Knowledge Guiding Change

Posted on by
1

Following my own advice, I took a few moments this morning to stop and think. I reflected on the efforts of so many who are struggling for quality education. I wasn’t thinking about the very public and petty fighting of politicos or the influential; I was thinking about regular folks in the trenches.

It’s believed that human nature is such that we are more inclined to unite against a thing or person that we hate rather than rally around something we love. Hate can be seen as a more unifying force than love. Frustrating and sad — but it’s a reasonable explanation for why it’s so hard to get people to rally on behalf of this country’s children. It almost sounds like an impossibility to overcome all of the forces working against the institution of public education. And they are real, powerful and many.

I have been asked before and again recently; how do you continue this fight against seemingly hopeless odds? I’ve never had a good explanation. But like most things, the answer is usually right in front of us; we just can’t see it until we are ready to.

I am a true believer in the idea that knowledge is powerful. Think about it; if we know something about human nature, can’t we then use that knowledge to change or direct an outcome? Sure we can; it’s done all the time — advertising, propaganda, persuasion of any kind.

So today, I have something to add to the advice “stop and think.” Listen, question, learn, and use the knowledge you have gained. As Francis Bacon (father of the scientific method) argued, inquiry will “…assure man’s mastery over the world.” Seek knowledge about the topic for which you wish to change.

And, please, ask questions. It makes people think.

P.S. I saw my book yesterday for the first time!

 

The Culture of Our Society

Posted on by
8

“Education experts” fight over how much in-school and out-of-school factors contribute to student’s outcomes. Meanwhile, headlines in my newspaper today read, “Doctors help students make the grade — with drugs.” I thought it was going to be about college students; it wasn’t.

They talked about young students, adolescents! If a student has “trouble listening to instructions and concentrating,” there’s a drug for that. Need a competitive edge, there’s a drug for that. I know I’m not the only one that sees the wrong in this.

So where do we point the finger of blame; “overcrowded classrooms,” the “frustrated parents” asking for the drugs, competition and the need for kids to “perform better”? Or will we hear the truth in what this pediatrician said,

“We’ve decided as a society that it’s too expensive to modify the kid’s environment, so we have to modify the kid.”

Why French Kids Don't Have ADHD https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/suffer-the-children/201203/why-french-kids-dont-have-adhd

Why French Kids Don’t Have ADHD https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/suffer-the-children/201203/why-french-kids-dont-have-adhd

We don’t have time or resources to work with these troubled kids, but, we have a drug for that. This kind of “medical reasoning” will keep some Wall Street stock numbers up. Some will enjoy that high.

This isn’t just one dramatization, it’s wide-spread and it’s real.

Long ago, teacher Sarah McIntosh Puglist described the culture of her school to me as “test-based.” Yesterday she wrote about the culture once again saying, “…now I’m afraid many look upon struggling kids as something to resent.” Have children become a bother to society?

All should be able to see that the school culture can’t help but be influenced by the culture of our society. This is assuming that people (kids and adults alike) don’t quit being people when they walk through the schoolhouse doors.

If ever there is a time to stop and think, this is it.

“Let us put our minds together and see what life we can make for our children.” Sitting Bull

School Culture and Change

Posted on by
5

When I began fighting for school improvements, little did I know  how important school culture is to success.

In my last blog (Understanding Change), when I asked the question “who will take control of the direction [of reform],” I wasn’t thinking about the movie I was about to see but it played right into the question.

The movie, Won’t Back Down, may not have been intended to be interpreted the way I did, but here it is. I saw the “union thugs” dressed in red (stop) and the parent-troopers dressed in green (go). I saw the protest signs for “choice” and heard the familiar words of the reform wars —tenure and bad teachers, can’t and won’t.

Swept up in the emotion, I cheered for the underdogs and shared in the pain of the parents portrayed on the big screen. I’ve walked in their shoes, but, without the fairy tale ending.

What I didn’t see was a law that will force schools to improve. Rather, what the movie demonstrated was the power of ordinary people. What I saw was the right leadership rising up, and, the question of control of the direction of reform was answered. I saw community organizing to support a public school; community stepped up. And I saw the “culture” of the school change from one of hopelessness to one beneficial to both teaching and learning.

“If culture changes, everything changes.”

