding,
That overcomes the barriers we’ve made:

When we can teach – but not be just a teacher,
When we can learn – from students and from life;
When we can meet Success as well as Failure
And use them both to better deal with strife;
When we can hear the cherished texts we’ve taught them
Challenged by the very ones we’ve taught,
Or see the pathways we have always followed,
Abandoned in pursuit not of our thought:

When we can help all children find real meaning
And understand just why they need to know,
And not lose faith when students don’t quite get it
And try again to help them learn and grow;
When we can say they value what they’re learning;
It makes them feel empowered, able, smart,
It makes them see the vital intersections,
‘Tween education, future goals and art:

When we can let our guard down and accept that,
Their parents have a place in our school too,
When we can build community among us
That respects those from different points of view;
Then we will have reformed the schooling system,
And we will have accomplished something more;
We will have designed a world of learning
That everyone is anxious to explore.

by Barbara Rubin Brier 1997

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#1 liz
said . . .

May 13, 2007

Nice piece. I know that here in Ireland our education system could build in some of those principles.

When structure drives purpose & process - and not vice versa - then we have a system that does not focus on who it should be serving - our children.

The children in my small country community of Ballinamore have to walk across roads and between old buildings to get their education - because the educationaocrats move very very very slowly - and won't listen to its citizens demand for a new school.

When children's access to the arts and creative activity in schools is seen as a kind of 'add on' if you're lucky - I sometimes think that they emerge with critical/creative thinking skills in spite of and not because of the educational opportunities they receive.

Forage, explore, collaborate, engage, create .... all words that should describe the learning experiences that our children receive ... and if they have an exceptional teacher or principal then it will happen.

But that's more about the lottery of individual excellence that a systemic excellence. Pity.

Liz

#2 bonnie in albuquerque
said . . .

May 14, 2007

Barbara this is really great..... i especially like the part "Tween education, future goals and art".. I was talking to a friend who is an educator and her current school does not foster any type of collaboration between subjects and that is how she teaches. I recalled my days in Brooklyn where I wanted to show the connections between what we were learning and the world and no one would work together...I think it is so important to show the connection and build the community. If ever I have a child I want them "anxious to explore"
Thanks for a really nice piece
Bonnie

#3 SoCal Sam
said . . .

June 16, 2007

I think the problem is that many parents don't get how to educate their children. I am not a teacher (well I am an adjunct professor that teaches Intro to Video Game design), however, I work with k-12 teachers from time to time and they are really just overworked and overwhelmed.
So my apologies, but the fault lays in the home, societ has to take the focus off of the school and put it on the parents. Public schools should have limited teaching charters and goals. Parents should be required to attend one 6 hour class per term on how to teach their child. An artificial intelligence system or expert system needs to be added to the systems that the schools are using to communicate with the parents to support the parents in the homelearning (not home school) environment. This would get the bureaucrats off your back and get them bugging and cordinating the parents.

The artificial intelligence would be to act to assist the parents on a 24/7 basis, something teachers should not have to do.