Last night, Golden asked me to do yoga with her. She got this Rodney Yee vidoe called Yoga Burn and it lived up to it's name. I don't know if you've ever done yoga, but this routine has you do like 5,000 downward facing dogs in a row. Besides hollowing my belly, spiraling my spine and relaxing my face, ol' Rodney has you bending and stretching and holding yourself in any number of painful, muscle-quaking poses for what seems like an eternity. I think the guy learned yoga in some top-secret asian torture training center. The problem with a yoga DVD is that you can see on the little DVD player screen which chapter out of how many chapters you've done. You know your in trouble in a video workout when your pushed to the limit during chapter 5 of 24. I can't wait to do it again tomorrow night...
Teaching is beginning to feel like my own sort of self-torture. I am up against a wall now and I can't figure out how to knock it down. I met with one parent today who was concerned that our schools are too easy compared to where they moved from in Watauga county. Then I had a phone call from another parent, very upset that our classes are far too hard and that her child's lack of attentiveness is my fault. There are several issues involved here. I feel like I am expected to lower my expectations in order for students to get the right grades. And since when am I supposed to entertain students in order for them to pay attention in class. What happened to valuing an education enough to put forth an effort? I think the reason why the US scores so poorly on every global education ranking system is because we view education as a product to be consumed. Consumer culture demands that the wants, needs and desires of the consumer be met or the product is not purchased. Wake up call people: you don't shop around for primary and secondary education unless you can afford to send a kid to private school.
That being said, I am trying to have high standards and education my students for the rigors and requirements of the 21st century world. The world that my current students will compete for jobs in, is very different from anything I could have imagined when I was their age. These students will essentially be competing against the rest of the world for most well-paying jobs. So while we sit here and demand that teachers entertain our kids and give them the grades that will make them happy rather than the grades they deserve, some kid in China or India or any number of countries is busting his/her butt to nail down a foreign language, higher level math and science, computer technology and critical thinking skills in order to earn their way out of a world with few options into a world of limitless possibilities. I guess I'm just trying to say that I don't make the rules, but just like everybody else, I gotta play by 'em.
Enough soapbox, 3 days to 'cross! I'm not so much excited as I am just ready to go have some fun on my 'cross bike. Don't forget your cowbell and your wellies!
Check out some music. Scroll down and listen to the Johnny Cash song "God's gonna cut you down".
1 comment:
Pardon me while I replace you on the soapbox.
Whether we like it or not, or whether it's a good thing or not, the U.S. education system is now consumer-driven. That being said, there are some important things to remember.
First, education is the ONLY "industry" in which the quality of the "product" is primarily dependent on the consumer.
Second, students (and perhaps more importantly parents) should come to terms with the first point. Despite the fact that our students are raised in an almost entirely service-based economy, and despite the fact that ONE HUNDRED percent of net job growth in the U.S. since 1988 has been in the service sector, TEACHERS ARE NOT WAITERS OR RETAIL CLERKS. If students don't bring it every day, and get used to the necessity of doing that, a very harsh reality awaits them when school gives way to real life.
The situation you describe is no better at the college level. In fact, I'd say it's worse. I know, I've taught and been an academic advisor at a community college (Caldwell), masters-comprehensive university (ASU) and enormous Research I university (Florida State) for 10 years.
Students whose educational philosophy is "I'm a glass; fill me up." and micromanaging parents are no less common on a campus of 40,000 than they are at William Lenoir Middle School.
Anyone concerned about (or who wants a frightening picture of) the future of education in our country, should have Bill Reading's 'The University in Ruins' at the top of your reading list.
Chris
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