T. Donahoe 1997

I saw the change we need, but, understand that the means to that end must not harm children, destroy neighborhoods, or undermine the strong foundation of our institution of public education.

“Dreams, visions and wild hopes are mighty weapons…” Eric Hoffer 1951.

Let’s hope they aren’t being used for the wrong reasons.

Discover more about school culture and change.

Understanding Change

Posted on by
1

When I first heard that President Obama was taking on “health care reform” by passing major legislation, I winced. Not because it isn’t necessary that the nation address that issue, not because of any particular aspect of the law; I winced because this action revealed the failure of Mr. Obama and his advisers to understand the change process in people. In doing so, they set themselves up for major resistance.

Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson probably wasn’t required reading in the Ivy League schools but it should be for anyone serious about changing our public education system for the better. The book opens with “The Story Behind the Story” by Kenneth Blanchard which contains this applicable statement, “…living in constant white water with the changes occurring all the time at work or in life can be stressful, unless people have a way of looking at change that helps them understand it.”

So as we once again approach the changes that will come with “education reform,” and they will come, we can hem and haw or sniff and scurry around, or, we can reflect on mistakes and plan for the future. We can share a vision of what change should look like. And we will only make progress when we come to understand that the people “who felt they had less power [were] more afraid of what the change imposed from above might do to them. So they resisted change.”

It’s human nature to react to change by first questioning — how will this affect me?

The cheese will move; the question is who will take control of the direction?

Understanding

Posted on by
Reply

I went to bed last night thinking about what I understand and what I don’t. And in the middle of the night, I awoke with this thought, “The Crucial Voice of the People is important.” Or, it could be written that “the crucial voice of the people is important.” Readers will need to make that call. Maybe it can correctly be written both ways.

One thing I do understand is what it will take to really “reform” our system. I’ve studied what has and has not worked in the past and currently. And I have unfortunately witnessed and experienced what has not worked in my own schools. And I’m realistic about it. The system needs the people (the public) to engage in public education policy and be aware and vigilant as to how those policies influence practices.

Whether it’s locally, at the state level, or nationally, what can really make a difference right now is having people in charge of the education system who understand what is important in the process of learning and in the process of changing. We can’t have responsive and responsible change that leads to progress without understanding those basics. Understanding the learning process is central to guiding an improvement process, which is what reform should be — a focus on what children need. It isn’t just standards; it isn’t just instruction; it isn’t just providing materials. It is having it all and understanding how we can provide it.

So what I don’t understand is what looks to be unwillingness on the part of adults to work together to solve our education problems, even when the answers are laid out before us. Is it a lack of understanding?

Understanding the Choices

Posted on by
1

The last two blogs written here for your consideration were titled “Choice in School Reform” and “Choice in Education Reform.” And no, I’m not fully losing “it” yet. My choice of words (no pun intended) was intentional. School reform and education reform are two different things but intimately importance to each other.

School reform should target the proven elements of effective schools. It’s an improvement process that directly affects students and includes; safe schools with classroom climates that nurture learning, school leadership fostering quality instruction, highly educated teachers expecting a level of mastery from all students and understanding the proper use of pupil assessments in monitoring progress. And last but not least, family and community support for schools and their students.

Education reform should be a focus on systemic reform – providing quality assurance and equal opportunity. And as I’ve stated before, reform starts with identifying the problems. Are all schools the problem? No. So why do the current powers that be continue to target all schools with one-size-fits-all “reform” laws? It isn’t the path we originally started down. This diversionary route we are on never made sense.

Education reform should not interfere with school reform. The only way to stop the ongoing harm and destruction is to understand what has happened and what we need to do to get back on the right path. For…”No law or ordinance is mightier than understanding” Plato — and this is where my book begins.

Choice in Education Reform

Posted on by
Reply

When a school doesn’t provide what you think it should for one of your own, it’s an easy call. You want to take action. You want to see something done about it.

When you have great schools, it’s hard to take the time to think about the effect underperforming schools have on you and yours. But give it some thought. An under-educated society costs us all. That is why, as a civil society, we need great schools for all. But that fact has not yet motivated us to act. Education reform requires personal sacrifice from us all. It starts with each of us making a conscious choice to act and depends on us finding or creating the opportunities to do so — big or small.

As a nation, we have serious problems to face.

No Child Left Behind (the Elementary and Secondary Education Act – ESEA) cemented the direction of education “reform” without bringing to the table those who understand the needs of our communities and our children — the real stakeholders — the People.

That federal law combined with our financial wrong turns as a nation and the misguided reforms of the last three decades has brought public education to a crossroads.

Choices must be made.

Provide standardized education for the masses with personalized instruction for the lucky ones and those that can afford it, or, provide equal access to quality education?

Allow teaching to become another low-wage trade, or, remain a profession with a standard of practice that we can continuously improve upon?

Put our education dollars into the pockets of private investors, or, invest in supporting and strengthening the institution of public education?

Continue to follow the current pretenses of reform, or, solve our problems?

Rise up, people. Embrace the solutions.

Choice in School Reform

Posted on by
Reply

School reforms are failing to improve schools universally because standardization of children is not the solution to the systems problems. The “reformers” in control of the message are promoting more and “better” standards while overlooking the fact that the individuality, diversity, and unique character of Americans defies standardization.

But now — are we so tired of hearing the same ole’ education rhetoric that we no longer hear the voices rising up across this country asking to be heard? The voices are those of parents asking for something better, teachers wanting to teach what children need to know, and children asking us to care about what they need. They are all voices crucial to any real reform conversation.

It’s time to take control of that conversation…word-by-word.

“Choice” is one word that clearly strikes at our core values as Americans. But our right to choose is one thing; our care in choosing is quite another.

Choice matters. Consider this; informed choices based on various perspectives are more likely to get to what is right.

Choice matters. Consider this; informed choices based on various perspectives are more likely to get to what is right.

We must consider the fact that reform requires a problem be identified and the faulty practice creating the problem be replaced with a better one. For responsible decision-making to occur, It requires our careful analysis. It requires we put aside emotional responses, look at the facts; consider all our choices and the potential consequences of each.

To choose wisely, we must understand that true reform will support, guide, produce, and ensure practices that improve every child’s education.

Desire and Attitude

Posted on by
Reply

This past couple of weeks I’ve met with groups on both sides of the Idaho education wars which are currently raging over “reform” laws on our November ballot. These meetings reaffirmed the fact that we working class people all share the desire and belief that public schools should provide our children, grandchildren, and other relatives with the chance to have a good education, no matter where they live. In our hearts, we know it’s the best thing for them.

So what continues to divide us? Really, what’s stopping us from pursuing improvement in all our schools? Money, power — the clout that goes with it? Is that what is really necessary to move us into action?

It seems that within any group gatherings there is always at least one person who indicates or says “we can’t.” And that attitude becomes infectious. So here is something to consider;

All In The State Of Mind
If you think you’re beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don’t.
If you’d like to win, but think you can’t,
It’s almost a cinch you won’t.
If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost
For out in the world you find,
Success begins with a fellow’s will;
It’s all in the state of mind.

Full many a race is lost,
Ere ever a step is run;
And many a coward fails
Ere ever his work begun.
Think big, and your deeds will grow;
Think small, and you’ll fall behind;
Think that you can, and you will.
It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you’re out classed, you are;
You’ve got to think high to rise,
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But soon or late the man who wins,
Is the fellow who thinks he can.
–    Author Unknown

Excellence as the Norm

Posted on by
1

Improvement — now there is a thought-provoking word! We instinctively know what it means but I’m once again off to grab the dictionary. Literally, it means an increase in excellence of quality or condition.

I like to think of education reform in terms of school improvement because if we aren’t focused on the quality of education and the conditions under which we expect children to learn, what’s the point?

Use standards as an example. If a standard isn’t excellent, it can’t guide improvement. And if the conditions in which we expect a standard to be met aren’t excellent, what are the chances real lasting improvement will occur?

The literal meaning said an increase in excellence of quality “or” conditions but I would hope people can understand that for school improvement we need both high quality teaching “and” excellent conditions under which learning takes place.

We can monitor outcomes until the cows come home but we won’t get real education reform until we supply the necessary inputs that create quality learning conditions. It’s up to us to provide the conditions conducive to creating a societal culture that values education and will unquestionably support classroom climates where excellence is the norm, for all.